Spiritual Food Delivery Is An Essential Service

Spiritual Food Delivery and Prayer for others in Jesus' Name is an ESSENTIAL SERVICE. Christian Spiritual Services are indeed essential... whether they are provided in person, online with live-streams, through telephone calls, through emails, or through texting.
In person is the best! But sometimes we need to take alternative approaches to essential services, as a temporary measure.

Think about this Bible verse which declares the Word of God to be our spiritual food:

For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food. (Heb 5:12 NKJV)

The Word or Teachings of God is both spiritual MILK and spiritual SOLID FOOD. One is for the immature, newborn believer, the other is for the growing believer who is maturing in the faith.

The writer to the Hebrews says that this congregation NEEDS milk. That would make it essential. 

 To deny this is to deny the spiritual nature of humans (as opposed to animals).

Here is another verse telling us that Christ has been our spiritual drink and spiritual food all along.

1 Corinthians 10:2-4 New King James Version (NKJV)
2 all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, 3 all ate the same spiritual food, 4 and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ.

Some thoughts to consider:
How does God supply the ESSENTIAL NEEDS your SPIRIT has? Who are His spiritual hands, feet, and Body?
(1 Cor. ch.12, Eph. ch.4)

Is Jesus (The Head) Healthy? Did He defeat death? (Hint: yes He is. Yes, He did.)

Humans are three in one. (1 Thes. 5:23) They have three-in-one ESSENTIAL needs!
1. Spiritual salvation/connection/food.
2. Soulish connection- emotional/mental/social.
3. Physical supply/health/food.

Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you through and through [that is, separate you from profane and vulgar things, make you pure and whole and undamaged—consecrated to Him—set apart for His purpose]; and may your SPIRIT ("pneuma") and soul ("psysche") and body ("soma") be kept complete and [be found] blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Thes. 5:23 AMP - Greek words inserted by me in order to show the distinctions)

God bless you during these difficult days. May He guide and direct your steps as you take His promises to the bank, and cash them out!! His word, (the Great commission, and divine protection), is still in effect (Mark 16:15-18), and His Body is still in the earth... that's us, the Churches! How we go about delivering spiritual food may look a little different right now. It may mirror what restaurants are doing to stay alive: home delivery. Churches are reaching out in new and creative ways as a temporary measure. Our church is currently doing live streams on the following platforms (as a TEMPORARY MEASURE):

https://www.facebook.com/groups/48711223086/ 

https://www.youtube.com/user/ChurchOnTheGO/videos

 But the main long-term pattern is consistent assembly and congregational worship and fellowship. 

Now, in my last blog post I make it clear that BOTH physical distancing and healing the sick are Biblical and needed. These two Bible principals are all fulfilled in Jesus. So I am not against the needed self-quarantines that many of us are going through. We need to beat this COVID19 disease for sure. With proper health precautions and also with prayer in Jesus' Name.

Nevertheless, let me give you a little thought of mine. 

The worst disease to infect the planet was and is the spiritual disease of sin. Sin ALWAYS causes death. COVID19 does not always lead to death. So SIN is the very worst problem our planet has EVER FACED! Jesus Christ alone is the CURRENT and PERMANENT SOLUTION to cure us from sin!
(Rom 3:23; 6:23; 1 Cor 15:22)

 It's a good thing Jesus did not "stay home" (in Heaven) or else He would not have been able to "save lives" (die on the cross for our sins)! Jesus took the opposite approach to the world's current message of "stay home, save lives." I am not denying the need for that. But I am commenting on Jesus' seemingly counter-intuitive approach. But indeed He is the Wisdom from Above. He did not stay home to save lives. He went into the disease-ridden depths of human suffering on earth to cure us once and for all. He was constantly in danger, constantly in sorrow. He suffered things we cannot mentally fathom in our heads. 
I need to remind us that there was a true danger to Jesus taking on human form. Nothing worth doing is without risk. Jesus endured all the temptations. And He felt them as a human. He never gave in to them. But they were REAL temptations. He wouldn't be able to relate as a human being to the temptations we feel as humans if they were not real for Him. No, they were real. He could have chosen to give in. But instead He chose to obey and honour His Father's wishes! He is sinless, and holy and righteous!  Praise Jesus forever! He took the NEEDED RISK to leave His heavenly home, become a vulnerable BABY, grow up, and be the Saviour of the World, as prophesied in Scriptures! He defeated the evil disease of SIN, which had claimed billions of lives. Before Jesus, NOT ONE PERSON ever recovered from their sin sickness. It was ONLY Doctor Jesus who finally killed the spiritual sin virus and set the captives free. He is the very cure. And if He is the cure against sin, He is most certainly the cure against any of the lesser (but still serious) diseases like Swine Flu, SARS, and COVID19.

Jesus is truly awesome. There is nothing He cannot conquer. He is the Head, acting through His believing Body, the Body of the Husband.
 Wow!!

Now, the ESSENTIAL NEED of  SALVATION is available! And it is only through Jesus!!
Spiritual fellowship and spiritual food is an ESSENTIAL service. It is available through the hands and feet of Jesus.
 That's us, his believers, the churches of God! His spiritual churches are His body, providing essential services! They are essential because they are spiritual, and humans are spiritual (unlike animals)! The lesson we learn from Jesus is, If God sent us (He has), then He will protect us (He does)!

God bless,
-PC
Thu Apr. 16 2020 6:43am EST

Jesus Fulfills the Mosaic Law of Physical Distancing- By Healing the Sick.

DID YOU KNOW? Isolation (Physical Distancing) was a Biblical Practice among the Ancient Israelites to prevent the spread of disease. God instructed them to do it through Moses. This seems particularly relevant today now that the world finds itself fighting against yet another global pandemic, known as COVID19.



Leviticus 13:4 But if the bright spot is white on the skin of his body, and does not appear to be deeper than the skin, and its hair has not turned white, then the priest shall isolate the one who has the sore seven days.

Leviticus 13:5 And the priest shall examine him on the seventh day; and indeed if the sore appears to be as it was, and the sore has not spread on the skin, then the priest shall isolate him another seven days.

Numbers 5:1-4
1 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
2 “Command the children of Israel that they put out of the camp every leper, everyone who has a discharge, and whoever becomes defiled by a corpse.
3 You shall put out both male and female; you shall put them outside the camp, that they may not defile their camps in the midst of which I dwell.”
4 And the children of Israel did so, and put them outside the camp; as the Lord spoke to Moses, so the children of Israel did.

Jesus fulfills all these laws and precepts! (Mat. 5:17) He HEALS THE SICK!! When someone is sick, then God sees Quarantine as a necessary measure. It is needed to protect the weak and the community in general. Yet Jesus can END QUARANTINE through healing! Do we think like our Lord? Do we have the two sides of the picture? One side is Biblical Law requiring Physical Distancing for those with contagious diseases. The Other side of it is Jesus the Healer of all disease - the One who fulfills all of Mosaic Law!

Matthew 8:2-3
2 And behold, a leper came and worshiped Him, saying, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.”
3 Then Jesus put out His hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing; be cleansed.” Immediately his leprosy was cleansed.

If you need another example, read about the TEN lepers that Jesus cleansed all at once!!

Luke 17:11-19
11 Now it happened as He went to Jerusalem that He passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee.
12 Then as He entered a certain village, there met Him ten men who were lepers, who stood afar off.
13 And they lifted up their voices and said, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!”
14 So when He saw them, He said to them, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And so it was that as they went, they were cleansed.
15 And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, returned, and with a loud voice glorified God, 16 and fell down on his face at His feet, giving Him thanks. And he was a Samaritan.
17 So Jesus answered and said, “Were there not ten cleansed? But where are the nine?
18 Were there not any found who returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?”
19 And He said to him, “Arise, go your way. Your faith has made you well.”

NOTICE: The 10 lepers were practicing Moses' instruction of physical distancing. Our culture, in the midst of this COVID19 pandemic has come up with a new word - social distancing, but that is a bit of a misnomer. Physical distancing is more accurate, and it is what Moses prescribed according to the word of the Lord. SO those 10 lepers did what we find ourselves doing today. They weren't wrong for doing physical distancing. They had to in order to protect their loved ones and community from the disease that had ravaged their bodies. 

BUT..... 

Jesus ends the quarantine by speaking the word of healing to them. When He tells them to go see the priest, that was in reference to the Mosaic law of Physical Distancing (Lev. 13:4-5, Num.5:1-4). The leper was not supposed to go back to camp until the priest had given the go-ahead. So for Jesus to tell them this, it must have been a relief to them. It meant their quarantine period or physical distancing was coming to a close! They would soon be able to interact with their loved ones in a normal and physical way once again! Praise God!! Their obedience/faith in Jesus brings about healing!! Yet only 10% of the lepers (1 out of 10) actually return to thank Jesus and worship Him.

Thus Jesus fulfills God's Law of Physical Distancing (AKA Quarantine).
So there are two sides to the coin. It's not "either or". It's both. Physical distancing AND reaching out to heal the sick. Jesus changes everything. Notice Jesus was not afraid to touch the leper. He was full of life. He IS LIFE! Therefore, any death or disease that came in contact with Him was instantly eradicated!! So His believers carry the same power, from His Holy Spirit.

Jesus promises those who believe and follow Him:
Mark 16:15-18
15 And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. 

16 He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. 17 And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; 

18 they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”

Do you believe? His promise has not ended. He is still working today, and you can have these signs today! 

God Bless!
Pastor Curtis
Thu Apr 9 2020 4:03PM EST