Hi all! Just intended to update you. BUT GOD! He gave me a word to share with you as a reminder to keep working towards your full potential and His purposes for creating you and gathering us. He wanted me to encourage you and remind you that He is calling you by name to His great plans for you and us and that we are seeing some fruit and there's more to come as we continue to seek first his Kingdom and righteous and keep sowing, watering, fertilizing and harvesting yoked to Jesus. Amen!
So last week we had my mom's service in Florida and got to spend some time with her friends there, Terry and my sister, Bev. God was present and He used me. We were able to take care of some of her and Terry's affairs. Now that I'm home there's a little more of that here before her service here . I am officially on sabbatical as I use up my vacation and spiritual retreat time before our July deadline to do so. I probably will do a few blogs as God leads but will mostly be off line and abiding and restoring my soul. I may attend some bread ministry days but will not be in church until when we celebrate communion at our next brunch. Thank you to Sarah, Mike and all of you for your support and help with this! May God bless you for your kindness! he is blessing me already! PTL! Our next official . evening gathering will be a Rita's night at 6. Please pray for our ministry to regather and continue to grow as we minister to outsiders God is drawing. pray those that have come stay connected to us as well. . evenings have been like a church plant for us. may God continue to bless and grow that! Amen! So, now, check out what God may be saying to you below and ask Him what His plans are for you and His and other's help to achieve it. He does have great plans for you and us! Amen! And His plans for me right now are to disconnect from the chaos and stress and to abide, reconnect to Him, and rest by the still waters and refresh in his green pastures! Shalom shalom--perfect peace to you and that is what I am seeking. Peace and love to you all!
Good Morning Peace-Bringing Sowers of Righteousness! Amen! May that be me/us Lord, and as a lifestyle. Thanks! May we sow in peace and reap a harvest of righteousness. Thank You! Amen! Check out and meditate through the blogs and devo's below. Do you see the thread through them as God speaks to your heart and prepares you to go live and love like Jesus as you sow in and bring peace to the chaos around you/us. We can see the forces of darkness by their fruit. They sow in anger, lies, confusion and finger-pointing that stirs chaos, division and turmoil. But our God is a God who sows in righteousness and peace and love and He does that through us as He always works to bring shalom (His peace) to the chaos. We team up to go sow in love, peace and encouragement and work together to calm the storms of life and we get to sow into His good works as we tithe and give cheerfully into His Kingdom and good works. Amen! Keep loving, sowing and uniting in love, peace and joy. That describes our fellowship and it is producing good fruit as many are being watered, fertilized and becoming part of the harvest God is using us to produce. So, what's God saying to you and what's your part. Seek first his Kingdom and righteousness and sow lavishly and He will continue to provide all you/we need to produce good and lasting fruit. Amen! May we know His shalom as we go love joyfully and sow in love. Amen! Rejoice. Abide, Receive and then go prepared. Amen! Follow Him and His peace! I'm praying for you and us and covet your prayers too! Shalom shalom!
Connection Blog:
- Righteousness Is Sown in Peace
Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness. (James 3:18)
The Bible is filled with instructions telling us that whatever we sow, we will reap. In the gardening world, my wife and I discovered that truth a few years ago. We went to the nursery to buy zucchini plants. It was a good year and the plants took off with good growth. It was when the zucchini started to form that we began to question things. Most of the vegetables were obviously zucchini, but some of the produce were rounded and much larger. By the time they turned orange, we knew that about half of our zucchinis were, in fact, pumpkins. Every single plant was marked zucchini by the nursery. Regardless of what we thought we were planting, what we sowed, we reaped.
In the very practical book of James, we find a similar challenge regarding sowing and reaping. Verses 13-18 are all about the desirability of wisdom, and James contrasts earthy wisdom with heavenly wisdom. Verse 17 describes the beauty of heavenly wisdom: “But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere.” The harvest of such righteous behaviors comes when you sow in peace by those who make peace.
James puts this into a picture that helps us understand our role. We want to see the wisdom that comes from above that brings righteousness. This harvest of righteousness comes from the steady planting of peace by those who are following Jesus. It’s an interesting picture that most of us have not grasped. We speak peace, live peace, work for peace, and literally follow the Prince of Peace as peacemakers. That is a sowing of peace. What this passage does for us though, is point out the added, even perhaps ultimate result of sowing peace. Heavenly wisdom comes that is desperately needed in our world. It is wisdom that is pure, peaceable, gentle, reasonable, merciful, impartial and sincere. That’s quite a harvest!
I love how this passage of Scripture takes peace from simply being a personal characteristic and makes it a powerful instrument in expanding the kingdom of God on earth. It’s no longer just about us trying to experience peace, but now, as those who are sowing into others’ lives, we are seeing a harvest of righteousness that exalts Jesus and empowers his followers for greater effectiveness. We are peacemakers who are changing the world through the power of the Holy Spirit, who is leading us to sow peace wherever we go.
Ask Jesus to open your eyes to see the opportunities he brings to you where you can sow peace into the life of someone else.
I thank you Lord, that I am privileged to follow you as the Prince of Peace. You have called me to be a peacemaker in my own life, family, congregation, and culture. Would you help me to keep my eyes fixed on you that I might always be one who sows peace wherever I find myself? May your Spirit take my small sowing efforts and produce an amazing harvest of righteousness!
Give thanks for the many material blessings you enjoy in this life.
Confess any dissatisfaction or jealousy you have felt about God’s provision for you.
Commit yourself to living a truly thankful life.
Ask God to give you your daily bread (Mt. 6:11).
Pray for those who lack the necessities of life.
Ask God to provide for specific needs of which you are aware.
Prayer Points taken from Patterns for Prayer by Alvin VanderGriend. This book is available at prayerleader.com. Use the code CONPSP3 at checkout to receive an additional 10% discount.
This is what the Lord has commanded us: “I have made you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.” - Acts 13:47 (NIV)
When my son was in kindergarten, I had the pleasure of meeting Michelle, the mother of another student. I felt an instant connection with her — as if we were kindred spirits. Working full time while juggling parenting duties was overwhelming, but Michelle had a calming presence. I felt grounded when I was near her.
She invited me to a gospel concert one night and then to church. I hadn’t been to church in years, but I said yes. No doubt it was the Holy Spirit working in me.
I felt that this friendship was God’s divine work. Michelle was my Barnabas — my encourager. Barnabas found Saul and brought him to Antioch, planting him in a community that God was growing (see Acts 11:25-26). They were traveling companions on a missionary journey.
I am so thankful for the faithful friends God has placed in my life as my traveling companions. I need encouragement. I need the example of other believers living out their faith. I’m thankful for my encouragers, and I pray that I can be an encourager for others. Friends are truly a gift from God.
Dear heavenly Father, thank you for the people who encourage us in our faith. Help us to sow seeds of encouragement for others with our words and actions. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
Our Daily Bread
Generous Giving
Bring all the tithes . . . so that . . . the foreigners, the fatherless and the widows . . . may come and eat and be satisfied. Deuteronomy 14:28-29
When Oswald and Biddy Chambers ran a Bible college in London from 1911 to 1915, they continued with their life principle of not turning away those in need. Astute Londoners were aghast at this practice, thinking the college would be taken advantage of. In response, Oswald observed, without inviting others to follow in the practice, “My responsibility is to give. God will look after who asks.”
The couple followed the example of our generous Creator. Through His instructions to Moses, God laid out gracious ways for His people to live and serve others, including the giving of their food and possessions. Moses told the Israelites at the end of every three years to “bring all the tithes” so the Levites, “foreigners, the fatherless and the widows,” could come and “eat and be satisfied” (Deuteronomy 14:28-29). Through the generosity of His people, God cares for the vulnerable.
The Chambers’ trust in God was so strong that they gave willingly and without question. They’d learned to “revere . . . God always” (v. 23) and receive His blessing “in all the work of [their] hands” (v. 29).
We may also feel inspired to give freely while we lean on God for wisdom and discernment. We know that God will generously lead and guide as He provides for the foreigners, the fatherless, and the widows.
By Amy Boucher Pye
REFLECT & PRAY
What’s your view and practice of giving? How has God provided for your physical, emotional, and spiritual needs?
Generous God, I look to You for all I need. I know that You’re the source of all good things. I worship You.
SCRIPTURE INSIGHT
Scripture reveals that God has been generous to us and calls us to be generous to others (Deuteronomy 14:29). The ultimate way that He’s demonstrated His generosity is in the giving of His Son. In Philippians 2, Paul says that Jesus “gave up his divine privileges; . . . he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being” (v. 7 nlt). Then “he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross” (v. 8 nlt). All that we have comes from God, our generous creator. In response, He’ll help us give freely to others.
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