As I walked out early one morning, the stars looked lovely. As I looked at them The Lord spoke; "They don't have to think about shining, they just do." We were made greater than the stars and were simply just made to shine. "A city set on a hill that cannot be hidden." (Matt 5) We were not created for our selves. We were made to be servants. We were made to be the servant of The King of Kings, The Lord of Lords, The Maker of Heaven & Earth! We were made to serve Him. A servant was not made to serve themselves, they were paid, in our case bought, for another purpose. We were not made to want ice cream, to do things that please ourselves. A child that is always asking for things for themselves is called selfish. We were made to give. If we follow and obey The Lord, just as any good earthly father, He will interpret our needs and wants, and as a loving Father, will bless us.

Which child do you want to lavish on? A child who is always asking for stuff, (James 4) or a child that never asks for anything? The Lord is the same way, He's just more gracious than we are. 

If we built a house, we'd want every color, every texture, to be pleasing to us. We may even say "We are building this for the glory of God" yet if we are building with our pleasures in mind, we may be a little misguided. (We have been called to liberty, but as Paul says let us not "use liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another. Gal 5:13)

I was not made to please myself, I was made to please God. My desires are way out of whack as I serve to please myself. 

"Lord, let us be humble servants that do not live to please ourselves, but live to please You You have made us like the stars in heaven to shine. Let us just shine as we were made to be, in Jesus name. Amen!" 

As I walked out early one morning, the stars looked lovely. As I looked at them The Lord spoke; "They don't have to think about shining, they just do." We were made greater than the stars and were simply just made to shine. "A city set on a hill that cannot be hidden." (Matt 5) We were not created for our selves. We were made to be servants. We were made to be the servant of The King of Kings, The Lord of Lords, The Maker of Heaven & Earth! We were made to serve Him. A servant was not made to serve themselves, they were paid, in our case bought, for another purpose. We were not made to want ice cream, to do things that please ourselves. A child that is always asking for things for themselves is called selfish. We were made to give. If we follow and obey The Lord, just as any good earthly father, He will interpret our needs and wants, and as a loving Father, will bless us. 

Which child do you want to lavish on? A child who is always asking for stuff, (James 4) or a child that never asks for anything? The Lord is the same way, He's just more gracious than we are. 

If we built a house, we'd want every color, every texture, to be pleasing to us. We may even say "We are building this for the glory of God" yet if we are building with our pleasures in mind, we may be a little misguided. 

I was not made to please myself, I was made to please God. My desires are way out of whack as I serve to please myself. 

"Lord, let us be humble servants that do not live to please ourselves, but live to please You You have made us like the stars in heaven to shine. Let us just shine as we were made to be, in Jesus name. Amen!" 

What we are missing in the Body.

Eph 4:11 And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, 13 till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; 14 that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, 15 but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— 16 from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love. We all want growth, we all want The Lord to direct and guide us, but we can have neither unless we do it God's way. When was the last time you were ministered to by an Apostle of God? How about a prophet? How about the last time you witnessed a pastor, evangelist, apostle, prophet & teacher all in the same place ministering together? If you read the above promises like the ability to speak the truth in love, growing up in Christ, having a whole body, all of that is tied to God equipping the saints through what some call the 5 fold ministry of apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers. What are we missing? If this is not in operation in our cities, in the Body of Christ, then how can we be equipped, how can we be fully edified, how can we come to the unity of faith? We need the whole expression of the body of Christ, not a fragmented part. "Lord bring in the missing pieces, and wash away all the pieces that we've instituted that are makeshift examples of your will. We need You, all of You, and not just small part. We love You Lord and commit all of our ways to You, in Jesus name, amen. "

I woke up this morning and went outside. It was overcast but as I looked up I could see one star shining through the clouds. Then this one star was covered up by the clouds! I was bummed, but then I looked around and I could see other stars peeking through. Then The Lord said that's how it is with the Body, there is always a remnant that He keeps, they are always shining through. Even if we can't always see it or feel it, they are.

Not by might, not by power, but by My Spirit says The Lord

So God sets forth in His Word what is true, what is right, and what is holy. Mark 16: 17-20 state: 17 And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; 18 they[b] will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.” 19 So then, after the Lord had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God. 20 And they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word through the accompanying signs. Amen.[c] Then it must be true, Jesus Himself said it. Jesus even used this for the unbelieving Pharisees; "If you don't believe me, believe the works I do." talking about the signs He was performing, the healings, the miracles! (John 10:38) Christ died to makes this stuff happen, as proof of His death, and resurrection. Even one of the leasers later says; "No one can do these signs unless God is with him." (John 3:2) "Lord, let us not believe half Your Word, let us believe it all. For it is not by might, not by power, but by The Spirit says The Lord." Amen. “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ Says the Lord of hosts.

Are we loosing who we are?

We are losing who we are supposed to be. If we are giving into sin in any way, we are not the gift to God that He meant us to be. If I am overweight, say 80 lbs. I am 80 lbs more than I am supposed to be, so I am not the person on the outside He made me to be. I may say I am the same on the inside, but I think we are deceiving ourselves when we say that, because if we sin a little, we are affected a lot. If I sin, my hearing of The Lord goes way down, I just can't hear Him as well. When we don't hear Him as well, it changes us. We start focusing who we are, or who we are not, instead of who He is. We change, we get hard, cold, not as caring or attentive as we once were. We may even seem to cease as a gift. The less we walk with The Lord, the less of a gift we become, for it is in Him that all good things come. We are not good on our own, we are wretched, unrighteous filth...oh man, that seems harsh, doesn't it, and yet isn't that what He saved us from? The moment we leave His side, all that nasty stuff wants to try and come back on us again, but it doesn't come all right away, just a little at a time, bit by bit. Then boom, we look up and see a different Lord, we see a different us, we see everything different because we can no longer see with His vision. We are now looking at everything with our natural eyes, and can no longer see with His vision. We lack clarity because we lack vision, and without a vision, we will perish. I am bound by nothing but Jesus Christ, but when I enter sin again, I become bound to it again, instead of Christ. Then I miss so much of what He wants to give me, the wisdom, the peace, the joy, all the wonderful fruits of the Spirit that I choosing not to have, because I have chosen to walk in my flesh, instead of His Holy Spirit. "Lord, forgive me.

Abide in Him

John 15:4 "Abide in me and I in you." (All of 15 must be read) We wonder why we're dry, empty, lacking in any way, let us make sure we read and memorize John 15. We WILL bear much fruit if we abide in Christ. The word abide means to continue in a permanent state. Not a state a fluctuation, but a permanent state. If it is permanent, what should that permanency look like? Pure, holy...there are so many words that can describe what is should be, and is.
Does God lack anything, does He miss things, is there any lack that He could possibly have, at all? Who's are we? Who owns us? if we are Christ's what does that mean for us? If we are His, what are our responsibilities, and privileges for being His? As sons or daughters, are we not heirs of His?
As I reread John 15, it seems to all be there. What He has done, what He will do and what we are to do. If it's all Him, and none of us: we're done, for He is all we need. If we are His, and we abide in Him, what more do we need? Can we possibly need more than all of Him? There are reasons why we miss Him. If we are not hearing Him, there's a reason. Let's look to Him, not take our eyes off Him, and return to His ways, cause they are a LOT better.



John 15
New King James Version (NKJV)
The True Vine

15 “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. 2 Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away;[a] and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. 3 You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. 4 Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.

5 “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. 7 If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will[b] ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. 8 By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.

Love and Joy Perfected

9 “As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love. 10 If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love.

11 “These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full. 12 This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends. 14 You are My friends if you do whatever I command you. 15 No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you. 16 You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you. 17 These things I command you, that you love one another.

The World’s Hatred

18 “If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. 19 If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. 20 Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they kept My word, they will keep yours also. 21 But all these things they will do to you for My name’s sake, because they do not know Him who sent Me. 22 If I had not come and spoken to them, they would have no sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin. 23 He who hates Me hates My Father also. 24 If I had not done among them the works which no one else did, they would have no sin; but now they have seen and also hated both Me and My Father. 25 But this happened that the word might be fulfilled which is written in their law, ‘They hated Me without a cause.’[c]

The Coming Rejection

26 “But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me. 27 And you also will bear witness, because you have been with Me from the beginning.

Also 2 Cor 5:15 and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again.

16 Therefore, from now on, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him thus no longer. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. 18 Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, 19 that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation.

20 Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God. 21 For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

Then in chapter 6 We then, as workers together with Him also plead with you not to receive the grace of God in vain. 2 For He says:

“In an acceptable time I have heard you,
And in the day of salvation I have helped you.”[a]
Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.