Sheep Food

  Welcome back to Part II of sharing practical applications to better understand what ‘abiding in Jesus’ may look like for you. I try to be careful when I use analogies and word pictures, because they are just that...illustrations. But one I have used repeatedly to help better explain what I have come to learn...is how abiding in Jesus is like taking a long road trip in your car and the importance of paying attention so that you will ‘stay in your lane’. We should all be familiar with those verses that tell us to ‘set our minds on things above and not on the earth’ (Col. 3:2) and to ‘take no thought of what we will eat or wear... but to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness’ (Matt. 6:31-33). And honestly...can anyone of us really ‘pray without ceasing’? (1 Thess. 5:17; Eph. 6:18) Oh, and how does one walk in that ‘perfect peace’ that is supposed to be guiding us?-...by 'keeping our mind fixed or stayed on Him'. (Isa. 26:3) So let me ask you this: If you are th...

  I feel compelled to address some practical applications as to what one may experience if/when we are truly abiding in Jesus. Hopefully this will bring clarity and clear up any misconceptions or confusion. While I want to continue using the word of God to back this up, as I always do, I am also going to share personal insights that I have learned over the past couple of years since He got my attention and ‘took me back to school’. And please know, I am in not attempting to hold myself up as some perfect example here, but sometimes, we forget that our walk should be similar to that of Jesus if we are abiding in Him (1 John 2:6). And even Paul, who many think continued to live as a wretched sinner based on faulty teaching from Rom. 7...was the first to say: “Follow my example as I follow Christ.” (1 Cor. 11:1) Just because you may be abiding in Christ does not mean you won’t be tempted to sin. But being tempted to sin is not the same as falling into sin and/or continuing to sin....

  There’s a very telling scene that unfolds in the gospel of Matthew, chapter 23. The time is drawing near when Jesus will be arrested and then crucified, as in put to death. He had just delivered one of His most blistering and scathing rebukes to the religious establishment of the day in vs.1-36. Then...you can sense a pause as He collects His thoughts before He laments aloud.... “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her!...” (37). Would you take a moment and look up Amos 3:7...I’ll wait for you here. Then...please listen to the cry from the heart of our Beloved Savior...who came not to condemn us nor destroy us...but to save us...(John 3:17) [You remember what it is that we are ‘saved from’, yes? It is the ‘wrath of God’. (Rom. 5:9)....] “O Jerusalem...How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings...but you were not willing!” (Matt. 23:37). This would not be the first time Je...

  One of the ‘weak-links’ I came to discover and experience years ago when immersed in the ‘faith’ movement...was how all the emphasis of seeing ‘God move’ on our behalf was tied up in whether we ‘believed enough’. It was all wrapped up in our faith...our confession...our mindset...which often ended in disappointment and frustration and discouragement. Why so, you ask? Because we were left with what seemed like broken promises or self-imposed condemnation because we simply did not have...’enough faith’. If only...there had been more solid teaching on the importance of how ‘obedience is the fruit of faith’. (Heb. 3:18-19; 5:9; 3 John 2; Rom. 10:16) Many of us today sense that we live in dark times. We know what the Bible teaches about the ‘end times’ and how ‘perilous times will be’ as evil will continue to spread and flourish. Jesus spoke of increasing ‘floods... as in the days of Noah’ being imminent. It is any wonder that so many people today, including those who attend church...

  God has never changed. (Mal. 3:6). He still longs and desires for us to ‘walk with Him’ and to experience His goodness, His provision, and His protection. But we have to ‘abide IN Him’ if we want to be the recipient of these benefits and promises. We ‘must be born again’. (John 3:7). These were pretty much the same promises God extended to the Israelites in the wilderness as He wanted to lead them into a better place, that we know as the ‘Promise Land’; and He offers us the same promise today. (John 10:10). But you have to come to Him with ALL your heart and continue, or remain...and ‘abide’ in Him. (John 15:1-8) And this, my friends, is where I fear many of us ‘missed that important lesson’. We’ve been talking about both spiritual and natural births, and a few days ago, I pointed out how in nature, a newborn animal usually stays right on the heels of its momma because they know that is where they find food, comfort, and protection. The past two days, we looked at the importan...

  You may or may not be familiar with the ‘Frederick Experiment’. Back in the thirteenth century, the German king, Frederick II, conducted a cruel experiment intended to discover what language children would naturally grow up to speak if never spoken to. King Frederick took babies from their mothers at birth and placed them in the care of nurses who were forbidden to speak in their presence. But a second rule was imposed, as well: the nurses were not allowed to touch the infants other than for basic hygiene and feeding needs. In other words, no cuddling, hugging, kisses, cooing, etc. To his great dismay, Frederick’s experiment was cut short, but not before something tragically significant regarding human nature was revealed... the babies grew up to speak no language at all... because they all died. Not only do we as spiritual newborns in Christ need a steady diet of spiritual food (God’s word), we also find ‘Comfort’ that comes with abiding in His presence (John 14:16). When a per...

  Food...comfort... and protection. Those are the three significant offerings a mother provides to her newborn, especially in those very early days after birth. You could even make the case those benefits are at work prior to birth while still in the womb. As I mentioned previously, if you have ever witnessed the birth of a new calf, lamb, goat, deer, etc., those new babies tend to stay close on the heels of their mother, especially in those early days. They just instinctively know that is where their source of food, comfort and protection are to be found. Continuing on in our lesson comparing natural birth to spiritual birth, we find once again, striking similarities in scripture that offer us helpful insight as to how we too, can grow so that Christ might be ‘formed in us’ as well. (Gal. 4:19; Rom. 8:29). And you might be surprised how it all points back to the importance and the necessity of ‘abiding in Christ’. Take 1 Pet. 2:2 for example, where he writes: “as newborn babes...