Good Seed, Bad Seed.

 Parables. Jesus spoke in parables, why? Let's let Jesus answer this question Himself… It's important because we have access to many of these parables. Please, take the time to read Jesus' words--

Mat 13:10-14  And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables? He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath. Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand. And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive: 

(Isa 6:9  And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not. )

Mat 13:15-17 For this people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them. But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear. For verily I say unto you, That many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them. 

The disciples of Jesus were curious about Jesus' parables. I know sometimes when we want a straight answer to a question, a person will give us instead a song and a dance all leading up the point. If the song and dance continues on long enough it can confuse us so that we forget what we were even asking. Or, we grow tired of the song and dance and realize no straight answer is to be had. We have to listen to the song and watch the dance - truly listen, truly watch if we want to ascertain the answer seemingly hidden in that song and dance.  I know I'm a storyteller of sorts. My husband was often the exasperated one - as he'd wait for me to get through my song and dance so he had the answer he was after. It became a running joke in our relationship. I had to take the long way around and make many stops before I get where I'm going, and he'd take the straight line way not stopping at all. Some say it's a guy, girl thing, but I know it's not- not really.  Do you see, I'm giving you one of my songs and one of my dances right now- not intentionally- it's just me. 

Jesus spoke in parables and those who sought discernment truly desiring to know and understand would be able to. Those who just wanted the answers they perceived, rather than what was real, and those who only wanted to dispute whatever answers were given- they remained blind. Jesus' parables are for the heart and spirit, not for those who aren't interested in a heart and spirit understanding.

With this in mind, let's learn more of our Savior--

Mat 13:36 -43  Then Jesus sent the multitude away, and went into the house: and his disciples came unto him, saying, Declare unto us the parable of the tares of the field. He answered and said unto them, He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man; The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one; The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels. As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world. The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear. 

The parable explained:

The sower of the good seed- is Jesus.

The field where the seed is being sown- the world.

The good seed- the children of the kingdom of God.

The tares (bad seed) - the children of the wicked one.

The sower of the tares (bad seed) - the Devil.

The harvest of all that is sown- the end of the world.

The reapers of the harvest- angels.

The gathered tares- bad seed sown by the devil- gathered and burned at the end of the world.

The gathered good seed- are gathered into the kingdom of the Father. 

Do you have ears to hear?

Jesus is speaking plainly here explaining His parable in detail, giving the disciples the straight line explanation. 

Jesus, the children of God. The Devil, the children of the Devil. The end of the world, angels gather them all. The children of God go one place and the children of the Devil to another end.

So why don't we believe really believe in the Devil? Why don't we believe there are children of the Devil? Can we comprehend that not everyone chooses to be a child of God? 

We need the whole truth, not just the bits that make us acceptable to the world and to God. We crave worldly acceptance and shun appearing different. We label the 'John the Baptist' types as being crazy, just as they did in the day of John the Baptist. Notice I said TYPES. There will not be another John the Baptist, but there are men and women of God who live for God, and share God with others as He would have them do.

Before that harvest at the end of the world, the men and woman of God, those sown by the Son of God, Himself will be alive for God, not for themselves.

God help us to be sown by the Son of God, and not by the Devil! Let us learn of Jesus, really learn all about Him. All through God's love, His grace, His mercy! Now and forever! Amen!!!!!!!

Joh_3:21  But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.

Joh_4:23  But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.

Joh_4:24  God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

Joh 14:15  If ye love me, keep my commandments. 

Joh 14:21  He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him. 

Joh 14:22  Judas saith unto him, not Iscariot, Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world? 

Joh 14:23  Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him. 

Joh 15:14  Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you. 

Jas 1:25  But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed. 

1Jn 5:2  By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments. 

1Jn 5:3  For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous. 

Deu 5:10  And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me and keep my commandments.

Isa 1:16  Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil; 

Isa 1:17  Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow. 

Isa 1:18  Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your 

 be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. 

Dan 9:4  And I prayed unto the LORD my God, and made my confession, and said, O Lord, the great and dreadful God, keeping the covenant and mercy to them that love him, and to them that keep his commandments

Mat 7:21  Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. 

Mat 7:22  Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? 

Mat 7:23  And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity. 

Mat 7:24  Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: 

Mat 7:25  And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. 

Mat 7:26  And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: 

Mat 7:27  And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.

Gal 5:6  For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love. 

1Jn 1:7  But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. 

1Jn 1:8  If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 

1Jn 1:9  If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 

1Jn 1:10  If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us. 

This Is Jerry's(Note) Learn of Him( Study)

 This is Jerry's…  it must forever remain untouched by anyone but Him!

This is Jerry's…  who would He want to have it?

This is Jerry's…  no one will ever want that.

This is Jerry's…  no one can have that.

This is Jerry's…  why did he ever keep it?

This is Jerry's…  how can I use that… it was His?

This is Jerry's…  it's valuable because it was His.

This is Jerry's…  he'd want them to have it.

This is Jerry's…  don't touch it!

This is Jerry's…  please, take it.

This is Jerry's…  

Don't make me say it! I have to say it…

This WAS Jerry's… it all WAS Jerry's, not IS Jerry's, but… it is… it is Jerry's… it will always be Jerry's.

Almost seven weeks later and I still question, how can he be gone?  

Jerry owns nothing now and that doesn't seem real, or right, in any way. Gone, never, ever ever forgotten. 

Truthfully, there are a lot of things that will always be Jerry's, I'm not making that up. Even without Him here to possess them, they are his. I'll just be a caretaker of the things that are His-- keeping, distributing, loaning, things that are his as my heart decides. 

I still have my grandfather's desk, my grandmother's china cabinet, my mother's bedroom set…  See, they remain theirs forever- it's in their history. I don't say I have my grandfather's desk which went to my mother, which in turn went to me- there is no long spiel about it, just simply, that was my grandfather's. There are sentimental treasures here that will be passed down to my children and they will forever be their father's- this, and their father's - that, and this is the way of life as it continues ever onward. 

Seven weeks… and in some ways it seems like yesterday. 

*******

Learning.

We live in the furnace of affliction and so many people don't recognize it as such. What would happen if one of the first important things you were taught growing up was the fact that you live in a world with unseen forces that truly impact your life in a very real way? That the world unseen is filled with beings intent on causing us to endure all manner of afflictions. That the world unseen is filled with those who will allow the afflictions in order to purify us, refine us, strip off the layers of superficial life right down to our very core where the workings of our heart live. What would happen if we were all taught the truth from the day we were born? 

What has all that to do with learning of Christ's yoke and burden? Christ's yoke and His burden are the core of our core. That which lives under our outer impurities, our fleshy dross. We need to learn of Christ- the core of our core, the love that enables us to love. Christ who could have called ten thousand angels to set Him free from this earth bent on His murder, but chose to endure all the horrors inflicted because He was sacrificing Himself to prove His love, His core, Himself. 

Why would He do that if there weren't something more for us than this world with its unseen forces? Jesus came and said…

Joh_14:2  In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you

Joh 14:3  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. 

Joh 14:4  And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know. 

Fact- His Father has a house big enough to contain MANY MANSIONS. 

Fact- His Father's house with its many mansions exists and is being prepared for US.

Fact- Jesus will come again to receive us.

We live now and all the afflictions we endure CAN be used to refine us, stripping away our dependence upon ourselves so that we recognize our need to be dependent upon our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. 

Some of those unseen forces in our world will do all they can to keep us from learning of Jesus, of really learning of Him in the way that we can recognize His easy yoke and light burden.  Read the many verses below of how God refines. We need to understand the refining isn't going to be easy- mentally, emotionally, physically, spiritually. This world as it is now isn't intended to give us easy, affliction free lives. If you choose to simply live for this awful world because you're too prideful to let the afflictions refine you to your core, then no, you will not inhabit any prepared mansion. Not a single person will inhabit a mansion in heaven that willfully chooses not to learn of Jesus now. You may scoff at all this unbelievable nonsense, but think for just a single moment, what if none of it is nonsense? You have to know deep down that this world has a whole slew of seemingly unfixable problems and that in the thousands of years we've had to fix things, we just don't. This world is broken, we are broken, but we can have hope to be fixed. 

Christ's burden and yoke are light and easy, learn of Him. Don't learn of any one religion, just learn of Him. Please.

Mat 11:28  Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 

Mat 11:29  Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. 

Mat 11:30  For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. 

Isaiah 48:10 Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tested you in the furnace of affliction.

Isa 1:25  And I will turn my hand upon thee, and purely purge away thy dross, and take away all thy tin:

Job 23:10  But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold. 

Psa 66:10  For thou, O God, hast proved us: thou hast tried us, as silver is tried. 

Pro 17:3  The fining pot is for silver, and the furnace for gold: but the LORD trieth the hearts. 

Jer 9:7  Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts, Behold, I will melt them, and try them; for how shall I do for the daughter of my people? 

Eze 22:18  Son of man, the house of Israel is to me become dross: all they are brass, and tin, and iron, and lead, in the midst of the furnace; they are even the dross of silver. 

Eze 22:19  Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Because ye are all become dross, behold, therefore I will gather you into the midst of Jerusalem. 

Eze 22:20  As they gather silver, and brass, and iron, and lead, and tin, into the midst of the furnace, to blow the fire upon it, to melt it; so will I gather you in mine anger and in my fury, and I will leave you there, and melt you. 

Eze 22:21  Yea, I will gather you, and blow upon you in the fire of my wrath, and ye shall be melted in the midst thereof. 

Eze 22:22  As silver is melted in the midst of the furnace, so shall ye be melted in the midst thereof; and ye shall know that I the LORD have poured out my fury upon you. 

Zec 13:8  And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith the LORD, two parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third shall be left therein. 

Zec 13:9  And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The LORD is my God. 

Mal 3:2  But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a refiner's fire, and like fullers' soap: 

Mal 3:3  And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the LORD an offering in righteousness. 

Heb 12:9  Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live? 

Heb 12:10  For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness. 

Heb 12:11  Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby. 

1Pe 1:7  That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ: 

1Pe 1:8  Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory: 

1Pe 1:9  Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls. 

1Pe 4:12  Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: 

1Pe 4:13  But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy. 

1Pe 4:14  If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you: on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified. 

1Pe 4:15  But let none of you suffer as a murderer, or as a thief, or as an evildoer, or as a busybody in other men's matters. 

1Pe 4:16  Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf.

Rev 3:19  As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent. 

All through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior, not and forever!!!!!!! Amen!

Two Father's- God or the Devil- You Choose.

 Two Fathers and A Choice.

How shocking it is to hear the words- My father is the Devil. First, let's clarify what it means to be a father. We use it for any man who has an offspring. That isn't the only way the term is used though. No one can be a father without having a child- either by biological means, adoptive, or figurative means. The term father is used in conjunction with a having a position over others.  The motorcycle rider whose nickname is 'Father', why? Because he acts as a father would, or he has taken on the role of a moral guide, or maybe he is the opposite of what a father should be and given the name ironically.  But why am I blathering on about this? Because if someone comes up to you and tells you their father is the Devil, we need to know what they mean by making that claim. For the sake of this particular message we are going to state right off the Devil in question is Satan, the fallen archangel, Lucifer, the Father of Lies, and whatever other names, of which there are many, you wish to include. The person making this claim is not stating that their human father is the Devil, they are claiming that the actual Devil is their spiritual, adopted father.  

We know the Devil isn't producing offspring as humans produce offspring so when the claim is made that the Devil is their father they are really saying that they have chosen the Devil to be a leading authority figure in their lives. They are claiming to respect the Devil, to honor the Devil, to look up to the Devil, to love him. 

I don't know about you but I've never met anyone who has outright made this claim. Yes, I know there are plenty out there who do make it, I've just never personally been face to face with such a person.

I have been face to face with those who claim God in Heaven to be their father. In fact, I'm one of those people. God in Heaven is my Heavenly Father. I do look up to my Heavenly Father, I respect Him, I honor Him, I love Him. My Heavenly Father is my creator. My Heavenly Father has an only begotten Son, Jesus Christ. I am the adopted daughter of my Heavenly Father. 

What a lot of people don't seem to realize because they are wrapped up in their arrogance, is there are only two spiritual fathers we can choose from, only two and we all MUST choose one or the other. Deciding not to make a choice is a choice so there is no escaping having God as your Heavenly Father, or the Devil as your father. If you do not choose God to be your Heavenly Father, if you do not choose to be adopted by Him, then you belong to the Devil and whatever form he's taken on. It really that simple and a lot of people do not like that. They want to insert this clause and that clause, and this idea and the other idea but all their supposing is nothing more than an encouraged ploy by the Devil. All those who say they do not believe in any God, or any deity, but that they only believe in themselves, once again, they are choosing the Devil's side automatically because the Devil chose that side too when he embraced sin and abdicated his high position in God's kingdom in favor or wanting to be God himself. The Devil believed in himself and he loves when people choose to believe only in themselves. The Devil loves when people choose nature as their god, or some ancient cult worshipped god, a sun god, a moon goddess, an ethnic god of their choice, gods- plural and so on. Go ahead pick whatever god you want besides the Heavenly Father and the Devil will be very pleased. 

Jesus said the following words to the religious- the outwardly God fearing people. He didn't point at a demon possessed man, or an outcast sinner, and say the following. When you read this just KNOW that Jesus was speaking to those who professed to belong to God.

Joh 8:44  Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer  from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a  lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and  the father of it. 

Jesus spoke and said, "You are of your father…"  Do you understand this? Jesus is telling the people they are of their FATHER.  Jesus continued and named their father.  "You are of your father the DEVIL."  

Jesus didn't stop there. "..and the lusts of your father(the Devil) you will do. The Devil was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks of his own for he is a liar and the father of it."

There is NO TRUTH in the devil. Any seeming truth the Devil may spout is twisted in his perverted ways. He may appear to speak truth, but his reason for it appearing that way is to deceive. The Devil is the father of LIES.

Your Spiritual Father is either God or the Devil, and make no mistake you have a spiritual father. One of the spiritual Fathers speaks only TRUTH, the other -LIES.

Jesus knows who our father is- there is no hiding from Him the choice we make daily, hourly, minutely. Jesus taught us to pray-

OUR FATHER WHICH ART IN HEAVEN. 

And just as the supposed God-fearing who Jesus was talking to, there are many who pray this prayer but are far from having God as their Father. If we choose ANY deception over truth we belong to the Devil no matter what our mouths profess, or self-deception is taking place. If we choose to purposefully NOT seek out truth, the Devil is our father. Truth! We must ABIDE IN TRUTH, we must LIVE IN TRUTH constant truth! We must never grow tired of learning and allowing God to open our understanding, never. Those Jesus said were of the Devil thought they had all the truth they'd ever need too. They clutched the truth they had tight to their chests and refused anything else! 

We know there is unfolding truth, prophecies yet to be fulfilled. If our minds and hearts are shut off to advancing truth then we are not making our abode with God the Father, but rather with the Devil.  

TRUTH. Let us LEARN more and more of our Savior. Jesus tells us to LEARN of HIM!

Learn right now-   JESUS IS THE WAY THE TRUTH AND THE LIFE.

Joh_14:6  Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

Let us LEARN truth!

There are two fathers, and you have a choice. The Father of Truth, or the Father of Lies? Choose.

All through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior now and forever! Amen!

Learn of Him.

 

A Study and A Note (Jesus' Easy Burden)

 Today's Jerry Note- 

I know a lot of my Jerry notes revolve around food, but that's only natural considering we eat a lot, right? Breakfast, lunch, dinner or some variation of that happens every day for most people. That's a lot of food, food practically every day of our lives. By now those of you reading these little Jerry notes and such know that He liked a whole lot of things others of us in our family did not. Veering off onto another track for a moment, don't worry it meets back up with the Jerry track- some of you also know my mother made the best Spaghetti Sauce ever! (I know, a lot of moms do that.) Her sauce was a staple in our families, each of her kids learning to make some variation of her sauce- which she encouraged. If you liked a hotter sauce she told us to add jalapenos, if we wanted a cheesier sauce just add some parmesan right into the pot, don't save it solely for a topping later. My mom also made meatballs to go with her sauce and sausage. I'm not going to say all of us loved her spaghetti sauce, but the majority of us did and do. Now veering back on the Jerry track- Jerry also liked my mother's sauce BUT he liked his OWN mother's sauce more. His mother's sauce had things like mushrooms, big chunks of green pepper and onions, ground beef - not meatballs, ground sausage- not links, a different combination of spices.  So, in our family we would have both sauces but NOT every time we had spaghetti. When Jerry got a hankering for his mother's sauce he would ask me to make it, and sometimes I'd just surprise him with it.

One day during the last two months of his life for dinner I told him we were having spaghetti and he immediately asked- "With my sauce?" I nodded and told him I'd made his sauce too, and boy, he was happy. That night he had his sauce - plus a meatball and enjoyed it immensely.  He had it once more after that on another night that week and then guess what I did?  I froze the rest of the sauce. 

You know what's coming next… recently I gave the sauce away. My niece, Tisha took the two containers home with her about a month ago. Today when Tisha came over I asked her if she'd had a chance to eat it yet and she told me just this past week they did and they loved it!  

And yet again, you know what I'm going to say, Jerry would have been so thrilled to know that sauce did not go to waste, that others enjoyed it as much as he did. 

I know I keep telling you of these things that are probably starting to seem a little like the same ol' story, but I can't help it, I really can't. You see, I know that once all these sauces, soups, meats and so on are gone from that freezer, then a part of him will be gone too. Each time a frozen food that was meant for him is gone there is joy and tears because that's what life is right now- joy and tears. I will run out of food stories soon enough, but for now they are something I have and want others to know about so they too can share in a part of my husband's life- knowing him in a small way that they never did before. Sharing his love of food, his love of life, his love of me, his children and his family and friends.  

God blessed me richly with Him and God blesses me richly with memories of Him and a life filled with knowing Him. I can't tell you how many times I've said the words- "I know Jerry would have…" Because I know him. 

Another little thought just crossed my mind- I can remember my own mother speaking of my father in the same way, "Your dad would have…"  

Those we love in loving them, we know of them, so much of them. We are blessed. 

*******

Mat 11:29  Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. 

Mat 11:30  For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

Jesus did not have a wooden yoke in His hands when He told the multitudes to take His yoke. Even if He had, who of the many would have been the one to take it? The yoke He spoke of was figurative. The yoke symbolic of the burden Jesus was carrying. Take my yoke upon you, He says. And how do we do this? How do you take on the burden of another? You've done it before haven't you? Someone has a problem and they tell you their problem with the hope you'll be able to help them. They want you to share their burden, make it lighter, or if not lighter then at least bearable. Sometimes we do share our troubles with others without wanting their help, we share it just so another person knows what we are enduring. We might share it just to get someone to pray for us, or think of us with a bit of compassion. There are a lot of burdens that cannot be shared physically. I can't take the job interview my son has to take, but in knowing how heavy that burden is for him I can pray for him, I can offer my commiseration. Jesus told us to take His yoke upon us, take His burden upon us.  He also told us something else along with that. He said, Take my yoke upon you and LEARN OF ME. Take His burden and learn of Him.

Then He goes on to further say- that He is meek and He is lowly in heart.  He doesn't stop there, He tells us that we will find rest unto our souls. And that His yoke is easy. His burden is light.

Such amazing words! Such wonderful, awesome words!

Jesus DOES have a burden. 

Jesus' burden is LIGHT.

Jesus' burden is EASY.

Jesus is MEEK.

Jesus is LOWLY IN HEART.

Tell me, what do those last two things mean? What does it mean that Jesus is meek and lowly in heart?

Mat 21:5  Tell ye the daughter of Sion, Behold, thy King cometh unto thee, meek, and sitting upon an ass, and a colt the foal of an ass

Num 12:3  (Now the man Moses was very meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth.) 

Psa 131:1  A Song of degrees of David. LORD, my heart is not haughty, nor mine eyes lofty: neither do I exercise myself in great matters, or in things too high for me. 

Isa 42:1  Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth; I have put my spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles. 

Isa 42:2  He shall not cry, nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street. 

Isa 42:3  A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench: he shall bring forth judgment unto truth. 

Isa 42:4  He shall not fail nor be discouraged, till he have set judgment in the earth: and the isles shall wait for his law. 

Zec 9:9  Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass. 

Luk 9:54  And when his disciples James and John saw this, they said, Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven, and consume them, even as Elias did? 

Luk 9:55  But he turned, and rebuked them, and said, Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of. 

Luk 9:56  For the Son of man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them. And they went to another village. 

2Co 10:1  Now I Paul myself beseech you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ, who in presence am base among you, but being absent am bold toward you

Php 2:7  But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: 

Php 2:8  And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. 

1Pe 2:21  For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps: 

1Pe 2:22  Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth: 

1Pe 2:23  Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously:

Meek-humble, lowly-gentle, heart-thoughts and feelings. 

Jesus is meek, humble, lowly, submissive, without elevation, 

Who can read all the above and NOT comprehend that Jesus was the epitome of selflessness? 

Is it a burden to be selfless? It can be, especially in the world we live in today. We grow up with a lot of outside stimulus towards being self-focused, self-serving. We are inundated by a whole slew of entertainment that promotes the life of the self-serving, business men and women who thrive on serving themselves. It's sobering to realize that the men and women in our world who control the vast majority of wealth choose to keep the majority of that wealth to keep their own self-interests afloat. Our world is ruled by a system that dictates the wealthy are in need of being even more wealthy while the poor are  told to become wealthy- somehow, without help, just do it. Yet the world could not support all people being considered wealthy, or so that's what we are taught. The wealthy thrive, the poor suffer- history proves this to be the case since sin entered and took over the lives of mankind.

To be selfless is burdensome because the world fights against true selflessness in its supposed need to be so many other things. 

More on all of this tomorrow by the grace of God, by His will. We need to LEARN of JESUS! May we humble ourselves and learn! 

A Note and A Study (Jesus' Yoke)

 A little Jerry note. Most of those who knew Jerry, knew that he had a great love of venison. For as long as he was capable he would actually go deer hunting, belonging to a Hunt Club where they were guaranteed venison from any of the hunters who were able to make a kill. When He was no longer capable of going hunting he never passed up an opportunity to share in the spoils of other hunters when he could. My brother, Wesley, was one of those hunters and my cousin, Bruce, as well as other members of the family. Jerry was able to get venison from them more than once and boy, did he enjoy it immensely! Well, these last few years he hadn't been so lucky in getting any venison, that was until at the Rehab center one of the therapists mentioned her husband going hunting. Of course Jerry was able to talk her into getting himself some ground venison. 

Now comes the unhappy part, the plans we'd made were for him to have the venison as hamburgers when we grilled steaks in the middle of June, as JoAnna would still be here. 

Tonight in Jerry's honor, I made those venison burgers and both Matthew and JoAnna enjoyed them as much as he would have. Jerry would have been thrilled to know the venison didn't take on time capsule status in the freezer but was actually used and enjoyed.  It's these little things that mean so much right now.  Yes, there is the Borscht which was like salt poured on my bleeding heart, but today there was venison which was somehow healing to my heart. Yes, I've already made plans for the Borscht to go to my sister, Elizabeth, who enjoys beets- I hope she likes it when she tries it, that would be healing too. And if she doesn't like it, at least she will have tried it and that's something too. 

Thank God for today's healing. Tomorrow might bring salt, balm or both, but whatever it is, I know my Savior is going to be there going through it all with me!  

*******  Two Yokes. 

'There are two yokes,—the yoke of sin (Satan’s yoke), and the yoke of Christ. The yoke of sin is hard to bear,—Satan is a hard master; but the yoke of Christ is easy, and His burden is light. He sets us free from sin, that we may serve Him by bearing His mild yoke.' Matthew 11:29-30. (EG Waggoner)

A yoke. Mention the word yoke and people naturally are repelled by it. We prefer the word freedom. Yoke is a word of bondage, not freedom. We hold up the word free and want it to mean we should be able to live without anyone dictating to us in any way. When a person lives in a country where their lives are ruled by a dictator who tells them what they can and cannot do, who they can talk to, what they can read, what they're allowed to watch on TV, and even try to tell them what to think, they can feel oppressed. I don't know this first hand though, because I live in a place they call the 'Land of the Free.' There is a reason America took on this name. People from all different countries who lived under oppression in one form or another- poverty, religious persecution, and the like looked upon the United States as a place to come to be safe from persecution, a chance to live a life outside of poverty, they called it a place to be free, a place without a yoke of bondage. 

Jesus even says- 

Joh 8:31  Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; 

Joh 8:32  And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. 

Joh 8:33  They answered him, We be Abraham's seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free? 

Joh 8:34  Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin. 

Joh 8:35  And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth ever. 

Joh 8:36  If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.

The truth shall make you free, and Jesus was talking about being free from the penalty of sin. The Jews didn't consider they were in bondage to any but Jesus said that they were in bondage to sin if they commit sin. Freedom from that bondage to sin can only be found in Jesus. So when Jesus says…

Mat 11:29  Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. 

Mat 11:30  For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. 

…He is saying that He has a yoke and wants us to share it with Him, He isn't wanting to put us back into bondage.  This yoke He wants to share with us is one of us learning of him, and as we learn of Him we will find rest. Yokes usually are not associated with rest, but the opposite.  If we say we are under a yoke, we are telling others we feel burdened, not at rest. Christ's yoke is easy, His burden is light- but the FACT remains He has a yoke and a burden for us.

More on this tomorrow by the grace of God! All through Jesus Christ our Lord. I want His yoke, I want His burden. 

Choosing God.

 Daily bread. Have you asked for your daily bread yet today? Give us this day our daily bread. Daily. Not a single day is to ever pass in our lives when we do not recognize our Father in heaven. Not a single day is to go by without prayer. Daily we are to speak to our heavenly Father. And how often are we to ask for forgiveness? Daily. Our lives are to be filled with God. So many cite the cruelty of our world as reason not to believe in God, or a reason to hate God if they believe. Many cannot fathom the idea of a loving God who has their eternal life in His hand, letting horrors happen now. They envision a hard-hearted God, indifferent to the pain we endure. Far from indifferent, far from hard-hearted, our God could have wiped humanity from existence, but He chose to offer redemption instead. Annihilate or save? Destroy or give hope? God had the choice but chose rather to account us human beings as something worthy of salvation. God accounted us worthy and without the worthiness given to us by God we have none. Our lives are absolutely worthless without God. I did not say without religion, I will never say without religion, I will always say, without God. Don't confuse the two. God needs to be a personalize presence in our individual lives, we should not attach ourselves to a religion and expect that attachment is all we need. Too haughty to be God's? Able to give yourself eternal life? We mustn't be, because we cannot give ourselves eternal life. If ALL we are to have hope in - is this current existence- we are truly hopeless. Every single injustice in this world screams out at us to despise this sin ruled world. Every single evil we are witness to is a testament to the wrongness that can only meet its opposite in God's love. We are not left in the dark. We are told this world is NOT as it should have been. We are told that things went horrifically wrong, God hasn't tried to sugarcoat this world. God wants us to know it's NOT as He intended. God doesn't say He is love and then tell us we are living in a hopeless world. God is upfront about who the prince of this world is right now. God doesn't want anyone to love Him unwillingly. Man alone uses force in their version of love. We are sinners- each of us undeserving of our own accord. We recognize our powerlessness to save ourselves. We acknowledge that our salvation is given to us undeservedly. We have to accept the salvation offered because it will not be forced on us. If you choose not to be a part of eternal salvation through Christ's gift that is exactly what will happen, you will not be a part of eternal salvation. We are sinful and need daily forgiveness, daily a prayer must ascend to our Heavenly Father. May we seek our Father daily, choosing to live under His love for us His children. 

Isa 1:18  Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. 

Rom 3:23  For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God

Mat 6:11  Give us this day our daily bread. 

Mat 6:12  And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. 

Mat 6:13  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. 

Isa 44:22  I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and, as a cloud, thy sins: return unto me; for I have redeemed thee.

Psa 51:7  Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. 

Psa 51:8  Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice. 

Psa 51:9  Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities. 

Psa 51:10  Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. 

Psa 51:11  Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me. 

Psa 51:12  Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit. 

Psa 51:13  Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee. 

Psa 51:14  Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, thou God of my salvation: and my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness. 

Psa 51:15  O Lord, open thou my lips; and my mouth shall shew forth thy praise. 

Psa 51:16  For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: thou delightest not in burnt offering. 

Psa 51:17  The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.

Mic 7:18  Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? he retaineth not his anger for ever, because he delighteth in mercy. 

Mic 7:19  He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us; he will subdue our iniquities; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea. 

Rom 5:20  Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound: 

Rom 5:21  That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord. 

Rev 7:14  And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.