Farmyard Insights
By Glenn Edwards
As a child, I was raised on a farm, and I became extremely practical in my orientation for life. Things like driving tractors with implements behind, and experiencing a breakdown, caused me to diagnose the problem quickly, fix it, and get back to work. Much of what I did was by trial and error, thus my life has exhibited those attributes.
When I was 20 years old, I was diagnosed with severe Rheumatoid Arthritis. For the next four years, while I was studying at the University of Alberta to obtain an Agricultural degree, I was treated for pain and joint swelling each week at the University Hospital.
Luke 8:43, says “And a woman having an issue of Blood twelve years, who spent all her living upon physicians, and could not be healed.” She was treated but grew no better, and such was my life. When I felt I had exhausted science and medicine, I became discouraged.
My mom introduced me to the fullness of the Spirit in 1974 and suggested I try God's ways. In constant 24-hour-a-day pain, I gave my heart to Jesus. In 1977 I enrolled in Oral Roberts University, to come to Tulsa and find out if God and His healing power were real.
In one of Oral Robert's messages, he declared, if what you are doing isn’t working, I would move.
James 4:8 says, “draw nigh to God, and He will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.” Therefore, I decided to draw near God and see if this faith healing was real.
In my quest, I discovered that God was real and that He wanted a relationship with me. As I moved toward God, He spoke to me about the unforgiveness in my life. Certainly not what I expected. I wanted a supernatural spectacular healing. But He wanted a changed life that demonstrated faith. I discovered that a quick fix so I could go on my merry way was not His plan for me.
One of the most striking lessons He taught me is described in the last half of Gal 5:6, “But faith working through love.” Jesus began to reveal that if I wanted my faith to work, I must embrace the “Love Walk” he had laid out for me in the Bible, which included practicing forgiveness.
I was trying to get God to work on my terms, and He wanted me to understand His ways. He explained that if I wanted my faith to work, I must embrace the God kind of love.
I Corinthians 13:4 – 8 KJV says, (God’s Love Definition)
(I began to confess this scripture out loud every day in my prayer time.)
4. LOVE (___________) is patient,
LOVE (___________) is kind,
LOVE (___________) does not envy,
LOVE (___________) does not boast,
5. LOVE (___________) is not proud,
LOVE (___________) is not rude,
LOVE (___________) is not self-seeking,
LOVE (___________) is not easily angered,
LOVE (___________) keeps no record of wrongs,
6. LOVE (___________) does not delight in evil, but rejoices in the truth,
7. LOVE (___________) always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres,
8. LOVE (___________) Never Fails!!
I will never fail because God is love, and He lives in me, and love never fails.
Therefore, if I walk in love my faith will never fail!!
Put your name in where each line is, to confess that God is living in you by the Holy Spirit, and therefore you are all the attributes of God’s love. Love is not only the rich soil to root your faith in, but I John 4:8 says, “He who does not love does not know God, for God is Love.”
Love is not just an emotion; it is the very nature of God.
Luke 22:32 Jesus states, “But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail.” Jesus implied that Peter’s faith could fail. Wow!
But I Corin. 13:8 says Love never fails, (because God never fails, and he is Love) so if we root our faith in the ground of God’s Love, our faith will never fail.
Therefore, when you walk in God’s Love your faith will always succeed.
Insights from the Farmyard for you today.
Be Blessed.
Glenn Edwards
About Glen:
Raised on a grain and dairy farm in Alberta Canada, Glenn comes with a practical orientation to life. Growing up in a Methodist-styled church, he found the fullness of the Spirit through the 1970s Charismatic Move. Although Glenn had always liked church, he became motivated to seek more of God, when he was diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis in 1972. Like the woman in the Bible who sought healing from all the doctors and only grew worse, this is Glenn’s testimony. Glenn completed a BSc. in Agriculture at the U of Alberta, in 1976, and an MBA from ORU in Tulsa OK in 1979. This started a whole new adventure for Glenn, culminating in ministry in the marketplace. For the past 45 years, Glenn has held leadership positions in the Land Development and Home Building Industry in both Canada and the USA.
In 1988 Glenn married Kelly, today a hospice nurse, and they have raised two children, Dr. Elizabeth Severns (32), and Michael (28) who is soon to enter full-time pastoral ministry. In 1994, Glenn and Kelly graduated from Rhema Bible Training Center. Today Glenn keeps busy with management consulting projects and is the Vice President of Montarise Developments in Montana.
Glenn currently sits on the Board of Directors for the Canadian Maranatha Evangelistic Association, with Dr. John Lucas, a ministry coordinating efforts of support for 28 missionaries worldwide. With a passion for Christian Education Glenn is also helping a new Organization called Kairos Academy Pathfinders, based out of Montana. This is a new entrant into the area of “Parent Lead Education,” providing Assessment tools and home-school support. Led by Dr. Robert Rye, Ph.D. from Harvard, this is an exciting ministry whose time has come.
Glenn attends The Real Church in Tulsa and The River Montana Church in Kalispell, Montana.
