Sowing to the Wind

The theme in the epistle of James is encouraging us to release our hold on worldly possessions and pursuits, in order to unreservedly love Christ. We make a conscious choice to pursue God's Kingdom.

God is our fountain of living water, which exceeds any stale, human cistern we can build for our self (Jeremiah 2:13). Jesus is God manifested in human form (1 Timothy 3:16). He is our example of who God is and how He relates to us in this world (Acts 10:38).

At times, God will use nature and circumstances to judge, discipline or alter our behavior. He will use Satan for this purpose as He did with Job. However, He put spiritual and natural laws in place to protect us from most calamity.

When we choose to walk contrary to God's spiritual or natural laws, we always sow to the wind and reap the whirlwind (Hosea 8:7). Our reckless and rebellious behavior reaps for us the negative consequences of our choices.

Although we usually reap what we sow, God's unconditional love covers a multitude of our sins (Galatians 6:7-9; Jeremiah 31:3; Romans 5:8). God freely loves us all, but He desires that we live in righteousness and prove our love for Him by obeying His commandments (John 14:15; 1 John 2:1-2).

God rescued us from the dominion of darkness, sits us on a hill and uses us as His light to the world (Colossians 1:13). He exhort us not to hide our light under a mesh of worldly cares, but to let it shine out through our good works, so people will glorify Him (Matthew 5:14-16).

When we make conscious choices to follow the spiritual, rather than any earthly call on our life, we reap the blessings of God and the fulfillment which only comes from serving Him with our life.

Prayer:

Father God, use us as Your ambassadors on the earth as we allow the light of Christ within us to shine out into the dark world which surrounds us (2 Corinthians 5:20). Give us opportunities to share our light with our family, friends, neighbors and workmates. Make us ever mindful of divine opportunities to share Your Truth.

We praise You for all You do in our life each and every day. We want to give You the love and appreciation You deserve from us. Yet, we often get too busy with worldly pursuits to spend time with You. Remind us that we are the ones who miss out on Your blessings when we choose to dabble in the world instead of sitting at Your feet.

Thought for the Day:

Call to the Lord and He will answer you and show you the great and powerful results of His dealings in our life and in the world around us. - Jeremiah 33:3

The Glory on the Other Side of Trials

If we choose to walk in the Spirit, we will not fall into Satan’s temptation, not fulfill the lusts of our flesh, and we will walk in God’s everlasting truth (Galatians 5:15-25).  

We will avoid making intimate friendships with unbelievers, realizing that light has no fellowship with darkness (2 Corinthians 6:14-15). Christ in us is our path to and hope for glory (Colossians 1:27).

Just as Jesus was tempted at Gethsemane to abandon God's plan for Him, we too experience times of anxiety, regret, and hopelessness (Matthew 26:39). We see what we have and think that it is better than what God has in store for us, so we do not want to give it up.

When Jesus remembered the glory which awaited Him on the other side of the cross, He willingly surrendered His will to our Father's will. We too have glory waiting for us on the other side of every trial.

When we experience trials, we witness triumphs in Jesus through every one of them. We see His miracles unfolding in our life and in His corporate Body. We are a part of a world-wide union of Believers in Christ.

In times of blessing, we often slip into ingratitude, expectations and assumptions in our relationship with Christ in us. We are overly confident and take His love for granted.

Yet, life has a way of reminding us that regardless of our years of service and our spiritual maturity, we remain weak and helpless apart from Christ in us. God's grace is always sufficient and His power is continually manifested in our weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9-10).

Prayer:

Father God, You choose the foolish to confound the wise and the weak to put the strong to shame (1 Corinthians 1:18-31). You use the most unlikely people as Your ambassadors to the world around us (2 Corinthians 5:20). We feel privileged to serve You with our life.

Help us to lay down our idol of pride in order for You to fill us with Your Spirit. We are a willing sacrifice, just as Jesus was, in order to fulfill Your will for our life. We thank You for Your Lamb who paid the price for our redemption. We give Him all the glory, honor, praise and blessing, because He is worthy to receive power, riches, wisdom and strength (Revelation 5:8-14).

Thought for the Day:

Christ abides in us and we live, move and have our whole identity in Him; as His Body, we make up a mighty army that has victory against the world, the flesh and the devil.

 - Acts 17:28; Hebrews 4:16

Serving in the Body of Christ

The Body of Christ is too busy for its own good. We neglect our Lord and one another, because we make our own pursuits more important than God’s will for our life (1 Peter 4:10; Ephesians 2:10).

The government took over so many of our ministries, because the needs went unmet. Take, for instance, the care of our elderly. They go unvisited and feel unwanted, because we do not make them a priority in our churches.

Elderly Saints, who ministered for the Lord all of their life, need and deserve our attention. Rides to doctor appointments, visits, taking someone out to lunch, cards, phone calls and praying for one another are just a few ways that we can minister to our elderly.

Parents are so busy today that children's workers in the Body of Christ can fill in the gaps and encourage our children to grow up in service to God. Many adults give their children and youth leaders credit for their dedication to God. We influence eternity by our service to children now.

However, caring for the children attending our churches is another neglected ministry. We already raised our children, or we are in the process of raising them, and we want nothing to do with children's ministries in the Body of Christ.

Single parents need the most help. We can babysit to give these parents a chance to allow their Inner Child to play. Gifting these hardworking parents with a certificate to go out to eat or to buy whatever they need at a retail store is also helpful on their tight budget.

Many churches end up hiring people in order to have someone committed to the children, since very few people will commit to this ministry. Our children need Godly authority, responsibility, approval and nurturing in the same way which God relates to us (John 3:16; Romans 5:8).

If we all band together, the care required in these vital ministries will not be a burden on any one person, but will be a blessing for everyone involved (Romans 15:7).

We can make time for God and His Body as a priority in our schedule. Before we do anything, we consult the Lord and live each moment in His perfect will for us (Ephesians 2:10). While living by the Spirit, we will all function as a valuable member of the Body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:12-27).

Prayer:

Father God, teach us to love Your Body as You love us. Allow us to be Your ambassadors to Your Body. Unconditional love and acceptance gives Your Body the assurance we all crave as human beings, regardless of our age or social/economic status. Remind us to give one another grace in our failings and to encourage one another in our successes.

Give us listening ears and the ability to recognize body language in order to be present with one another, rather than taking each other for granted. Help us to make one another feel safe to share our issues with each other, so we can bear each others burdens as You expect us to do (Galatians 6:2).

Thought for the Day:

If Satan can keep us in bondage to our failures, he cripples us in our service to God and His Body; as we learn to nurture and forgive our self, we will have an increased ability to accept, nurture, affirm and forgive one another. 

- Mark 12:30-31