Christian living | Revelations From The Road

Focus

July 21, 2022 by Bill Leave a Comment

“If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.” (Colossians 3:1-2).

We’ve heard it said, “If the enemy can’t destroy you he will distract you.” Is anyone experiencing any distractions? There are lots of things in this world that will distract us but we have to first FOCUS on the things that are truly important. “Seek ye first the Kingdom of God” (Matthew 6:33). We see, hear, think about and consider things that are all around us on the Path of Life. We must assess these things and see how they line up with God’s Word. Do we know the Word? Jesus said, “It is written.” (Matthew 4:4).

God showed me something once about the phrase, “It caught my eye.” For something to, “catch your eye”, you must first “cast” your eyes on it. Someone can’t catch a ball until you throw it. Be careful what you cast your eyes on. The devil is always whispering, “Oh, it’ll be alright, it’s just a little. It’s not that bad.”Just say NO! I might have mentioned this before but I was in a train station in D.C. once and saw all the trains coming and going and people deciding which one to get on. I thought, that’s like our thoughts; we have many options daily but we must decide which one we’re “going to get on”. With wisdom, choose the right one.

As we walk the Path of Life, we must be sure to have Jesus at our right hand so we’ll not be distracted to get off the Path. Oh, and we will be tempted. Stay close to Jesus, know His Word, listen to Him and do what He says. He will help us FOCUS. “Look straight ahead, and fix your eyes on what lies before you.” (Proverbs 4:25).

Lessons From The Garden – Fruit

May 12, 2022 by Bill Leave a Comment

A repost from a few years ago.

Fruit is one of the most important parts of a plant especially in the garden. If all is done properly, there will be a great harvest of fruit. It’s the same with Christians. Here are some points about fruit:

Plants will produce the same kind of fruit as its parent. “The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed according to their own kinds, and trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.” (Genesis 1:12). This is God’s plan, to reproduce after its own kind. We, as God’s children, are to be like Him, “because as he is, so also are we in this world.” (1 John 4:17).
Plants will produce their fruit when they’re supposed to. “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” (Galatians 6:9). We can become discouraged by not seeing any immediate results when we pray or “plant a seed”, but when we plant, we are turning it over to God to bring the harvest. So, hold on in faith and expect the harvest.
A plant is known by the fruit hanging from its branches. If a fruit tree doesn’t produce any fruit, that’s bad, (check out what Jesus did about this in (Matthew 21: 18-19). If we are a seed of Jesus, we should be producing the same kind of fruit He did. How do we do that? We “abide” in Him; we live in Him; we get our nourishment from Him. “I am the true vine…Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.” (John 15: 1,4).

So, when people look at us, do they see any fruit? Is it good or bad fruit? “This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.” (John 15:8). But one caution, we are not called to be “fruit inspectors” for others. We each should be cultivating our own fruit. God told our ancestors in the Garden, “Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and govern it.” (Genesis 1:28). How’s your fruit?

Seeds – Lessons from the Garden

April 27, 2022 by Bill Leave a Comment

I posted some revelations God gave me in 2010 about gardening and I wanted to share them again for my church and others in the family of God.

“I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.” (John 12:24)

Last year I planted some corn. The seeds were dry and would stay that way, getting even drier, the longer they were left alone. If I laid one on a rock in the sun, it would not fulfill its purpose. But inside that kernel is its destiny. And when placed in the right environment and cared for properly, it will thrive. But before it can produce life…it must be buried and die.

Seeds are placed in the ground and forgotten for a time. They must be watered occasionally but basically left alone. We have to have faith that they will germinate, grow, and reproduce. If we think nothing is happening and dig them up to “check on them”, we kill them. So, we leave them alone. Do you see a correlation here about our prayers that we “plant” and faith? So we wait and imagine the bountiful harvest we are going to soon see. That’s biblical too, (1 Timothy 4:15). Soon, we see a small green shoot emerge above the surface, reaching for the sun, and it gets bigger and bigger. You know the process, and, after several weeks, we have a full grown corn plant. But something amazing has happened!

On that one corn stalk that came from that one seed, there are several ears of corn and on each ear, a hundred or more kernels. That one seed that died has now produced hundreds of seeds just like itself, its destiny. Jesus died, was buried, and “came up” desiring to reproduce after His and His Father’s kind. “We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? ..We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.” (Romans 6:2,4). Plant a seed of faith today and expect it to reproduce.

The Past

March 17, 2022 by Bill Leave a Comment

I recently waved at someone on the street corner as I passed by in my car. I remembered that someone had told me that person had done some bad things in the past and they didn’t like them. Well, I didn’t know or didn’t remember what they’d done so I waved at them. I didn’t know their past so I thought it was friendly to wave. Some people will keep remembering what someone did in the past, to them or in general, and won’t have anything to do with them. Have they changed? Are they still doing bad things? Do we know anyone like that? What are we supposed to do? What would Jesus do?

Paul said in Romans 3:23, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” So, we’re in that group, right? And Jesus said, “He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.” (John 8:7). Here is this woman who was caught in adultery and Jesus doesn’t cast her aside, He has compassion on her and encourages her to, “Go and sin no more.” (v. 11). Jesus knew her past; He knows ours too, but He was there to help her. Can we take a lesson from that? Jesus told His disciples when they asked Him how to pray, “forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us.” (Luke 11:4). And how many times are we supposed to forgive? It’s unlimited, (Matthew 18:22).

And who knows, even if the person has not sinned directly against you or your family, you just know something, or “heard” something about them, your being kind to them may be just what they need to change their life. “In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 5:16). Love one another, (John 13:34), be kind, help them, wave at them. Be like Jesus!

New Year Excuses

December 29, 2021 by Bill Leave a Comment

Well, here we go. Time for the New Year’s resolutions. What do we want to accomplish in 2022? We go through this every year, well, some of us do, and where does it get us? The Bible talks about excuses in Luke 14:18-20: “But they all alike began to make excuses.”. One bought a field; one bought some oxen and another one got married. Excuses, excuses! They missed out on a grand event because of their excuses. And there is one major excuse that started it all: “Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” (Genesis 3:13). That excuse majorly affects us all!

So, let’s think about what we want to do better at in the new year.

Get closer to God. “Well, I don’t know how.” “Draw closer to Him and He’ll draw closer to you.” (James 4:8).
Read my Bible. “I don’t have the time or a plan to follow.” (Project 345)
Pray more. “That takes a lot of time too and I’m not sure how to pray.”
Give more. “I don’t have a lot of money.”
Get out of debt. “Oh, there’s so many things I want.”
Get in shape and lose weight. “I’ll try but that will be hard.”
Serve in my community. “My job, the kids’ ballgames and my duties at home…”
Attend church regularly. (See “Excuses” by the Kingsmen: https://youtu.be/wQmAlc3nzUY)
Be who God made me to be. “I don’t know what that is but I do know what I want to do.”

Do you get the message? It seems like time and priorities are the excuses here. I’m sure you can add other “resolutions” you want to accomplish and, be sure, the devil will give you many excuses. The point is, God has a plan for each of us. (Jeremiah 29:11). He uniquely made us with gifts and talents so we could serve a special purpose here on earth. We CAN accomplish our… His, mission. Let’s not make excuses. Write down your plans, present them to God and ask for His help and direction every day. It may be hard but you can do this! We can do this. It might be good to get an accountability partner to travel this path with you. Let’s make 2022 the year we are doers and not just talkers.

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