Today I have a question for you, and it is, “Why are you serving God?” Are you serving Him because of His recent act of kindness toward you? Are you serving Him because you need something, or are you serving Him out of love for His presence and Word?
Matthew 14:13-23, Mark 6:30-46, Luke 9:10-17, and John 6:1-15 all share the story of Jesus feeding 5000 men as well as women and children. Each of the authors shares a glimpse of this significant event showing the compassion that Jesus displayed for a multitude of people.
Let me summarize what happened. After hearing about the beheading of John the Baptist, Jesus withdrew from the people and went into the desert. When the people realized Jesus was missing, they searched for Him until He was found. Jesus stopped whatever He was doing and ministered the Word to the multitude and healed those that were sick.
Even though it was getting late in the day, the people did not leave, so the disciples suggested that Jesus send the people into the villages to get something to eat. Jesus responded to the disciples, “They need not depart: give ye them to eat” The disciples told Jesus, “We have here but five loaves and two fishes.” Jesus instructed them to bring the victuals to Him. First, Jesus had the people sit in the grass in groups, then he blessed the food and gave it to the disciples to distribute to the people. After everyone had eaten until they were filled, the disciples collected twelve baskets of fragments.
On the following day, the people came to Capernaum looking for Jesus. Perceiving why they came, Jesus said to them, “Verily, verily I say unto you, Ye seek me not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves and were filled.” Jesus had fed all of the people, which was composed of men, women, and children. Yesterday, no one left the gathering hungry; in reality, the people were looking for Him because they wanted a free meal.
Many of us are guilty of the same actions of the crowd, for we only search for God for what He can give us. Let there be no mistake; He is not deceived, He knew their intentions, and He knows ours. God desires that we serve Him out of love. If we never receive anything from Him, which is impossible, He wants us to desire to bask in His presence. He wants us to want Him more than our necessary food. So, my prayer for all of us is that we learn to seek God, not for fishes and loaves but to seek Him because we want to worship Him.
Jesus spent the last three years of His earthly life doing ministry, and during that time, He was misunderstood by most of the people with whom He came in contact. Unfortunately, these individuals did not understand His earthly assignment was to save the lost by bearing their sins and to destroy Satan’s works, for God did not send His Son to the earth to become the political, revolutionary ruling King for that time.
In the Old Testament, references were made about a king being born from the Jewish lineage (Deut.18:15; Psalms 22:27-31; Isaiah 7:14, 9:6, 11:1; Jer. 23:5-6; Micah 5:2). When Jesus showed up on the scene with His profound teachings, healings, and miracles, the people assumed that He possibly could be the King that had come to exact judgment on their Roman oppressors and deliver them from the Roman dictatorship. Thus, when the people attempted forcefully to take Him and make Him their King, He withdrew from them for His assignment was not about gaining Israel’s independence (John 6:15).
Though John the Baptist was the forerunner for Jesus who prepared the people for the one that was coming that was greater than him, He too questioned Jesus’s authenticity after a while. Imprisoned by Herod Antipas, John sent his closest disciples to Jesus to ask Him, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another? Apparently, John wanted Jesus not only to proclaim Himself the Messiah but to be militant in His actions.
The religious leaders, the Sanhedrin council, the Pharisees, and the Sadducees hated Jesus because He claimed to be the Son of God, He healed on the Sabbath, and He did not follow their strict laws and customs. Additionally, they thought Jesus wanted to be King of the Jews, for which they strongly objected and had Him crucified.
Sadly, Jesus’s disciples, who sat under His tutelage for three years and were privy to teachings and revelations pertaining to the kingdom, misunderstood Him. Jesus had continually shared His assignment with them, yet before His ascension, the last question recorded that they asked Him was, “Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?”
Unlike the people that lived during the ministry of Jesus, we have both Old and New Testament from which to glean. Thus, we understand God’s purpose for sending His Son to the earth and the sufferings He had to endure to carry out His mission. Jesus provided salvation to all that would receive Him as their Lord and Savior, and I am grateful that I can be counted in that number. I pray that you have not misunderstood and that in the future, we will be with our ruling King forever.
It’s that time of year again when all around you can see people’s yards decorated with Halloween paraphernalia and stores filled with Halloween candy and costumes. The children are getting excited thinking about going trick or treating on October 31 and filling up their bags with all kinds of sweets. However, for believers, we understand Halloween means more than children going door to door in the community gathering candy. Unfortunately, during this time, some individuals will be introduced to the satanic cult and its various components, and others will die.
Since I’ve shared the history of the Halloween celebration in a previous blog, I will not repeat it here. If you are interested in gathering information on this event, detailed articles can be found on the internet by googling it. As you read, I pray God will give you insight and direction on how to engage in spiritual warfare and which weapons to utilize. Remember, this warfare is not carnal; we are not fighting against flesh and blood but against Satan and his forces of evil who are trying to entrap unsuspecting individuals.
We have two weeks left before Halloween. Won’t you join with other believers and me in bombarding heaven with prayers? For those who don’t know what to pray, I am going to give you a few prayer points. Additionally, you can also get prayers off the internet.
- Pray that uninformed believers will come to understand the ramifications of Halloween.
- Pray for deliverance and salvation for those involved in the Satanic occult and witchcraft.
- Pray that recruitment of the unsuspected by Satanists and witches during this time will fail.
- Pray for Divine protection and the safety of children as they walk the dangerous streets on October 31.
- Pray for release for those targeted and appointed to die as sacrifices by the Satanic cult.
- Pray all incantations, curses, and spells will come to naught.
- Pray God’s will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Working together, we can advance and the Kingdom of God and defeat the works of the adversary.
One of the complaints that I often hear is that my boss or coworker is the enemy; they disturb my peace and make my life miserable. Admittingly, it is difficult for those in this situation to go to their place of employment knowing what awaits them. For some, the mental and emotional effect of it has caused physical sickness.
Satan loves the turmoil these individuals are experiencing, and he wants them to hate their adversary and wish cruelty on them. He does not want them to remember the following scriptures:
Matthew 5:11-12, 43-45 Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you. Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.
Romans 12:20-21 Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head. Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.
Proverbs 24:17-20 Rejoice not when thine enemy falleth, and let not thine heart be glad when he stumbleth: Lest the Lord see it, and it displease him, and he turn away his wrath from him. Fret not thyself because of evil men, neither be thou envious at the wicked: For there shall be no reward to the evil man; the candle of the wicked shall be put out.
Though it is difficult, God wants us to love our enemies and allow Him to mete out the punishment for their cruel actions. Notably, a prime example for us to follow is David, so let me remind you of his behavior.
David was brought to King Saul’s court because of his skills. 1 Samuel 16:18 recorded what one of the king’s servants told him about David, “Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite, that is cunning in playing, and a mighty valiant man, and a man of war, and prudent in matters, and a comely person, and the Lord is with him.” Hence, King Saul sent for David, and he was assigned the task of playing the harp when an evil spirit came upon the king. David was successful in doing what was required for the scriptures revealed, “And it came to pass, when the evil spirit from God was upon Saul, that David took an harp, and played with his hand: so Saul was refreshed, and was well, and the evil spirit departed from him (1 Samuel 16:23).
David continued in this position until after a battle between Israel and the Philistines where he killed the giant Goliath. King Saul was so impressed with David, he elevated him and placed him over the men of war. 1 Samuel 18:14 stated. “And David went out whithersoever Saul sent him, and behaved himself wisely: and Saul set him over the men of war, and he was accepted in the sight of all the people, and also in the sight of Saul’s servants.
Things were harmonious between David and the king until the king heard women singing about David’s exploits. This made the king angry, jealous and suspicious, and he decided he needed to kill David. The bible noted the numerous attempts of the king to kill David, and there were times David could have retaliated, but he did not. As stated in 1 Samuel 18:30, “David behaved himself wisely in all his ways; and the Lord was with him,”.
So, in closing, remember, David was the solution for King Saul’s problem. People appreciated David’s behavior and praised him for the things he did. David never became revengeful toward King Saul and when the king’s life ended David was truly sorrowful and this is what God wants all of us to do when we are working with the enemy.
During His three-year ministry time on earth, Jesus taught Kingdom principles and admonished the people to seek the kingdom of God first. If they followed this mandate, their ultimate priority would be to find out God’s design and plan for humanity and adhere to it.
As believers, we are God’s kingdom citizens and ambassadors on the earth. Therefore, we understand that God is the ultimate and only source of authority. His Word is the law, and His decrees are unchanging. We do not have the power to alter or make any changes to His laws, statutes, and commandments; all we are required to do is follow them.
Knowing our position of faithful ambassadors, we never speak our personal position for our opinion does not matter, but we reiterate the king’s position. Rather than siding with the world, our goal is to influence the world for His kingdom’s government.
With all of this in mind, I must share an important union that God established in the earth. God was the first father to give a bride to a man, and He set in order the plan for marriage. When He created man and women, He created them with different anatomy that when they came together, they would be able to multiply and replenish the earth, which two of the same gender could not do.
Animals were created before the woman; so, if God was in agreement with bestiality, He would have presented that possibility to Adam. Additionally, if God wanted man to be involved with a person of the same gender, then there was no need for him to create Eve; He could have made man with female productive organs.
Some people say we are living at a different time, and what was said in the Old Testament is not required in the New Testament. However, in a discourse with the Pharisees, Jesus said, “But from the beginning of the creation God made them male and female. For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and cleave to his wife; And they twain shall be one flesh: so then they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder (Mark 10:6-9). In this statement, Jesus reemphasizes the words found in Genesis 2:24. This is God’s plan for His creation. What was stated in Genesis 2:24 and Mark 10:6-9 is the standard by which kingdom people live. This is who God has joined together and no one has the right to put this union asunder.
During his third missionary journey, Apostle Paul wrote the book of Romans to the sizeable Roman community of believers who were both Jews and Gentiles. In chapter six, Paul spoke about rejecting sin practices. He explained God’s continuous grace, which covers sinful actions, is not a license to continue sinning. Followers of Christ who were no longer enslaved to sin and its penalties should understand the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ were symbolic of the believer’s death to sin, its’ burial, and being resurrected into a new Christian lifestyle. Also, he warned there were consequences to not reckoning the truth of the Word and yielding to the benefits it provided. Thus, Paul closes the chapter with this verse, “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:23).
Sin as defined in the dictionary as an offense against religious or moral law; an action that is or is felt to be highly reprehensible; transgression of the law of God and a vitiated state of human nature in which the self is estranged from God. Additionally, for believers, “missing the mark” is also the expression that is commonly used to describe sin.
So, there would be no confusion; sins from Genesis through Revelation, which were acts displeasing to God, are revealed. Disobedience, the first sin, was seen in Genesis 3, and I believe it is the root factor of all sin, for if I take heed and obey the Word, I would not sin.
Presently, we are living at a time where sin is abounding, and there are choices to be made. The Word of God cannot be altered or compromised to suit our flesh. The Word must be followed totally. So, I end this blog with these questions. Will you accept God’s gift, which yields eternal life with Christ, or the payment of death for disobedience? What will your wages be?
2 Samuel 6 records the account of when that which was meant for good turned out bad, and here is what happened.
Moses had the Ark created according to God’s design, and after being placed in the tabernacle, it represented God’s presence with Israel (Exodus 25:10-22; 37:1-9; 40:16-21, 34-38). It traveled with them during their years in the wilderness, during the conquest of Canaan, their settling in the promise land, and into the time of Eli, the priest, when the Ark was set up in Shiloh (Joshua 18).
Unfortunately, Israel became rebellious and rejected God, who consequently rejected them. Therefore, when a battle with the Philistines occurred, and Israel took the Ark into the battle mistakenly thinking this would bring them victory, they were sorely defeated (1 Samuel 4:3-11).
The Philistines captured the Ark and took it to Ashdod, where God allowed a series of calamities to occur. When they placed the Ark in their temple with their idol god, the idol god Dagon was broken into pieces, and plagues struck the inhabitants of Ashdod, Gath, and Ekron while the officials were deciding what to do with the Ark (1 Samuel 5). After seven disastrous months, the Philistines sent the Ark back to Israel on a cart drawn by two milch kine.
When the kine stopped in Bethshemesh, the people mishandled the Ark by looking in it, resulting in God slaying numerous men. Next, the Ark was taken to the house of Abinadab in KIrjaathjeaaarim, where it remained for twenty years (1Samuel 6-7:2). Finally, during King David’s reign, he decided to bring the Ark to Jerusalem. 2 Samuel 6:3 states, “And they set the ark of God upon a new cart, and brought it out of the house of Abinadab that was in Gibeah: and Uzzah and Ahio, the sons of Abinadab, drave the new cart,” and this is when things went bad. 2 Samuel 6:6-7 states “And when they came to Nachon’s threshingfloor, Uzzah put forth his hand to the Ark of God, and took hold of it; for the oxen shook it. And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Uzzah; and God smote him there for his error; and there he died by the Ark of God.”
Bringing the Ark to Jerusalem was the right and honorable thing to do but not following the specific instructions of God for transporting the Ark was a grave mistake. According to God’s direction, the Ark was to be covered and carried on the Kohathites’ shoulders using staves placed through rings attached to its’ corners (Exodus 25:13-14; Numbers 4:15). The mistake of not finding out how the Ark was to be transported rested on David. David thought God would be pleased with his actions, and Uzzah thought he was helping prevent the Ark from suffering damage. The sad thing is Uzzah died because he was misplaced by his leader.
The greatest lesson for all to learn from this experience which happened to David and Israel on such a grand occasion is that tragedy can ensue when we don’t follow the instructions. Our lives and possibly others depend on our obedience. So, it behooves us to find in the Word what God had to say before we make a move and not wait until after things go wrong.
Many of us make mistakes in this life because we did not know the right thing to do, which stems back to our early childhood experiences. As children, our homes became our first schoolroom, and it is here that we learned practices and traditions that we display throughout our lives. Our parents were our first role models, and being young and impressionable, we adopted whatever we saw. At that time, we weren’t able to discern that something was not good or right.
This reminds me of a story that shows how we can do something that does not fit our situation, but we do it because that is what we learned. The story is about a lady who learned how to roast a piece of meat from her mother. She did everything her mom did in the recipe, even cutting a chunk of the meat off as she placed it in the pan. One day she got curious about why her mom cut the meat, and when she inquired, her mom told her she needed to ask her great grandmother because that is what she had seen her mom do. When she finally reached her great grandmother, she told her she cut the meat because the pan she used was too small. For generations, even though their pans were big enough, the ladies were cutting off and discarding good meat simply because that is what they had seen and thought was needed to make the roast taste good. How often have we done things because we followed what we saw in the past without understanding why the action was implemented?
When I reflect on this, it reminds me of the scriptures, which speak about God visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children’s children, unto the third and to the fourth generation (Exodus 20:5-6; 34:7; Deuteronomy 5:9). Just like our sins move from one generation to the succeeding and family illnesses can be traced in our bloodline, the same holds true for learned negative behaviors being replicated from one generation to the next.
Rather than blame my parents for my mistakes, I now understand that they were repeating what they learned from their parents. So, now that I know better, I had to apologize to my children about some harmful and even detrimental practices that I learned from my parents that I instituted in my life and my children’s life when they were growing up. Why did I do this, you may ask? Well, I am striving to follow the saying of Maya Angelou, “When you know better, you do better.” I am breaking generational curses of wrongdoing, and I am admitting errors existed in my life that surely needed to be rectified. God is helping me expose mistakes, and with His help, people are receiving this word and doing as I did, for we know better.
We all know the story of Job how God told Satan about Job’s outstanding qualities, which caused Satan, with God’s permission, to target him with calamities. In one day, Job’s ten children were killed in a wind storm, the raiding Sabeans killed his servants and took the oxen and the assess they were watching, a firestorm killed his sheep and the servants watching them, and the Chaldeans captured his camels, and slew the servants that were watching them.
What was Job’s response, he tore his mantle and shaved his head which both were a sign of mourning, and then bowed down and worshipped God. Job did not sin nor charged God foolishly. Job uttered this statement, “Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return thither: the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.”
Job went from being prosperous and having his quiver filled to poverty and no living children in one day. Nevertheless, without the help of a Bible, commentaries, or a spiritual leader, Job understood the nature of God; thus, he would not fault God for the turmoil and suffering in his life. Later, neither did he sin with his mouth when God allowed Satan to attack his body and his wife suggested he curse God and die.
Yes, as you continue to read the book of Job, you will find Job questioned why these calamities occurred; however, when God finally responded to him, He did not tell Job why. While we are yet alive, for those of us that have the why question, we may not get an answer, and when we get to heaven, the answer may no longer be important enough for us to seek one.
Presently, our world is in crisis. Every nation is experiencing problems, and its’ citizens are feeling despair. People, young and old, are dying unexpectantly and families are grievously mourning, and the spirit of depression lingers in the air. Consequently, many who experienced trauma have begun to slander and talk negatively about God. They can not understand how a loving God could allow misfortune to happen. Questioning believers have thrown out all the scriptures that acknowledge that everyone will experience pain and heartbreaks in their lifetime. They have forgotten our only answer is that God is with us and will sustain us in every situation.
So, as I come to a close of this blog, I encourage you to follow Job’s example and don’t charge God foolishly but remember in the end, all things worked together for his good, God blessed him doubly, and God can do the same for you.
Recently, I was engaged in doing some lawn care, specifically, pulling out weeds, and in so doing, it gave me the topic for this weeks’ blog, “KILL THEM WEEDS.” Also, handling the weeds made me compare them to demonic spirits, which made me recall the instructions God gave Israel before they went into the Promise Land.
First, God spoke to Moses and told him about the fruitful land that Israel would inherit. Then He said that Israel was to drive out by utterly destroying all the inhabitants, comprised of seven nations greater and mightier than them (Exodus 3:17; 23:23-24; 34:10-17; Deuteronomy 7:1-5). Furthermore, God told him that if Israel failed to follow his instructions, these nations would become a snare to them, yielding undesirable results (Numbers 33: 50-53, 55).
Years after Israel was in the Promise Land and prior to the death of Joshua God, told him to warn Israel that mingling with the seven nations would be detrimental to their existence (Joshua 23:9-13). Unfortunately, the scriptures revealed Israel’s failure and disobedience to God’s instruction. They left remnants of these nations in the land and eventually suffered consequences for their actions (Judges1:19-36; Judges 2:1-3).
Just as allowing weeds to grow freely causes unwanted damage, much more unrestrained demons cause havoc in people’s lives. To help you understand what I am saying, let me share some pertinent information on weeds and demons:
- There are all kinds of weeds, and there are all kinds of demons.
- Weeds can be perennial, biennial, or annual. Demonic spirits can take residence in people’s lives over a varied time frame, and some linger longer than others.
- Weeds germinate, develop and propagate rapidly. Once a demon gains entrance and settles in, they invite other demons to join them (Matthew 12:43-45).
- Some people characterize weeds as the bully of the plant world. Demons seek to intimidate and dominate people’s lives (Matthew 8:28).
- You will find various weeds grow geographically. Demons are assigned not only to people but also places (Ephesians 6:12).
- Weeds will grow anywhere and migrate in different directions. Demons are everywhere, and they will take you in whatever direction necessary to accomplish their goal (Luke 8:31-32).
- When you pull out weeds, new weeds will grow up in that exact spot. The believer must engage in daily warfare, for the enemy will attempt to re-enter if given the opportunity.
- If there is a crack in your pavement, a weed will begin to grow there. Entertaining sinful thoughts can crack open the door for demonic activity.
- Some weeds have thistles on them, and to pull them out, gloves are needed. Some demons seek to hurt you as they are exorcised (Mark 1:26; 9:18-26).
- Some weeds can travel up a fence and cause the fence to be damaged as their vine thickens. Stop demonic activity from destroying those they encounter and enlarging their territory.
- Weeds can hinder the proper growth of needed vegetation. Demons hinder the plans God has for our lives
- Some weeds cause allergies, others are poisonous, and others can cause blisters. According to their classification, demonic spirits can cause infirmities.
- Some weeds have become resistant to weed killer. Sometimes, that which was once effective in expelling a demon no longer works (Mark 9:28-29)
I hope that as you conclude reading this blog, you see the correlation I’ve made between weeds and demons, and as you kill them weeds, you will aggressively and systematically destroy them demons.
The Teacher's Pick 