Seasons of Fruitfulness

Scriptural Text | Matthew 13:23
“The one who received the seed that fell on good soil is the man who hears the word and understands it. He produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty, or thirty times what was sown.”

No Christian is fruitful all of the time. There are silent years in the lives of Paul, Peter – even Jesus – about which we know nothing. These are the years of pruning or preparation before a time of abundance. This is the scriptural pattern of God’s work in our lives as described in Psalm 1: “He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season.”

But, as the saying goes, “There are two sides to every coin.” The other side of the coin is that every Christian is fruitful some of the time. A continual lack of fruit should prompt a believer to ask these kind of questions:

• What is hindering God’s fruitfulness in my life?
• Is there anything I’m tolerating that stands in the way of God’s full work in me?

I am reminded of the parable of the sower in Matthew 13 (also in Mark 4 and Luke 8). There appears to be three categories of enemies to the sower’s work: the evil one (v. 19), trouble and persecution (v. 21), and the worries of life (v. 22). The Christian who does not actively stand firm in opposition to any of these enemies will bear the consequences of fruitlessness and miss out on the joy of God’s providence and blessing.

The call to action is a holistic self-examination. Ask yourself, “Do I struggle with a discrepancy between the portrayal of the Christian life in Scripture and my own actual Christian experience?” If so, you may be in a preparation season OR there may be a hindrance from the enemy. The next question quickly becomes, “How do I know the answer to that kind of question?”

Fruitless periods in a Christian’s life call for discernment – a quality often lacking during the difficult times of life. But, God promises wisdom to those who ask. So ask. If we seek God’s guidance and prepare to accept whatever He might say, He will show us what hinders His work in our lives.

We are called to be Passion-filled Christ-followers

Dear Men and Women of God:

Before you read any further, click on this link and close your eyes.  Listen and worship and glorify the King of Kings!

That song literally brought tears to my eyes and truly revealed to me the glory and wonder of God!  He and He alone is worthy and we are so insignificant and unworthy.  Yet, because of His love and grace and mercy, He justifies and sanctifies us and qualifies us to be His co-laborers!  We are called to be His hands and feet!  We are called to bring hope to the hopeless; joy to the depressed, restoration to the broken, strength to the weak, and love to the outcasts!  The time for us to rise up and be the bearers and bringers of hope in our world is now!  Will you join me in doing the little things on a daily basis to make a difference in our world by making a difference in the life of just one or two people every day!  For if you look at the example of Christ, that is exactly what He did.  He said, “Zacchaeus come down from that tree, I’m going to your house today.”  He said, “Mary Magdalene, no one is left to condemn you.  Then, neither do I condemn thee, Go and Sin NO MORE!”  Christ said to Peter, “Where I am going you cannot go.  If anyone wants to follow me, He must deny himself, take up His cross and follow me!”  And so my brothers and sisters and Christ, I am asking you to cease being a Christian in name only and to start right now today being a Christian and lifestyle and action by truly and wholeheartedly following the example of Christ!

The Application:
May these words from Eugene Peterson’s The Message, Matthew 10:40-42 be a source of encouragement for you:

“We are intimately linked in this harvest work. Anyone who accepts what you do, accepts me, the One who sent you. Anyone who accepts what I do accepts my Father, who sent me. Accepting a messenger of God is as good as being God’s messenger. Accepting someone’s help is as good as giving someone help. This is a large work I’ve called you into, but don’t be overwhelmed by it. It’s best to start small. Give a cool cup of water to someone who is thirsty, for instance. The smallest act of giving or receiving makes you a true apprentice. You won’t lose out on a thing.”

Additional scriptures to read, reflect, and meditate on:
Romans 12:3-8
1 Corinthians 15:58
Philippians 2:1-11

Closing Thought:
“…you have never locked eyes with another human being who isn’t valuable to God.  When this fact grips you to the core of your being, you’ll never be the same.  You will live in awe of the scope and depth and breadth of God’s love, and you’ll treat people differently.”  – Bill Hybels

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Strap Your Sword To Your Side | Stand Firm And Fight For The King!

A Lost Generation

As I reflect about the current condition of the United States, it becomes clearly evident that we live in a Lost Generation.

The economy is in shambles, individual greed and self-gratification are prevalent, the unemployment rate is climbing, extravagant yet unsustainable lifestyles are the norm, and the number of effective Kingdom-building churches seems to be at an all-time low!

We live in a generation desperate for hope.  So many people are so desperate for hope that they look for it everywhere, all of the time: in a significant other, in a new house, in a better job, in a president.  There is an old hymn entitled “My Hope is Built” and hear are the words:

My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
But wholly trust in Jesus’ Name.

On Christ the solid Rock I stand,
All other ground is sinking sand;
All other ground is sinking sand.

When darkness seems to hide His face,
I rest on His unchanging grace.
In every high and stormy gale,
My anchor holds within the veil

With this song as our anthem and motivation, I am calling on the church universal —  by this I mean, all of us that call ourselves Christ-followers — to do two Hard Things:

1. Re-evaluate the way we currently do church.
   The church was never intended to be an elitist, holier-than-thou club.  The church was never intended to be a gathering of so called “perfect people”.  The church was never intended to be a time-card punching, one hour per week responsibility.  And, the church was never intended to be about promoting comfortable lifestyles in order to maintain the status quo.  Sadly, I fear the institution which we call the church (by no means all of them, but definitely many) has become exactly what I have described.
2. Get back to the basics of being the body of Christ to the least, lost, lonely, and broken.
   A wise friend of mine repeatedly says, “The world at its worst needs the church at its best!”  Let’s be a place that offers hope, forgiveness, love, acceptance, peace, grace, and joy to a desperately broken and hurting world.  Matthew 24:12 says, “Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold.”  However, as the church we are called to heed the words of Isaiah 60:1-2, “”Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD rises upon you.  See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples, but the LORD rises upon you and his glory appears over you”

I pray that God would IGNITE (In God Nothing Is Too Extreme) a fire within His followers to ARISE & SHINE so that we are guided by the Holy Spirit to live as examples of Jesus Christ right in the midst of our Lost Generation.

I hope you will be encouraged by this short 1 minute, 44 second video about our Lost Generation ( <– Click on me to view video)

What God has been revealing to me so far in 2009!

KEY VERSE

Romans 12:12 — “Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.”

INTRO

This post may seem a little random and disorganized, especially for someone with borderline OCD like myself.  However, if you would indulge me for a few moments to allow me to share with you some freestyle writing about such things as: the holiness of God, my desire to glorify and bless the name of the Lord, the nearness of God, and lastly about priorities.  While these topics are in a very real way, unrelated, they nevertheless center around the theme of “What God has been revealing to me so far in 2009!”

HOLINESS

We cry holy, holy, holy! Holy is the Lord God Almighty; for You are the one and only true God! Father, pour out your Spirit on me so that I may reveal your glory and power to others.  I will never tire of singing about and praising the HOLINESS of my Almighty and Sovereign God!  Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord Almighty!  Heaven and earth are full of His glory!

BLESSED BE YOUR NAME

Lord blessed be your name for all that transpired in 2008 and for all that is to come in 2009! I say to my soul that which King David said to his, “YOU WILL BLESS THE LORD!” God, you give and take away, and my heart will choose to say, Lord blessed be your name!

LORD LEAD ME

Father, I pray now the prayer of Moses when he said to the Lord (as it is written in Exodus 33:12-13), “You have been telling me ‘Lead these people,’ but you have not let me know whom you will send with me…If you are pleased with me, teach me your ways so I may know you and continue to find favor with you. Remember that this nation is your people.”  For those that know, the Lord does reply to Moses’s request. The Lord says, “My Presence will go with you and I will give you rest.”  God, in all ways and in all areas of my life, I am desperate for you to lead me; I am desperate for you to send your presence with me, and Lord I so yearn for you to give me rest!  May I continue to press in to you so that I may better understand where and how it is you intend to lead and use me in the days ahead.

THE NEARNESS OF GOD

God I truly treasure each and every time that I am afforded the opportunity to experience your nearness for it is a definitive reminder of just how much you care and how close you desire to be!  For you are not just the Savior of the world, but you are the Lord of my life and of all creation!

PRIORITIES

Ephesians 2:10 “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”

I confess Lord that I have not always put you as number 1 in my life.  I pray for your forgiveness and grace where I have fallen short.  And, I pray for proper perspective so that I can better allot my time with you always first and foremost on my seemingly never-ending to-do list.  God, teach me to give of myself, not out of selfish ambition, but rather to give of myself in order to make an impact and leave an imprint on the younger generation I teach at school and serve at church youth group.

Lord, guide me as I strive to make proper decisions about what my priorities are for 2009.  Lord, I pray that my priorities may be aligned to your priorities for my life.  In any area where this may not be the case, bring it to my attention and give me clarity and knowledge to forget about MY priorities so that I can embrace YOUR priorities!

IN CLOSING

As I finish, think about and respond to these two questions:

1. What has God been revealing/teaching you so far in 2009 (for your own life or on a larger scale)?
2. Are your priorities and what you are giving your time to being using productively for the kingdom or for selfish pursuits?

I look forward to hearing from you all!  God Bless you all both now and always!  When I write the next time, I will share with you some of my thoughts about an incredible book I encourage all of you to read…it is entitled “DO HARD THINGS”.

I dare you to read it…it will challenge and encourage you at the same time in so many ways!

Putting Christ Back Into CHRISTmas

It seems that Christ Followers do a lot of complaining, rightfully so, about how the true meaning of Christmas has been overshadowed by the presents, lights, cookies, and Happy Holiday traditions. However, ask yourself, “When was the last time you really shared the CHRISTmas story with someone else, let alone a nonbeliever?”

Sacrifical Love…Namaste…Give God your very best!!!

I have decided to give God my very best and let Him take care of the details!

The Purpose of this Blog!

I never really thought that I’d get into this whole blogging thing, but it seems like such a great way for friends to keep in touch with each other. My primary purpose for this blog is to continue in a different kind of way the Summer Bible Study Group that was started in the summer of 2008. I hope my thoughts and reflections on what God is teaching me will spur in you the desire to respond and press evermore to what the Almighty has for you.