A HARVEST OF BLESSING

“So let’s not get tired
of doing what is good.
At just the right time
we will reap a harvest of blessing
if we don’t give up.”
Galatians 6:9 NLT
~~~~~

This time of year St. Louis gardeners are getting the "fever." I took my tiller into the shop the other day to get it ready. In a few weeks it will be time to buy seeds and plants. As usual I expect to reap a harvest.

Gardening takes work. The ground needs to be tilled – seeds sown the right depth – plants properly spaced – use soaker hose during dry spells – mulch - pull weeds – fight bugs and worms – put up chicken wire fence to keep the rabbits out. If deer are a problem – MOVE!! :-) :-) The point is, it takes work to produce a good harvest.

Life is sort of that way. We are constantly sowing and planting and it will unquestionably produce a harvest. Bad stuff doesn’t take any effort, it just seems to happen, and sooner or later it will bear its disappointing fruit. Planting good deeds not only takes effort, it also stirs up the opposition of our enemy who tries to get us to give up. But with God’s help, we will be able to faithfully keep on doing good, and “just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing.”

“Doing good” is simply doing whatever pleases God. Jesus perfectly demonstrated what that looks like. Luke reminds us, “God anointed Jesus …. with the Holy Spirit and with power. Then Jesus went around doing good.” As born again people we, like Jesus, are anointed with the Holy Spirit, and able to do good deeds which are pleasing to our Heavenly Father.

“So let’s not get tired
of doing what is good.
At just the right time
we will reap a harvest of blessing
if we don’t give up.”

GOD IS READY TO HELP

“God is our refuge and strength,

always ready to help in times of trouble.
So we will not fear

when earthquakes come

and the mountains crumble into the sea.”
Psalm 46:1-2 NLT
~~~~~~~

Earthquakes have caught our attention recently. On Monday a 6.0 magnitude quake hit Turkey. Another hit Taiwan last Thursday morning, registering 6.4 on the Richter scale. Before that was the 8.8 quake that struck Chile, and on January 12th the 7.0 quake that hit Haiti killing an estimated 230,000 people.

It seems earthquakes are on the increase, but those who study seismic activity say, not so. They tell us normally there are approximately 80,000 quakes per month – 2,600 per day and 2 per minute. Somewhere in the world an earthquake is felt approximately every 30 seconds. Of these only a relative few are capable of causing damage.

But how utterly terrifying it must be for people to be in a “big one” and have everything around them breaking apart with debris crashing down, injuring and burying them.

We may never be in a major earthquake, but even if that should happen, “God is our refuge and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble.” As believers we would not be going through the experience alone, because he has promised to always be with us.

Living in a fallen world there are other things that are more apt to shake, and break up our lives than an earthquake: like an accident – illness – financial disaster – marital problems – death of a loved one. . . . Whatever it may be, we need not give in to fear and despair - GOD IS READY TO HELP! He offers us his “refuge and strength . . . in times of trouble.”

WORDS

“May the words of my mouth
and the meditation of my heart
be pleasing to you, O Lord,
my rock and my redeemer.”
Psalm 19:14 NLT
~~~~~

It is commonly claimed that women talk more than men, and there may be some validity to that, but it doesn’t take much of a search to find a guy who does most of the talking while his wife quietly stands by. I suppose personality has something to do with how much we talk.

The more we talk the more we are apt to stretch the truth about ourselves, and belittle others by passing on their secrets. Proverbs 10:19 is quite blunt about this – “Too much talk leads to sin. Be sensible and keep your mouth shut.” Whoa, that hurts!!

Words have incredible power to bring about positive or negative results. Again, Proverbs says, “Kind words are like honey—sweet to the soul and healthy for the body.” We all have experienced the warm healing affects of kind words– making us feel appreciated, and loved. We also have felt the sting and demeaning power of angry and hate filled words. Being totally honest, we probably have to admit, our words do not always bring warmth and healing – too often they can have a tinge of bitterness to them, and cause pain to those we love most.

Jesus said, “What you say flows from what is in your heart.” So whether we are people of few or many words, it’s our words that convey our thoughts and feelings and define who we really are.

I don’t know about you, but from time to time I need to pray the Psalmist’s prayer: “May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.”


CLICK ON THE LINK BELOW, and let it minister to your heart.
CHANGE MY HEART OH GOD

DAY BY DAY

"We do not lose heart.
Though outwardly we are wasting away,
yet inwardly we are being renewed

day by day.”
2 Corinthians 4:16 NIV
~~~~~~

“Day by day, and with each passing moment,
Strength I find, to meet my trials here;
Trusting in my Father’s wise bestowment,
I’ve no cause for worry or for fear.
He Whose heart is kind beyond all measure

Gives unto each day what He deems best—

Lovingly, its part of pain and pleasure,

Mingling toil with peace and rest.

~~~~~~

Every day, the Lord Himself is near me

With a special mercy for each hour;

All my cares He fain would bear, and cheer me,
He Whose Name is Counselor and Pow’r.
The protection of His child and treasure

Is a charge that on Himself He laid;“

As thy days, thy strength shall be in measure,

”This the pledge to me He made.

~~~~~~

Help me then in every tribulation

So to trust Thy promises, O Lord,

That I lose not faith’s sweet consolation
Offered me within Thy holy Word.Help me,

Lord, when toil and trouble meeting,

E’er to take, as from a father’s hand,

One by one, the days, the moments fleeting,

Till I reach the promised land.”

Karolina W. Sandell-Berg, 1865 ....

tr. by Andrew L. Skoog
TURN UP SOUND and CLICK ON LINK BELOW to Listen to this Beautiful Hymn.
DAY BY DAY

INNER BEAUTY

“The Lord doesn’t
see things the way you see them.

People judge by outward appearance,
but the Lord looks at the heart.”
1 Samuel 16:7 NLT
~~~~~

America women spend $20 billion annually on cosmetics; $300 million on cosmetic surgery; $33 billion on dietary products. I couldn’t find any numbers on what men spend on bodybuilding, and whatever they feel will make them more attractive, but it must also be an astronomical figure.

Looking our best is important for all of us, but true beauty is more than what meets the eye. There is an INNER BEAUTY which is of greater importance. One of my nieces, who is a genealogist, recently posted some “Old Walker Photos” on Facebook. I could hardly recognize myself in some of those pictures. While people commonly judge us by what meets the eye – "the Lord looks at the heart.” I am wondering, as he looks at our hearts, what character traits does he see in us?

Peter wrote about a “beauty that comes from within.” Paul prayed that God “would empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. Then Christ will make his home in your heart as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong.”

According to the scriptures, if we allow the Holy Spirit to control our lives, “the Lord—who is the Spirit—will make us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image.” That is the true INNER BEAUTY which the Lord is looking for!!

WITHOUT COMPLAINING

“Do everything without
complaining and arguing,
so that no one can criticize you.
Live clean, innocent lives
as children of God,
shining like bright lights in a world
full of crooked and perverse people.”
Philippians 2:14-15 NLT
~~~~~~~

At times all of us complain about the weather – the traffic – our work load or whatever “gets our goat” at the moment. But some people complain none stop - about anything and everything. A constant complainer can be as annoying as “a dripping faucet.” We all prefer the company of people who are more positive and see their glass as “half full rather than half empty.” God miraculously provided Israel with daily “manna” in the desert, but they kept on complaining about it. “So the Lord sent poisonous snakes among the people, and many were bitten and died.” God sees continuous complaining as sin!

Israel was complaining that they didn’t have the food they had in Egypt, ignoring that they had been delivered from slavery. All of us need to focus more on what we have rather than on what we don’t have. As believers we have been set free from spiritual slavery, and gratitude should dominate every facet of our life. Complaining reveals a selfish, ungrateful attitude. When we get our eyes off of our wants, and begin to focus on what we have – enough to eat – a roof over our heads – a family - transportation – a measure of health – living in a free country and on and on – gratitude to God will begin to flow.

We live in a fallen society with chronic complaining at every hand, but if we Live clean, innocent lives as children of God, doing everything without complaining and arguing . . .we will shine like bright lights in a world full of crooked and perverse people. That will be pleasing to our Lord and bring gratitude and joy to our own hearts.

REFLECTING JESUS

“When they saw the boldness of Peter and John,
they could see that they were ordinary men
with no special training in the Scriptures.
They also recognized them
as men who had been with Jesus.”
Acts 4:13 NLT
~~~~

The moon we see in the night sky does not have any light of its own. The light it gives off is the reflection of the sun. The image we see on the water of a mountain lake is not the mountain; it is the reflection of the mountain. The smoother the water, the sharper the reflection.

Jesus was not the reflection of the Father’s glory, but rather the revealer of that glory, because he and the Father are one. He taught with divine authority, not having to depend on quoting the religious leaders of the day. His life and miracles clearly demonstrated that he had all power in heaven and on earth.

The religious leaders thought they had gotten rid of Jesus once and for all when they crucified him. Now here were these ordinary “blue collar” people with no formal religious education demonstrating the same boldness as Jesus did. They “recognized them as men who had been with Jesus.” They were unmistakably reflecting him.

Whether we lack formal education or have a string of PhD’s after our name, as followers of Jesus we all have the privilege of reflecting him. The question is, how unmistakable is it to others that we have “been with Jesus” - how clear and sharp do we reflect him?

“Let the beauty of Jesus be seen in me -
All His wonderful passion and purity!
O Thou Spirit divine,All my nature refine
Till the beauty of Jesus be seen in me.”
- Albert Orsborn