Almond tree by Nicolás Pérez.
Good morning, beloved,
Rain! Oh, I have to tell you, I was so excited for the rain. I love rain. Now weeks and weeks of no sunshine, no good for this bear, but when we sit in our sunroom and listen to the rain patter on the roof..beautiful. The world already seems greener to me. When we went out for our walk today, there was this cute little barn swallow that was belting out his praise to his Creator.
A Barn Swallow flying over a lake in Chicago, Illinois, USA. The upper side of the bird is shown.by Steve Stearns
I love walking early in the morning with Joshua. The quiet is precious to me. We hear the birds, we watch the squirrels scurry, and the sun rises as we walk. Some mornings as we walk around the lake we see a beautiful mist rising off the lake. The sun rising on the lake spreading its orange, red and yellow hues across the still lake..all crying out in beautiful praise to our God.
Danny has continued his little saying all this week. Today is going to be a good day, Mom. Now the other kids are beginning to pick up on this and repeat it…and he has his nose a bit out of joint. Wanting this to be between just him and Mom, he protested at the nods his brothers and sister were giving him by repeating. I believe the Lord revealed a good way to ease his nose back into place. I told him he was giving me a blessing every time he said that to me and I repeated it back to him. I told him if the other kids pick this up the encouragement and blessing spreads even farther. He is still thinking that through, yet I know it to be true. When our mouths are full of truth and blessing, we don’t have time for arguments and sinful thoughts and patterns of behavior.
Such a lesson for me…at night since he was very little he has always said the same phrase to me. Always. Love you, see you in the morning, good night and I repeat it back to him. And then he says have a good night. We cannot go to bed without saying these words to one another or he finds me to say it. Another example of blessing! Another chance for my son to teach me, and I am grateful .
Well two days left on our tour of the Sermon on the Mount. I cannot believe the summer is gone! We spent the summer touring the Sermon and now we are drawing to a close. Want to know what we are studying next? Stay tuned! Can’t wait.
Matthew 7:15Beware of false prophets, who come to you dressed as sheep, but inside they are devouring wolves. 16 You will fully recognize them by their fruits. Do people pick grapes from thorns, or figs from thistles?
We will know them by their fruit…hmmm...fruit: of works or deeds, “fruit” being the visible expression of power working inwardly and invisibly, the character of the “fruit” being evidence of the character of the power producing it, Mat 7:16
Let’s consult the whole Word to find more about fruit!
Jeremiah 5: 31 The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests exercise rule at their own hands and by means of the prophets. And My people love to have it so! But what will you do when the end comes?
For someone to be called a prophet, they must prophesy truly every time. Never a mistake. Ever. So a false prophet is going to mess up. He isn’t going to be perfect every time. This next set is long but bear with it, we learn much!
Jeremiah 23:
16 Thus says the Lord of hosts: Do not listen to the words of the [false] prophets who prophesy to you. They teach you vanity (emptiness, falsity, and futility) and fill you with vain hopes; they speak a vision of their own minds and not from the mouth of the Lord.
17 They are continually saying to those who despise Me and the word of the Lord, The Lord has said: You shall have peace; and they say to everyone who walks after the stubbornness of his own mind and heart, No evil shall come upon you.
18 For who among them has stood in the council of the Lord, that he should perceive and hear His word? Who has marked His word [noticing and observing and giving attention to it] and has [actually] heard it?
19 Behold, the tempest of the Lord has gone forth in wrath, a whirling tempest; it shall whirland burst upon the heads of the wicked.
20 The anger of the Lord shall not turn back until He has executed and accomplished the thoughts and intents of His mind and heart. In the latter days you shall consider andunderstand it perfectly.
21 I did not send these [false] prophets, yet they ran; I did not speak to them, yet they prophesied.
22 But if they had stood in My council, then they would have caused My people to hear My words, then they would have turned them [My people] from their evil way and from the evil of their doings.
23 Am I a God at hand, says the Lord, and not a God afar off?
So false prophets:
- teach you vanity (emptiness, falsity, and futility)
- fill you with vain hopes
- they speak a vision of their own minds and not from the mouth of the Lord
- To those who despise Me and the word of the Lord: You shall have peace; and they say to everyone who walks after the stubbornness of his own mind and heart, No evil shall come upon you.
God is angry! He did not send the false prophets! They prophesy but not from the Lord’s mouth. Frightening. Absolutely frightening…
2 Peter 2..it’s all about false prophets.
Ezekiel 34:
And the word of the Lord came to me, saying,
2 Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel; prophesy and say to them, even to the [spiritual] shepherds, Thus says the Lord God: Woe to the [spiritual] shepherds of Israel who feed themselves! Should not the shepherds feed the sheep?
3 You eat the fat, you clothe yourselves with the wool, you kill the fatlings, but you do not feed the sheep.
4 The diseased and weak you have not strengthened, the sick you have not healed, the hurtand crippled you have not bandaged, those gone astray you have not brought back, the lost you have not sought to find, but with force and hardhearted harshness you have ruled them.
5 And they were scattered because there was no shepherd, and when they were scattered they became food for all the wild beasts of the field.
6 My sheep wandered through all the mountains and upon every high hill; yes, My sheep were scattered upon all the face of the earth and no one searched or sought for them.
Shepherds are the false prophets! They aren’t feeding the body! They are gorging themselves and nobody is strengthened by the words coming from their mouths. No healings, no lost sheep found, they are ruling with force and harshness. Now His beloved are scattered and being devoured by the beasts.
Now with these verses under our belt, I’m going to move back to Matthew 7:
21 Not everyone who says to Me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father Who is in heaven.
22 Many will say to Me on that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name and driven out demons in Your name and done many mighty works in Your name?
23 And then I will say to them openly (publicly), I never knew you; depart from Me, you who act wickedly [disregarding My commands].
Are the dots connected? Seems to me that those who think they are prophesying in His name are nowhere near the mark. Rather those who do His will in heaven with enter the kingdom of heaven. If they disregard His commands, Jesus will publicly disregard them. They drove our demons…really? Mighty works…really? Obviously to Jesus, He saw their hearts and He saw they were not feeding the body of believers, rather they filled people with false hope, vanity and have visions that do not come from Him.
Do you wonder about Christian t.v. prophets? What are people drawn to the most? (SOTM, p.144, @Precepts Int’l) The healings, the amazing miracle stories..the slayings in the Spirit…do people want to hear that God giving grace in the daily struggle but tomorrow the same struggles or more are in your life? Not so much. People love having their ears tickled. We have to be very careful who we follow. Very. Consider the following:
“What is so dangerous about following people who emphasize prophesying, casting out demons, or performing miracles over obedience to the whole counsel of God? To which gate would they be leading people?” (SOTM, p. 144@Precepts Int’l)
On that note, I have all my people up and going and making their green smoothies and our kitchen looks like the last days of a misspent life. 😉 Pray on..pray on!
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