Gabe is currently serving the Lord in the vocational training department of Salem4Youth Ranch as a wood working instructor. He has been involved in ministering to young people since he was a teenager – mentoring, teaching, church ministry, camps, retreats, and residential ministry. Gabe attended Lincoln Christian University and Columbia International University, graduating from CIU in 2002 with majors in both Bible and Youth Ministry. He and his wife, Nikki (also a graduate of LCU and ISU with degrees in Jr. High Education and Bible), are busy with 3 children in gradeschool, jr. high, and high school. Gabe is an avid fly fisherman and enjoys spending time outdoors with his family as often as possible.
I Peter 1:24-25 “for all flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls, 25) but the Word of the Lord remains forever. And this Word is the good news that was preached to you.”
When the flower falls, the bud or bloom, the glory of the plant ceases to exist because it falls, it has no more glory, no beauty, no life, no favor, It’s gone. But! But what? “The Word of the Lord remains forever!” The living Word.
This is no small thing to gloss over or to fly by. It has, it is, and it will… remain forever. The Word of the Lord, The living, abiding, enduring Word! How long then is forever? Forever; never stopping, never ceasing, never fading, never failing, never falling…its glory, His glory, its truth, His truth remains forever, that is, to infinity and beyond.
My grandpa read his Bible, but he passed away; he died when I was a young kid. He’s gone, but God’s Word and the words of the Lord remain today.
A man named Henry Sims went to the church I grew up in. Calvary Baptist Church in Plainfield, Indiana. Henry was a faithful man. He read his Bible relentlessly until his eyesight was gone. He, too, has passed away, but I hold before you the living, abiding, enduring Word of God that Henry so loved to read.
William Tyndale (1494 – 1536) was a scholar and theologian who made one of the first printed translations of the Bible into English and was Executed for heresy. His English translations would later be published, forming a significant part of modern Bible translations.
Aug 5, 2014, Wikipedia.org The Bible is still being sold and published all across the world today.
In the 16th century, a man named Martin Luther defended the absolute Word of God helping to set off the Reformation. He fought the good fight for the Bible. However, he too has passed away, yet five centuries later into the 21st century, the Word of the Lord remains!
Augustine from 400 AD, The Apostle Paul from 60 AD, and Peter have all passed. However, the Word of the Lord remains, and it not only remains, but it’s also still transforming lives.
Mac and Martha here at the Ranch, it changed their lives. It transformed my wife’s life 17 years ago. It transformed my life 20 and 30 years ago.
Eric Jenkins, from the favored son, to a prisoner, to a born-again believer. The Word radically changed his life. And the stories go on…
To the people all over the world…In China, the Middle East, Spain, Basque Country, California, Chicago, and Florida…The living, active, abiding, enduring Word of the Lord has remained and will never fade… or fail… or fall!
Isaiah 55:11 “So shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.”
The Word of the Lord reveals the glory of God The Father, God The Son, and God The Holy Ghost! It did then.. it is now.. and it will be tomorrow! His Word came to be the Savior of the world. The Word of the Lord was saving people back then, the Word of the Lord is saving people today, and the Word of the Lord will save some tomorrow.
Matthew 24:35 “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.”
Hebrews 4:12 “For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”
Matthew 4:4 “But he answered, ” Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.”
It never goes out of style. It is accurate and relevant. It was then, and it is today, and it will be tomorrow.
Proverbs 2:6 “For the LORD gives wisdom; from his mouth comes knowledge and understanding;” God’s Word.
Proverbs 4:20-22 “My son, be attentive to my words; incline your ear to my sayings. 21) Let them not escape from your sight; keep them within your heart. 22) For they are life to those who find them, and healing to all their flesh.” So believe in the Living Abiding Word Jesus Christ, and Him crucified and receive eternal life!
And verse 25, “and this word is the good news that was preached to you.” Word = rhema – spoken utterance from God what is said by God. This is also the living Word. John 1:14 “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us….” God’s Word through His Son for salvation.
Parents, consider the following; on what do you set the moral compass for your home? What basis do you discern and teach right from wrong? What motive and understanding compels you to work, provide, love, and nurture your family?
Families are crumbling at an alarming rate… they need something that will not change, will not fail, something that is not trendy or cultural and definitely something that will not die.
Fathers, your family needs to eat from the Word of the Lord. Mothers, your children need the pure spiritual milk of the Word. If your sons or daughters do not want what you give them… fret not. They are not rejecting you; they are rejecting God Himself. Be faithful. Stay faithful. Psalms 34:18 “The Lord is near the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.”
Amen.
Until next time, with much love, may grace abound,
Terry
Parents Pasture 