Why Does Everyone Need A Sign?

"Therefore they said to Him, "What sign will You perform then, that we may see it and believe You? What work will You do?"
John 6:30

What is it with people who always want a sign? The Jews were asking Jesus for a sign that He was indeed the Son of God. Whoa! Wait a minute! Where were these guys just a few hours ago? John tells us that they had returned home.

From where? From being with Jesus on the other side of the Sea of Galilee. What were they doing with Him? They were eating the bread and the fish that Jesus multiplied from a boy's simple lunch. Wasn't that a sign? Why were they asking for a sign? They wanted the spectacular. They wanted the unusual. They wanted the side show.

Jesus refused them, a sign saying they had already received one (the loaves and fishes). He pointed them to the main event -- the FATHER! "If you have seen me, you have seen the Father." Jesus was telling them that signs come and go, but God remains forever. Signs can be manipulated, but God is unchanging. All too often we get wrapped up in the same philosophy of life that the Jews had. We want the signs. We want the miracles. We want the healings.

If we can just see these, then we will know that God is present, that the Holy Spirit is working in our midst. All the while we miss the main event. God is with us all the time. He says He will never leave us or forsake us. That's good. He promises that wherever two or three of us are gathered together in His name, He is there with us. That's great! He has pledged to set up His throne . . . in our hearts!

Now that's really something -- to have the living God dwell in us. It doesn't get any closer than that. Let's take a vow that we will never become so enraptured with the miracles that we miss the miracle worker. After all, God the Father is the main event. Knowing Him is greater than seeing a few signs.

Do You Have Branches In Need Of Removal?

"Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit"
John 15:2

If every plant has roots, then most plants have branches. There's an interesting thing about branches. They produce fruit. Now don't mistake the word fruit for "fruit." Some trees do produce delectable fruit that is beautiful to the eye and delicious to the tongue. Other trees produce nuts while still others produce fruit that is inedible and perhaps even poisonous. The word "fruit" is simply defined as a necessary seed bearing part of a plant.

Let's ponder the true fruit trees for today. We had a cherry tree in the back yard of our old house. It's wasn't much of a tree, and the fruit isn't much to look at or eat, but it is a cherry tree -- an ancient one at that. If I really wanted good fruit from that tree, I would have to cut out the dead wood that abounds in it. Then during the beginning of the fruiting season, I would examine each branch for small, developing fruit. If a branch did not have fruit, I would cut it off. If I really wanted the biggest, best, juiciest cherries, I would look for deformed fruit and cut it off. I would remove all but the biggest cherries from each clump of cherries. All of this pruning would assure me that the remaining fruit would receive all the nurturing the tree could give. The result would be prize winning cherries! (At least that's the theory -- you haven't seen this tree, our gardener told us to cut it down!)

The Lord has to do the same thing with us. You see, we are spiritual trees. It is our purpose on earth to produce fruit. There are many fruits we need to produce. We could start with the fruits of the Spirit in Galatians. We could move on to the most important fruit -- SOULS! Our lives ought to be of such quality that our lost neighbors, co-workers, family, and friends want nothing less than what we have! Unfortunately, we all have "branches" in our lives that are not bearing good fruit. It may be an unholy anger, or lust, or drunkenness, or thievery, or lying, or -- and the list goes on. All of these branches are in need of removal. Our Father knows just what branches to prune and when to prune them -- you see, not all bad things can be removed at once. It would destroy the life in us. It is important to let Him do the pruning -- especially in the lives of others. In our lives, we will find that He will point out those areas in need of pruning and ask us to voluntarily remove them. If we continually refuse, the our Lord will do it for us -- but the pain will be much more intense.

So the question for today is this: "Do you have some branches in need of removal?" If the answer is "yes", I suggest that you set about doing it as the Lord directs.

Before I Formed You In The Womb, I Knew You

"Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; Before you were born I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations."
Jer. 1:5

I have a tool in my toolbox that has only one purpose. It is a highly specialized tool; one that I bought to do a single job. That job was completed several years ago, but I keep the tool. On occasion I have tried to use the tool for other purposes, I did that last week, but the tool refuses to cooperate with my ineptness. It is as though that tool shouts to me, "Hey, idiot! I can't do that job. I was not made to do that job. It is an impossible task for me to accomplish!" And you know; the tool is right. Its job is to tighten and loosen the ring that holds the kitchen garbage disposal in place. It does that quite well. It does not work on any other plumbing problem. It makes a miserable hammer. And God forbid that it would ever be used in electrical work!

Like my tool, we are a called people. You are called. I am called. We were chosen by God, and He gave each of us a purpose. Today's verse reveals Jeremiah's call as a prophet of God. Now I am not about to say that each of us is called to be prophets. That would not be true. Be we are all called to fulfill a task, a particular task, and we will not be satisfied until we accomplish what we have been tasked to do. Let's take a look at Jeremiah's call. I think it will tell us something about our own.

"Before I formed you in the womb I knew you," says God to the prophet. The Father was reassuring Jeremiah that the caller was knowledgeable about whom He was calling. God knew Jeremiah from the inside out. He was there the day Jeremiah was conceived, He was there before Jeremiah was conceived. This is God's way of saying, "I know every thing there is to know about you. I thought about you and the plans I had for you long before you were even two separate cells in two separate individuals. I have had you in my plans for generations before you were born. I know you. I know all about you. I know every gene of every chromosome that has been combined from every generation previous to yours. I mixed them all together to form one unique individual, you, Jeremiah. Every fiber of your being was carefully chosen and placed by Me, your true Father, to accomplish what I am calling you to do today."

Wow! God really knew Jeremiah. And He really knows you, too. You are no different than Jeremiah, not really. Multiple generations ago, God foresaw that He would need you in this age, day, and time to accomplish something that no one else could do. Like He did with Jeremiah, He ordered your ancestry so that every gene of you chromosomal makeup would be just what He needed at just the right time. He ordained your parents, grandparents, and great-great- great grandparents so that you would be unique, you see, with God there is no mass production. There is no great "assembly line in the sky" that kicks carbon copy individuals all prepackaged and ready to ship off the end of the line. God makes each one of us totally different than any other product.

I can see that you need to ponder that for a few hours. Take you time. We will look at the second part of Jeremiah's calling tomorrow. It fits you, too!

A Fool Becomes Wise

A Fool Becomes Wise


Have I seen a fool today I ask

Surely one has passed my way

I will try to remember his face

Did he speak to me as he slipped silently past

No surely I would have known

For he could have only said something foolish

I will recall his face with some thought

If I can find those words he spoke to me

Ah yes it was when first I did rise

Now it is all coming back to me slowly

Now I saw him again as I pass this mirror

It was I

I had wounded a friend with hasty words

Ah but this fool must find those words again

I will replace them with words of right

I must secure my friend with truth

I love my friend and I regret those words

This fool must now become wise

I can do that with the help of my friend

Jesus will help this fool become wise again


RONNIE LEVINER
COPYRIGHT©2005

Prayer

"As they pass through the Valley of Baca, They make it a spring; The rain also covers it with pools."
Psalm 84:6

The Valley of Baca has been translated both as the Valley of Weeping and The Thirsty Valley. Neither of these are very pleasant names. Obviously, the Valley of Baca was a dry, desolate place. Today, you may be walking through your own Valley of Baca. You may be feeling dry in your soul. You may be thirsty and wondering where the living water is to quench your thirst. But lets look at today's scripture again.

What are we going to do when we are in this thirsty place, we are going to dig a well. What does this mean in our spiritual lives. Well, there are times when we have to step out on faith, to take some sort of action. The word translated well could also be translated pit or ditch. Apparently, there were no streams in the valley of Baca, but there were rainstorms. But the ground just soaked up the rain, unless you dug a pit.

Digging that pit was an act of faith. It was in expectation of a refreshing rain. Too often when we are in a dry place, we do not expect it to rain ever again. We believe that we will not see water again, so we are not
prepared when (not if, when) the rain does fall. In that case the rain is
refreshing for the time, but after it stops we find ourselves in much the
same situation as before.

I know a lot of people who seem to have these vicious ups and downs in their moods. One moment things are terrible. The world is conspiring against them. Everything is awful. Then some blessing comes their way and everything is wonderful for a few days until the next trial.

What many of us need to do is create a reservoir of blessing to sustain us in the dry seasons. The next time God sheds His blessings on you dig a well. Drink in those blessings, bask in them, praise him for them, store up the knowledge of those blessings, learn the lessons he is trying to teach you, find out what you can take from that blessing to help you in the hard times. Then when the dry spell settles down in your valley again, you remember those lessons, you praise God just as you did during the season of refreshing drawing on the strength you gathered during that time. You also remember that the trial before the blessing did end and God delivered you in a marvelous way and that if he did it once he'll do it again.

So, if you have found yourself in the valley of Baca today, take out your
shovel. You have some digging to do.

Lord, today let me dig a reservoir for your blessing and in the times of trial let me draw from that well of refreshing you have sent me today.

THE FOREST....THE TREES

Trials and troubles ...
They come to us all.
We stumble, we falter
And sometimes we fall.

Our focus distorted,
Our vision impaired,
Attention to earth's cares
Has caused us to err.

But God gives the way to
go through these with ease,
'cause He sees the forest,
though we see the trees.

We search to know God's will ...
we strive for His way.
We know when we find it,
we're sure not to stray.

We think that we trust Him ...
His plan is the best.
And if He'll just show us,
then in it we'll rest.

But we ask for His guidance,
then do as we please.
Though He sees the forest,
we're lost in the trees.

There's much more to faith
than what meets the eye.
It's trusting He'll do right,
not questioning why.

It's giving up our wants,
letting Him have the say ...
it's doing what He wants ...
and without delay.

It's spending time seeking Him
while down on our knees.
Letting Him see the forest,
and us just the trees.

Wouldn't It Be Scary If God Wasn't Compassionate?

''As a father pities his children, So the LORD pities those who fear Him. For He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust"
Psalm 103:13-14

Wouldn't it be a scary thing if our God was not compassionate? Could you imagine the fear we would live in if our God were mean like the false gods? You borrow a penny from your wife's purse without her knowing. Is it stealing? Will God strike you with lightning -- or worse yet -- a lingering fatal illness? You say an angry, hateful thing to your mother. Do you duck for fear of some celestial punishment? Talking about living in fear, that would do it.

Fortunately our God had great compassion on those of us who have a healthy fear of Him. That fear is a healthy respect for, not a breath wrong and you die type of fear. Because of this great love, we live in peace knowing that forgiveness is always available, should we sin?

Unfortunately, many of us have forgotten that God can be a severe judge. We take for granted that He will love us no matter what. We have not seen an Ananias and Saphira type of incident in our churches lately. So what is there to fear. We can neither see God nor feel Him nor hear Him with an audible voice. This all gives rise to the question "Does he really exist? And even if He does, is He really interested in what I do?" Sure, we never really ask those questions. But we all too often live like we did. Think about it. What do you really think about God? Who is He really? What is your real relationship with Him? Do you really know Him?

Do you really care about what He says? I urge you to honestly answer these questions. If you do, you may be surprised about how much you have to grow in your spiritual life.