My normal walk around the perimeter of our property has been interrupted in the last couple of weeks. This morning, I got out early and was stretching out, getting my five times around for the mile. As I came across the front of the property along the street, it looked like the whole flock of Canadian geese that hang out in the lake, along with all the goslings, were staged and ready to cross the road into our lawn. I stopped my walk and walked up to the street clapping my hands, driving them to head back toward the lake. We don’t care for them hanging out in our yard. They leave a big mess. If they are not driven back, they will make a habit of daily grazing in the lawn leaving all their evidence. It looks like twenty or thirty small dogs have relieved themselves—and that could be daily. But this morning, I made my rounds, and they had to go. Shifting now to Barb’s squash plants. We learned that there are male and female squash plants, as there are in many other plants in the plant kingdom. In that early morning walk, it is good to observe the plants and take note that there are plenty of bees working the plants, as the bees are the natural pollinators. Without pollination, fruit might form, but it is de-formed and fails to come to full fruition. If no bees are observed on a daily basis, there is a technique of manual pollination. You can take an artist’s brush and rub some pollen off the male stamen onto the female stigma. This needs to be done in the morning after the dew is off but before the flower closes in the early afternoon. By pollinating the female blossoms, there will be fruit. If the bees don’t get it done, you can do it. Bottom line: If we don’t pay attention to what is going on, life can get to be a mess, and, life will not bear good fruit. Jesus said to watch and pray. If we are not watching and praying, the spiritual “geese” will get into the habit of hanging out at our place and making a mess of things. That means get rid of sin and unbelief, walk in obedience and feed on the Word of God to nourish your spirit man. It means pray in the Spirit, under the direction and in the power of the Spirit. Run the geese away. That means if you don’t have the “pollination” of the Spirit revealing Jesus Christ in the Word—if the Word is dead to you at church or in your private time, you get before God and learn what you need to do to eat of the tree of life. If we are not experiencing the love, joy, peace and power of the Holy Ghost in our life, then do something about it! Don’t live in crop failure! Understand about the birds and the bees!
Author: admin
preachJesus77
Here Brother, Hold My Goat!
The goat farmer had been shouting in the church services and carrying on in such a way as to disturb the proceedings. He did this on a regular basis, so he was approached at his farm by a delegation from the church. They found him outside with a goat on a leash that he was leading from one pen to another. He was told that his conduct was disturbing the meeting, and they couldn’t understand why he persisted in interrupting the holy reverence of the church. They came asking him to control himself. The quiet-spoken farmer began to explain himself. He said, “Well, I get to thinking about what all the Lord has done for me. He loved me enough to take a beating to heal my sicknesses. When they got through with Him, you could not even recognize Him as a man (Isaiah 52:14). He did that for me! And I get to thinking how He loved me enough to allow wicked religious men to unjustly crucify Him with not a word to defend Himself! He did that for me! By Him doing that, all my sins were laid upon Him and He bore all my sins away, nailing them to the cross. Whew! He is so Wonderful! And, He didn’t stop there! Whew! Once He went back to the Father in heaven, He poured the same Holy Ghost out upon me that is upon Him! Now I can walk with Him in the power and joy of the Holy Ghost. Whew! Glory to God! Here, brother, hold the goat! Hallelujah! Glory! I gotta take a little run and shout!” The Word says Jesus will baptize us with the Holy Ghost (Holy Spirit) and fire. Jesus taught us that He gives believers the Spirit of God to guide into all truth and to glorify Jesus (John 16:13-16). We start understanding what all Jesus has already accomplished for us. When a person truly believes on Jesus, that person is transformed. The Spirit of life comes into them and Jesus starts becoming more real to them. Then when we believe and yield all our life to Him to receive the Holy Spirit upon our life, we receive supernatural power, joy, and peace because we understand that His work and His righteousness is what makes us right with God (Romans 14:17). What we could not do for ourselves, Jesus has done it for us. Glory to God! This is good news! When I receive Jesus, I receive deliverance from the kingdom of darkness, and I have entrance into the kingdom of God. Jesus! Then when I receive the Holy Spirit, I receive power from up on high, and the joy of the Lord, and peace that passes understanding, so glory to God, no matter what I’m facing, He is with me to always carry me through with peace, joy and victory! Thank you, Jesus! Jesus did all this for me! Here Brother, hold the goat! Hallelujah! I gotta take a little run!
Going Out of My Head
I was about fourteen or fifteen years old, and my mom and I visited my brother Richard and his wife. He was in the military, stationed at Las Cruces, New Mexico. I remember it as a good visit. He had a motorcycle which he let me ride, which I rode around the town. That was a great adventure for me. I don’t think I had ever ridden a motorcycle on my own at that point, but he entrusted his bike to me, with no incident. There were other interesting things that happened on that trip, but another thing that stands out clearly in my memory is the song, “Going Out of My Head.” Richard took me out to a venue which offered live music. I have always enjoyed most all kinds of live music. At this place there was a pretty young girl, with long, flowing blonde hair, probably within ten years of my age at that time, who sang with a live band the song, “Going Out of My Head.” Right behind that, she sang “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You.” I was sitting at a table right at the front. When that girl looked at me and sang those songs, I fell in love with her right then and there! Of course, when we walked out of that place, I never saw her again, but she made an immediate and lasting impression on me. Today, I pulled up “Going Out of My Head” on You Tube. It was released in 1964 by Little Anthony and the Imperials. And then right behind that, to get hit with, “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You”! That song starts out, “You’re just too good to be true, can’t take my eyes off of you, you’d be like heaven to touch, I want to hold you so much.” And that girl standing right before me, looking at me while singing those words with that velvety smooth voice! I laughed as I listened to the words, and I thought, “No wonder I ‘fell in love with her.’” That poor naïve kid fell right in! But with all that being said, here is what we can learn of lasting value as believers in the Lord Jesus Christ. When we can get “out of our head,” out of our reasoning, out of our emotions, out of our focus on the devil, out of being caught up with ourself, our problems and our trials, and we can get our focus on what is true, we experience true freedom. Jesus lived the righteous life. Jesus suffered for our sickness. Jesus was sacrificed for our sin. Jesus defeated the devil. The work is finished. Now, our part is to believe it, receive it, confess it, act upon it and continually give God praise for setting us free. We look to Him. We focus on Him. We “get out of our head” of trying to figure things out. By faith we praise God, and we walk out in true freedom.
As the Creek Runs
We bought a place which has a creek running along the west border of the property into the lake across the street. Years ago the retaining wall collapsed and fell into the creek, redirecting the flow so that it has been eroding a big hole in the bank in our back yard. We took the Word of God to stand on “he maintaineth our lot” (Psalms 16:5), and proceeded to regularly lay our hand to the situation. Barbara has spent many hours shoveling gravel from one side of the creek to the other in order to shift the channel back to its original course. In the process we uncovered the concrete wall that was lying in the creek bed and exposed it so we could see clearly why the course was shifted. The same day a friend was here with his tractor to smooth out the gravel for our new driveway, was the day some men were working on the other side of the creek with a small track hoe, a small digging machine. The friend with the tractor hooked a chain onto the concrete wall in the creek bed and pulled it around so that now it is working for us to keep the water from eroding our property. The man working on the other side of the creek with the small digging machine heard and saw what we were trying to accomplish, and in about 30 minutes, his volunteered machine labor had the channel completely redirected to its original course with much of the gravel put back on our side of the creek. We praised God for getting accomplished in one day what was impossible for us to accomplish by hand. We had checked with the city and the county, and neither would/could get involved. We could have just said, “Well, that’s just the way the creek runs. God wanted the creek to go that way.” Instead, we took responsibility for the mishap. We put our faith in the Word and laid our hand to it in Jesus’ name. God, working through people, gave us our hearts desire of the creek running back in its original channel. We are in the process of building the area back that was washed away over the years prior to our purchasing the property. Sometimes things bad happen in our lives and we just say, “It was God’s will for that to happen.” If we will take an honest look at bad things that happen, we will see that it was due to somebody’s negligence, irresponsibility, or stupidity. If we will own up to our faults and failures in all truth, and take it to the Lord, the truth will set us free. We don’t need to blame God for our stupidity. We need to take responsibility, learn from it, and go forward. Take charge of how your creek runs.
Information, Revelation, Demonstration
We are filling in for a chaplain at the prison two Sundays this month. We normally go just two Saturdays, but he had to be out of town, so last night we met with 31 inmates for the meeting. It was a great meeting with testimonies and words being shared freely. The band leader used to lead a band out in the world. Since his incarceration, he has committed his life to the Lord and is doing a great job leading the band in the prison. Barb joins in on the keyboard, playing by ear, and that little six-piece band can rattle the rafters in praise to God. The Bible says God inhabits the praises of His people. God does not inhabit just performances. God inhabits heart praises to Him. Between songs, I would give a little bit of my message. I introduced it giving its title with commentary—How to Go from Information to Revelation to Demonstration. They sang a song. While they were getting ready for the next song, I gave some more of my message. When I got that out in just a couple of minutes or so, I turned it to them, and they rocked out with another song. This went on for an hour and a half. The presence of God increased. I jumped up on the altar bench and asked, “Do you believe God’s Word enough to take action on the Word? If you do, then stand up and raise your hands and give God praise and worship (some were already doing this).” They all did except one man. He just stood there. I briskly walked over to him and looked him right in the eyes and asked, “Do you believe God enough to act on His Word?” He just looked at me, and with my eyes still fastened on him, I shot my hands straight up in the air, then waved my hands and arms up and down indicating for him to do the same. He put his arms and hands up in the air. Every person in the room, together in one accord, praising and worshipping God. Chains of pride, fear and unbelief were broken. Men came to the altar under God’s dealings. Praise continued. The presence of God was strong. It was hard to stand up. To the floor I went. Not normal for me. Praise, worship, and God’s dealing with hearts continued. Toward the end of the meeting, one man testified that weeks earlier he received prayer for a knee condition. Afterward, he was taken to the prison hospital to have his leg amputated from the knee down. The doctors were very confused. They could find nothing wrong. He walked down the isle to give that testimony. What happens when “we” get out of the way, and let God have His way? We go from mere information, to the revelation of who Christ is and what He has accomplished, to a demonstration of God’s love, power, and goodness to all.
Hear the Voice of God
We call it “the crud.” Sometimes it is referred to as “this stuff going around.” It seems if one gets it in a household, it transfers. If you go to a doctor, he will put a fancy name on it with further instructions. Mine started with a dream. Or it could have started with all that KFC I had enjoyed for supper the evening before. But I was dreaming that something was going on with my system. I lay there thinking (in the dream), “Oh this is just a dream. Not a problem.” But in short order, I start realizing, “Hey, this is not just a dream! This is really happening!” That over-abundance of chicken earlier in the evening was a little much for my system, and I was experiencing some aspiration, what seemed to be in my upper lungs and sinus cavity. Burning! Bad! Not fun! I arouse around and start dealing with it. Not much, if any sleep that night. I am still dealing with the after-effects. It is like a cold and allergies all tied up in one. Then it hits the wife, and she has to deal with it. Well, we’re overcoming it. But in the midst of it I learn a good lesson. With both our various speaking responsibilities, one thing we do not need is to not be able to speak, and speak clearly. There are missionaries in India with whom we do zoom calls, the ministry in the church, the prison ministry, band practice and participating with the band in the prison ministry, and more. So, the lesson I learned is this: If we carry the testimony of Jesus Christ, and if we carry the Word and the Spirit of God, we carry the voice of God. The voice of God is what gets the job done on earth as it is in heaven. What Jesus Christ accomplished for all mankind is laid up for all mankind in the spiritual realm in heaven. Words and actions in obedience to the Spirit of God, transfer that perfect and eternal work into the hearts and lives of believing hearers. That is how people get born again. They hear the word of the gospel, and when they believe and submit to God to receive that good news of Jesus, God’s life is imparted into their spirit. That is how bodies are supernaturally healed. The word of what Christ has accomplished in His being beaten and tortured is heard and received, and healing power transfers from heaven into the physical body. Deliverance from oppression and all the blessings of God works the same way. The voice of God comes through Scriptures and the Holy Spirit with the human spirit. It is important to keep the channels clear. If there is going to be a transfer, let it be a spoken transfer of the promises and power of God to one another, all to the glory of God. Hearing and obeying God’s voice is what sets us free.
Life Abundant
As I sit and look out the back windows, I see the verdant, green trees lining the back yard. I see the birds feeding freely at the bird-feeders provided. From my point of view, I also look through the windows in the end of the house and see little baby bunny exploring and nibbling freely at the abundance of green grass provided for him. Then, I think of the creek that borders the eastern side of our property. With my daily walk along the creek, I see the fish, the turtles, and an occasion sighting of a water snake that quickly slides into the water as I approach. It is spring time, and life is bursting out everywhere. The older I get, the more I realize that the Word of God never tells us that we have to get old and decrepit. It gives some examples of some who did, but it also gives promises and examples of some who prospered in old age. Moses didn’t die until he was one hundred and twenty, and it says his eye was not dim nor his natural force abated. Moses knew the Lord “face to face” (Exodus 34:7-10). Caleb “wholly followed the Lord,” and he had the strength of a forty-year-old when he was eighty-five (Joshua 14:7-11). David recognized that the Lord satisfies our mouth with good things so that our youth is renewed like the eagles (Psalms 103:2-5). He also recognized that he who dwells under the shadow of the Almighty will be satisfied and have long life in that satisfaction (Psalms 91:16). Isaiah prophesied that God gives strength and power, and that those who wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength and run and not be weary and walk and not faint (Isaiah 41:28-31). Jesus comes along and sums it all up by saying the devil has come to steal, kill, and destroy, but “I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly” (John 10:10). John capped it off by writing to the church saying “Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth” (1 John 1:2). Somehow, I fail to see in all this the expectation for us to get old and worn out. So, as age creeps up on me, I think I will think on these promises and ways of God rather than magnify my miseries. We can either line up to God’s Word and God’s way of life in Christ Jesus, or we can line up to death and disease. Paul said it like this: In Christ Jesus, the law of the Spirit of life has made me free from the law of sin and death (Romans 8:1-2), and, if the same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead dwell in you, He shall make alive your mortal body (verse 11). There is too much life in Christ, for us to think continually in the realm of death.
Wood Too Wet to Burn
We have burned wood for years. It is hard work and messy to handle, but it seems to provide a warmth like no other. And certainly, if the electricity is out during a winter storm, it is a wonderful thing. But there are two kinds of wood regarding moisture level—wet and dry. Wet wood has been freshly cut and it has the sap in it, the cellular moisture. That wood is hard to catch on fire, and for all practical purposes in a wood stove or fire place, it won’t burn. If you do burn some of it, you must constantly nurse the fire from an outside source to make it burn. Dry wood is that which has “cured out.” Most of the sap has dried out. This wood will catch on fire. You can put a little “kindling,” small dry pieces of wood in there and light the kindling, and it readily catches the dry chunks of wood on fire, and you have a good roaring, hot fire in short order. There are also two kinds of wood in density—hard wood and soft wood. “Hard” wood is dense and heavy. “Soft” wood is not as dense, and light. Hard wood burns long; soft wood burns up quickly. Soft wood tends to catch on fire more quickly than hard wood. The ideal thing is to have a combination of hard wood and soft wood in your wood pile so when you build a fire, the soft wood catches on fire quickly and starts burning to catch the hard wood on fire that will burn long and hot. If all you have is wet wood, the house stays cold. The Bible calls God’s people trees of righteousness. If we allow God to process us, He can use us for His glory. If we are not “cured out,” then our wood is too wet to burn, and the house stays cold. When we are “dried out,” then we are easily ignited by the Spirit of God. If we are dense hard wood, we are well-established in the Word of God, we are consistent in the things of God; that is good. But it is also good to be put together with the soft wood that is easily ignited by the fire of the Spirit, so we can burn together for the purpose and glory of God. God wants to get the different types of wood together to start burning, and burning long to warm the house of this world with the presence of God. We need to lay aside our religious differences, focus on the Lord Jesus Christ, be filled with the fire of His Spirit, and burn brightly in His love for all the world to feel His warmth. Alignment with the Lord Jesus Christ is what God is looking for. We will give account for everything outside of Him. Let’s line up to God’s plain, simple way in Christ as written in the Word, and burn for Jesus.
Be Open to Receive from God
This is from a recent real-life experience. The patient is taken into ER with an emergency situation. After some examination and treatment in ER, the patient is moved into another room. The patient is groggy from the whole thing, and not really thinking clearly. A family member has stepped out. I am there with the patient. After some time, the doctor comes in and says they will take him for an MRI. From an earlier conversation with the family member, it was said he was to NOT have an MRI. I related this information to the doctor, and explained to him that I am not family, that he needs to consult with his wife. He agreed. Consultation was made with the wife. They held off from doing the MRI. It was a simple transfer of information for the good of the patient. We can all be a team working together for each other’s good. Communication of information is essential. One person doesn’t have it all. Every situation is different. We need to get all the information on the table and look at it so we can take the best route of treatment and remedy. This applies in every realm of life. We don’t need to fight one another and belittle and degrade one another, if one doesn’t have all the information. We can all have a mind that we are working together for a positive solution. This is a good picture of the operation of the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. God saw our plight in sin. He does not fight against us and condemn us and speak evil of us. He exposes all the information that is relevant to the problem. Then He gives us the solution—the finished work of Jesus Christ on our behalf. What He did for us is what makes us right with God. He is our Solution! I just received a text from one of our missionaries in India. He has been down for months, in bed, and going through therapy due to an accident. We here, and the believers there, have been praying for and standing with him for his complete recovery. In this Easter season, he gave himself to prayer for three days. A pastor prophesied over him by the Holy Spirit, and came to him and prayed for him, and on the third day, Easter day, immediately he got up and started walking. We received a video of him walking down the street. Had he not been open to the information of the truth of what Jesus has accomplished, had he not been open to the operation of the Spirit of God, he would still be in bed. Life comes, and life is maintained, by being open to God and sharing the good things of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Kick the walls out of your religious box and let all the counsel of God come into your life. God is here to give us all abundant, overflowing life.
Out of the Creek with Victory
We live across the street from a small lake. Along the eastern border of our property runs a creek that feeds the lake. It is a year-round constantly-running creek, so after a rain it does not take long for the muddy water to clear up and run clear. Almost any time, we can step over to the creek and see down in the clear water and enjoy watching the fish and turtles. Occasionally, we will see a water snake or two. Occasionally “Big Bird,” a Great Blue Heron, shows up to do his “fishing.” A flock of Canada Geese hang out at the lake across the road, and recently there was an injured goose who took refuge in the creek, alone, away from the other geese. I know from my experience with chickens, if one is injured, the others will pick on it until they kill it. Other animals, when injured, will go off to themselves and heal up before they get back into the swing of things. But this goose spent about three days just sitting there in the creek, and after the third day, he was gone. We are presently in another three-day season. Jesus, after suffering injury for our healing and wholeness, and after giving Himself as the once-for-all-sacrifice for our sins, went down into the bowels of the earth for three days. He “descended first into the lower parts of the earth,” and “preached unto the spirits in prison” and did some healing, delivering work for mankind there. But He didn’t stay there. By the Spirit of God, He ascended up out of the abode of the dead “far above all heavens” with victory over all, “that He might fill all things.” When Jesus came up out of the grave, He brought total victory over all things with Him. That same Jesus ascended up into heaven with triumphant victory over all things, including death. He is alive today. That means there is now total deliverance from sin, sickness, Satan, and sorry circumstances. He said in the world we will have tribulation, but be of good cheer because He has overcome the world. His joy is joy unspeakable and full of glory. His peace is not as the world gives, based on circumstances. His peace passes all understanding. It is a supernatural peace and a supernatural joy. It all comes by being filled with and yielded to the Holy Spirit of God. There’s nothing natural about it. His resurrection brought life for our spirit. He brought peace and joy for our soul. He brought healing for our body. Then, when this body draws its last breath, we get swallowed up in His eternal life, in His holy presence, to be with Him forever. Jesus spent the three days in the “creek” overcoming death, but then He flew out of there with total victory over all! Hallelujah! Believe the good news of what the Lord Jesus Christ has already accomplished, and live free! Ephesians 4:8-10; 1 Peter 3:18-22