Servias Ministries Blog

This month marks the fortieth year of my conscious commitment to Our Heavenly Father.  I was drawn to a Christian coffeehouse called “The Open Door” because of the quality of the musicians playing there.  It was there that I heard the Word of GOD with passion.  Other than a few Bible stories, I knew virtually nothing about the Scriptures.  In the upper room, I received the baptism of the Holy Spirit.  Little did I know what impact that event would have on my life.  The next month I met the wife of my youth and nine months later we were married.

The Feast of Tabernacles is at hand and this will be my 16th year to observe this feast.  The first observance was at Moon Plaza in Fridley, Minnesota.  During that meeting, I was asked to speak.  I had been dissecting the Book of Esther and shared the revelation I was receiving at the time.  To this very day, a lady who attended that meeting reminds me of my presentation of Esther.

Many of us have similar events in our lives as Our Heavenly Father guides us through our time of preparation.  We are given revelation, signs, dreams, visions, all to encourage us as we navigate through our time of testing and preparation.  Some started their walk earlier than me, and some later.  Each of us has a unique calling to serve the Kingdom of Our Beloved Heavenly Father.  Unique gifts were set aside for us to fulfill our service to the Kingdom.  I know of not one soul who wanted to be as the woman with the issue of blood, but that woman had a calling to fulfill the Scripture just like David, Joseph, Esther, or others whom we prefer to associate our callings with.  We must be careful to not underestimate the calling of those who appear to be less fortunate than the rest of us.  They are just as important to Our Heavenly Father as we are.  The spirit of entitlement must be replace with the heart of gratitude if we are to fulfill our calling.

Our Heavenly Father has molded my life for His purpose.  My job was simply to respond.  I did not plan my career, HE did.  I did not plan my birthplace, HE did.  I did not plan to receive the Holy Spirit in October, 1971, HE did.  I simply went to hear some excellent musicians play.  Our Heavenly Father has choreographed our lives for HIS perfect plan, will, and purpose.  HE has exposed our lawlessness, our immaturity, our lack of skill, our lack of understanding, so that we would grow and mature in order that we could handle our calling properly.  If there was one thing I could claim expertise in, it would be my quickness to ask for forgiveness.

Our Heavenly Father has sent many prophets to announce changes affecting all of us.  Tumultuous times are ahead and a remnant of us have been prepared for such a time as this.  Man’s wisdom can no longer keep the current system intact.  The wobble has started and the earth is ripe for a change.  None of this is a surprise to Our Heavenly Father.  In HIS great grace and mercy, HE has appointed each of us to be alive at this time and to participate in HIS plan.  May each of us be deemed a good and faithful servant.   Now is the time!

The Inspection of Fruit

The precursor to entering into The Promised Land is the inspection of fruit.  The fruit is the abundance of blessing by Our Heavenly Father by HIS Word spoken in Genesis concerning seedtime and harvest.  Prior to the initial attempt of the children of Israel to enter the Promised Land, twelve men were sent to spy out the land.  The people had lived a life of scarcity for generations as slaves to the Egyptians.  Their sin and unbelief had enslaved them and the time of judgment had ended.  Moses had been in his extended training period and had received the mandate of THE LORD to set the captives free.  The people had witnessed great and mighty miracles by Our Heavenly Father as and expression of HIS Love for the people.  HE delivered them out of the hand of Pharaoh and had provided for them as they crossed the wilderness over a six month period of time.  They witnessed the supernatural on a daily basis.  Now, twelve men were specifically chosen for the crucial job of going forth into the land of promise and giving their assessment of what was there.  Surely each tribe picked one of their best men for the task for there was a lot at stake.  The future of their tribe depended on that man.  Caleb was one of those men.

The name “Caleb” means “whole-hearted” not "dog” as is commonly thought.  This meaning of his name truly fits the character of the man.  Joshua (Salvation) and Caleb (Whole-hearted) provided proof of the abundance of the Promised Land as requested by Moses.  They spent forty days spying out the land leading up to what is now known as the fall feast of Tabernacles.  They began their journey in the month of Ab (July-August), the time of the first ripening of grapes.  They brought back grapes, pomegranates, and figs for inspection.  The fruit of the Vine (Jesus) was listed first for the vine must always be the “first-fruit” of many.  Pomegranates represent worship in the Temple where our focus on Our Heavenly Father is at its zenith.  Thirdly, figs represent the “support” of life i.e. the bread of life.

Joshua and Caleb brought forth a good report full of faith and expectation and were ready to enter into the land and conquer the inhabitants who were placed there until the children of Israel were ready to inhabit it.  This fruit inspection was a prerequisite to entering in.  Was the land productive prior to the children of Israel inhabiting it?  Was there proof of blessing prior to the greater blessing of promised manifestation?  Do you think they brought back mediocre fruit for inspection?  No, only the best were selected.  The best grapes were used to make wine, the offering of Tabernacles.

The giants in the land were no different than the perceived giants today.  The ten spies who were full of unbelief did not trust Our Heavenly Father to bring forth deliverance.  They knew HIS acts but not HIS character.  The two spies (whole-hearted salvation) were different.  Their eyes were opened to the ways of Our Heavenly Father and knew that if HE said to take the land, HE would provide victory.  None of them had ever seen the fruit of the land prior to this.  They fully expected to see good fruit even though the land was inhabited by those who had not been set apart for HIS service.

This 40 day period was just prior to the Day of Jubilee (or Atonement).  Surely the inspection took place on the eve of this day.  The results of this inspection with the rejection of the plan to enter in necessitated the establishment of the Day of Atonement.  Though Jewish tradition places this inspection/rejection at the Ninth of Av, I would suggest that based on Numbers 13:20-21 that the spies entered the land in the month of Av and returned just prior to the Day of Atonement which was established due to Israel’s sin of unbelief.  The time cycle of “July is as September” would parallel the 9th of Av is as the 9th of Tishri.

Now is the time to bring forth the fruit for inspection.  Now is the time for fruitfulness in unity.  Now is the time to trust Our Heavenly Father as we proceed to take the Promised Land and inhabit it for we are well able for we have a “different Spirit” within us.

I have received inquiries concerning the Bible Law project mentioned in a previous blog.  We are working with the original administrator of the site to get the site back up and operational.  When that happens, I will post the website name.  I hope to see it operational soon.

The moment a structure is built by man, it begins to decay.  Only with substantial energy and pressure does man’s systems continue.  The energy consumed is often greater than the results it produces.  Early in the life of the structure all appears to be in equilibrium and progressing without much intervention, similar to a spinning top.  Once deceleration of the spinning top occurs it begins to wobble, much like the current economic system.  The “wobble” of the current system is beginning to produce violent swings in investment assets such as gold, silver, and other commodities.  At the same time, those who are called to service during the next major move of Our Heavenly Father are being challenged to think and respond in a new way.  The ways of the past no longer apply whether politically, socially, or financially.  The paradigm shift is occurring and the question is are you going to shift with it?

I believe we are being called to unity as members of the Body of Christ.  In the past, many of us were called outside the “camp” so we could commune individually with Our Heavenly Father to hear His Voice.  The church of Pentecost was teaching man’s views and traditions of the Holy Scriptures mixed with “leaven”.  Churchgoers were complacent and satisfied  with their reserved position in the pew and to hear the pastor’s revelation and nothing else.  As Love told us as HE walked the earth, “My sheep hear My voice”.  Now is the time for the sheep to move forth in unity.

When Our Heavenly  Father wanted a Temple built, HE moved upon His people to give finances for the building of the temple and they responded.   Prior to the building of the temple, the finances were placed in the treasury.  Prior to the repair of the temple, the finances were there.  This pattern was established each time throughout Scripture.  Until men overcome their ego and the subtleness of greed that causes them to cling to their funds, the New Temple will not be built.  Just as in the time of Joseph, it took a sore famine to cause men to finally separate them from their perceived wealth.  It took the death of the first born for the Egyptians to give their wealth for the building of Our Heavenly Father’s dwelling place.  There will be those who step out in faith and those who give in final desperation as their ego tries to cling to man’s perception of wealth.  Both blessing and judgment are coming.  The only question will be which side of Our Heavenly Father will you be on.

Greed is most subtle.  Greed will tell you to postpone giving until some future event occurs.  It makes conditional promises that are always deferred into the future.  Meanwhile you are virtually useless to the Kingdom for your focus always remains in the future versus the here and now.  I knew a man who was working on International financing deals and expected his “ship to come in” at any time.  Once that happened, he was going to buy a diamond ring from Cartier and marry his girlfriend.  That was ten years ago.  I suspect she is still waiting.

The story of the widow’s mite is all about percentages.  Those with much gave little whereas those with little gave much.  If you are deferring your giving until your windfall comes in, don’t expect anything to change if and when that happens.  Your ego will convince you to go build a bigger barn and defer your giving into the future.  That “future” will never come and you will be judged accordingly.  This blog might offend some but now is the time to judge yourself while there is still time.  None of us are called to judge your heart, that’s yours to deal with.  However, we are all called to be fruit inspectors.  Those may be tough words but now is the time!