The Fig Tree

 

 

Matthew 21: 19- Seeing a fig tree by the road, he went up to it but found nothing on it except leaves. Then he said to it, “May you never bear fruit again!” Immediately the tree withered.

 

It is Tuesday of Holy Week, Jesus is on his way back to the city to visit the Temple. It is a NO work day based off of Jewish law. He is hungry and sees a fig tree by the road but there is nothing on it. No fruit. He then curses the tree and it dies. The disciples are amazed, and Jesus uses the teaching moment to tell them about faith and their ability to move mountains!

 Faith: complete trust or confidence in someone or something.

If I said I have read this passage a hundred times it would be an understatement. I always glean the portions about faith and what can be accomplished. I never thought about that fig tree before. Just a tree, not producing fruit. A fig tree does well in climates that experience droughts. They have a dense and complex root system. They grow well in rocky locations and even in poor soil. Their roots go deep in search of water.  They are a known producer of nutrient rich fruit but this tree bears nothing.

Jesus speaks about the true vine and fruit bearing in John 15.

John 15:4-6 “Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me. Yes, I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who remain in me and I in them will produce much fruit. For APART FROM ME YOU CAN DO NOTHING. (emphasis added) Anyone who does not remain in me is thrown away like a useless branch and withers. Such branches are gathered into a pile to be burned.”

We cannot produce nutrient rich fruit without remaining on the vine. Receiving His goodness and direction can only happen if we stay connected. Admitting the authority Jesus has in our lives, which the Chief Priest could not do later in the temple, keeps us in the position to be influenced and guided by His Holy Spirit. When we are too prideful to do so, we wither. And eventually are cut away so other branches can grow. I find the single inspection of the fig tree interesting. Jesus did not give the fig tree time to get it together. He did not say the soil was bad. He did not check to see if it had water. He literally examined the tree, saw no fruit and cursed it. Oh Lord, don’t let me be found lacking fruit when I am examined!

 

Be Blessed, and remember Sunday is Coming.

Encouragement.

Death and Life are in the power of the tongue.

 Proverbs 18:21 

I Choose Life.

In this day and perhaps in the past people dripped their negativity down on one another. We have all been there. Someone will say something negative to you. True or Not. And that comment LIVES with us and in us.  And sometimes our entire life.

I was listening to the local Christian radio station this am. And the ladies were talking about encouraging one another. So they attempted to say kind words to one another. And as I listened to this terrible attempt of finding something to compliment the other one I thought. .WOW. They have nothing positive to say. "You look nice today" Is that all? My husband, when we were dating, was always so surprised at how encouraging  I was. Always positive and saying things uplifting. He thought 'that won't last'. But we are CALLED for THAT TO LAST.  Jesus said to LOVE. No matter what. And all through out the Bible Christians are called to encourage others. There is a verse that I have always attributed to 'foul language' I bet you know the verse. Ephesians 4:29. In the English Standard Version. is says "LET NO CORRUPTING Talk come out of your mouth, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those that hear. "

 Corrupting: to alter, falsify, manipulate, tamper with. Altering someone mentally as we know, causes lasting damage. Studies say. 7 positive things counter act 1 negative. I believe we should stir up one another to love and good works as James says in Hebrews 10:24.  Let's practice what we profess! To be followers of Jesus Christ, show and speak and be love to one another.  So how do you do it? Guard your tongue and speak.  OUT LOUD.. don't just think. "They know how I feel" Hearing it, speaking words of life and love into their souls speaks volumes for a persons confidence, self esteem, happiness and even physical health.

I really like it when you....
I love the way you...
You are so......
Just thinking of you makes me smile....
I really appreciate when you.....
I know you ____________for me and it means so much to me
I love you.
I missed you today.
I was thinking about you.
I can't wait to see you.


Find the good in them and tell them.  Iron sharpens iron.  Do not conform to the negativity this world has to offer. Transform by renewing your mind. And then you can discern the will of God. What is GOOD and ACCEPTABLE and Perfect.   I found 100 verses about encouraging others! It is not just a passing thing it is a central part of God's plan of Christ Like Followers walking this earth!

1 Peter 4:8-10  Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins. Show hospitality to one another without grumbling. As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God's varied grace.  Love conquers all. And when we love others and profess that love to them. WHAT can they accomplish?! And in return their words speak life and love. And those who they come in contact with. CONTAGION. Just as the early church spread like wild fire so can we for such a time as this. This was a foreign way of thinking. LOVE. LOVE others. Give to others. It is what Jesus taught. Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved Children! And watch the lives of your loved ones and yours change. Consider it pure joy!  Whenever you face trails of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. Find the good Beloved. It is there. Waiting to be revealed. 


Laura Diane Robey. 

My unfailing love you will not be moved

Divine Alignment with a BRIDE PRICE!

DIVINE ALIGNMENT with a BRIDE PRICE

It was a scorching August day in the middle of the Nevada desert where our wedding ceremony took place.  Just before 3pm with sweat dripping off of our foreheads, the Reverent Kenneth Baker asked Laura and I to recite our previously prepared vows to each other.  To be perfectly honest, my original plan was to "wing it" and just tell her what came upon my heart in that moment.  The hour before the Pastor showed up however I found myself in deep thought about all of the life that I had been lived up to this point as I then reflected on what I would soon say before God and everyone.  The day set apart for the Lord (August 15th) had been months away which then reduced to weeks away and now had become seconds away as the camera phones were now being set to video mode as the silence covered us up like a blanket.  "Ronald" the preacher signaled, "You may begin."

"Umm.....  Babe..."  was all I got out before everyone began laughing as if I said something hysterical. Laura tried to calm my nerves with a smile saying, "I knew you were going to say that."  After the chuckles receded, I began speaking about the high points and low points of my life.  I mean truly, I had accomplished and acquired some pretty amazing things during these 42 years on earth but I admittedly had also lost everything several times too without an eject button within reach. During my vow, I summarized my life with the fatigue of building card castles and sand castles again and again just to witness them blown down or knocked over.  I then recounted a time in my life where it had gotten so out of hand that my soul cried out to God pleading that He would strip everything away until all I had was Him.  "That prayer was answered" I sternly announced as I continued the next section of my vow.

"There was a time in fact when I only had the shirt on my back and I didn't even own that."  The audience searched their memories for what phase of life they thought I may have be referring to as I continued.  "My second prayer was, 'God!  All I ask of You is to give me a firm foundation to build on' and that prayer too was answered." Through the years of in depth biblical studies I've charged myself with, I knew that Jesus had to be the center or it wouldn't work.  I remember speaking to the crowd as I gazed into Laura's eyes saying, "and we met for our first date to do a Bible study together."  Our family seemed to have raised their eyes as if to think about where they met their spouse for the first time and I'm pretty sure their personal recollections were quite different than the story I was telling.  For me it was really about the BRIDE PRICE and knowing that the suffering had to be shared in order for our Father to grant me His daughter in marriage.

You see, Christ Jesus is the Bride Groom who is one day going to return for His bride.  (The Church)  There are many stories in the Bible of men having to pay a Bride Price to include but not limited to Jacob, King David and Christ Himself.  Jacob paid his uncle Laban 7 years of labor for his daughter Leah and then another 7 years of labor for his other daughter Rachael.  King David slayed Goliath as the Bride Price to be awarded in the marriage of King Saul's daughter Michal.  With this being said, what did Christ have to pay as a Bride Price to be worthy of becoming the Bride Groom?  Obviously it was the cross and at 3pm the veil was torn in two as the believers were now covered in the blood of the Son to have a direct connection to The Father Himself.  At exactly 3pm on the day set apart for the Lord, we muttered with Christ in us for the last time individually, "It is finished." That was the moment that the three of us became unified as one.

Later that night, Laura and I danced for the first time under the full moon as Mr. and Mrs. Ronald Edward Robey Jr.  It was a very prophetic evening that had been drenched with significance referencing numeric patterns of dates to complete confirmation of miraculous signs from above.  Today we are just as excited as the day we got married regarding what God has in store for us in addition to how His dream can now come to pass through us since we have finally been divinely aligned. May the Lord receive all of the glory.  -Ron

WHY Kingdom Ministries

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Passover and Jesus.

Thursday during Easter week is a big day. It is the day that Jesus celebrated His last Passover meal, He served His disciples by washing their feet. He was preparing them for the walk to come. This Passover meal, also known as the Last Supper, was full of symbolism. The unleavened bread, matzah, is placed in a 3 pocketed linen cloth. One is never used, never seen and remains unbroken. The other two chambers, one broken at the beginning of the meal and the other is eaten during the meal.

Trinity? OH yes!

1. God. Whole Remains with us and yet unseen.

2. The center. Called "Ha Ben" meaning the Son. Broken. Jesus. Only using half and represents Jesus' Divine Nature.

3. Eaten during the meal. The Holy Spirit. Which is in us. Consuming us.

Jesus broke the center matzah, leaving half in the linen, and the other half, representing Himself passed it among the disciples. This is my body. Given for you. Do this. And remember me.

The Seder plate:

The vegetables. This item is usually parsley that has been dipped in salt water. To represent the hyssop that was used to apply the blood on the homes of the Israelites in Egypt. It was also what was used when Jesus' was offered bitter wine on the cross.

The biter herbs. Thought to be a form of horseradish. To remind us of the bitterness of slavery. And the bitterness of sin.

Charoset. Or a compote for you cooking enthusiast this mixture of apples, nuts, wine and spices was a sweet reminder of the hope of redemption.

Roasted egg or hard boiled egg. This may seem familiar to today "Easter eggs". The Jewish people use this as a reminder of the destruction of the temple. BUT we Christians, it is symbol of rebirth.

The Lamb. There is so much to say about this. The lamb was to be a male, about 1 year old, unblemished and perfect. Examined thoroughly. (Mark 15) You were not allowed to break it's bones. (John 19:36) The blood applied to wooden beams.(Matthew 27:32+) Killed publicly. (Matt. 27:27+, Mark 15:16+, Luke 23: 26+, John 19:16+) Killed on Passover. The blood blocking God's wrath. The Passover meal was to be completed ready to serve by 3 pm. Mark 15:34 When Jesus breathed His last.

Now the wine. The Passover meal involves 4 glasses of wine each representing something different.

At the Last Supper Jesus took the first cup and said the next time He would drink of it would be in the kingdom with 'US'.

The Cup of Sanctification.

The process of becoming holy. We are in the process and we will not be complete until we reach glory.

The Cup of Judgment.

This cup has been the topic of much debate during the last supper. DID Jesus pass this cup or did He drink it all Himself. I think about when He asked God to let this cup pass Him. And yet He said, If it is your will. I will leave you to reflect on this. Yet, the Jewish people do drink of this cup as they await their Messiah. Remembering God's judgment and wrath for sin.

The Cup of Redemption.

Cup #3. Jesus began what we practice today during a communion service. DO this in remembrance of me. He redeemed us. By shedding His blood. Reflect on the Jesus, in the upper room, speaking to the disciples in a new way. Not just speaking the tradition of the Passover but of what events that were to come and would soon occur in His own life. Lastly,

The Cup of Praise.

We are forgiven. Restored!

I find it so interesting that scripture time and time again points to Jesus.

Blessing to you and your family during this Easter week.