seek first the Kingdom of God

Zaccheaus, You Come Down

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Have you ever been thirsty or hungry or tired and not know it? I have, there have been times when I would be busy doing something and simply forget to take time to eat or drink or rest. But then I would hit a wall. I would realize that I could not keep going one more minute because I had a need. I needed food or water or rest. When I would take a drink of cool water it would rejuvenate my whole body. It would make me wonder why it took me so long to realize that I had a need.

Zacchaeus was a man with a need. He had been so busy becoming a rich man that he did not realize how poor and tired and hungry he was. One day he heard a crowd coming, and asked, “What is going on.?” Someone said,” Jesus is coming.” So Zacchaeus climbed a tree to see who Jesus was. When Jesus saw him in the tree He said,” Zacchaeus, come on down I am going to your house today.” That day Zaccheaus found that Jesus met a need he did not know he had.

I know that many of you today are spiritually thirsty, hungry, and tired. You have been so busy trying to live a life that you have neglected to care for your soul. Now, you are out on a limb and you have a need that you can not fill.

Jesus is the Son of Man who came to seek and save the lost. He is looking up at you on your limb and saying, “Come on down I want to go to your house today.” If you will receive Him, He will bring salvation to your house. Then you can quince your thirst with His living water, satisfy your hunger with the Bread of Life and rest your weary head on His gentle shoulder.

Douglas Huff

From Down Where The Pavement Ends

The Prodigal Son

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In the Bible, Jesus tells the story of a man whose son demands that he be given his inheritance so that he can go out on his own. The father reluctantly gives his son his own livelihood and watches as the boy goes off into the world. The father knew that this was not about the money; no it was about a son rejecting the father’s love.

As the story goes the young man goes to a faraway land where he blows through his money in no time at all. Of course, when the money is gone the good times are gone, and when the good times are gone so are the friends. Now we find the boy with no money, friends, or food. He has to take job feeding pigs and wishes that he could eat the pig slop. And then finally one day he decides to go home and ask his father for forgiveness.

Now you may think this story is about the prodigal son but it is not. The story is actually about the father. You see as soon as the boy left, his father began to watch and pray for his son to come home. Day after day he would stand at the gate looking and longing to see his little boy coming down the road. Finally, the day comes when the old man sees his son coming home. The old man we tears in his eyes runs to meet His boy. With hugs and kisses, He welcomes him home

You know on second thought this story is not about the old man. It is about God and you. Maybe like the boy you have rejected the Father’s love. Maybe you have taken your life and wasted it. Maybe you have found yourself in the hog pen of life and you have found that hog slop doesn’t taste so good.

Here is the good news, our Father in Heaven has been waiting and watching and longing for you to come home. He is waiting to receive you with open arms. Won’t you leave the pigs and come to the Father? I can see Him now, when you start walking toward Him He will come running to you. He will clothe you in His righteousness and feed you from His table. You know He loves you, pig slop breath and all.

Douglas & Deborah Huff

From Down Where the Pavement Ends

Come and See

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Come and See

The following day Jesus wanted to go to Galilee, and He found Philip and said to him, “Follow Me.” Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found Him of whom Moses in the law, and also the prophets, wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” And Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.”” (John 1:43–46)

“Come and see.” This is a challenge to see in Jesus the Answer to all questions, the Object of all desires, and the fulfilled Promise of all time. Indeed the invitation is to come and see in Jesus the Final Treasure that is worth any sacrifice we have to make.

When Philip said, “I have found Him” he was saying they had been looking for a Messiah who would change their lives and he recognized in Jesus the Messiah. The crisis of our time is that the ones who need Him the most are not looking for Him. Oh, they are looking for something but they don’t recognize that Jesus is the Final Treasure.

A question for you, Christian. Do you recognize Jesus as the Final Treasure? The answer to that question may be the answer to the question of why has the American church lost its ability to impact society.

Brothers, you say that you are a Christian, so I challenge you to make the Word who was in the beginning, the Word who was with God and this Word who is God to make Him the Final Treasure of your Heart. Then maybe you can impart to a dying and thirsty world a desire for this Living Water.

Then when you extend an invitation to “come and see,” they will see that Jesus is indeed The Final Treasure.

Douglas & Deborah Huff

From Down Where The Pavement Ends

You Were Made To Thrive

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For the ones who are graduating, congratulations. The God of all creation has made you to thrive and to accomplish great things. God has a high hill for you to climb. Now it is up to you to find that hill and then climb it. People who reach their God-given summit have refused to be mediocre. They are leaders who stand out from the crowd and thrive. Here are some things you must know if you are going to stand out from the world.

1. No one owes you anything. Not a free education, not free health care, not a free phone, not a free car, nothing. The people who stand around waiting on free stuff never amount to anything. If you work hard and earn your own way, you will be successful.

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2. Learn the difference between wants and needs. The Bible tells us that if we seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, all things that we need will be added to us.

3. Never demand anything that you have not earned. If you have not earned it, you do not deserve it. If you want something, work for it. By the way, credit is not your friend!

4. Be careful who you trust, not everyone is trustworthy. Let God be your guide. Lean not on your own understanding but always look to God for wisdom.

5. Have respect for everyone, until they prove they do not deserve it. When someone loses your respect, it is their loss, not yours. However, you should always strive to be worthy of everyone’s respect.

6. Treat everyone with dignity. Everyone!

7. Sex is for marriage, period! If anyone says differently, they are lying. Marriage is for male and female Period! If anyone says differently, they are lying.

8. Always obey and serve God “You shall walk after the Lord your God and fear Him, and keep His commandments and obey His voice; you shall serve Him and hold fast to Him.” (Deuteronomy 13:4)

I firmly believe that if you follow these words of advice you will climb the highest hill. Stand on the Word of God, and refuse to blend in with the world. Choose to stand out and you will thrive.

High School Graduation

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Every spring high schools graduate into the world a new class of young adults. As these young people toss their hats into the air, very few realize just how much their lives are about to change. They will face new challenges and opportunities. From now on Mama, Daddy, and Grandparents will not be there for every decision they make.

They are adults now, and while Mama and Daddy will always be willing to give advice, these young people will not always listen. And that is as it should be. As I said, they are adults now and will be responsible for their own choices, the good ones, and the bad ones.

Here are some thoughts for those of you who will graduate this year:

Change happens and it does not seek your approval. The Bible teaches us that “To everything, there is a season”. It then gives a list of things there are times for. All the things that are listed are important. But these I will mention. There is “A time to keep silent and a time to speak”. Your life will be very blessed if you learn when it is time to speak and when it is time to be silent.

God has you on His mind. He tells us in His Word that He has plans for you, plans for your good and not for harm, and He plans to give you a future with hope. I promise you, His plans are better than yours so follow Him

You need a life anchor. Harness your heart to God’s kingdom. Put your trust in God and He will not forsake you. This promise I can make with certainty, “God will honor and take care of those who honor Him”.

Choose to stand out from the crowd. Blending in is always easy. But it will leave you ordinary and average. Stand up and stand out for God. This will be hard and maybe even dangerous. But it will make you an extraordinary person. And this world needs extraordinary people.

Douglas Huff

From Down Where The Pavement Ends

More Faith

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In the movie Jaws, three men were hunting a huge man-eating shark. One of the men, Sheriff Brodie came face to face with this extremely large and hungry shark. When this happened, he said, “We are going to need a bigger boat”.

In the Bible, Jesus taught His disciples that they would face great trials and persecution. He also taught them that they would have to learn to forgive others without reservation. These teachings of Jesus must have seemed as overwhelming to the disciples as the huge, hungry shark did to Sheriff Brodie. So, the disciples said, “We are going to need a bigger faith.”

In Luke chapter 17, the disciples ask Jesus to increase their faith. Jesus then told them that if they had even a tiny bit of faith, they could do great things. Wow, that is a tremendous promise. That is what most of us want. We want to be known as someone who has done great things and we want to do these things with just a little faith.

As Jesus continued His teaching about faith, He explained the characteristics of a faithful person. He shows us in the Bible that those who are great in their faith are servants. He says that a faith-filled person is actively working for God’s glory. And we learn that there is no faith without works. A faith-filled person is not self-centered; they never seek gratitude but serve only for the glory of God.

A person of great faith knows that they are God’s workmanship, created in Christ for good works. A faithful person’s mind is always on Christ and these words are always in their heart, “not unto me O Lord, not unto me, but unto You belongs all honor and glory and praise forever and ever, Amen

Douglas & Deborah Huff

From Down Where the Pavement Ends

email-pvementendsministry@gmail.com

The Bird

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There was a bird in the shop the other day. It flew in and immediately flew up to the ceiling. Thinking that the white ceiling was the sky, it kept flying against it. Not wanting him in there, I tried to shoo him out the door. However, to go out the door, he had to fly low. But it was his instinct to fly high. Instead of going out, he kept bumping against an artificial sky which was the ceiling. All day he flew back and forth, trapped because he would not lower himself to go through the door.

The bird reminds me of human nature. So often we become trapped by our foolishness. Refusing to humble ourselves we keep bumping against an artificial sky of our own making. We rush back and forth trying to find freedom, but on our own, we can never be successful.

God wants to show you the way. But you must swallow your pride and humbly kneel in prayer. Freedom can be yours and problems can be overcome if you are willing to do things God’s way. But you have to stop doing life your way.

Do you know how I finally got the bird out? Well, I turned the lights off and shut the door. Birds will not fly in darkness. I then open the door a tiny bit. This caused a small sliver of light to shine on the ceiling. The bird then began to flutter in that small patch of light. He was afraid of the dark and was drawn to the light. Then I took the ladder climbed to where he was and caught him in my hand. Then I took him outside and released him to real freedom.

So often it seems that darkness is driving us into a corner. In the darkness are you not drawn to a ray of light? When the world is dark Jesus is the light. If we will fly to the light, He will take us into His hands and release us into true freedom. Do you believe this? Do you trust Him? He is our only hope.

“Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.” John 8:12 NKJV

Douglas & Deborah Huff

Rise Up

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I confess, like most people, sometimes I miss important words in the Bible. For instance, in Matthew 11:11 Jesus says “Among those born of women there has not risen one greater than John the Baptist.” As often as I have read that passage of scripture until recently I had not seen the word, “risen.” This is important because John was not born great. Jesus is telling us that John the Baptist rose to greatness.

Yes, I know that the circumstances of John’s birth were miraculous. However, that was not what made him great. John became great when he rose up and unashamedly preached the need for repentance. Pointing to Jesus he joyfully proclaimed that He was the Lamb of God. Then John rose up and fearlessly pointed out the sins of King Herod. After this, he relentlessly clung to the Kingdom of Heaven even as the axe separated his head from his body. No, he was not born great, but by his faith, John ascended to greatness.

Strangely enough, after Jesus honors the greatness of John, He then turns to you and me and says “He who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than John.” I believe that through these words Jesus is issuing a challenge to all of us. This is the challenge; Godly men must stand up for the Glory of God and by faith cling to the kingdom of heaven.

This time we live in is strange and terrifying. This world needs great men who will stand up for righteousness and the Kingdom of God. These men will not come from the entertainment or sports venues. Nor will they come from the pulpit or political world. The Holy Spirit is looking for ordinary men who will sink to their knees in prayer and stand on their feet to do battle with the enemy.

For the sake of our children and grandchildren, it is time for ordinary men to cling to the Kingdom of Heaven and by faith rise up to greatness.

Douglas & Deborah Huff

From Down Where The Pavement Ends

Corrosion and Corruption

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A car battery has corrosion on its battery cables. But that is all right because no one can see it and it is just a little spot. But corrosion and corruption do not stay hidden or small. A corroded battery cable will eventually separate the automobile from its power source and then it will refuse to start. And then the most beautiful car in the world will be useless because it cannot do what it was designed to do.

And here we find the churches of our nation. Claiming the approval of God we tolerate, accept, and even celebrate sin. We choose unrepentant leaders. We refuse to stand for righteousness. We will not confront sinfulness because we don’t want to be considered judgmental. Indeed, we cannot see to judge because of the log that is in our own eye. These meeting places that are called churches can no longer do what they were designed to do. Why? Because the corruption of sin has separated us from the Power source which is the Righteous God.

Our nation has ceased to be exalted because righteousness has ceased to be important in our lives. Since righteousness is not important then neither is God’s approval. If you do not seek God’s approval can you call yourself a Child of God? Let me remind you; God said: “If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” (2 Chronicles 7:14)

Are you listening?

Douglas Huff

From Down Where the Pavement Ends

Email- pavementendsministry@gmail.com