May 2016 Spirit Food

Once you are presented with what the Word of God has to say about an issue, you are responsible for receiving His love, grace, & favor; and the gift of His righteousness. Remember, you are greatly blessed, highly favored, and deeply loved by your Heavenly Father.

This month, let’s focus on faith and seeing God as a good Father!

Luke 15:31 – “And he said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that I have is yours”.

Faith is believing in and having a good opinion in Our Heavenly Father; that He protects and provides for those who trust in Him. Remember the parable of the prodigal son? (Luke 15:11–32) Jesus shared it to illustrate how good Our Heavenly Father is. The wayward son had squandered his father’s inheritance before he decided to go home to ask his father to make him a hired servant. However, before the wayward son could even reach home, his father saw him from afar. That means the father was looking for him daily … and when he saw him coming, he ran toward him, embraced him, and started kissing him. Get a mental picture of this in your mind. The father was a wealthy man; he had property, livestock and was known in the community as being wealthy. He had a ring on his finger indicating to other businesses in the community that he could pay his bills. The ring was a signature ring having his “seal”, and when he placed his mark on a bill, the business community knew the bill would be paid. Another thing you may desire to consider is:

Luke 15:20 - … But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him.

Consider the culture of the day … wealthy men over the age of 30 wore robes down to the ankles, and it was uncustomary for them to gather their robe up to around their knees and run. Also, think about where this son of his had been, he was feeding the pigs “slop” in the pig pen. Can you imagine what the son looked and smelled like? Yet the father fell on the son’s neck, and kissed him! What love and compassion!

The son didn’t even get the opportunity to request his father make him one of his hired servants … the father took charge of the meeting and turned to his servants and said, bring out the best robe! Get a ring for his finger and sandals for my son’s feet! Let’s kill the fatted calf and celebrate! Clearly, the father was happy to have his son back!

Now, when the older son returned from work and heard about the celebration, he became angry and refused to enter the house. He didn’t even call out to his father; instead, he called to one of the servants who informed him his wayward brother had returned. Then, when his father came out to ask him what was wrong, the older son complained, “Look, I’ve served you all these years. Yet, you never gave me a calf to celebrate with my friends. But as soon as this prodigal son of yours comes home, you kill the fatted calf for him!”

This display of attitude by the older son clearly reflects the type of relationship which had been developed between the older son and his father. Sadly, it was not as it could have been, or should have been. It appears it wasn’t a father-son relationship, but more of a master-servant or owner-worker relationship. It appears the older son would have been more interested to celebrate with his friends, than his “blood family members”. He saw his father as a hard and stingy man. He believed that he had to work to get something good from his father. He didn’t realize that he already had an inheritance! He could have killed the fatted calf any time for a celebration! How sad.

Our Heavenly Father has already given you an inheritance in Christ. Don’t fail to enjoy it by doubting God’s goodness or by believing that you must work for it. See your Heavenly Father’s heart of love and goodness toward you, and celebrate your inheritance today!

1 John 4:10 - In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

You have probably heard this preaching like “You have to love God more! You must have more passion for God!”, and may have even tried your best to love God more, only to fail miserably.

But what is the true definition of love? Let the Bible define it for us: “…this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us…” It is not about our love for Him, but His love for us!

Yes, the Bible says that you must, “love God with all your heart, soul and strength!” Yes, that is true according to the law (Deuteronomy 6:5), and even Jesus taught that as the great commandment when He walked on earth. (Matthew 22:37) However, that was before He died on the cross. At the cross, He became the very fulfillment of this law for us when He loved us with all His heart, soul and strength, by laying down His body and life on the cross for us.

Today, we are no longer under the law, but under grace. And grace tells us that God loves us, not because we love God, but because His love is unconditional. Yet, we will love Him when we see how much He loves us. The Bible says that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us! (Romans 5:8) That’s how much He loves us!

Our Heavenly Father has seen you trying your best to love Him. And because He loves you, He desires you to sit down, be still, and allow Him to love you instead. He desires to love you with all that He is and all that He has. He loves you unconditionally! Regardless of whom you are or what you have done, because His love is not dependent on you but on Himself. He will never stop loving you!

Allow Our Heavenly Father to love you today. Don’t worry about loving Him. The more of His love you receive, the more you will fall in love with Him!

Consider the story of the Samarian woman at the well in Sychar in John chapter 4. Jesus went out of His way to visit with this woman. His destination was Galilee when he left Judaea, but he said he “must needs go through Samaria”. If you look at a map, it is not the most direct route to go to Samaria on the way to Galilee (from where He was). He went to meet this Samarian woman. Remember, He only does what His Father tells Him to do and says what His Father tells Him to say.

When people make demands on you or keep depending on you, you may end up stressed, tired and irritable. But this is not the case with Jesus. When people draw from Him, He is strengthened and refreshed!

Jesus is, after all, God. You honor God when you take your place as man and let God be God by drawing from Him. The One who said, “I did not come to be served, but to serve,” (Matthew 20:28) loves it when you allow Him to minister to you.

The Bible tells us that when Jesus arrived at Sychar, He was wearied from the journey and rested at a well. The Samaritan woman then came to the well to draw water, Jesus ministered to her, and she left rejoicing with the promise of living water. The disciples, having returned with food for Jesus, found Him already strengthened and refreshed. When they wondered who had given Him food while they were away, He told them, “I have food to eat of which you do not know.” (John 4:1–32)

When you draw from Jesus and let Him minister to you, it is “food” for Him that “refreshes” and “strengthens” Him. It takes humility for us to allow Jesus to minister to us. We tend to take pride in doing things for the Lord. We desire to build our businesses, families and ministries for Him. All that can be good, but without Jesus being in the center of our activities, we are spiritually, functioning, incorrectly. What we need to do first, is to receive from Him, because when we freely receive from Him, we are able to freely give. (Matthew 10:8)

Jesus wants to minister to you. When you accepted Jesus as the Lord of your life, the Holy Spirit came to dwell within you. 2 Timothy 1:6-7 - “Wherefore I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God, which is in thee by the putting on of my hands. (7)

For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. So, stir up the gift within you; don’t try to minister to yourself. The way to do that is praise Him, talk to Him as a friend. Develop a closer relationship with Him! It may surprise you on how soon an inner peace and joy will reveal itself. The Pharisees of Jesus’ day, who felt that they did not need Him, and that they could provide for themselves, were the ones who could not receive from Him. So bring your needs to Him and say, “Lord, I need to draw from You. I present my needs to You. Minister to me and meet my needs. I cannot, but You can. Thank you, Lord.”

If you’re reading this, but you have not made Jesus the Lord of your life, and would like to, pray this prayer out loud in an audible voice:

Heavenly Father, your Word says in Romans 10:9-10- “that if I confess with my mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in my heart that You raised Him from the dead, that I would be saved. For with the heart one believes unto salvation.” I believe your Word, Heavenly Father, and confess Jesus Christ (the anointed one and His anointing) as Lord of my life now. I believe that You raised Him from the dead. I confess that I was a sinner, but now I’ve been saved by Your grace, and in Your thoughts, I am now in right standing with You. I denounce Satan and all he stands for. Write my name in the Lamb’s book of Life. In Jesus Name. Amen (so be it).

Congratulations! If this is your first time praying this prayer, please write and let us know!

Should you decide to give and financially support this ministry with gifts given in faith, I join my faith with yours to see the devourer rebuked (Malachi 3:11) and for you to receive a harvest; pressed down, shaken together and running over (Luke 6:38). Please remember to name your seed!

Dr. Mark Krom, Ph.D., D.Psy

Minister/Clinical Pastoral Psychologist