Keep the Faith Now

S.E.E.D. For Today_ Sidetracked Scripture "Don't get sidetracked; keep your feet from following evil." Proverbs 4:27 NLT It is not only what we say that shows the state of the heart but what we follow, our feet have actions that reveal the condition of our souls. Forgetting the things behind us pressing forward to the prize of the calling of God we must keep our eyes fixed, our focus remain on point. Our earnest concern should be about the path we take. Be mindful that we are not to do what the wicked do nor follow the path of evildoers, don't even think about it, don't go that way. It's ok to be misjudged and misunderstood by spiritual and unspiritual people who are ignorant of the power of God and the value of His truth. Don't get sidetracked, look straight ahead and fix your eyes on what lies before you. Example Cause someone to be distracted from an immediate or important issue. To divert or put off. Exercise Read Proverbs 4th chapter We mus...

S.E.E.D. For Today_ Forward Scripture "I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead." Philippians 3:13 NLT The Apostle Paul lets us know that he will not contend with the past or present measures of grace, but he is contending to stretch himself to go forward. He realized that he had not mastered many areas of perfection in his life after his conversion. He did not rest on the power and prestige he had in his former life. He did not linger on the fact that he gave orders for many to be executed and imprisoned but now he himself was a prisoner of which he boldly denounced. Paul thinks forward, he forgets about his Jewish privileges and presses on the great race in which his goal is to win. We are time travelers that are moving forward. Paul says we press toward. Example In the direction that one is facing or traveling. Onward, being progressive, future. Exercise Read Philippians 3:12-14 Evaluate ...

S.E.E.D. For Today_ Shade Scripture "My people will again live under My shade. They will flourish like grain and blossom like grapevines." Hosea 14:7ab NLT After God's people had to live in the wilderness again He brought them into a place that signified a new life. God restores His favor upon His people. The shade represented a shelter that covered them and provided relief from the sun. This is a season when God's people will experience a comeback. God in His mercy answers their prayer, He will show them once more His love and restore the blessings of the Lord in abundance. The people repented and prayed to God, in v.8 He lets them know " I am the One who answers your prayers and cares for you. I am like a tree that is always green; and all your fruit comes from Me." Those that sit beneath this Tree will flourish with freshness and vitality. This shade will give God's people the ability to recover and be revived. Under His shad...

S.E.E.D. For Today_ Like Scripture "For they loved the approval of men rather than the approval of God." John 12:43 The power in this world that smothers people's convictions are in regard to the applause and approval of men that one gets. Love of the approval or praise from others as a by-end in that which is good, will make people hypocrites when it relates to religion or their relationship with God. The love of praise or approval is a base principle which is evil and will make a person an apostate. John 12:42 tells us that there were some Jewish leaders that believed the message of the Messiah but would not admit it out of fear. They were afraid to loose the approval of men and that the Pharisees would expel them from the synagogue. They loved human praise more than the praise of God. Example The need for the approval of something or from someone. Like is used to draw attention to the nature of an action or something or someone. Exercise Read...

S.E.E.D. For Today_ Fulfillment Scripture "For the time has come for this prophesy about me to be fulfilled. He was counted among the rebels. "Yes everything written about me by the prophets will come true." Luke 22:37 NLT God's plan is coming to pass. Jesus cites the fulfillment of Isaiah 53:12 "I will give Him the honors of a victorious soldier, because He exposed Himself to death. He was counted among the rebels. He bore the sins of many and interceded for rebels." The focus is on Jesus suffering like a rejected one, that He will die a shameful death between two criminals. Jesus identified with us, atoned for our sins and interceded for transgressors. It was neither fate or tragedy, it was purpose. Again in Isaiah 53 but the 10th verse it says " But it was the Lord's good plan to crush Him, and cause Him grief. Yet when His life is made an offering for sin, He will have many descendants. " The passion is accomplishe...

S.E.E.D. For Today_ Struggle Scripture "They went to the olive grove called Gethsemane, and Jesus said, Sit here while I go and pray." He took Peter, James, and John with Him, and He became deeply troubled and distressed. He told them, "My soul is crushed with grief to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me." Mark 14:32-34 NLT In the night before the Romans arrested Him, He went to the garden of Gethsemane, taking three of His friends. Jesus takes them for He needs them to be present before Him in the time of crisis. In the garden Jesus is overtaken with an intense spiritual affliction. He is so overwhelmed that He prays that the ordeal be avoided. He ask God to spare Him of this suffering, He was depressed and filled with grief. The fear of being separated from the Father became the struggle. Luke tells of the bloody sweat to describe the intensity of the crucial moment for the Lord. The battle Jesus fights in this moment He must fight alone,...

S.E.E.D. For Today_ Temptation Scripture "Pray that you will not give into temptation." Luke 22:40 NLT Upon arriving at the Mount of Olives, Jesus exhorts the disciples to pray that they not enter into temptation, probably because of His earlier discussion with Simon Peter, that He has prayed that the devil not swift him as wheat. Jesus knows that the disciples will deny Him, a very real danger since Satan is trying to lead them to defect. Prayer will protect them from unfaithfulness and will encourage them to be faithful and persevere. Prayer is important and this is the constant attitude that Jesus needs the disciples to have. In 22:46 "Jesus ask them why are you sleeping, get up and pray that you will not fall into temptation". In Matthew 26:41 He tells them again to "pray so that they will not fall into temptation. "The spirit is willing, but the body is weak." In Mark 14:38 He tells them the same, it is repeated in the tree ...