Sheep Food

  It’s happened to me on more than a few occasions in the past few years. I might quote a verse or share a passage I read in the Bible and immediately, it is met with opposition. “That’s not what that means!” Truth be told, it was a similar experience which led me to study even more, inspiring these daily postings of mine. That’s nothing new, for God’s word to be opposed and resisted and shot down. I mean, Jesus we are told ‘was the Word’ and became flesh and dwelt among us...and they crucified Him. (John 1:1,14) But you only need wade in to the first three chapters of Genesis and read where God told Adam: “Don’t eat off this one tree for in the day that you do, you will surely die.” (Gen. 2:17). Then the serpent rears up and immediately cast doubt on God’s word, questioning if that is really what God meant; he then takes it a step further and flat out turns it around saying “You will surely not die.” (Gen. 3:1-4). And whenever God’s word is sown, like good seed, Jesus explains...

  Regarding that old song about how it ‘Never rains in Southern California’...yeah, well I doubt that is getting much airtime today. The reason being, in case you have been living under a rock, is that southern part of that state is being inundated with torrential rains, compliments of an unusually rare hurricane that came up the coast there in the Pacific ocean. It remains to be seen at this point the full impact and extent of damage, if any caused  by the storm, not to mention loss of life, etc. But one thing is for sure: there’s been plenty of warning given. What people do with such warnings is up to them I suppose. Folks who live along the east coast or on the gulf states are used to such warnings. It is for the most part, an annual event depending on where they live and what part of that region hurricanes bear down on. But southern California? Not so much. You can be sure that climatologist are pointing to this uncommon event as further proof of the warnings they ha...

  By faith... ...Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen... ...moved with godly fear... ...and prepared an ark for the saving of his household...(Heb. 11:7) I’m guessing that many professing believers are familiar with the biblical definition of the word ‘faith’ recorded there in Hebrews 11:1...”Now faith is...” One translation describes it, in part, as ‘being convinced about things we do not see’. Sort of how Noah responded when he was ‘divinely warned by God of things not yet seen’. And what exactly was that ‘warning’? A flood is coming. Noah believed God and by faith, even though he saw no indication of a coming flood, the ‘Weather Channel’ was not predicting any flood, and the way people were living their lives on a day to day basis, neither did they give any indication that they knew of an impending flood was on the way. Yet Noah believed. And he was moved...and he was ‘moved with godly fear’. Says so right there in your bible. (Heb. 11:7) What was he ‘moved to ...

  In my post yesterday, I mentioned something about ‘cutting it short’ for a change and that made me chuckle. I bet someone thought “you used that word...’short’...I don’t think that word means what you think it means”. While I have little idea as to who or how many people read these devotional studies of mine that I post daily, one thing I do get feedback on repeatedly is how ‘long’ they are. I get it, and it does not offend me nor hurt my feelings. Early on when I started doing these, I found myself wanting to ‘apologize’ for the length of them and was quickly rebuked and compelled to stop doing that. It goes without saying that I provide plenty of scripture verses in these with the hopes that the reader will look them up and study them for themselves. I know without a doubt that God’s word is what does the work ‘in us’. (1 Thess. 2:13). I only mention this again because the other morning, I was wondering if I should try to shorten them up some, and this thought was brought t...

  It really is a fair and legitimate question to ask. And before we start asking others, we might want to ask it of ourselves: “How does one know if they are truly abiding in Christ?” Please note- we are not questioning whether you ‘believe Jesus is the Son of God and died on a cross’. And no one is calling into question whether you are a ‘faithful church member’ either. Truth be told, both of those ‘boxes can be checked’, and still, that is no guarantee or proof that one is truly abiding in Jesus. I would imagine there is no small number of people who would quickly claim that they are ‘saved’, but might have a more difficult time answering the real question here as to what it means to abide in Christ and whether they indeed are doing that themselves. We always seem anxious to assure our church members, regardless of how long they have been attending, that they are ‘saved’ and they need not worry about that. But this idea of ‘abiding’ in Christ? Meh...not so much. We might g...

  You do not plant a vineyard simply for the sake of growing vines. One plants a vineyard with the hopeful intentions of producing fruit; much fruit. The goal is not so see an overflow of green leaves or thick stems. The production of an abundance of good quality fruit is the objective for anyone who may feel compelled to plant a vineyard; just like God did. John records in his gospel some of the most insightful teachings that Jesus shared with His disciples, and chapters 13-17 are packed with so many rich passages of truth. Sandwiched in the middle of those five chapters is chapter 15 where Jesus lays out this whole message of what it means to abide in Him. “I am...the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser.” (15:1). The very mention of the fact that He is the ‘true’ vine tells me that there could very well be many ‘other vines’ out there. You know, sort of like how Paul warned that there would be other ‘Jesuses’ out there that people might easily be duped into following...

  Imagine if you would for a moment that while traveling on a cruise ship that docked in some port for the day down in South America, you are out visiting the countryside and are kidnapped by some gang like the Cartel. Blindfolded and bound, you are whisked off in the back of an old truck and driven for hours deep into the jungles of that country. Days of captivity lead into weeks as you are kept in some crude cage made out of bamboo. You have no idea why or how you ended up in such a place; and any hopes of rescue or being released have diminished. Welcome to your new life. Then, one evening, late in the darkness of night, you somehow find a way out of that cage. Your captors are sleeping soundly, even the one whose job is to guard you. Quickly and silently you make your way out of the camp that has been your home for months on end. And just to add to the drama of this story, you recall how when you were taken off that truck that first day, a truck that drove for hours on ...