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
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
Image by wal_172619 from Pixabay
HCC Monthly Harvest Seed
Proverbs 10:12 - Hatred stirs up strife, But love covers all sins.
~ Martin Luther King JR. – Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.
1 John 3:15 - Anyone who hates a brother or sister is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life residing in him.
1 John 4:19-20 - We love because he first loved us. Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen.
For many people what is shocking, and disheartening is the rudeness, lack of courtesy, violence, general disinterests in kindness and basic morality and a lack of civility in our conversations.
It should not come as a surprise that a nation that has killed over 63 million babies through abortion since 1973 is now seeing people walk into schools and shopping malls and murdering our children. Many of these shootings are done by other children and teenagers or those in their early 20’s.
2 Timothy 3:1-5 (NLT) - You should know this, Timothy, that in the last days there will be very difficult times. 2 For people will love only themselves and their money. They will be boastful and proud, scoffing at God, disobedient to their parents, and ungrateful. They will consider nothing sacred. 3 They will be unloving and unforgiving; they will slander others and have no self-control. They will be cruel and hate what is good.
4 They will betray their friends, be reckless, be puffed up with pride, and love pleasure rather than God. 5 They will act religious, but they will reject the power that could make them godly. Stay away from people like that!
What a list!
This describes people today. What sticks out to me the most is that people are self-absorbed, prideful, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God and they consider NOTHING sacred or holy.
The last days will be marked by people who love things, ideas, and certain ideologies but they do not really care for people, especially those who are different than them or who do not agree with them.
We see this in the world among people who do not know Jesus.
Unfortunately, we are seeing this even among the people of God.
As Christians we are going to have to deal with hate and understand what the Bible says about hate.
The Bible tells us that hate stirs up all kinds of trouble and problems. – We see this all around us.
It also tells us that you can’t claim to love God and hate other people. You can dislike people and what they do but we are not to hate them.
Hate is not a new thing that we are dealing with.
Jesus spoke about love to a religious world that valued rules more than it valued relationships.
When Jesus confronted the religious people of His day about their hypocrisy, they hated Him for it and tried to kill Him. They eventually had Him crucified.
Today we are told that we are to hate sin and to love the sinner, yet very few of us get this correct. Much of the time we wind up hating the person instead of helping a person deal with their sin in love.
Hate is what happens when there is a vacuum of love.
What starts out as righteous indignation turns into judgment that causes us to be the jury and the executioner.
Hate feeds off itself. – It will eat you alive. It will begin to consume every thought, action and words.
Someone who was once positive, loving understanding and compassionate about the lost is now angry, suspicious of everyone and everything and poisons even good relationships and conversations.
Hate is nothing new. Cain grew Jealous of Able and hated him. This led to the first murder.
The Bible says that whoever hates a brother, or a sister is a murderer.
That is a powerful statement. Hate at its highest point will lead to physical murder. But hate truly believes that the world would be a better place without certain kinds of people in it.
Now understand the Bible does recommend the death penalty for crimes like rape, incest, and murder. – This is not what we are talking about. That is a cry for justice.
Hate – To despise, intense dislike, to detest, loathe, abhor, to shrink back in horror. To find nothing good in. It is placing no value at all in someone or something.
I find it necessary to remind people that the opposite of love is not hate it is selfishness.
The opposite of hate is worship. –
To worship - is to adore, cherish, be drawn to, to honor and reverence. It is devotion, commitment and loyalty. It is to put someone in the highest place in our life.
The reality is that we live in a world where we must coexist with evil.
People believe and do unspeakably evil and wicked things.
We will be called to speak the truth.
We are called to compassionately help those impacted by this evil.
We are to be light in the darkness.
When we are confronted with hatred, we must continue to do good and to speak the truth in love.
Romans 12:21 - Do not be overcome by evil but overcome evil with good.
We are to overflow with Good words, good fruit and good deeds.
Many Christians are being overcome with the same spirit that is in the world.
We must remember that – GREATER is HE that is in us than he that is in the world.
As Christians we are overcomers. We are not to be overcome and overwhelmed with hate. We are called to overwhelm hate with Good.
By responding and living like Christ we don’t add to the problems, we disarm principalities and powers. This includes Satan’s weapon of hate. To win the world to Jesus we can’t fight battles the same way they do with the same weapons and think we will win.
Our weapons to defeat hatred are not carnal fleshly, feel-good things, they are mighty for pulling down the strongholds in people and in society.
Hear me – Hatred is a stronghold. – Make no mistake about it. But it is only a stronghold where it is permitted.
2 Corinthians 10:4-5 - For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, 5 casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ,
I love this… We capture their rebellious thoughts and teach them to obey Christ.
Teaching happens through our words AND our example.
You can’t do that if you try to fight hate with hate. - You do that with truth, love and compassion and an unyielding commitment to holiness both – personal holiness and holiness in thought and belief.
We must respond to hate by making sure we do not give more attention to the hate than we do the harvest.
Ultimately it is God’s job to take care of the evil in the world.
Matthew 13:24-30 - Another parable He put forth to them, saying: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field; 25 but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way. 26 But when the grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared. 27 So the servants of the owner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?’ 28 He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ The servants said to him, ‘Do you want us then to go and gather them up?’
29 But he said, ‘No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them. 30 Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn.”
In the process of trying to tear up what is bad many well-meaning Christians have uprooted and hurt many good people. That looked like weeds but were actually full of Good fruit.
Sometimes wheat and weeds look a lot alike in the early and developing stages.
I want to remind you that the majority of our time is not to be spent dealing with the weeds but to be nourishing the seeds and cultivating a harvest of good things.
The enemy is all about destruction and he wants to get us in on the process. God is all about life.
I love the response – let them grow and we will sort it all out at the end.
This is great wisdom. Dealing with Hate.
Know that You are dearly loved,
Pastor Marvin & Dawn
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