The past few days have been very humbling, to say the least, and I pray that God would have His way in all of us, all of the time. There can be no pride found in us, for if there is, we will surely fall.
While at church on Sunday, during worship, one of the songs that we sang had this chorus: "Hosanna, Hosanna, Hosanna in the highest." During this time, the Lord gave me a vision and began to minister:
The Lord gave me a vision of a large tree with large branches and many leaves. As I looked at it's leaves and branches, the Lord spoke to me saying "What good is a tree if it has no leaves (fruit) and its branches are cut off?" After the Lord asked me this, I saw the leaves fall from the tree and the branches removed. As I stared at this large tree without leaves and branches, I was considering the question the Lord asked. Shortly after, the Lord answered saying, "Only to be burned."
Regardless of what the Lord has given us, if we do not heed His words and bare fruit (good fruit), then what good are we? His word has not come to us only, or through us only, but one thing is for certain...His word will not return unto Him void.
After all that were at church shared what the Lord had given them, we continued in worship. The Lord then said "Mark 11".
Mark 11:9-22
9And they that went before, and they that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna; Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord: 10Blessed be the kingdom of our father David, that cometh in the name of the Lord: Hosanna in the highest. 11And Jesus entered into Jerusalem, and into the temple: and when he had looked round about upon all things, and now the eventide was come, he went out unto Bethany with the twelve. 12And on the morrow, when they were come from Bethany, he was hungry: 13And seeing a fig tree afar off having leaves, he came, if haply he might find any thing thereon: and when he came to it, he found nothing but leaves; for the time of figs was not yet. 14And Jesus answered and said unto it, No man eat fruit of thee hereafter for ever. And his disciples heard it. 15And they come to Jerusalem: and Jesus went into the temple, and began to cast out them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves; 16And would not suffer that any man should carry any vessel through the temple. 17And he taught, saying unto them, Is it not written, My house shall be called of all nations the house of prayer? but ye have made it a den of thieves. 18And the scribes and chief priests heard it, and sought how they might destroy him: for they feared him, because all the people was astonished at his doctrine. 19And when even was come, he went out of the city. 20And in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots. 21And Peter calling to remembrance saith unto him, Master, behold, the fig tree which thou cursedst is withered away. 22And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God.
God be with us,
Ryan
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
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6 comments:
True word Ryan.
Plus an insight as how God views what he sees, and what He will do about it!
Mark 11:13And seeing a fig tree afar off having leaves, he came, if haply he might find any thing thereon: and when he came to it, he found nothing but leaves; for the time of figs was not yet. 14And Jesus answered and said unto it, No man eat fruit of thee hereafter for ever. And his disciples heard it. 15And they come to Jerusalem: and Jesus went into the temple, and began to cast out them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves; 16And would not suffer that any man should carry any vessel through the temple. 17And he taught, saying unto them, Is it not written, My house shall be called of all nations the house of prayer? but ye have made it a den of thieves.
At one point in the not to distant future, so it will be again. No fruit, no life, cursed to destruction. God will drive out the "for hire" shepherds, the false prophet, the false apostle, He will purge the threshing floor with a fan in His hand. Fire awaits the money changers of todays House of God. If there is no fruit on an olive tree, no lamp oil. No light in the darkness for the return of our Lord. I prefer a body of believers where there are no money changers, where the fruit of the Spirit is evident. Where faith abounds and liberty flourishes.
2 Corinthians 3:17 Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.
L,J,P&HG
Dave
Ryan, this word has been in my thoughts all week. I believe that God wants to show all who care, all who will listen, the ins and outs of why his judgement must come and to help our be prepared for it. Personally I feel that this word not only calls us to check ourselves and to hold fast to that which we know but also to help us understand why God must judge people. I know that I have wondered many times how I will cope with seeing the death of people around me, even children, but God's word is true. We know that his judgement is true and right and his reasons justified.
Many have been lured or willfully became profitless Christians, and many have said "this is profitable to God, look how many people I got to come to church." But God has called us to be profitable by his Spirit for it is only through Him that we can accomplish any righteous work.
Sadly, this word refers to Christians more than any others. As trees we are to be above the shrubs an vines and stand tall in this world. Yet many, by their own decisions, have become nothing more than large fence poles or big stumps. And these very same people, knowing the scriptures, would agree, as any man would, that a stump is good for nothing and dead tree only fit to be burned. Yet as David judged himself when Nathan spoke the parable to him, about him, so do those religeous people. In the day of judgement, if we stand, we must remember that they have judged themselves and have not reached out for the Water that would have caused them to be fruitful. I read this last night at work and it stirred me in the same way...
Luke 8
1And it came to pass afterward, that he went throughout every city and village, preaching and shewing the glad tidings of the kingdom of God: and the twelve were with him,
2And certain women, which had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities, Mary called Magdalene, out of whom went seven devils,
3And Joanna the wife of Chuza Herod's steward, and Susanna, and many others, which ministered unto him of their substance.
4And when much people were gathered together, and were come to him out of every city, he spake by a parable:
5A sower went out to sow his seed: and as he sowed, some fell by the way side; and it was trodden down, and the fowls of the air devoured it.
6And some fell upon a rock; and as soon as it was sprung up, it withered away, because it lacked moisture.
7And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprang up with it, and choked it.
8And other fell on good ground, and sprang up, and bare fruit an hundredfold. And when he had said these things, he cried, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.
9And his disciples asked him, saying, What might this parable be?
10And he said, Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God: but to others in parables; that seeing they might not see, and hearing they might not understand.
11Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God.
12Those by the way side are they that hear; then cometh the devil, and taketh away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved.
13They on the rock are they, which, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, which for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away.
14And that which fell among thorns are they, which, when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection.
15But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.
16No man, when he hath lighted a candle, covereth it with a vessel, or putteth it under a bed; but setteth it on a candlestick, that they which enter in may see the light.
17For nothing is secret, that shall not be made manifest; neither any thing hid, that shall not be known and come abroad.
18Take heed therefore how ye hear: for whosoever hath, to him shall be given; and whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he seemeth to have.
God has laid the seed, watered us, and in many instances dug a trence filled it with water and given one more year that we might bear fruit. We must reach for the water and be rooted.
Praise God that he has humbled us, and I pray that we continue to live in humility, that we not be found in the same scenario.
Alex
Amen to both of your comments:
To Dave,
Especially the part regarding "the not to distant future" where this will happen again. Very true and adds to my understanding of what the Lord gave me.
To Alex,
Especially the part about judging ourselves and about judging others (very timely scripture too).
When I was praying during lunch today, one of the things that the Lord said to me was to judge every word that proceeds out of the mouth of men by His Spirit. We are not only asked, but required to judge these things, for our own sake and the sake of those around us.
Of course, we must first make sure that there is no beam in our own eye, which God has reiterated to every time I try and judge another's words.
On the other hand, if we put on the mind of Christ and love to put on humility, we would not have to worry about anything (because our Lord was perfect in all things and calls us to that same perfection).
Thank you for sharing. It truly blesses me to have more understanding in this area.
God bless,
Ryan
For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth;
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another. Often fruit is lauded but seldom practiced, the art of ;longsuffering which takes crucifying of the flesh is also seldom practiced, it is deemed to painful, but unless we are willing to crucify our flesh we will not be able to stand in the time to come.
God Bless
Helen B
Amen to that, Helen. In a previous church I attended, the pastor was emphasising the need to seek after gifts and practice them (what he really meant was the 'signs and wonders' type of manifestations). I enquired as to whether the fruit was not more important, since it denotes character - the character of Jesus. He assured me 'no' because fruit would take care of itself and would naturally be there......what??? I am sure any good orcharder knows that to produce good fruit he has to water his trees, nourish them, prune them in order to yield a good crop. How can we do that except by abiding in Christ, feeding on Him and seeking Him above all else and by - yes - crucifying the flesh daily.
Bonny,
There is no separation of the Spirit of God. Fruit and gifts all come from the same place. In seeking first the Kingdom Of God, and His righteousness, what part of the Holy Spirit is not of the Kingdom of God? What part should we leave undone? They both require action on our part. Having faith and dying to self. We have what we ask if we ask according to Gods will, asking in faith believing we receive. It's like being in a building and saying I like to sit on the sunny side or I like to sit in the shade side. Fruit will occur if you die to self, but faith without works is dead. The proof of faith or believing is that signs and wonders, works of God, follow them that believe. A cup of water (love) will receive a reward, but with out the ability to move in the Spirit we are dry clouds with no rain. The oil in the lamp of the wise virgins is the whole of the Holy Spirit, not just one part or the other.
L,J,P&HG
Dave
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