Building A Chicken Coop

At my house we have taken on some projects this year. We have several gardens and a fountain that we designed and built. Our goal is to build a greenhouse. The one bigger project that we have undertaken is to build a chicken coop to raise chickens. When this first started I thought we would throw up a circle of chicken wire and throw a few chickens in it. The more we learned, the more the project grew. Finally, I decided to build an 8 ft x 10 ft chicken coop with a large permanently fenced in area. I have been working on it for almost two months now, and it is almost finished. What has been amazing to me is how much time each step has taken. Slowly, it is coming together. This reminds me of God.

I think our growing in God is much like my chicken coop building. In the beginning we jump right in because we have no idea how big a deal it is to get ourselves on the right track. We keep wanting to get better yet we struggle. We make some advances, and then we have to redo some things. But we continue build.

Romans 14:17 For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.
18 For he that in these things serveth Christ is acceptable to God, and approved of men.
19 Let us therefore follow after the things which make for peace, and things wherewith one may edify another.

We learn over time to build ourselves and each other up. But it does take time. Every day we need to seek God, ask for direction, and move to follow Him in His ways.

Prayer
Father, we exalt You. Please give us today the provision we need. Please send Your kingdom that we might dwell in it. Forgive us when we sin against You. Please send us today Your healing and deliverance. In Jesus’ (Yeshua’s) name. Amen.

Building A Future

Each day we add to what has gone before. Each day we can choose what we will do, or not, to advance God’s kingdom in the earth. This can seem like an overwhelming task that we are not able to do, especially if we are prone to believing that we are not up to the task. The truth is, if we think we are doing it under our own power, we are correct. That is a task we are not likely to be up to day after day. The good news is, we are not alone. We do not do this by our own power. God is with us, and He is on our side. We do what we can, and God makes up the difference. Jesus taught us this when He taught us how to pray.

Matthew 6:9 After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.
10 Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
11 Give us this day our daily bread.
12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

Jesus was not teaching us specific words. He was teaching us a pattern to follow. If we follow this pattern, we are using what He instructed us to do to reach out to God to help us.

We are not alone. God alone is able to make the earth His kingdom again. We need only cooperate with this pattern. If we do, we will see positive results.

Prayer
Father, we exalt You alone. You alone are worthy of glory and honor. Send Your kingdom in our lives. Send us today Your overwhelming provision which You have predestined from before time began. Forgive us when we stumble, and pick us up. Take from us those that do evil to us and our families, and those that follow you, to them do the same. This is Your earth, Your kingdom, and You alone have the power to change it. You receive the glory. From before now until forever. In Jesus’ (Yeshua’s) name. Amen.

Enjoy Your Meal

When we become believers, we are invited to join God at His table. As a part of God’s family, He provides for us and keeps us safe. We see this repeatedly in scriptures. David first spoke of this in the Psalms.

Psalms 23:5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.

Can you imaging the table God would set for His family? That would be some kind of a meal! And do you think He would let our enemies disturb the meal? I don’t think so. It just so happens that meal that lasts forever is our Messiah.

John 6:48 I am that bread of life.
49 Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead.
50 This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die.
51 I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.
52 The Jews therefore strove among themselves, saying, How can this man give us his flesh to eat?
53 Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you.
54 Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.
55 For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed.
56 He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him.
57 As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me.
58 This is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever.

If we will follow our Master, Yeshua (Jesus), then we have the opportunity to dine with our Father in heaven in the presence of our enemies. No one can take our place at the table from us.

Prayer
Father, we exalt You. You alone are worthy of our praise. We call out to You today Father to send Your kingdom to this earth in our lives. Please send it today. Help us to get past those things that keep us from You. Forgive us when we get it wrong. Send us today Your healing, deliverance, and overwhelming provision. In Jesus’ (Yeshua’s) name. Amen.

Stay To The End

We as believers are given a great gift. It is the gift of life from God, both now and forever. We can use this gift wisely, or not. For most of us, we will use it wisely sometimes and sometimes we will not use it wisely. We will stumble and fall. While we do not want to fall, falling is not nearly as important as getting back up. We have that ability if we will call out to God. We just need the intent.

Hebrews 6:9 But, beloved, we are persuaded better things of you, and things that accompany salvation, though we thus speak.
10 For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love, which ye have shewed toward his name, in that ye have ministered to the saints, and do minister.
11 And we desire that every one of you do shew the same diligence to the full assurance of hope unto the end:
12 That ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises.

We are all on a journey towards the establishment of God’s kingdom on earth. We all need help in trying to get there – help from God mostly, and also help from our fellow believers. Most of all we can help ourselves with the intent to stay to the end, calling out to God when we fall short.

Prayer
Father, we praise Your Holy Name. You alone are worthy of our praise. We need Your kingdom in our lives and in the lives of our families. We see so many people in need Father. They need Your kingdom to be here. Please forgive us when we fall short of the mark of the high calling. Please lift us up and get us back on the track. I ask today Father that You send deliverance, healing, and overwheling provision. In Jesus’ (Yeshua’s) name. Amen.

Moving Forward

Believers are called to follow the One True God of the Universe. For some this is a divisive statement. In some countries it may even be illegal. I suggest it is neither. If you serve a different god, and you say your god is the one true god, I will not object. I say every person should be free to serve the god or gods they choose. And they should expect what comes with that from their god or gods. In fact, this same position is recorded in scripture.

1 Kings 18:21 And Elijah came unto all the people, and said, How long halt ye between two opinions? if the Lord be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him. And the people answered him not a word.

It is interesting what we see here. Elijah makes a clear statment to the people to follow what they really believe and trust. What is interesting to me is the people said nothing. NOTHING! It is as if they were saying with their actions that they were so unsure that they would just wait and follow on the coat tails of today’s winner. As if tomorrow the winner might change. No loyalty there! But this is not the only case of such a statement being made to us as believers.

Joshua 24:15 And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.

This message is repeated over and over through out the scriptures. I suggest that God has even made certain that each of us reading this has had this message delivered to us as well. After all, you are reading this, right?

Prayer
father, we exalt You. Thank You for being our King. Send us Your kingdom. Forgive us when we sin against You. Send us Your healing, deliverance, and abundant provision. In Jesus’ (Yeshua’s) name. Amen.

Leading The Way

If we look closely as believers we can always find someone leading the way. As I look back over time at places in my life where I felt as though I had been alone, many emotions seemed to be with me at those moments. But as I look to scriptures I see a different story. In everything, we have always had someone that went before us and “Has been there” before.

Hebrews 2:16 For verily he took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham.
17 Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people.
18 For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted.

Here we see that someone is Jesus. He suffered all the temptations that we suffer, yet walked through it. We can know when we face these same temptations that Jesus faced them before we did. He made it. He can help us make it too.

Romans 8:29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.

Even in the death of our mortal bodies with birth into the new, He went before us. Some may fear that moment of death, but we can know that Jesus went first. He will be there for us, waiting.

Prayer
Father, we exalt You as the Most High. Thank You for another day with You. Thank You for sending Your Son. thank You Jesus for going first. Thank You for forgiving us. Thank You for Your kingdom. Please send us today healing, deliverance, and abundant provision. In Jesus’ (Yeshua’s) name. Amen.

Wanting To Be Near

Perhaps you have found yourself longing to feel the closeness of God. You may have many challenges facing your life with work and family. When you look to time’s horizon it may not be completely clear how you will pay those bills, provide for your family, see a loved one healed, or perhaps have people stop speaking evil of you. In those moments it is not uncommon to want to get back to that place where we felt that closeness with God, where His presence was overwhelming, and you just knew everything would be okay. When in the difficult times it may be hard to believe that the closeness was real. What makes us want it so? It seems it was built in to us as the psalmists wrote of that close feeling of being in His presence.

Psalms 91:1 He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
2 I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust.
3 Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence.
4 He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler.

Psalms 17:6 I have called upon thee, for thou wilt hear me, O God: incline thine ear unto me, and hear my speech.
7 Shew thy marvellous lovingkindness, O thou that savest by thy right hand them which put their trust in thee from those that rise up against them.
8 Keep me as the apple of the eye, hide me under the shadow of thy wings,
9 From the wicked that oppress me, from my deadly enemies, who compass me about.

Here we see that there is a natural expectation to have God as our protector and defender. In fact, we see in Psalms 91 that under God’s wings is a place we will trust, protected by truth. There is another confirmation that for those who want God to keep us under His wing, He is ready and willing to do so. Jesus spoke of this.

Matthew 23:37 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!

Jesus actually told the people of Jerusalem that He wanted to keep them under His wings, but they did not want it. The difference for us as believers is we have already declared that we want Him in us and in our lives. We can have God as our protection and defense.

Today, if you have what seems like too much on your plate, call out to God to be under His wings and renew again that closeness of His presence.

Prayer
Father, we praise and exalt You. You alone are King. We ask that You bring Your kingdom to earth. Let us be in Your kingdom, Father, in the shadow of Your wing. Keep us safe from harm. Let us know the warmth of Your love and mercy. Forgive us. Send today Your healing, deliverance, and provision enough that it overflows into our communities that each of us might help ten others. In Jesus’ (Yeshua’s) name. Amen.

Living Proof

Many times I have heard believers discussing events in their lives, wanting life to “move on”. I, too, have had discussions with other believers about the way getting to some point in life seems to be taking a long time. This morning as I was waking up, I realized in a new way that we are God’s handiwork. We are involved in God’s process of restoration of the earth.

God created everything, including man. He saw it was a good thing. He established a pattern of life with six days of work and a day of rest with Him. Man chose to believe and trust the enemy, the serpent, more than God. That brought in death and corruption. But even then God had a plan to use a man to reverse it.

Romans 5:12 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:
18 Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.
19 For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.

The earth was years in bondage until Jesus came and through the obedience of the cross delivered the world from death. Our lives here on earth have a beginning and an end. However, as believers, we have a life after this where we spend eternity with our God. We are being prepared for the future, just as we prepare in our youth for our life as we grow older. If we will allow ourselves, we will have opportunity to continue to learn throughout life, and also to pass on what we have learned. We are all on the journey to becoming the bride, if we will hold on trusting in God.

Prayer
Father, we praise and exalt You. You alone are worthy of our praise and worship. We ask that you would send Your kingdom today Father. Forgive us when we err, and cleanse us from unrighteousness. Please send today Your deliverance, healing, and supernatural provision. In Jesus’ (Yeshua’s) name. Amen.

Preparing Our Fields First

For most of us I think we want to live in a decent place where things are neat and in order. We want there to be a system that the home runs by that makes it comfortable for us. There do come times of change, however, and in those times the house comes second. The scriptures speak about this.

Proverbs 24:27 Prepare thy work without, and make it fit for thyself in the field; and afterwards build thine house.

This scripture is speaking literally about farming in the time it was written. It was better for the person that was going to settle some land to live in a tent and get the ground planted first, then build the actual house where he would live. The reason is there is a timing and season to the planting and harvest. It takes longer for that season to pass than to build a house. Perhaps food is more important than shelter. This reminds me of what Jesus said when He told us to seek the things of God first. He was telling us that what we sow in our hearts toward God we will reap in our physical lives. God watches out for His creation and He takes care of all our needs.

Today, let’s spend time preparing our hearts for and with God, that our lives might overflow with His goodness.

Prayer
Father, we praise and exalt You as the Most High. You truly are majestic. You cause the work of our hands to be blessed. Please forgive us when we say, do, or think things we should not. We are frail and imperfect. Help us to become more like You today. Help us to keep our hearts turned toward You. lease send today Your deliverance, healing, and abundant provision. In Jesus’ (Yeshua’s) name. Amen.

Together

Last night my wife and I went out to a late dinner, which is unusual for us because we enjoy cooking and eating at home. It did give us opportunity to talk about some scriptures she had been reading, and about the community of believers in general. One of the topics we discussed was how we enjoy being around like-minded believers. There is just something about being with a group of people with shared values. This is spoken of often in scripture.

Psalms 133:1 Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!
2 It is like the precious ointment upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron’s beard: that went down to the skirts of his garments;
3 As the dew of Hermon, and as the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion: for there the Lord commanded the blessing, even life for evermore.

In this psalm we see that unity leads to a blessing of life for evermore. It truly is good and pleasant. My wife mentioned that she was seeing some things anew in the Proverbs, even though Proverbs and Psalms are frequent reading for her. One thing stood out. We are not all the same – we have differences. These differences are not only good, but they bind us together because each has something to contribute. Again, this message is a repetitive one in the scriptures.

Ephesians 4:11 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;
12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:
13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:

Many who quote this scripture speak of the five-fold ministry. While I do agree they are for today, it is verses 12 and 13 I want to point to here. It can be read that the five-fold ministers are to to help the saints (believers) be perfected so that the saints can do the work of the ministry which is building up the body of Christ.

In the end, the message we came away with was a simple one. We believers all need each other. We can make a difference, we can change the world by advancing the kingdom, if we do it the way God planned… together.

Prayer
Father, we exalt You today. Send Your kingdom amongst us. Let us be Your ambassadors for life. Forgive us when we act alone or for ourselves only. Please help us to help others see You for who You truly are – the One and Only Living God. Please send today Your healing, deliverance, and abundant provision. In Jesus’ (Yeshua’s) name. Amen.