Sheep Food

  It’s one of those many verses...that can give you pause when you come across them as you read through the Bible. This one is found in Matthew 24 where Jesus had been asked by His disciples...”Tell us what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age” (3), (which Paul seems to suggest is ‘already upon us’ (1 Cor. 10:11). Jesus began with a serious and repeated warning to be on guard against widespread deception (4-5). He goes on to spell out other ‘signs’ that would be unfolding and how there would be much division as ‘nations would be pitted against nations’ as well as various kingdoms. (7). Interesting side note here, but that word ‘nation’ come from the same Greek word that we get ‘ethnicity’ from; just saying. But it’s the somber warning found in verse 19 that always catches my attention: “But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days!” At first glance, you have to wonder what He is trying to convey here; does God have it...

  So which ‘besetting sin(s)’ in your life (Heb. 12:1) that you struggle with to overcome...have proven to be a formidable match for the power that is declared to be found in the name of Jesus, and in the power that comes through His shed blood? I only ask because Jesus seemed to suggest that we would ‘know the truth’ and that this ‘truth would set us free...from all sin’. (John 8:32-36) It's a fair question, honestly. And it’s one I have had to confront myself and come to terms with in recent years. Either God’s word is ‘truth’...and ‘works’...or we are just playing religious games, guilty of ‘walking in a form of godliness while denying the power’. (2 Tim. 3:5). Or is it possible that you were ‘sold a counterfeit’ gospel, as Paul warned might happen in 2 Cor. 11:3-4 ...where you would end up ‘receiving another spirit’...and even following ‘another Jesus’. The other alternatives to consider is that a person can still be ‘in the dark’ or ‘ignorant’ to the truth (Acts 26:18) wh...

    Ahh...those were the days...when I used to cut down trees and chop up my own firewood. It was hot, hard work that I found deeply satisfying. The place where we built our home back in Texas had a number of older oak trees, some I needed to remove before we poured our slab, and then others I thinned out over time. Whenever I did lay a tree down, I usually let it sit there for a week or two before I would start to split it and get the area cleaned up. And something that I witnessed on every occasion was when the tree was first cut down, most of the branches and the green leaves remained intact. It appeared to be a ‘living tree’ that was laying on its side. But one would notice after a few days...the leaves began to ‘wilt’; and the longer it laid there... the leaves turned brown as it became quite obvious...this tree was no longer ‘living’, for it had ‘died’ and was in the early stages of decaying. Never, in all the years of doing this, did a cut down tree continue living, ...

  If you have ever heard a car engine backfire, you know it’s abrupt and loud enough to send cats leaping vertically into the air, jolt sleeping babies awake, screaming, and cause soldiers who struggle with PTSD to ‘hit the deck’ cowering in fear. And if it’s something your car does, or maybe a close-by neighbor’s car...one hopes the problem is fixed sooner than later.  Suppose you do have a neighbor whose car develops this obnoxious problem and they apologize to you for its unruly disturbances, informing you they are taking it to a local garage the next day to have fixed. Then, a few days later while enjoying your first cup of coffee that morning, you hear that neighbor getting ready to leave out for work, or maybe to church and as they pull out of their driveway...there goes the loud explosion of their car backfiring once again. It causes you to recoil, spilling coffee down your front, as local dogs in the neighborhood begin barking loudly. Maybe it happens one more time...

  One of the great myths that usually get debunked early on for lots of young people, is this notion that if a person gets married...they will no longer struggle or ‘burn’ with sexual ‘lust’. Yes, Paul did write and say that if it was not your ‘gifting’ to remain single, and presumably ‘celibate’, then getting married was highly recommended because it was ‘better to marry than to burn with passion’ (1 Cor. 7:8-9). But let me say it again loud and clear: Marriage is not the ‘cure all’ when it comes to overcoming sexual lust. I should also point out here that simply growing older, where it can be normal for sexual desire to diminish over time due to lowering levels of testosterone and such, does not exempt one from battling with sexual lust, because there are plenty of ‘older men’, well in to their 70’s and 80’s, if not older...who are addicted to porn, or worse. It cannot be overstated enough...that we live in a world greatly influenced by wicked spirits of darkness and evil that ...

  You do realize that had God not given us this thing called ‘sexual desire’... the human race would have probably come to an abrupt end. And I don’t think I need to elaborate on this one point, do I? When God created man and woman, His first command to them was to “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth..” (Gen. 2:26-28) I’m not quite certain as to how this would have all played out prior to the ‘fall’, or if things would have been any different, but we do know that both Adam and Eve walked about ‘naked’ in the garden, which today might be ‘problematic’ for many of us. But something changed, and hence, the reason the first order of business after they ‘sinned’ was God put some clothes or coverings on them. (Gen.3:21). Welcome back to our series as we look at how Christians should deal with and regulate the satisfying of two legitimate physical needs we all have, the consuming of food and fulfilling sexual desires. As we discussed previously, it is quite possible that when we ...