Above Rubies Daily Encouragement Blogs

"God is looking for men who are not afraid to think outside the box, men who are wise enough to realize that thinking within the box is often the wrong way to think."

"The men who dare to be different will not be known to be different unless they speak up!"

"Truth is of little value until someone puts arms, legs, tongue, and pen to it. It is only when truth is lived and spoken that it has the power to break the false and scatter the darkness."

"We cannot be passionate lovers of God without being passionate lovers of His truth."

"TRUTH FAILS FOR THE WANT OF THOSE TO SPEAK IT! "

"Faithfulness is proved by time."

God's Word--ancient words made new each day by the Holy Spirit.

"The best learners are the best listeners."

"If you have got any truth in you, for goodness sake, SAY IT! Don't hide truth behind closed doors!"

"People are going to church but not going to church to pray."

"Casualness causes casualties."

"When linked to heaven, you and your family are the answer to this nation's needs."

"Never underestimate the power of a praying family."

"It's not legalism to eat three meals a day to feed the body. Why should it be legalism to feed your spirit and your children's spirit two times a day at Family Devotions?"

Malachi 4:6 says, "And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse." This Scripture speaks initially of the coming of John the Baptist in the spirit and power of Elijah. This is confirmed in Luke 1:16-17 and fulfilled at the first coming of Jesus Christ.

However, many believe there is a future fulfillment. Malachi 4:5 says, "Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord." We all know that when Jesus first appeared it ;was a time of great rejoicing. "Peace on earth, and good will toward men"  the angels cried Luke 2:14). The angel also said to the shepherds, "Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people" (Luke 2:10).

This first coming of Christ ushered in the church age of "grace." I believe that the second coming Christ introduces "the great and dreadful day of the Lord" when all the nations of the earth will be judged by Jesus Christ, the soon coming Messiah. Never in the history of the whole world, since the great flood, has there been such a need for the turning of the hearts of fathers and mothers back to children.

Contraception, sterilization, and abortion are certain testimonies as to how hard our hearts have become towards children. Children are not high priority in our world or even in the church.

To be continued. Be encouraged.

Colin

On Saturday, 2 March, my wife and I celebrated our Golden Wedding Anniversary.

I must say that I am more in love with my wife now than when I first married her. What an amazing 50 years it has been, not only enjoying each other, but building a godly dynasty.

We are blessed with nine children, currently 39 grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren--and hoping for many more. This is the amazing thing about a marriage. We start off with only two people, but as God blesses, we grow a godly dynasty that can bless the world.

Colin

John, the apostle spoke of Jesus coming from "the bosom of the Father" (John 1:18) This means from the heart of the Father or the lap of the Father. Because Jesus came from the Father's intimate affections, He could speak of His Father more authoritatively and more intimately than any others who had ever spoken about God. What an advantage Jesus had above all others.

After Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist, God stated, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased" (Matthew 3:17). Jesus is "the beloved Son" who came from the bosom of the Father.

Wouldn't it be great if all our children could say the same thing about us? The father's heart is a place of intimate affections. Men, this is something we must, as fathers, seek to develop on behalf of our children. It is the greatest thing we can give to our children.

To be continued.

Be encouraged. Colin.

We all want our natural trees to be fruitful. Why not our family trees? In John 15:6 Jesus says that He will cut off the branches that do not bear fruit. We all agree that this passage primarily talks about spiritual fruit. However, there is a parallel here. Christ uses a natural vine to illustrate a spiritual point. God is glorified by fruitfulness, and more so, by “much fruit”. It is not for us to cut off branches, hindering fruitfulness. Yet this is exactly what we do when we refuse to have children.

To the natural man, it is not spiritual to have children. On the contrary, to the spiritual man, having children is not only for natural fruitfulness, but it also increases spiritual influence. Why? Because every child born and raised in God's ways has the potential to be fruitful in the things of God. No one in their right mind would go around lopping off fruitful branches from trees. Why do we want to lop off fruit from our family trees?

Isaiah 61:1-11 foretells the anointing that will be upon the Messiah “to preach good tidings to the poor; to heal the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, to console those who mourn in Zion, to give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning.” Why? “That they may be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.”

With the Messiah’s anointing, let us be co-laborers with Him to raise up family trees of righteousness who will accomplish all the purposes of Isaiah 61. Verse 9 says, “Their offspring will be known among the nations and their descendants in the midst of the people. All who see them will recognize them that they are the offspring whom the Lord has blessed.”

Along with natural Israel, as the new Israel of God in Christ Jesus, we can also claim family trees of righteousness through whom the Lord will be glorified. Be encouraged. You are ordained by God to raise trees of righteousness that will bless the nations.

Be encouraged. Colin

Man was made for sacred purposes; trees were not. Of all the myriad of creatures that God created it was only man that was given the sacred and priceless privilege to bear the likeness and image of God. This should never be underestimated. After creating the vegetation and trees, God said that “it was good” but it was the family tree that God blessed and gave the divine commandment to “Be fruitful and multiply.” This commandment has never been revoked and is as important today as in the beginning. Time has not changed this generational mandate.

It would be understandable, if after the fall in the Garden of Eden, God had decided to give up His original mandate to be fruitful, multiply and fill the earth with His likeness and image. But this was not the case. In Genesis 9:1-7 God repeats His first mandate, not once, but twice! Oh the mercy and grace of God toward His rebellious and sinful creation. Man still remains the only privileged creation to bear His likeness and image (God’s character and His ways of justice truth, love, joy, peace, and holiness and so on). The trees of the woods reveal His creative glory but they cannot reveal His nature and character.

In verse six of this same passage God says, “Whoso sheds man’s blood, by man shall his blood by shed.” Why would God say such a thing? He gives the answer in the same verse. “For in the image of God made he man.” It is obviously a serious crime to tamper with man because the divine purpose of man’s creation is to show forth the image of God. And yet, today, we frivolously contracept and abort the image of God in the earth. Every child, given the right opportunity, can be born again and filled with the Holy Spirit and in some way reveal to the world something of the likeness and image of God. Dare we stand in God’s way?

Be encouraged. Colin

One more post to come on this subject.

Here in Tennessee we live among beautiful hardwoods including oak, walnut, and hickories, etc. We are surrounded with logs and saw mills. Many of the hardwoods take years to mature yet the perpetuating of the forest continues. One wonders how the forests could possibly continue to yield such a vast amount of trees year after year, and yet, with God’s help they keep growing.

These forests are self-perpetuating generational forests. There are so many seeds in the ground and the top soil is continually enriched by the falling leaves. As soon as a tree is cut down and removed, dozens of little trees pop up through the soil to compete for its replacement. From the beginning God planned it this way. All those who make a living out of harvesting these forests would be devastated if our natural trees only yielded what our family trees currently yield. Isn’t it appalling that we are intent on saving our national forests but oblivious to the fact that our family trees are being destroyed?

I wonder why so-called Christian nations are antagonistic to God’s original mandate to be fruitful, multiply, and fill the earth. God said, “Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed and fruit trees on the earth bearing fruit after their kind with seed in them and it was so. And the earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed after their kind and trees bearing fruit with seed in them, after their kind, and God saw that it was good” (Genesis 1:11-12 NASB). We whole-heartedly agree with our Almighty Creator that this creation of vegetation and trees was, and still is, very good. What would we do without them? How boring it would be to live in a treeless world. How unhealthy it would be for us to be without green vegetables or fruitful trees that provide us with all the life-sustaining enzymes and nutrients to live and perpetuate our own human family trees.

How can we have such a big disconnect between Genesis 1:11-12 and Genesis 1:26-28?

Be encouraged. Colin