Twig and Toadstool: Fern & Flower Adorned Eggs

Twig and Toadstool: Fern & Flower Adorned Eggs

I write this to the Church worldwide and to believers everywhere ~ to strengthen her (the church), that she
may be without spot or blemish, in order that we may profess we love the Father and are His Church without bringing damnation onto ourselves or making a mockery of His words, His ways, His tremendous sacrifice for us. That we many do battle with the enemy and be victorious time and time again; so that the Father may get the glory time and time again; so that our children’s children will have clear lines to live by; that these lines have been divided perfectly and clearly by the sword of God’s word, so that the excuses used for continuing in sin will be looked at through biblical eyes, rather than justified by our world view.

In the days not so long ago, whenever you spoke to someone, you knew right away which side of the law they were on. Sometimes the outlaws would even be offended if there wasn’t a high enough bounty on their head. Today we get offended just to have a bounty on our head. The world today wants to profess goodness and righteousness on the outside and yet have all kinds of unrighteousness, filth and sin on the inside. This attitude has permeated the religious world as well. There is so much sin and corruption present in today's religious body’s, you almost can’t believe someone when they say, “I am a Christian” or “I love God”. This is an abomination! We should hate this! This should make us want to wage war on the enemy. This should make us WANT there to be NO mistake when someone meets us as to which side of the fence we are on. We should be very concerned about doing things that would even have an appearance of questionable content or have questionable behaviors. We should want to stand well above reproach in all things and be very concerned about the wrath of the Father, especially for those that claim Him. The Bible says He will “spew” you out of His mouth and it would be better if you were never born and I believe it. Christ was very clear to the ones who profess (ed) and “acted” the part, but didn’t “do”. He said , “Woe unto you”. I pray that none will ever hear those words, but I am afraid that if He were still here walking on this earth, most would have heard them already. When He walked among us, the dividing lines were clear and simple. Today they are muddled, mixed with partial truths and made to look “okay”, by standards that the world has set and not God.



Let us examine the scriptures with fear, reverence, a heart of obedience and not be so lackadaisical or have a “I’ll do what is convenient” attitude. There is a movement among religion today, that God is “all loving”, and while it IS true, God is a loving Father (who else would sacrifice their own Son to a cruel death for us?), let us not forget Sodom and Gomorrah and Lot’s wife, who was told not to look back, but she did anyway and POW, just like that she was turned into a pillar of salt! Yes, He is a very loving God, and yes, you better watch out if you think you can continue and continue to not obey all of His word. Not just part of it most of the time. I am a father and I know how it upsets me to have one of my children say they have done something or say they “are” doing something, when really, it is only partially true.

Let’s assume that we have come to the Lord with repentance, with a Godly sorrow, (2 Cor. 7: 8-13) and let;s assume that we have decided to put away our old self and put on Christ ~ Now we have our sins forgiven and are starting with a clean slate, holy in Gods eyes , now what do we do? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? God forbid! (Romans 6: 1-2). This is the place where we fail to teach the new convert of the extraordinary event that has just taken place in their life ~ We try to soften the conviction that the spirit uses to guide the convert. Our pastors and preachers are glossing over the issue of sin. We often overlook the seriousness of sin and what the bible says about it. The bible says in 1 John 3: 1-11, Whosoever abideth in Him sinneth not, whosoever sinneth hath not known Him. What is usually told the new convert is: “There ~ there, now it will be okay”; when really we need to stop and let the conviction lead them again to a godly sorrow and again lead them back to repentance; because… it is not okay, sin is what separates us from God, in Him there is no sin and in His home there is no sin, and if we want to spend eternity with Him, how can we still be a sinner? Will we be able to repent of that last sin just before we die, so that we can enter in? Or, will we be eternally separated? In Matthew 5:30, the bible talks about cutting off your hand if it offends you, that’s pretty serious, but I suppose it really expresses the importance of keeping our fellowship with Him above board, clear and in the light.

The bible also says in 1 John chapters 1 and 2, that if we walk as He walked, we can abide in Him, we can have fellowship with him… If we have darkness (or sin), we can’t. We will only THINK we can and are lying to ourselves. It also tells us, that if we think we have no sin, we lie and the truth is not in us, this scripture is in complete contrast to all the other scriptures describing how Jesus saves us from and delivers us from our sin… There fore this MUST be referring to , while we are YET a sinner, not a Christian but before the “truth” was in us.



Something that scares me… and it scares me even more knowing it is rarely heard from the pulpit, is Hebrews 10:26-27, If you sin willfully after having the knowledge of the truth there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins. But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries… Okay, so we know that God thinks, that if we are not for Him, we are against Him or even more clear; if we aren’t serving Him, then our “Father” is the devil. He says that in His word. Would this make us an adversary? Could we be devoured just because we continued in sin? Would He consider our “father” His enemy? Could He grow weary of us taking Christ back to the cross over and over thus taking his forgiveness for granted? Remember what God said, shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God Forbid! The bible also tells us in Eph 5:3, but fornication, and all uncleanness or covetous, let it not be named ONCE among you as becometh Saints.. You see the world doesn’t allow the sword to divide the word properly. Right here would put judgment and conviction on most, if it were allowed to do it’s work and if it were preached from the pulpits across the world. Christ came to free us from our sin (Romans 6: 18-22), to save sinners (1 Tim 1:15), we can live victoriously, we can walk just as Jesus walked, free from sin. In James 1:26-27, it says our religion is vain if it is not pure. Well, what is pure? We don’t have to think very much to answer that question. We are told in 1 Peter 2: 21 and on, to follow His example~ He had no sin, no guile in His mouth and when he suffered He threatened not… and in 1 Thess 3:13, God says, His will is for us to live holy. He also says in 1 John 5: 17-18, Whosoever is born of God, sinneth not. He says in Romans 8, that we now have no condemnation, we are free, that sinful nature is gone, that if we are led by the spirit we are the sons of God.

Today, I thank God, that someone had the courage to preach it like it is and not pull any punches. I was shown that I could be freed from sin and the bondage of sin AND even the bondage of the thought “I will always be a sinner”. The spirit has made many things clear and simple to me, in the bible, it talks about two kinds of people repeatedly: The sinner and the saint. We all fall into one category or the other. I think there is one thing that God really really hates, the one who is lukewarm (the bible says it is so), the one who professes but doesn’t live it. This is when the “spew outs” and the woe’s unto you” come. He doesn’t even get THAT graphic with the one yet still lost deep in sin.



Preachers, lets build up His kingdom! Let’s let our yea be yea and our no be no. Let’s erase the gray area and go with what pleases God. He gave so much for us, let’s not rub it in His face that we don’t appreciate it like we should. Let’s not take advantage of His forgivness time and time again. Preach hard the putting away of the old self. preach hard what is expected of us. Preach hard that God does’nt save us and then have a “free ride” from then on ~ the cost is high, but nothing compared to what has already been freely given to us. Preach hard that His kingdom in Heaven is made up of His people here on earth, and which of us can actually picture it being made up of sinners? Not even one sinner, not even one sin gets to spend eternity with God ~ His saints do. Whatsoever shall be loosed on earth , shall be loosed in Heaven, Matt 18:18. Preach hard what sin is, Preach hard the difference between the spirit and the flesh, the spiritual man and the carnal man, human nature and spiritual nature ~ show that we can make mistakes that derive directly from our HUMANITY and it not be sin. God made us human and there is certain characteristics that are inherent just as with the animals in the animal kingdom. The bible teaches us that God can save us from our” SINFUL NATURE” Yet we will retain our humanity, which means yes, we will act like humans. and yes you may find yourself tired and caught off guard and snap at a loved one etc. Preach freedom from the pulpit. Preach judgement from the pulpit, let conviction fall hard on the sinner and even harder on the lukewarm.



Elders, Pastors, watchmen, overseerers… Carefully look after the flock, pray for the spirit to guide you, carry a burden that not one sheep be lost and if one be, leave the rest and go and get him, bring him back to the safety of the fold. Snuff out backbiting, gossip and divisions, from the pulpit even, make the standard of living and of modesty, God’s standard. Let the spirit dwell among you and seperate the chaff from the wheat. Let Him add the increase…

Start with yourselves, pray that we see Jesus only, pray SEARCH ME oh God, pray for wisdom. Pierce the hearts of men with God’s word when you preach, let conviction stir the people, make them move, make them uncomfortable in theirs ways, if they be sinful. Children’s countenance and happiness is always best after they have done something wrong, become sorry for it and get the proper correction for it ~ then it is over, in the past, they can forget about it, their conscience in now clear. On the other hand, if they don’t have someone to correct them, they will often continue with the behavior and be just plain ol’ nasty about it. It is the same with adults, we need correction, we need to be chastised, this is how we learn and grow. Where do we get this correction from ? From Gods word. What usually happens? We read it, or hear it, we examine it for a minute and then we say, yea but, or we justify ourselves by everyone elses behavior/ standard. I guess I don’t need to change here, because everyone else does this. We only rise to our highest example. Now, if , although not very popular, (but very encouraging if you are truly seeking) we preach the pure word of God,not a partial or watered down word, there will be conviction in the hearts of the sinner. Keep preaching it out until he is sick of himself and his ways.and it becomes too much to bear any longer and he is compelled to get rid of it,to repent of it, compelled to follow the same process as the children, only with the Father. Soon there will be a people that stands clear before God, a people that wont want to grieve the Spirit, a people that will carry each others burdens, a people that seek the truth and only want to grow in Christ, a people that will pray for and support the ministry, a people that will encourage each other, daily. It all starts from the pulpit, Gods ways have become muddled, twisted up, and distorted, mostly to satisfy our desires of who WE think God should be, and what portions of His word WE think fits into OUR lives. God forbid ! Let us go to God with everything and every word we read let us ask him to direct our thoughts and understand it the way HE wants.
I pray for the Church worldwide, his people, that we get back to basics, that we keep our standards high, that we don’t become content with what we have, we strive and strive for more. I pray that we don”t let the enemy into our churches, keep him out of our pews and aisles, let our focus be on Christ, let us not be distracted with what she is wearing or, who is talking to who, or whats for lunch, lets engage in worship, prayer, songs, praise, the Word. I pray it begins in the pulpit, spreads to the homes, schools, that we return to having clear lines of right and wrong, it becomes an automatic no when someone proposes we take God out of our schools, or off our money, or we want same sex marriages, or any other law that is contrary to our Creators law, this is His world !No thought has to even go into it, it is just no, or even better, not even brought up for we know what the answer will be. I pray this exhortation pours out Gods conviction on many, and our alters begin to fill with repentant souls, that not one invitation goes unanswered, in Jesus” Holy name I pray. Amen