Tree of Life Ministries

Joshua 10:14 "There has never been a day like this one before or since, when the Lord answered such a prayer. Surely the Lord fought for Israel that day!" When Joshua wrote this he had just finished a battle where the sun stood still, and Israel was given a mighty victory. This week God gave us a mighty victory, a victory similar to Joshua's victory. No the sun didn't stand still, but a powerful enemy was defeated. This victory was given to the people of our area in Missouri..., with the "legal drug" gone we can move forward, but do not rest. Do not sit back and just admire this victory, continue to press in. Gods word says he will make our enemies a foot stool. When God has answered in such a way, we must give him praise for the victory, we must continue to march against our enemies, we must continue to press in seeking the victory over, drug abuse, alcohol abuse, spousal abuse, child abuse, and many other wrongs we see needing to be corrected by God. Today I challenge all the Prayer Warriors, begin to form prayer groups in your neighborhoods, take Jesus outside the walls of your church and into your community. Begin pressing in and giving God no rest until your area becomes a light in this dark world. Claim your houses for God, claim your street for God, claim your neighborhood for God, and don't stop until we have claimed this world for God. See more

Tonight I am taking a stand and taking my plea before God. These "legal drugs" are getting out of control. In the past week I have already heard of one friend who confessed to be hooked, and a elderly man in our church was almost murdered by a man on this stuff. Folks we need to begin to press in and pray God has these things removed from store shelves and that those who have become addicted are released from the grip of these drugs. Please begin to pray and press in, give God no rest until we see this come to pass.

(1 Corinthians 8:4-6 NIV) So then, about eating food sacrificed to idols: We know that "An idol is nothing at all in the world" and that "There is no God but one." For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as indeed there are many "gods" and many "lords"), yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live. There i...s a children's tale that has been told in the Jewish community for a very long time about Abraham. Fathers idol shop (small idol made of gold and stone and wood) One large idol had a club...now I imagine this thing looked like a giant GI Joe and I image Abraham felt the same way I felt when I got my first GI Joe. Joe is beating somebody up today, and just like I did as a boy I have to show Joe how to use this weapon by running through the house with that tiny little gun shooting everything whether it needed it or not. This is exactly what I believe Abraham did, he took the club from the giant idol and showed him how to beat up all those idols whether they needed it or not. Abraham smashed every idol in the shop with that club. So when Abrahams father returned he found every idol smashed, and he asked Abraham, the same foolish question all parents ask the only child in the room holding the baseball bat with the broken lamp. Who did this? So like any child with the opportunity to blame someone else, Abraham blamed the giant idol, and Abrahams father says "these idol are not alive they are only made of gold and wood and stone, they could not possibl do this because they have no power." So Abraham asks "why do you worship them." This is what Paul is saying to the Corinthians "We know that "An idol is nothing at all in the world" and that "There is no God but one." so they have no effect on life or food. So it is like believing in a fairy tale. In many cases Jesus is replaced by idols, like at Christmas and Easter. In many family's the symbol of the holiday is changed to avoid the focus that needs to be Jesus. In the case of the Corinthians they were making offerings to to prosper, as people we may know do. Like the lottery for prosperity a clinic for fertility, or a physic for a love connection, anything that takes our focus away from Jesus and seeking after him can be considered an idol. We need to be sure to give God the glory in all things.

(1 Corinthians 8:1-3 NIV) Now about food sacrificed to idols: We know that "We all possess knowledge." But knowledge puffs up while love builds up. Those who think they know something do not yet know as they ought to know. But whoever loves God is known by God. We can see in the question issued to Paul that this was a problem of Jewish community questioning the actions of the gentile community coming to know Jesus as Messiah. Very similar to a church addressing the issues of... concern in a community today. Our areas of concern in Our given communities are mostly with drug and alcohol addiction. Now as the church we posses knowledge, we know that the actions of drugs and alcohol will destroy the community and the people in it will have generations of problems with drugs and alcohol being accepted in the community. Yet knowledge or can create a level of pride, a feeling of our way is the only right way. We should be open minded, and not allow ourselves to get to a point where we feel like we know it all or even our way is the only right way. When we are in a loving relationship with God we should be open to his instruction all the time. Not being set in our own ways like the people of Corinth, that we won't receive loving instruction, but rebuke it to do our own thing. It is love that will change and rebuild this community not knowledge, and it is those who love God, that are noticed by God.

In Genesis 2:9 we see the Tree of Knowledge, and that tree allowed man to understand what was good and evil, and man is told not to eat of the trees fruit or else man would die. Man did not die an immediate death but eternity was lost and man would face mortal death. Wisdom says not to eat from that tree again, because the hunger for knowledge caused man to fall and we know what the consequences of eating from the tree are. Jesus died to redeem us from the consequences of m...an falling short, so our hunger should be for Jesus and his wisdom not worldly knowledge. A major theme through out the bible is knowledge vs love. In the past and for the most part still today it is believed that knowledge is power. So can man’s love for God overcome his hunger for knowledge and power? If we cling to Jesus and allow his interests to be our interests then we have put the love of Jesus over the hunger for knowledge. See more

This morning I feel lead to simply ask you a question. What is an idol that was in your life that you replaced Jesus with and he helped you overcome it?

Jesus is my all in all, he is me everything. Without him I can do nothing, evil waits for me at every turn, temptation on every corner. Even though I fail, and fall short, he is always there when I call him. He has never failed me, my heart, my mind, and my soul belong to him. He forgives me for all my struggles and failures. If you feel the same way about Jesus, why keep him to yourself? Share Jesus with someone today, by showing his light in the dark places.