All posts by Jessica Clark

Limiting God

Posted on Jun 16, 2022 | Download

And He said to them, “Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses.” (Luke 12:15 ) "And which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? IF YOU THEN ARE NOT ABLE TO DO THE LEAST, WHY ARE YOU ANXIOUS FOR THE REST? (Luke 12:25-26) Do not seek what you should eat or what you should drink, NOR HAVE AN ANXIOUS MIND. For all these things the nations of the world seek after, and your Father knows that you need these things. But seek the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added to you. Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell what you have and give alms; provide yourselves money bags which do not grow old, A TREASURE IN THE HEAVENS THAT DOES NOT FAIL, where no thief approaches nor moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."(Luke 12:29-34)  Covetousness “is an insatiable desire for worldly gain.” Covetousness is an insatiable desire to find fulfillment, meaning and purpose in things, instead of in God. The spirit of covetousness leads to and is the mother of many other sins. [Ex:] Coveting another man's wife leads to adultery (2 Sam. 11:4,5).—James Cagle: The Valdosta Daily Times At the heart of covetousness is idolatry, and at the root of idolatry is unbelief. Unbelief is the basis for all sin-when we choose not to take God at His Word, there is unbelief steeped within our hearts. His Word says that He will provide for our every need if we will seek Him first! That is a promise we can take to the bank. So many times though, we expect all of His promises without fulfilling the conditions, or we just don’t trust that God will hold up His end. The result: anxiety/fear and anger. These emotions are a check engine light for our hearts. My #1 question to myself when I’m feeling anxiety/fear or anger is “Am I abiding in Jesus?” To abide means “1 : to remain stable or fixed in a state. 2 : to continue in a place : will abide in the house of the Lord.” If I’ve been abiding in Jesus, then I’ve remained stable in His Word and in prayer and fixed my eyes on Him (Hebrews 12:2 and Romans 12:1-2). If I’ve been abiding in Jesus, then I’ve continuously, faithfully come into the House of The Lord (Hebrews 10:25) and walked in loving community with His precious Body (because the eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you.” 1 Corinthians 12:21). If we love and want to abide in Jesus, then we cannot neglect fellowship with His Body, the Church! Christ is the Head, yet no one would ever say, “I only need the head and not the body.” How often they provoked Him in the wilderness, And grieved Him in the desert! Yes, again and again they tempted God, AND LIMITED THE HOLY ONE OF ISRAEL. (Psalm 78:40-41) Psalm 78 recaps much of Israel’s history and all the mighty miracles God worked on their behalf through the Exodus and in the wilderness: He split the Red Sea in two. When they had no water, God made water gush from the rock. When they complained for meat because they had no gratitude for the manna, God provided more meat than they could consume, but because of their covetousness, complaining, and craving, it became sour and a plague broke out. And yet after all these things, the people still tested God with their unbelief. “Would He provide this, and that, and then another thing?” “Wouldn’t it have been better if we’d remained slaves in Egypt?” “There are giants in the Promised Land!” Jesus Himself exhorted us not to worry. Worrying is of course not limited to what we will eat or drink or to what we will wear. We can apply these truths to whatever it is that’s got us worrying. Our children. Our marriages. A diagnosis. The state of our world. Whatever it is, Jesus is instructing us not to have an anxious mind because it limits His power from being displayed in our lives! By our own worry, we effectively reject the mighty Hand of God instead of grabbing hold in faith and watching Him move on our behalf!  There is ONLY one way to combat and crush the anxiety, fear, and anger in our hearts and minds, and that is to ABIDE IN HIM - not just with our mouths but with our whole being-actively, meditating on His Word and allowing Holy Spirit to change us through prayers of thanksgiving and repentance, and faithful fellowship with the body of Christ! We know what we ought to do; we have head knowledge of our Savior and how we’re “supposed” to feel. But abiding is how we make the connection from our heads to our hearts, and it becomes REAL in us! It becomes our authentic core BELIEF! “Abide in Me [Jesus], and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.” John 15:4 Precious Abba, I pray Jesus’ sweet prayer over all who would believe in You: “I do not pray for these alone [His disciples], but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You [abide in one another]; that they also may be one in Us [abide], that the world may believe that You sent Me. And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.  “Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am [abide], that they may behold My glory which You have given Me; for You loved Me before the foundation of the world. O righteous Father! The world has not known You, but I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me. And I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it, that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them [abide].” John 17:20-26 Amen!!!

True Light

Posted on Apr 15, 2021 | Download

“No one lights a lamp and then hides it or puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where its light can be seen by all who enter the house. Your eye is like a lamp that provides light for your body. When your eye is healthy, your whole body is filled with light. But when it is unhealthy, your body is filled with darkness. Make sure that the light you think you have is not actually darkness. If you are filled with light, with no dark corners, then your whole life will be radiant, as though a floodlight were filling you with light. Luke 11:33-36  When one lives in darkness, there are two possible reasons why. There may be no light source, or the darkness may be within – the inability to perceive light. When Jesus warned, take heed that the light which is in you is not darkness, He warned against the darkness within.”—David Guzik If the darkness comes from within a man and prevents him from seeing the light of Jesus, it doesn’t matter how bright and glorious Jesus is – he can’t see it. “A man without an eye might as well be without the sun, so far as light is concerned.” - Charles Spurgeon Jesus here is referring to spiritual eyes, not physical, so it got me thinking, “Why is Jesus comparing one’s eyes to a lamp?” Our eyes are the only window to what’s inside; eyes connect the outside with the inside. I love how Guzik distinguishes between 2 types of people living in darkness: There may be no light source. The darkness may be within. The first group are all those Jesus came for-those who know they are sick and need a doctor (Mark 2:17; Luke 5:31). Many may not have been able to read or have any access to truth; others couldn’t physically get to the synagogue, and some would not have been accepted if they could. But the second group, these are the ones who think they have light, but it is actually darkness. This is a dangerous place to be, and it’s not just the false teachings of the Pharisees-this applies to all teachings contrary to The Word of God, and they are rampant today. These people hold tight to relative “truths” that they believe are absolute. However, their beliefs never seem to require anything of them that they weren’t already willing to give. And if you really look, this darkness that they think is light never changes them for the better and never makes the inside pure. It is good for virtue-signaling and keeping up appearances, but it is an empty faith or no faith at all. Yet the light Jesus gives pierces through to our very joints and marrow (Hebrews 4:12), testing and purifying us as we walk in the light of His truth. He is STILL opening the eyes of the blind! Do we have a heart that is willing to acknowledge our sin and repent? Will we change our mind and believe in The One Absolute Truth, Jesus Christ, The Word of God (John 1:1)? “We must carry out the works of Him who sent Me [Jesus] AS LONG AS IT IS DAY; night is coming, when no one can work.” John 9:4 “For you were once darkness, but now you arelight in the Lord. WALK AS CHILDREN OF LIGHT” Ephesians 5:8 “If you are filled with light, with no dark corners, then your whole life will be radiant, as though a floodlight were filling you with light.” Luke 11:36 Precious Father, thank You for Your Light of Truth! Holy Spirit reveal to us any “dark corners” where we are believing the lies of this world. We want Your floodlight to make our whole lives radiant so all people will see You and believe! Guide us into all truth (John 16:13)! We praise You and glorify Your mighty name!

Driven and Tossed

Posted on Mar 26, 2021 | Download

Again they entered Jerusalem. As Jesus was walking through the Temple area, the leading priests, the teachers of religious law, and the elders came up to him. They demanded, “By what authority are you doing all these things? Who gave you the right to do them?”  “I’ll tell you by what authority I do these things if you answer one question,” Jesus replied. “Did John’s authority to baptize come from heaven, or was it merely human? Answer me!” They talked it over among themselves. “If we say it was from heaven, he will ask why we didn’t believe John. But do we dare say it was merely human?” For they were afraid of what the people would do, because everyone believed that John was a prophet. So they finally replied, “We don’t know.” And Jesus responded, “Then I won’t tell you by what authority I do these things.”  Mark 11:27-33 Just a couple days before, Jesus had entered Jerusalem on a colt while people gathered to sing His praises. The following day, Jesus entered the Temple and drove out all the moneychangers and people buying and selling. The day after, as they come to the Temple area, the leaders are asking Him by what authority He does these things. It is sad to think that the religious leaders of the day had no standards by which to base their answers: they talked out of both sides of their mouths. They had to talk it over amongst themselves. They were afraid of the people and afraid to look bad, so they would not even take a stance.  What happens to people who have NO standard? No plumb line? The Word of God is to be our standard and plumb line-our very foundation built on the Solid Rock!  “I will test you with the measuring line of justice and the PLUMB LINE of righteousness. Since your refuge is made of lies, a hailstorm will knock it down. Since it is made of deception, a flood will sweep it away.” Isaiah 28:17 So many are living in houses built on the sand of lies and deception of the world. They are afraid of the people and afraid to look bad, so they have no values or beliefs and talk out of both sides of their mouths. There is a powerful remedy for this sickness of deception: it is the wisdom of God! “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea DRIVEN AND TOSSED by the wind. For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.” James 1:5-8  We shouldn’t expect to receive the remedy of God’s wisdom through unbelief. We must return to the foundation that is The Word of God, the plumb line, the standard, and BELIEVE! The waves are like the circumstances of our lives: they are unpredictable and ever-changing, and they’ll knock a house down FLAT that is built on the sand of lies and deception. If we build our beliefs on our perspective or the world’s perspective of life experiences, we will be swept out to sea. EVERY. TIME!  Precious Father, thank You for the plumb line of Your Word that shows us as in a mirror where we’re not lining up. Continue to reveal to me my own heart and how it doesn’t measure up to Your standard because I long to be more like You! Let the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be pleasing in Your sight oh Lord my Rock and my Redeemer! Oh I love You, Yeshua! Amen!  

Faith Bears Fruit

Posted on Mar 11, 2021 | Download

Mark 11:12-14 "The next morning as they were leaving Bethany, Jesus was hungry. He noticed a fig tree in full leaf a little way off, so he went over to see if he could find any figs. But there were only leaves because it was too early in the season for fruit. Then Jesus said to the tree, 'May no one ever eat your fruit again!' And the disciples heard him say it." Mark 11: 20-22  "The next morning as they passed by the fig tree he had cursed, the disciples noticed it had withered from the roots up. Peter remembered what Jesus had said to the tree on the previous day and exclaimed, 'Look, Rabbi! The fig tree you cursed has withered and died!'  Then Jesus said to the disciples, 'Have faith in God.'" This tree was guilty of “false advertising”, as Guzik says: if a fig tree had leaves, it would normally also have figs; “This tree was cursed because it professed to have fruit, but did not”. Just after Jesus cursed the fig tree, they went into Jerusalem, entered the Temple and Jesus began driving out the people who were buying and selling animals for sacrifices. He turned over the tables of the money changers saying, “My Temple will be called a house of prayer for all nations, but you have turned it into a den of thieves.” This is often called the cleansing of the Temple. Jesus was turning the tables on their twisted traditions and beginning to usher in His New Covenant whereby any could come to Him through FAITH. The next morning, the disciples noticed the fig tree had withered “from the roots up”—this tree that professed to have fruit was deteriorating from its source: it had been planted in the poison of self-righteousness and pride. It would be destroyed from the inside out because of its faulty foundation. As soon as Peter brings attention to it, Jesus’ response is: “Have faith in God.” “We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are.” Romans 3:22 The Pharisees and teachers of religious law wanted to be made right through their works-especially the works they determined were right. But Ephesians 2:8-9 says, “For it is by grace you have been saved, THROUGH FAITH—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.” “Therefore, as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, having been FIRMLY ROOTED and now being built up in Him and established in your FAITH, just as you were instructed, and overflowing with gratitude.” Colossians 2:6-7 And this faith, firmly rooted in Christ, ALWAYS BEARS FRUIT, fruit that will last!  Precious Father, thank You for the New Covenant in Jesus whereby we can come through faith in The Risen Savior! Just like the fig tree withered from its roots, what we are rooted in is so vitally important: help us never to trust in our own righteousness or rituals-it is through faith in Christ we are saved and through the Holy Spirit living in us that we bear fruit! Help us to be diligent to come continually to The Source through The Word of God and prayer and worship! We love You, Jesus! Amen!

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