Come learn of the famine that is facing us in this final generation. Not a famine for bread or water, but rather a famine for hearing the words of God!  It’s no surprise, as it was written of long ago.  Christ has foretold us all things.

This was a message circulated through one of the many wonderful internet groups with which I associate. I have posted it for your edification in the Spirit of our Lord, Jesus Christ. It was an original work written by G. D. Watson (1845-1924).

If God has called you to be really like Jesus, He will draw you to a life of crucifixion and humility, and put upon you such demands of obedience, that you will not be able to follow other people, or measure yourself by other Christians, and in many ways He will seem to let other good people do things which He will not let you do.

“Other Christians and ministers who seem very religious and useful may push themselves, pull wires, and work schemes to carry out their plans, but you cannot do it; and if you attempt it, you will meet with such failure and rebuke from the Lord as to make you sorely penitent.

“Others may boast of themselves, of their work, of their success, of their writings, but the Holy Spirit will not allow you to do any such thing, and if you begin it, He will lead you into some deep mortification that will make you despise yourself and all your good works.

“Others may be allowed to succeed in making money, or may have a legacy left to them, but it is likely God will keep you poor, because He wants you to have something far better than gold, namely, a helpless dependence on Him, that He may have the privilege of supplying your needs day by day out of an unseen treasury.

“The Lord may let others be honored and put forward, and keep you hidden in obscurity, because He wants you to produce some choice, fragrant fruit for His coming glory, which can only be produced in the shade. He may let others be great, but keep you small.

“He may let others do a work for Him and get the credit of it, but He will make you work and toil on without knowing how much you are doing; and then to make your work still more precious, He may let others get the credit for the work which you have done, and thus make your reward ten times greater when Jesus comes.

“The Holy Spirit will put a strict watch over you, with a jealous love, and will rebuke you for little words and feelings, or for wasting your time, which other Christians never seem distressed over. So make up your mind that God is an infinite Sovereign, and has a right to do as He pleases with His own.

“He may not explain to you a thousand things which puzzle your reason in His dealings with you. But if you absolutely sell yourself to be His…slave, He will wrap you up in a jealous love, and bestow upon you many blessings which come only to those who are in the inner circle.

“Settle it forever, then, that you are to deal directly with the Holy Spirit, and that He is to have the privilege of tying your tongue, or chaining your hand, or closing your eyes, in ways that He does not seem to use with others.

“Now when you are so possessed with the living God that you are, in your secret heart, pleased and delighted over this peculiar, personal, private, jealous guardianship and management of the Holy Spirit over your life, you will have found the vestibule of Heaven.”

“And you shall be holy to Me, for I the Lord am holy, and have separated you from the peoples, that you should be Mine.” Leviticus 20:26

“I am the Lord your God, who has separated you from the peoples.” Leviticus 20:24

“For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever? ?And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God.

“As God has said: ‘I will dwell in them and walk among them.
I will be their God, and they shall be My people.’

“Therefore ‘Come out from among them and be separate,’ says the Lord. ‘Do not touch what is unclean, and I will receive you. I will be a Father to you, and you shall be My sons and daughters,’ says the Lord Almighty.” 2 Corinthians 6:14-18

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?

As it is written:
‘For Your sake we are killed all day long;
We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.’

‘Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.’

‘For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.’ Romans 8:35-39

If you have been touched in some way by this message, please send it forth or direct others here to read and reap some spiritual fruit.

It’s been an topic on my mind for a long time, well before I had children of my own.  The two little ones, given my wife and I, are now four and three years of age, and this question is becoming more and more clear.

It has become comon sense to me, as no doubt it has to you, that children attempt to reproduce the actions and behaviors of the role models in their environment.  It has been said by many folks that I’ve talked with, that, “sometimes kids will just be kids”.

That’s where I have a challenge – not in the statement itself, because certainly none of us are perfect, so they are expected to fall short – it’s the constant use of this phrase to excuse behavioral problems with the parents or other role models.

The perspective throughout the generations of parents I’ve spoken with, shows a very clear pattern.  Children are more disconnected, wild, unable to be controlled, and flat out unruly.  Gleaning wisdom from both Word of God, parents and grandparents in their 80s, and above, I’ve determined the source of the problem: parents, (ie the root) and their lack of Jesus Christ, obedience or ignorance.

Oh no, bible trumpery, right?  Well, in a way, sort of…

Jesus Christ, to be clear, is the Word of God made flesh:

Joh 1:14  And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

The Bible has been taken from the majority of public schools, though now it is everywhere on the internet (including the thousands of translations).  New ones being produced every week it seems.  How’s the situation at home?   Wat are the child’s role models? A violent, volatile couple that physically and/or verbally abuse the family?  A loving, yet firm, husband and wife that spend time with their children and teach them in the way they should go?  There is an enormous difference, right?

A child can perceive that and it will register over time… think about how fast the past  years has passed, you’ve been exposed to a lot, and chances are, children are at the peak of exposure now.  My own have made me plainly aware of my errors, bad decisions and have even been a catalyst for a decision to changes some things about my own parenting strategy and tactics.

I challenge you, the next time you hear “they are just being kids”, stop and ponder the situation – consider the facts of the environment and the kids’ role models.  I am certain you will find the challenge is not with the children, and anyone that has love flowing over can impact children for the better, by being a role model for them.

I hope this was a help to some.

Joshua Jones

Ok, just like any workman, you need to have the essential tools.  To begin, let me speak to the variance in translations.  The KJV 1611 AV (Authorized Version) was the English version base and an entire Greek, Hebrew and Chaldean dictionary was put together by Dr. Strong.  This combination of tools is critical for you to actually “do the research” yourself, as an English speaking person without becoming an multilingual scholar.  I have the tools listed below.

Now that translations are out of the way, next I want to touch on commentary.  First of all, it’s just that, comments – which were derived from thoughts – which imagination can have a say in.  Please remember that in studying God’s word, look up the original word/phrase if you need clarity: don’t just lean on some commentary.

Alright once you have the tools, you just need to dig on in and get through most of it a couple times.  This process will begin to unlock synapse in your mind with different phrases, people, setting and links throughout God’s word.  As you continue to research the root of confusing dialogue, you’ll come to understand God’s overall plan and your role in it!

The Companion Bible (KJV)
Strong’s Concordance (the KJV dictionary)

Thanks for reading, I hope this has helped you move passed some humps in your spiritual walk.

~ Joshua Jones