WHEAT AND TARES, SHEEP AND GOATS.....WHICH ARE YOU ?

11/17/2019

ABOUT TWO YEARS AGO I WOKE UP FROM A VERY SOBERING DREAM. I TEND TO DREAM PRETTY VIVIDLY, AND THIS ONE WAS NO EXCEPTION. I WAS ON A RAMP LIKE STRUCTURE AND I WAS WALKING UPWARD TOWARD A GATHERING OF MEN. THERE WERE PEOPLE ALL AROUND ME, AND I COULD TELL THAT MANY WERE ANXIOUS AND FEARFUL. AS THE CROWD MOVED CLOSER TO THE GATHERING AREA I REALIZED THAT THE FIGURES I THOUGHT WERE MEN WERE ACTUALLY THREE ANGELIC BEINGS. THEY WERE TALL AND POWERFUL, AND THEY RADIATED A LIGHT LIKE NONE I HAD EVER SEEN. I TURNED TO ASK THE PERSON NEXT TO ME IF THEY COULD SEE WHAT I WAS SEEING, AND REALIZED THAT I WAS WALKING NEXT TO JESUS. “LORD, WHAT IS THIS” I ASKED HIM. HE PUT HIS HAND ON MY SHOULDER AND SAID TO ME “THIS IS THE GREAT SEPARATING JIM”. IT IS WHERE MY SHEEP ARE SEPARATED FROM THOSE WHO ARE NOT MINE”. “THIS IS THE PARABLE OF THE WHEAT AND TARES THAT I SHARED TO MANKIND WHEN I WAS ON THE EARTH AS A MAN”. HIS FACE WAS SOMBER AND A SADNESS WAS THERE AS WELL. “LORD, AM I ONE OF YOUR SHEEP” I ASKED HIM ? HE LOOKED ME IN THE EYES AND SAID, “YES JIM, YOU ARE. YOU HEAR MY VOICE, AND YOU HAVE DONE YOUR BEST TO FOLLOW ME AND BE A PART OF ME. YOUR JUDGEMENT WILL BE ESTABLISHED IN THE GATES OF MY KINGDOM. OTHERS ARE NOT AS FORTUNATE.” I WAS ALMOST AT THE GATHERING POINT, AND I COULD HEAR ARGUING. A MAN WAS TELLING THE ANGELS THAT THEY WERE MISTAKEN. “I AM A PASTOR OF A LARGE CHURCH. I DESERVE TO GO TO THE NARROW PATH.” THE ANGEL SHOOK HIS HEAD AND SAID TO HIM, “YOU ARE NOT ONE WHO IS KNOWN TO THE LORD”. THEY FIRMLY MOVED HIM INTO THE MASS OF PEOPLE BEING SENT ON A WIDER PATH. I COULD HEAR PEOPLE YELLING AND TELLING THE ANGELS THAT THEY WERE CHRISTIANS, BUT THEY WERE ALSO MOVED ONTO THE WIDER PATH. SUDDENLY I WAS AT THE FRONT OF THE LINE, AND THE ANGELS GRASPED MY HANDS AND SENT ME AWAY FROM THE MASSES AND SAID, “WELCOME TO THE HOUSE OF THE LORD. HEAVEN IS YOUR HOME, THE LORD IS YOUR KING”. I KNEW I WAS HOME, AND MY ETERNITY WAS SEALED IN THE LIFE OF JESUS MY SAVIOR.

ANOTHER PARABLE HE PUT FORTH TO THEM, SAYING: “THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IS LIKE A MAN WHO SOWED GOOD SEED IN HIS FIELD, BUT WHILE MEN SLEPT, HIS ENEMY CAME AND SOWED TARES AMONG THE WHEAT AND WENT HIS WAY. BUT WHEN THE GRAIN HAD SPROUTED AND PRODUCED A CROP, THEN THE TARES ALSO APPEARED. SO THE SERVANTS OF THE OWNER CAME AND SAID TO HIM, “SIR, DID YOU NOT SOW GOOD SEED IN YOUR FIELD? HOW THEN DOES IT HAVE TARES?” HE SAID TO THEM, “AN ENEMY HAS DONE THIS.” THE SERVANTS SAID TO HIM, “DO YOU WANT US TO GO THEN AND GATHER THEM UP?” BUT HE SAID “NO, LEST WHILE YOU GATHER UP THE TARES YOU ALSO UPROOT THE WHEAT WITH THEM. LET BOTH GROW TOGETHER UNTIL THE HARVEST, AND AT THE TIME OF HARVEST I WILL SAY TO THE REAPERS, “FIRST GATHER TOGETHER THE TARES AND BIND THEM TOGETHER IN BUNDLES TO BURN THEM, BUT GATHER THE WHEAT INTO MY BARN”. Matthew 13: 24-52

AS I PONDER THIS WORD, MANY THOUGHTS COME INTO MY MIND. MANY PEOPLE CALL THEMSELVES CHRISTIANS, BUT HOW CLOSE ARE THEY TO JESUS ? HAVE THEY TRULY ACCEPTED HIM AS THEIR LORD AND SAVIOR ? ARE THEY SPENDING TIME IN THE WORD OF GOD, AND IN PRAYER AND CONVERSATION TO BUILD A RELATIONSHIP AND GAIN UNDERSTANDING AND WISDOM ? ARE THEY LIVING THE TRUE GOSPEL AND SHARING IT, OR ARE THEY CAUGHT UP IN A FALSE GOSPEL OR CHANGING IT TO FIT WHAT SOCIETY DEEMS ACCEPTABLE AND RIGHT. AS A MAN, I DON’T HAVE ALL THE ANSWERS TO EVERY THOUGHT AND QUESTION….SO I TRY TO KEEP IT SIMPLE AND REAL. JESUS KNOWS YOUR HEART. JESUS KNOWS WHEN YOU ARE HIS BY YOUR HEART. THE DESIRE TO BE HIS SHOULD MAKE YOU STRIVE TO BE LIKE HIM, AND SEEK THE TRUTH OF HIS WORDS AND ACTIONS. GOD IS THE SAME TODAY AS HE WAS YESTERDAY, AND HE WILL BE THE SAME TOMORROW. HE DOESN’T CHANGE HIS CHARACTER, AND HE DOESN’T WAVER ON RIGHT AND WRONG, AND TRUTH. ALL WHO SIN ARE INDEED DEAD, BUT JESUS DIED FOR US AND WAS RESURRECTED FOR OUR OPPORTUNITY TO REGAIN LIFE THROUGH BELIEVING IN HIM AND BEING REBORN INTO GOD’S KINGDOM BY PROCLAIMING HIM OUR LORD, SAVIOR AND KING. IF YOU ARE HIS, THEN YOU ARE HIS SHEEP, HE IS YOUR SHEPHERD, AND YOU HEAR HIS VOICE.

MY SHEEP HEAR MY VOICE, AND I KNOW THEM, AND THEY FOLLOW ME. AND I GIVE UNTO THEM ETERNAL LIFE AND THEY SHALL NEVER PERISH, NEITHER SHALL ANY MAN PLUCK THEM OUT OF MY HAND. John 10: 27-28

IT IS INDEED AN UNSETTLING THING TO BE IN CHURCH, LOOK AROUND, AND WONDER HOW MANY PEOPLE ARE HIS SHEEP, OR SIMPLY GOATS SHARING THE AREA WITH NO TRUE BELIEF OR FAITH. I PRAY FOR ALL THAT THEY MAY HEAR HIS VOICE AND SEEK HIM. ASK HIM TO HELP YOU HEAR HIS VOICE, AND IF YOU NEED TO CHANGE YOUR HEART AND GET REAL, THERE IS NO BETTER TIME THAN TODAY. NO ONE KNOWS THE HOUR OR TIME THAT THE LORD WILL RETURN, BUT EVERY DAY IS ONE DAY CLOSER. IF YOU FEEL YOU MIGHT BE A TARE OR A GOAT, THEN IT IS TIME FOR YOU TO GET ON YOUR HANDS AND KNEES AND CRY OUT TO JESUS FOR FORGIVENESS AND SALVATION. HE IS THE WAY, THE TRUTH, AND THE LIFE. FIND HIM, TRUST HIM, OBEY HIM, AND LET YOUR HEART AND MIND BECOME FREE….THAT NARROW PATH IS NOT EASY, AND IT TAKES YOUR WILL TO SURRENDER TO HIS, BUT IT IS SO GOOD, SO COMPLETE, AND SO WONDERFUL. THE HARVEST INDEED SHALL COME. MAY YOU BE HIS, AND ABIDE IN AND WITH HIM FOREVER. SHALOM/PEACE/JA

BUT TO ALL WHO DID RECEIVE HIM, WHO BELIEVED IN HIS NAME, HE GAVE THEM THE RIGHT TO BECOME CHILDREN OF GOD. John 1:12

THANKS BE TO GOD/AMEN