Author: Mr.ScottV.Black

So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. – John 6:53-56 ESV

Warrior;

Jesus told us in John 8:32; “The TRUTH will set you free’! But it was James Garfield that put on the addendum; “But first it will make you MISERABLE! When many of his disciples heard it, they said, “This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?” (v60) After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him. (v66) The WORD OF GOD is to be our sustenance, it is what FEEDS us and GROWS us and MAKES US into the mature BELIEVER that God has called us to be!

Leader, When God miraculously provided for the children of Israel in the wilderness, He sent them manna; “the bread of heaven” (Psalm 78:24). The FREED- were now complaining, that it had been better if they had “died by the Lord’s hand in Egypt! “There we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted, but you have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death” (Ex 16:3). The Lord then informed Moses that He would “rain down bread from heaven for you” so that they wouldn’t go hungry (Ex 16:4). “What is it?” For they did not know what it was” (Ex 16:14-15) and the word they used; “manna” means, what is it? Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written: ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.'” (John 6:31)

Conduit, in Matthew 4:4, Jesus said, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.'” And to the woman at the well in John 4 he tells her; “whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” It is said a human can live without food for 1-4 weeks depending on your body fat because your body will eat your fat to keep you alive. With water you only have 3 days-1 week before you die. what is your SUSTENANCE, what is your PORTION? The key to BE a TRUE FOLLOWER of Jesus is to NEED HIM and HIS WORD daily, or you will die! The Israelites were told to only take enough manna for the day, so they would need to rely on GOD every day to LIVE! How is your Walk? Do you hunger and thirst for RIGHTEOUSNESS, hunger and thirst for more LIFE from the giver of life? EAT and DRINK daily and grow into ALL GOD HAS CREATED YOU TO BE- IN HIM, through HIM, and with HIM! HUNGER and THRIST for more JESUS!

And the twelve gates were twelve pearls, each of the gates made of a single pearl, and the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass. -Rev 21:21 ESV

Warrior;

Those things that we value in this world, are different than those things that God values.  In the 6^th chapter of Matthew our Lord tells us; Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. (v19-21)

Leader, on this planet people will do what they can to GET GOLD, BUY GOLD, we put GOLD in our 401K’s, our safes and our retirement plans.  In the NEW HEAVEN, it is asphalt!  It has such little value that it is used to WALK ON.  What is like GOLD to GOD? knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. (1 Peter 1:18-19)

Conduit, we all mortgage our life, our time, with something called a JOB.  What are you spending your TIME, your LIFE investing in?  God is a God of return; He expects a return on HIS investment in you for eternity! Now he who plants and he who waters are one; but each will receive his own reward according to his own labor. (1 Cor 3:8) For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad. (2 Cor 5:10) Today make sure what you are doing will withstand the BEMA seat of CHRIST. For only what we did FOR GOD- for the GLORY OF GOD, will withstand the fire of Christ’s judgment seat! Choose well!

A joyful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones. – Proverbs 17:22

Warrior;

What is the standard of your truth?  What is the basis for your choices in your life?  How do you know if you are doing good, or doing bad- moving closer or moving farther away?  Where do you get your instructions from?  It is one thing to believe in the God of the Bible, however, the next, equally important question; “Do you believe in the Bible”? Do you believe the Bible is the infallible, inerrant, Word of God?  If you cannot clearly answer yes, then you can’t truly believe that the Bible is not only God’s LOVE LETTER to you, but more importantly- you will NOT treat it as the instruction manual it is!

Leader, our God is a GOOD FATHER, He is ABBA- Daddy!  And the Bible tells us Dads to be our Childs first teacher (Proverbs 22:6): Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old, he will not depart from it. It’s our responsibility to “train up a child in the way he/she should go.” Not the school, not the government, but you—and that means dads and moms. God the Father is the head of the Godhead; God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. My son, if you accept my words and hide my commandments within you, if you incline your ear to wisdom and direct your heart to understanding, then you will discern the fear of the LORD and discover the knowledge of God.  (Proverbs 2:1-2, 5) When you understand this you then understand that God is giving us instruction, through His Word, instruction meant to help us live a good life, a fuller life, a life that can be used by the ONE who gave us the gift of life. God told the prophet Jeremiah “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you” (Jeremiah 1:5a)

Conduit, God tells us throughout His instruction manual to ‘Hold our thoughts captive’, to ‘transform our thinking’, to ‘Only focus on those things that are good and pure’- He tells us to repent: Change our MIND!  God wants us to know this is important; be careful what you entertain in your head. God is telling us over and over, that there is a space between the stimulus and the response, and in that space is your power, it is your freedom!  The First of THE SEVEN ‘things’ that Jesus spoke on the cross was , “Forgive them Father, for they know NOT what they do”.  Roughly 60 million Americans are struggling with depression.   A majority of depression falls into a category called ‘situational depression’ and the cause is our SELF TALK: The way we talk to ourselves- in other words, our thinking.  Our thinking can create a living HELL or heaven in our minds, in our hearts.  In HIS WORD, God tells us, it is NOT what happens to us that matters.  What matters is our internal narrative, how we explain things to ourselves.  I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, DO NOT be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind.  Seek first the KINGDOM OF GOD and HOLD YOUR THOUGHTS CAPTIVE and remember the battle is in the mind and focus only on those things that are good and pure and remember: Being cheerful keeps you healthy. It is slow death to be gloomy all the time.

And the LORD came and stood, calling as at other times, “Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant hears.” Then the LORD said to Samuel, “Behold, I am about to do a thing in Israel at which the two ears of everyone who hears it will tingle. – 1 Sam 3:10,11 ESV

Warrior;

Are you tuned to the GOD frequency? Do you DESIRE to hear from God? If you heard from God, would it matter? Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. (Ps 139:23) We must question our hearts- so we can continue to keep it free from leaven. Leaven represents a type of moral and spiritual corruption. It is a fermentation of the SPIRIT that starts in the HEART. A little leaven leavens the whole lump. (Gal 5:9)

Leader, God is SPEAKING through HIS WORD and He is looking for those who DESIRE to HEAR HIS WORD and DO HIS WILL. In the 10th chapter of John we hear Jesus’ own words; “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them away from me”.

Conduit, TUNE IN to the JESUS channel and let GOD do something through you that makes peoples ears tingle and eyes surprise- to the glory of our RISEN LORD, JESUS! Can I get a witness? Will you be His Warrior!

So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. – 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 ESV

Warrior;

God is looking for men and women of GREAT FAITH. Faith requires a gap! The greater the gap, the greater the faith! The gap between what we SEE with our FLESH, HEAR with our FLESH and FEEL and EXPERIENCE with our FLESH- and what the WORD OF GOD tells us! We must be moved by the WORD of GOD and the FAITH we have in the ONE WHO IS THE WORD. We need to be tested sometimes to see how our FAITH MUSCLE is developing. Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. (James 1:2-4)

Leader, if we are going to be PEOPLE of FAITH then we need to STAND FIRM until GOD gives us instructions on what to do next! We should be MOVED by God and HIS WORD! (Eph 6:10-17) WE are NOT to be moved by what we FEEL- we are NOT what we feel. We are NOT to be moved by what we SEE. (1 John 2:15-17) We are NOT to be moved by what we HEAR- unless it is hearing the WORD, which is where FAITH comes from. (Romans 10:17) Faith requires a GAP. Dr. Viktor Frankl put it this way: “Between the stimulus and the response there is a space, and in that space, is your power and your freedom”. In that space is where we BUILD GREAT FAITH!

Conduit, Faith is like a muscle, it needs to be worked, or it can become atrophied! Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him. (James 1:12) Charles Spurgeon speaks of the value of TRIALS and ADVERSITY in building faith. “No faith is so precious as that which lives and triumphs through adversity. Tested faith brings experience. You would never have believed your own weakness had you not needed to pass through trials. And you would never have known God’s strength had His strength not been needed to carry you through.” God is looking for people of GREAT FAITH to AVAIL and COMMIT in these last days! Will you STAND FIRM, until the HOLY SPIRIT says MOVE, or SPEAK, or LISTEN, or DO, or GO? WORK IT!

And the angel who talked with me came again and woke me, like a man who is awakened out of his sleep.  And he said to me, “What do you see?” I said, “I see, and behold, a lampstand all of gold, with a bowl on the top of it, and seven lamps on it, with seven lips on each of the lamps that are on the top of it.  And there are two olive trees by it, one on the right of the bowl and the other on its left.” Then the angel who talked with me answered and said to me, “Do you not know what these are?” I said, “No, my lord.” Then he said to me, “This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the LORD of hosts.- Zechariah 4:1-3,5-6 ESV

Warrior;

Who do you think is doing the things in your life that matter?  Are you still working to be good enough for God?  Do you think anything you ever do, can be ‘GOODNUFF’ to get you into the Kingdom of God?  The prophet Isaiah told us what OUR WORKS are like to God: We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away. (Isaiah 64:6) That’s actually cleaned up a bit, because the Hebrew phrase for filthy rags, ukabeged ehdim, literally means, “like as rags of menstruation.” Jesus actually made it very clear, no MAN can be GOODNUFF, because our heart is evil beyond measure.  “Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good–except God alone.

Leader, we are told in the book of Romans; as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.” “Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive.” “The venom of asps is under their lips.” “Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.” “Their feet are swift to shed blood; in their paths are ruin and misery, and the way of peace they have not known.” “There is no fear of God before their eyes.” (Romans 3:10-18) And if you have any doubt about how wicked we are, the old testament prophet Jeremiah puts it in no uncertain terms:  The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? (Jeremiah 17:9) This is why there is NO SHARED GLORY!  To God be the glory- for He is doing all the work!

Conduit, God is doing all the work!  God is changing you; God is allowing you to know Him- it is God doing it all!  Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the LORD of hosts! For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. Great Men and Women of God know that God is doing all the work.  Whether you are talking about Moses, Jeremiah, Mary, or Gideon: People used by God for Great things knew that it was GOD doing the work, and they knew they were NOT WORTHY of His Glory! Gideon realized this when he was depressed and wondering how he was going to maneuver through the dilemmas of the day.  And he said to him, “Please, Lord, how can I save Israel? Behold, my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house.” But then he got it and realized GOD HAD IT- Judges 7:20: “The sword of the Lord, and of Gideon!” God IS DOING IT! It is His own work. But we are not to be idle; instrumentality is to be used-“The sword of the Lord, and of Gideon!” If we only cry, “The sword of the Lord!” we shall be guilty of an idle presumption; and if we shout, “The sword of Gideon!” alone, we shall manifest idolatrous reliance on an arm of flesh: we must blend the two in practical harmony, “The sword of the Lord, and of Gideon!” We can do nothing of ourselves, but we can do everything by the help of our God; let us, therefore, in His name determine to go out personally and serve with our flaming torch of holy example, and with our trumpet tones of earnest declaration and testimony, and God shall be with us, and Midian shall be put to confusion, and the Lord of hosts shall reign for ever and ever.” (C.H. Spurgeon’s morning devotional)