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"Come follow me and I will make you fishers of men." Matthew 4:19

Month: March 2023

Kingdom Acceptance.

March 25, 2023 /
Matthew Botelho

Hello to all my brothers and sisters in our Lord Jesus. It is finally here. Spring has come! A new season is upon us, meaning new opportunities for those praying for breakthroughs in their families.

Spring is a time of rebirth, and those old habits and mindsets shall be put to rest. I pray, dear friends, that the renewing of your mind has begun. I pray that new ministries will be birthed through each of you and that I truly believe some “unfinished” works are being brought back into remembrance by our Lord Jesus. It was only for a season, my friends, that those works were laid down. It is time to pick it up again. Praise God! 

As I was reading my devotional this morning, the title struck me. The devotional was titled “Rejecting the Spirit of Rejection” and what a timely word it was—and is. My dear friends, so many of us have gone through times of rejection. Even in our Christian walk, we will go through times of rejection. At school or the workplace, there are moments when the world will try to make us believe that we are the “odd man looking in.” That is just not true.

Jesus told us it would be difficult, especially how the world views believers. But we are sanctified by the Blood of the Lamb and have been set apart to be holy and righteous, set apart, dear friends, to do good works. The apostle Paul makes this very bold statement:  Romans 1:16 “For I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. “ So as difficult as times or seasons may be, stand firm and do not be ashamed of Jesus—or His Word; God’s mercy has saved you in Christ Jesus.

That rejection you may experience from the world should not be something for you to be saddened over. God said through the prophet Isaiah, “The grass withers, the flower fades, because the breath of the Lord blows upon it; Surely the people are grass. The grass withers and flower fades, But the Word of our God stands forever.” –Isaiah 40:7-8. Now we all have stories of how family members or some friends have stopped talking to us because of our faith in Jesus. I know I have. Still, we cannot give up on those loved ones because Jesus never gave up on us. Even while we were sinners, Christ died for us. But these trials and rejections still hurt dear friends. Oh, how they hurt. But In all things, we are to pray and petition our Lord that He will give us the strength to endure. 

Think about the night when Jesus was betrayed and turned over to the temple guards. He prayed to the Father for comfort. He cried to the Father, “O My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass over Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.”—Matthew 25:39. What an earnest prayer He prayed. Do you think Jesus did not know rejection? His very own people did not recognize Him as the Messiah, and a few moments after He prayed a second time, His own disciples scattered and left Him. And Jesus prayed, “O My Father, if this cup cannot pass away from Me unless I drink it, Your will be done.”—Matthew 26:42

Even when we feel there is no hope, our heavenly Father is still in it with us.

So If God does not remove the rejection or fiery trial from you, He will go through it with you. He will be your strength and courage. Jesus endured everything He went through on this earth with you in mind. He did it all for you, so you will never face rejection or trials alone. He promised His Holy Spirit to be with you always.

Jesus said, “But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of Truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me.” –John 15:26.

“However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.” – John 16:13

You may not see or feel God, but Jesus is in your every circumstance or trial, and His promises are always there for you. You may have to drink this cup, but it will not last. Psalm 30:8  assures you of that! “Weeping may endure for the night, but joy comes in the morning” Oh, my dear brothers and sisters, rejoice! Jesus assures us the world may reject you, but He never will: “All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who come to Me I will by no means cast out.” –John 6:37. 

God promises, through His son, we will never be forgotten or set aside. You are the apple of God’s Eye, dear friends.

No man can make this promise and keep it. For man, this is impossible. But with God, all things are possible. His love for you is as wide as the east is from the west; there is no end to God’s love for you. As humans, we will always fall short. We will let our flesh get in the way, and we will let each other down; true story. We will never, ever know the type of rejection our Lord did. I mean, EVER! But, when rejection does come, and it will, we need to see it as an opportunity to pray, Oh heavenly Father, let this coming rejection pass from me, Lord, and let Your will be done during this trial.

Allow His will to be done during times of trials and discouragement. It’s during that time of rejection, and testing is when your faith will truly grow.

We may not recognize it immediately, but God always answers our prayers. Even His “no” is an answer or His “not right now.” It may not be the answer you seek, but we need to trust the process. Some pressing, crushing, and very uncomfortable moments may be attached to your faith being stretched, but trust the process. 

Psalm 46:10 “Be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!”

As I close my dear brothers and sisters, I invite anyone who is reading this and does not know our Lord Jesus to confess your sins to Jesus and allow Him to make His abode in your heart. Proclaim Him as Lord and Savior over your life. Be washed clean by His blood, and be renewed in your spirit. Jesus loves you with an everlasting love, and He wants nothing more than to be in a relationship with you. This day is your day for salvation! Amen.

Next…

March 18, 2023 /
MaryEllen Montville

“Then the word of the Lord came to Elijah: “Leave here, turn eastward and hide in the Kerith Ravine, east of the Jordan.” –1 Kings 17:2-3.

As suddenly as summer rain, many of God’s children, myself included, are experiencing a season of change that fell upon us—seemingly unexpected. It’s like we’ve walked into an event already in progress and must catch up somehow—or so it feels. And yet, if truth be told, there were telltale signs that some-thing was coming. A shift in the atmosphere had occurred as with the suddenness of summer rain.

It was getting darker off in the distance if we were paying attention. But perhaps we were just too busy to have noticed? Maybe we were distracted? Or perhaps we thought we’d have more time before the sky opened and we got caught in a sudden downpour…

And yet, even with the rain causing everything to change on a dime, how thankful we are—or ought to be, that our Fixed, Un-Changing, Consistent and Loving God is at the epicenter of our suddenly. We ought to be grateful for God’s Sovereignty—that He reigns over every aspect of our lives. That no-thing is allowed to touch us which does not first pass through Jesus’ Providential Hands. “But He knows the way I take; When He has tried me, I shall come forth as gold.” –Job 23:10.

And so it is in this epicenter of flux we find the Prophet Elijah—in God’s Providential will, nevertheless.

God was about to recalibrate Elijah’s trajectory, but He would not leave him directionless. Despite the changes he’ll soon experience, God gave Elijah clear directions for moving forward, pointing him toward provision, protection, rest, and safety. And God will do the same for you and me. Since God sent others, even the most unlikely of choices, to provide for Elijah, He’ll do it for us, Beloved. “You are to drink from the wadi. I have commanded the ravens to provide for you there. The ravens kept bringing him bread and meat in the morning and in the evening, and he drank from the wadi. –1 Kings 17:4;6.

When God gets ready to transition us, He already has our “next” mapped out, already prepared for us.

The question is, will we trust God and follow the directions He’s giving us?

“Do not remember the former things, Or ponder the things of the past. Listen carefully, I am about to do a new thing, Now it will spring forth; Will you not be aware of it? I will even put a road in the wilderness, Rivers in the desert.” –Isaiah 43:18-19.

A famine was about to strike the land. Chapter 17 of 1 Kings opens with Elijah telling King Ahab that it would not rain again until he, Elijah, said it would. “Now Elijah the Tishbite, from Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, “As the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, whom I serve, there will be neither dew nor rain in the next few years except at my word.” –1 Kings 17:1.

What do you do when everything you’ve come to rely on is switched up on you suddenly?

When God shifts your revenue stream, your daily routine? When His Divine Hand of safety or safeguarding your health, your children, parents, or spouses is suddenly removed? Elijah was about to learn the answer.

It wasn’t only those God had sent Elijah to who’d be affected by the coming famine. It would affect Elijah as well. Remember, God never promised to exempt His children from the troubles besetting this world. But He did tell us to remain strong and confident. That despite all that may be whirling around us, despite the changes, sudden or not, despite your pain and doubt, your questioning, God’s got you. All is well. “I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have [perfect] peace. In the world you have tribulation and distress and suffering, but be courageous [be confident, be undaunted, be filled with joy]; I have overcome the world.” [My conquest is accomplished, My victory abiding.” –John 16:33.

Yet before God blessed Elijah, He had to reshape him—ridding him of anything that might take Elijah’s focus and reliance off God. Little did Elijah know he was being prepared for so much more than he could imagine. That God was about to blow his mind!

God was preparing Elijah for his next assignment. And part of his preparation was God’s removing everything Elijah had come to rely on. From his daily bread delivery to the safe haven God had guided him to, all of it was taken away! The Bible doesn’t tell us how long it took for all this to happen, but we can imagine that for Elijah, whether overnight or days later, the world as he’d come to know it felt suddenly upended. But God had a plan! “Some time later the brook dried up because there had been no rain in the land. Then the word of the Lord came to him: “Go at once to Zarephath in the region of Sidon and stay there. I have directed a widow there to supply you with food.” –1 Kings 17:7-9.

God closed the door behind Elijah so he couldn’t turn to the familiar, to what was. God was doing something new and needed Elijah not to miss it. So He stripped away the route, the comfortable, the familiar, anything that might distract Elijah from where He was leading him. “The LORD directs the steps of the godly. He delights in every detail of their lives.” –Psalm 37:23.

God demands our undivided obedience. So when He says go, our only response ought to be, “yes, Abba.”

And Elijah said just that. He was obedient to God. And his obedience was rewarded with favor and provision. The widow did, in fact, supply him with food, just as God said she would. And all three of them ate and were filled. Oh, wait. I forgot to mention the widow had a son—he was the third person.

God used Elijah’s unwavering obedience and the unswerving faith of a widow who did not know Him to usher in the miracle that would save and sustain them each through their shared yet unique “suddenly.”

 “For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘The jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the Lord sends rain on the land.’ “She went away and did as Elijah had told her. So there was food every day for Elijah and for the woman and her family. For the jar of flour was not used up and the jug of oil did not run dry, in keeping with the word of the Lord spoken by Elijah.” –1 Kings 17:14-16.

So for those who, like this widow, may not yet know God for themselves, would you consider following her example? Would you trust that as surely as God sent Elijah to her that she might receive her miracle and live, He has led you here today that you might receive yours? 2 Corinthians 6:2 says it this way: “For he says, “In the time of my favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you.” I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation.”

God may change your season suddenly. You go to bed thinking you’ll wake up to life as you lived it yesterday, last week, only to find you are in the middle of an event already in progress and must catch up somehow—or so it feels. Yet how thankful we are—or ought to be, that our Fixed, Un-Changing, Consistent and Loving God is at the epicenter of every suddenly. We ought to be grateful for God’s Sovereignty—that He reigns over every aspect of our lives.

That no-thing is allowed to touch us which does not first pass through Jesus’ Providential Hands. “But He knows the way I take; When He has tried me, I shall come forth as gold.” –Job 23:10.

Hunger Again.

March 11, 2023 /
Kendra Santilli

Hunger. It’s a part of our human experience.

It is a healthy sign, a signal that our bodies need fuel. Hunger leads us to supply the proper nourishment that every cell of every organ needs. When we go for extended periods without feeling hungry, that is a sign that something is wrong. A decreased appetite is a classic sign of physical or mental sickness. In the same way, our spiritual hunger is a great gauge of our spiritual health. I am not saying that hunger is the gauge for our spiritual health. Rather, dwindling hunger can be a sign that something is wrong. If you feel tired or have lost your hunger for the things of God, you are not alone, and there are ways to get your hunger back!

“We have much to say about this, but it is hard to make it clear to you because you no longer try to understand. In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.” — Hebrews 5:11-14

Heavy as this passage may be, I am filled with encouragement as I read it with eyes of hope.

If we are not careful, life can get in the way, pulling us away from dwelling in the Truth of God’s Word, not the advice of His word, the Truth. There is such value in finding a church family who can help keep you grounded. While there is an ideology that states, “I don’t need to go to church to be a Christian,” the truth found in the Word of God instructs us “not forsake gathering with other believers.” –Hebrews 10:25. Isolation yourself is a sure way to fade away from God, losing your spiritual hunger. Getting together with like-minded people helps us refocus on the Truth of the Gospel when we lose sight of what matters.

On the flip side, religiously attending church can breed complacency when you stop trying. Have you stopped trying to understand the things of God? Have you stopped trying to listen to His word with an open heart, allowing His transformative Word to penetrate deeply? A spiritual regression can happen when you begin to lose your hunger. You begin to lose your spiritual appetite, leading you to rely on others for sustenance. This is the milk that Hebrews is referring to. This milk is hand fed to you by others because you forgot how to feed yourself with the solid food that once fed your mature spirit. God wants you to feed yourself! “I am the bread of life; he who come to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst.” — John 6:35

What do you do when you’re not hungry?

How do you stir up that hunger again? First, you have to be consistent. Like that chicken soup that’s hard to stomach when you’re in the middle of a cold, seek Him when you don’t feel like it. Read His word daily. “…he may learn to fear the Lord his God by carefully observing all the words of this law and these statutes…” — Deuteronomy 17:19. You can learn to fear the Lord by reading and spending time with Him. The Bible is a beautiful teacher because it is breathed from His lungs.

Second, ask the Holy Spirit for help. “The Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.” — John 14:26.

As our helper, the Holy Spirit is our teacher and reminds us of what we study from the Bible. When you read your Bible with a heart-seeking understanding, your appetite will grow again. With the help of the Holy Spirit, you will begin to grow out of milk and back into the solid food found at the table of the Lord. This solid food provides sustenance that will mature your spirit again. He will help you train yourself to distinguish good from evil, so you’re not lukewarm.

If you’ve lost your hunger, pick up your sword again today.

If you feel that you have no desire for the things of God, I invite you to ask Jesus into your life and begin to grow in the Spirit and find belonging in the family of God! He cares for you and wants your spirit to be healthy and fed. “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.” — Matthew 5:6

Sifted

March 4, 2023 /
MaryEllen Montville

“Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift all of you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.” –Luke 22:31-32.

Why does it feel like I am dying?

The short answer—you likely are. But that’s a good thing. Hear me out.

So long as we are here on earth, child of God, your Christian walk will be peppered with seasons when it will feel like you are dying. Why? God is pruning you, transforming and reshaping you into the image and likeness of Jesus, His Son. For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. –Romans 8:29.

God is removing your dead wood—your fleshy bits. Those weak or unproductive areas in your life that siphon your precious time, attention, and focus away from Christ. Those fleshly parts of you that look nothing at all like Jesus. So if God is removing it, let it go! For it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure. –Philippians 2:13. Because even the so-called “good stuff” will be useless where God is preparing to take you, so off with it. Remember, God is far more concerned with your character and eternal good than your comfort

Having experienced this painful process, Peter had firsthand knowledge of this Truth. Yet he was not the first of Christ’s disciples to have been sifted. And he wouldn’t be the last. In fact, each of the Twelve had been—sifted. Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift all of you as wheat. Within this month, or year, this very day, many of Jesus’s disciples have or will experience the crushing anguish experienced when God permits Satan to sift one of His children.

Will their inner cry and turmoil echo Peter’s, perhaps? “After all Jesus has done for me. All I have witnessed and know Him to be, how could my faith be so weak? How could I fail Him so miserably!?”

And when they had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and sat down together, Peter sat down among them. Then a servant girl, seeing him as he sat in the light and looking closely at him, said, “This man also was with him.” But he denied it, saying, “Woman, I do not know him.” And a little later someone else saw him and said, “You also are one of them.” But Peter said, “Man, I am not.” And after an interval of about an hour still another insisted, saying, “Certainly this man also was with him, for he too is a Galilean.” But Peter said, “Man, I do not know what you are talking about.” –Luke 22:55-59.

“I was so sure I’d rather die than deny Jesus by demonstrating so little courage in my hour of testing.”

“Truly I tell you,” Jesus declared, “this very night, before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.” Peter replied, “Even if I have to die with You, I will never deny You.” –Matthew 26:34-35.

Have you been experiencing a time of profound spiritual wrestling, hopelessness, or fear? A time so daunting that your toes, however briefly, drew dangerously close to the line labelled turning away? A moment when the literal fear of God ran through you, icy, jolting, one that left you crying out to God, repenting of your pridefulness and misplaced self-confidence? And the Lord turned and looked at Peter. And Peter remembered the saying of the Lord, how he had said to him, “Before the rooster crows today, you will deny me three times.” And he went out and wept bitterly. –Luke 22:61-62.

Have you ever experienced a dark night of the soul?

Has the very earth beneath your feet suddenly upturned? Where everything you’ve believed and professed was tested, tried, and found wanting?

Or that startling moment of “I am not yet who I will be.” And you find yourself taken aback by the jarring realization you are still very human, contrary to your great faith in Christ. You’ve underestimated your vulnerability and are weak, susceptible to failing, to fall. Beloved friend, have you yet come face-to-face with that moment when it was Jesus, and only Jesus (as it always is), who held you back from a fall from which you’d never get up? I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. –John 10:28-29.

It’s in that place where we find Peter, here where many may find themselves today.

If this is you—If you’re experiencing a dark night of the soul, take heart, Beloved of God, He is still with you. But know this. God allows this crushing, questioning, this desperate time of falling and failing, of testing, to beset you. Just read the Book of Job. In fact, just read verses Eight thru Twelve for confirmation. “Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil.” “Does Job fear God for nothing?” Satan replied. “Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has? You have blessed the work of his hands, so that his flocks and herds are spread throughout the land. But now stretch out your hand and strike everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face.” The Lord said to Satan, “Very well, then, everything he has is in your power, but on the man himself do not lay a finger.” –Job 1:8-12.

And no, child of God, your Father has not stopped loving you. Neither has God forsaken you. Quite the opposite, His Holy Spirit is refining you. You’re about to level up.

Now notice how today’s scripture verse is so very personal, how God is interceding for you, specifically—as surely and personally as He did for your brother Peter. And though Jesus informed Peter that Satan had asked to sift them all, He also made clear that it was for Peter whom He was praying. Peter had much work to do— and he needed to be spiritually squared away to accomplish all that Jesus had called and equipped him to do. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.”

God is working out your fleshy bits, too, Beloved. Perhaps the sifting you’re experiencing is happening so that, like Peter, you too may be restored, transformed, made new, readied for the next leg of your journey with the Lord. But the jar he was making did not turn out as he had hoped, so he crushed it into a lump of clay again and started over. –Jeremiah 18:4.

Holy Spirit will reveal your weak areas to you so that you might repent of any pridefulness, self-confidence, anything not of God. But, praise His Merciful name! As surely as the Holy Spirit convicts, He also intercedes in our great moments of weakness. In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weaknesses. For we do not know how we ought to pray, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groans too deep for words. And He who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. –Romans 8:26-27.

Friend, if you are experiencing a time of change and trials, call out to Jesus. He will come, and with Him, His Holy Spirit, to help walk you through every valley. Romans 10:9-10 assures you of the eternal safety found only in Jesus. If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.

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