Sheep Food

  We seem to enjoy the game “Simon Says” a whole lost more than we do the walk of faith called “Jesus Says.”   [dramatic pause moment]   Yeah…we’ve all watched or took part in that child’s game where you can ‘lose a lot of players’ at the drop of a hat. You might call it a quick culling.   Jesus saw a lot of that Himself. He’d say something about following Him or taking up a  cross or laying down your life for His sake and Boom…He’d lose another group. (John 6:66)  Need I distinguish the difference between a fun child’s game and a serious walk with our creator that has eternal consequences? “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord’ and not do the things I say?” (Lu 6:46)   Regarding my post the other morning…challenging you to examine your heart as to anything you have been reluctant to give up or turn from that God might be dealing with. - I obviously speak from what scripture teaches about loving God with ALL our hearts. But I also spe...

  I refer to it as my ‘awakening’.   It was my ‘burning bush moment’.   You might say it was as close to having a ‘Lazarus Experience’ as one can have where you hear His voice call you out of a tomb where you have laid in darkness and stench.   That is what a body experiences when it dies.   I don’t know how else to explain it. It’s been almost 23 months now. I remember that morning as if it was yesterday.   The beginning of March 2020, spring break was just starting and I knew the week after spring break I was about to get busy, busy, busy over the next three months shooting school spring pictures, ball teams, weddings, events, etc. I was opening a drawer to get all my tax info together so I could take care of that before I got too swamped with work.   In the back of that drawer, I had a very old set of bible audio teachings that had sat there for years. From time to time, I had flirted with the idea of getting them...

  “Give No Place to the devil!” -Paul’s warning to us in Eph 4:27   “We are not ignorant of Satan’s devices.” - Paul’s statement in 2 Cor. 2:11   Is it not interesting how often scripture addresses a subject matter that for the most part is left untouched or barely addressed today in our modern, educated and refined culture…like here in America? I think you’d be astounded to just sort out and begin writing down or making note of all the verses…just in the New Testament alone…from the Gospels through Revelation, that deal with Satan, the devil, demons, etc.   Peter tells us to be alert and sober-minded and vigilant as our adversary, the devil goes about like a roaring lion seeking to devour. (1 Pet 5:8)   Talk like this can make folks uneasy…and for good reason. It would probably send you in to cardiac arrest if our eyes were truly opened to just how prevalent they are and exist and operate in the world today. Especially in our very own...

  Imagine this scenario:   Your 9-year old comes home from school a bit sullen and downcast. When you inquire as to what is wrong, they tell you everyone in the class got marched down to the principal’s office for a ‘paddling’. (Yeah…not as common these days as it use to be, but hang with me for this illustration.)   Turns out, the teacher had to step out of the classroom for a few minutes and made it clear that if anyone got up from his or her desk and caused any disruptions, there would be consequences…as in a paddling. Upon her return to the classroom, she heard and saw the entire class involved with a paper wad war of sorts. Utter chaos and noise. True to her word, the kids were brought back under control, then lined up and marched down to the office for the ‘penalty’ to be carried out. Lesson learned.   But….you find out later from another parent that not ‘every’ child in the class got the ‘lick’. The teacher’s own child who was in that sa...

  “Greater love has no one than this: that someone lay down his life for his friends.”  -Jesus  (John 15:13)   We read yesterday where Jesus issued a ‘new commandment’ that we are to love one another as HE loved us…and that this would be the single identifying mark of who His disciples truly were. (John 13:34-35) I suppose that fits in with His teachings about how you will ‘know them by their fruit’.   But keep in mind, His love is the standard…not how we ‘think’ we love others on a good day…or when we compare ourselves with the way ‘others’ do it. That is unwise. “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them.” (Luke 6:32)   His Love. His Standard. As in 1 Cor 13 kind of love. And without His nature IN us, it ain’t gonna happen.   So this ‘laying down’ one’s life… does any scenario pop up in your head like it always has in mine? You know…you see a child in the middle of th...

  All this talk of laws, and commands and obedience can be unsettling at times, ya know? I mean…it hints of ‘legalism’ or believing we are ‘saved by works’. I thought we are ‘saved by faith, and grace alone?’   I get it. Honestly, I really do.   Let me address first of all the ‘unsettling’ part.   IF you sense something causing anxiety within you, maybe irritation, or unease and discomfort…simply because of some verses you read or hear, you might want to take a step back and ask yourself as to Why?   It’s just scripture verses and we are told that the Word is sharper than a two-edged sword that can ‘pierce’ deep within our soul and spirit and reveal intents of the heart. (Heb 4:12)   Is it possible that something ‘else’ lies deep within that takes offense to the Word? That would be worth examining in itself. (Ever have someone turn on all the lights in a room where you were sleeping comfortably in darkness?)   The oth...

  {Take your time with this one today...seriously. You need to digest this. }   When was the last time you had a better idea than God?   I’m waiting…. ;-)   Can I cut to the chase and tell you that God has NEVER had a ‘bad idea’?   No, seriously…He’s never paused and thought to Himself, “Gee….I wish I had done this instead.”   Never.   Take His Law, for example.   How many believers today understand just what the ‘law’ is and how it impacts us in our walk? Many would, if asked about God’s Law, shrug and wave it off as irrelevant since they are ‘under grace’.   I have referenced here before, the amazing story found in 2 Kings 22 where Josiah is the reigning king in Judah and is seemingly doing what is ‘right in the eyes of the Lord’. The construction repair work he has going on the temple turns up a lost ‘book’, which turns out to be the ‘Book of the Law’. When he hears it read before him, he is ove...