Can You Sew????

Well, many people have taken FHA, or Home Economics in school. So, when I ask, "Can You Sew", most people might say "yeah, kinda". However, the sewing that I am talking about is actually spelled S-O-W. You know, the act of "planting" seeds. When you plant grass seed or many other types of seeds, it is called sowing. So, can you sow?

In the bible, we should have learned a principle that is found throughout the entire bible. It is the principle of sowing and reaping. Think about it, if you want tomatoes, you have to start by planting a seed. If you want grass, it also comes from a seed. Nearly all types of vegetation come from seeds.

Have you ever applied the principle of sowing and reaping to your everyday life? The bible tells us that if we want to have friends, we should show ourselves to be friendly. That means that you have to be a friend to have friends. The bible also tells us that we will be blessed with the same measure (that means amount) that we bless others.

This also applies to money. We often times forget that EVERYTHING belongs to God. We get greedy and arrogant, and believe that the money that He has blessed us with is actually ours. WRONG, it is His. In 2 Corinthians 10:9, we are told that
9As it is written:
"He has scattered abroad his gifts to the poor;
his righteousness endures forever."[a] 10Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. 11You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.

Have you ever said "Well, I will give more at church when I have more."? That is a wrong mentality about how we are blessed. We have to give cheerfully and faithfully, knowing that God WILL supply ALL of our needs according to His riches and glory in Christ Jesus.

Just like a pool of water, if you don't give your blessings, they will become stagnant, and unfruitful.

You see, you have to give first to get.

In His likeness.....

We are to be completely surrendered, to the point that we are willing to be transformed into His likeness. Are you completely surrendered today? That would mean that you are completely willing to allow His purpose for your life to become your purpose for your life.

In Malachi 3:3, the Bible tells us that He will sit as a refiner of silver, a purifier of silver. Remember the verse, "He is the potter and we are the clay"? Well, it can also be said that we are the silver and He is the refiner.

Now it is important to know a little about the refining process of silver. Silver is held over a fire, and heated up. The refiner HAS to stay with the silver and keep his eye on it, because if the silver is held to the fire for just a moment too long, it will be ruined. The lesson here is, no matter what sort of fire you are going through, He is right there with His eyes on you. The Bible says that He will never leave or forsake us.

Now let's continue, the silver is not at its purest until the refiner can see his image reflecting back at him. So, the lesson is this. Allow Him to complete a great work in you today.

On Bended Knee.....

Do you remember that "love song" by Boyz2Men? You know the one, his woman left him, so now he is down on bended knee asking God what went wrong, and begging her to come back. Well, I have been think a lot about a "bended knee".

Did you know that the bible says that eventually EVERY knee will bow, and EVERY tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord?

Philippians 2
9Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
10that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.

My thoughts have been about this sort of bended knee. The idea that Every knee will bow. That tells me that if you are rejecting Jesus Christ now, that eventually you will bow down to Him. That means even the people who completely deny and reject Him, will be brought before Him at the day of judgement, and they WILL bow to Him.

Wouldn't it be so much better to be obedient to Him now a bow by our own free will? He has done so much for us, that we should be willing to bow and worship as an act of Love.

What you eatin????????

In Hebrews 5, we are told that it is okay to "eat" spiritual milk while we are young in our walk with God. BUT, there comes a time, just like with our babies, that we are weaned off the milk, and start eating solid food.
I have been thinking a lot lately about going deeper with God, becoming a more mature child of God. While thinking about this, I was led to consider a teen's maturity process. The Word says that Jesus grew in stature, wisdom, knowledge and favor during His teen years. That was right after he stayed in the temple as His parents started traveling back to Nazareth. So, back to the teenager, they grow in strength, stature, and independence. That says to me that we as believers, have to get off the milk, and GROW UP.

In 1 Corinthians 3, Paul wrote of giving a group of people "spiritual milk" because they were not ready for solid food. I desire to be ready for solid food, and I encourage you to desire the same. The next step is to break open the Bread of Life, which is the Word of God, which is the Bible.

So go, get it off the shelf, blow off the dust, and just allow the Spirit of God to teach and guide your understanding of the Promises therein.

Can you hear Him?

We have a responsibility as children of God to know His voice. Jesus said himself that the sheep would know the Shepherd's voice. Do you know the voice of God?

It amazes me to read about Elijah. In 1 Kings chapter 19, Elijah has gotten scared and ran away to hide in a cave, for no good reason. Here he is, an old testament prophet of God, and he is gettin scared? C'mon man, you have God on your team, chill out for a minute. Okay, I am back to the point. Here is Elijah, hiding out in a cave, and then he is told to go out on the mountain, and wait for the Lord to pass by.

So here is the cool part, there was a hurricane, an earthquake, and a firestorm. And in all of this, Elijah KNEW the voice of the Lord so well that he knew that the Lord was NOT in any of those. Then it said, Elijah heard a gentle whisper, so he covered his head with a cloak, and went out for the Lord to speak.

Also, when Samuel was a young boy (1 Samuel 1) he was laying down to sleep. He heard someone call his name, so he ran to his mentor Eli, to see what he wanted. Eli told Samuel "I have not called you, go lay down". This happened twice more, and the Eli realized that it was the Lord who was calling Samuel. So in this case, Samuel had to "learn" the voice of the Lord.

The point is, can you hear Him? God is still trying to speak to and through His children. We have to hold up our end of the bargain, and actually KNOW Him well enough that we recognize His voice. His Word is the best tool for us to get to know God. I encourage you today to get in His Word, and find out exactly what He says about you. The bible says that the promises of God are yes and amen (so be it) to the believer. Think of God's promises as royalties or an inheritance, it is hard to claim an inheritance when someone dies if you don't know that an inheritance exists.