One again God's tenderness touched my heart today. I was reading Exod.28 and vv.2 and 40 showed me a new aspects of God's care for me.
V.2 "Make sacred garments for your brother Aaron to give him dignity and honor".
v.40 "Make tunics, sashes and caps for Aaron's sons to give them dignity and honor. "
God's covering for us has a unique purpose! God is in the restoration business. He wants to restore what the enemy has stolen from us. Our dignity and honor is what satan is after; enemy wants us to feel naked, violated, robbed, shamefull, unworthy. By stealing our dignity and honor enemy robbs us off many blessing, because when we're ashamed and feel unworthy we don't believe we deserve anything from God. ( although, His blessing and mercy has nothing to do with that)...
So God had a plan and He revealed it as a foreshadow in the Old Testament,"make them garments to give them dignity and honor" (back, as I would add).
God is our best Fashion Designer! Check this out!
Genesis 3:21 "The LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them."
Isa.52:1 "Awake, awake, O Zion, clothe yourself with strength.Put on your garments of splendor, O Jerusalem, the holy city. The uncircumcised and defiled will not enter you again. "
Isa 61:10 "I delight greatly in the LORD; my soul rejoices in my God. For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels."
Ezek.16:10 "I clothed you with an embroidered dress and put leather sandals on you. I dressed you in fine linen and covered you with costly garments."
Zech.3:4 "The angel said to those who were standing before him, "Take off his filthy clothes." Then he said to Joshua, "See, I have taken away your sin, and I will put rich garments on you."
Ps.132:9 "May your priests be clothed with righteousness; may your saints sing for joy."
Rom. 13:14 "Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature."
Gal.3:27 "for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ."
Rev.16:15 ""Behold, I come like a thief! Blessed is he who stays awake and keeps his clothes with him, so that he may not go naked and be shamefully exposed."
There is a brand new wardrobe available for us, but sometime we wake up in the morning and habbitually put on the old rags and filthy clothes that enemy made us wear for years and we think that is "as good as it gets" and God is telling us over and over Genesis through Revelation that He has prepared a new garments for us to give us back our stolen dignity and honor- the garments of praise instead of despair, forgiveness instead of shame, future instead of old past. Open your closet and see what is yours. It's time for us to be fully dressed and take back what the enemy had stolen.
Tuesday, August 29, 2006
Saturday, August 26, 2006
A Gift Giving GOD
We're still studying the Tabernacle with my home girls here. So I am all in that study.I ask God to show me new things and surprise me every time. I delight in the fresh new manna every day and refuse to be sustained by the old revelations only. So, here it is- He is Faithful as always, showed me something I never saw before!
Numbers 18: 5-7. " So the LORD said to Aaron", "You are to be responsible for the care of the sanctuary and the altar, so that wrath will not fall on the Israelites again. I myself have selected your fellow Levites from among the Israelites as a gift to you, dedicated to the LORD to do the work at the Tent of Meeting. But only you and your sons may serve as priests in connection with everything at the altar and inside the curtain. I am giving you the service of the priesthood as a gift. Anyone else who comes near the sanctuary must be put to death."
Check this out!!! How thoughtful of God to put it this way and plan it ahead just for such a time as this! God had carefully planned the purpose for Aaron and all the priests and He handpicked all the helpers for him and presented them AS A GIFT! AWWW....To know that I am GOD's gift to my pastor- what a delight! To know that GOD spend time picking the right Russian girl for such a time as this , for such a place as this just to be a gift to someone. Not just a poor favor out of compassion like crumbs of the leftover dinner for the beggar, but A GIFT- carefully and thoughtfully picked.
And look at the way GOD presented ministry- HIS GIFT to Aaron. I wonder if it's a sobering thought for someone today to be reminded that what you do for the LORD is not just your job or work or burden, but it is a GIFT from GOD that helps you to be more and more shaped into the person you were meant to be!
Actually all of us are like Levites and I want to encourage you and tell you- you are GOD's gift to that person, whether he treats you as such or not. They will answer to GOD how they maintained their gifts. But GOD sees you as a gift to your pastor or anyone in authority over you, so treat yourself a such- bless your leader with your attitude, prayer, help, ministry- you are a GIFT.
And all of us are like Aaron as well- we have a ministry that the LORD intrusted to us, no matter what is it that you do in the church: preach from the pulpit, teach Sunday School,clean the bathroom or water the plants.....whatever you do is the gift that GOD carefully picked that fits only you, so never give up! And as I love to say, "When GOD gives vision, He gives proVISION",so if God blessed you with the gift of ministry, He will be faithful to bless you with the gift of helping hands. Let your "Levites" know how much you appriciate them :)
GOD IS SO CREATIVE!
Numbers 18: 5-7. " So the LORD said to Aaron", "You are to be responsible for the care of the sanctuary and the altar, so that wrath will not fall on the Israelites again. I myself have selected your fellow Levites from among the Israelites as a gift to you, dedicated to the LORD to do the work at the Tent of Meeting. But only you and your sons may serve as priests in connection with everything at the altar and inside the curtain. I am giving you the service of the priesthood as a gift. Anyone else who comes near the sanctuary must be put to death."
Check this out!!! How thoughtful of God to put it this way and plan it ahead just for such a time as this! God had carefully planned the purpose for Aaron and all the priests and He handpicked all the helpers for him and presented them AS A GIFT! AWWW....To know that I am GOD's gift to my pastor- what a delight! To know that GOD spend time picking the right Russian girl for such a time as this , for such a place as this just to be a gift to someone. Not just a poor favor out of compassion like crumbs of the leftover dinner for the beggar, but A GIFT- carefully and thoughtfully picked.
And look at the way GOD presented ministry- HIS GIFT to Aaron. I wonder if it's a sobering thought for someone today to be reminded that what you do for the LORD is not just your job or work or burden, but it is a GIFT from GOD that helps you to be more and more shaped into the person you were meant to be!
Actually all of us are like Levites and I want to encourage you and tell you- you are GOD's gift to that person, whether he treats you as such or not. They will answer to GOD how they maintained their gifts. But GOD sees you as a gift to your pastor or anyone in authority over you, so treat yourself a such- bless your leader with your attitude, prayer, help, ministry- you are a GIFT.
And all of us are like Aaron as well- we have a ministry that the LORD intrusted to us, no matter what is it that you do in the church: preach from the pulpit, teach Sunday School,clean the bathroom or water the plants.....whatever you do is the gift that GOD carefully picked that fits only you, so never give up! And as I love to say, "When GOD gives vision, He gives proVISION",so if God blessed you with the gift of ministry, He will be faithful to bless you with the gift of helping hands. Let your "Levites" know how much you appriciate them :)
GOD IS SO CREATIVE!
1 Peter 2:9
But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.
Fresh look at Psalm 23
God just blessed me again with the fresh breath of His WORD that came straight from His mouth. I have read Ps.23 many times, yet it never occured to me that God is not only portraited as a Shepherd there, you can see a whole lot more of God than just a Shepherd. It really blessed me.
The LORD is my shepherd, (Jehovah Ro’i: “The Lord my Shepherd.”)
I shall not be in want. (Jehovah Jireh - "The LORD Provider")
He makes me lie down in green pastures, (Rest Giver- Matt. 11:28)
he leads me beside quiet waters, (Jehovah Shalom: “The Lord is Peace.”)
he restores my soul. (Repairer and Restorer- Isa.58:12)
he restores my soul. (Repairer and Restorer- Isa.58:12)
He guides me in paths of righteousness (Jehovah Tsidkenu- the Lord is our righteousness)
for his name's sake. (El-Elyon -- The Lord Most High, His name is above all names)
Even though I walk through the valley
Even though I walk through the valley
of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil, for you are with me; (Jehovah Shammah: “The Lord is there.”)
your rod and your staff,
they comfort me. (His is our Comforter)
You prepare a table before me (Provider)
You prepare a table before me (Provider)
in the presence of my enemies. (Jehovah Nissi: “The Lord is my Banner", my victory;Jehovah-Sabaoth -- The Lord of Hosts, the Warrior )
You anoint my head with oil; (Jehovah Maccaddeshcem: “The Lord your Sanctifier.”)
my cup overflows. (El Shaddai- all sufficient One, more than enough)
Surely goodness and love will follow me
Surely goodness and love will follow me
all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.
I don't need hundreds of other gods to help me with hundreds of my need- I just need the ONE and ONLY who can do it all by Himself!
He is so good!
praise report update!!!!!
Some of you have read my blog "Thankfull for my freedom" posted in June (about young woman whose husband got sentenced in jail for 8 months, which was good, because he was facing up to 10 years!)..Well, God didn't stop there amazing us. Mike got permission to come to church on Sundays and Men's breakfast once a month as well! So he not only got to keep his job, he still could see his brothers and sisters in Christ on the regular basis! Which, let me tell you, shook the whole jail- they have never heard of such a thing, such a favor in their life time!
BUT THERE IS MORE!!!!
Last night at midnight my phone rang and his wife (my friend) was on the phone. My heart jumped, because that's what our hearts do when we get a late night call :) So I talk to her and we were talking and she said, "I have a huge praise report" and I asked what was it..and she said that Mike just got approved for the house arrest!!!!! PRAISE GOD!!!! When we thought that approval to come to church every week was the limit, God just pulled His sleeves up and said, "You have seen nothing yet, child! Watch your Daddy at work!" :):):) So this family will have their husband and father home this coming Tuesday instead of end of January :)
God will never cease to amaze me!
BUT THERE IS MORE!!!!
Last night at midnight my phone rang and his wife (my friend) was on the phone. My heart jumped, because that's what our hearts do when we get a late night call :) So I talk to her and we were talking and she said, "I have a huge praise report" and I asked what was it..and she said that Mike just got approved for the house arrest!!!!! PRAISE GOD!!!! When we thought that approval to come to church every week was the limit, God just pulled His sleeves up and said, "You have seen nothing yet, child! Watch your Daddy at work!" :):):) So this family will have their husband and father home this coming Tuesday instead of end of January :)
God will never cease to amaze me!
Thursday, August 24, 2006
Nursing Home Expirience
Today we went to 2 Nursing Homes to have a church service for those who can't leave the building today... To be honest, that was my first time. I diligently thought through my devotion, picked couple hymns and there we went. I arrived a bit early, so I had time to pray more and plead the blood of Jesus on the places. The first place - "Mahoney House" wasn't that bad. I saw older people slowly walking into the dinning hall where the piano was and there they sat- so quiet and gentle. I have to tell you- there is something about the old voice that is so fragile and weak during singing hymns. I saw few sparks in the eyes as we started the songs they knew by heart. The last song we sang was "Blessed Assurance"..this is my story, this is my song........
.............I am sure all of them there had plenty of stories to tell; things that those people been through are untold. I sat and I studied their wrinkled faces and wondered what stories their hearts carry....
When we were done singing the last hymn, I told them that I love stories (that's why I blog!..they wouldn't know what blog is anyway...they care less that "blog "is in the Oxford dictionary by the way)...I asked them if they knew that God too loves stories! And He is currently in the process of writing one right now that involves Him and you, Him and me.....the story of the 2 hearts. I told them that God started writing their story long before they were born and He has been diligently working on this project ever since. Every page is showing His love and His faithfulness; every page of that story shows His great concern for us. But there is one thing that God can'tdo about that story- is to determine the end of it. Her has the ideal happy end in mind, but it is up to us to decide weatherwe want it that way or not. I told them that God is up to writing the best love story EVER. Romeo and Juliet is nothing compare to that one. You see, Romeo had Juliet's heart. Tristan has Isolda's heart, Mr.Darcy had Ms.Lizzie's heart ("Pride and Prejudice")...and Jesus wants to have our hearts- all of it, 100% of it so that we can make the most romantic love story EVER written. God is writing to us every day and tells us how crazy He is about us.
At this point I looked at the lady in the walker and I asked her quietly, "Did you know that God is absolutely crazily in love with YOU?"...she looked like a shy teenager, she smiled, looked down and looked back at me being shy of the fact that she liked what I said...so cute!
God IS in love with His people. We are the only one in the whole creation that make HIs heart go faster and slower at the same time, we are the desire of His heart and He misses us when we get too preoccupied with our daily activities.
..All of a sudden I thought of the song " And he walks with with me and he talks with me and he tells me I am his own"...that's all I knew about it and our pianist played it ....I told people -" THIS IS the love story He wants to have with us!!!!This song is telling it all!!"
And He walks with me
He speaks and the sound of His voice
I'd stay in the garden with Him'
.............I am sure all of them there had plenty of stories to tell; things that those people been through are untold. I sat and I studied their wrinkled faces and wondered what stories their hearts carry....
When we were done singing the last hymn, I told them that I love stories (that's why I blog!..they wouldn't know what blog is anyway...they care less that "blog "is in the Oxford dictionary by the way)...I asked them if they knew that God too loves stories! And He is currently in the process of writing one right now that involves Him and you, Him and me.....the story of the 2 hearts. I told them that God started writing their story long before they were born and He has been diligently working on this project ever since. Every page is showing His love and His faithfulness; every page of that story shows His great concern for us. But there is one thing that God can'tdo about that story- is to determine the end of it. Her has the ideal happy end in mind, but it is up to us to decide weatherwe want it that way or not. I told them that God is up to writing the best love story EVER. Romeo and Juliet is nothing compare to that one. You see, Romeo had Juliet's heart. Tristan has Isolda's heart, Mr.Darcy had Ms.Lizzie's heart ("Pride and Prejudice")...and Jesus wants to have our hearts- all of it, 100% of it so that we can make the most romantic love story EVER written. God is writing to us every day and tells us how crazy He is about us.
At this point I looked at the lady in the walker and I asked her quietly, "Did you know that God is absolutely crazily in love with YOU?"...she looked like a shy teenager, she smiled, looked down and looked back at me being shy of the fact that she liked what I said...so cute!
God IS in love with His people. We are the only one in the whole creation that make HIs heart go faster and slower at the same time, we are the desire of His heart and He misses us when we get too preoccupied with our daily activities.
..All of a sudden I thought of the song " And he walks with with me and he talks with me and he tells me I am his own"...that's all I knew about it and our pianist played it ....I told people -" THIS IS the love story He wants to have with us!!!!This song is telling it all!!"
I come to the garden alone
While the dew is still on the roses
And the voice I hear, falling on my ear
The Son of God discloses
And He walks with me
And He talks with me
And He tells me I am His own
And the joy we share as we tarry there
None other has ever known
He speaks and the sound of His voice
Is so sweet the birds hush their singing
And the melody that He gave to me
Within my heart is ringing
I'd stay in the garden with Him'
Tho the night around me be falling
But He bids me go; through the voice of woe
His voice to me is calling
Does He talk with you? Does He walk with you? Do you hear how He gently whispers to you"OH, BELOVED! You ARE MINE and NOBODY IN THIS WHOLE WIDE WORLD CAN HAVE YOU. COME AWAY WITH ME, BELOVED..RECEIVE MY LOVE..YOU ARE MINE AND I AM YOURS...YOU HAVE MY HEART AND I HAVE YOURS..MINE, MINE..YOU ARE MINE"....
Do you believe this? Do you live your life as you believe this?
The greatest love story of all times- Jesus and His beloved- you! He is crazy about you! Make haste, beloved. He is waiting to fill your cup till it overflows, He set the table for you - feast with Him.
p.s. the most amazing thing about today was probably one particular lady who was paralized almost completely, she stared at one direction, when I came closer to talk to her she didn't show any emotion, but when we sang the hymn, I saw her lips slightly moving and I saw her singing- silently, but I bet in her heart she had full orchestra. She walked with Jesus even inspite her paralized body and she talked with Him inspite her lack of ability and she heard Him saying to her "You are my own" and there she sat in the wheelchair totally satisfied with her Saviour.
Thursday, August 17, 2006
Tuesday, August 15, 2006
it's really OK to have a smart mouth :) read the Scripture
God has been on my case lately :)
I know where He was leading , but for a while I just took my time to obey and it effected my personal daily victory . I LOVE the Scripture, I am crazy about God's Word, and I memorized it once in a while, but most I just meditated on it and studied it. So God told me to start memorizing one Scripture a day. I obeyed this time. I went to Wal-Mart, got the index cards and every day now I'm asking Him to show me the Scripture He wants me to know by heart and He is so faithful to do that every single day. It wasn't as hard as I thought it would be :) I am learning to love the WORD of God in a new, fresh, exciting way.
So this morning I wrote down Mark 14:38 (I am not cheating as I am writing it down :)) here we go ,"Watch and pray so you won't fall into teptation. The spirit is willing but the body is weak." yay! I am getting there....well, that was free, I haven't even began making my point :)
This morning in my time with God I read Isa. 50:4,5 " The Sovereign LORD has given me am instructed tongue, to KNOW THE WORD that sustains the weary. He wakens me morning by morning , wakens my ear to listen like one being taught. The Sovereign LORD has opened my ears and I have not rebelled, I have not drawn back". I felt fresh breath of God over this Scripture I've read before. I know all of us would like to have an instructed tongue, the smart mouth of sorts :):):)the key to get is to KNOW THE WORD. The key to know the Word is to allow GOD to wake you up in the morning and be teachable (Ps. 5:3 , "In the morning , O LORd, you hear my voice and in the morning I lay my requests before YOU and wait in expectation" ). I am absolutely grateful for His considirate care in this Scripture. Look, it says, "He wakens me and opens my ear" ...you can say that prophet Isaiah wasn't a morning person like many of us! Amen! So the LORD not only awaken him, He had to open his ears as well. If I were to write this Scripture, I would write, "The Sovereign LORD awakens me morning by morning with the coffee smell of His presence, He opens not only my ears, but my eyes and turns my brain on so I can learn from Him" (NLV- new Lenna's Version )....
God doesn't mind us to have a smart mouth, only if our mouth is full of HIS WORD. So, use your smart mouth with the enemy and do not give him rest. Make the enemy scared when you wake up every morning and make him say, "oh boy, he/she is up and together with GOD they mean busyness".
I know where He was leading , but for a while I just took my time to obey and it effected my personal daily victory . I LOVE the Scripture, I am crazy about God's Word, and I memorized it once in a while, but most I just meditated on it and studied it. So God told me to start memorizing one Scripture a day. I obeyed this time. I went to Wal-Mart, got the index cards and every day now I'm asking Him to show me the Scripture He wants me to know by heart and He is so faithful to do that every single day. It wasn't as hard as I thought it would be :) I am learning to love the WORD of God in a new, fresh, exciting way.
So this morning I wrote down Mark 14:38 (I am not cheating as I am writing it down :)) here we go ,"Watch and pray so you won't fall into teptation. The spirit is willing but the body is weak." yay! I am getting there....well, that was free, I haven't even began making my point :)
This morning in my time with God I read Isa. 50:4,5 " The Sovereign LORD has given me am instructed tongue, to KNOW THE WORD that sustains the weary. He wakens me morning by morning , wakens my ear to listen like one being taught. The Sovereign LORD has opened my ears and I have not rebelled, I have not drawn back". I felt fresh breath of God over this Scripture I've read before. I know all of us would like to have an instructed tongue, the smart mouth of sorts :):):)the key to get is to KNOW THE WORD. The key to know the Word is to allow GOD to wake you up in the morning and be teachable (Ps. 5:3 , "In the morning , O LORd, you hear my voice and in the morning I lay my requests before YOU and wait in expectation" ). I am absolutely grateful for His considirate care in this Scripture. Look, it says, "He wakens me and opens my ear" ...you can say that prophet Isaiah wasn't a morning person like many of us! Amen! So the LORD not only awaken him, He had to open his ears as well. If I were to write this Scripture, I would write, "The Sovereign LORD awakens me morning by morning with the coffee smell of His presence, He opens not only my ears, but my eyes and turns my brain on so I can learn from Him" (NLV- new Lenna's Version )....
God doesn't mind us to have a smart mouth, only if our mouth is full of HIS WORD. So, use your smart mouth with the enemy and do not give him rest. Make the enemy scared when you wake up every morning and make him say, "oh boy, he/she is up and together with GOD they mean busyness".
Sowing and Reaping
ok now...I haven't written for a while, my life got so busy....
I like to tell my friends that I need to escape captivity of activity, but so far it's only words on my part. :)
In all seriousness, God has been dealing with me about that. It broke my heart that the King of Kings and the the LORD of the Universe is missing His little girl and just wants to spend time with me...Isn't HE tender and good?
I challenged my ladies at the Bible Study a week ago to press in the WORD and prayer and worship. We decided to do 15/15/15 (minutes that is) (prayer, praise, press in the WORD) and some of us who already had that habbit, I challenged them to increase the time. C'mon now, give God a raise of what you're used to give HIM :)
Let me tell you about the amazing things the LORD started showing my home girls. I am probably the youngest among them all (what a privelge to be called their teacher , thank you darlings :))...anyways..the things that GOD spoke to them! When they shared I KNEW they heard HIM speaking to their hearts. Some of the callings got confirmed, some got delivered from fear, some recieved fresh promises to stand on! oh, GOD is so good.
So last night at the Bible study we were talking about sowing the seed of the WORD into our lives. We had an amazing time, they all were sharing and we all were learning! But the thing that spoke to me the most is that, "We can do all the Bible studies there are available, we can have a heavy-duty emotion over the Word of God, yet remain unchaged for years. Why? Because the seed of the Word that God gave us to plant we ended up eating, instead of sowing it into our lives"....sobering thought isn't it?
I challenged my girls to think back about the Word they recieved a week ago and asked them, "So what are you doing with the seed? Don't eat it, to feel full for a little while, SOW it to reap the HARVEST".
I shared with them a story about my friend from Chicago, whose grandma got very sick and they didn't have money for a doctor. Zach and I heard God leading us to bless them with $100, but my friend refused to take it! I almost had to fight her down! (have you ever seen 2 Russians fight? LOL)...but later I told her, "Do you realize what you're doing to me by not taking the money? Do you really believe you're blessing me by "saving it"in my pocket?" ...she looked at me confused..then I said, "by not recieving the seed from me now, you're actually robing me off my harvest. If you really want to bless me, please, take me seed of $100 and allow me to plant it , so that later I may recieve the harvest"...needless to say, she took it, her grandma is fine and I am blessed .
Genesis 8:22 says , " As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease".
Anything we do today is the seed and we're sowing it. I can relate to it more than ever, because God has placed me in Nebraska for this season of my life and farming is popular here. I see fields here, I see farmers working, I see crops growing and I see harvest getting ready.
We can't plant pumpkins and expect cucumbers. The same way we can't plant sin or anything of the flesh and expect the harvest of the Spirit.
If I were to go out with you to Starbucks today and ask you a question , "what have you sown recently?"...what would your answer be? Would you be embarassed? Would you be full of hope and excited? Or would you not even have a qanswer....When we sow into the wind, we might reap a hurricane...when we sow into the Spirit, we reap the harvest of the Spirit.
It's never too late to start sowing the things of the Spirit in your life. Unlike farmers, we don't need to wait till spring to sow the good seed, we can start NOW. Get the seed of the Word into your hands and start sowing it. How? James 1:21,22 gives the perfect answer, "humbly accept the WORD planted in you, which can save you.Do not merely listen to the WORD and so deceive yourself. DO WHAT IT SAYS"....let's start excepting the WORD, using theWORD, believing the WORD, living the WORD out. Get your farmer's gear on, we've got some sowing to do, because with the harvest comes the GLORY.
I like to tell my friends that I need to escape captivity of activity, but so far it's only words on my part. :)
In all seriousness, God has been dealing with me about that. It broke my heart that the King of Kings and the the LORD of the Universe is missing His little girl and just wants to spend time with me...Isn't HE tender and good?
I challenged my ladies at the Bible Study a week ago to press in the WORD and prayer and worship. We decided to do 15/15/15 (minutes that is) (prayer, praise, press in the WORD) and some of us who already had that habbit, I challenged them to increase the time. C'mon now, give God a raise of what you're used to give HIM :)
Let me tell you about the amazing things the LORD started showing my home girls. I am probably the youngest among them all (what a privelge to be called their teacher , thank you darlings :))...anyways..the things that GOD spoke to them! When they shared I KNEW they heard HIM speaking to their hearts. Some of the callings got confirmed, some got delivered from fear, some recieved fresh promises to stand on! oh, GOD is so good.
So last night at the Bible study we were talking about sowing the seed of the WORD into our lives. We had an amazing time, they all were sharing and we all were learning! But the thing that spoke to me the most is that, "We can do all the Bible studies there are available, we can have a heavy-duty emotion over the Word of God, yet remain unchaged for years. Why? Because the seed of the Word that God gave us to plant we ended up eating, instead of sowing it into our lives"....sobering thought isn't it?
I challenged my girls to think back about the Word they recieved a week ago and asked them, "So what are you doing with the seed? Don't eat it, to feel full for a little while, SOW it to reap the HARVEST".
I shared with them a story about my friend from Chicago, whose grandma got very sick and they didn't have money for a doctor. Zach and I heard God leading us to bless them with $100, but my friend refused to take it! I almost had to fight her down! (have you ever seen 2 Russians fight? LOL)...but later I told her, "Do you realize what you're doing to me by not taking the money? Do you really believe you're blessing me by "saving it"in my pocket?" ...she looked at me confused..then I said, "by not recieving the seed from me now, you're actually robing me off my harvest. If you really want to bless me, please, take me seed of $100 and allow me to plant it , so that later I may recieve the harvest"...needless to say, she took it, her grandma is fine and I am blessed .
Genesis 8:22 says , " As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease".
Anything we do today is the seed and we're sowing it. I can relate to it more than ever, because God has placed me in Nebraska for this season of my life and farming is popular here. I see fields here, I see farmers working, I see crops growing and I see harvest getting ready.
We can't plant pumpkins and expect cucumbers. The same way we can't plant sin or anything of the flesh and expect the harvest of the Spirit.
If I were to go out with you to Starbucks today and ask you a question , "what have you sown recently?"...what would your answer be? Would you be embarassed? Would you be full of hope and excited? Or would you not even have a qanswer....When we sow into the wind, we might reap a hurricane...when we sow into the Spirit, we reap the harvest of the Spirit.
It's never too late to start sowing the things of the Spirit in your life. Unlike farmers, we don't need to wait till spring to sow the good seed, we can start NOW. Get the seed of the Word into your hands and start sowing it. How? James 1:21,22 gives the perfect answer, "humbly accept the WORD planted in you, which can save you.Do not merely listen to the WORD and so deceive yourself. DO WHAT IT SAYS"....let's start excepting the WORD, using theWORD, believing the WORD, living the WORD out. Get your farmer's gear on, we've got some sowing to do, because with the harvest comes the GLORY.
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