Sowing and Reaping.

"Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this shall he also reap." Galatians 6:7



This is an excerpt from "New Day, New You," by Joyce Meyer.

"These scriptures plainly tell us that we will reap what we sow. Sowing and reaping applies no only to the agricultural and financial realms, but also to the mental realm. We can sow and reap an attitude as well as a crop or an investment. One pastor I know often says that when he hears someone has been talking about him in an unkind way, he asks himself, "Are they sowing, or am I reaping?" Many times we are reaping in our lives what we have previously sown into the life of another."

Psalms 71:17-24


"O God, you have taught me from my youth;
And I still declare your wonderful deeds.
And even when I am old and gray, Oh God, do not forsake me.
Until I declare your strength to this generation,
Your power to all who are to come.

For your righteousness, O God, reaches to the heavens.
You who have done great things,
Oh God, who is like you?

You, who have shown me many troubles and distresses,
Will revive me again.
And will bring me up again from the depths of the earth.
May you increase my greatness
And turn to comfort me.

I will also praise you with a harp.
Even your truth, O my God;
To you I will sing praises with the lyre.
O you Holy One of Israel.
My lips will shout for joy when I sing praises to you,
And my soul, which you have redeemed.
My tongue also will utter your goodness all day long.

God Loves Me?

I heard a sermon today by Joyce Meyer. She was preaching salvation in India. As I listened, I realized I still needed to understand the basics - that God loves me no matter what I do. That he is pleased with my efforts to follow him, even though my efforts are full of stumbling and mistakes. That he doesn't want me to worry about my sins or my failings - that he accepts me just as I am each day. That I should enjoy God and my relationship with him. I am learning this, but I still fall back to my old ways of fear.

I was raised in a works-oriented church. The Ten Commandments were memorized, and yet I have read that Jesus said the most important commandment is love. My church is so afraid of sin that they make everyone else afraid of sin. But the Bible says, "Perfect love casts out fear." Love should be preached, love should be emphasized, love should be our ideal - not obedience.

I cried as I listened to her sermon because I knew I still have trouble believing God loves me just as I am. I still have times when I am uncomfortable with him. This is why my daughters don't take their children to church. They have taught their children God is a loving God, and the kids are happy with that. They feel at peace with God. They pray and don't feel condemnation. I am happy for them because they don't have years of brain-washing to overcome in their relationship with God.

Sharing.

Acts 4:32-35

"And the congregation of those who believed were of one heart and soul; and not one of them claimed that anything belonging to him was his own, but all things were common property to them.

And with great power the apostles were giving testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and abundant grace was upon them all.

For there was not a needy person among them, for all who were owners of land or houses would sell them and bring the proceeds of the sales and lay them at the apostle's feet, and they would be distributed to each as any had need."

I wish our churches were like this. I know churches do a lot of good, but think of the good each member could do if he sold the extra things he had and gave to the poor. I know of a person in the news who owns 7 houses. What if he sold 6 and gave to the poor? He would still have one house, which is all he needs.

I have read that Bill Gates has challenged all the billionaires of America to give half what they have to the poor. I was thrilled to hear him say this, and excited to see that a lot of rich people have agreed with him. This is a wonderful thing and I hope they especially help the people who are out of work right now and people who are losing their homes. May God bless them for what they are doing.

Have A Dream

This is from the book, "New Day, New You," by Joyce Meyer.



"I would rather have a big dream and see half of it come to pass than to have a little dream and see all of it come to pass. I believe that when God created all of us he breathed the breath of life into us and then took a little part of himself and placed it within each of us. One of us may have a musical gift, another may have a gift of writing. The problem comes when we try to take the gift God has given us and use it to do what someone else is doing instead of developing our own potential. We have a part of God in us. We are not a mistake. We don't have to spend our lives on the back burner.


We are not too old or too young. We have God-given dreams and visions. But the dreams and visions God gives us for the future are possibilities not "positivelies." (That's the way God spoke it to me a long time ago.) With him, nothing is impossible, but it also takes our cooperation and willingness through determination, obedience, and hard work to develop what he has put in us."

Comfort

ll Corinthians 1:3-5

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort.

He comforts us in all our affliction so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the same comfort he gives us.

For just as the sufferings of Christ are ours in abundance, so also our comfort is abundant through Christ."

Surprise!

A poem from the book, "Outrageous Joy."

Heaven's Misfits - by Barbara Johnson

I dreamed I went to heaven,
And I was quite surprised
To see just who had made it to
That home up in the sky:
The ragged, dirty drifter,
The kid who barely spoke,
The loudmouthed woman down the street -
Was this some kind of joke?
Then I noticed they were staring
Right at me. They made it clear
That all of them were thinking,
"What are you doing here?"