Sheep Food

  “And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.” (John 1:5)  ‘Light’ represents ‘truth’ or the ‘word’ (which is truth), and of course, Jesus Himself.   “He was in the world...and the world did not know Him.” (John 1:10) Him = Jesus.   “He came to His own people, and His own people did not receive Him.” (John 1:11) I wonder why?   “But... as many who did receive Him...to them He gave the right (or power/authority) to ... become children of God, to those who believe in His name...” (John 1:12)   I don’t know who needs to hear this, but one does not become a child of God simply because they ‘say’ they believe Jesus is the Son of God. The demons believe that and they tremble. (James 2:19)   If we are going to use the bible as our one and only source of truth, then we can quickly conclude who the children of God are: they are the ones who are led by His Spirit. (Rom. 8:14)   Sometimes we c...

  Without a doubt, mercy and forgiveness are wonderful gifts to experience and receive, for sure; not to mention to extend to others as well.   But there are a lot of ‘sinner folks’ out there, both in the church and unbelieving ‘worldly-lost-folks’ who are not looking for mercy and forgiveness; they are looking for freedom.   I will also say there are plenty who seek neither of those (freedom or forgiveness) as well. (John 3:19-20)   The modern church world has a ‘bad optics’ problem that needs to be addressed. I would go as far to suggest that we’ve been sending the wrong (or misguided) message and we would do well to address this problem. That is, if we want to be more effective reaching all those ‘lost sinner folks’ out there in the world who are indeed, actually seeking and desiring true freedom.   We are big on promoting a God who ‘loves and forgives’. Yes, that is a wonderful message of hope.(1 John 2:1; 1:9) But can I just tell you...

  That really has to be good news, or so I would think? What I mentioned yesterday...about being truly set free from those things that bind us and control us to the point we seem incapable of ever truly walking in loving obedience to God. Who wouldn’t want to be set free front the very thing that is destroying us, as in ‘sin’?    Do you know why God sent Jesus into this world and what He anointed Him to do? – To set captives free. (Luke 4:18). And it need not be some spiritual wrestling match either. Why, it’s a simple as believing...truth. Jesus said in John 8 that that “you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” (32). Granted, some of you might ask: ‘Free? Free from what?’ Some people don’t see themselves as being ‘not free’ or ‘captive’. Yet, if you are continuing to sin, guess what that makes you ? A slave...to sin. Jesus said that in the most ‘assured way’. (John 8:34). And since most church folks will candidly admit they continue to practic...

  There is a widely common misconception among many professing believers today that simply because one is, or claims to be, a ‘child of God’ (Christian), that they are somehow granted immunity against any form of God’s ‘wrath’.   Why do I say ‘misconception’? Well, for starters - the entire book of the Old Testament is filled with countless examples of God pouring out His wrath on disobedient, rebellious folks; and do you know who was most often the recipient of this punishment? Yep...God’s beloved people.   You might give Ps. 78 a read-over and pay close attention to vs.49-50. And if NT believers were under the impression that because they said they believe in Jesus that this somehow exempted them from God’s wrath, then why would Paul have gone in to great detail citing examples of how God had, in the past, poured out His wrath on his people, sending plagues and serpents and the ‘destroyer’ among them for various forms of sin...ranging from sexual immorality...

  Did you know that in one place found in the gospels, Jesus actually commended, or at least acknowledged that the ‘children of this world’ (not His children) seemed to be wiser and more astute than ‘children of the light’. (Luke 16:8). There are probably a few directions you could go with that one, but I only cite it to suggest there is a good reason why so many ‘lost folks’ scoff at most of what we call ‘church’ today. They see right through it, or should I say ‘us’.   Many ‘profess’ to know Christ, but by their actions and/or lifestyles, they deny Him. (Titus 1:16)   The fruit is the give-away. Jesus taught us that. (Matt. 7:16-20)   Just because you call a lemon tree and apple tree, does not make it so.   And just because a man calls himself a woman, neither does that make it so.   (Bet that one resonated with a few of us ;-) lol).   And for the record, yes, I agree that so much of what we are witnessing today borde...

  This path really does seem to narrow as you travel it. It’s that path Jesus spoke of in Matt. 7:13-14; that path that leads to ‘life’ that many seek after. He also spoke of another path or ‘way’ that would be far more traveled that ‘many’ would be on that would lead them to a ‘wide gate’. The problem is, what lies on the other side of that ‘gate’ would tragically, not be what they ‘thought’ they were looking for. Jesus used the word ‘destruction’ to describe what awaits them.   So is God some sort of deity with a twisted mind who only made a way for a select few to travel this narrow road, a small group who many others might view as some high school clique that think they are better than everyone else? I can see why some might want to jump to that conclusion, but we should be reminded that God has made this opportunity for ALL of humanity to experience this ‘life’ that that only He can offer. It’s just that most will refuse it.   I only begin with John 3...

  “Whosoever…shall call upon the name of the Lord, shall be saved…” (Rom. 10:13)    Isn’t that a wonderful promise in the word? But please don’t stop there. There’s more:   “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord’, shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.” (Matt 7:21).   That’s another promise in the bible as well. There’s a bunch of them.   So ‘doing’ the ‘will of God’ is involved here? Hmmm…I wonder how so?   Well, for starters, God’s will is for us to be ‘sanctified’ according to 1 Thess. 4:3. That’s another word for being made pure or holy. God kind of has a thing about this, being ‘holy’. Go figure. Peter talked about that some in his first letter. (1:15-16). Paul addresses this as well in 2 Cor. 7:1 suggesting we should be mindful of continuing to remove anything and everything that is not holy or of God and do so in the fear of God. And have you ever given much thought to...