Does Prayer Really Work?

Posted by & filed under Franks Blog.

Luke 11:1 “One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, ‘Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.’”

 

Jesus is teaching us how to be effective in prayer.

 

First, we are to come with the right frame of mind – praying for His kingdom to come. In Matthew 6:33 we are told that we are to seek first His kingdom and then all of these things will be added. What things is He talking about? Things that we worry about: our shelter, clothing, health, food and our future. We are to put first things first and the first thing is the Kingdom of God and all these things (shelter, clothing, food, health and future) will be added. So why worry when we can pray or like most seem to do: Why pray when we can worry?

 

God knows what we need. He has made us and He knows what we need to sustain ourselves. In Luke 11:11 Jesus tells us: “Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead?” Most human fathers want the best for their son and if wandering off in a wrong direction will seek to pull him back to the right path. We want the best for our children. “If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” (Luke 11:13) God our heavenly Father gives us the best.

 

Secondly, we pray for our own daily needs. We already mentioned what our daily needs are, but I think it is interesting to see how Jesus frames the discussion in Matthew 6. He does so by asking a question. For example, He says, “Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?” (Matthew 6:25) What does He mean? If He has given you life will He not give you what you need to sustain that life? The answer is, yes. So why worry? The same with the body; He made it and will He not give what the body needs? Yes. So why worry?

 

Thirdly, we are to seek His will in all things. It is not my will or plans, but His will and plans that need to be forthcoming. We need to understand that Jesus is the head. He (not us) is the brains. And yet, so often we think that we are the brains for the plan and will of God , that we know what is best. However, we need to keep in mind that His way is perfect.

 

Fourth, we are to make sure that we do not have a grudge against anyone. In Luke 11 Jesus said that a house divided cannot stand. Broken relationships within a family or church community is a great hindrance to seeing prayers being answered. We are told that the prayers of a husband and wife are powerful, but when the relationship is broken or impaired, our prayers are hindered.

 

Fifth, we do not give up in asking, seeking or knocking. Perseverance is a characteristic that is lacking in today’s society. We live in a world of speed and when the answers do not come immediately we tend to give up. One of the most common causes of failure is the habit of quitting when one is overtaken by temporary defeat. Every person is guilty of this mistake at one time or another.

 

Napoleon Hill mentioned in his book THINK AND GROW RICH: “Before success comes in any man’s life, he is sure to meet with much temporary defeat, and, perhaps, some failure. When defeat overtakes a man, the easiest and most logical thing to do is to quit.” Napoleon went on to describe an uncle (R.U. Darby) who went west to dig for gold. He got his family and many others in back of the expedition, but he found that it was illusive and finally gave up. He was able to sell the mine that he worked on to someone else, but that someone else had perseverance and kept on and in so doing found the vein of gold just three feet from where Darby had left off. How many of us have quit just three feet from victory or success?

 

Sixth, we are to ask for the wisdom of the Holy Spirit, or what is needed at the time of prayer, or in our daily walk; asking for wisdom, authority, power, etc. We can ask the Holy Spirit to give us what is needed at the time of need. Jesus did say, “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!”

 

Sidlow Baxter said: “Men may spurn our appeals, reject our message, oppose our arguments, despise our persons, but they are helpless against our prayers.”

 

 

 

 

The Proverbs 31 Woman – Chapter 22 – Field of Dreams

Posted by & filed under Carols Blog.

Wife and mother, some things must wait while the more important things get done first. So remember this: “The desires of the diligent are fully satisfied.” (Proverbs 13:4)

 

Most of us have been discouraged from dreaming big and have forfeited long-range goals, and maybe because we have not been watchful and faithful, or that careful, with what God has given us in small ways. We have depended on the wrong people and wrong things too. And also, we do not get what we want from God because we don’t plan on using it in the right way that God should help us and bless us.

 

“God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work….You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.” 2 Corinthians 9:8, 11

 

Before I met my husband I never had enough money for all the things I wanted. I’d have every paycheck spent. I accepted any credit card that was offered to me. Just as soon as I made a payment on a credit card I’d be out making purchases up to my credit limit again. I never paid my credit cards off each month to eliminate the added interest. God gave me a husband who thought differently. He took my credit cards away and put me on a budget. He’s had me on a budget ever since and I’m still learning how to work within a budget. Over the earlier years of our marriage this was the main issue of our marital strife. If it wasn’t for our love for the Lord and commitment to our vows – it could’ve split us up – like it does many couples.

 

We’ve ‘both’ learned about ourselves and how foolish it is to blame each other instead of forgive each other, and work on ‘self’ and just keep going with faith in God and His Word.

 

After we had given up on our dream of owning land and building our own home with my own drawn up floor plan design, the Lord told us to start dreaming again 25 years later. One very early morning on December 21st about 3:00 a.m. I was awoke with a startling trumpet call: “December 28th!” Yes, it was just like a loud trumpet blowing out that message. I got up to get in the Word knowing it was from the Lord, but after reading in the Word for an hour, still not knowing what December 28th meant, I fell back to sleep on the couch. Again the trumpet call came and even louder: “DECEMBER 28th!” But, when the trumpet sounded a third time I sensed strongly that God definitely wanted me to know something about “December 28th,” but what was it? December 28th was seven days away.

 

I told my husband and all week we waited on the Lord to reveal what He meant. Then, on the morning of Saturday December 28th, a week later, my husband heard from the Lord: “This is exactly the date and day of the week you both met. I want you to celebrate it and dream like you used to do; do all the things you enjoy doing together today. Celebrate!” So we did. We went for a morning walk, cleaned up, went to breakfast and then went looking at model homes. We ended the day with a movie and dinner.

 

Our ‘almost forgotten’ dream was not forgotten by God. That is one of the amazing things about our Father God. He wants us to dream big, ask Him to help us, and then He wants to enjoy our celebrations with us when we see our dreams come true. So, if you think God doesn’t care about what you care about – you’re very wrong. He put those talents, visions and inspirations in you for you and Him to enjoy. So wait on the Lord; He’s faithful and true!

 

God cares about our dreams more than we do. He’s listening to our thoughts for what will form dreams in us. He takes our ‘considerations’ seriously, much more seriously than we do because He has the power to make anything ‘good’ happen. God thoroughly enjoys helping us prosper and to enjoy the life He’s given us.

 

From the potential we each have been given from our heavenly Father – our dreams come forth, whatever they may be. Sadly, for some their dreams never materialize or come to fruition because there are things that need to get done first. Just like plowing and sowing and watering and weeding need to come before a harvest. All faith-based dreams will materialize and come into completion if we first give ourselves to “first things first.” Don’t forget that next to God, your husband and children are first.

 

“For every activity there is a season, the perfect time for everything under the sun.” Ecclesiastes 3:1

 

God doesn’t give up and He doesn’t forget the important things in our lives. Neither should we give up and forget about our dream. It may not come about as soon as we would like, but you must be ready for it when it does start to happen. During ‘the wait’ God is making you ready for it so that you don’t lose it or use it in the wrong way. When God blesses us or works a miracle for us – He expects us to follow through with what that blessing or miracle was all for, according to His purpose. Fulfilling His purpose is what inspires our dreams and goals, whether we are aware of it at the start or not. God is faithful and God is for us, and God will make a way for the trustworthy dreamer where there doesn’t seem to be a way.

 

Nothing is impossible for God and for the one who trusts in Him and waits on Him.

 

 

Rights! What Rights?

Posted by & filed under Franks Blog.

Rabbi Lapin, like many Rabbis, declare that Hebrew is the Lord’s language and even suggest that this was the language spoken in the beginning. We do know that the Torah and most of the Old Testament was written in Hebrew. Rabbi Lapin goes on to say: “If there is no Hebrew word for something, then that thing does not exist.” The reason that I thought this was interesting is because there is no Hebrew word for the word ‘right,’ that we have in the English language. As a matter of fact, there are many words in the English language that does not exist in Hebrew. (Perhaps this is why there is so much bloviating going on in social media.)

 

According to Jewish Rabbi Lapin, since there is no Hebrew word for ‘right’ in Hebrew then that word or whatever it stands for – does not exist. When we bring this thought into the culture that we have today where all we hear are people clamoring for their rights (whatever they think their rights might be) we need to rethink through all of this.

 

We often hear people on the left saying to others that they have the right ________ (fill in the blank). We need to ask these people, “Who can you call to fulfill that right?  Who can guarantee that right for you?”

 

We have the word ‘right’ in the English language, but it does seem at times that we have many words in the English language that seem to defy logic. Perhaps this is why Hebrew is God’s language, as Rabbi Lapin points out. We could go on to state that if that word is not in the Hebrew language (God’s language) then that thing does not exist. It is not real. Rabbi Lapin has said that there are no word(s) for telephone, telegraph, helicopter, etc. in the Hebrew language, so does that mean they don’t exist?

 

Lapin brings out that there are two types of knowledge in the world: that which changes and that which does not. An example of the knowledge that changes is seen with technology, medicine and science because human beings can accumulate more knowledge of technology, medicine and science as time goes on. BUT the knowledge that does NOT change, according to Rabbi Lapin, would be knowledge of God, humans and earth. These do NOT change, just that we can learn more with our personal knowledge from study about God, humans and earth. 

 

We could argue and say that our Declaration of Independence declares that everybody has the “right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness,” or we could look at the Bill of Rights for American citizens. We know that government here in the United States of America does its best to fulfill these rights, but can only do this according to its ability, and that ability is limited.

 

How many times I have heard people say, “I will.” (Whatever that might be.) For example, they might say: “I will help you.” I am sure that they mean well, but often they fail. Why? Because they do not have the means or power to do what they say they will do. However, this is not true with God. A number of times in the Gospel He says: “I will” and we can be sure that God will do exactly what He says He will do. He says if anyone comes to Him He will accept him; He says if anyone believes in Him, He will raise him up in death, etc. God can do it, because He has the power to do what He says.

 

Rabbi Lapin asked the question: “Where in the Torah is the word ‘right’ being mentioned among the 613 commandments?” However, another word does exist and that is the word ‘obligation.’ For example, does a person have a right to demand charity? NO! But I have an obligation to be charitable. Does the government have a right to take my money and give it to someone else? NO! But I do have an obligation to the poor, needy, widows and orphans. We can carry this thought on further. Does a woman have a right to her own body when it comes to abortion? No, but she has an obligation to how she treats her body and an obligation to the fetus that is growing in her.

 

I have heard over and over again among the ‘immigrants’ that they have a right to enter the United States of America. Again, that is bogus! They do NOT have a right to enter, but they do have an obligation to go through the legal channels in order to enter.

 

The bottom line: We all have obligations, but nobody has a right to anything.

 

In closing, I should mention that there is no Hebrew word for the English word ‘coincidence.’ There is nothing new under the sun. Everything that happens, there is a reason for it and God is able to take it all and, in His Sovereignty, work it out for His good purpose that will prevail.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It’s a Choice

Posted by & filed under Mikes Blog.

 

Where there is justice you will have peace! So do we have peace in America? If you want to know what is in the heart of America just look at where American’s spend their time, and what they spend their money on.

 

Peace does not come from America’s great strength and wealth. It is not because of America’s knowledge that keeps the people safe.

 

When people don’t understand, they treat God’s words like trash, and approve of those who call evil good and good evil.

 

Imagine it! People sacrifice little children by slaughtering them, and call it their right to do so, and then make money by dismembering their little bodies and selling them. Evil! Pure unbelievable evil! How could such a thing ever happen? Therefore, America will reap what it deserves, and will cover its mouth in silent shame having no legal excuse.

 

While America did all this, God remained silent, and you thought He didn’t care. He is waiting for America to come back to the truth, but America is going further with its wicked rebellion. God says in His word He will not be silent any longer, and you will know it! So choose today; will you choose God or will you choose this madness?

 

Young and Old

Posted by & filed under Mikes Blog.

Young men are seen with a future, old men with a history. No man wants to be known as a man with no future, no matter how old he is.

 

It is very important for old men to tell young men of their failures and victories. But, old men need challenges to stay young at heart.  An old man with a valued history and a valued future – is a very powerful man.

 

Old men start to die when their history is not valued and they see no valued future. What is worse is a young man who just exists; who simply lives for the day.

The Proverbs 31 Woman – Chapter 21 – Field of Motherhood

Posted by & filed under Carols Blog.

“May the Lord make you increase, both you and your children. May you be blessed by the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.” Psalms 115:14-15

 

What happens to a girl or woman who has no interest in anything that’s of real value; no worthy field to work in; no worthy dream to go after? She becomes idle. She begins to do worthless things; things she shouldn’t do. Idleness is not the absence of activity; it’s the neglect of doing that which is worthy and about our Father’s business. Paul tells us to warn those who are idle. (1 Thessalonians 5:14) Why the warning?

 

God cares more than we do about our work being an investment towards something greater that glorifies God and His Kingdom. God tells us through Paul’s teaching that wives are wise to settle down and be busy at home helping their husbands, raising their children, and being wise household managers.

 

This “field of motherhood” is the most important for a woman, unless the Lord has chosen her to be unmarried and barren for His purpose. Raising children and caring for elderly parents (incapable of taking care of themselves) are two types of fields a woman can work in, but there are other fields as well that involve abandoned children and neglected widows and elderly people. Let me just say that although there are many fields to work in – as a Christian woman it is very important to know the right field you should be working in if not as a wife and mother. Go to the Lord and wait on Him to show you YOUR field.

 

The field of motherhood has been disregarded by worldly women as worthy of their strength, time and the image they desire to have for themselves. This rich field of motherhood is being overtaken with thorns and thistles especially in America where family is any group of people you want to call “family.”

 

Women are called “mothers of the living,” but they make themselves barren by the way they think and live, doing things to their bodies that should not be done, and with the things they take to prevent having children. The women’s liberation movement in America has done great harm to marriage and family.

 

The world needs more mothers not more madonnas. We don’t need any more wild depraved women telling little girls how to think, behave, work and have fun. Rock stars, movie stars and fashion models do not set the motherhood standard; godly women set the standard; namely those women with the attitude and behavior of the Proverbs 31 Woman.

 

Margaret Sanger with her introduction of birth control, including abortion, has robbed society of the most wonderful human beings. The Lord looks down and is grieved and angered because….. “He looked for justice, but saw bloodshed; for righteousness, but heard cries of distress.” (Isaiah 5:7) If you think that God does not see or hear what goes on in our wombs, in our homes and in the land where we live – you’re shamefully wrong. You will one day face that human being you aborted, and then what will you say?

 

Where or how does a girl or woman learn to mother her children God’s way? How can she be confident that all her labor and sacrifice will not disappoint her in the end, or disappoint her husband, or her adult children? I had a young Christian woman tell me, right after she had her first child, that she was a good mother. It angered her when I responded with: “You won’t know if you’re a good mother until your children are grown.” We want to believe that just because we feel so ‘in love’ with our little angels – that somehow that makes us a good mother.

 

“Wisdom is proved right by her children; wisdom is vindicated by all her children; wisdom is justified by all her children.” Luke 7:35 (various translations)

 

Father God has given all women the perfect guideline to learn and live by in the biblical passage of Proverbs 31:10-31. God’s definition of a woman, of marriage and motherhood has NEVER changed. Satan has deceived women with the same trickery he used on Eve, the first woman; that of leading her husband and challenging God’s Word.

 

It is not right to have a child for someone else as we see in the rise of ‘hired’ surrogates in leasing and employing the wombs of women. This is detestable to God.

 

I hear more and more women saying that they don’t want any children and if they are married their husbands have to go along with it because it’s her body. Really? “Your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20) “The wife’s body does not belong to her alone but also to her husband. In the same way, the husband’s body does not belong to him alone but also to his wife.” (1 Corinthians 7:4)

 

Women have been created with a womb for bringing their own children into the world. Their wombs are not for hire. Sarah wanted to give Abraham his first child, but she was barren at the time. They both had a promise from God that they would have a son, but Sarah didn’t want to wait on the Lord to open her own womb so she used the womb of Hagar, her maid-servant. Like a fool, Abraham went along with it, and the rest is history. The slave-woman’s son (with every generation after) and the free-woman’s son (with every generation after) have been enemies ever since. You just can’t use the womb that way and it not cause serious problems!

 

The only thing that can change a woman’s natural desire for child bearing is the continual unnatural teaching being pounded into her head. Little girls and little boys are now growing up being taught to believe that God made a mistake in the womb with gender selection, and it’s not the gender you are born with but the gender you feel like being – that is the reality. What deception from the devil!

 

A wife does not have the right to deny her husband children, and neither does a husband have the right to deny his wife children. God told husbands and wives to become one in having children as well as one in Christ’s purpose together.

 

We don’t have the right to abort a baby at any stage of life in the womb, and if the doctor tells you it’s you or the baby that can live, go to the Lord instead and hear what HE has to say about.

 

Man-made forms of birth control are harmful to your body and should not be taken or used. God gave us a natural way to know when we can get pregnant and when we can’t. Study that out, instead of studying any other way to prevent you and your husband from having a child. I believe God has permanently shut the wombs of some wives so that they could adopt children.

 

If children are a blessing from the Lord, as the Lord says they are, then why are so many women today just not interested in this field of motherhood; the noblest of all fields? Who are they learning from?

 

We hear about “saving the planet” today by not having any more than one child per family. How ridiculous! So evil! God told us to fear Him, trust Him, and obey what He said to do. He will take care of our future. He is Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End, the Creator and Sustainer of all things He created. What good is it to worry about things we have no control over. If we try to take control of what belongs to the control of our Creator God – we will only cause unlimited trouble for ourselves. I’d say man has caused more trouble in this world by disobeying God than we can find solutions for – apart from humbly going to God with repentance.

Open Borders and the Bible

Posted by & filed under Franks Blog.

I thought it was interesting to hear of “open border” advocates quoting the Bible to advance their agenda. It is also interesting that these same people will show contempt for the rest of Scripture when it doesn’t fit their agenda.

 

I agree that we do need to go to Scripture, because I believe that it does throw light on some of the hot issues that we are faced with today. Unlike the open border crowd who would use or try to use Scripture to shut down the opposition, we need to use Scripture rightly interpreted to show us the way to go.

 

The Scripture that the open border crowd uses is Leviticus 19:33-34 “And if a stranger dwells with you in your land, you shall not mistreat him.  The stranger who dwells among you shall be to you as one born among you, and you shall love him as yourself; for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.” (NKJV) The key word in this passage is the word “stranger” and in the original Hebrew it is “ger,” meaning “resident alien.” It is the same word used by the U.S. for a foreigner who is a legal resident.

 

The King James Version of the Bible defines ‘stranger’ as a man of “non-Israelite birth” being a resident in the Promise Land with the permission of the authorities. In other words, this is a privilege granted by the host nation, it was not an assumed right.

 

As with all people we should be kind to the alien when we see them suffering, thirsty, hungry, etc. Matthew 25: 31-40 brings this out. But if we are going to be Scriptural isn’t it right to let the authorities know about the ‘illegal’ alien among us, otherwise we are just as guilty in breaking the law.

 

God never condones ‘lawlessness’ against ‘just laws.’ Some might say that the laws we have protecting our borders are not just laws, but I would tend to disagree. An unjust law is one that goes against God’s higher laws. An example of this would be Nazi Germany in violating God’s higher law. However, is it an unjust law when USA has laws to protect our borders as well as our citizens? We can improve our laws to make them work better for the good of society, but laws that protect our borders are not unjust.

 

Romans 13:1-3 says: “Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same.”

 

Proverbs 28:4 is interesting in this regard: “Those who forsake the law praise the wicked, but such as keep the law contend with them.” This reminds me of what Isaiah said: “Justice is turned back, and righteousness stands afar off; for truth is fallen in the street, and equity cannot enter. So truth fails, and he who departs from evil makes himself a prey.” (Isaiah 59:14-15) Is our culture moving in this direction?

 

If we do not have strong borders then we have no nation.  Is this what God has ordained. 677 times in the Bible ‘nation’ is mentioned in the context of destiny for each nation. “And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their pre-appointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings.” Acts 17:26

 

When it came to the division of Israel among the tribes we read: “When the Most High divided their inheritance to the nations, when He separated the sons of Adam, He set the boundaries of the peoples according to the number of the children of Israel.” Deuteronomy 32:8

 

We see that God reserved the Promise Land for Israel and separated or divided the land into 13 sections (set boundaries). Two or three hundred years before Abraham we have the original division of the earth according to the sons of Noah. “These were the families of the sons of Noah, according to their generations, in their nations; and from these the nations were divided on the earth after the flood.” Genesis 10:32

 

The bottom line is that immigration laws must be respected and obeyed. Yes, I agree that they can be improved and through the ballot box we can put into office people who will work to improve them.

 

 

 

 

The Proverbs 31 Woman – Chapter 20 – She Considers a Field

Posted by & filed under Carols Blog.

“She considers a field and buys it; out of her earnings she plants a vineyard.” Proverbs 31:16

 

I believe that the greatest wonder of life is God’s miracle of ‘growth.’ It’s a miracle because only God can make things grow. (1 Corinthians 3:7-8) God created everything in full form and with seed for everything (animal, plant and human) to continue on forever. God created with eternity in mind, and He has set eternity in the heart of man.

 

A field that is considered has the potential of producing something of substance and of value. Today, not too many people get to own land outright and have fields to build and plant in. They have lost that ‘God-given’ right because of wicked rulers with all their greed, regulations and penalties for going against the systems of the wicked. Those who do own land for farming and crops have been slowly denied what they need to produce and prosper. When farmers prosper nations are fed as well as the family of the farmer.

 

Why would God require it of us to prosper if not so that we are able to feed and care for our own family as well as have more than enough to provide for others in their time of need? (Exodus 23:10-11)

 

Productivity of fields has decreased and one reason is because of government control. Another very key reason for this is that some farmers do not obey what God said to do for their fields. Every seventh year the farmer is not to sow seed, but to let the land rest from its work, just like we are to do every seventh day and like our Creator did on the seventh day. (Exodus 23:10-11 and Leviticus 25:2-13) For those who obey God in this, He promises them a hearty harvest in the sixth year that will carry them through the next three years. Imagine that. Some farmers do rest their fields by dividing up their land so that each part alternately gets its rest the seventh year, while the others yield.

 

“Follow my decrees and be careful to obey my laws, and you will live safely in the land. Then the land will yield its fruit, and you will eat your fill and live there in safety. You may ask, ‘What will we eat in the seventh year if we do not plant or harvest our crops?’ I will send you such a blessing in the sixth year that the land will yield enough for three years. While you plant during the eighth year, you will eat from the old crop and will continue to eat from it until the harvest of the ninth year comes in.’” Leviticus 25:18-24

 

The proper nutrients in food is lacking because the fields never rest. Thus, people have physical problems. God’s way is the best way and when we live according to His laws and principles we are blessed in every way.

 

God’s wisdom for growth in all forms of life is for the eternal continuation of human life.

 

The further away the world gets from God’s laws and principles the less we have in life; the less to sustain us and the less to enjoy in life. The quality of life for all peoples diminishes in proportion to ignorance and rebellion to God. When Jesus returns to reign on the earth all of God’s laws and principles will be re-established, executed, employed and engaged by all. Under Christ’s rule the quality of life will continuously improve. His standard will begin to fill every place and purpose of man’s life on the earth, and even beyond the earth because the eternal life of human reproduction can’t be contained on one planet alone. God has created the universe without any boundaries. Planets were created and sustained by God and for His future purpose of life eternal. If we proudly think that WE can go up in space to make a planet livable, before it’s time, we are fools and ever so wasteful of the resources and strength it uses up.

 

What do you think God brought down the system of man called the “Tower of Babel” that is recorded in His Word (the Bible)? Man was been trying to do what God didn’t tell him to do; what God even condemns doing. Man disobeyed God’s simple command to multiple and fill the earth; to worship Him only. Every system of mankind will be destroyed with the return of Jesus Christ. That means systems such as internet technology and all the different kinds of insurances and loans and schools. Just to name a few.

 

No mind can conceived what our God has planned for those who love Him! So why not just do what He has said to do and wait for Him to fulfill His own promises to us?

 

The fields of God’s people are many, and most are not producing like they could and should. We have far too many distractions, idols and hindrances that keep us from all the various harvests and from celebrating them and enjoying them just like the Lord told us to.

 

A field is also your marriage, your family, a piece of land, an empty building, your children’s growth in the Lord, the ministry God gives you, a neighbor who has lost everything, a people’s group, a government seat of leadership, the books God needs you to write, your art, your craft, caring for orphans or widows, etc., and the list goes on. A seed is something that when sown will produce that which is good and plentiful of its kind. A seed is also a faithful word of encouragement or instruction, your prayers, a gift, a financial donation, etc. God is for you to produce and prosper in every way.

 

“Sow your seed in the morning, and at evening let not your hands be idle, for you do not know which will succeed, whether this or that, or whether both will do equally well.” Ecclesiastes 11:6

 

Our heavenly Father has provided all the various fields and He has all the seed we need to start any with, just for the asking if your field is honorable.  A field is what you see potential in for something good to grow up and benefit your family and others. When you consider a field you might see something there that others don’t see.  It’s very possible that the reason no one else sees what you see is because your heavenly Father has reserved that field for YOU; it belongs to you only.

 

I remember the first winter after the first harvest of my humble field out back. It was just a small vegetable garden at that time. I opened up the pantry of all the jarred food I had stored there (from out of my garden) and saw how my God had blessed me with a hearty harvest. For such a little space of land I produced a good amount of food for our family of six. I was able to give some away. It fulfilled me to see that I was able to feed my family from out of my own field.

 

The Proverbs 31 Woman gives consideration to what she puts her finances to. She puts a lot of thought into her purchases and investments because she always has the good of her husband and children in mind as to how it will benefit her family, and others. She considers a field and how to invest in her field of interest so that she and her family have something later in life that financially and eternally keeps producing.

 

My husband used to get upset when I would spend money he didn’t want me to spend. He eventually came to understand that how I think is not the same as how he thinks, and what I see as ‘needs’ is not always what he thinks is a need. It takes time and a lot of passionate (heated) conversations to become one in all things. It takes a lot of patience, prayer and self-denial too. We will never think in the same way, but as we obey God’s order for marriage and family – we can be united in how we spend and invest.

 

I believe wastefulness, as well as impatience, greed and discontentment, adds to unnecessary financial debt so that our ‘earnings’ never provide an opportunity to invest (plant) in a field. Investing is wise; whenever you sow a seed of ‘whatever kind’ you are capitalizing on its potential to grow and produce a hundred-fold.

 

“Be patient….until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop and how patient he is for the autumn and spring rains. You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord’s coming is near.” James 5:7-9

 

Government and Church

Posted by & filed under Franks Blog.

When we think about the immigration problem today confronting us we need to think through the biblical aspect on the role of the government and the church, and what that entails. They are different, but also in some ways conflicting when it comes to immigration. We as God’s people need to give serious thought to this issue.

 

We as Christians are commanded by God to care about the orphans, widows, strangers (aliens) in our land. We are told in Leviticus 19:33-34 “And if a stranger dwells with you in your land, you shall not mistreat him. The stranger who dwells among you shall be to you as one born among you, and you shall love him as yourself; for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.”

 

It is obvious from this and many other Scriptures how we as Christians and the church as a whole need to be concerned and how to treat aliens in our midst. However, what about the legal status of the aliens in our country? That is another question, and brings out two different things when it comes to the alien in our midst.

 

We need to always keep in mind that the church and government have two different roles. The government’s role is to preserve order and do-justice. It was St. Augustine who said: “Peace flows from order,” and enforcing the law is very important in promoting order and peace.

 

It is important that immigrants come in, but it must be in an orderly, legal fashion. Also, we must also imply as well that employers cannot be allowed to continue to ignore the law against hiring illegals. It would seem to me that if we do not enforce the law then we are teaching millions of people a terrible lesson that law does not matter.  I would dare to say – failure to enforce the law has created the problem that we have today.

 

Those of us who live in the USA must understand that one of the reasons why we have an economy made strong is because of the rule of law.

 

Martin Luther said: “Unjust law is no law at all.” I concur. To secure our borders and provide orderly process for immigrants is a just law and the church needs to respect the law even while we administer aid, compassion and love to those in our midst.

 

AMERICA vs. GLOBALISM

Posted by & filed under Franks Blog.

What we have today is America versus Globalism. Do we have a nation with or without borders? Basically, it boils down to whether we have sovereign nations or that all nations become one.

 

Two things that have happened in the Western World are shaking the ideology of globalism: Brexit (when England pulled out of the European Union) and the election of Donald Trump with his populist views of building a wall and maintaining borders, and even now with Italy’s referendum that resulted in the Prime minister stepping down.

 

However, what is important for me is: What does the Scripture say? Does God have anything to say about globalism and sovereign nations? Does history really repeat itself?

 

Satan is not omnipotent or omniscient and so over a period of time he does repeat himself in trying to keep mankind enslaved.

 

Genesis 11:1-4 “Now the whole world had one language and a common speech. As men moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinar and settled there. They said to each other, ‘Come, let’s make bricks and bake them thoroughly.’ They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar. Then they said, ‘Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of the whole earth.’”

 

Here we have “one people,” “one language,” and a purpose that to “not to be scattered over the face of the earth” as God said. Here we have a ‘one world government’ (what I would call globalism today). We often talk about history repeating itself and I think with globalism that this is what is taking place today. We are coming back to ‘one people,’ ‘one language,’ and to trying to come back to ‘one place’ of all together under one world government.

 

With Tower of Babel we had a tyrant named Nimrod who ruled with his elite group and with ‘globalism’ we have the same thing: a ruling elite over the rest of society. Is this what we want? Is this God’s plan? According to God’s Word, we do know that there will be a man that will come, and for a short time bring together one government for the whole world, but it will not last long.

 

What was God’s response to all of this? It was to scatter the people over the face of the earth. He broke them down into different languages, different races of families, and put them into different parts of the world.

 

What was God’s plan? Genesis 12 shows us that God chose one man, Abraham, blessed him and made a nation out of him called Israel, and through Israel the Redeemer would come (has come) and through this Redeemer comes His salvation to the other people groups in the world (races of families).

 

Paul is speaking and he says this: “From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. ‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’” Acts 17:26-28

 

So, what do we find with this passage of Scripture? God made all the different family groups or ethnic groups, the nations of the world. He had a time for them all. I see this with America. God had a plan. After Columbus discovered America God kept everyone else out until the Pilgrims were ready whom God was preparing in Europe through the forge of fire and persecution. When they were ready they came and settled the land.

 

Christian Life and Character of the Civil Institutions of the United States written about the time of the Civil War by Benjamin Morris states: “The persecutions of the Puritans in England for non-conformity, and the religious agitations and conflicts in Germany by Luther, in Geneva by Calvin, and in Scotland by Knox, were the preparatory ordeals for qualifying Christian men for the work of establishing the civil institutions on the American continent. ‘God sifted,’ in these conflicts, ‘a whole nation, that he might send choice grain over into this wilderness;’ and the blood and persecution of martyrs became the seed of both the church and the state. They were trained in stormy times, in order to prepare them to elaborate and establish the fundamental principles of civil and religious liberty and of just systems of civil government.”

 

In this we see Acts 17 being carried out how God planned the times and the exact place where they should be. Why?   “So that men would seek Him and perhaps reach out for Him and find Him.”

 

Is this God’s plan today with the mass of immigrants that are flooding the West? Yes, but we have been told to go into all the world and bring the Gospel. Is this God’s plan to bring them to the West where they do not know the language, customs, etc. and then win them to Christ? Yes, that is one of the things that we should be doing with local churches, but I am not sure if this is “God’s plan,” because the people coming in bring in the possibility of our country becoming “Balkanized.” This is what we have seen with the former Yugoslavia and even the Middle East when the powers to be after WWI and WWII divided the Middle East in ways that were not conducive to the different family groups. And now we see the carnage taking place.

 

This does not mean that we do not accept refugees (we accepted hundreds of thousands from the former Soviet Union), but it does mean that they ‘should’ get indoctrinated with our value system, our Constitution, our language, etc., or we too will become Balkanized.

 

Eventually we could be broken up into many little countries instead of being the United States of America. Balkanization will do the same thing. It might take a little longer, but if left unchecked it will happen.

 

God’s plan: We, His disciples, are told to go and bring the Gospel to the ends of the earth.