HCC Monthly Harvest Seed

Genesis 2:2-3 - And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. ³ Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.

Rest is so important that God has woven it into the very fabric of creation.  Rest is part of the cycle of life. It is literally in the DNA of everything. We need to rest daily. We need a day of rest weekly, and God even designed the land to need to rest every seven years.

If we want to walk in personal peace and in sound emotional and mental health, then rest must become a regular part of our life cycle.  We were created by God to sleep a third of our lives away each day. He also commands that we stop from normal activity one day a week. God created summer for when things are in full bloom and winter for the land to rest. God created our lives and nature to have a rhythm of being active and then times for quiet and recovery. It is through this that God brings a necessary balance to our lives and to nature.

The Bible tells us that God blessed the day of rest and made it holy. To be made holy means to be sanctified or literally set apart as unique and special and dedicated for the purposes that God designed. The Hebrew word for rest is Sabat. It means to cease and desist from labor. God worked then He rested from all of His work. God put such a high value on rest that He made it part of the Ten Commandments.  While God has blessed our times and seasons of rest the world curses it as unproductive and intrusive. While we talk about vacations and down time few of us actually practice it.

We talk about how we can work 8-10 hours a day. Read at least 10 books a month. Spend time playing with our families. Exercise every morning, binge watch our favorite shows, keep up with the news, teach our children, cook healthy food every day, keep our house clean and updated and work at the local soup kitchen as we pay it forward.

The world does not praise rest it mocks it as unnecessary and people who flow with the rhythm that God created and commands us to follow are deemed lazy and unproductive.  God blesses and even commands us to work hard but He also desires us to rest and enjoy life.

Many people’s idea of a vacation is to fit a years’ worth of adventure into a single week. Most of us come back needing a vacation from our vacation. The truth is we have totally missed the point.  Others of us think that we can fit an entire years’ worth of rest into a one- or two-week vacation. Again, we have completely missed the point.

Even the most-high energy, type A personalities and young and physically fit need times to rest. As a matter of fact, if you fit into that category, you probably have a greater need for rest.

Isaiah 40:30-31 - Even youths grow weary and tired, And vigorous young men stumble badly, ³¹ But those who wait for the Lord [who expect, look for, and hope in Him] Will gain new strength and renew their power; They will lift up their wings [and rise up close to God] like eagles [rising toward the sun]; They will run and not become weary, They will walk and not grow tired. Everyone gets tired, weary and loses strength, stamina and focus. The secret to keep going is to rest and wait on the Lord. This is how we gain new strength, renew our energy and refresh our spiritual anointing.

Rest is the secret to staying close to God and rising like an eagle.

Rest is the secret to being able to run and not grow tired and to walk and not grow faint.  We need to understand that rest is a pause. It is not quitting; it is not lazy it is necessary.

~ Someone made this important observation – “All Physical strength is spiritual in cause.”  All true rest starts inside of us. We have not truly rested until we have rested within.

How do you know that you need inner rest – that is actually pretty easy to gage.  All of us have gotten a full night’s sleep but have woken up having not feeling rested in the least.  Our minds and our emotions are still going, we are still thinking, we are still trying to work everything out.  Far too many of us shut down but don’t ever turn off.  Tiredness affects more than just our bodies. If that was all then a simple nap would solve all of our problems.

While a nap will fix many things. It is vital that we learn to rest in the Lord, Spiritually, emotionally and mentally.

Resting in God is a spiritual discipline much like prayer and fasting.  It is not meditation where you empty yourself of everything. You are already on empty. It is where you intentionally fill up Spiritually. It is where we put ourselves in a position to be filled new with all that the Holy Spirit offers.

A car isn’t tired because it ran out of gas, it needs a fill up. There is nothing wrong with the car except it needs an exchange of fuel from another tank into its tank.

When a car is on empty it sputters and spurts. Finally, is shuts down. Jesus said my yoke is easy and my burden is light. I am gentle and humble, learn from me and you will find rest for your souls.  When you can’t physically sleep because you are spiritual drained, exchange your emptiness and hurt for his healing and filling.

When you need inner peace, you don’t just need calm you need the Holy Spirit who is the comforter. He is our peace and the Spirit of peace.

We also need outward physical rest. People used to not be so hurried and hassled. This is a historically new thing in many ways.

Those who live by the new rules wear out, burn out and fizzle out.

I hear people say I would rather go out in flames than just burn out and fade away.  I have news for you those are not the only two options. You don’t have to go out at all.  This is utter foolishness.

Jeremiah 6:16 - This is what the Lord says: “Stop at the crossroads and look around. Ask for the old, godly way, and walk in it. Travel its path, and you will find rest for your souls. But you reply, ‘No, that’s not the road we want!’

Many times, we are tired because we are so busy chasing the new.

The old Godly ways are not passe they are a place of rest. So many people respond like Israel did to God’s invitation of rest. – “No, we don’t want it”.  God says when you are at the cross roads and you have a choice stop and choose the old Godly ways. You can’t go wrong, and you will have peace inside and out instead of turmoil and chaos and confusion inside and out.

As we are getting ready to enter the new year, I want to challenge all of us to make sure we make rest, both Spiritually and Physically a part of our normal routines. As we do I believe that we will find ourselves accomplishing what God desires AND living a life of peace.

You are Dearly Loved- Have a very Merry Christmas
Pastor Marvin & Dawn

Image by DanaTentis from Pixabay

HCC Monthly Harvest Seed

John 1:1-5 - In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ² He was in the beginning with God. ³ All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. ⁴ In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. ⁵ And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.

(NLT) - The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it.

It is easy when you are watching the way things are in the world to get discouraged. When life is difficult, and you are going through one thing after another it is easy to wonder if the darkness is winning.  It is natural when you are praying for someone, and you do not see a change to wonder if the witness you have been and the Word of God that you have shared is making a difference.

Whenever light shows up it wins – It always wins!

Darkness cannot stop light it cannot dim it and it cannot quench it.

Wherever light is - darkness flees.  Darkness is the absence of light, so even just a little light renders darkness no longer darkness. There are levels of brightness but there are not levels of darkness. Pitch black is still black, but dim is not darkness it is light. Even just a little light helps you to see.Somebody needs to hear what I am trying to tell you. - - Light always wins over Darkness. Even shades of gray are not levels of darkness they are levels of light.

God is not only LOVE. GOD IS LIGHT. 1 John 1:5 - This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. 

God is light. He does not just have light. He is the source of all light in all of its forms, natural and spiritual. The first thing that God did at creation is make physical light. – He spoke into the darkness.

Darkness is not something it is nothing. Into nothing Jesus spoke light. Nothing could be made unless there was first light because there was nothing there. Light – God is the source of everything.

Often, we hear that Satan is the prince of darkness – This means that he is the prince of nothing.

John 1:5 says, “And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not This doesn’t mean that darkness won’t attempt to overcome the light. Its efforts will always be frustrated and unsuccessful because the light of God always prevails, even in what seems to be the darkest hour or the bleakest situation.

Darkness simply doesn’t have the power or ability to put out God’s light. Since you are a child of the light, this means darkness doesn’t have the ability to put out your light either! First John 5:4 says, “For whatsoever is born of God overcomes the world: and this is the victory that overcomes the world, even our faith.” The word “overcomes” is the Greek word nikos. It means to conquer. It was used to portray athletes who had gained the mastery of the competition and ultimately reigned supreme as champions over the games.

Because the word “overcomes” is the Greek word nikos, it tells us that we are the ultimate champions and describes our superior position as children of God over the world. We are fully armed with everything we need to be super-conquerors in this life!

Understand that anytime light and darkness come together their will be conflict.  Light and darkness can never coexist peacefully because darkness does not like the light and the light will always drive our darkness. Because Darkness does not understand light it is unreceptive to it.

Darkness does not desire a relationship with light.

It will try to appropriate it, absorb it, extinguish it and overcome it but light and darkness can never coexist together. This is where many Christians wind up in trouble. They get in business relationships, romantic relationships, Partnerships and friendships with people who walk in darkness. 1 Corinthians 6:14 - Do not be unequally bound together with unbelievers [do not make mismatched alliances with them, inconsistent with your faith]. For what partnership can righteousness have with lawlessness? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness.

Light always attracts light. This is why there is such an attraction to people who are also walking with God. 1 John 1:7 - But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. For those who walk in the light there is always fellowship and when we disagree it is the Blood that cleanses us from sin and heals the relationship.

Darkness simply doesn’t have the power or ability to put out God’s light. Since you are a child of the light, this means darkness doesn’t have the ability to put out your light either!Ephesians 5:8 - For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light

 I believe that this is God’s encouragement to all of us. We need to walk like and walk out who we are. We are Children of Light! Darkness does not, cannot and will not overcome us. We do not generate our own light we simply reflect the light, life and Glory of God. We are light and our life will drive out darkness.

Christian you are an overcomer and a champion. Darkness can’t comprehend you, understand you or overcome you. Go ahead walk like it and live like it in freedom.

This month instead of being overwhelmed with darkness, be overcome with gratefulness. God has been good to us. Give Him thanks for all that He has done.

You are dearly loved!
Pastor Marvin & Dawn

Image by Engin Akyurt from Pixabay

HCC Monthly Harvest Seed

James 4:13-14 - Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit”; ¹⁴ whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. 

65 million people die each year in the world.  That is 178,000 each day, 7,425 each hour, and 120 each minute.  

In the United States, 2.6 million die each year.  That is 7,123 each day, 297 each hour, and 5 each minute.

Most of those people who died did not wake up thinking that this would be their last day on earth. Some of them were in a medically induced coma and had no idea that they were dying.  They had no idea that they would be involved in a car wreck or have a heart attack or stroke that they would not recover from.

Life is precious and life is fragile. In the grand scheme of things even if we are here for 100 yrs. Our life is like a vapor. People spend a lifetime seeking fame and fortune but no matter how famous you get people still forget who you are in a matter of years. No matter how wealthy you are when you die someone else will get all that you have.

When it comes to spiritual and Godly things, many people live with the philosophy that in Spanish is called – Manana. I will get right with God tomorrow. I will get back to church next week.  One day I will make my peace with God. You have no idea if you are going to make it through today.

2 Corinthians 6:2 (NKJV) - Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation. (NLT) - Indeed, the “right time” is now. Today is the day of salvation.

Don’t procrastinate with your spiritual life. Today is the day of Salvation. Friend no one is guaranteed tomorrow.  You could die today, or Jesus could come back before the day is over.  If you aren’t ready for heaven, then I plead with you to get ready today!

Matthew 24:36 - But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only.

While there are many people who are boasting about tomorrow there are also many people who are worried about tomorrow.

We are to trust the will of God for tomorrow both with our positive plans and expectations but also with our worries, doubts and fears.

Someone said – Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrows it only empties today of its strength.

Matthew 6:27-34 - Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?  “So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; ²⁹ and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. ³⁰ Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?  “Therefore, do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ ³² For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. ³³ But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. ³⁴ Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

What is the answer to worry? – Seek God today. Today is the present and it is a present – a gift from God. He cares for you and will provide for you today and tomorrow.  Some people are prone to worry. God commands us not to.  How do you change that?

Psalm 118:24 - This is the day the Lord has made; We will rejoice and be glad in it. You defeat worry by choosing to enjoy the day that you are in.  This isn’t something you can WILL yourself to do if you are prone to worry.  That is why you must choose to rejoice in the Lord. If you WILL rejoice, in the Lord, you will quickly find yourself enjoying the day.

No one is promised tomorrow except those who have been promised Eternal life.

1 John 5:13 - I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.

John 11:25 - Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live.

I preach that last verse at almost every funeral.  The truth is that even if we die… we will live.

One of the great realizations of the Christian life is knowing that even when you die, you get to live. In many ways the title of this message is only true for those who Don’t know Christ as their savior -They are not promised tomorrow. For those of us who DO know Christ as our Lord and Savior we ARE promised not just tomorrow but all of eternity.

I pray that this will bring you great peace, joy, hope and expectation. 

Know that you are dearly Loved,
Pastor Marvin & Dawn.

Image by Tony Cordaro from Pixabay