Tuesday, April 27, 2021

Food AFTER the Fall of Man

 

Genesis 3:17-18

King James Version

17 And unto Adam he said, 

Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, 

and hast eaten of the tree, 

of which I commanded thee, saying, 

Thou shalt not eat of it: 

cursed is the ground for thy sake; 

in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;

18 Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; 

and thou shalt eat the herb of the field;


In God's garden of Eden He gave Adam, the first created man, EVERYTHING he needed for food, companionship, and all.

The Lord even graced the garden with His presence.

The original food man ate bore seeds, propagating itself.

"whose seed is in itself"

Genesis 1:11

King James Version

11 And God said, 

Let the earth bring forth grass, 

the herb yielding seed, 

and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, 

whose seed is in itself

upon the earth: 

and it was so.


But after the fall, man had to till the soil.

Gone were the days of ease, comfort, and glory.

Where before, his diet was anything bearing seed,

Genesis 1:29

King James Version

29 And God said, 

Behold, 

I have given you every herb bearing seed, 

which is upon the face of all the earth, 

and every tree, 

in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; 

to you it shall be for meat.


eventually, man's diet greatly changed, with the times, and technology.

There was drought, pestilence, strife, varying weather, and disease. 

After Eden, Scripture revealed a variety of other foods coming into being such as fish, lamb, goat's milk, honey, bread, raisins, spices, flour, lentils, and nuts.

Where man used to eat herbs and fruits -- all yielding seed -- now, things are processed.

To yield greater production, farming processes changed, too.

Then pesticides were created, to eradicate pests.

Now, most things come from laboratories, and not from seed-bearing plants.

Now, food is traded as a commodity, with many elite earning greatly from the poor man's labor.

Everything has conformed to man and the prince of this world, reflecting perverse desires, greed, gluttony, vanity, and rebellion.

People forgot food originally-designed by God.

Now, everything serves the atrocious appetites of man.

People have forgotten GOD.

We now live to eat, where before, we ate, to live.

We fell from GRACE, and know no other thing, but feeding the ever-hungry mouth of the world, that can never be satiated.

The world was designed to keep man's heart away from God.

Although there are a few exceptions, the following have occurred:

People have become fixated on food, and not on God.

People forgot to thank God for every blessing given.

People don't pray before a meal, in gratitude.

People don't think of other people starving elsewhere, as they throw their surplus food.

Hard-working farmers are forgotten, ostracized, marginalized.

Every time we eat at the table, do we think of these poor farmers, barely able to pay their debts, not even owning their land, unable to feed their families, as they feed the world.

Very cruel, isn't it?

We don't even know what the component of our modern-day food is now, but surely, it's laden with all sorts of chemicals, pesticides, hormones, and additives.

Other people take to drugs, and mind-altering substances.

We have become a chemical society, a mechanical society, and an electronic, and digital society.

People boast of their ability to whip up exotic dishes, ostentatiously prepared, and served.

Being a chef has become a trend.

Everyone trying to outdo the other.

But are the poor people being fed each day?

Sure, many feed the poor genuinely, like soup kitchens, and the like.

But others have personal, and political agendas.

It becomes personal gain, not as a sincere, unpublicized effort to help the poor, and starving.

Hardly would it serve God, nor for His GLORY.

Everything in the world is vanity.

Ecclesiastes 1:14

King James Version

14 I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; 

and, behold, 

all is vanity and vexation of spirit.


I look to Jesus -- the MAN of MIRACLES -- who fed 5,000, with a five loaves, and two fishes.

Matthew 14:13-21

King James Version

13 When Jesus heard of it, 

he departed thence by ship into a desert place apart

and when the people had heard thereof, 

they followed him on foot out of the cities.

14 And Jesus went forth, 

and saw a great multitude, 

and was moved with compassion toward them, 

and he healed their sick.

15 And when it was evening, 

his disciples came to him, saying, 

This is a desert place, 

and the time is now past; 

send the multitude away, 

that they may go into the villages, 

and buy themselves victuals.

16 But Jesus said unto them, 

They need not depart; 

give ye them to eat.

17 And they say unto him, 

We have here but five loaves, 

and two fishes.

18 He said, 

Bring them hither to me.

19 And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the grass, 

and took the five loaves, 

and the two fishes, 

and looking up to heaven, 

he blessed, 

and brake, 

and gave the loaves to his disciples, 

and the disciples to the multitude.

20 And they did all eat, 

and were filled: 

and they took up of the fragments 

that remained twelve baskets full.

21 And they that had eaten were about five thousand men, 

beside women and children.


I long for that love, compassion, and simplicity from Christ.

My heart cares more to hear His WORD.

Like when He told the tempter:

Matthew 4:3

King James Version

4 But he answered and said, 

It is written, 

Man shall not live by bread alone, 

but by every word that proceedeth 

out of the mouth of God.


Food for the spirit is what the world needs.

For the body is the TEMPLE of the Spirit.

1 Corinthians 6:19

King James Version

19 What? 

know ye not that your body is the temple 

of the Holy Ghost which is in you, 

which ye have of God, 

and ye are not your own?


Therefore, our bodies need more than food.

We need the WORD of GOD to feed our souls.

When you have come to know the Holy Spirit, things of heaven become more important.

We realize the faithful can be taken up ANY moment to meet up with Christ, at a time of God's choosing.

Food becomes simple, and basic, of no obsessive importance, as we await the return of the Lord.

We want to live right, by the Lord.

We want to eat right, by the Lord.

Our hearts are focused on Him alone.


Related material:

Food DESIGNED by GOD

Jesus is the Living Water and the Bread of Life

The Lord's Invitation


Sunday, April 18, 2021

Why GOD Hates Idolatry

 

Psalm 42:2

King James Version

2 My soul thirsteth for God, 

for the living God: 

when shall I come and appear before God?


Ever wondered why God hates idolatry?

Of graven images, and things of the world?

Acts 17:29

King James Version

29 Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, 

we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, 

or silver, 

or stone, 

graven by art and man's device.


God hates idolatry, for these FIVE reasons:

1. God is a LIVING GOD.

Jeremiah 10:10

King James Version

10 But the Lord is the true God, 

he is the living God, 

and an everlasting king: 

at his wrath the earth shall tremble, 

and the nations shall not be able to abide his indignation.


2. There is no life in graven images.

Jeremiah 10:14

King James Version

14 Every man is brutish in his knowledge: 

every founder is confounded by the graven image: 

for his molten image is falsehood, 

and there is no breath in them.


3. The world does not love the Father.

1 John 2:15

King James Version

15 Love not the world, 

neither the things that are in the world. 

If any man love the world, 

the love of the Father is not in him.


4. All that is in the world is not of God.

1 John 2:15-16

King James Version

16 For all that is in the world

the lust of the flesh, 

and the lust of the eyes, 

and the pride of life, 

is not of the Father

but is of the world.


5. Idolatry leads people away from God.

1 Kings 11:1-10

King James Version

11 But king Solomon loved many strange women

together with the daughter of Pharaoh, 

women of the Moabites, 

Ammonites, 

Edomites, 

Zidonians, 

and Hittites:

2 Of the nations concerning which the Lord said 

unto the children of Israel, 

Ye shall not go in to them, 

neither shall they come in unto you: 

for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods: 

Solomon clave unto these in love.

3 And he had seven hundred wives, 

princesses, 

and three hundred concubines: 

and his wives turned away his heart.

4 For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, 

that his wives turned away his heart after other gods: 

and his heart was not perfect with the Lord his God, 

as was the heart of David his father.

5 For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians, 

and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites.

6 And Solomon did evil in the sight of the Lord, 

and went not fully after the Lord, 

as did David his father.

7 Then did Solomon build an high place for Chemosh, 

the abomination of Moab, 

in the hill that is before Jerusalem, 

and for Molech, 

the abomination of the children of Ammon.

8 And likewise did he for all his strange wives, 

which burnt incense and sacrificed unto their gods.

9 And the Lord was angry with Solomon, 

because his heart was turned from the Lord God of Israel, 

which had appeared unto him twice,

10 And had commanded him concerning this thing, 

that he should not go after other gods: 

but he kept not that which the Lord commanded.


God's authority cannot be denied.

No one can deprive our Creator of His might, power, and glory.

Observe how He punished Solomon:

1 Kings 11:11-14

King James Version

11 Wherefore the Lord said unto Solomon, 

Forasmuch as this is done of thee, 

and thou hast not kept my covenant and my statutes, 

which I have commanded thee, 

I will surely rend the kingdom from thee, 

and will give it to thy servant.

12 Notwithstanding in thy days I will not do it 

for David thy father's sake: 

but I will rend it out of the hand of thy son.

13 Howbeit I will not rend away all the kingdom; 

but will give one tribe to thy son 

for David my servant's sake, 

and for Jerusalem's sake which I have chosen.

14 And the Lord stirred up an adversary unto Solomon, 

Hadad the Edomite: 

he was of the king's seed in Edom.


Or how He will punish us.

Exodus 20:5

King James Version

5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, 

nor serve them: 

for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, 

visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children 

unto the third and fourth generation of them 

that hate me;


We really have no idea of the might, power, and love of God.

On and on, we continue to defy Him.

Through Scripture, and Spirit, we can all adore the ONE, TRUE GOD, and have no other gods beside Him.

God declared early on, how He wanted to be worshiped:

Exodus 20:1-4

King James Version

20 And God spake all these words, saying,

2 I am the Lord thy God, 

which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, 

out of the house of bondage.

3 Thou shalt have no other gods before me.

4 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, 

or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above,

 or that is in the earth beneath, 

or that is in the water under the earth.


Exodus 20:7

King James Version

7 Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; 

for the Lord will not hold him guiltless 

that taketh his name in vain.


Jesus also taught us how to love God.

Mark 12:29-30

King James Version

29 And Jesus answered him, 

The first of all the commandments is, 

Hear, O Israel; 

The Lord our God is one Lord:

30 And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, 

and with all thy soul, 

and with all thy mind, 

and with all thy strength: 

this is the first commandment.


Scripture, and Spirit, make everything clear.

All we have to do is desire to humble ourselves before God, knowing the world cannot offer us answers, but God.

Jesus, and His Holy Spirit, will take care of all teaching.


(Image source: Joseph)


Tuesday, April 13, 2021

When GOD Gave Us the FAMILIES We Have

 

John 13:34-35

King James Version

34 A new commandment I give unto you, 

That ye love one another; 

as I have loved you

that ye also love one another.

35 By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, 

if ye have love one to another.


What kind of family do you have?

Are you tickled by them?

Or are you angered by them?

Perhaps, both?

As a student of Spirit, and a born again, mercifully, I am guided to a better understanding of people now.

But one thing I do know, when God isn't fully in  us, we can't really get it right.

There will always be a piece missing.

The MOST important piece, in fact.

Only when the Holy Spirit of God is in you, can you understand God's ways.

Only when the Spirit of God is in you, can you understand what Jesus meant about loving each other.

For families will truly test the mettle of your spirit.

We all test the patience and endurance of the other.

We will all test the love we have for each other.

And if you have come to know better, as a true born again, a believer and follower of Jesus, you can only pray that you're always doing the will of the Father.

You'll always be praying you be led to do the right thing for your family.

You also pray that your family's always safe, healthy, happy, even comfortable.

You do not pray for material wealth, or things of the world, for that is not of God -- much as your family members wish they are richer than king Solomon.

Instead, you pray that all their needs are met, and mostly, you pray that God touches their heart, so they, too, can understand your joy.

You also pray that love continually touches their heart, and that they are loved.

Mostly, you pray that you learn to love, as Jesus taught us to love.

A true born again cannot bear failing to see the real needs of his family, according to the will of God.

You would want to see your family, for their truth, and beauty.

More so, you pray that they get to know the kind of love GOD can give -- through you.

You are confident that God cares for each one of us, for that was His will, as known only too well by the Son:

John 6:38-40

King James Version

38 For I came down from heaven, 

not to do mine own will, 

but the will of him that sent me.

39 And this is the Father's will which hath sent me, 

that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, 

but should raise it up again at the last day.

40 And this is the will of him that sent me, 

that every one which seeth the Son, 

and believeth on him, 

may have everlasting life: 

and I will raise him up at the last day.


You are confident, that one day, we will all surrender our will to God, and we who have experienced it for ourselves, can only tell you, "Watch what happens!"

When the Spirit of God is upon you, you can appreciate your family for what they are, as they are, and yet praying to God that His will be done for them, too.

We cannot interfere with what God has planned for EACH one of us.

We are only here to love each other, to be guided by Spirit, and to obey the Lord.

Beautiful things happen when you are God's.

I can honestly assure you of that.

Things become clear.

You begin to understand the ways of God, and not question His will.

If anything, you keep thanking God, for showing the true nature of things, of people, of the world, and of your role in it.

You keep asking God to please correct you, if He finds you wrong.

There is no ego; only GOD.

When God is all that's left, then you can truly love others, in a way that's pleasing to God.

The Lord Jesus did show us what love was:

Obedience to the Father, by dying on the cross -- for us.

And being raised on the third day by the Father, in promise of eternal life for His faithful.

Everything Jesus did, was for the Father.

Everything the Father did, was for the Son.

We, too, are sons of God, if we believe in His Son, Jesus.

John 1:12

King James Version

12 But as many as received him, 

to them gave he power to become the sons of God

even to them that believe on his name:


That's how families ought to be.

Only love must remain.

The power of change lies in every person, of every family.

May we all abound in God's love, and perfection.

We can do all things, through Jesus.

Let our prayer be:

Philippians 4:13

King James Version

13 I can do all things through Christ 

which strengtheneth me.


Receive the power to love, from the Lord.

Only Jesus, through His Spirit, can teach us how to love, as He did.

GOD bless all who do your best to love each other.

Love always starts at home.

What more, if God is in your home.

Starting with the home in your heart, where you create a place for God.

That's really where it all starts.

Love starts with God.