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

Tag: Abide

“Walk Into It.”

September 17, 2022 /
Matthew Botelho

What an amazing, loving God we serve! I am so excited to share the conclusion of “Crossroads” with you all. If you have not read Part One of this teaching, I encourage you to go back and read it now. The last time we met, we discussed the crossroads God sometimes brings us to. Those significant points in our Christian walk where we must decide to take that step of faith, walking our faith out with Him. God knows the heart of every one of His children. So I’m titling the close of this teaching “Walk into It.” Because when we walk in the anointing God has poured out on us, God will bring us to a place of honor. It’s all about that first step of faith. And after the first comes the second, the third, and so on. Next thing you know, you are walking on water with Jesus right in front of you!

Yet there will also be times of waiting, preparation, and equipping, times when it’s just you and the Lord.

Every child of God eventually finds themselves in those moments spent in the wilderness. Now I can almost hear the groaning! Many of you might say, “but I do not want to be in the wilderness! How is this a good place to be?!” And I agree. The wilderness is a place we don’t run and sign up for; however, the wilderness experience is necessary. “He has made everything appropriate in its time. He has also put eternity in their hearts, but man cannot discover the work God has done from beginning to end” –Ecclesiastes 3:11 (HCSB).

My brothers and sisters, we are all unfinished works. Be patient, then. God is still working. He has not forgotten you.

So, let’s dive into this lesson by looking at a young man who will be the greatest king Israel has ever seen. His name is David. A warrior and worshiper of God. This young man started out in a field caring for his father’s sheep, fighting off bears, lions, and other dangers that would harm the flock. But most importantly, David had a heart for God. He saw the importance of having a relationship centered on worship and time with Him. His heart was for the Lord.

I cannot stress strongly enough David’s heart for the Lord.

Yet David was overlooked by his very own father and brothers when the prophet Samuel came to anoint one of Jesse’s sons as king. From the very beginning, God tells the prophet Samuel: “…Do not look at his appearance or his stature, because I have rejected him. Man does not see what the Lord sees, for man sees what is visible, but the Lord sees the heart” –1 Samuel 16:7 (HCSB).

So why was David anointed king out of all Jesse’s sons?

A large part was David’s genuine heart for God. 1 Samuel 13:14 says David was a man after God’s own heart. David’s true love for the Lord was one of the things God used to bring David out of the fields and into the throne room, but not immediately. Now here comes that wilderness moment we all love. Not! First, Saul was already Israel’s king. Secondly, although Samuel anointed David King, David still had some growing up. He had to learn to walk in the anointing and what it was to run a kingdom. In part, which meant humbling himself under a very jealous king Saul.

David’s crossroads moment came only after being anointed king.

 Scripture tells us it happened when Israel battled an enemy known as the Philistines.

David’s older brothers had volunteered to battle the Philistines. They were on the front lines defending the land God had given them. Now, for those who know the story of David and Goliath, you may be saying, isn’t that the moment David went to face Goliath? Yes, but no. To defeat something, you first need to show up. And David was still tending his father’s sheep. Goliath’s defeat would soon follow. “One day Jesse had told his son David, “take this half-bushel of roasted grain along with these 10 loaves of bread for your brothers and hurry to the camp. Also take these 10 portions of cheese to the field commander. Check on the welfare of your brothers and bring conformation from them. They are with Saul and all the men of Israel in the valley of Elah fighting with the Philistines. So David got up early in the morning, left the flock with someone to keep it, loaded up, and set out as Jesse had instructed him” –1 Samuel 17:17-20 (HCSB).

David’s father had sent him to bring provisions to his brothers. David’s time of waiting had ended. He left behind the flock and the fields. Everything David had known, he now laid aside. It was time to go into the battle. As David arrives, he hands off the provisions he’d brought and runs to meet his brothers. Seeing all the men, he runs up to them. Scripture tells us that as David spoke to his brothers, the champion named Goliath came forward and started shouting and profaning the God of Israel. “David spoke to the men who were standing with him, “what will be done for the man who kills that Philistine and removes this disgrace from Israel? Just who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?” – 1 Samuel 17:26 (HCSB).

After David spoke these words, his older brother spoke out against him, claiming that David was arrogant, and his heart was evil. At that point, David could have said nothing. He could have just walked away and returned to his father’s house. Instead, it’s here, brothers and sisters, where we witness David step into what God had chosen him to do. But know this: whenever one of God’s chosen is walking in obedience to God, stepping into their calling, there will be resistance. Even from your very own family. Follow David’s lead. Do not be discouraged, my friends.

Like David, your time of waiting will end. And no man can stop what God has for you when it does! Just abide in Christ. John 15:5. Assures us of this. “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” God’s Holy Spirit in you will lead you into all Truth, so remain in Him and, like David, chase after more of God!

When you get to those crossroads’ moments, know that the Father is right there with you. He wants the best for you. He wants nothing more than to have a relationship with you.

My brothers and sisters, as we close, let me remind you of the amazing, loving Father we have and serve. How He sent his Son into the battlefield called the world. And how Jesus went willingly and triumphantly to the Cross for you and me. By Jesus’ sacrifice on the Cross, we are forgiven of all our sins, and because of His resurrection, we too shall see eternal life. Call out to Him today if you don’t know Jesus as Lord and Savior. He is standing at the door of your heart, ready to make his home in you. Amen. “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me” –Revelation 3:20.

Joined. John 15:4

February 4, 2018 /

 “Remain in Me, and I [will remain] in you. Just as no branch can bear fruit by itself without remaining in the vine, neither can you [bear fruit, producing evidence of your faith] unless you remain in Me.”

The Message Bible says it like this: “Live in me. Make your home in me just as I do in you. In the same way that a branch can’t bear grapes by itself but only by being joined to the vine, you can’t bear fruit unless you are joined with me.

In the opening sentence of our Scripture we hear a vow being exchanged—a promise being made. “Remain in Me, and I [will remain] in you.  An offer to make an everlasting home in, and with Jesus. “Live in me. Make your home in me just as I do in you. So, is the Scripture talking about fruit only, or are we witnessing a marriage proposal as well? Through the revelation of the Holy Spirit, I posit, at its deepest level, this Scripture lends itself to both…

In the parable of the Vine we’re called—commanded (this is no mere suggestion) to remain joined to, to never separate from, Jesus. Just as a husband and wife are joined as one, so too are we commanded to be with Jesus in this verse—If we are His. We’re called to cling, stick to like glue, to “stay put” in Him, that we might be fruitful. As a bride becomes filled with new life once she has cleaved to her husband, so too do we, as Christians, in the Spirit, once we are joined with Jesus.

His Word tells us, as a woman without a man, Christians, outside of Jesus, will be barren—fruit-less, able to bear nothing of eternal value. They might try, through works of their own—but those works will die on the vine…

To do this, to be fruitful, prolific, we must be united to Him—belong to Him, as a wife belongs to, is joined to, her husband. After all, if you are a believer in Christ Jesus, that is exactly who you are—His Bride, the Church! A member of the, “ekklēsia” (Lexicon: Strong’s G1577 – ekklēsia). The inference being that a relationship exists, a rather intimate relationship. A knowing, gnosis, an intimate knowing, as in the knowing a husband shares of his wife. (Strong’s Greek: 1108. γνῶσις (gnósis) – a knowing, knowledge).

Hence, we begin to see the connection bubbling up between the parable of the Vine and marriage. A joining—a oneness is taking shape. No longer are they two, but now one flesh. One message. Concerning Christ, both the Vine and Marriage are inextricably linked…

Jesus makes plain that the branch cannot produce fruit outside of its relationship with the Vine; and the Body—the Church, cannot bear spiritual fruit apart from the power of the Holy Spirit of God. Each relies on intimate union that lasting fruit might be produced.

So, how does this joining—this abiding, this knowing come about? What is its genesis—where does it begin?

We witness its birth within the confines of a relationship. To truly know anything— any person, one must have a relationship with them. Otherwise, they may know about a thing, know of the person—but they do not know them. It is only within the confines of relationship that we are both known and, grow to know another…

And, as it is in our earthly relationships, how much more in our relationship with Jesus?

Jesus, speaking to His friends, is instructing them, commanding them, to remain in relationship with Him (if they want this relationship to flourish, to bloom and become all it can be—that they might continue being productive for Kingdom purposes). He assures them, in vow language, in covenant speak, that He’ll never leave them. He’ll never bail on their relationship. Never. That’s His vow to His friends—His Bride. What He’s asking of them in return is for their vow of love and fidelity also. A promise to remain loyal—to stay joined, connected—in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health, being poor or in plenty, regardless the circumstance, against all odds—never let go of Me. That is—in part, what Jesus is saying in our Scripture—to their hearts and to ours.

Stay with Me…

The other part of His message?

There can only be One Source—and I’m it.

You cannot be joined to Me and the world. You must commit—be joined, serve, One, or the other… “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon [money, possessions, fame, status, or whatever is valued more than the Lord].” –Matthew 6:24.

We hear this echoed in Paul’s writings to the Romans. He doesn’t mention vines, but he does talk about fruit. In the 7th Chapter of Romans, Paul uses the illustration of marriage to make a point about the law having rule over a married person so long as their spouse is alive. He talks about a woman being bound to her husband—as one flesh, eternally joined. Should she leave him and be joined to another while her husband lives, she is committing adultery. (vs’s 1-3). He then flips the script and tells his audience that they in fact have died to their old life—the law. They’ve now died to being single, to doing it their way, to serving—being joined to, other gods. And, that now, since they have been freed from this death, (the husband they were bound to, the law) they’re free to be joined to Christ, married to Him. Now, they must serve Him only—bearing good and lasting fruit because of this new union, this joining. No longer will they bring forth corrupt fruit that withers and rots on the vine; a result of their marriage to, them being joined to, the law. (vs’s 4-6).

In our Scripture verse, Jesus is planting seeds that He will bring to fruition during one of His final conversations with those He loves—at their last meal together. Seeds that have lasted throughout the generations in order that you too might benefit from them today… “Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” –John 14:6. Said differently, a relationship between you and Me must exist in order for you to be mine, to bear eternal fruit.  We must be one, jointed like the branch is to the vine. Joined—united, one, as a wife is to her husband.

You must know (gnosis) me…

Friend, let me ask you. What are you joined to? More directly, who? What type of fruit is your life producing? Is it lasting, eternal fruit, or is your fruit, what you’re producing, dying, and withering on the vine? If you’re reading this and you do not know Jesus, you’re not connected to Him, then please, use this invitation the Holy Spirit is extending to you to “know” Him—become joined to Him.

You’re not here by accident, you’ve been chosen! Jesus loves you…

Will you join Him so that you might become all that He has created and called you to be?

Then he said to me, “Write, ‘Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb ‘” And he said to me, “These are true words of God.” –Revelation 19:9

 

 

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