By: Hanny Lynn
Stearns
Fish N Loaves Ministries, Inc.
“Multiplying God’s Word Around the
Globe”
September 26, 2016
Changing Our Priorities
Isaiah 55:1-2
“Ho! Everyone who thirsts,
Come to the waters;
And you who have no money,
Come, buy and eat.
Yes, come, buy wine and milk
Without money and without price.
2 Why do you spend money for what is not bread,
And your wages for what does not satisfy?
Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good,
And let your soul delight itself in abundance.
Come to the waters;
And you who have no money,
Come, buy and eat.
Yes, come, buy wine and milk
Without money and without price.
2 Why do you spend money for what is not bread,
And your wages for what does not satisfy?
Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good,
And let your soul delight itself in abundance.
Today we get to learn more from Hanny’s mistakes! Glory
to God anyway! The verse noted as the main verse above is what the Lord showed
me yesterday after church – but I did not stop what I was doing long enough to
see what He was trying to say to me. I did however leave my Bible open so I
could find out today. It was a day late!
I knew something was wrong yesterday when I had
symptoms of that old spirit of infirmity that use to plague me so consistently.
I wondered what had brought that on. I did not question it too much yesterday. (Should
have!) After coming home from church I got busy preparing for my upcoming trip
to Branson, MO. Normally Sunday is a Sabbath Day of rest in the Lord. Church
and rest and time in the word. But not for me yesterday. I made the wrong
choice and use of my time.
Rather than getting alone with the Lord right after
lunch and a short nap, I busied myself with packing. Wrong move! And I know
better. I turned to the Isaiah verse in my office and then kept going about my
duties. This morning I got tangled up in more “catch up” work with bookkeeping
which further delayed my personal time with the Lord. Today I felt even worse
than yesterday physically. I began to seek the Lord. I asked Him, “Lord, what
did I do to open the door for the enemy to attack me?” As I began to open the
scriptures and then pray in the spirit and spend time with Him, He showed me.
On Saturday I was too busy to stop for lunch and the
voice of the enemy, the tempter came saying, “Why not just have a smoothine for
lunch? It will be quick and easy. You can eat half a fruit serving since you
only had half for breakfast.” This sounded reasonable to me at the moment, so
that is what I did. There are two things to consider with this. First, I have a
specific food plan. I know exactly what the Lord wants me to eat, and what He
doesn’t want me to eat. That’s fine. I am allowed 1 fruit on the plan per day.
But… there is a “but” here. Recently the Lord told me to cut it in half. I knew
that He did, and I don’t have amnesia. Did I consider this on Saturday before I
ate the smoothie with half a fruit serving? No! Here came the enemy.
Even though the whole fruit serving is normally
allowed, God had made an adjustment to the plan which means I needed to obey
it. But I caved in to the temptation. Here’s what the Lord showed me again
about this today…
Nahum 1:15a
Behold, on
the mountains the feet of him who brings good tidings, who
proclaims peace! O Judah, keep your appointed feasts, perform your vows.
I am supposed to keep my word with Him. Here’s some
more…
1 Corinthians 10:13
13 No temptation has overtaken you except such as is
common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted
beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of
escape, that you may be able to bear it.
Matthew 26:41
Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The
spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
I
neglected to pray about the temptation when it came.
Acts
14:22b
“We must through many tribulations enter the
kingdom of God.”
The way into the kingdom of God is not by going down “easy street!” It
is hard work – just ask the Master.
How did the word work for me today? It convicted me,
or, said another way, it convinced me that I need to change some things,. Not
only my eating but my priorities! I am telling you that everywhere I turned in
the word the Lord’s words to me were jumping off the pages into my heart! He
was sending me some strong messages to make sure I got it. When I tried to go
on the computer before seeing all this He caused the internet to go a bit
haywire. I could not get into the Bible Gateway. It kept popping open aditional
pages and would not allow me to type anything in. I knew I had to just shut it
down. God was not done talking to me yet!
If a person will pay attention, the Lord will speak,
mightily! He was to me today, as everyday. Praise His name forever!
Here’s some more…
Nahum 1:3b
The Lord has His
way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of His feet.
With me, I have asked the Lord to have His way. That is
the desire of my heart. I want to live for Him and crucify my flesh. That’s why
I experience mornings like this one! Next, I saw this after having quoted it out
of my mouth earlier today or yesterday – I am not sure now…
1 Corinthians 9:24-27
24 Do you not know that those who run in a race all
run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it.25 And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown. 26 Therefore I run thus: not with uncertainty. Thus
I fight: not as one who beats the air. 27 But I discipline my body and bring it into
subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become
disqualified.
I have to run this race to win. I decree it everyday, “I
am running my race to win.” I am not going to settle for anything less!
Additionally, if I want to be used to minister to you, or anyone, I have to
keep my flesh under. Otherwise, I will be useless for affecting others as the
Lord directs. That would be TERRIBLE TO ME! I thought about the Isaiah verse. I
know this well (in my head). But did I really know (experience) this in my
heart this weekend?
When I spend my time and energy on things other than
the Lord – especially when I put those things before Him, I will starve
spiritually. Yesterday He was calling me to come and listen to Him so my soul
could delight itself with abundance. That would have been the best choice I
could have made with my time! I could have fed on the really good, top shelf
stuff with Him! After doing that, He would have multiplied my time in
completing the other necessary tasks He knows I have to do.
Here is another set of verses I opened to…
Matthew 26:6-13
6 And when Jesus was in Bethany at the house of
Simon the leper, 7 a woman came to Him having an alabaster flask
of very costly fragrant oil, and she poured it on His head as He sat at the table. 8 But when His disciples saw it, they were indignant, saying, “Why
this waste? 9 For this fragrant oil might have been sold for
much and given to the poor.”
10 But when Jesus was aware of it, He said to them, “Why do you trouble the woman? For
she has done a good work for Me. 11 For you have the poor with you
always, but Me you do not have always. 12 For in pouring this fragrant oil on
My body, she did it for My burial. 13 Assuredly, I say to you, wherever
this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also
be told as a memorial to her.”
What did this woman do for Jesus that was so special?
She poured outr her best for Him! She gave Him the good stuff – the costly,
expensive stuff, not some cheap leftovers. Friends, our time with Him is a
priceless comodity. Once the time is gone we can never get it back. If I had
asked the Lord on Saturday if I should have that smoothine with the fruit, He
would have gladly answered me and redirected me to a better idea. He does every
other time I ask and wait for my answer. Then Sunday came and I ran to my
chores instead to His side. I took a very cheap substitute.
Because of my
disobedience I opened the door to the enemy and now I have had to spend two
days not feeling well. This does not please the Lord to see His children
suffer. The enemy wants to steal, kill and destroy. He had no way in until I
caved in to the temptation. Once I did that, he came in with the spirit of
infirmity. God is a righteous Judge. When we sin, He can’t stop the devil from
bringing destruction into our lives in one way or another. We can’t blame God!
The fault is our own when we do not obey. Here is another key verse in the
Bible that sums this up nicely…
Isaiah 1:19-20
If you are
willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land; but if
you refuse and rebel, you shall be devoured by the sword”; for
the mouth of the Lord has spoken.
It doesn’t get any clearer than this, does it?
Rebellion is of the devil and will bring his destruction. We will be devoured.
Our money, property, our bodies – you name it. But if we are both willing (very
important) and obedient to what the Lord is telling us, then we will eat the
best of the land. In other words, we will have the best, wear the best, eat the
best, feel the best – glory to God. Obedience brings blessings.
It is only by the Holy Spirit power that I have come so
far in this thing with food. I believe I am healed of addiction to food and
sugar. I messed up and sinned this weekend, but I was on the floor repenting
this morning, I assure you! When I say, “I repent!” it means that I am going to
do things differently. Just saying it means nothing. If one reads the entire
chapter of Isaiah 1, we can see how tired of our words God gets. He wants to
see action, not a bunch of meaningless words. Can we blame Him? Certainly not.
Well friends, after all of that, the Lord came around
to assure me that I had confessed and He had forgiven me. And after that He
reminded me to forgive myself and go on as if nothing had happened. Then He
brought me these verses…
Jeremiah 29:11
For I know the thoughts that I think toward you,
says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and
a hope.
Jeremiah 31:3
The Lord has appeared of old to me, saying: “Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love;
therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you.
Isaiah 66:13
As one whom
his mother comforts, so I will comfort you; and you shall be
comforted in Jerusalem.”
When I saw these words I felt very comforted by my
Daddy in heaven. Once we get corrected He comes right back around to remind us
how very much He loves us. If He didn’t love us He would not be working on our
behalf to get us to straighten up and walk rightly in all His ways – praise His
name forever. What a good God He really, really is! Finally, He showed me this
verse…
Matthew
13:23
23 But he who
received seed on the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it, who
indeed bears fruit and produces: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.”
Friends, we want to bear
fruit, don’t we? I have heard the word today. Through Holy Spirit I have been
enlightened on what the Lord was saying to me. This in addition to hearing Him
speak directly to my heart. He wants me to do the right thing so He can use me
to bless others. He wants that for you too. This is a sure example of working
the word. The Lord used it to work changes in my heart. If I had not stopped to
see what He was trying to say, He would have allowed me to walk right on by and
miss it all – that would be very SADD-U-CEE! He wants to make our lives great.
Let’s work the word together and see the great results that He will bring,
amen?!
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