HCC Monthly Harvest Seed
1 John 2:15-17 - Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. 17 And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.
I went to lunch with a good friend and we got to talking about the topic of vanity.
We were discussing about how vanity and pride is really at the heart of many of the struggles that we have in life. It is at the root of many of the spiritual failure that we see all around us.
Thank God for friends that you can have fun conversations with and thank God for friends that you can have deep conversations with.
This conversation was one of those profound moments when you take a good look at your own life and when you get a glimpse into the spiritual warfare that is hitting so many people in a profound way at this moment in society.
We were talking about a movie called – The Devil’s Advocate. It is not a good movie. I do not recommend it. But it does have a classic line that reveals a great deal about Satan and his tactics.
It is about a law firm that turns out to be run by the Devil. The main character defeats his boss in a trial but then a friend and a news reporter appeals to his ego after the win and convinces him to do an interview because he is a star. The guy agrees to it and the reporter morphs back into the devil who says -
– “Vanity, Definitely my favorite sin”
Vanity primarily refers to excessive pride in one’s own appearance, abilities, or achievements.
Excessive Pride as a (Personality Trait)
This is the most common usage, describing a person who is overly conceited or obsessed with how others perceive them.
Today people call the time we are living in the me generation.
Vanity also means - Worthlessness or Futility
Derived from the Latin vanitas (meaning "emptiness"), this definition refers to something that is valueless, pointless, or temporary.
In Vain: Related to the phrase "in vain," describing an effort that produces no result (e.g., "a vain attempt"). this definition refers to something that is valueless, pointless, or temporary.
Biblical Context: Often used in literature (like the book of Ecclesiastes) to describe earthly pursuits as "vapor" or "breath"—fleeting and ultimately empty compared to eternal things
The Bible relates it to chasing after the wind.
This issue of vanity highlights self-love, pride and ego.
It was pride and ego that were the undoing of Satan.
Satan is prideful, arrogant, narcissistic. Self-absorbed and self-aggrandizing.
Instead of focusing on God and others vanity is in love with everything self.
It is vanity and ego that are the most effective ways to corrupt and destroy people
Proverbs 16:18 - Pride goes before destruction, And a haughty spirit before a fall.
Pride was the undoing of Satan.
Isaiah 14:13-15 (NLT) - For you said to yourself, ‘I will ascend to heaven and set my throne above God’s stars. I will preside on the mountain of the gods far away in the north. 14 I will climb to the highest heavens and be like the Most High. 15 Instead, you will be brought down to the place of the dead, down to its lowest depths.
We are never more like Satan when we are in the mode of self-promotion and self-exaltation.
I want to say it again. Pride and Vanity were the undoing of Satan. Satan will use Vanity to be the undoing of us.
2 Corinthians 2:11- lest Satan should take advantage of us; for we are not ignorant of his devices.
(NIV) -in order that Satan might not outwit us. For we are not unaware of his schemes.
(NLT) - so that Satan will not outsmart us. For we are familiar with his evil schemes.
Me must be aware of how Satan uses Vanity as a weapon against us and we must be self-aware and Spirit-aware in order to be honest without selves and God when Vanity is having an effect on us.
I think so much of what people battle today deals with this issue of being vain.
How we look, how successful that we feel and how we perceive that we are viewed by others.
Pride is a desire for adulation (the praise of people), riches or achievement.
It is a preoccupation with being noticed and respected.
It is a perception of being accepted by people and admired.
1 John 2:15-17 (NLT) - Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you. 16 For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world. 17 And this world is fading away, along with everything that people crave. But anyone who does what pleases God will live forever.
So much that we do is ego driven. We live in an ego centric world.
Comparison – The desire for Greatness
– We talk about leaving a legacy.
Today people live their lives on social media – Look at me
We put our best foot forward
We often compare our ordinary to people’s best moments or their lies and misrepresentations.
Many of us are living in depression, discouragement and frustration because we are always trying to feed our vanity.
We are commanded not to love this world or the system that this world operates under.
For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world.
16 For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions.
And this world is fading away, along with everything that people crave. But anyone who does what pleases God will live forever.
It is so important that as Children of God that we know what is of our Father and what is not.
Satan tells us that what the world has to offer and how it will make us feel and how it will make us look is all of God. Yet all of it is empty. None of it is from God.
It is worldly, fleshly.
But boy can we be vain.
And we are vain about the things that are temporary and not eternal.
Those who are vain have no real idea what the love of God is.
1 John 2:15 (NLT) - Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you.
I hope this verse hits you like a ton of bricks.
When my children were growing up, we knew that their sense of worth that their idea of belonging and their idea of meaning would be developed deeply by how much they knew that they were loved by us as their parents.
Today Satan has attacked the family so intensely that at least two generations struggle with knowing that they are loved and accepted.
Satan has removed Fathers from so many homes that children are left searching for meaning and validation in everything else because the love of their earthly father is not in them.
This also has a powerful after effect. Because they were never truly loved by a father, they do not know how to love themselves or love others or even how to accept love from others.
The reason that everything else that the world has to offer feels so empty is because we are trying to fill our lives with things that will never satisfy; when only what God can fill us with will do that.
Many today have an emptiness inside that can only be filled with the Father’s love.
Let me put this in terms that you can understand. You cannot have two loves.
People who are in love with the idea of being in love and having more than one lover are not really in love. They are vain. They are selfish and all about themselves.
Love by its very definition is selfless.
Love serves.
Matthew 6:24 (AMP) - “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon [money, possessions, fame, status, or whatever is valued more than the Lord].
But anyone who does what pleases God will live forever.
How do we know that the love of the Father and a love for the Father is in us? When we live to please Him.
1 John 5:3 - For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome.
The wisest man in all the world spoke about vanity. He spoke about how worthless the things that Satan uses to bring about our down fall are.
Vanity - (meaning "emptiness"), this definition refers to something that is valueless, pointless, or temporary.
The lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh and the pride of life are all empty.
Solomon - a man who started out in wisdom tried to fill his life with everything that this world had to offer and found out how absolutely none of it could satisfy.
I heard someone say this quote – “I have heard it said that you could have $10 million and that it would never satisfy but I would sure like to try.
Well King Solomon did and he discovered that it didn’t.
Ecclesiastes 1:1- “Vanity of vanities,” says the Preacher;
“Vanity of vanities, all is vanity.”
Ecclesiastes 1:1-4-(NLT) “Everything is meaningless,” says the Teacher, “completely meaningless!” 3 What do people get for all their hard work under the sun? 4 Generations come and generations go, but the earth never changes.
Ecclesiastes 2:4-9 - I also tried to find meaning by building huge homes for myself and by planting beautiful vineyards. 5 I made gardens and parks, filling them with all kinds of fruit trees. 6 I built reservoirs to collect the water to irrigate my many flourishing groves. 7 I bought slaves, both men and women, and others were born into my household. I also owned large herds and flocks, more than any of the kings who had lived in Jerusalem before me. 8 I collected great sums of silver and gold, the treasure of many kings and provinces. I hired wonderful singers, both men and women, and had many beautiful concubines. I had everything a man could desire! 9 So I became greater than all who had lived in Jerusalem before me, and my wisdom never failed me.
Ecclesiastes 2:17 - So, I came to hate life because everything done here under the sun is so troubling. Everything is meaningless (Vanity) —like chasing the wind.
Solomon did and had the things that most of us would be envious of and he discovered that it was all vanity. It was all meaningless.
The new Testament calls it wood, hay and stubble.
Solomon, I believe went to heaven but much of what he did with his life amounted to nothing.
1 Corinthians 3:12-15 (NLT) - Anyone who builds on that foundation may use a variety of materials—gold, silver, jewels, wood, hay, or straw. 13 But on the judgment day, fire will reveal what kind of work each builder has done. The fire will show if a person’s work has any value. 14 If the work survives, that builder will receive a reward. 15 But if the work is burned up, the builder will suffer great loss. The builder will be saved, but like someone barely escaping through a wall of flames.
As a young man Solomon had a solid foundation but what he built on it was tragic.
It is amazing how many people live for vanity only to realize that it was really nothing.
Ecclesiastes 2:17 - So, I came to hate life because everything done here under the sun is so troubling. Everything is meaningless (Vanity) —like chasing the wind.
How many people come to hate the life that they had built.
They discover that it is like chasing the wind. It’s like a vapor or a breath.
It’s gone that quickly.
Most of us want to make a lasting difference with our life. They key is discovering what really matters.
First – it is to know that we are loved, accepted and cared for by Father God.
Second – Solomon actually came to his senses.
Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 (NLT) - That’s the whole story. Here now is my final conclusion: Fear God and obey his commands, for this is everyone’s duty. 14 God will judge us for everything we do, including every secret thing, whether good or bad.
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.
Fear God, reverence Him. Live to please Him.
Seek first the Kingdom of God and HIS righteousness and ALL of these things shall be added to you.
Matthew 6:31-33(NLT) - 31 “So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ 32 These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. 33 Seek the Kingdom of Godabove all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.
– “Vanity, Definitely my favorite sin” – A quote from Satan that will cause us to examine our hearts.
I hope this message challenged and refreshed you.
I pray that you will find victory over any vanity that you struggle with. May you find that God more than satisfies every desire and longing of your heart.
Know that you are loved.
Pastor Marvin & Dawn
Seasons of Dormancy
Seasons of DormanHCC Monthly Harvest Seed
Genesis 8:22 - “While the earth remains, Seedtime and harvest, Cold and heat, Winter and summer, And day and night Shall not cease.”
As God was speaking to me about this message, I kept hearing a phrase repeating in my spirit.
God created natural seasons. Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter. In the natural they work for farming and fruit bearing. Rainy season, Growing season, Harvest Season and the Fallow season or the season of dormancy.
Each of these seasons are important and serve a significant purpose.
They are a natural cycle of God doing things in and through our lives.
God made the seasons. Every one of them including winter.
Our opening scriptures tell us that God made summer and winter. That as long as the earth remains there will be seedtime and harvest, winter and summer and day and night.
God made the winter season just as much as he made the summer and fall.
Psalm 74:17 - You have set all the borders of the earth; You have made summer and winter.
Winter is not a bad season… it is a necessary season just as surely as God created the day and night. Night time is not bad, it is a daily necessary thing.
We will go through winter seasons in our spiritual walk often. God worked it into His plan.
A season is not just a one - off it is an annual event.
Winter is a predictable thing. No matter where you live on earth there is a winter, however that looks like in the environment you are in.
Everyone has their favorite seasons. For some reason we are conditioned to think of the winter season unfavorably in the natural – unless of course you live in Florida.
In the spiritual people look unfavorably many times on their winter seasons. When it arrives, they act like something is wrong when in fact the season has arrived right on time.
I think somehow, we think that the season should be making adjustments to fit our lifestyle when in fact our lifestyle choices should be made to fit the season, we are in.
I like to wear shorts and tee shirts but up north during the winter time it just isn’t practical. There is nothing wrong with me or the season that I am in It just makes sense to dress for the season.
I believe that there are some things we can learn about the predictable winter seasons of our lives.
Ecclesiastes 3:1 - To everything there is a season, A time for every purpose under heaven:
You may be in a season of dormancy in your life right now. Where things seem cold, barren and on the surface they look dead.
All of us go through these seasons. Listen to me – you are in a season of dormancy not death. This season has a purpose. It may not look like much is happening but there is a lot going on.
There are several purposes in the dormant seasons of life.
A winter season is a time of rest.
A time of rest is just as important as a time of productivity.
Can I say that louder for those in the back row.
When it comes to farming, winter is a season of rest for the farmer the family and for the ground.
It is an extended period to - just be.
Dormancy requires us to DO less and to just BE more. – Just Be.
~ Lee Warren – Dormancy isn’t just rest, but quiet renewal, letting life slow down long enough to rediscover what makes it sweet.
There is a lot of dark in the winter. The darkness is not the complete absence of light it is the needed amount of light to produce rest.
Just as we need a significant portion of our twenty – four-hour day = ideally a full seven hours for rest— winter is a significant extended season for us to spiritually rest in the Lord.
Rest is not just sleep it is a reset. It allows what is producing to have time to stop giving and to simply start receiving.
I love the saying that you cannot pour from an empty cup.
To those who like to produce, winter can be a frustrating time because no matter how hard you would like to be growing and producing you cannot no matter how you try to force it because the climate, the atmosphere and the conditions are not right for it. It is winter.
Someone needs to hear this - There is nothing wrong with the land. There is nothing wrong - It is the season you are in.
Adjust your expectations to the season. Be realistic. This isn’t unspiritual as a matter of fact it just might be the most faith-filled thing that you do. When winter comes around just do what you are to do in winter.
Remember that there is a difference between dead and dormant.
Don’t confuse the two. A farmer’s field looks dead during the winter, but it is not. It is simply resting. The potential is still there but only if it rests and resets.
Proverbs 13:23 (AMP) - Abundant food is in the fallow (uncultivated) ground of the poor,
Spiritual winter seasons do not mean that you are dead. You can still be as healthy as can be.
The truth is that you will only be as healthy as the time you allow yourself to rest in the Lord.
All of us need spiritual and natural Sabbath rests.
The Bible tells us that the sabbath was a holy day. A time intentionally set apart for God. Remember that God set the Sabbath day just as surely as He set the seasons.
~ God uses the stillness the dormant season to provide necessary rest. We need to see this as a season of obedience rather than a season of laziness.
The Dormant season is a season of growth and strength.
Outwardly it may seem like nothing is happening.
It is under the surface in times of winter where roots grow deeper, faith is strengthened and character is developed.
Habakkuk 3:17-19 (NLT) - Even though the fig trees have no blossoms, and there are no grapes on the vines, even though the olive crop fails, and the fields lie empty and barren; even though the flocks die in the fields, and the cattle barns are empty, 18 yet I will rejoice in the Lord! I will be joyful in the God of my salvation! 19 The Sovereign Lord is my strength! He makes me as surefooted as a deer, able to tread upon the heights.
It is in the winter seasons that you learn that true worship of God is not tied to production for God. It is where we learn to cherish our salvation.
It is where God makes your faith sure in order to do well when God takes you to the highs of life.
Dormancy isn’t a season of weakness it is a season of gaining strength.
Winter is a time for growth that isn’t seen.
Invisible activity is still going on. It is not meant to be observed by others it is a season where God does His work in privacy away from the opinion and measurement of others.
If you are worried about appearances and production, then you probably have a difficult time with winter. – You need to understand that winter isn’t about that.
I often hear about people who comment about how bad the trees and ground look during the winter time up north.
They say that the trees look bare, and the ground looks hard and dead.
It is during the winter that appearances are deceiving.
The trees aren’t dead they are growing underground.
Before the trees hit the growth spurt of spring and the tree expands it must first grow just as deep under the surface. Without the strong roots the tree would topple over or not have the needed stability for the growth that is about to happen.
If the root system doesn’t grow to support the branches the tree either will not be able to stand or will have only enough nourishment for leaves and not enough for fruit.
Remember that in the spirit, God did not just call us to look good but to bear fruit.
If you will remember – Jesus actually cursed a tree that looked good but was not bearing fruit in fruit bearing season.
John 15:16 (AMP) - You have not chosen Me, but I have chosen you and I have appointed and placed and purposefully planted you, so that you would go and bear fruit and keep on bearing, and that your fruit will remain and be lasting, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name [as My representative] He may give to you.
In the winter there appears to be no life. The surface is dormant, but the root system is thriving. Winter reminds us to be deeper than what things look like. It also keeps you from being prideful during the harvest.
Isaiah 37:31 - And the remnant who have escaped of the house of Judah Shall again take root downward, And bear fruit upward.
Notice that downward growth – rooted growth - always comes before upward fruitful growth.
Everyone loves the fruits, but you always need a season to focus on the roots. No one else but you and God get to see that and THAT is ok.
The quality of the fruit will always be determined by the quality of the roots.
What season are you in. I find it interesting that God would have me address the winter season in the midst of our sweltering Florida summer. May be it is my wishful thinking for some cool air.
Whatever season you find yourself in today. Know that you are loved by God and that you are being developed to produce incredible fruit in and through your life.
Know that you are loved.
Pastor Marvin & Dawn
Image by snibl111 from Pixabay
HCC Monthly Harvest Seed
Philippians 2:8-11 - And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. 9 Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, 11 and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Romans 14:7-9 - 7 For none of us lives to himself, and no one dies to himself. 8 For if we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s. 9 For to this end Christ died and rose and lived again, that He might be Lord of both the dead and the living.
There is a saying that is famous in church circles – Jesus is Lord of all or not at all.
We love it we declare it but the question is do we live it and understand it.
Many people want a Savior but they do not want Jesus to be Lord.
One of the Hebrew names for God is Adonai.
The word “Lord” means “the one who has absolute power, absolute authority,” “the master.” It speaks of supreme authority, controller, ruler. One of the key aspects of Lordship is ownership.
When we say that Jesus is Lord of our life what we are saying is that we are no longer in control we no longer retain ownership and we no longer are our own master. We do not control our own destiny. All of it is in the hands of God.
Romans 14:7-8 - 7 For none of us lives to himself, and no one dies to himself. 8 For if we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. Therefore, whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s.
Whether we live or whether we die we are the Lord’s. – We are His.
How we live or how we die is His choice.
The name Adonai means that Jesus is the boss, the King, the Master, The ruler and has the chief say so in our lives.
~ Billy Graham – “Ninety-five percent of church members live defeated, un-victorious lives because they have never made Jesus Lord.
~ George Sanchez wrote – Ninety-five percent of the problems that people have in their spiritual lives and for which they seek counseling are basically a poor understanding of who Jesus Christ is – He is Lord.
Jesus Christ IS Lord.
When we make a commitment, we are in control.
We commit to win souls because we decide to do it.
We commit to study our Bibles only because we want to.
We can commit to tithe but we retain the option not to.
When we surrender to the Lordship of Jesus, we are no longer in control and we are surrendered to a life of obedience and serving Him.
If we are committed to anything, we need to be committed to the Lordship of Jesus Christ.
He is absolute Lord.
We have to surrender to the Lord Jesus Christ
Romans 14:9 - For to this end Christ died and rose and lived again, that He might be Lord of both the dead and the living.
Jesus Christ is called “Lord” no less than 747 times in the New Testament.
We do not make Jesus Lord; He is already Lord.
Acts 2:36 (NLT) - “So let everyone in Israel know for certain that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, to be both Lord and Messiah!”
Isaiah 42:8a - I am the Lord, that is My name; And My glory I will not give to another,
He is already Lord of all. Jesus is Lord.
There are only two decisions that we make:
Do you believe that Jesus Christ is Lord? Have you surrendered to the Lordship of Jesus Christ? Is He Lord of all that you have and all that you do?
Jesus died to claim us as Lord.
When He died for us, He was redeeming us. He is Lord because He died for us.
The Cross of Calvary says that He is Lord.
He has purchased us; we are not our own. He has redeemed us with His blood.
1 Corinthians 6:19 (AMP)- Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is within you, whom you have [received as a gift] from God, and that you are not your own [property]?
If you are a Christian, then Jesus now lives in you; and you are His purchased possession.
If you are saved, then you are under new management.
When we gave our heart to the Lord Jesus Christ, that was the last independent decision we ever made.
We are not our own. We belong to the Lord Jesus Christ.
This is wonderful because He knows more about how to manage our life than we do.
He alone can make you what He wants you to be and what you need to be and what you would want to be if you could only see it how He sees it.
The Lord Jesus has made a great investment in us. He died for us and bought us with His blood. His investment in us is such a blessing because it means that He is going to watch over us.
Ephesians 1:13-14 - And now you Gentiles have also heard the truth, the Good News that God saves you. And when you believed in Christ, he identified you as his ownby giving you the Holy Spirit, whom he promised long ago. 14 The Spirit is God’s guarantee that he will give us the inheritance he promised and that he has purchased us to be his own people. He did this so we would praise and glorify him.
When we submit to the Lordship of Christ, we are saying that we trust Him, we trust His promises. All of them. We trust Him not only for our Salvation but for everything.
We are taking Him at His Word.
The reason that many people struggle with the idea of Lordship is that they have no idea of what is in the Word. Or they struggle with taking Jesus at His Word.
When we believe, we are then sealed with the Holy Spirit.
A seal, as spoken of here in this passage, is a legal document.
This seal means the following:
If Jesus Christ is not Lord of our life, then we have no right to call ourselves a Christian.
Romans 10:9-10 - that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
We are saved by believing that Jesus Christ is Lord and yielding to that Lordship.
This is more than just saying that Jesus is Lord.
At the time when Paul wrote the book of Romans, to say that Jesus Christ is Lord could cost a person his or her life.
Caesar, at that time, was revered as more than an emperor, but was considered as a god.
The people of the Roman Empire were required to say that Caesar was Lord.
Christians would not do that. - It is not Christ - AND - it is Christ only.
The Bible does not mention receiving Christ as Savior.
He is Savior, but we receive Christ as Lord. As Lord He is our Savior.
Acts 16:31 – So, they said, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.”
We give all we know of ourselves to all we know of Jesus. We take Jesus and all that He is, and He is Lord.
We cannot have what He gives unless we accept who He is, and He is Lord.
~ Charles Haddon Spurgeon said that - if a convert declares that he knows the Lord’s will but doesn’t mean to do it, then it is our duty to assure him that he is not saved.
Lordship means our entire submission and obedience to Him.
Submission means that any other plans, desires and wants that we have will take a back seat to Him.
MANY people struggle with the idea of submission because we are taught to value our independence and our will and our stuff. We love the idea of ownership and my things.
There is no other ruler or King in our life, including ourselves.
Matthew 6:24 (AMP) - “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon [money, possessions, fame, status, or whatever is valued more than the Lord].
When Jesus is Lord of our life we follow His will. Lordship is not simply a matter of what we say but how we live.
Matthew 7:21 - “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.
Luke 6:46 (NLT) - “So why do you keep calling me ‘Lord, Lord!’ when you don’t do what I say?
There are a lot of people who are into confession but many are not into submission and repentance.
A person becomes a Christian by submitting their life as a fully devoted, committed follower of Jesus Christ.
A follower is no longer in the lead.
There is a great deal more that we will unpack as I preach this message this month.
I want to leave you with a question… Is Jesus truly the Lord of your life?
As we start the summer months know that you are loved by God!
We look forward to what God is going to do here at HCC. Enjoy your vacation. Enjoy some time off. Continue to make the family of God a priority in your life.
Blessings,
Pastor Marvin & Dawn
Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay
HCC Monthly Harvest Seed
Hebrews 13:4 (AMP) - Marriage is to be held in honor among all [that is, regarded as something of great value], and the marriage bed undefiled [by immorality or by any sexual sin]; for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous.
(NLT) - Give honor to marriage, and remain faithful to one another in marriage. God will surely judge people who are immoral and those who commit adultery.
It is not often that you hear wisdom on what will kill a marriage.
Marriage killers are not about being negative it is about reality that is rooted in the word of God.
Marriage is like taking care of fish in an aquarium. You must take good care of the fish and the environment that they live in. If you neglect either one the fish will die.
You must feed the fish; you must keep the tank as stress free as possible. You must clean the tank often and change the water carefully. You must keep the tank free of pollutants; you must keep out predators or anything that will harass or kill the fish. There are certain other fish you can allow in the tank and others you must keep out. You must treat any sickness and disease. It is important to keep the temperature of the tank within a certain range, too hot or too cold and the fish will die. Sometimes things die in the tank and you must remove the dead things before they begin to affect the living.
According to the American Psychological Association, approximately 40-50% of first marriages end in divorce. The divorce rate for second marriages is even higher, with approximately 60-67% of second marriages ending in divorce with 70-74% of third marriages ending in divorce, often due to carrying unresolved issues, blended family complexities, and less patience from previous experiences.
This means that most families have been touched by divorce in some manner.
No one enters into a marriage thinking – boy I hope one day we get a divorce.
While the Bible tells us that God hates divorce; it does not say that divorce disqualifies someone from being a Christian.
This is not to bring shame or condemnation. The truth is though that divorce as become so common in our culture that the church must speak life into an issue that the devil comes to bring death.
God hates divorce because of how damaging it is to people.
Malachi 2:16 (NLT) - “For I hate divorce!” says the Lord, the God of Israel. “To divorce your wife is to overwhelm her with cruelty,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. “So, guard your heart; do not be unfaithful to your wife.”
Notice that God places the responsibility of divorce on the man. In the Old Testament and through most of history it was the man who initiated divorce and, in the male, dominated society it left the women, homeless, helpless and destitute.
While Moses permitted divorce God said that it revealed a heart issue. Divorce is violent and cruel. It is hurtful and devastating. It is violent not just to the two involved but to the children and the families. My prayer is that all who have walked through this trying season will know the healing and restoring power of our loving God.
In our society and in western culture divorce is now actually 70% of the time initiated by the women. This is because of better laws protecting women and the fact that women are now able to provide for a family and able to work.
It is also an indicator that both men and women have a heart issue in our society concerning marriage.
The first marriage killer is the lack of honor and respect given to this union in society.
Hebrews 13:4a (AMP)- Marriage is to be held in honor among all [that is, regarded as something of great value]
I want to address this first.
If a marriage is going to succeed you must see it as valuable.
You must understand the Spiritual value, the personal value and the societal value of marriage.
Today people see marriage as a legal contract and not a personal covenant between God and a man and a woman.
To honor someone is to value them and to esteem them and to love them and cherish them.
Marriage is seen by many today as unnecessary, and most relationships as temporary.
Nothing undermines the value of a marriage in a society as when people lose the understanding of being committed to one other person for a lifetime and the stability that it brings to raising children.
When you stop honoring your marriage and honoring your spouse with words, deeds and kindness you will see your marriage begin to die.
Those who have thriving marriages – prioritize that relationship over every other relationship in their life.
We must understand that marriage is sacred and that God designed it to be the foundation of every society on earth.
When society as a whole does not honor and value the relationship of marriage that society will begin to crumble from its very foundations. If the family is destabilized then the framework of people’s lives crumble, Spiritual, emotionally, personally and financially.
When marriage is killed so is a society’s ability to function as God designed.
Selfishness is a marriage killer.
The Bible clearly says that the two become one.
While each spouse continues to have their distinct identity and personality. The Bible says that they are now one. Unified in everything.
A man shall leave his father and mother and be JOINED to his wife.
Think of glue bonding two substances together.
This is called the principle of permeance. – Unity.
Ephesians 5:31-32 - “For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” 32 This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church.
When we are married, we give up our independence for dependance on each other.
The foundation of every marriage is love. Love is other focused and never self-focused.
The opposite of love is selfishness not hatred. It is selfishness that will kill a marriage.
The Bible calls this kind of unity a great mystery. The fact that two very different people can become one is an amazing thing.
It comes intentionally as we consider the other person in everything. The Bible calls this submission.
Ephesians 5:21-25 (NIV) - Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. 22 Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. 24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything. 25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.
To submit means that both spouses consider the feelings, preferences and decisions of the other in everything.
A marriage is unity of body, mind and purposes. Submission doesn’t always mean total agreement. It does means total consideration, respect, understanding and humility.
This independent streak that has dominated our society has killed more marriages because true unity means that we give up our individuality for the permeance of unity.
Love never dominates, humiliates or desecrates. It submits because the other spouse is committed and covenanted to honesty, safety and selflessness that benefits both.
For the purpose of this article, we will look at just one more marriage killer.
Infidelity and unfaithfulness are a key marriage killer.
You would think that this would be self-explanatory.
Sexual sin especially in the context of marriage is harmful.
Hebrews 13:4 (NIV) - Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure,
(AMP) - Marriage is to be held in honor among all [that is, regarded as something of great value], and the marriage bed undefiled [by immorality or by any sexual sin
The marriage bed is to be kept pure and undefiled. Nothing undermines a marriage than unfaithfulness sexually.
Right now, there are trends that are shaking society. They say that monogamy is unnatural and even harmful.
There are things like polyamory that invites other people into the home to become a part of the family and the marriage in all aspects including sexually.
There are other forms of perversion that are sweeping the world through pornography the titles and definitions that we will never mention in church.
Ephesians 5:3 (NLT) - Let there be no sexual immorality, impurity, or greed among you. Such sins have no place among God’s people.
At the foundation of any marriage is trust.
Anyone who cannot be trusted sexually cannot be trusted in any other area of a marriage.
Marriage is a place of intimacy. Intimacy is more than sexual it is emotional, physical and it is deeply spiritual.
Purity is vital; anytime purity is violated a marriage is defiled.
There are to be no secrets in marriage and that is to be true for the lifetime of the marriage.
Genesis 2:25 (AMP) - And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed or embarrassed.
This is the true meaning of an open marriage.
It was so natural to be naked and exposed to each other and before God that they didn’t even know there was any other way.
The moment sin enter into the world is the moment that secrets and shame entered into the world.
If you are keeping secrets from one another then there is sin in your relationship. Unless it is a surprise for a birthday or anniversary.
Anything you have to “Cover Up” is a problem.
In a marriage there is absolutely no room for lying of any kind. Including omitting certain aspects of the truth.
Everything in a marriage is to be out in the open. Phones, emails, our schedules – everything is our business. This is not to be controlling or over bearing.
The marriage relationship demands trust, honesty and accountability to thrive and without it a marriage will die.
God desires for our marriage to thrive. This is why there is a great deal of relationship wisdom found in the word of God. There are thing that we need to do and then there are things we need NOT to do.
Make a renewed commitment to breath fresh life into the most cherished relationship outside of Jesus that you will ever have.
Know that you are loved and that God has great things ahead for your family.
Pastor Marvin & Dawn
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HCC Monthly Harvest Seed
Mark 15:42-47 (NLT) - This all happened on Friday, the day of preparation, the day before the Sabbath. As evening approached, 43 Joseph of Arimathea took a risk and went to Pilate and asked for Jesus’ body. (Joseph was an honored member of the high council, and he was waiting for the Kingdom of God to come.) 44 Pilate couldn’t believe that Jesus was already dead, so he called for the Roman officer and asked if he had died yet. 45 The officer confirmed that Jesus was dead, so Pilate told Joseph he could have the body. 46 Joseph bought a long sheet of linen cloth. Then he took Jesus’ body down from the cross, wrapped it in the cloth, and laid it in a tomb that had been carved out of the rock. Then he rolled a stone in front of the entrance. 47 Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joseph saw where Jesus’ body was laid.
One of the most overlooked parts of the Easter story is Saturday.
We focus a great deal of attention on Friday and the Crucifixion- with good reason.
We focus a great deal on Sunday and the Resurrection, with good reason.
Very little is said publicly or in the Bible about what Jesus was doing on Saturday.
Saturday was the day In-Between – It is known as Silent Saturday.
~ Max Lucado - God made himself heard on Friday. He tore the curtains of the temple, opened the graves of the dead, rocked the earth, blocked the sun of the sky, and sacrificed the Son of Heaven. Earth heard much of God on Friday.
Nothing on Saturday. Jesus is silent. God is silent. Saturday is silent.
Remember that just before Jesus died, He declared – It is Finished!
The work of Salvation and redemption had been completed.
Just as God rested when He had finished creation Jesus rested from the finished work of the cross.
Saturday is the day after the cross, but before the resurrection. The day when everything feels silent.
The Pharisees were busy sealing the tomb. The Soldiers were busy guarding the tomb; but Jesus was silent. He was resting. He descended into Sheol to set those who had followed Him free.
Ephesians 4:10 (NLT) - And the same one who descended is the one who ascended higher than all the heavens, so that he might fill the entire universe with himself.
Christ descended from Heaven and became a man. God gave His one and only son to bring us life through His death and resurrection.
Saturday was the day when everything fell silent, it seemed like all hope was gone. It was the day when the people who loved Jesus were left grieving, waiting, wondering if any of His promises were true.
The work that Jesus did on Friday and Sunday was important but just as important was the work that Silent Saturday was doing in His disciples.
Just because it felt hopeless didn’t mean that hope was gone.
God was still working.
While the disciples were weeping, while the world thought that it had won, God was preparing for resurrection.
There is incredible value in the Silent times in our life. While we are called to do, we are also called to be still.
The older I get the more I really like quiet. We all need quiet we all require quiet.
We all need the quiet that allows us to rejuvenate and the type of quiet that allows us to contemplate.
The disciples in the Silence of that Saturday; that Sabbath – were remembering all that Jesus had taught them.
We need quiet to think and to comprehend.
Silent Saturday gives us a time of quiet to really think about all that Jesus work on the cross was about. What His sacrifice really meant.
Quiet is important. As a matter of fact, I have found that in the car I will actually turn down the radio so that I can think and concentrate and focus better.
In stillness there is more focus and greater clarity.
We live in a very noisy society. We always have things that always keep us on – Phones, TV’s, Radios.
Very few people really know how to just sit in silence and stillness.
Many of us have forgotten how to sit in the presence of the Lord and just be silent and just be still. To not talk.
Too often we confuse praying with doing and saying but being in the presence of the Lord also just involves silence.
Silence allows us to really hear what is being said. You really get to know someone in the silent times.
Just because it is quiet doesn’t mean that nothing is happening.
The greatest power moves of God often happen in the silence.
Sometimes in the silence the more serious things are.
I found as a parent that silence was golden in three very powerful ways:
One - just sitting together in the quiet could be very bonding. Some of our best times were when the kids were little and they would just snuggle.
Two – when I was disciplining the kids I found early on that I didn’t need to raise my voice. They discovered that the quieter I became the quicker they better listen.
Third – There were times that people were messing with my children that I would just step in and didn’t need to say much. It was understood that you don’t touch my kids.
On Saturday Jesus was silent– He had said all that needed said on Friday. The message was already sent.
I have found that many times Jesus is silent because He is allowing us to just talk.
There are times, I think, we misunderstand the silence of the Lord. It’s not that He is silent, it is that He is listening. When we talk to God we wind up working many things out while He listens. He speaks without saying a word.
God doesn’t always try to fill the silence. He didn’t on Saturday. It was time to rest.
Quiet is necessary for our peace of mind, it is necessary to think about things and through things. It is necessary to contemplate. It is necessary for rest.
We need to learn to become comfortable with the silence.
God is able to do powerful things in silence.
If you read the Word of God closely you will be surprised to find out how much Salvation and Stillness go hand in hand.
I think that many times we miss out on what God is doing because we don’t get still and silent to notice what God is doing.
Stillness is where we can take in the beauty.
Stillness is where we are able to process life.
Stillness is where we are able to really take in and observe all that God is doing in all of His glory.
We find God, not in the midst of the intensity and busyness, but in the stillness.
I have found that God works through seasons. Including seasons of silence.
Ecclesiastes 3:7 - a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak,
Seasons of quiet, Seasons of waiting, seasons of stillness.
Silent Saturday was just important as Crucifixion Friday and Resurrection Sunday.
Silent Saturdays. We all have those seasons.
The day between the struggle and the solution; the question and the answer; the offered prayer and the answer of the prayer.
Saturday’s silence is hard. Is God angry? Did I disappoint him?
God knows Jesus is in the tomb, why doesn’t He do something?
Or, in our situations -- God knows our career is struggling, our kids are hurting, our finances are in the pit, our marriage is in a mess.
Why doesn’t He act? What are you supposed to do until He does?
You do what Jesus did. Lie still. Stay silent. Trust God.
After the crucifixion there was a much-needed stillness, after the stillness there is Resurrection!
May you and your Family be filled with the Blessing of the Lord. Know that you are Loved and may you have a wonderful Resurrection Season!
Pastor Marvin & Dawn
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HCC Monthly Harvest Seed
Acts 5:14-16 (NLT) - Yet more and more people believed and were brought to the Lord—crowds of both men and women. 15 As a result of the apostles’ work, sick people were brought out into the streets on beds and mats so that Peter’s shadow might fall across some of them as he went by. 16 Crowds came from the villages around Jerusalem, bringing their sick and those possessed by evil spirits, and they were all healed.
There are people that leave an incredible impact on people’s lives.
Just being in their presence is uplifting, inspiring, challenging and leaves you better for having been around them.
These are people that have cast a long shadow. People just get around them and their lives are impacted and changed for the glory of God.
Peter was this type of person. He was making such an impact that people had the kind of faith that if they could just get into his shadow they would be healed.
People are hurting, confused and need healing. Many are desperate enough to just want to be near people that can refresh them and bring healing. They are desperate for a touch from God. God has called us to be the Peter’s of our day.
A shadow is an extension of a person. Many people speak of shadows as a shady thing or a spooky thing. A shadow is simply an extension of who you are.
You can’t have a shadow without light.
You can’t cast your own shadow. You have to be positioned in the light and then that light causes a silhouette.
The brighter the light the longer the shadow.
The reason that Peter was making such a difference is because he was a person who walked in the light.
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.
1 Thessalonians 5:5 - You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness.
Our enemy tells us the lie that he is doing his work in the shadows. This is a lie.
This is not so for the people of God. All that God is doing is out in the open. He is the God of Light.
James 1:17 - Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.
(NLT) - Whatever is good and perfect is a gift coming down to us from God our Father, who created all the lights in the heavens. He never changes or casts a shifting shadow.
"No shadow of turning" means that God is unchanging and consistent. The phrase emphasizes God's steadfast nature, reliability, and immutability, implying that His goodness and perfect gifts are constant and do not change.
1 John 1:5 - This is the message we heard from Jesus and now declare to you: God is light, and there is no darkness in him at all.
Here is what I am saying; if you and I want to cast a long shadow then we need to walk in the light. The closer to the light the longer the shadow.
I hear many Christians who talk about wanting to make a difference. They are more worried about making a difference than they are about getting close to Jesus.
If we make walking with Jesus our priority, we will not be able to help but to make a difference and cast a long shadow.
A shadow isn’t about casting shade on others it is about becoming shade; a place of refuge for others when life is hard.
The Primary way that we cast a long shadow is by being a witness. It is our call to share the light.
Remember that light always drives out the darkness.
When we shine our light, it gives the enemy nowhere to hide.
Matthew 5:16 - Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.
(AMP) - Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good deeds and moral excellence, and [recognize and honor and] glorify your Father who is in heaven.
What we say and how we live is a powerful witness. Especially in dark places and in the dark and difficult seasons of life.
Every time that we share our testimony we overcome the enemy.
Our witness and our testimony are simple – here is what Jesus did for me.
Revelation 12:11 (AMP) - And they overcame and conquered him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, for they did not love their life and renounce their faith even when faced with death.
We make defeating the devil way to complicated.
There are three simple things:
Do you know why the Psalmist says in chapter 23 that when he walks through the valley of shadow of death, he will fear no evil. – Someone needs to get this.
Remember – nothing can have a shadow without light. When you walk in the light; death is brought to life.
The light of Jesus overshadows death. – For the believer there is no fear of death because death is no longer shrouded in darkness. It is flooded with light.
1 Corinthians 15:55-57 (NLT) - O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting? For sin is the sting that results in death, and the law gives sin its power. 57 But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ.
I want to leave you with a thought;
A testimony begins and ends with God. In a biography we are the star of the story in a testimony Jesus is the star of the story.
People need our testimony. It connects people to God. It inspires people for God.
Remember the saying – no test no testimony.
People will always connect with God when they connect with our struggle.
There is something powerful that happens when people see the realness of our walk.
Cast a long shadow. I dare you! Get close to Jesus and watch what happens. You will naturally start making a difference in people’s lives.
May we see what happened in Peter’s life happen through our own.
Remember that You are Loved,
Pastor Marvin & Dawn
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HCC Monthly Harvest Seed
Ezekiel 37:1-14 - The hand of the Lord came upon me and brought me out in the Spirit of the Lord, and set me down in the midst of the valley; and it was full of bones. 2 Then He caused me to pass by them all around, and behold, there were very many in the open valley; and indeed, they were very dry. 3 And He said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” So, I answered, “O Lord God, you know.” 4 Again He said to me, “Prophesy to these bones, and say to them, ‘O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! 5 Thus says the Lord God to these bones: “Surely, I will cause breath to enter into you, and you shall live. 6 I will put sinews on you and bring flesh upon you, cover you with skin and put breath in you; and you shall live. Then you shall know that I am the Lord.”’” 7 So I prophesied as I was commanded; and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and suddenly a rattling; and the bones came together, bone to bone. 8 Indeed, as I looked, the sinews and the flesh came upon them, and the skin covered them over; but there was no breath in them. 9 Also He said to me, “Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.” ’ ” 10 So I prophesied as He commanded me, and breath came into them, and they lived, and stood upon their feet, an exceedingly great army. 11 Then He said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They indeed say, ‘Our bones are dry, our hope is lost, and we ourselves are cut off!’ 12 Therefore prophesy and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “Behold, O My people, I will open your graves and cause you to come up from your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel. 13 Then you shall know that I am the Lord, when I have opened your graves, O My people, and brought you up from your graves. 14 I will put My Spirit in you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken it and performed it,” says the Lord.’”
~ The Church doesn’t need bigger programs. We need the breath of God.
This is one of the messages I remember most from my Childhood. I can see my Pastor – Robert Owen standing there talking about the Valley of the Dry bones. I can still hear him today in His Welsh accent saying – Son of man can these Dry Bones live? Prophecy to the bones – Oh Dry Bones hear the word of the Lord – surly I will cause breath to come into you and you SHALL live!
This portion of scripture is a profound prophecy. It speaks of the rise of Israel as a nation coming out of captivity in Babylon. In AD 70 Israel was scattered again throughout the world and again God raised this nation back within the borders established in the Bible in 1948. This has not happened to any nation or peoples except the Jewish people and the nation state of Israel.
This prophetic vision is also a foreshadowing of the Salvation that Jesus Christ would bring to all of mankind.
Ephesians 2:4-5 - But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),
The valley of dry bones is a prophecy concerning our spiritual resurrection.
It is the promise that God would breathe new life into us.
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.
The Dry Bones are all about hope.
Those were the bones of people who were dead. They were not sort of dead, they were not mostly dead they were dead, dead.
Hope is a powerful word. If you don’t believe it, just try to live without it.
As Christians we are hopeful and hope-filled people.
The Bible tells us that Jesus is the Hope of the World. – He is.
~ Hope is a very personal thing.
Each of those skeletons was a person. They had families, dreams, plans and a life. Each of them had fresh life breathed into them. – That is as personal as it gets.
I want to remind you that the spiritual things of God will have deep personal significance to each of us.
God asked Ezekiel – Can these bones live? Remember, Ezekiel said that the bones were very dry. They were long dead. Bleached white in the sun.
Being the deeply prophetic and spiritual man that he was Ezekiel said, “Lord only you know the answer to that”.
All of us at one point or another in our walk with God are going to have to answer questions that the Lord asks us.
Now, we can be religious or we can be honest.
All of us are going to face things that are deader than dead and that is when we are going to have to really deal with what we truly believe about God.
This is the entire reason Jesus waited four days to raise up Lazarus from the dead. According to Jewish law and the law of decay- he was dead enough to start decomposing. That did not stop Jesus from calling out – Lazarus come forth out of that tomb. – This is why the disciples had to be the ones to roll away the stone and not Jesus. They had to get involved in the learning.
They didn’t have enough faith to call out the dead but they did have the faith to obey a simple command.
~ The Valley of the Dry bones gives us practical instruction on dealing with the dead things in our lives.
Before God will breathe life into our situations, He must first breathe life into us.
He does that by speaking life into us. Before you and I can prophesy and speak life into people and situations God must breathe life into us.
How does He do that? By His Word. The dead things in our life have a way of taking the life out of us. We lose our enthusiasm, inspiration, and vision.
Anyone who is successful in any endeavor cannot continue effectively if they have no heart for it.
2 Timothy 3:16-17 - All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.
The Word inspired means God Breathed. Whenever the breath of God is mentioned in the Bible life quickly follows.
It is God’s Word that literally breathes new life into us.
In Genesis God literally breathed life into mankind. He gave breath to Adam.
Genisis 2:7 - And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.
Man became a living being. This is more than God causing a body to have oxygen.
God literally breathed the Spirit into man. We are body, soul and spirit. We don’t simply live because we can breathe. We breath because we have life.
Acts 17:28 (AMP) - For in Him we live and move and exist [that is, in Him we actually have our being], as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we also are His children.’
In the beginning God gave us our spirit.
Remember Jesus gave this promise to His disciples.
John 20:19-23 - Then, the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst, and said to them, “Peace be with you.” 20 When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. 21 So Jesus said to them again, “Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.” 22 And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”
Church, we need Jesus to breathe the New Life of the Holy Spirit into us.
This is the difference maker.
Before the Power there must first be breath. To feel the breath, one must be close.
People say that the church of America is dead. I don’t believe that because the church is made of people who are alive.
What we need is the Breath of the Holy Spirit. If our nation is going to have a revival it will begin with the Breath of the Holy Spirit in the Church. In God’s people.
Jesus breathe on us!
Once God’s Word is in us, we must declare His Word into the situation.
In Matthew God told His disciples to speak to the mountain. This means that we must address the situation. We must deal with it God’s way.
Ezekiel 37:4 - Again He said to me, “Prophesy to these bones, and say to them, ‘O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord!
(NLT) - Then he said to me, “Speak a prophetic message to these bones and say, ‘Dry bones, listen to the word of the Lord!
All too often we talk to ourselves. We speak to others but we don’t talk to the Lord and speak to our situation.
We talk to dead things all the time. – our job, hurtful people. – We need to speak life by declaring the Word of God.
We must prophecy or speak God’s Word over our situation.
When we are saved, we confess our sin and proclaim our belief in the resurrection.
Remember we were dead in our trespasses and in our sin.
It is Jesus’ resurrection that speaks to our resurrection Spiritually and in the future naturally.
God can literally raise us from death to Ife.
It is God’s nature to be a life giver.
Someone said that it is better to light a candle than to curse the dark.
We need to stop cursing our situation… it is already dead.
God’s Word is life and light – declare that. Speak that.
God told Ezekiel to speak to the bones.
The bones are what’s left of the situation. Bones are not nothing they are the skeleton of a body and they are the framework for a miracle.
We need to stop saying that the bones are nothing. They are substance.
Faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen.
All you need is a mustard seed to have enough faith. Ezekiel had bones.
After you speak to the bones realize that there will be a season of things coming together.
Things will need to flesh out.
Ezekiel 37:7-9 (NLT) - So I spoke this message, just as he told me. Suddenly as I spoke, there was a rattling noise all across the valley. The bones of each body came together and attached themselves as complete skeletons. 8 Then as I watched, muscles and flesh formed over the bones. Then skin formed to cover their bodies, but they still had no breath in them.
When God restores life to things we desire an immediate response.
Restoration in the Greek, carries with it the connotation of a bone being set in place and then taking time to heal.
Miracles are instantaneous. Healing many times is progressive.
Being set in place and healing many times is a process that takes time depending on the damage, the amount of deadness and the nature of the healing.
Remember that Ezekiel was watching a reverse autopsy.
New Life isn’t always pretty. If you have seen a baby born you know what I mean.
It is beautiful and messy all at the same time.
Once things come together, they still need one more thing… the breath of God.
The new bodies that Ezekiel saw were nice but they were still dead.
A lot of people celebrate when things start coming together. But… there is still no life.
Ezekiel 37:9-10 - Also He said to me, “Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.” ’ ” 10 So I prophesied as He commanded me, and breath came into them, and they lived, and stood upon their feet, an exceedingly great army.
It is the breath of God that resuscitates situations and that breaths new life into us.
Nothing stands if it doesn’t have life in it…. Unless you prop it up artificially. This is what is happening in a great deal of the churches around the world. They have a form of Godliness but no power. They have a reputation of being alive but they are dead. They look life-like but there is no breath of God!
Listen a car without gas isn’t going anywhere. A church without the Spirit of God isn’t going anywhere.
Ezekiel 37:14 - I will put My Spirit in you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken it and performed it,” says the Lord.”
For years Israel was unsettled as a people, scattered among the nations of the world.
Today they are back in the land that Ezekiel prophesied about.
God wants to more than just settle you… He wants you to live and thrive in what He has for you.
He wants us as a nation to have His Spirit in us.
Can these bones live…Yes, they can.
Spirit of God come breath fresh on us today. Breath fresh on this church today.
May you and your family know the full, life-giving blessing of God.
Know that you are loved,
Pastor Marvin & Dawn
Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay
HCC Monthly Harvest Seed
Ezekiel 37:1-14 - The hand of the Lord came upon me and brought me out in the Spirit of the Lord, and set me down in the midst of the valley; and it was full of bones. 2 Then He caused me to pass by them all around, and behold, there were very many in the open valley; and indeed, they were very dry. 3 And He said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” So, I answered, “O Lord God, you know.” 4 Again He said to me, “Prophesy to these bones, and say to them, ‘O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! 5 Thus says the Lord God to these bones: “Surely, I will cause breath to enter into you, and you shall live. 6 I will put sinews on you and bring flesh upon you, cover you with skin and put breath in you; and you shall live. Then you shall know that I am the Lord.”’” 7 So I prophesied as I was commanded; and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and suddenly a rattling; and the bones came together, bone to bone. 8 Indeed, as I looked, the sinews and the flesh came upon them, and the skin covered them over; but there was no breath in them. 9 Also He said to me, “Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.” ’ ” 10 So I prophesied as He commanded me, and breath came into them, and they lived, and stood upon their feet, an exceedingly great army. 11 Then He said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They indeed say, ‘Our bones are dry, our hope is lost, and we ourselves are cut off!’ 12 Therefore prophesy and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “Behold, O My people, I will open your graves and cause you to come up from your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel. 13 Then you shall know that I am the Lord, when I have opened your graves, O My people, and brought you up from your graves. 14 I will put My Spirit in you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken it and performed it,” says the Lord.’”
~ The Church doesn’t need bigger programs. We need the breath of God.
This is one of the messages I remember most from my Childhood. I can see my Pastor – Robert Owen standing there talking about the Valley of the Dry bones. I can still hear him today in His Welsh accent saying – Son of man can these Dry Bones live? Prophecy to the bones – Oh Dry Bones hear the word of the Lord – surly I will cause breath to come into you and you SHALL live!
This portion of scripture is a profound prophecy. It speaks of the rise of Israel as a nation coming out of captivity in Babylon. In AD 70 Israel was scattered again throughout the world and again God raised this nation back within the borders established in the Bible in 1948. This has not happened to any nation or peoples except the Jewish people and the nation state of Israel.
This prophetic vision is also a foreshadowing of the Salvation that Jesus Christ would bring to all of mankind.
Ephesians 2:4-5 - But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),
The valley of dry bones is a prophecy concerning our spiritual resurrection.
It is the promise that God would breathe new life into us.
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.
The Dry Bones are all about hope.
Those were the bones of people who were dead. They were not sort of dead, they were not mostly dead they were dead, dead.
Hope is a powerful word. If you don’t believe it, just try to live without it.
As Christians we are hopeful and hope-filled people.
The Bible tells us that Jesus is the Hope of the World. – He is.
~ Hope is a very personal thing.
Each of those skeletons was a person. They had families, dreams, plans and a life. Each of them had fresh life breathed into them. – That is as personal as it gets.
I want to remind you that the spiritual things of God will have deep personal significance to each of us.
God asked Ezekiel – Can these bones live? Remember, Ezekiel said that the bones were very dry. They were long dead. Bleached white in the sun.
Being the deeply prophetic and spiritual man that he was Ezekiel said, “Lord only you know the answer to that”.
All of us at one point or another in our walk with God are going to have to answer questions that the Lord asks us.
Now, we can be religious or we can be honest.
All of us are going to face things that are deader than dead and that is when we are going to have to really deal with what we truly believe about God.
This is the entire reason Jesus waited four days to raise up Lazarus from the dead. According to Jewish law and the law of decay- he was dead enough to start decomposing. That did not stop Jesus from calling out – Lazarus come forth out of that tomb. – This is why the disciples had to be the ones to roll away the stone and not Jesus. They had to get involved in the learning.
They didn’t have enough faith to call out the dead but they did have the faith to obey a simple command.
~ The Valley of the Dry bones gives us practical instruction on dealing with the dead things in our lives.
Before God will breathe life into our situations, He must first breathe life into us.
He does that by speaking life into us. Before you and I can prophesy and speak life into people and situations God must breathe life into us.
How does He do that? By His Word. The dead things in our life have a way of taking the life out of us. We lose our enthusiasm, inspiration, and vision.
Anyone who is successful in any endeavor cannot continue effectively if they have no heart for it.
2 Timothy 3:16-17 - All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.
The Word inspired means God Breathed. Whenever the breath of God is mentioned in the Bible life quickly follows.
It is God’s Word that literally breathes new life into us.
In Genesis God literally breathed life into mankind. He gave breath to Adam.
Genisis 2:7 - And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.
Man became a living being. This is more than God causing a body to have oxygen.
God literally breathed the Spirit into man. We are body, soul and spirit. We don’t simply live because we can breathe. We breath because we have life.
Acts 17:28 (AMP) - For in Him we live and move and exist [that is, in Him we actually have our being], as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we also are His children.’
In the beginning God gave us our spirit.
Remember Jesus gave this promise to His disciples.
John 20:19-23 - Then, the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst, and said to them, “Peace be with you.” 20 When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. 21 So Jesus said to them again, “Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.” 22 And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”
Church, we need Jesus to breathe the New Life of the Holy Spirit into us.
This is the difference maker.
Before the Power there must first be breath. To feel the breath, one must be close.
People say that the church of America is dead. I don’t believe that because the church is made of people who are alive.
What we need is the Breath of the Holy Spirit. If our nation is going to have a revival it will begin with the Breath of the Holy Spirit in the Church. In God’s people.
Jesus breathe on us!
Once God’s Word is in us, we must declare His Word into the situation.
In Matthew God told His disciples to speak to the mountain. This means that we must address the situation. We must deal with it God’s way.
Ezekiel 37:4 - Again He said to me, “Prophesy to these bones, and say to them, ‘O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord!
(NLT) - Then he said to me, “Speak a prophetic message to these bones and say, ‘Dry bones, listen to the word of the Lord!
All too often we talk to ourselves. We speak to others but we don’t talk to the Lord and speak to our situation.
We talk to dead things all the time. – our job, hurtful people. – We need to speak life by declaring the Word of God.
We must prophecy or speak God’s Word over our situation.
When we are saved, we confess our sin and proclaim our belief in the resurrection.
Remember we were dead in our trespasses and in our sin.
It is Jesus’ resurrection that speaks to our resurrection Spiritually and in the future naturally.
God can literally raise us from death to Ife.
It is God’s nature to be a life giver.
Someone said that it is better to light a candle than to curse the dark.
We need to stop cursing our situation… it is already dead.
God’s Word is life and light – declare that. Speak that.
God told Ezekiel to speak to the bones.
The bones are what’s left of the situation. Bones are not nothing they are the skeleton of a body and they are the framework for a miracle.
We need to stop saying that the bones are nothing. They are substance.
Faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen.
All you need is a mustard seed to have enough faith. Ezekiel had bones.
After you speak to the bones realize that there will be a season of things coming together.
Things will need to flesh out.
Ezekiel 37:7-9 (NLT) - So I spoke this message, just as he told me. Suddenly as I spoke, there was a rattling noise all across the valley. The bones of each body came together and attached themselves as complete skeletons. 8 Then as I watched, muscles and flesh formed over the bones. Then skin formed to cover their bodies, but they still had no breath in them.
When God restores life to things we desire an immediate response.
Restoration in the Greek, carries with it the connotation of a bone being set in place and then taking time to heal.
Miracles are instantaneous. Healing many times is progressive.
Being set in place and healing many times is a process that takes time depending on the damage, the amount of deadness and the nature of the healing.
Remember that Ezekiel was watching a reverse autopsy.
New Life isn’t always pretty. If you have seen a baby born you know what I mean.
It is beautiful and messy all at the same time.
Once things come together, they still need one more thing… the breath of God.
The new bodies that Ezekiel saw were nice but they were still dead.
A lot of people celebrate when things start coming together. But… there is still no life.
Ezekiel 37:9-10 - Also He said to me, “Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.” ’ ” 10 So I prophesied as He commanded me, and breath came into them, and they lived, and stood upon their feet, an exceedingly great army.
It is the breath of God that resuscitates situations and that breaths new life into us.
Nothing stands if it doesn’t have life in it…. Unless you prop it up artificially. This is what is happening in a great deal of the churches around the world. They have a form of Godliness but no power. They have a reputation of being alive but they are dead. They look life-like but there is no breath of God!
Listen a car without gas isn’t going anywhere. A church without the Spirit of God isn’t going anywhere.
Ezekiel 37:14 - I will put My Spirit in you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken it and performed it,” says the Lord.”
For years Israel was unsettled as a people, scattered among the nations of the world.
Today they are back in the land that Ezekiel prophesied about.
God wants to more than just settle you… He wants you to live and thrive in what He has for you.
He wants us as a nation to have His Spirit in us.
Can these bones live…Yes, they can.
Spirit of God come breath fresh on us today. Breath fresh on this church today.
May you and your family know the full, life-giving blessing of God.
Know that you are loved,
Pastor Marvin & Dawn
Image by WikiImages from Pixabay
HCC Monthly Harvest Seed
Psalm 27:14 - Wait on the Lord; Be of good courage, And He shall strengthen your heart;
Wait, I say, on the Lord!
(AMP) - Wait for and confidently expect the Lord; Be strong and let your heart take courage; Yes, wait for and confidently expect the Lord.
None of us like to wait. We are an impatient society.
We have been conditioned to want things now.
Our life will be marked by significant seasons of waiting.
We need to walk in wisdom in the wait. While we wait.
The waiting process will either become one of the most impactful times in our life or it will be one of the most frustrating times in our lives. – It can be both but it doesn’t have to be frustrating.
The first piece of Wisdom in the wait is to realize that you are waiting on the Lord.
The Psalmist says that we are to wait on the Lord. We are to wait expectantly on the Lord.
This is so important that it cannot be over emphasized.
We are not waiting on people.
We are not waiting on situations to change.
We are not waiting on the conditions to be just right.
We are waiting on the Lord.
Notice that it doesn’t say that we are waiting on God. We are waiting on the Lord.
Our Master.
We are not in control He is. We are not in charge – He is.
This changes everything about the wait.
The wait becomes less about us and what we want and how we think things should go and ALL about His way and His will, His purpose and His timing.
Wisdom gives us a much better perspective.
People are unreliable. Situations without God depend on luck.
God is completely reliable, He is good, faithful and wonderful.
When you wait on God there is an entirely different confidence about the outcome.
(AMP) - Wait for and confidently expect the Lord
When you wait on people and situations you have no idea what to expect but when we wait on the Lord, we can have confident expectation.
Wait, I say, on the Lord!
This is such good wisdom that he says it twice.
The Repetition of "wait for the Lord":
The repetition underscores the importance of this concept. It acknowledges that waiting can be difficult, but it's a necessary part of trusting God.
It takes courage to wait on the Lord.
Psalm 27:14 - Wait on the Lord; Be of good courage, And He shall strengthen your heart;
Wait, I say, on the Lord!
Be of good courage… The Amplified says let your heart take courage.
Courage is a choice.
Too many people wait in fearful expectation. It takes courage to expect the good in the wait.
That is what is meant by - good courage.
This isn’t a false bravado it is a choice to bravely and confidently wait on the Lord.
Courage is choosing faith over unbelief and doubt It is choosing peace over fear.
Nothing drains your strength like fear and unbelief.
Waiting means that we have positioned our self in a posture of rest.
Isaiah 40:30-31 - Even the youths shall faint and be weary, And the young men shall utterly fall, 31 But those who wait (Trust, place their Hope) on the Lord Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.
Waiting is a time where God is strengthening us and helping to renew us.
Needing renewed strength is not a sign of failure or weakness it is evidence that you have been running, soaring and working.
Get off your own back.
Isaiah prophesied some truth that even the young people get faint and weary. All of us get tired. The more miles that life puts on us the truer that statement is.
Waiting on God allows us to trust Him to put our Hope in Him all from a position of stopping and rest. – You cannot gain strength when you are expending strength and striving.
Courage says I trust God enough to stop while He gives me the energy to fly again.
Waiting helps us to regain and renew our strength. To build up steam.
It helps us to refresh.
The wait renews us and strengthens us.
If you go into the next season of your life without strength you will not have what you need to prosper in that season.
New seasons require renewed strength. Why? Because new seasons are new – not easy. They are exciting but require not only ability but energy. We not only need the will for a new season but the ability for the new season.
God desires us to soar. Realize that there is wisdom in the wait.
Many people never step into God’s next thing because they never stopped long enough to wait on Him while they were being renewed.
God loves you and me. He will never put us into new highs if we are not going to soar there but drop like a rock.
Remember before Elijah was sent into his next season; God fed him and allowed him to rest before he ran for days.
The waiting is not just a place of resting it is a place of renewal and re-freshing.
Waiting is where we grow in wisdom.
Psalm 25:5 - Lead me in Your truth and teach me, For You are the God of my salvation;
On You I wait all the day.
Where there is a great deal of motion there is also commotion. There is confusion.
It is in the waiting that we allow God to lead us into the truth.
John 16:13 - However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.
We need God to teach us His truth and we need the Holy Spirit to guide us into truth.
The Pause helps us to survey the landscape in order to get a fuller picture of what is happening.
To learn and to listen. You can learn a lot in a moment.
Many times, we get into trouble because we don’t wait to get the leading, guiding direction of the Holy Spirit.
Isaiah 30:21 (NLT) - Your own ears will hear him. Right behind you a voice will say,
“This is the way you should go,” whether to the right or to the left.
God promises to lead us and guide us. To go before us and to speak to us.
Waiting means that we are teachable. That we are willing to learn His will, purpose and ways.
While you can learn a great deal in a moment you can learn a great deal more over time.
Real learning takes time. If we learn during our season of waiting it makes our season of doing so much easier and more productive.
Moses, Joseph, David, Daniel, Paul all had extended seasons of learning and unlearning.
There was wisdom in the wait. They were learning what they needed for their next season in the wait. Now they were not only knowledgeable but skilled and experienced.
Never underestimate the experience that you are gaining in the wait. This is called seasoned. But you are only seasoned in the season of the wait.
This is where you grow. Joseph went into his season a boy but came out a man. So did David. WE do a lot of growing – up in the wait. – this is called maturity.
View waiting as an opportunity for spiritual growth and deepening your reliance on God.
Waiting may not always be easy but it is always beneficial.
Seasons are wonderful the productive ones and the waiting ones.
Speaking of seasons. May the Lord bless you and your family this Christmas Season. May you regain the awe of knowing Jesus as a little Child.
May you have a very Merry Christmas and may the coming year be filled with His glory and blessing.
Pastor Marvin & Dawn
Image by Daniel Nebreda from Pixabay
HCC Monthly Harvest Seed
Colossians 4:5-6 - Walk in wisdom toward those who are outside, redeeming the time. Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one.
Let me clarify from the outset. I believe that right is right that wrong is wrong and that there is righteousness and that there is wickedness, that there is good and that there is evil.
God’s standard is the standard. He calls us to righteousness and holiness. Without holiness NO One will see the Lord.
Marriage is between one man and one woman. Any other relationship is not a marriage in any form it may try to take.
There are only two sexes – male and female. Sex and gender are the same thing.
Now with that said – the purpose of this message is out of my concern for the way that many Christians are approaching the issues in our culture and our response to people who are outside the faith. Especially those who do not believe as we do or live like we live. People who vocally and radically advocate for a way of life that is not according to the Word of God.
Walk in wisdom toward those who are outside,
~ Rod Loy - Behind every issue is an individual. It’s easy to talk about problems in broad terms - conflict, policy, growth, liability, structure. But if you zoom out too far, you forget the faces. Whether it’s immigration, trafficking, a discipline issue, or tension in your team, people are always at the center. Their stories. Their pain. Their worth. Great people never lose sight of the individual. Because people matter.
At the heart of all that we do as Christians is to live out the two Great Commands that God has given to all of us.
Matthew 22:37-39 - Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’
Mark 16:15-16 - And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. 16 He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.
You might recognize these as the Great Commitment and the Great Commandment. We are not only called to love God but to love people enough to share the good news of the Gospel.
People matter to God. All people. People inside the family of God and people outside the family of God. The purpose of the Great Commission is to move people from outside the family of God to the inside of the family of God.
To do that we need to walk in wisdom towards those who are outside. In the way that we see them. In the way that we speak to them. In the way that we share the Gospel and in the way that we share our lives.
To many people in Christian circles put sin into categories. – I hear people say – I know that person is sinning sexually but at least they are not gay. – I have heard people say this about those having affairs. Well – If I had a spouse like that I would cheat too.
Sin is sin. Yes, the Bible does address certain sin as an abomination. Homosexuality is one of those.
1 Corinthians 6:9-11 - Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? (all of them) Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators (Sexually immoral), nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, 10 nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.
And such were some of you. BUT we were washed, sanctified, justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God. – That is my testimony.
That is my testimony. Thank God people spoke into our lives in the midst of our mess.
Thank God when I made a mess out of my life there were people who were kind to me, who spoke truthfully to me about my sin but who also chose to be a friend.
While the Bible is very clear about sin. We need to be better at how we are with people not like us. People who don’t know Jesus.
Walk in wisdom toward those who are outside,
We need to understand people. See their hurt and pain. Understand their need for Jesus and know how to speak into their lives.
The truth is that sometimes we don’t even treat people in our own camp very well when they present different than we like
Jesus was a friend of sinners. – adulterers, tax collectors, religious hypocrites.
We as Christians act like if we get around people who don’t know Jesus that we might get cooties.
The Bile says that Love covers a multitude of sins. How can the sins get covered if we don’t actually show love to people.
James 5:20 - let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death and cover a multitude of sins.
1 Peter 4:8 - And above all things have fervent love for one another, for “love will cover a multitude of sins.”
I am so thankful for the Love of Jesus that allowed His Blood to cover my sins.
The Standard of right and wrong is always God’s moral standards according to the Word of God.
But we must walk in wisdom and love in order to help People come to Jesus.
Right after Paul instructs us to walk in wisdom towards those who are outside, he shows us what that looks like.
Colossians 4:6 - Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one.
(NLT) - Let your conversation be gracious and attractive so that you will have the right response for everyone.
To many Christians have become salty in the bad way instead of adding flavor and enhancing they are mean and unkind.
Our speech is to always be with grace seasoned with salt. Salt actually causes people to want more. It adds to the flavor.
People know if you are a true friend or a fake friend.
I love the fact that God had prepared the tree that Zaccheus would climb long before he did.
Jesus going to Zaccheus house was scandalous to the religious. Zaccheus was a little big man. He had robbed and bullied many. He was insecure. He knew what he was. Yet he did all he could to see Jesus. Jesus sat and ate with him. They talked about things, laughed and had a serious conversation about his life. We know that Zaccheus made a turn around. – at the end of the story is where Jesus said- the Son of man came to seek and save that which was lost.
The lost need people who care enough to help them be found
People need to know that they have people who care and will treat them well.
We are to be kind, truthful and always treat people with dignity and honor. Even when they are unlovable. It was the kindness of Jessus that led to Zaccheus’s turn around and God’s kindness that led to ours.
Romans 2:4 (AMP) - Or do you have no regard for the wealth of His kindness and tolerance and patience [in withholding His wrath]? Are you [actually] unaware or ignorant [of the fact] that God’s kindness leads you to repentance [that is, to change your inner self, your old way of thinking—seek His purpose for your life]?
Jesus came to heal the sick.
Mark 2:15-17 - Now it happened, as He was dining in Levi’s house, that many tax collectors and sinners also sat together with Jesus and His disciples; for there were many, and they followed Him. 16 And when the scribes and Pharisees saw Him eating with the tax collectors and sinners, they said to His disciples, “How is it that He eats and drinks with tax collectors and sinners?” 17 When Jesus heard it, He said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.”
Jesus came to call sinners to repentance. He came to call them to turn around.
He sat with them, got to know them and ate with them. – Wow.
Jesus said it is not the healthy that need a physician.
A physician needs wisdom to diagnose, Skill to operate and a good bedside manner to set at ease and to communicate well.
How a doctor treats people personally is just as vital as how they treat them medically.
I have been in the hospital and spend time with Dr’s. I appreciate the ones with a great attitude that cares. I have met incredibly smart and capable doctors with a horrible bedside manner. I love the ones who make me feel cared for, give me assurance to calm my fears and talk to me like I matter to them.
The world is filled with hurting people. And unfortunately, we as Christians add to the pain instead of healing the hurt that sin and shame cause.
There are times that the world treats its own better than we as Christians do.
We need to be the ones that people can find hope in and then disciple them in the ways of God.
We have extremes in the church – on the left a permissiveness about sin. Accepting and giving our approval of things that are contrary to the word of God.
On the right there are those who speak of holiness but they are hateful and uncaring.
There is a better way a middle way between the two- the narrow way that is uncompromising but also loving and caring.
I am excited about the opportunities that lay before us to share the gospel.
People are open, hurting, and have questions and they are willing to engage in conversation like never before.
May we walk through the open doors that are before us. May we love people like Jesus does. May we be skilled, seasoned with salt and graceful. Most of all may we represent Christ well and with wisdom.
This November lets also be mindful of all the things that we have to be grateful for.
Remember that you are loved.
Pastor Marvin & Dawn