HCC Monthly Harvest Seed
Revelation 1:4-6 - John, to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from Him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven Spirits who are before His throne, 5 and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth. To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, 6 and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.
We have been made Kings and Priests to God.
As I was getting ready to write this message I was wrestling between this one and one on encouragement.
This was what God had originally laid on my heart.
When I come to speak to you on Sunday’s and Wednesday’s it is important to understand how I approach our times together. I see you as Kings and Priests. People who rule and reign with Jesus in the Kingdom of God.
A King is responsible before God for their life and for the People that God has placed in their life to serve. They understand that what they do is bigger than themselves.
A priest lives their life as service to God. They are set apart for a holy work. A priest stands before God for the people and they before the people for God.
As Kings and Priests, we are representatives of the Holy; That which is pure. We represent that which pleases God and point people in the ways of God. We speak healing, salvation and call for repentance and return when needed.
The book of First Samuel tells us that an unnamed prophet came to Eli with an awful message. This unknown man delivered an amazing prophecy — one that has everything to do with what we see going on in the church today. It is a word that reveals much about dead, dry, ungodly ministers and churches in operation right now!
This prophecy tells of two priesthoods that would develop and continue, from that day onward until the time that Jesus comes back.
Both of these priesthoods would be ministering in the church. One would be a cursed, abominable shame. But the other would be a ministry after God's own heart!
1 Samuel 2:12 - Now the sons of Eli were corrupt; they did not know the Lord.
Eli was the Chief priest of Israel. His sons worked with Him in the temple. The Bible says that they were wicked and that they did not know God.
1 Sameul 2:22-25 - Now Eli was very old; and he heard everything his sons did to all Israel, and how they lay with the women who assembled at the door of the tabernacle of meeting. 23 So he said to them, “Why do you do such things? For I hear of your evil dealings from all the people. 24 No, my sons! For it is not a good report that I hear. You make the Lord’s people transgress. 25 If one man sins against another, God will judge him. But if a man sins against the Lord, who will intercede for him?” Nevertheless, they did not heed the voice of their father, because the Lord desired to kill them.
1 Samuel 2:27-31 - Then a man of God came to Eli and said to him, “Thus says the Lord: ‘Did I not clearly reveal Myself to the house of your father when they were in Egypt in Pharaoh’s house? 28 Did I not choose him out of all the tribes of Israel to be My priest, to offer upon My altar, to burn incense, and to wear an ephod before Me? And did I not give to the house of your father all the offerings of the children of Israel made by fire? 29 Why do you kick at My sacrifice and My offering which I have commanded in My dwelling place, and honor your sons more than Me, to make yourselves fat with the best of all the offerings of Israel My people?’ 30 Therefore the Lord God of Israel says: ‘I said indeed that your house and the house of your father would walk before Me forever.’ But now the Lord says: ‘Far be it from Me; for those who honor Me I will honor, and those who despise Me shall be lightly esteemed. 31 Behold, the days are coming that I will cut off your arm and the arm of your father’s house, so that there will not be an old man in your house.
Because the sin of Eli and his sons was so great God was describing a curse upon the ministry of Eli.
This man of God goes on to prophecy something else.
1 Samuel 2:35 -Then I will raise up for Myself a faithful priest who shall do according to what is in My heart and in My mind. I will build him a sure house, and he shall walk before My anointed forever.
This prophecy of two priesthoods is being fulfilled today — right before our eyes. Both ministries are operating simultaneously in nations all across the world!
First, the prophet speaks of the ongoing ministry of a self-centered, backslidden, compromising priesthood.
He describes those priests who are of the spirit of Eli, mentioning two things:
First, He describes these types of priests as people pleasers.
The Apostle Paul speaks of a day when people will gather to themselves ministers who will tickle their itching ears.
Eli was soft on sin! He never made any decisions that would offend his two sons.
Only once, in over fifty years of ministry, did Eli correct them. They had been committing adultery, raping women, committing the most vile acts. Yet even then, all Eli could say to them was, "Why do you do this?"
This man had no righteous indignation! He never shared God's wrath and hatred toward sin. And he represents a priesthood of ministers who are afraid to reprove God's family, the congregation!
There are churches today that you can attend for up to a year, and yet never hear one word of reproof. A church could be totally corrupted — half of the congregation divorcing, adultery rampant, teenagers sleeping around, children unruly. The whole congregation can be given over to pleasure, and self but there is never a word of correction from the pulpit! Instead, the pastor caters to the people's weaknesses and cravings. He is afraid to offend anyone — afraid the offerings will go down and he'll lose his income.
This is the first characteristic of the evil ministry developing in Eli's soul. And it is the mark of every ongoing, compromising priesthood today!
The second thing -They cater to their own needs and comfort rather than give themselves toward the needs of the flock.
1 Samuel 2:29 - Why do you kick at My sacrifice and My offering which I have commanded in My dwelling place, and honor your sons more than Me, to make yourselves fat with the best of all the offerings of Israel My people?’
When the people brought the meat offering to the priest, it was supposed to go into the pot to be boiled. Afterward, the priest dipped a three-pronged hook into the pot, and whatever came out on the hook went onto his table.
But Eli's two sons didn't want the boiled, meat. They wanted the red, raw filet mignon! So, they brought their father the prime cuts. There was boiled flesh on his table. That's how Eli got fat, lazy, careless. If he would have dealt with his sons, he might have lost his filet mignon!
Eli was concerned with his own interests, his own table. And that is what is happening in many dying churches today: Preachers are interested only in their own comfort, in caring for themselves — instead of spending time on their knees for the sake of the people!
Self-absorbed priests produce self-absorbed disciples. Listen today I am not just speaking about those with the position as pastor of a church. But all of us as priests unto God.
The prophet is saying, "You are self-absorbed, Eli. To you, the ministry means nothing more than food on the table, security for you and your family. You don't really care about the flock.
You're more interested in what goes onto your table than in what goes into the people's hearts. Yet you never once think about how your compromise and selfishness bring reproach to God's name. You never consider the people who watch as your sons steal the prime meat. You are soft on sin, afraid to reprove — because you're consumed with things that make you comfortable!"
The Good news is that this prophet spoke of another kind of priesthood that God is raising up.
1 Samuel 2:35 - Then I will raise up for Myself a faithful priest who shall do according to what is in My heart and in My mind. I will build him a sure house, and he shall walk before My anointed forever.
This holy ministry is the Zadok priesthood!
It is made up of faithful, holy ministers of God who walk and live according to His desire. And such a priesthood remains to this very day!
Everything that this unnamed prophet prophesied is fully illustrated in David's kingdom. David is a type of Christ, and Israel is a type of the church. And David had two priests who fulfilled these two prophetic priesthoods to the letter: Abiathar and Zadok.
2 Samuel 15:35 - And do you not have Zadok and Abiathar the priests with you there?
Let’s take a look at Zadok –
Zadok's name means "one who's proved righteous".
1 Chronicles 12:1, 28 - "Now these are they that came to David to Ziklag... And Zadok, a young man mighty of valor, and of his father's house twenty and two captains"
Zadok was the first young priest to recognize God's anointing on David!
Men were fleeing to David, coming from all over to join his forces. Zadok recognized that the Spirit had left Saul; his ministry now was all hype, flesh, with no call or touch of heaven. Saul so feared the opinion of men that he was willing to be disobedient to God.
Zadok said, "I don't want any part of that kind of ministry. It's dead — God has gone from it. I'm going with David, who has the Spirit's anointing!"
So Zadok went to David at Ziklag — never to leave him for the rest of his life! Through every rebellion, Zadok stood with him, a man proved righteous. David had captured the priest's heart — and Zadok never looked back.
There are men of God like this in many churches today. These are people of prayer who are committed to Jesus, having walked away from all flesh, entertainment and worldliness. And you know it when you hear them preach or speak — because something registers in your soul!
These people are few and they are different.
God has called us to be different. To be a priesthood of believers that represent Him in this world.
It is a privilege. It is a high calling. It is a calling that few embrace but that God has called all of as believers to carry.
I look forward to sharing the full message with you. I know it will challenge, inspire and excite you to serve God well.
Know that you are loved.
Pastor Marvin & Dawn
Image by Pete Linforth from Pixabay
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1 Samuel 6:7-14 - Now therefore, make a new cart, take two milk cows which have never been yoked, and hitch the cows to the cart; and take their calves home, away from them. 8 Then take the ark of the Lord and set it on the cart; and put the articles of gold which you are returning to Him as a trespass offering in a chest by its side. Then send it away, and let it go. 9 And watch: if it goes up the road to its own territory, to Beth Shemesh, then He has done us this great evil. But if not, then we shall know that it is not His hand that struck us—it happened to us by chance.” 10 Then the men did so; they took two milk cows and hitched them to the cart and shut up their calves at home. 11 And they set the ark of the Lord on the cart, and the chest with the gold rats and the images of their tumors. 12 Then the cows headed straight for the road to Beth Shemesh, and went along the highway, lowing as they went, and did not turn aside to the right hand or the left. And the lords of the Philistines went after them to the border of Beth Shemesh. 13 Now the people of Beth Shemesh were reaping their wheat harvest in the valley; and they lifted their eyes and saw the ark and rejoiced to see it.
~ Gene Roncone - We all have them. Defeats, failures, and painful consequences of being stuck on stupid.
1 Samuel chapters 4-6 summarizes a time when the nation of Israel strayed from God while clinging to religious symbolism. – The nation was in sin. Eli the priest had sons that were committing sin and he did nothing about it because he benefited from it. The Bible calls Eli’s son’s scoundrels.
After being defeated by the Philistines, Israel launched a counterattack with the Ark of the Covenant marching before them. They were confident the Ark would ensure their military success despite their spiritual failure. God was not impressed, and the Philistines defeated them again and took the sacred Ark as a spoil of war.
To the Philistines this was just the symbol of another God.
1 Samuel 4:10-11 (NLT) - So the Philistines fought desperately, and Israel was defeated again. The slaughter was great; 30,000 Israelite soldiers died that day. The survivors turned and fled to their tents. 11 The Ark of God was captured, and Hophni and Phinehas, the two sons of Eli, were killed.
Isreal was defeated because they no longer valued the presence of God or revered God as Holy.
The Ark of the Covenant represented the Presence of God among His people.
Hophni, Phinehas and Eli were openly sinning and compromising even in the temple.
God purposed to destroy them and their family and to teach Israel a lesson.
Too often we value religion over presence.
We like what religion represents in theory.
The Israelites saw God as a means to an end instead of an end in Himself. He is God!
We are to cherish His presence. Remember when God gave us Jesus, He was to be called Emmanuel or “GOD WITH US”.
How many times do people pull out God only when they need a victory or when they need something.
This is what religion is. It is transactional. I will do this as long as God does this. It is only about rules and rewards.
The Bible tells us that God is a REWARDER of those who diligently seek Him.
Hebrews 11:6 - But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
Isreal no longer valued the presence of God, they only wanted God for what He could do for them.
Once you lose sight of who God is, once you stop valuing His presence you resort to religion. Israel wanted a formula over God’s presence. They saw God as someone they could manipulate.
Just bring the ark and there will be victory. It is kind of like people who will rub a rosery for answered prayer and will settle for several hail Mary’s and a few our Father’s and they are good to go.
When we no longer value the presence of God it leads to presumption and arrogance. The Israelites believed that as long as they had religion that they had the presence this is when they lost the presence of God.
1 Samuel 4:19-22 - Now his daughter-in-law, Phinehas’ wife, was with child, due to be delivered; and when she heard the news that the ark of God was captured, and that her father-in-law and her husband were dead, she bowed herself and gave birth, for her labor pains came upon her. 20 And about the time of her death the women who stood by her said to her, “Do not fear, for you have borne a son.” But she did not answer, nor did she regard it. 21 Then she named the child Ichabod, saying, “The glory has departed from Israel!” because the ark of God had been captured and because of her father-in-law and her husband. 22 And she said, “The glory has departed from Israel, for the ark of God has been captured.”
The Glory departed because the presence of God had departed.
I never want God to write Ichabod over my life or the life of our church. May we always cherish His presence.
Because they handled the presence of God as a thing to be used and not a person to be cherished it was taken away for a season.
Beth – Shemesh reminds us of the Sovereignty of God.
It teaches us that the goodness that shows up at our doorstep is not a matter of chance or coincidence.
That the lost things God brings back into our lives are not the product of our own genius, random acts or wandering cows.
They are the orders of a sovereign God who uses time, space and circumstances to achieve His will in our life. The rock of Beth Shemesh reminds us that our lives are not blown by the waves of meaningless chaos but directed by the Master of the seas.
“The cart came into the field of a man named Joshua and stopped beside a large rock...
The large rock at Beth-Shemesh, where they set the Ark of the Lord, still stands in the field of Joshua as a witness to what happened there.”
For both Israel and the Philistines, Beth-Shemesh symbolizes the times and places God restored what we lost because of our stupidity, arrogance or sin. All of us have a few Beth-Shemesh in our own lives.
When you stop cherishing the presence of God you lose sight of the fact that He is God.
Sovereignty is not a mysterious thing that no one can understand. Sovereignty deals with the fact that He is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. He is Sovereign.
Sovereignty deals with the will and desire of a King or in this case God.
The Philistines believed that things were up to chance. God’s will is not the result of randomness, chance or luck. Those cows did not just happen to wander into Israeli territory they went there led by God. Lowing as they went.
Someone needs to hear this – Our God makes order out of Chaos even when we make the chaos ourselves.
Proverbs 16:9 - A man’s heart plans his way, But the Lord directs his steps.
Beth – Shemesh reminds us of the grace of God.
It teaches us that no matter how much we lose or how bad we fail, God continues to invite us back into relationship with Him.
When we are willing to repent, no arrogance, no pride and no sin can separate us from a God of grace and forgiveness. His covenant finds us no matter where we are and invites us home.
It was at Beth-Shemesh that God restored His presence.
The people offered sacrifices to the Lord as worship to God.
1 John 1:9 - If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Titus 2:11-14 - For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, 12 teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, 13 looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, 14 who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works.
I love that line – the grace of God teaches us.
When the prodigal son returned to his father, he didn’t come back empty handed, he came back with the lessons learned.
The Bible says that as that son sat in the pig pen that he came to his senses.
Beth- Shemesh was a place that taught both Israel and the Philistines some lessons.
Thank God for wandering cows directed by the hand of God.
In 2025 may we cherish the presence of Almighty God. May His presence never depart from us for His Glory.
You are loved
Pastor Marvin & Dawn
Image by Arnaud Liégeois from Pixabay
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John 1:14 - And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
Titus 2:11-13 - For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, 12 teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, 13 looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ,
Christmas is when we celebrate the Birth of Jesus.
Christmas is more than that - it is the celebration of God keeping His prophetic word to mankind.
Christmas is powerful because what was promised has both personal and worldwide implications.
Christmas reminds us in a very vivid way that our God is a promise keeper.
It is a reminder that God has plan and that only part of that plan is fulfilled.
Christmas reminds us that God has done what He said!
God promised that Jesus would come the first time as the Messiah of Israel and the Savior of all mankind.
God has also promised that Jesus would come a second time.
The first coming has a name it is called the – Incarnation. This is when Jesus came as God made flesh.
When Jesus comes again that second advent - that second coming also has a name and that is the rapture of the Church.
This is when Jesus comes back to take all those who have made Him savior and Lord from throughout History both the living in the dead and catches them up in the air to be with Him forever.
1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 - For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus, we shall always be with the Lord.
The fact that Jesus came the first time is all the proof that we need that He will come the second time.
There are many prophetic scriptures that Jesus fulfilled during His first coming.
Here are just a few of the prophecies fulfilled by Jesus:
I want to say it again – Our God is a promise Keeper. If Jesus came the first time, then we can count on the fact that He is coming again.
Ephesians 5:25-27 - Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, 26 that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, 27 that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish.
Jesus is coming, but not just for any church.
He’s not coming back for a broken church.
He’s not coming back for a whining church.
He’s not coming back for a depressed church.
He’s not coming back for a fearful church.
He’s not coming back for a politically correct church.
He’s not coming back for a comfortable church.
He’s not coming back for a silent church.
He’s not coming back for a dying church.
Jesus is coming back for a glorious church, a triumphant church,
A Holy Church, a victorious church, a thriving Church,
A Bride without spot or blemish.
This second coming is called our “Blessed Hope”.
Philippians 3:20 - For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,
This Blessed Hope is the Rapture of the Church. It is the catching away of the people of God at the begging of the Tribulation or the last seven years of mankind as we know it.
The Tribulation is the Judgement of God on mankind with a redemptive purpose.
It is a time of shaking the world in order that all who have rejected God will know that there is a God. It will be a time of convincing people of the Righteous ways of God is such a specific manner that they will have to purposefully make a decision to reject God even when He has without question revealed Himself and His ways.
Jesus came the first time for the saving of the soul; He will come again the to save the body. He came the first time to redeem the individual; He will come the second time to redeem society.
There are over 8,300 verses in the Bible that contain predictive prophecy.
These verses reference 700 different prophecies.
These include Messianic prophecies – Those are prophecies fulfilled by Jesus.
Prophecies concerning the nation of Israel.
They include prophecies concerning the church age – the age we live in now.
They include prophecies concerning end-time events.
One-fifth of the entire Bible is prophetic.
There are 8 times more prophetic scriptures on the Second Coming of Jesus and the Rapture of the church than there are about His first.
I want you to think about that. – there is no doubt that the first coming was vital to man-kind. So why is there so much attention given to the Rapture of the Church?
More than 50 times in the New Testament we are informed to prepare for His return. Next to Faith, the Return of Christ is the most repetitive subject in the New Testament.
But why is there so much emphasis placed on the Rapture?
Today there is a real effort to erase the idea of the Rapture of the church from our discussion. There is even a real effort to convince people that the Bible does not even talk about the Second Coming of Jesus until after the tribulation.
It has always been church doctrine that Jesus is coming back for His church. There have always been those around who do not believe that a pre-tribulation rapture is biblical and that Jesus will only return at the end of time after the tribulation and judgment. There are those who scoff at the idea that Jesus is even coming back at all.
Understand that this is a satanic assault against hope. The promise Jesus gave IS A PROMISE of hope for both the Christian and the non-Christian.
The fact that Jesus is coming back gives great hope for the Christian of better things to come. The fact that Jesus has yet to return means that there is still hope for those who will come to Jesus. People have all kinds of ideas that they give as reasons for what seems to be Christ’s delay.
Jesus is not delaying His promise--- He is extending the season of hope.
2 Peter 3:1-10- Beloved, I now write to you this second epistle (in both of which I stir up your pure minds by way of reminder), 2 that you may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us, the apostles of the Lord and Savior, 3 knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, 4 and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation.” 5 for this they willfully forget: that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water, 6 by which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water. 7 But the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.8 But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 9 The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.
Any delay we perceive in the slowness of Christ keeping His promise to catch us away is purely because He longs for people to be saved and not become partakers of His judgment and wrath.
I love the Christmas season. I love the lights, the gifts the decorated trees. But I love the Hope that Christmas renews in the hearts and minds of people.
May this season of hope remind you that just as Jesus came the first time, He is coming again. Look up, be encouraged, Live expectantly your redemption draws near.
Merry Christmas to you and your family. From All of us here at HCC know that you are loved.
Pastor Marvin & Dawn
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Zachariah 10:1 – - Ask the Lord for rain In the time of the latter rain. The Lord will make flashing clouds; He will give them showers of rain, Grass in the field for everyone.
Colossians 3:17- And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.
1 Thessalonians 5:18 (NLT) - Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.
We are blessed. We are blessed as Christians because of all that God has done for us.
We are blessed as Americans because we live with unprecedented abundance.
We are blessed because we have a God who loves us and who listens to and answers our prayers.
We live in a world that conditions us to be unhappy and unsatisfied.
We have a Savior and a Heavenly Father who has promised to supply all of our need according to His riches in Glory by Christ Jesus.
The truth is that we have so much abundance and blessing that we have become a people that take things for granted.
“To Take for Granted” is an expression that means to value something or someone too lightly, or to fail to appreciate something that should be valued.
~ Someone said - Negative pessimism is a hard monkey to get off your back, It colors everything dull and bland. It stifles creativity, ruins relationships, and makes everything hopeless. You lose sight of all that you “have and are” for what you “want and are not.”
There is a saying that tells us – “When the precious becomes common, it is soon to be lost”.
So much of what we once held precious has become so common that it has lost its value to us and instead of being thankful, we just expect it and stop appreciating what we have and have been given.
God’s will for us as His Children is that we are grateful and thankful for what He has done and for what others do for us and for all that we have.
What are things in your life that you consider precious? What are some things in your life that you are thankful for that would be easy for you to take for granted?
We have so much to be thankful for.
I don’t want to be the kind of person that takes things for granted.
The prophet Zachariah tells us that we need to ask the Lord for rain in the time of the latter rain.
This seems quite odd when you think about it. Ask God for rain at the time that it is supposed to be raining.
The time of the latter rain is a normal repeating event that happens each time that this season comes around. The latter rain happens right before harvest time.
The prophet tells the people to give special attention to a thing that normally would receive no special attention.
Why? You see the farmer must plant the crop and tend to the crop and keep out the weeds and the pests. But only God can bring the rain. That is out of their control. They are trusting in the faithfulness and dependability of God to do what they can’t do for themselves.
The blessings of God are seasonal. They are poured out and then we get to enjoy them in all the other seasons because we have had a harvest because He sent the rain.
We love the excitement of the rain and the harvest but we can easily get discontented in the other seasons even though we are living in abundance because we have grown addicted to the new or the excitement of the rain.
Gratitude is the antidote to growing bored with the blessings of God.
God has promised that is we are obedient to His Word and to His ways that He will pour out so much blessing that we won’t have room to contain it.
Malachi 3:10 - Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, That there may be food in My house,
And try Me now in this,” Says the Lord of hosts, “If I will not open for you the windows of heaven And pour out for you such blessing That there will not be room enough to receive it.
The NIV doesn’t say windows it says – “Floodgates”. God says that when we are obedient to His Word and Ways that we will go from not enough to Way more than enough.
We will now have the good problem of figuring out what to do with all of the blessings that He has given us.
The thing is if we are not careful, we will become so used to the more than enough that we don’t appreciate what we have.
The Prophet Zachariah is reminding us to never take anything for granted.
We are to pray about everything. Even the repeated reoccurring events in life.
Prayer is not just about the asking it is about the relationship we have with God. It is not taking Him or what He does for granted. It is taking the time to say thank you.
Do you view prayer as primarily asking or thanking God for things?
Prayer keeps us attuned, grateful for what we have, and it keeps us vigilant.
It is in the well-worn paths that the hunter lays a snare. It is in the commonly used trails where we become inattentive and unwatchful, making us vulnerable to attacks.
Prayer keeps us from being easily distracted or preoccupied.
Remember when you were first married, and your spouse had your full attention? Or you prayed for a car and house and now you have those things, and they seem like no big deal. Satan likes to trap us when we stop paying attention in areas of our life that have become familiar.
Prayer guards our heart from ungratefulness and selfishness.
It also helps us to stay in the peace of God. Have you ever noticed how sometimes we get anxious wondering if God will do for us again what He did in the past?”
Gratefulness drives the fear out of our lives. Satan always wants to steal our peace. That only happens when we stop thanking God for who He is.
Philippians 4:6-7 - Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; 7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
In our times of prayer, we are to thank God for who He is, for what He has done and for what He is going to do in response to prayer.
This Thanksgiving season is a great time to look at our lives and realize just how really good God has been to us. To recognize that we are living in abundance.
If you are going through a difficult season. It will be helpful to look back at all that God has already brought you through. My friend. He will do it again.
May the peace of God be yours in abundance. May your heart rest in the assurance that you matter to God and that He loves you.
Happy Thanksgiving to you and your precious family.
Pastor Marvin & Dawn
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1 Corinthians 14:1-5 - Pursue love, and desire spiritual gifts, but especially that you may prophesy. 2 For he who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God, for no one understands him; however, in the spirit he speaks mysteries. 3 But he who prophesies speaks edification and exhortation and comfort to men. 4 He who speaks in a tongue edifies himself, but he who prophesies edifies the church. 5 I wish you all spoke with tongues, but even more that you prophesied; for he who prophesies is greater than he who speaks with tongues, unless indeed he interprets, that the church may receive edification.
The Bible is a prophetic book. It declares the mind, will, purposes and intent of God.
God calls us to be a prophetic people. We are called to be a people who declare the mind, will, purposes and intent of God.
God calls us to speak into the lives of others. To declare His ways to them.
The Bible says that God has given spiritual gifts to the church.
Out of all of those gifts the Apostle Paul said that he desires that we all would prophesy.
There are still prophets in our day. There are prophets that have national attention and there are prophets that like many of the minor prophets in the Bible minister in a more local context.
The gift of prophecy however is something that the Apostle Paul said he wished all Christians would seek to have.
I have watched this gift at work throughout my lifetime. I received my call to ministry through the gift of prophesy working through several people and evangelists.
Prophecy – Means simply to speak forth or to declare the mind, will, purposes, intent and word of God.
It is an inspired message from God is one’s own language. It is a divine disclosure on behalf of the Holy Spirit. It is a revelation of the Spirit of God for the moment. It could be for a church, a family or an individual.
It is a greater insight of the Spirit of God for several distinct purposes.
1 Corinthians 14:3 - But he who prophesies speaks edification and exhortation and comfort to men.
Edification, Exhortation and comfort.
Those three words are important because they involve some very important things.
A word of Prophecy will call people to repentance when they are in sin. It may be something that you know as a fact or something that God shows you.
A word of prophecy will bring encouragement or exhortation – this brings hope to those who are weak and struggling. The word encouragement means to strengthen. To lift up to elevate. Many times, those who speak to others prophetically help people to grow and mature. It affirms them and their calling.
A word of exhortation can also help bring clarity and direction to people. It helps to guide them.
A word of prophecy is also a word of edification. – This means to build people up. Many times, it is a word of teaching and enhancing. Edification can help people to improve. Many times, edification can involve a word of correction. This is different than a call to repentance, it is really a teachable moment of redirection in life. The way someone is looking at something compared to the way God sees things.
A Word of Prophecy can also be a word of Comfort. It helps to remind people that they are pleasing to God. It brings refreshing. It helps people know that God has good plans for them and they may even get specific.
You can see why Paul said I wish that you all would prophesy.
Prophecy is not fortunetelling. – As a matter of fact, fortunetelling is Satan’s counterfeit to this gift. The insight does not come from the Spirit of God but from familiar evil spirits. It is not predicting the future or predicting end-time events.
Today there are Christians that want to give a personal word to everyone that they meet. They will even call people to see them in a room or make a special appointment or come to the altar and “Get” a word. This is not God. Usually, these people are speaking out of their flesh or even worse they are being used by Satan. This is very dangerous and not of God.
The gift of prophecy is a grace gift given and available to all believers.
All can prophesy –
1 Corinthians 14:1- Pursue love, and desire spiritual gifts, but especially that you may prophesy.
1 Corinthians 14:31 - For you can all prophesy one by one, that all may learn and all may be encouraged.
1 Corinthians 14:39 - Therefore, brethren, desire earnestly to prophesy, and do not forbid to speak with tongues.
Prophecy happens when we speak the impressions God places on our mind. It will well up within us and burn in our spirit and you will know that you must speak it. It will always line up with the word of God.
You will know it is from God in the same way that you know that you belong to God. His Spirit bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.
It also involves honesty. Before we ever declare that something is a word from God, we must test the spirits … including our own. In order to know what we are going to speak is from God.
Remember that God speaks for specific reasons. – He brings comfort, direction, insight, correction, strength, encouragement and issues warnings.
Prophecy can provide confirmation. – As a matter of fact, much prophecy that is spoken confirms what God has already been speaking to someone.
~ Someone said – Prophecy rarely comes like a thunderstorm. It gently affirms what we are already hearing from God in our spirit.
Today people are skeptical of prophecy because at some point they have seen weird things from people and in church.
I have grown up in Pentecost and I have spent my entire adult life in pastoral ministry. I have seen some weird things.
I have a fairly low thresh hold for odd people who do things in the flesh claiming to speak for God.
Because of these weird things people have grown weary and leery of the prophetic.
Quite honestly many pastors would rather not have the prophetic around because it can get messy.
1 Thessalonians 5:20-21- Do not despise prophecies. 21 Test all things; hold fast to what is good.
(Amp) - Do not scorn or reject gifts of prophecy or prophecies [spoken revelations—words of instruction or exhortation or warning]. 21 But test all things carefully [so you can recognize what is good]. Hold firmly to that which is good.
I love the honesty of this. Test carefully recognize what is good and hold on to it.
Satan wants to discredit one of God’s most powerful ways of working with and speaking to people.
The truth is that we should not be preoccupied with the fear of missing it. We should be concerned with functioning in the gifts and hearing from God.
Everyone who lives in the prophetic can expect to have what they say and the way that they live examined.
1 John 4:1 - Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.
1 Corinthians 14:29 - Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others judge.
(AMP) - Let two or three prophets speak [as inspired by the Holy Spirit], while the rest pay attention and weigh carefully what is said.
(NLT) - Let two or three people prophesy, and let the others evaluate what is said.
Those who are used by God are people of accountability.
We should expect to have what we say examined and evaluated.
Every week when I preach, I expect you to examine what I have said.
What should be examined?
Does what is being said line up with God’s word?
How was it said? Was it in love and with a good attitude?
If it was a message of correction was it insistent enough or was it given to softly? Was it rude or angry or hateful?
Was what was said so vague that it could have just been a feeling instead of God?
Was what was said meant to make people like you or to love Jesus more?
I believe that Jesus is calling each of us to a deeper level of living for Him.
He is calling us and inviting us to live prophetically.
Remember that you are dearly loved,
Pastor Marvin & Dawn
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James 4:7 - Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.
Psalm 144:1 (NLT) - Praise the Lord, who is my rock. He trains my hands for war and gives my fingers skill for battle.
John 10:10 (AMP) - The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance [to the full, till it overflows].
We are in a war. Whether we want to be or not, we are.
We need to recognize that fact and face it head on.
The purposes of Jesus and Satan could not be more opposite of one another.
Jesus comes to bring us abundant life and the ability to enjoy life.
Satan comes for no other reasons except to kill, steal, and destroy.
One of the most sobering facts about life is that all of us have a supernatural enemy who’s aim it to use both pain and pleasure to make us blind, tear down, make us miserable and to cause us to lose our relationship with God Almighty.
Satan is evil. His wickedness knows no limitations. He is brutal and has absolutely no love, compassion or sympathy. He has no remorse for the pain and suffering he causes.
He will cause incredible damage, fear, terror, and destruction and miserably enjoy every part of it.
He leads us to sin causing issues between us and God. He causes immense personal anxiety, cheapens the life that God values so much. He destroys marriages, corrupts nations, accuses each person of things true and untrue until we can’t even stand ourselves. He condemns us to death until we agree with him.
Jesus didn’t come to condemn the world, although He is the only one who can as the righteous judge.
He came that the world though Him might be saved.
Satan attacks you and me and then tells us that we are crazy and that nothing is actually happening and even if there was, there is nothing that we can do about it, he is the original gas lighter.
I want to look at a few things to remember while we are fighting this good fight of the faith.
There are two main parts to spiritual warfare – Submitting and Resisting
James 4:7 - Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.
When it comes to spiritual warfare many people only quote half of this verse. – Resist the devil.
I believe that this is a trick of the devil because it is an incomplete strategy and it is incomplete obedience to God’s word.
~ To Submit means to yield, obey and to follow. – One definition - accept or yield to a superior force or to the authority or will of another person. To Surrender.
The reason that so many people have a difficult time resisting the devil is because they have never fully surrendered their life to God.
Someone needs to hear this – resistance is all about not surrendering, it is about opposing. If you have already surrendered to one, the battle is already won because you cannot surrender to both sides.
For many the warfare is difficult because they have not chosen a side. Now as Believes we have obviously chosen a side. We are on the Lord’s side.
In order to fight effectively against our enemy, we must be fully committed to the will and ways of God.
~ To Resist - to exert force in opposition. to fight against or oppose something or someone: to refuse to accept or be changed by something: to withstand, strive against.
There is no such thing as passive resistance. Even being passive aggressive is still actively being aggressive with attitude and not actions.
Satan has come to kill, steal, and destroy. All of these actions must be actively resisted in every area of our lives. Our walk with God, our marriage, our health, our finances, our relationships with others.
Titus 2:11-12 (NIV) - For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. 12 It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age,
The grace of God teaches us to say yes to Jesus and No to the devil. The start of resisting the devil starts with us using our voice for a resounding NO. No more, No further, Not on my watch, Not in my family, Not in my Life.
Jesus came to give us abundant life – Choose life and choose to live. – It is no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me.
Deuteronomy 30:19 - I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live;
Choose – Someone needs to hear this – resistance is a choice. It is a choice to obey God and to choose life.
It is choosing to live and to thrive. Not just to survive. It is rejecting the devils attack and his lack and choosing the abundance of peace, provision and protection that God offers.
We have been conditioned to believe that resistance can be done with very little thought and very little effort. – That is a lie.
True warfare is resisting the lies the devil tells us and actively choosing to believe the Word of God and His truth.
I choose to believe the Word of God over the lies of the enemy. I want to remind you that we are not fighting for victory but from a position of victory. Jesus has already won!
Remember that you are loved. Have an amazing September!
Pastor Marvin & Dawn
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Ezekiel 22:30 - So, I sought for a man among them who would make a wall and stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found no one.
A few years ago, two policemen were sent to issue a citation to a resident for not keeping their yard cut. It was a civic code in this town. They encountered a widow, who had recently lost her husband. She apologized, because she was physically unable to do the work. The two policemen came back after their shift and cut her lawn and trimmed the hedges. They didn’t ignore the requirements. They became part of the solution. They filled in the gaps.
I call people like this – Gap people.
Gap people see when there are things that are needed and they step in to fill the hole to make something complete.
Every day we encounter gaps. Some are small and some are large.
Gaps happen. Gaps in floors, gaps in bricks, gaps in windows. Teeth gaps, road gaps, roof gaps, and foundation gaps. They mark spots that are broken and in need of repair.
God has called us to fill in the gaps in people’s lives spiritually and in the natural.
As followers of Jesus Christ, we have been given the ministry of intercession.
God is looking for people who will stand in the gap for others. Those people who will close the gaps or the areas where the enemy can get in.
Most people, when they think of intercession, think of prayer. While there is intercessory prayer for people, the type of prayer that goes to God on behalf of others.
The idea of intercession is so much more.
Intercession is something that you choose to do. It is a gift in the sense that you are doing something for someone else but it is not a spiritual gift that you either have or do not have.
There is no need to over spiritualize something that is so powerful and also so practical.
Everyone is called to be and can be an intercessor in one way or another.
The word "intercede" comes from the Latin "inter" meaning "between" and "ced" meaning "go". To intercede literally means "go between".
Think of a brick wall, the mortar in the joints goes between the bricks. That mortar "goes between", or "intercedes", between the bricks to bind them together and strengthen them. Without the mortar "going between" the bricks, the wall would collapse.
If you want to break down a wall, the easiest way is to start where there are gaps in the mortar. You start chopping and chipping at those sections and soon the entire wall will lack the support it needs and will give way.
Satan looks for the gaps and begins to chip away at a person, a family, or a nation in their place of weakness to cause them to be destroyed.
Those who intercede fill in the gaps so that there is no place of weakness. It is the picture of a soldier stepping in to fill the gap in a defensive line so that the line is strengthened and there are no gaps that the enemy can infiltrate.
Nehemiah was a gap person and he inspired people to rebuild the wall around Jerusalem that had been destroyed.
Moses was a gap person. When the anger of God was kindled against Israel Moses pleaded on their behalf.
Exodus 32:11 - Then Moses pleaded with the Lord his God, and said: “Lord, why does Your wrath burn hot against Your people whom You have brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand?
This is what Jesus did for us. Jesus is the ultimate gap filler.
Jesus filled in the gaps on our behalf by going to the cross. He defeated and destroyed the works of the devil when we could not.
He overcame sin, death, and the grave when we could not.
He paid the debt that we owed to God on our behalf so that the wrath of God could be appeased by the blood of the spotless Lamb of God.
1 Peter 2:24 (NLT) - He personally carried our sins in his body on the cross so that we can be dead to sin and live for what is right. By his wounds you are healed.
(AMP) - He personally carried our sins in His body on the cross [willingly offering Himself on it, as on an altar of sacrifice], so that we might die to sin [becoming immune from the penalty and power of sin] and live for righteousness; for by His wounds you [who believe] have been healed.
When it comes to filling in the gaps God is simply looking for people who are willing to be available.
Ezekiel 22:30 - “I looked for someone who might rebuild the wall of righteousness that guards the land. I searched for someone to stand in the gap in the wall so I wouldn’t have to destroy the land, but I found no one.
When God spoke to the prophet Ezekiel He said – “I am looking for someone to stand in the gap”.
Do not miss the simplicity of this. I just need someone who will stand.
Just stand right here in this space. Just stand.
Too often we overcomplicate things. Jesus didn’t say I am looking for a skilled stone mason.
He said if we are going to rebuild the wall of righteousness in society, I need someone to just stand right here next to the other people that are standing. Now we have a complete wall of righteousness.
People who will stand for the ways of God and refuse to move or budge.
When it comes to spiritual warfare Jesus said in Ephesians 6
Ephesians 6:13-14a - Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.14 Stand.
(AMP) - Therefore, put on the complete armor of God, so that you will be able to [successfully] resist and stand your ground in the evil day [of danger], and having done everything [that the crisis demands], to stand firm [in your place, fully prepared, immovable, victorious]. 14 So stand firm and hold your ground,
Just stand and hold your ground.
Just stand.
God is looking for people who will make themselves available to fill in the gaps.
Isaiah 6:8 - Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying: “Whom shall I send, And who will go for Us?” Then I said, “Here am I! Send me.”
I believe that in our day God is looking for people with the Spirit of Isaiah. Here I am send me. Choose me.
Every time I read this verse; I see Horshack from Welcome Back Kotter with his had up in class to be called on. OHHH, Mr. Kotter!
In Ezekiel’s day there was no one willing to take a stand and fill in the gaps.
May that not be so in our day.
I am excited about unpacking this message for us as a church.
I believe that God is raising up a people who will stand in our society as people of righteousness in a wicked society. People who will stand as symbols of hope pointing to Jesus in a world that needs hope. People who will stand and protect those that need shielded from the evil that is in the world.
May the Lord Bless you and your family. Remember that you are loved.
Pastor Marvin and Dawn
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John 8:31-32 - Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. 32 And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”
When Jesus gave the Great Commission, He commissioned those who followed Him to go and make disciples. He did not instruct them to go and make believers; He said disciples. There is a big difference between a believer and a disciple. There is even a big difference between those who identify as a Christian and those who identify as a disciple.
James 2:19 - You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble!
Satan and the demons (the fallen angels) are believers, but they are not disciples. This reality is usually an eye opener for many people.
A disciple is someone who not only believes the Word of God but who has been taught to allow the Word of God to completely transform their life for the Glory of God.
I want to say it again that there is a big difference in being a believer of Jesus Christ and a disciple of Jesus Christ.
A Disciple is someone who has moved from being the recipient of the church’s mission to being responsible for the church’s mission.
A True Disciple is a follower of Christ.
Mark 1:17-18 (AMP) - And Jesus said to them, “Follow Me [as My disciples, accepting Me as your Master and Teacher and walking the same path of life that I walk], and I will make you fishers of men.” 18 Immediately they left their nets and followed Him [becoming His disciples, believing and trusting in Him and following His example].
As Followers we surrender the being the leader of our own life. The very first call to the very first disciples were – follow me.
Following Jesus isn’t simply an adherence to a set of beliefs but a commitment to a Way of Life.
This is why the first disciples were called followers of – The Way. Jesus is the Way the Truth and the Life.
2 Corinthians 5:17 (NLT) - This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!
As a follower our life now belongs to Him. He is our Master and our Lord.
Matthew 7:20-23 (NLT) - Yes, just as you can identify a tree by its fruit, so you can identify people by their actions. 21 “Not everyone who calls out to me, ‘Lord! Lord!’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Only those who actually do the will of my Father in heaven will enter. 22 On judgment day many will say to me, ‘Lord! Lord! We prophesied in your name and cast out demons in your name and performed many miracles in your name.’ 23 But I will reply, ‘I never knew you. Get away from me, you who break God’s laws.’
Luke 6:46 - “But why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do the things which I say?
To follow means that we will go where He wants us to go, when He wants us to go and do whatever He commands us to do.
Much of what passes for Christianity is simply an acknowledgement and agreement with a set of beliefs with no real semblance of what a disciple truly is.
Luke 9:57-62 - Now it happened as they journeyed on the road, that someone said to Him, “Lord, I will follow You wherever You go.” 58 And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.” 59 Then He said to another, “Follow Me.” But he said, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” 60 Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and preach the kingdom of God.” 61 And another also said, “Lord, I will follow You, but let me first go and bid them farewell who are at my house.” 62 But Jesus said to him, “No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.”
Notice how all of these people have a “but first”. Anytime we have a “but first” Jesus isn’t first. He is either our first or He is not. – Is Jesus truly your first?
A key mark of a Genuine Disciple is obedience.
A disciple is not someone of blind obedience. They walk by faith and not by sight. True faith is not blind, in fact it sees clearly.
An obedient disciple is someone who lives in the Fear of the Lord. They know that He is God. They live their life in awe and in reverence of who He is as God.
They obey not because they are afraid of God but because they desire to please God.
When Jesus called us to make disciples, He told us to teach them to OBEY ALL that He has commanded.
Obedience to God is not an option of discipleship, it is a prerequisite for being a disciple.
Matthew 21:6 - So the disciples went and did as Jesus commanded them.
John 14:15 (AMP) - “If you [really] love Me, you will keep and obey My commandments.
For the Disciple The Word of God is not only life, it is our way of life. The Life of a disciple is found in the word. We are word driven and Spirit Led.
A Disciple is obedient to the teachings and the commands of Christ.
Disciples don’t just believe the Word of God they obey it because they live by Faith.
James 2:18-20 - But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. 19 You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble! 20 But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead?
What is dead faith? Faith without obedience to the Word of God.
A Genuine Disciple Loves Christ above all others.
Remember Love is…. Not love feels.
For the disciple there is no divided allegiance. This is hard for people to grasp.
True love is marked by unhindered devotion.
Mark 12:30 - And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment.
Luke 14:26 - “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple.
People ask me if I love God more than my wife and kids. Yes.
But the truth is I can love them best when I love God first.
Love is a choice not a feeling. Never confuse attraction with love.
To be a true disciple of Christ is to have a love for Him that is above all others.
Above opinions, Loyalties, ambitions, affections, desires, and relationships.
This is a disciple. This will challenge all of us. The fact is many people think this is too extreme.
Yet this is the type of devotion that God requires.
A Genuine Disciple must be willing to forsake all.
Luke 14:33 - So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple.
(AMP) - So then, none of you can be My disciple who does not [carefully consider the cost and then for My sake] give up all his own possessions.
This is hard for so many people.
For many people there is something in their life that holds a special place. A thing, A person, a position, a possession.
Different people are built differently. For some it is easy to move on from people or things. For others they cannot give up money or fame.
The Life of a disciple is not easy. It is a narrow way.
Matthew 7:13-14 - “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. 14 Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.
Sometimes is almost seems like Jesus is talking us out of following Him. Difficult, narrow.
What He is saying is make sure that when you choose to be my disciple that you consider the cost. – There are very few who are willing to do it.
Mark 10:29-30 - So Jesus answered and said, “Assuredly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for My sake and the gospel’s, 30 who shall not receive a hundredfold now in this time—houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions—and in the age to come, eternal life.
A disciple realizes that the cost of giving up everything is nothing compared to what Christ has to offer.
There will come a time in life when all of us will be tested about our belief about the cost and if it is worth it or not.
Disciples understand that in order to increase they must first decrease and God must increase.
There is so much more that we will uncover this month as we study what it means to be a genuine disciple.
Our walk with God is meant to be deeper, sweeter and more life impacting than we could ever imagine. My prayer is that this month we will all take some time to take an inventory or our lives and see that we are a genuine disciple.
May you take time to rest this summer and be refreshed. Remember that we love you and that we are praying for you.
Pastor Marvin Dawn
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James 5:11- (NLT) - We give great honor to those who endure under suffering. For instance, you know about Job, a man of great endurance. You can see how the Lord was kind to him at the end, for the Lord is full of tenderness and mercy.
The Bible is full of people who endured suffering.
Stephen was martyred. Paul encountered persecution, beatings, shipwrecks, and a thorn in the flesh the Bible calls a messenger of Satan.
Perhaps no one is better known for their suffering and trouble quite like Job.
The Bible tells us that God blessed the second half of Jobs life even more than the first part.
There is something that we admire about those that have been through seasons of pain and have endured.
We get to see the other side of pain. The side where a person comes out the victor, has gained wisdom, they are emotionally and spiritually healed, and we see the blessing of God.
James 5:11 (AMP) - You know we call those blessed [happy, spiritually prosperous, favored by God] who were steadfast and endured [difficult circumstances]. You have heard of the patient endurance of Job and you have seen the Lord’s outcome [how He richly blessed Job]. The Lord is full of compassion and is merciful.
The good news is that there is the - other side of pain.
Jesus told us that in this world there would be trouble but to take heart because He has overcome the world.
Life is never free from challenges. It just isn’t.
For those without Jesus there is just the trouble. For the Christian there is always the other side of pain.
For Job there was a definite ending point. But understand his children had died, his fortune had to be rebuilt, he had to recover from his sickness and he had to mend the awkward relationships he had with his friends.
For Job there was an ending and a new beginning but there was also the other side of the pain.
The other side of pain is like the other side of a coin. It is the value that we gain from the painful experience.
Our opening verse says that we honor those who have suffered with endurance.
The word endurance contains the ideas of patience and perseverance. It talks about people who have waited and gone the distance and had stood in faith long enough to experience the benefits that come with enduring the suffering.
James 1:2-4 (NLT) - Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. 3 For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. 4 So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.
James tells us to consider it a joy. Another version says to count it all joy.
I love this truth - we get to choose how we consider things. We can choose to consider our trials as an opportunity for joy or we can choose to see them as a waste of time, energy, and pain.
The instruction here to all of us is to consider it an opportunity for joy. Those who do so understand the saying – no pain – no gain.
If life is going to have trouble, pain, challenges, and hardship then we might as well get something out of the experience.
People who do this are what I call, part of, the – Oil and Dimond club.
Grapes must be crushed to make wine
Diamonds form under pressure
Olives are pressed to release oil
Seeds grow in darkness
God is shaping, forming, and growing us in remarkable ways. It is when life is hard that God is working things out for us.
I come from a family of people who have tense muscles. We have knots on our knots. I have found that when I go to get a massage, when I am in the most pain is when I need the most pressure to bring relief. There is this wonderful tiny little Asian lady that can blast the knots right out of my back. While most people who go to get a massage and want the spa experience that brings relaxation, I get someone inflicting what many would consider torture. When she is done, I can move, feel limber and although I am literally bruised, I am better.
The other side of my pain is healing, freedom and the ability to do what God has created me to do.
One of the things that we learn on the other side of pain is that God will always bring you through.
Whenever I read about the life of Paul and the things that he endured I am amazed. Beatings, Shipwrecks, persecution, imprisonment.
When I read about the people in the hall of faith in Hebrews 11. I see something amazing; they were always brought THROUGH.
Psalm 23:4 - Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.
(NLT) - Even when I walk through the darkest valley,
Notice they didn’t build a house and live there. They went through. They didn’t camp out there.
I love the old Song by Andre Crouch– Through it all. –
Through it all, Through it all, I’ve learned to trust in Jesus, I’ve learned to trust in God.
Life is never as wonderful as our Facebook page may imply.
It has its fair share of pain, imprisonment, beat downs, and ship wreaks. But at the end of the day God breathed unimaginable resiliency into the human spirit.
It is a result of us being created in the image of God. Some experience more pain than others and we all have different capacities for grit. However, the fact of the matter is you are capable of more than you realize.
One of the reasons we are so unaware of our capacity is that we spend most of our life trying to avoid challenges and risk. We invest more time seeking comfort, predictability, and safety than we do adventure and testing.
~ Someone said - At the end of the day the human spirit is more enduring and capable than we realize. We cannot discover the sail of longsuffering anywhere else than it the waves of suffering.
God will bring you through.
An important part of endurance is the found in the patience of waiting.
Someone needs to hear this – many times the amount of pain that we suffer is in direct proportion to our ability or inability to wait well.
It takes time to transform and become all that God wants you to be.
I remember growing up with the song – Bullfrogs and butterflies, we’ve both been born again.
In the process of transformation is the awkward stage of development. You aren’t what you were but you are not quite what you will be. You feel awkward and look awkward. You can’t crawl and you can’t fly or hop. You are vulnerable but you are safe.
It can be a painful and difficult time.
God is moving you from being able to crawl to being able to fly. From being awkward to being something beautiful.
Abraham and Sarah were given a promise but instead of waiting on God they took matters into their own hands. They created child but it was not the child of a promise it was the child of their own doing.
In our pain there will be opportunities to settle.
I’m sure Hagar was a nice lady and she was available.
Because Abraham allowed his pain and disappointment to settle in, He and Sarah were willing to settle instead of wait. It leads to more problems.
The other side of pain teaches us that to patiently wait on God to COME THROUGH on His promises is always the best way.
Abraham and Sarah still received the promise. If they had only waited, they would not have had to deal with the complications that they created.
Take it from someone who has been through pain and sorrow and seen firsthand in my life and in the lives of others that God will bring you through. Refuse to settle.
He is faithful! Remember this. At the end of this painful life, if a beautiful and painless and joy filled eternity. That really is the other side of Pain!
You are greatly loved. Have a fantastic summer season!
Pastor Marvin & Dawn
Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay
HCC Monthly Harvest Seed
John 13:14-17 - If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. 15 For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you. 16 Most assuredly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master; nor is he who is sent greater than he who sent him. 17 If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.
WOW!!! – If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.
The truth is that many people have no idea what it really means to be great.
We have sold people a bill of goods that leaves most people feeling like they have accomplished little with their life and that they don’t quite measure up to expectations; theirs, God’s or other people. - Many today feel like they are falling short.
For generations now we have challenged people to be great.
This idea drives people. It pushes them. Pushing is better than being stagnant or lazy, yet this drivenness totally misses the fact that Jesus yoke is easy and His burden is light.
For many this desire for greatness is not an adventure but a heaviness that weighs them down needlessly.
We tell people that God wants to do great things in and through their lives and that is true except we offer it as a challenge and a forgone conclusion that everyone should be great at everything.
We teach people that God wants to do BIG things.
What we tell them is that if they are faithful, they will achieve fame, fortune, they will have a platform and if they do everything just right, they will have few enemies and one day retire in complete comfort.
Unusual or considerable in degree, power, or intensity.”
“Wonderful; first-rate; very good.”
“Notable; remarkable; exceptionally good.”
It seems popular to define greatness as perceived success. If you have power, money, and status, then the world calls you great.
Sometimes it’s chance; sometimes it’s not.
~ William Shakespeare. - “Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them,”
Greatness, in the world’s eyes, is about material possessions and accomplishments. Nothing wrong with these things. – But if we are not careful, they become our god. – This god has a name mammon. The Bible is clear that you can’t serve both.
The American Heritage Dictionary defines success and greatness as “The achievement of something desired, planned, or attempted.” That’s a pretty broad definition. There are people who are aiming at nothing and hitting it every time.
The second definition is “The gaining of fame or prosperity” or notoriety.
That is not a godly definition of success at all. Lots of people have fame and prosperity, but they do not have true success.
Success and greatness need to be redefined.
It’s not just doing something grand or big.
In fact, not everybody is called to do something big.
Ephesians 2:10 – For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.
God has a plan and a purpose for everyone’s life.
There are no small roles or small plans there is just God’s plan for you. No competition, no comparison with anyone else. Just God’s will for you. Period.
The invitation to greatness is an invitation to be like Jesus.
John 13:16-17 - 16 Most assuredly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master; nor is he who is sent greater than he who sent him. 17 If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.
I love this. We are invited to be LIKE Jesus.
While Jesus was loved, He was also hated.
John 15:18 - “If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you.
While Jeus did miracles, there was always the pull of those who had needs.
While Jesus overcome death, He had to first endure the cross.
Greatness begins when we come to the place that we realize that life is not all about us but all about Jesus.
John 15:8 (AMP) - My Father is glorified and honored by this, when you bear much fruit, and prove yourselves to be My [true] disciples.
Greatness is found in fruitfulness. Fruitfulness is so much more than what we accomplish in life.
It is when our character and life honor God by producing the Fruit of the Spirit.
Galatians 5:22-23 (NLT) - But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!
The Desire for greatness is really a desire for significance.
Everyone wants to know that they matter and that their life matters.
Many people’s pursuit of greatness is really just a search for significance.
All of us have read stories of people who have reached the pinnacle of their profession. They have the money, have received the rewards and their lives are simply empty.
I have been a student of history. The truth is many of the people that we honor like our Presidents or people like British Prime Ministers have gotten to the end of their lives only to realize that they are a shell of themselves. Everything that they ever wanted and worked for came at too high a price and delivered very little of what was promised.
All of those who got to the top realized that the other side of the mountain is a steep drop off.
Sometimes significance is found in the seemingly insignificant.
~ It’s the small habits. How you spend your mornings. How you talk to yourself. What you read and what you watch. Who you share your energy with. Who has access to you? That will change your life.
Greatness happens as we are faithful in the little things.
Matthew 25:23 - His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’
People who will do the will of God, the right way at the right time, treating people correctly and making sure things are done well with a good attitude. – That is faithfulness.
If we are good stewards of what God gives us, He will increase us and give us more.
Remember that God is a rewarder of those who diligently seek HIM.
I want to remind you that everyone has been given gifts, talents, and abilities.
Not everyone has been given the same amount and not everyone has been given the same skills. We are just called to be faithful with what we have.
We are not to compare ourselves with what others have. That is not what matters.
What is significant is what we do with what God has entrusted to us.
This month I want to give you an invitation to greatness. This has nothing to do with numbers, results, popularity, or riches. It has everything to do with faithfulness.
The truth is that many of the hero’s of the Kingdom of God are known to very few people. Their accomplishments have not been recorded in newspapers or blogs. What they have been – is recorded in heaven and know by God Himself.
There is so much more to this message that I look forward to sharing with you. I will leave you with this though. Jesus said that if you want to be great in God’s Kingdom you must be the servant of all. Remember – You are Great servant of God!
You are loved.
Pastor Marvin & Dawn