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

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Until Then…

January 28, 2023 /
MaryEllen Montville

“So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send more workers into his fields.” –Matthew 9:38.

God alone knows the hour He will say to Jesus, His Son, “It’s time for You to bring Your Bride home. Now go—the house has been readied to receive her. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. –John 14:2-3.

In Matthew 9:38, Jesus was speaking to His disciples. He asked them to pray for the physical solution to a great spiritual need. We would do well to imitate this principle.

Countless souls from every tribe and tongue, desperate for hope, healing, and deliverance. Lost and wandering, sheep in need of a Shephard. In need of those chosen by God to proclaim the Good News to “whosoever will.” You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. –John 15:16.

Jesus knew many were ready. “Ripe” to believe in Him, in the Good News of the radical Gospel of repentance and salvation He preached. From then on Jesus began to preach, “Repent of your sins and turn to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near.” –Matthew 4:17. The problem, if it can be called that, is that there was only one of Him. Only One who could deliver, save, heal and set free. One God-man standing amidst a sea of need.

Within Matthew, Chapter Nine, we read that Jesus healed a man who, some say, had been paralyzed since birth. Jesus also raised a young girl from the dead. Then, He called a new disciple. He restored the sight of not one but two blind men. Jesus healed a woman who, the Bible tells us, had been bleeding for twelve years. And immediately following all of this, and knowing the work ahead, the sheer number of those that will come to believe in Him as a result of the miracles He has and will do. Jesus knows the time is at hand for more “harvesters”  to be deployed. Those He will call, just as He did these disciples, to join them in their labors. And so, Jesus instructs His disciples to pray for those who are coming. Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest is [indeed] plentiful, but the workers are few. So pray to the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest.” –Matthew 9:37-38.

I tell you the truth, anyone who believes in me will do the same works I have done, and even greater works, because I am going to be with the Father. –John 14:12. Jesus is not suggesting that anyone He had or, by the power of the Holy Spirit, will call to Himself, ever could or will “outdo what He has done.” No. When Jesus spoke these words, He was speaking of sheer numbers. Quantity, not quality.

In His Sovereignty, God knew there would be an ever-greater need for those who would do what He was doing—had come to do. The will of His Father. To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord to the captive—setting people free. The Spirit of the Lord is on Me, because He has anointed Me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor. –Luke 4:18-19.

Today, Beloved, we are blessed to have been chosen by God to do just that. Join Jesus in doing the will of our Father by proclaiming the acceptable year of the Lord to the captive.

We get to spread the Good News of salvation worldwide with the click of our mouse. Via a single podcast or television program. Modern technology enables us to reach more people with the Gospel daily than perhaps Jesus did in His three-year earthly ministry. And, while some today, by the power of the Holy Spirit, have been given the power and authority to heal the sick, cast out demons, lay hands on, and deliver a soul from oppressive spirits, not everyone who professes to be a believer will do any of one these. There are spiritual seasons. Seasons of grace in which the Holy Spirit moves in power according to the will of the Father.

God chooses to use us according to His will—think Jesus’s mother, Mary, here. Or Moses, Noah, David, and the Apostle Paul. Or that one God used just today to lay hands on that soul bound by addiction one moment and was freed the next.

The Apostles had power bestowed upon them by the Holy Spirit per the season for which they’d been called. Remember, the Church was nascent. And God was moving differently than He did say, in David’s day or ours. Now that is not to say we will not or cannot experience such an anointing or outpouring in our time—that is for God alone to decide. We must watch and wait and be ready should it happen.

Yet even if it should, we will never outdo the One who created and endowed us with His power and authority.

Beloved, only God knows when He will send my Lord to bring us Home, ushering in then, the great and final harvest, the end of this age. How blessed are we to have been chosen to be a part of it at all! An answer to prayer? When Jesus and His disciples prayed to the Father for workers. They weren’t just praying for the one who showed up after the amen; they were also praying for us. That God would send us out to gather in those He had sealed in Christ Jesus from before the foundation of the world—so that not one soul be missed. God has made us what we are, and in our union with Christ Jesus he has created us for a life of good deeds, which he has already prepared for us to do. –Ephesians 2:10.

 And so, Beloved, when Jesus returns, may He find us doing the will of our Father.

Dear friend, if you’ve read this far and what you’ve read makes no sense to you, please, take a moment, and ask Jesus to reveal its Truth to you. Invite Him into your life as Lord, repenting of your sins, and ask Him to give you new hope, new sight, a new life in Him! We don’t know when Jesus will return, only that He will. Please, be found ready when He does. “Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Now five of them were wise, and five were foolish. Those who were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them, but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. But while the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept. “And at midnight a cry was heard: ‘Behold, the bridegroom is coming; go out to meet him!’ Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ But the wise answered, saying, ‘No, lest there should not be enough for us and you; but go rather to those who sell, and buy for yourselves.’ And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding; and the door was shut. “Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open to us!’ But he answered and said, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, I do not know you.’ “Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming. –Matthew 25:1-13.

The Invite.

January 21, 2023 /
Matthew Botelho

“Come to the banquet!” dropped in my spirit Sunday during corporate worship. As the worship team played, a stillness came over the congregation when the Word came forth through a dear sister, “Be filled with His Word. Be hungry for the Word!” As those words were spoken with authority, I heard the Spirit say, “Come to the banquet! The invitations have been sent!”

It is so amazing how our Lord will speak in part through one person. Then another will say the same Truth, confirmation that the same spirit is flowing through both. For we each know in part, and we prophesy in part. But God is the God of order, and we are one Body.

My dear brothers and sisters, new friends, I pray this teaching speaks to you.

God is calling you, calling us all—deeper in this season. There are settings at His banquet table not yet seen and foods not yet tasted. Heavenly delicacies of favor and blessings. For His word is rich and filling. Crave the daily bread that is placed on the altar! The invitations have been sent out. The question is, will you accept it?

As the Lord spoke this to me, He led me to Matthew 22, The Parable of The Wedding Feast. Jesus is teaching the people what the kingdom of God is like. Now, if you don’t know what a parable is, that’s ok. Neither did I at the beginning of my walk. We are all at various stages in our walk with Jesus. A parable is a simple story that illustrates a moral or spiritual lesson. The people Jesus was teaching were babes in the faith, exactly how you and I started. Yet He met them where they were.

In Matthew 22: 1-3, Jesus teaches, “The kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who arranged a marriage for his son, and sent out his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding, and they were not willing to come.”

God has arranged a marriage for His Son. The people of Israel are His chosen people. The nation is the bride, and Jesus is the Groom.

Jesus’ disciples delivered the invitations, proclaiming that the kingdom of God had come! Some accepted and received the Good News. However, other people didn’t want to accept the Truth, even though miracles were being performed before their eyes! Many that were sick and possessed by demons were being healed and delivered! How could they not see this as Truth? That Jesus is the Christ, our Savior! Jesus gives us the answer in Matthew 13:15, ‘For the hearts of this people have grown dull. Their ears are hard of hearing, and their eyes they have closed, Lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, so that I should heal them.”

You are invited to this amazing, glorious wedding feast. A seat has been set for you at the table, yet you decide to remain where you are. Why friend?! What is taking such priority in your life that if the King, and I am talking about King Jesus, has personally invited you to come and sit with Him and enjoy the wedding banquet, where you will receive salvation, righteousness, peace, unspeakable joy. Why would you even think of saying no to that?! Still, God, who is rich in mercy, gives us a second chance by inviting us again.

As we read in the following few scriptures, we will see that man has not changed in the past 2,000 years.

God is calling His church back to Him. The Church is His Bride, and His Son, Jesus, is the Bride Groom. He has given humanity a second chance through repentance and salvation. Do you know that God will keep calling you until you answer and that not answering is an answer? God is calling you right now! Oh, how I pray that your answer is “yes, Lord. I receive you.”

Jesus says in John 14:23, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to Him and make Our home with him.” My brothers and sisters, friends, Jesus wants to be in a relationship with you. And a relationship requires love.

Matthew 22:4 “Again, he sent out other servants, saying, “Tell those who are invited, “See, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and my fatted cattle are killed, and all things are ready. Come to the wedding.”

It is a big deal when God repeats something within the same chapter of scripture. Notice that He sent His servants out not once but twice. All things are ready! The menu has been prepared, and it looks like a giant BBQ is being served. God has spared no expense. All you need to do is accept the invitation and say yes. It sounds so simple, and yet we complicate things. “Sorry I cannot attend, I must………” (insert your reason here). “But they made light of it and went their ways, one to his own farm, another to his business.”—Matthew 22:5.

We make time in our daily lives for what’s important to us, our priorities, whether our jobs or hobbies. But is Jesus Lord over our priorities—not one of them, but Lord over them? Do we set aside time out of our day for Jesus? Let us ask this question: how often are we picking up our Bibles? What about Facebook? Are you being fed by what is happening in the world, in friends’ and strangers’ lives? Or are you being fed by the Word of God?

My brothers and sisters, friends, I am guilty of this too. Holy Spirit has convicted me. I am no better than those I’m posing these questions to. We all fall short. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”—Romans 3:23.

My point, my friends, is that we need to refocus and realign ourselves to God’s will and His Word. Allow Holy Spirit to minister to you. And do not harden your hearts if you hear His voice. And as we end our time together this week, I pray that this teaching, more God’s inerrant Word, has stirred something deep within you. God willing, I will be back again soon to continue the next part of this teaching.

Dear friends, the things of this world are failing, and the days grow darker.

But God has invited you to come to His wedding feast. Jesus has come into the world as a Redeeming Light. He is both the invitation and the only way to salvation. Come to the banquet and be satisfied. Ask Jesus to come into your heart and repent of your sins. He is faithful to forgive. Amen. “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.” –Romans 10:9-10.

Reset, Refocus.

January 14, 2023 /
Kendra Santilli

Entering a new year always comes with “the thrill of hope!” Yes! Just like in the Christmas carol.

It is only fitting as we just came out of the season of rejoicing in the advent of Jesus Christ and all that comes with it: joy, peace, love, and hope. The spirit of the season leaves us ripe with the hope of a fresh start. I mean, the natural succession of the Christmas season is the anticipation of new beginnings. They’re what Jesus came to do, after all. He came to give us a new name, a new start. He came to rewrite humanity’s story so that we could, once again, have a relationship with our Creator God, finally free from the spiritual bondage of sin.

At the beginning of every year, our church prepares for corporate fasting and prayer like many other churches worldwide. I felt at a standstill this time as I approached the fast, praying and searching for direction on what to pray. I felt the Spirit of God whisper to my heart, “get to know me.” It was a call to focus, once again, on Jesus. It was the gentle hand of the Father turning my head back toward Himself, knowing that I have all that I could ever need with Him.

If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. – Colossians 3:1-4

Following Jesus is the furthest thing from a passive lifestyle. It is an active choice to live by faith in Jesus. Not only for our spiritual freedom but also for the freedom of others.

Yet somehow, it is easy to get comfortable with our freedom. We slip into autopilot when we realize that what we have feels good. The result is a slow leak of faith. We move from seeking God’s heart to fitting His heart into our agendas. We become so consumed with the cares of this life- work, school, home life, family, volunteer work- that we forget to leave space for the One who is the very source of that life. Even when we are doing things for Him, our God-given purpose can turn our worship and affection toward our “calling” or “purpose” rather than God Himself.

As a believer, do you worship, worship, or worship the One you should be worshipping? For the one who is searching. Do you worship your accomplishments, or have you encountered the One who gifted you with those things?

 Throughout the Bible, a consistent re-invitation is offered to find fulfillment by following the Lord. Still, as human nature has it, we revert to our comfortable rhythms and patterns. Yet one of the very defining characteristics of a believer is the death to self. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, and see, the new has come! — 2 Corinthians 5:17

 But instead of living with eyes of faith that come with new life in Christ, we keep wearing blinders of complacency—doing what makes sense to our minds without ever considering His plan.

 Keeping our minds consumed with the things on earth shifts our hearts from heaven-focused to self-focused. Set your minds on things that are above. This is a daily discipline. How often do you think about the things of Heaven? Does God enter your thoughts regularly, or is He only considered after everything has taken place in your day, week, or month? Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. —Romans 12:2.

We renew our minds by meditating on the Word of God and by checking our thoughts regularly. Yet reading and remembering are two different things. We must read and digest, digest and remember, remember and meditate. That is the practice of mindfulness. It is living on purpose, not passively. This year, would you join me in resetting your focus on Jesus? Let us turn our gaze from trivial things that rob us of our affection for Jesus and shift our focus back to Him! As we do, He refines us, making us new over and over again. This year, I invite you to find your renewed identity and purpose as you seek the Lord.

If you don’t know Jesus, ask Him to reveal Himself to you. He will renew your innermost being as you surrender your life to Him.

All In God’s Timing.

January 7, 2023 /
MaryEllen Montville

In God’s timing, Majesty was born in a manger. Jesus’s Divinity, hidden behind milk rags, revealed now, Emmanuel, God with us. The Pure and Perfect Light of God’s Bright Morning Star has pierced men’s hearts – “I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify to you about these things for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star.” –Revelation 22:16.

It was God the shepherds beheld, lying in His manger.

A revelation so overwhelming and weighty it created a chasm in their hearts, life-altering. The old seeped away from them as they glanced upon a reality too great for their finite minds to take in fully; Living water was poured in its place, filling them afresh—old things made new! “Do not be afraid!” That’s what the angel Gabriel spoke to those shepherds while they stood in the field—bewildered, transfixed. Wise counsel when you think how an ordinary man might respond when a messenger of the Lord is sent to him with a Word from God. Awe and holy fear—reverence, cementing their feet to the very earth on which they stood.

The Prophet Isaiah describes a similar moment. He once beheld the Bright Morning Star dawning in his own heart while angels at the ready surrounded the Living God. Not in a manger, but in heaven. Isaiah saw God seated on His Throne. And he plainly details the flood of awe and reverence, the overwhelming emotions which overtook him as he beheld the Lord of All Creation, the Great I Am, Majesty, seated on High. “Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty. –Isaiah 6:5.

The shepherds keeping watch in the fields on the night Christ was born likely experienced comparable emotions. Holy awe and revelation running hand-in-hand through their hearts and minds when the angel Gabriel suddenly appeared to them from behind the night’s black curtain—brilliant, white light! And on his heels, a whole host of equally bright angels singing, Glory to God on high!

Shepherds, a man with a promise, and God’s divine timing. In other circles, this could be the opening line of a not-so-funny joke, but spoken here, it’s anything but. Instead, the shepherds and the man with a promise are recipients—central characters in today’s teaching.

If you open your Bible or bible app to the Gospel of Luke, Chapter Two, it will be far easier for you to follow their story. A story of revelation, of a long-awaited promise, fulfilled each in God’s perfect timing. A story stitched together with watchfulness, obedience, patience, and faithfulness – being at the right place at the right time.

What man calls coincidence are actual circumstances or details determined by God in eternity past being revealed now, in time as we understand it. Moments and events stitched together seamlessly, some needed piece of God’s way too big plan for our lives showing up just as God Himself does—right on time.

That’s how it was with the shepherds in the field the night God’s star appeared.

Those shepherds who tended the sheep and lambs used as living sacrifices and offered up for the people’s sins—the revelation from Gabriel, their having witnessed God’s Spotless Lamb as He lay wrapped in His manger, each, no coincidence. Each determined in eternity past, evidencing itself at the precise moment in time God had intended. And while these lowliest of men were tending these sheep, suddenly, that night sky was torn asunder, and a blazing heavenly light shone around them—the glory of the Lord arrested them. They would never be the same again. Sure, they may have remained lowly shepherds their whole lives, but now, because of this divine revelation. Because of this Babe, they’d leave their livelihoods behind to chase after something so much more valuable than sheep.

Now, in addition to whatever else they may have done or become, they’d spend their lives under the watchful care of the Great Shepherd Himself—Jesus, the Christ.

The shepherds are behind us now, their story told. Next in line is the man with a promise. His name, Simeon. Scripture gives us no historical details concerning Simeon—not his tribe, age, vocation, or marital status. But it does plainly inform us that the Holy Spirit led Simeon to the temple courts on the exact day of Jesus’s circumcision—just in time to see the Babe in the arms of His mother as she and her husband were leaving the temple. The simple fact that the Holy Spirit led Simeon there tells us that Simeon had a close relationship with God. He’d been watching, waiting, looking out for, desiring the arrival of Israel’s Messiah. We would do well to follow Simeon’s lead—watching, anticipating, longing for Jesus to return.

That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left. “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come.” –Matthew 24:40-42.

Scripture also tells us that Simeon was a righteous and devout man. He longed for the Lord, and he lived to please him. And God promised him he would not die before he saw—laid eyes on “the consolation of Israel” –its long-awaited Messiah. Scripture also suggests that Simeon was an old man when he’d finally laid eyes on Jesus, Mary, and Joseph—indicating that Simeon had been watching and waiting for most, if not all, of his life for his Messiah. So again, we would be wise to follow Simeon’s example of faithfulness, perseverance, patient endurance, and watchfulness. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. –Galatians 6:9.

And as far as we know, Simeon didn’t live long enough to hear Jesus speak prophetically of His second coming. Still, the Lord had fulfilled the promise He’d made Simeon. God ensured he was among the privileged few who, at Jesus’ first coming, recognized Him as Israel’s long-awaited Messiah. Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts. When the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the Law required, Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying: “Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you may now dismiss your servant in peace. For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all nations: a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of your people Israel.” –Luke 2:27-32.

Not only did Simeon hear from the Lord more, Simeon was compliant with His leading. Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple court. Many Christians profess to hear from the Lord. God has given them a specific Word or promise, yet if it does not happen within a particular time frame—theirs, not God’s, unlike Simeon, they give up on it. Tarrying, watching, waiting, believing God despite the wait—taking God at His Word—trusting Him, regardless. Simeon did this. So did David, Joseph, Mary, Moses, and Abraham. Paul and Peter as well. How about you, friend? How long will you watch and wait for the Lord?

Before I close, in addition to all Simeon’s faithfulness teaches us, I would be remiss if I did not highlight his unwavering obedience. Simeon trusted God, taking Him at His Word. He believed he’d see the Messiah in the land of the living—just as God promised. Coupled with his obedience, Simeon was also sensitive to the move of the Holy Spirit. Thus, he was in the right place at the exact time he needed to be to experience the fulfillment of the promise God had made him—Simeon did see Jesus, the Messiah, more; he held Jesus in his arms.

A promise fulfilled in God’s timing, one that originated in eternity past. What man calls coincidence are actual circumstances or details determined by God in eternity past being revealed now, in time as we understand it. Moments and events stitched together seamlessly, some needed piece of God’s way too big plan for our lives showing up just as God Himself does—right on time.

Dear friend, this Truth applies to you as well. It’s no coincidence you’re here. It’s been ordained by God, mind-blowing, right? Still, it’s true. Perhaps you’ve been questioning God? Whether He’s real? Does He hear you, know or care about you? Yes, yes, yes, and absolutely! God loves you. So much that He sent Jesus, that Babe in the manger, the One the shepherds worshiped, the One Simeon waited and prayed for, the same Jesus who will return, soon and very soon. But will you be ready when He does? Have you invited Jesus into your life as Lord? I promise if you do and you mean it, He’ll come. God always keeps His promises—Simeon is living proof. And so am I.

Those I love, I rebuke and discipline. Therefore be earnest and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in and dine with him, and he with Me. –Revelation 3:20.

But That’s Impossible.

December 31, 2022 /
MaryEllen Montville

Mary asked the angel, “But how can this happen? I am a virgin. –Luke 1:35.

Christmas has passed. And as we prepare to walk into 2023, many of us will do so with expectations, doubts, with wondering. “What will this year bring? Will I have peace? Will my faith grow stronger, my service to God more steadfast? Will I lay aside, even for a season, what I know God is telling me to step away from, that I might pick up, make room for, what He’s calling me to take up? My obedience in exchange for my comfort—the familiar, the rote. The good even.

Many of us will come face to face with the seemingly impossible in this new season.

We’ll find ourselves asking the same question Mary asked. “How, Lord?” You know God is leading you in a new direction, asking something of you He’s not yet fully disclosed—and may never. And you know that only by faith and reliance on Jesus, trusting the leading and guidance of His Holy Spirit, will what God is asking of you be accomplished. So turn away from rebellion, put on discipline, and allow God to cut away the fat from around your heart—hardening it. Whatever the state you find yourself in these final hours of 2022, Beloved, repent if sin is present. Refocus, and follow hard after Jesus. Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.” –Isaiah 30:21.

The Holy Spirit has already brought some of you face-to-face with your Mary moment, whether good or seemingly bad. Your reading this is confirmation. As with Mary, the only question remaining is how you’ll respond to what you’ve been told. Will it be with a simple, humble, heartfelt, “Thy Will be done,” or will you proffer a litany of reasons why whatever God has or will ask of you is impossible? “How can this be, Lord? I don’t have the education, know-how, resources, the connections. I’m not gifted in that area. I haven’t the intelligence. I’m single, financially challenged, I can’t have children.”

Take heart, Beloved. You are not alone in your questioning. Others have also questioned how it is God accomplishes the seemingly impossible.

And as only God could arrange it, their question was directly connected to a seemingly impossible birth, the re-birth of man. His salvation. Being born again. That instantaneous regeneration occurring the very second Holy Spirit comes and makes His home in the life of the one God has called out of darkness into His glorious Light. Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.” –Mark 10:27.

Brother, sister, as surely as God unconcealed His will and plan to Mary and His disciple, He’ll do the same with you—in His own time and timing. Still, as it was with them, so too with us; God does not need to comply with our desire to know the ABCs of a thing before He brings it about. We must trust Him. Exercise faith in Him—in His Word—just as Mary and the disciples did. We must believe and have faith that whatever it is, God is birthing, salvation, a new ministry, marriage, a move, a book, or business, you having a child. However seemingly impossible, the thing may appear. If it is truly from God, He will bring it about. Hebrews 11:6 says this: And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who approaches Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him.

So how will you respond to the Holy Spirit when He presents you with your “how will I ever take on such an undertaking” moment?

Mary asked, “How can this be” because she’d never known a man. Yet, for many of us, this same question will be asked in moments steeped in a lack of faith or fear of man, from coming face-to-face with our finite limitations or paralyzing unbelief. We will forget that the One who has overshadowed us, just as He did Mary—is calling into being that which has been in our belly from eternity past. Like so many before us, we’ll temporarily forget that the Sovereign Creator of this world is Omnipotent—He spoke, and it was finished. The world in a seed—perpetual. An orchard inside an apple—complete. We’ll fail to realize God is doing little more than manifesting an already-finished piece of His plan for our lives, some seed. That life-giving piece of the puzzle needed to make us complete in Christ Jesus is being birthed—bringing God glory. Through Him all things were made, and without Him nothing was made that has been made. –John1:3.

How will you respond in your Mary moment, Beloved? Will you display belief and humility, knowing anything is possible with God, or question the same plans and purposes God Himself implanted within you, seed-like, in eternity past? In essence, saying there’s no way. Just look at me! That’s impossible!

We’re in a new season of, no, a new era of birthing.

Holy Spirit is about to overshadow many who are reading this—and some who are not—pulling from their depths the seemingly impossible. Those seeds, gifts, talents, ministries, marriages, a new level of boldness, and hunger for the things of God. It’s already begun. If you still yourself before the Lord, you may already feel the tiny flutters, the shifting of sorts that has already taken place within you—making room for the new—stretching you, making you Holy uncomfortable. I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say, ‘My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please.’ –Isaiah 46:10.

You innately know this thing that’s about to happen—is happening, is going to cause you great discomfort, disrupting your status quo Christian walk in ways you would not have imagined just one short month ago. Welcome to the Mary club. The Apostles Peter, James, John, Paul, and even Gideon were members of the Mary club. The question walking into 2023 is, are you? Then Mary said: “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. Let it be done to me according to your word.” –Luke 1:38.

Friend, I can think of no more perfect way to ensure that you, like Mary, are open and welcoming of all that God has for you in 2023 and beyond than by asking God’s Son, Jesus, into your heart as your Lord and Savior. God has done His part. John 3:16 assures us of that. For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. And Mary did her part in partnering with God, scary as it may have been, by saying yes to God’s plan for her life. Won’t you ask Jesus into your heart today, now? Won’t you partner with God, allowing Him to birth all He has for you beginning in 2023?

The Promise Of Christmas

December 24, 2022 /
Maria Braga

Way back in (Genesis 3:15,) we learn the origin of God’s promise. I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel. At the fall of Adam and Eve, God announced the need for a Savior. Being Omniscient, God knew that a Deliverer was the only way to redeem humanity, a perfect Lamb, Jesus, His only begotten Son. For to us, a child is born, to us a Son is given, and the government will be on His shoulders. And He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. –Isaiah 9:6.

Therefore, the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel. Isaiah 7:14.

Isaiah wrote of the promise of a coming King the Israelites would know of hundreds of years before that promise came to pass. For centuries, there was anticipation among the people of God. They were looking for the royal arrival of this great King, the Son of God. Everyone imagined and expected Him to be much like the kings they had known. A powerful and possessive ruler, not a lowly baby found in a manger. 

Everyone knew that some young Israelite virgin would deliver the world’s Savior. I can only imagine living during that time! The questions, the anticipation, and even the competition among these young girls wondering who is the chosen one! Who will deliver this King? Is it me? Mary was a young Jewish girl. Many scholars believe she was around fifteen years old. She was not formally educated but most likely well-instructed in the Torah (the first five books of the Bible.) Her parents, grandparents, and family who attended the Synagogue had likely taught her the Scriptures. They all almost certainly followed the religious laws of that day. Every Jewish girl knew about the prophecies. They knew the books of the law, the Pentateuch.

History tells us that Mary lived a simple life in a small home with no running water, toilets, heat, electricity, or any of the modern-day conveniences we have today. She lived an everyday life as all the other girls her age. 

God had already given His promise, the stage was set, and the time came for the significant historical event. The people of Israel awaited a triumphant king on a mighty horse. A king who possessed all the trappings of royalty. But God had a different plan. He chose to do it another way. And so, He sent the angel to deliver the message to Mary.

The angel Gabriel shows up and speaks to Mary, a young girl who had never known a man. The angel came to her and said; You are honored very much. You are a favored woman. The Lord is with you. *You are chosen from among many women. When she saw the angel, she was troubled by his words. She thought about what had been said. The angel said to her; Mary, do not be afraid. You have found favor with God. See, you are to become a mother and have a Son. You are to give Him the name Jesus. He will be great. He will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give Him the place where His early Father David sat. 33 He will be King over the family of Jacob forever and His nation will have no end. Mary said to the angel, How will this happen? I have never had a man. The angel said to her, The Holy Spirit will come on you. The power of the Most High will cover you. The holy Child you give birth to will be called the Son of God. –Luke 1: 28-35.

Mary’s response is phenomenal! She didn’t run, and she didn’t pass out before this powerful being. She was filled with faith, a little troubled sure, but without fright. She stood tall before the angel and took in the message the angel had brought her from God. Her servant’s heart amazes me! How will this happen? I have never had a man. Could this pivotal moment have been the very second Mary conceived? As the angel spoke the Word, did the Word instantly become flesh inside her womb? Mary’s faith moved heaven and earth when she said: Let it be done unto me according to your will.Luke 1:38 Behold the handmaid of the Lord; let it be it unto me according to thy Word. And the angel departed from her.

Mary was blessed among women, chosen, and filled with faith.

Mary lived a life that was pleasing to God. She focused on God’s promise when the battle began to rage around her. Those days were not easy for a woman. Her culture did not accept this kind of situation. It was considered disgraceful. And a young unmarried girl or woman in this condition would be stoned to death. Mary knew all about the troubles that lay before her. She knew her culture well! So Mary decided to visit her older cousin Elizabeth who was six months pregnant with John the Baptist! Upon her arrival at Elizabeth’s house, Mary greeted her cousin, and the baby leaped inside Elizabeth’s womb.

Perhaps, this was the first praise service!

Elizabeth blessed her cousin, saying, You are blessed because you believed that the Lord would do what He said He’d do. – Luke 1:45.

What an example for us to follow. As believers, we live assured that God will do what He promises. He never changes. When we face the impossible, like Mary, we might ask, “How can this happen?” But like Mary, we must believe, and trust that God is still fulfilling His promises. We must remember that what is impossible for man is possible for God. Mary was chosen to fulfill a promise given some 4000 years prior. We, too, must ready ourselves to have our faith stretched big enough to believe and trust the One who never fails to complete what He begins!

You and I are still chosen today to accomplish whatever God calls us to do.

Mary faced separate groups of people in her process. Some totally missed Jesus, like the innkeeper. Because of the census, business was booming. So he had no room for the King of kings to be born in his inn. Another was Herod, who represented King and government, and the others were the high priests of the day, meaning the religious sect. 

Mary also experienced the love, warmth, and care of other groups, like, the shepherds and the Maggi. There were also the animals, who kept them warm! Jesus, the Promised One, arrived unexpectedly because His ways are not like ours. From the beginning, God planned to save His creation, all humanity! The purpose of the coming of Jesus is to open the Way back into a right relationship with the Father. Everyone who receives Jesus as Lord and Savior become a child of God.

Becoming a new creation is called the miracle of salvation. 

The Promise of salvation born at Christmas is for every person living on the face of the earth. Mary clearly shows us how to have this kind of faith. She demonstrates servanthood. “Here I am. May it be done unto me according to your will.” 

This is a spiritual concept. The Holy Spirit comes into us upon receiving salvation, living within, and He begins to change us. We experience the fruit of the Holy Spirit and begin to understand spiritual things and grow and serve as Mary did. We must believe and trust what God says He will do!

If you have not asked Jesus to become your Lord and Savior, what better time than now, at Christmas? Please pray this simple prayer with a sincere heart, and you will be saved. “Father, in the name of Jesus, fill my heart. Change me and make me new. I repent of my sins; forgive me. Guide me in this new way of life and surround me with a spiritual family that will help me grow and advance in my new spiritual walk. In the name of Jesus, amen.

” 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. –Romans 10:9-10.

Greater Love.

December 17, 2022 /
Matthew Botelho

Love consists in this: not that we loved God, but He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Dear friends, if God loved us in this way, we must love one another. –1 John 4:10-11.

Hello to all my dear brothers and sisters, and Merry Christmas to you! May our Lord bless you for taking the time to read what He has given me to share. This is the season of joy and peace on earth. It is the season God sent the Greatest Gift of all to show His love for us; Jesus, His only Son.

Yet humanity is slowly declining in the love department. Especially in the whole, love thy brother.

Those who run around with a me-first mentality can bring us down, discourage us, and, if we’re not guarding our hearts, potentially sow seeds that will spring up into a mindset of, what’s the point? And that’s not to mention how much division is happening in this great country. Everyone has an opinion. And everyone wants to be heard.

I wonder if the disciples thought about these things during their ministry.

Why? Because there is nothing hidden that will not be uncovered, my friends. Jesus knew then, as He knows now, what was in men’s hearts. That is why as Blood-Bought believers, we must adhere to the new command our Lord Jesus gave us. It is not a mere suggestion. It is a command from our King. I give you a new command: Love one another. Just as I have loved you, you must also love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another. –John 13:34-35.

My brothers and sisters, there is still hope in all you see happening around you. The darkness shall not prevail because some two-thousand years ago, God did something beyond amazing! He gave this world the ultimate sign of His love. He sent His Son to die for our sins once and for all! Let’s read this together in one voice, my dear family! For God loved the world in this way: He gave His One and only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.—John 3:16.

Ok, so language, or specific words, catch my attention when I read different versions of the Bible.

Maybe it’s that way for some of you armchair theologians as well. For instance, in the King James Version of the Bible, John 3:16 uses “whosoever believes” rather than “everyone who believes,” as written in the New Living Translation. And though everyone and whosoever means the same thing (anyone who places their faith in Jesus will be saved), there is something about the word whosoever that catches me whenever I read it. For me, “whosoever” is enormous. It’s significant. It’s so substantial; it encompasses everyone. Whosoever means no one person’s sin is too big for God to forgive.

So whosoever is for the addict still stuck in their addiction. The prostitute, murderer, gang member, that person who thinks their sins are so great God could never forgive, nevermind love them. Whosoever speaks to the one who believes Jesus can only love those nice church people, but not someone like me. Maybe whosoever resonates with me because I was once whosoever before I fell in love with Jesus.

Are you whosoever, friend? If you are, Jesus does love you, died for you. Just as He did for everyone else, but you must believe He is who He says He is—that’s your part. That’s the part everyone who says Jesus is Lord must believe. So have you asked Jesus to be Lord over your life? Have you let Him into your heart?

Let’s look at John 3 a little closer. It says, “so that everyone or whosoever believes in Him.” Belief is key. If you do not believe in Jesus, that He is who He says He is, then your name is not written in the Lamb’s Book of Life. It takes a confession of faith and repentance of your sins to go from Whosoever to saved. I believe many miss this Truth.

God loves the world so much that He made a plan to save fallen man. A Way to save whosoever will accept Him. And the key that opens God’s plan is Jesus. Salvation is in Jesus alone. Jesus’s sacrificial Blood was always part of God’s plan. A plan first seen in the Garden of Eden—right under the enemy’s nose. Satan thought he had corrupted God’s ultimate design, but our God had a plan. The Lord God made clothing out of skins for Adam and his wife, and He clothed them. –Genesis 1:21.

Now the skins God used to cover Adam and Eve are known as a type and shadow, which means we first catch a glimpse of Jesus and God’s plan of salvation in the Garden of Eden. Innocent blood shed to cover the guilty. How uncomfortable and undeserving we feel when we sin. Adam and Eve must have felt the same way, so they tried to cover up their mess with fig leaves. But they failed, as we all do when we take things into our own hands.

Can you think of times you’ve attempted to cover over your sins?

God knew what they had done, so He asked Adam a question. “Where are you?” –Genesis 3:9. My brothers and sisters, this is a selah moment! A time to pause here and reflect. Holy Spirit is asking that you take this opportunity to ask yourselves this same question. “Where are you?”

Moving on now…

In the Garden of Eden, God made coverings for Adam and Eve from some of His creations. Scripture does not say what type of animals were slain to cover them, but we know that Jesus is the Lamb that was slain for the sins of the world. So, could it have been lambs that were slain to cover Adam and Eve? We’ll find out someday. I raise this question because John’s gospel records the day John the Baptist sees Jesus walking towards him. He proclaims Him to be the Lamb of God who’s come to take away the sins of the world (John 1:29-31). And in Genesis 4:6, Adam and Eve’s son, Abel, presents a sacrifice of the firstborn lamb from his flock. The Lord had regard for Abel and his offering. Had God remembered His act of slaying an innocent back in the garden to cover those who had sinned?

According to the law of Moses, almost everything is purified with blood. And without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sin. Throughout the Old Testament, an animal had to die. It’s blood shed for man’s sin to be covered. But the blood of these animals was only a temporary solution. Their blood could not fix man’s sin problem, and sin, my dear brothers and sisters, is death for us. God removes His presence where sin abounds because He cannot dwell where sin lives. God is Holy, forever (Hebrews 9:2). The Blood of Jesus is pure and undefiled because God is Holy, and His Blood is Holy. It’s what washes away our sins. The Blood of Jesus is not a covering for our sins; coverings will be removed. The Blood of Jesus washes away all our sins. Come let us discuss this, says the Lord. Though your sins are like scarlet, they will be as white as snow; though they are as red as crimson, they will be like wool. –Isaiah 1:18.

Jesus has come as Light into a dark world. Whosoever receives Jesus as Lord is saved. God has come in the flesh. Emmanuel, God with us. He died in our place—a sacrifice for our sins, foreshadowing what God did in the Garden of Eden. As we end this teaching, brothers and sisters, be reminded of the Greatest Gift God has given us, His only Son, Jesus. Salvation is found in none other. We caught of peek at God’s plan for man’s redemption in the garden, but in Jesus, God’s plan was fulfilled. Jesus is the gift we do not deserve.

My dear friends, scripture tells us today is the day of salvation! So if you are reading about Jesus for the first time and feel some stirring inside of you. Let today be the day you say yes to Jesus and make Him Lord over your life. Turn away from your sins and ask Jesus to come into your heart. Be washed clean of your sins by His precious blood. Let today be the day of new beginnings in our Lord Jesus. Amen. If you confess with your mouth, Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. One believes with the heart, resulting in righteousness, and one confesses with the mouth, resulting in salvation. –Romans 10:9-10.

He Will Prove Himself

December 10, 2022 /
Kendra Santilli

With the faithful you prove yourself faithful, with the blameless you prove yourself blameless, with the pure you prove yourself pure, but with the crooked you prove yourself shrewd. For you rescue an oppressed people, but you humble those with haughty eyes.–Psalms 18:25-27

How you perceive God is a direct reflection of the position of your heart.

The heart that is in the position of hating God or believing that He doesn’t exist is the heart that has never met Him. If only they knew how good He is, how kind He is, how faithful He is. If only they knew Him as I do: Rescuer, Healer, Restorer, and Friend. He is always faithful to meet me in my need, but when I am not in need, it is easy to allow my heart to slip into the mode of thinking that convinces me that I can make it on my own. I forget His faithfulness to me when I don’t remain faithful to Him. I can easily forget that God’s ways are good and blameless if my eyes are fixed on the world’s injustices, but when I shift my gaze toward Him again, I see Jesus in His light, for who He is. As I draw near to Him, He draws near to me (James 4:8).

His presence is made known to the heart that needs Him. He is so near to the broken-hearted and the oppressed. He can’t resist responding to a sincere cry for help because He’s that good. Conversely, there is the heart that believes they don’t need help. To this person, there’s never a sincere cry for help, preventing a sincere experience of His intervention. The pride of life and one’s own achievements can blind a person to their need for the Lord and His mercy. This pride boasts of self-sufficiency, convincing a person that they can do everything independently. It views God through the critical lens of self-righteousness. It makes the heart doubt the goodness of God and His faithfulness, taking matters into its own hands without realizing that His ways are better than ours. It fails to remember His goodness. In turn, these people can’t see through God’s perspective. These people perceive God as shrewd because of the pride that has kept their hearts closed to knowing Him as faithful, blameless, and pure. I, the Lord, examine the mind, I test the heart to give to each according to his way, according to what his actions deserve. –Jeremiah 17:10.

So he will repay according to their deeds: fury to his enemies, retribution to his foes, and he will repay the coasts and islands. – Isaiah 59:18. The truth is the God of the Bible is faithful to His faithful ones, and His faithfulness is good. But to His enemies, He is just. What have your actions warranted? This life is our one chance at choosing Jesus. He is drawn to clean hands and a pure heart. It may seem contradictory because if you don’t have a pure heart, how can He be drawn to you? And, if everyone is a sinner, how can there be one pure enough in heart for Him to reciprocate purity? The beauty of our God is that even in your trespasses, He can purify your heart and cleanse your mind if only you would ask! Just realizing that your heart could use cleaning is enough for Him to begin His work within you. He repays all your work according to what you’ve done. I, the Lord, examine the mind, I test the heart to give to each according to his way, according to what his actions deserve. –Jeremiah 17:10. The heart that generously does good by His grace, He repays richly. But to the selfish and prideful of heart, He proves Himself shrewd.

He takes care of His people, and we will see Him faithful, blameless, and pure. But for the tainted heart, He is absent and just. The good news is that for those who come to Him, He does not leave them the same way in which He found them. Jesus is the one who transforms hearts and renews minds. He can take a heart of stone and make it flesh (Ezekiel 36:26).

Today will you examine your heart and let Him into those pieces of you that otherwise feel unchangeable? He wants to make you a new creation, restoring your heart to His original design of fellowship with Him. It is in fellowship with our Creator that we become whole. If you don’t know Jesus, I invite you to ask Him to make your heart of stone, making it into a heart of flesh. Ask Him to help you become faithful to Him, and let Him prove Himself faithful to you in the process. Ask Him to open the eyes of your heart to see Him as blameless and pure, not shrewd. He is waiting.

Don’t Blame The Seed!

December 3, 2022 /
MaryEllen Montville

“A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants” –Matthew 13:3-7.

Three distinct conditions. Three types of soil. Let’s start today’s teaching on the same foot by taking a closer look at three conditions described in the “Parable of the Sower.”

Question? Is it the fault of the seed (God’s inerrant Word) these three soils (various conditions of the heart) don’t produce fruit? Answer. Absolutely not! How can I say this with such authority? Easy, I’m quoting God. It’s by His authority that I speak so boldly. Hear the Word of the Lord: “So is my word that goes out from my mouth: it will not return to me empty but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it” –Isaiah 55:11.

Our inability to produce good fruit can’t be blamed on God.

He has equipped us with the best of everything we’ll ever need to do the work He’s called us to do. To grow deep and sure roots, bearing much fruit—if we stay connected to Him, The Vine, our Source, and strength. Suppose, with humility; we persevere under any condition. In that case, we’ll find ourselves trusting the God we serve, that this “Sower of Good Seed” has a purpose and plan for every state we find ourselves in. “Now may the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, equip you with every good thing to do His will. And may He accomplish in us what is pleasing in His sight through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.” –Hebrews 13:20-21.

Our first step in today’s journey starts with examining the condition of the path. “…some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up.” _Matthew 13:3. Anyone who’s walked on a well-worn footpath through the woods knows its hardened earth can often be as planate as blacktop—made solid by years of wear and the pressure exerted by many sets of feet. Thus, anything falling atop it stays exposed—making it easy pickings for some bird of prey to swoop down and take it away. So too, with the sin-hardened hearts of men who hear the Word of God and reject it. It “falls” on them but does not penetrate their sin-hardened hearts, made so by lack of interest and unbelief—impervious.

Next, we have the rocky place. “Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root.” –Matthew 13:5-6. Some fertile soil is found here, but not much; thus, whatever roots manage to sprout and take hold quickly give way at the first good gust of wind or slashing rain. The soul this seed represents shows interest in the Gospel, they believe—but only so long as conditions are right. At the first sign of pushback, what had begun to take root in their hearts quickly shrivels and dies. Its roots are far too shallow to endure such pressure.

And the last, thorns, these prickly things. Somehow most everything gets snagged on their barbed spikes—distracting, harmful. “Other seeds fell among thorns that grew up and choked out the tender plants.” –Matthew 13:7. These looping spiny tangles cause this tender seed to become smothered. Thorns are exacting. Their suffocating, spiny maze chokes the life out of anything attempting to make its way to the Light. “And the one on whom seed was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the worries and distractions of the world and the deceitfulness [the superficial pleasures and delight] of riches choke the word, and it yields no fruit.” –Matthew 13:22.

Which are you? Are you the path? Sin-hardened and unbelieving. Trusting no one but yourself? Not able to receive correction. Set on doing things your way? If so, I understand. I, too, was once knee-deep in my sin, my life a trainwreck, my thoughts void of God—or my need for Him. But, thankfully, his mercy and choice of us are not based on our behavior, worthiness, or belief in Him. Being Sovereign and our Creator, God gets to enter any life He so chooses, whenever He so chooses, changing it eternally. I pray that you find this out for yourself sooner than later.

Maybe you’re the rocky path instead. You go to church most Sundays, and at least a few days a week, you find yourself reading your Bible. While driving back and forth from work, sometimes in the shower, you pray. You believe there’s a God who hears prayer and answers. Well, He answers most prayers anyway. You’re still not wholly convinced He’s not holding back on you. Perhaps angry over that thing you did, so He’s withholding, not answering all your prayers. If this is you, I can confidently say that many Christians were in your shoes at one time or another. They, too, misbelieved God was mad at them for that thing they had done.

But God is not mad at you. He loves you—unconditionally, madly, deeply, enough to die for you! And here’s a news flash. He loved you while you were doing that thing. Did He like it? Heck no! God can’t abide sin. Never! But you, He loves. So how do you resolve this tension within, this sin issue standing between you and God? You repent. Tell God you’re sorry and really mean it. Press into Him wholeheartedly so that your tiny hair-like roots might grow strong, deep, sustaining you. Lest the first good wind or slashing rain that comes your way take you out, causing you to turn away from God in fear.

And you, child of God, what are you doing among the thorns!? “Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants” –Matthew 13:7. The cares of this world are choking out your faith. Your misdirected, divided attention and loyalty cause you to stray from the narrow path—the straight way. Desiring what you don’t have, you lack contentment with what God has given you. Allowing yourself to be pulled in too many directions, you attempt to please everyone but your audience of One, misguidedly pushing God to the back burner, the last “to do” on today’s list. God comes after everyone else has gotten a piece of you. Scraps are what you offer Him these days, leftovers.

When did you become so consumed with more? How quickly you’ve forgotten that what you currently have was once the very thing you hoped and prayed for. How will you ever grow, thrive, and reach your God-given potential, living choked out? Closed off from seeking God unmolested. How will you get to that green open place beside still waters where the two of you can meet? Where the Vinedresser will cut away everything that has done its best to choke out the Light of His presence.

 But fear not! Take heart, friends. With Jesus, there is always hope! “Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. Whoever has ears, let them hear” Matthew 13:9. I pray the Lord finds us all walking, with determination and passion, along this, His most excellent path. As this teaching makes clear, we have choices. Will we choose to accept Jesus into our hearts or reject Him? This is our great and eternal choice; saying yes to Jesus. Accepting, believing in, receiving salvation from sin, He died to afford us—more the relationship He desires to enter into with us.

So, if you don’t have this relationship, haven’t asked Jesus into your heart as Lord and Savior. There’s no better time than the present. And there’s no set formula, no right or wrong way to do it. Jesus is drawn to the sincere cry of those who’ll acknowledge their need and desire for Him. Just be real with Him. Ask Jesus into your life as Lord and mean it. Admit that you need Him, that you’ve sinned and are genuinely sorry. Then trust what the Scriptures promise you. “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.” –Romans 10:9-10.

Level Up!

November 26, 2022 /
Matthew Botelho

Hello, my dear brothers and sisters. I’m praying that this finds you well and filled with hope in our Lord Jesus. I hope that whatever it is we are crying out for, He hears us. I am also praying that this teaching will come as an encouragement for many. We are coming close to the end of the year. There has been much shifting and sifting in the body of Christ. Holy Spirit is replacing what was good in one season with something greater. With the refining of your faith, room is being made for the new.

 “You are being protected by God’s power through faith for salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last days. You rejoice in this, though now for a short time you have had to struggle in various trials so that the genuineness of your faith-more valuable than gold, which perishes though, refined by fire- may result in praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” –1 Peter 1:5-7.

My brothers and sisters, there is promotion coming for the Body of Christ, for the Body that wants to move forward. Who has an ear inclined to God’s Word. We must not harden our hearts to His voice or instructions. Let us be the Church that comes alive in the Word and Spirit; let there be unification in both, as Christ is not divided.

Dear friends, I am excited about what is taking place! Promotion is coming, or as the title states, the Church is about to Level Up! So many times, I have heard my kids yell that phrase while they play their video games. They get all excited and are blown away by what their character can do and how much stronger they are. This leveling up did not just happen, however. It took hours or even days to make this progress. Have you ever felt like that? You have been in faith, walking it out with our Lord for days. Then those days turn to months. The months to years. “When will this happen for me?” or better yet, “when will it happen for the Church?” Matthew 23:12 (Jesus’ speaking) “Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.”

Our posture should be one of submission to God and His Holy Spirit, for He is the head of the Body, The capital “C” Church. The body that keeps its eyes on Jesus will experience an outpouring from heaven. “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be provided for you.” How can we, as an individual or a Church Body expect anything from God if we don’t seek Him first, more than anything else? Remember, God resists the proud and boastful. Let me remind you of what happened to king Saul. He was given specific instructions on battling the Amalekites, but Saul thought differently. Full of pride, Saul believed he knew better. His presumed knowing better would prove troublesome for Esther and her people later down the road.

“Then the Word of the Lord came to Samuel,” I regret that I made Saul king, for he has turned away from following Me and has not carried out My instructions.” So Samuel became angry and cried out to the Lord all night.” –1 Samuel 15:10-11.

In the same chapter, the prophet Samuel rebukes Saul for not following instructions and delivers a blow to his ego from the One who made him king, God! “Then Samuel said: Does the Lord take pleasure in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the Lord? Look: to obey is better than sacrifice, to pay attention is better than the fat of rams. For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and defiance is like wickedness and idolatry. Because you have rejected the Word of the Lord, He has rejected you as king.” –1 Samuel 15:22-23.

Some of you might be thinking, “we live under grace, not under the law. God is not vengeful towards those who do not obey. He will still love us regardless.” To this, I say yes, absolutely, I agree, but. Yes, God does love you! He loves you WITHOUT A DOUBT! Jesus went to the Cross for you and gave His life so you might have an abundance of life! However, God is the same yesterday, today, and forever! He does not change. “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.” –Hebrews 13:8.

But our lifestyle needs to imitate that of our Lord. The kind of relationship we have with Jesus matters, and commitment and obedience are a large part of that relationship. Like every great marriage, you must work at it equally, 100/100. No marriage will last with 100/50. Where is that other 50 going? Look, my marriage would not work if I saw my wife one or two days out of the week. I am not meeting her needs or committing my time to her. The same with our Lord Jesus. How do we draw closer to our Lord when we only visit Him once or twice a week? He is always there, 100 percent in, but you’re walking in the world. Yet you complain that nothing is happening in your Christian walk. Where is that promotion that I was promised?!

My dear brother and sister, my friends, please, heed this scripture! “Not everyone who says to Me, Lord, Lord! Will enter the Kingdom of heaven, but only the One who does the will of My Father in heaven. On that day many will say to Me, Lord, Lord, didn’t we prophesy in your name, drive out demons in Your name, and do many miracles in Your name? Then I will announce to them, I never knew you! Depart from Me, you lawbreakers!” –Matthew 7:21-23.

 God does not want to keep anything good from you, but if you are keeping yourself from Him, He will not exalt you and bring you to those moments of leveling up in the Kingdom. And if a particular Body is not remaining in His Word or preaching a different gospel, it will be like He never knew them. “Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place.” –Revelation 2:5.

Jesus knows His flock. They are the ones that hear His voice and come running to him like sheep after their shepherd. They recognize the voice of the One who cares for them, feeds them, and has healed them. As we end this teaching, please know that you are all very dear to me. We have never met, but I pray you are on fire for our Lord Jesus. The blood spilled on the Cross was done out of love for you. God’s love is immeasurable. It has no end, my dear friends. Let the Holy Spirit speak to you this day and receive the fullness of the Kingdom only found in Jesus our Lord. Amen. “Will not God grant justice to His elect who cry out to Him day and night? Will He delay to help them? I tell you that he will swiftly grant them justice. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man come, will He find that faith on earth?” –Luke 18:8.

Brothers and sisters, let this be the day you have declared Jesus as Lord over your life, and every circumstance is brought to its knees. Run to Jesus, friend. Let this be the day Jesus makes His home in you by your confession of faith in Him. Ask Jesus into your heart as Lord, and He will answer. “Jesus, wash away my sins with Your precious Blood and forgive me of my sins. Today I surrender all of me to you. Amen.”

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