Sowing & Reaping

Today’s message comes to us from Psalm 85. It’s very encouraging, and hopefully, it will strengthen your faith and your commitment to God.

“LORD, you were favorable to your land; you restored the fortunes of Jacob. You forgave the iniquity of your people; you covered all their sin. Selah You withdrew all your wrath; you turned from your hot anger.” These are verses 1-3 of the psalm. (ESV) This is a reminder of our salvation; of God’s love for, and toward us. Look closely. God covered ALL of our sin, and withdrew ALL of His wrath, turning from His anger. That means when you do mess up, you can go boldly to the throne of grace, confess to Him, and be, not only forgiven, but be instructed and helped to make it right. (Heb. 4:16) Is that awesome?! Yes!

Verse 5 asks the questions: “Will you be angry with us forever? Will you prolong your anger to all generations?” That was answered in part, in the first three verses. God does not punish the generations behind us for our sins, or for the sins of our fathers, and so on. (Deut. 26:24) There’s a promise regarding generational curses in (Jeremiah 31:29). “In those days they shall no longer say: “‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge.’” That’s a promise that we can, and will overcome those generational curses, and all the dysfunction that comes with them, in our own generation, if we’re willing. Yay, for me and my kids, and so on, and so on!

Verses 8 & 9 are the key to making that happen. “Let me hear what God the LORD will speak, for he will speak peace to his people, to his saints; but let them not turn back to folly. Surely his salvation is near to those who fear him, that glory may dwell in our land.”

The last four verses of the psalm show us the sowing and reaping part. “Steadfast love and faithfulness meet;
righteousness and peace kiss each other.” When we show steadfast love, we reap faithfulness, because we’re empowering trust. “Faithfulness springs up from the ground, and righteousness looks down from the sky.” The world around us (from inner circle to community) reaps the benefits, as well. “Yes, the LORD will give what is good, and our land will yield its increase. Righteousness will go before him and make his footsteps a way. When we follow in God’s footsteps, which Jesus gave us a picture of, we’re leaving footprints for others to follow.

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Your Freewill Offering

Psalm 54 brings us today’s message. As I read the psalm, I thought about my mother and father. They often said, “I don’t care what everybody else is doing; that’s the rule here.” They also asked, “If they all jumped in the lake and drowned, would you jump in too?”

This psalm actually begins with King David entreating the LORD for help. Verse 6 of the psalm is a key one, though. “With a freewill offering I will sacrifice to you; I will give thanks to your name, O LORD, for it is good.” It brought me to this scripture in Colossians: “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.” (Col. 3:23-24 -NIV) Your obedience, your “keeping on keeping on,” and your thanks and praise (honoring God and His standard(s), is exactly what puts those enemies to shame. The Bible tells us that it is impossible to please God without faith. It’s impossible to activate God’s power without faith. You wouldn’t flip the light switch if you didn’t believe it can turn the light on or off. When we obey and keep on keeping on, with gratitude and honor for the LORD, we activate the power of God within and round about us. This ties in with yesterday’s message, and psalm 53. This is God encamping round about us. You may not see it working the way you expect it to, but it is working. You will see the results manifest. I can’t even begin to tell you how many times in my life I’ve seen it do exactly that. And, I lost count some time ago, of how many times I messed it all up by not keeping on keeping on in obedience to the LORD; and by complaining instead.

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Yes, Ideal

Today’s message from God Calling – A.J. Russell, reminds us that in Christ Jesus, we are all righteous, perfect-in the future, wholly wonderful human beings-in the future. The message tells us, quoting directly from twolisteners.org, “For every man there is the ideal man I see in him. The man he could be, the man I would have him be.”

I got a really powerful revelation of what kind of change can be affected when I line up my desire, with God’s will, word, and ways, and follow suit with my words and actions. I saw it happen in my children, and in each of my mates. The key is in this, “the man I would have him be.” That means you have to think a little bit, about what you want to empower this person to feel like when you say this to him/her, or by what you do. The secular world calls it, “catching them being good,” and is based on the premise that praise empowers growth of self confidence and desire to excel.

We’re told to judge of Jesus’ heart when we feel others fail us. It is the way God deals with us. I’ve found so many examples of God’s forbearance and grace in dealing with us, as I’ve done my study on generational curses. God always seeks to empower us to rise above the world, to overcome the adversity, to win at living. “I am the way, and the truth, and the life…” (John 14:6)

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Yes, But Spend It Wisely

Today’s message from God Calling – A.J. Russell, reminds us that money is meant to be used. Like everything else, we get to choose how we use it. We, as children of God, are encouraged to give, give, and give some more; keeping ever an “empty vessel.” This should be our attitude in regard to all the wealth we have; not just about money.

First, let me say this about money: Money is not the wealth. The wealth is the wisdom and integrity with which we use the money. I believe, in being encouraged to keep an empty vessel for God to use, we’re being told to always be ready for God to use us. Don’t get so filled up with yourself and all your stuff that you have going on, that God doesn’t fit in there. You don’t want things to be so tight that God can’t get a plan in edgewise, right? Yeah. That means budget some of that money especially for doing God’s work. That takes us a little beyond the tithe, which is for use in the upkeep of God’s House. God wants to reach every heart He can, and He has told us that His plans are to prosper us. When He prospers us, we are better able to prosper the Kingdom of Heaven, by reaching out to others. Think of that business idea you’ve got. When that comes to fruition, think of the jobs you can create, the people you can help, and the people that might be reached for God…all because of your obedience and faithfulness.

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Oh, Yes He Is…And, Yes He Does!

Today’s message from God Calling – A.J. Russell, reminds us that God is our source for everything! He is all sufficient; all powerful, all knowing, and present everywhere. That, alone, should bring great peace to your soul.

True to His Word, the Lord provided me with the scriptures I needed for this message. I’m still studying the prophets, in regard to generational curses. But the Lord led me to the gospel of Mark first this morning. (Mark 6:30-44) The feeding of the five thousand: The disciples had been out ministering and teaching, and had returned to report to Jesus. They all left together to find somewhere to be alone and get some rest. Some people saw them leaving, however, and beat them to the place. When they arrived, there the crowds were, waiting for them. Jesus, having compassion on them, began to teach them. When He finished, it was late, and the disciples told Him to send the crowds into the nearby villages and towns to get food for themselves. But, Jesus said to them, “You give them something to eat.” Do you know that when God tells you to do it, it is already ordained to be a blessing to you? Yes! You’ll find that in (Deut. 28:8 & 12); the blessings of obedience are yours. It’s also ordained that the blessing will be such a one that you cannot contain it; meaning it will overflow and be more than enough. (Malachi 3:10)

Here comes our part. (Mark 8:1-10) Again, they’re feeding a crowd; this time four thousand plus people. “Then He took the seven loaves, gave thanks and broke them, and gave them to His disciples to set before the people. And they distributed them to the crowd.” The key words here are “gave thanks and broke them.” 1. Thanksgiving opens the doors of the treasuries (storehouses) of Heaven. When God opens the doors of Heaven to you, revelation happens 2. Breaking up, or down, what you have, multiplies or divides it (makes it greater, or decreases its size, and/or power. The example is the roast that, when sliced, becomes steaks, stir-fry, and stew meat. That’s exactly like the loaves that became slices, or pieces of bread.

When we’re trying to decrease power, breaking whatever it is down, brings it to a size that we can manage. “I come to you in the Name of the LORD,” David said. God is bigger than anything-even a Philistine! That’s why Goliath had to lieth down. LOL (1Sam. 17:45)

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Right There, God Had Us!

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Today’s message from God Calling – A.J. Russell, reminds us that we do not need to plead with God to come to our aid. He says, “Your need is my call.” – quoting directly from the message at twolisteners.org

During my studies regarding generational curses, I discovered a couple of things in the story of Adam and Eve and the devil, in Genesis 3:1-20. I used the NIV Bible. First, we’re all living under that curse. Secondly, that curse is also a blessing that saves us. Here’s how: “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.” What happens to those who embrace evil and wickedness? That enmity just might save your life. God ordained in us a loathing of evil and wickedness, to keep us from falling into it. God went one step further: “To the woman he said, “I will make your pains in childbearing very severe; with painful labor you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.” This is exactly how our need for salvation, right then and there in that garden, was taken care of by God. Right then and there, God had us!

You see, if you look at that in the spirit, and remember that the church is the Bride of Christ, you see the woman that surrounds man. And who rules over the body of Christ? Is our desire for our husband? YES! YES! YES! Lord, Jesus, YES! Isn’t that awesome?!

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Seeing Your Perfection

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Today’s message from God Calling – A.J. Russell, reminds us that we have but to look to Jesus to see our perfection. He is strength when we are weak, peace when all is chaos within, compassion in the face of adversity, or hatred, love in the midst of indifference, etc.

“My strength is made perfect in your weakness…” Take this to mean that His Presence, His Promise, and His Power will all be strong in your weakness. They will shine through it to bring you the victory, the peace, the love, the power to forgive. Whatever your need is, Jesus’ teachings, God’s Word, and the Presence of the Holy Spirit can meet it, and exceed the need. The weakness will be weakened and/or eradicated, and you will rise to the occasion, and to the next level.

We have but to trust, and to step out in faith. We are bid, even to look away from sordid surroundings, from poverty, etc., and to focus on Jesus. Focus on His beauty, His love, and His love for, and in, you. That infuses us with the right spirit; the Holy Spirit, the “yes, I can,” attitude, or spirit. As we remain focused on our Lord, we can begin to see possibility in our surroundings, circumstances, etc. The rest is history if we step out in faith.

I chose “Remind me who I am,” by Jason Grey, to go with today’s post. I hope it blesses you as it does me.

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