John Siems – Olympia II, Washington Convention – 2018

Genesis 1:29, “And God said, ‘Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you, it shall be for meat.’” Another thing God told Adam – there were two trees in the Garden, the tree of life, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil. They were not to partake of the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

 

Deuteronomy 14:3, “Thou shalt not eat any abominable thing.” What do we feed upon? Do we feed upon that which is good, or do we feed upon that which is evil? We are known by what we eat! Jesus was always positive – 100% of the time. What many people in the world feed on is more on the negative side of things – there is more wrong than what is right, and it’s because of what they’ve been feeding upon.

 

Noah’s ark was about rising above the things of this earth. I grew up in a town in Minnesota which was very negative. I grew up in a home that was mostly negative, too. I need to rise above it! I can’t do it myself – the Lord has to help me! Being negative is an abomination unto God! Another thing in my home town was competition among themselves. There is a much better thing to be feeding upon – feeding upon the Lamb, the Son of God, the Word of God – than feeding upon the negativity in the world.

 

These hymns we’re singing lift our thoughts up. I like beautiful tunes that I hear in the world, but do you listen to the words? The tune may be wonderful but they often speak about defeat. Our hymns all speak about victory in one way or another! We’re in this world to become victorious. There is only one way to be victorious, and that’s to become obedient unto God. We’re going to have to be found feeding upon the right things to get victory!

 

Consider the animals you could eat, and the ones you weren’t supposed to eat. What do we have going in the world today? Freeman Brisk said, “I have a question for you. There is evidence in the world that there were dinosaurs. Don’t you suppose we could get along without the rattlesnakes, cougars, and mosquitos?” I said, “Yes.” God in His Plan when He created the earth made it so it could take care of itself without man. There was a Chief Seattle once upon a time who said, “Beware what you do to this earth. It’s like a finely woven strip, and what you do to it, you do to yourself!”

 

You’ve all heard of the Big Bang Theory. Have you read in II Peter 3:10, “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.” Get the picture? The Big Bang hasn’t happened yet! Trying to preserve something that is predestined to be destroyed, and here people are thinking they’re doing God a service!

 

There is so much we should be feeding upon but people in the world have different tastes. But those inside the Kingdom of God have only got one thing in mind – they want more of the Lamb. Feed upon the good things – not the husks. The prodigal traveled to a far country, there was a famine, and no man gave unto him. He came to the realization that things were better at home. The things in the Kingdom of Heaven are much better than on the outside.

 

In Psalms 40, David envied others’ prosperity until he saw their end. The spirit and attitude is much better inside the Kingdom of Heaven. What we feed on – it will affect our spirit! If we feed on evil things, we’ll have an evil spirit and attitude! Be careful of the words we speak because they’ll have an effect on our life! The things we do, and don’t do, will affect us! Your words may speak to someone but your actions and reactions speak even louder! What you are when you are alone is even more important. You cannot drink from the cup of salvation, and also the cup of devils! It’s not going to be good. It makes me think of men from different countries that become double agents – there’s just one outcome – death! Neither side trusts them! What we are when we are alone should be the same as when we’re in the public.

 

May we be found feeding upon the Lamb.