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Poured Out Like A Drink Offering
Paul said in the New Testament as he came to the end of his life something to the effect of being poured out like a drink offering and fighting the good fight of faith. When God gives us blessings it’s not to keep to ourselves; it’s to share with each other, just like the early church in the book of Acts that shared their resources with each other.
Anybody ever found a church like that these days?
It’s the same with God Himself. A pastor’s update on Facebook was, “the reward for doing the will of God is that He gives us Himself.” When we hunger and thirst after the things of God, He fills us to overflowing-into each other. In turn, others see our good deeds and praise our Father who art in heaven and they want to know Him too.
Are you dry and thirsty in this land or spiritually overflowing? If you are the former, then seek first the Kingdom of God and receive a cup of unconditional love from whoever He brings into your life that is overflowing.
If you are overflowing, then pray for God to lead you to someone who is dry and thirsty and that He would pour you out into them.
The greatest investment you can make in this life is in the Kingdom of God; first in your relationship and time spend with your Heavenly Father, and second by pouring yourselves out as a drink offering into each other.
It’s an endless supply that you will never run out of because your source has an unlimited supply of Living Water and Bread of Life for your soul that will ensure you never become dry and thirsty again.
In giving and receiving and being poured out into the lives of other seekers, you fulfill the Law of God by loving God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength and loving your neighbor AS YOURSELF!
You have to value yourself before you can love the God and others or you’ll wind up being a codependent people-pleaser who is trying to fill a void.
You value yourself by understanding in full your true identity in the Messiah as a Child of God.
Bloom Where You’re Planted
Hopefully Joel Osteen’s secret service won’t bust me for borrowing that title from one of his sermons a few years ago. Actually motivational speeches is more like it; but isn’t that what a true sermon is supposed to be?
Since God directs our steps that technically means we don’t master our own destiny. However, we are accountable for the choices we make because to a point they affect how God leads us. Choosing your own selfish will (sin) affects your destiny. Of course, God knows everything you’re going to do before you do it so He is still directing your steps; you just won’t be aware of it unless your eyes are open to His working in your life.
So do you choose where you are at on any given day? Yes. Did God lead you there? Yes. Could you have went somewhere else? Yes. Would God have led you there? Yes.
Is anybody else confused by predestination? It’s the topic that’s divided the church between Calvinism and Arminianism (not sure if I spelled that one right). The point is, God can use you anywhere; although wherever you go you will still have the same mission: To go fishing.
I heard a pastor once tell about the story of Joseph in the Old Testament. Even if his brothers hadn’t sold him into slavery, he still would have had the same mission that God called him to.
Or in my case, since I live in men’s dorm that serves as a homeless shelter (I don’t consider myself homeless as long as I’m paying rent of $100 something a month), I have the same ministry as I did at the Bunkhouse Men’s Dorm (not a homeless shelter and would have more freedom if I went there but saving money-don’t know if that’s a lack of faith or not); even though one serves as a shelter and the other one is a dormitory for men, there are still men at both settings that have hit bottom and have come to a place that’s cheap till they get back on their feet. Therefore, I would have the same ministry for two reasons:
1. Most of the guys are alcoholics, drug addicts, and mentally ill meaning they are in desperate need of the Spirit of God to be allowed into their lives.
2. When you’re at the bottom in life, there is only room to go up. It’s the best time to find God because you are usually at your most humble position and receptive to the call of God.
God always directs your steps towards Him, but when you don’t respond to His gentle voice you get deeper into sin and you can no longer hear His voice as your heart hardens. Those that really want God will respond.
As the Word of God warns, if you hear His voice today don’t harden your hearts like they did in the wilderness; you never know when, or if, you will get the opportunity to receive God’s gift of salvation. You don’t know what you’re missing if you’re in this boat. That goes for many “christians” that sit in church pews thinking they are right because they “believe” the right doctrine but have never trusted God with their life. The latter is the most dangerous place to be.
Blessings & Peace,
E Wooten Jr
Hard Worker or Efficiency Expert
Do you feel overworked and underpaid? Think production goals are too high? We may be fooling ourselves with that though.
For starters, compared to other nations our minimum wage workers are quite wealthy. Also if you learn how to manage your money and live simple, you don’t have to make as much.
Secondly, one of the “sales reps” for a MLM scam told me that the average person only works 25-30 hours a week. Think about it. Out of 40 hours a week, how many hours do you spend “working” versus talking to coworkers. For those of us with office jobs, how many of us sneak onto Facebook? If we can’t get away with it on our computers, we have smartphones. Like you don’t sneak off to the bathroom to share something juicy with your best friend on Facebook or Twitter. Not that I can’t say I haven’t done it but I don’t think my “boss” is going to fire me. Although my clients might if I don’t meet a deadline.
If we were perfect and worked as hard as we possibly could, and smart, for starters we’d be perfect; we would also be working part-time. Our fleshly bodies are weak and by nature lazy. Even the most ambitious person take extra “breaks” if he thinks he won’t get caught.
So as my old motto goes:
“Work smarter not harder.”-Former Supervisor
“the less I have to do, the more I get done.”-E Wooten Jr.
Alan Jackson/Good Time
Are You Dying To Live?
From the title of an ebook, “Refocus on Christ: Because your religion is killing you”, by Matthew Muse who is a mutual friend of a couple guys I know; one through Facebook and the other is President of Crosscampus International.
To sum it up, this book talks about the different false gospels that have pervaded the church; possibly for centuries. It’s also the hidden blind spots that keep people from seeing God. I won’t go into too much detail since there is a link to this book on Amazon at the end of this post.
Fear & Guilt are the first two. Guilt should not be a reason for anybody to serve the Lord since Jesus died to take away guilt & shame. There is now no condemnation to those in Christ. Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners and not to condemn them.
The proper fear of God is reverential fear (is that a word?). We have great respect for our heavenly daddy and we love and serve Him out of this. Perfect love casts out the fear of condemnation (see paragraph above).
Knowledge & Passion were the two that got me. Some people are passionate, or zealous, for a cause to believe in and perhaps die for. In the parable of the sower, there is one group of false converts that received the seed of the Word of God but fell away during extreme hardships and trials. Possibly because they were merely enthusiasts and not truly devoted to God through Christ. They were building their house on the sand.
Knowledge is the worst. Certain intellectuals that have deep bible studies are merely seeking knowledge about God and not God Himself. You can have a changed life by learning knowledge but it won’t be the Spirit of Christ. The Word clearly says unless you possess the Spirit of Jesus then you don’t really belong to Him.
That’s all I’m sharing. Want more you will have to read it for yourself. I read it in one sitting and I haven’t done that in years.
P.S.; If you can’t click on the link, you may have to copy & paste into your browser.
Good Mourning
One of the Beatitudes says “blessed are those that mourn, for they shall be comforted.” Many preachers have said that proof that you possess the gift of salvation and not merely profess it is if you have a Beatitude attitude.
Jesus promised that if we believe in Him as well as His Father He would go to prepare a place for us and if it were not true He wouldn’t have told us (John 14). He also told us that after He left He would send the comforter, the Holy Spirit, or Ruach HaKodesh in the Hebrew. The Holy Spirit’s job is to comfort us when we go through trials.
When you wake up in the morning do you say “Good Morning, God.” or “Good God, morning?” If a person truly knows God, believes in His Son, and receives the Holy Spirit then God should be the first thing on His mind. How he can please His Father. Although your good works are as filthy rags and you can’t please God with them because He looks at the heart and cares more about the motivation behind them. That’s why you can’t base someone’s salvation on outward circumstances. Sometimes the one that may “appear” to be living in sin” may be the one striving for holiness in Christ while the one that’s the most involved in church with a moral upright character in the community may be full of himself and on his way to hell because he’s hiding his sins in his good deeds.
Someone once said that guilt is proof that you’re right with God. Nope!!! Guilt is a human emotion that can lead you to be right with God but repentance is proof the Spirit’s working in your life if it’s Godly repentance which is a genuine sorrow over past mistakes and a striving to do better out of dependency on your heavenly Father. This is what it means to be Christlike; not that Jesus was trying to overcome His sins but He experienced temptation so He knows what we go through. He’s the only one with a perfect faith in God which enabled Him to live perfectly so He could qualify to be the blood sacrifice of an offering which fulfilled the Law once for all.
If you struggle with guilt & shame then that could be proof that the Holy Spirit is working on you but it’s signs you don’t know who you are in Christ because He paid the debt and took away the guilt & shame. If you struggle with these you are having a bad mourning experience and are adding to what Jesus did a couple of days ago at the Cross.
Have a Good Mourning!
Chris Tomlin/Holy is the Lord
Word Digestion & Instant Grits
Hungry? Jesus said “man does not live on bread alone buy by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.” The only food you need is the Bread of Life that’s found in the Messiah as well as the Living Water He offers that will fill you up to everlasting life and overflow into others enabling you to show your love for God by the way you love them; thus fulfilling the Law of God.
Many churches talk about devouring the Word of God (not literally like my rat terrier did one time). Even charismatic Baptistcostal preacher Charles Stanley said you can study the Bible and miss God. The question is why do you study the Word of God? Many people, especially in America, have enough head knowledge about the things of God to enable them to miss heaven by 18 inches (the difference between your head and your heart). Do you study the Word to get to know God personally? Are you seeking His Face? Are you you guilty of be a gnostic, or worshipper of merely knowledge?
Full Pentecostal preacher Steve Hill of Heartland World Ministries Church in Irving, TX. declared one time “it’s not how much you get into the Word; it’s how much of the Word gets in you.” There’s truth to the Prosperity Gospel. However many fall away because they expect God to deliver on demand; making Him sound like a Sear’s Catalogue. First off you can’t just pray for whatever you want and expect God to cater to your every whim. That’s trying to manipulate your Heavenly Father. You seek Him and His Kingdom and all else will be added; including the desires of your heart or what God wants you to do with your life.
Do the desires of your heart glorify God and line up with His Word? Are you asking amiss if you aren’t receiving? God won’t bless you with anything on your timetable. If He did there would be no need for faith that perseveres. You would just be seeking God for what He can give you rather than what you can give Him; which is only your heart and life in exchange for Him giving His life for you.
America is a fast paced society. We want everything now! We are willing to settle for what’s right now rather than what’s right for us in the long term; I.e.; instant grits (actually gratification but grits fits the title of the Blog). God’s timing may line up with your timing but that’s still not exactly when you want it and it’s not exactly what you want. You should be thankful He doesn’t give you everything you want for it might destroy you. It all depends on how close you are to God; meaning how Christlike you are.
Shabat Shalom in the name of Yeshua Mashiach
Our Unmet Need
It’s true we will always have an unmet need in life. However whether we have unfulfilled desires depends on our drive, passion, and where we’re at with God. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. Spiritual hearing comes when you open your heart to the one true and living God, which is Him drawing you to the Cross of His Son; the more you seek after the things of God the more He fills you and you know what you truly want out of life. Then the Holy Spirit will empower you to git er dun. 2 Peter says God adds to faith virtue; this is moral excellence or a striving for holiness, i.e.; to be made whole. If you are not striving for this you are out of fellowship and your faith is small. To virtue He adds knowledge which leads to temperance. Knowing how to live right and having the self-control to do so by keeping your focus on Him. These lead you to steadfastness and godliness which leads to brotherly love (Phileo) and Charity. As we become more humble and dependent on the Holy Spirit for His Life we are filled to overflowing and able to supernaturally love God and others unconditionally. So the only unmet need we really have is for more faith which is where it all begins with the size of a mustard seed. Also when you do step out in faith God and receive His blessings He is going to continue to draw you to a deeper level of faith and dependence which only serves to enhance your ability to do the other things that follower; namely leading to a greater love of God and others which makes you more Christlike and fulfills the Law of God given to Moses.
Jeff Deyo/More Love, More Power
A New Ministry in Fort Worth For Anybody Looking For Wholeness
Ever wonder if the 12 steps work? It seems like everytime I went to a support group it was just people complaining about their issues. I never felt uplifted by it and I often wondered who their “higher power” is. To me calling the Living God and His Messiah a “higher power” waters down who God is. It’s like refering to Him as “the Man upstairs.” God is not upstairs. He’s everywhere. Any addiction you struggle with is just a stronghold or idol in your life that you are using to fill the void that only a loving God can fill if you will only trust Him. For information just go to the category labeled Take Heed Ministries. Meeting times are every Friday at 5:30. Address is 1015 S. Jennings #1414 with the gate code of #0049. Contact Mike Martin at (817)938-0843 or Rusty at (214)cur-hard or (214)287-4272 or myself at (469)245-2132. Emails are takeheedministries@yahoo.com, formikemartin@yahoo.com, bayloruss@aol.com, or myself at ewootenjr@gmail.com. I know it’s short notice but if you get this post and you feel the Holy Spirit tugging on your heart don’t hesitate to pick up the phone or computer and call one of us and find your way there. It might be short notice but with God all things are possible and it is weekly. Also feel free to read the other articles that were formally the Mental Illness & Addiction category. Society tells you “once an addict, always an addict.” Jesus teaches that He is the way, the truth, and the life and the truth will set you free. If you are not walking in freedom then this ministry is for you if you’re in or around the Fort Worth area.
