Thankful Project

On November 23rd. I am thankful for the true riches in my life, love, friendship, life Essentials,and a relationship with the Lord. I always have my needs met, when I don’t see a way out, The Lord always shows me the way.

Are You Planting The Kind Of Life You Want To Grow?

Be careful, you reap what you sow. I have heard this all my life, and for along time I thought it was a superstition.

Now it is a reminder to watch what I say and do. Everything always has a way of returning to you.

If I sow bad behavior, I get bad consequences. If I sow good behavior, I get good consequences. The concept is simple enough right? But what if there’s something deeper than behavior in the concept?

Jesus’ audience was all too familiar with this principle. Their lives revolved around the law of sowing and reaping because they depended on farming to survive. A farmer sows, or plants a certain seed and expects to get that same type of plant in return.

Jesus talked about sowing and reaping as an allegory- a story with in a hidden meaning. Scripture uses the picture of a farmer who plants a seed expecting something to grow as a way to show that our daily decisions and actions also have a definite return.

Sowing is Spiritual

In Galatians 6 8-9, Paul explains that sowing is the start of the battle for our hearts:

Whoever sows to please the flash, from flesh they will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap enteral life. We shouldn’t become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.

Our lives will reflect what we plant in our hearts. We can sow in one of two way’s and the decision is ours.

I remember something that happened to my son when he was younger, everything Job he ever had he complain about to everyone about how ignorant his boss was, or mean to the employees. One day he would just quit going to work. We live in a small town. My advice to him if you can’t hold on to job because of your attitude. The word was going to get around and your not going to find a boss that’s going to give to a chance. Don’t burn your bridges.

Finally when no one would hire him. He met a girlfriend going to college, he decided to go to college that went well for about a year. And they both dropped out and moved away. Slowly but surely he started this same work behavior. He finally realized he WAS burning his bridges. He decided he needed to straighten up. Now he has a successful career.

The point is everything you do or say comes back to you. I was a hateful, rude, arrogant person when I was younger. Then I expected the same people that got the brunt of my hate to be polite and respectful towards me, that wasn’t how it worked.

It wasn’t until I chose how to love pepole, that my life started to go right.

When we sow to please God, we are doing something that will be beneficial. When our decisions and actions are done out of obedience to God and His Word- like loving a friend well or practicing generosity and hospitality-we will receive a blessing that far outlives this life.

But when our thoughts and actions are led by our sinful nature, we are not pleasing God, or anyone else around us. We are actually pleasing Satan. When sin guides our lives, we will be sow into a destructive further.

The Bible teaches us another important Pringle in farming in Galatians 6:7 about reaping what you sow.

A farmer sows a mustard seed, and in return a mustard plant grows. A farmer would never plant a mustard seed with the expectation of growing a watermelon vine. Likewise, we can expect our thoughts and actions to produce fruit with their kind. For example, if our actions are pleasing to God and we love those around us, we can expect to see love blossom while we experience love ourselves.

Like the laws of nature, the reverse is also true. We cannot expect to experience all the good things God has for us in life if we never following His instruction. If we sow sin and unhealthy patterns, we can expect to experience their consequences.

What seeds are you sowing today? Are we aware that our thoughts and actions have temporary and eternal consequences, both positive and negative.

Reaping is Plentiful

A farmer plants a tine sees and over time that seed produces a plant. The plant is towering when compared to the size of the seed. The farmer reaps a sizable benefit in comparison to what he has sown.

In Matthew 13:8, Jesus said the same principle applies when we receive His word with a willing heart. When our hearts are positioned to obey and follow Jesus, He is able to multiply His work in us to create a harvest beyond what we could imagine.

A few years ago the pastor of our church preached on sowing seeds. He told us to find something in our life that needed to grow, I chose my relationship with my children, then I prayed to God and asked Him to help my sowing to grow. Pastor said the God would put in fertile ground and we needed to water it. Which meant to pray over it often and believe without a doubt it would grow. When I did, after about 8 months my children became more kind to me, my son started calling me every week. My daughter would some over and sit and talk to me instead of just rushing to see her dad.

We plant seeds that are pleasing to God, pray about them often and God does the rest. When we are generous with he has given, He meets our needs and then some. And when we love those around us well, we will never see the ripples end because of His miraculous multiplication.

Freely given freely give. If God has blessed you with extra food, then freely give someone else in need of food. Or anything else. God helps us so may help others.

Are You Playing Games With God?

There are Board Games: Monopoly, Trouble, Operation, Chutes and Ladders, Risk, Poker, Bingo, and many more. Then there’s a crowd or party games where singles or group of people can win.

But we must be careful not to carry out our tendency of gaming over to God or the things of God. Yet playing with God is nothing new. Listen to what God says: In Isaiah 1: 13-17 Quit your worship charades. I can’t stand your trivial religious GAMES. I’m sick of your religion, religion, religion, while you go right on sinning. When you put on a prayer-performance, I’ll be looking the other way. No matter how long or load of often you pray, ill not be listening.

We all have played with God. It’s what’s probably what’s wrong with our nation today. I want to share a specific time I played with God, I have repented and I know I was forgiven, but from time to time I have conviction in my heart. I was going to a Bingo game one day, (if you read my blog you know Bingo games is my worst temptation). I got to the Game and the caller told everyone that the final game was blackout and we could win $200, if we won that game. I actually prayed to God to let me win, I bargained with him. If I won the $200, I would tithe 30% with my winnings. Surprisingly I won the $200 and I did pay an extra 30% tithe.

Yes, some people will think it was no big deal. I had to repent from that act and get right will God. Many people thing religion is nothing than a game to be played.

What are some of the games people play:

Let’s make a deal, this was a game show where people dress crazy and act nuts. Contestants are offered a deal and had to figure out if it’s better than what they already had.

It happens in real life, we are hit with a financial disaster a rebellious child, or we did something stupid and now we don’t have a way out, and we’re ready to makes deal; with God if your get my child of drugs then I will——-. God , if you get the creditors off my back or save my marriage, then I will——-.

Bargaining.p is trying to get God to do something for us in exchange for something we would do, ( I’ll quit drinking, I’ll quit gambling, I’ll start going to church regularly, I’ll start tithing.

Jacob in Genesis 28: 20-24 wanted to cut a deal with God; if you take care of me, I’ll pay my tithes, God does respond to faith if we seek Him, but wrong motives or still wrong motives.

The sad thing ism the bargaining chip we use are things we ought to be doing anyway. What people don’t know is that God doesn’t bargain; His promises are all written down in contract form. When we start meeting the requirements, the blessing s start flowing.

I know a man who got saved so he could date a Godly woman. Got got the last laugh when she ended up moving away and he stayed saved. He had wrong motives, but God worked it out for good.

Guesstures/Charades: object, you assume an identity, then you ask others to identify who you’re impersonating.

Simon the Sorcerer in Acts 8:13, 20-21. He pretended he was a believer in Jesus. He got baptized and started attending church. But his true colors came out when he offered Peter money to give him the lower to work miracles. Peter exposed his false motives: he was only impersonating believers.

When we play with God by using our own rules we become compliant with what we want, instead of what God wants.

Conformity-vs-Compliance, compliance involves people going along with instructions of life. Conformity involves people adhering to unspoken rules, we comply with people’s requests because we like to be seen as helpful.

Many times people don’t follow the rules or the law and disaster strikes. People don’t realize laws and rules were put there to save us from ourselves. I often think if we followed the laws in the Bible, or in Society what a better world it would be.

God Bless All who read my blog, we need to strive to become better than we were yesterday.

Thankful Project

On November 21st- I am thankful for a beautiful sunny day, love in my heart and great time times with my dog outside.

Build On A Solid Foundation

Foundations help protect our physical homes from disaster, but what is your life built on? What’s our foundation to protect us from spiritual disaster?

I love the parables God uses in His Word. It’s an easy to understand story that summarizes some lessons Jesus gave in his sermons. Jesus demonstrated the importance of a proper foundation.

It one of my favorites.

Jesus described two men who each built a house. He didn’t mention any difference between their resources or skills. The only variable was where each man chose to build.

In the book of Matthew, Jesus tells the story of two builders: a wise one and a foolish one.

The foolish man builds his home on sand. When a storm comes, the house falls with a great crash. Jesus says who hears his teachings but don’t put them into practice are like the foolish builder.

The wise builder, though, builds his house on the rock. When the storm comes, his house stands firm. Jesus says everyone who heard these words of mine and put them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock (Matthew 7:24).

In James it talks a lot about practicing what the Bible teaches. I love how he gives examples of how you can put God’s Word into practice.

You will have a controlled mouth. Those of who consider themselves religious and do not keep right reign on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless. (James 1:26).

You’ll have a caring heart: God our Father accepts us, as pure and faultless to look after orphans and widows in distress ( James 1:27).

You’ll have a clean heart: keel yourself from being polluted by the world.

Those things, James tells us, are evidence of Genuinely following the Lord our God.

In John 13:17, Jesus tells us, Now you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them. The blessing of the Bible can when you put it’s teachings into practice.

No matter who you are, you know more spiritual truth than you’re living right now. Start where you are today. Practice what you already know, and then as you learn more, put them into practice and be a doer of the word.

Thankful Project

On November 20th I am thankful for a relaxing day to recharge my soul.