One Small Seed Newsletter edition #268 – August 2023
Greetings and blessings in the name of our Father God, who has given unto us the leadership and eternal light through his Word and has also given unto us his presence and comfort through his Holy Spirit. Because of the Word and the Spirit he fulfilled his promise to “never leave us or forsake us”. Beside his promises he has given unto us the essence of his attributes and person.
It is a simple lesson in theology, but to understand sometimes becomes difficult. Mostly because when we open our natural eyes in the morning all that we see are natural things. But there is one thing that we can’t see that is more important than anything we can see and that is the air that we breathe. Contained within that air is the part our body demands, which is oxygen. If we believe that we are getting oxygen from the air, then what keeps us from believing that there is a Heavenly Father who has expressed his love through creation? He expressed his love through the truth of his Word and expressed his love through the power of his Holy Spirit also. These are as important (or maybe more important) as the food we eat, the water we drink, and the air we breathe.
God’s presence is immutable, his essence is absorbed into every atom of his creation and it is creation that should express that presence. The expression of God’s essence is called life and as long as it’s “His” life that is expressed, there are blessings abundantly. But, if it is life by any other spirit, there is the degenerating factor of death that gnaws at our spirit, soul, and mind until we are totally separated from any portion of God.
Within the boundary of God’s love, he has made a way to make us healthy, wealthy, and wise and all we need to do to receive these things is to submit to his invitation and then commit to his commands. Jesus said, “My yoke is easy and my burden light”, but he also said, “In the world ye shall have tribulation, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world”. The key to that statement is the words “thou shalt have tribulation”. Tribulation is the battles we fight everyday that are common to all natural things, but can be dealt with in many ways by the wisdom that God has given to us, or is willing to give to us. Notice 1 Timothy 2:3-4, “For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior; who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the Knowledge of the Truth”.
Because August is the month my dad was born, I thought I would comment about our Heaven Father, who is the best father. I know that there were many who condemned him on how he raised and chastened us, but I thank God, the Heavenly Father, for his presence through word and deed, that my dad could understand the principles of truth and then pass them on to me. He was stern, and devoted to his family. He was one who believed in tough love, but was compassionate toward anyone in need. He taught his children the right principles, rules, and basics for establishing a Godly foundation in life and he lived in this manner until his death in 2005. Being the first born, I also was expected to be an example and guide to my siblings. At the age of eleven, I gave my heart and soul to my God, who is the creator of the universe and who has the power to supply all our needs.
One of God’s commandments is: to honor our father and mother, that our days may be long on the earth, but He stressed in the first commandment for us, that we: Honor him, love him, and have nothing between us and him that we loved more (this is a paraphrase of that commandment). Through this relationship we are giving God the control of our life and he will be the guide for our fate. This is called faith: a positive view and a positive fate. To me God is the best Father, and because of Him my dad was the best earthly father. May God bless.
Your friend in Christ,
Rodney Roberts