Is it
really worth all the trouble to do the right thing? Do we really get
what the pastors are saying? Is it necessary to do all that just to
get into heaven? No, but once we accept Christ as our Lord we need to
be obedient to the Word and truth.
Each
week we head off to church to listen to a pastor preach the Word of
God; or do we?
Does your week begin with you looking at how the pastor is dressed or if he presented his sermon in a timely manor or do you head off to church with God in mind and wondering what He will bring to you personally through the sermon today?
Does your week begin with you looking at how the pastor is dressed or if he presented his sermon in a timely manor or do you head off to church with God in mind and wondering what He will bring to you personally through the sermon today?
Think
about it; if God can use a donkey to get a point across can't he use
a pastor too?
Our
pastors are “God's microphone” to us but if we do not have the
sound turned on we will not hear a thing!
Are we
like teenagers when we hear God? Do we filter out what we don't want
to do, or don't want to hear?
When a
teen says; “Oh I didn't hear you tell me to clean my room”
What he really means is; “Oh, I do not want to clean up my room so I am going to choose to ignore that fact and play dumb. Mom/Dad won't be mad cause I am claiming that I am innocent of being disobedient. And besides brother didn't clean his room so why should I?”
What he really means is; “Oh, I do not want to clean up my room so I am going to choose to ignore that fact and play dumb. Mom/Dad won't be mad cause I am claiming that I am innocent of being disobedient. And besides brother didn't clean his room so why should I?”
When we
say; “Oh God, I didn't hear you tell me to clean up my act”.
What we
really mean is; “Oh, Lord I know you want me to get rid of that
habit but I am enjoying it too much right now to let it go, so I
guess I will wallow in it a bit more before I am ready to change. My
friends are Christians and they still do this bad habit, its not
harming anyone, so why worry...”
Not too
much difference is there?
What the
parent hears is; “Forget you Mom/Dad I am doing what I want to do!”
What God
hears is; “Forget you God, I know better what is right for me!”
The Word
of God says that we reap what we sow. If this is our attitude then
what will we reap?
Pay
careful attention to your own work, then you will get eh satisfaction
of a job well done, and you wont need to compare yourself to anyone
else. For we are each responsible for our own conduct. Those who are
taught the word of God should provide for their teachers sharing all
good things with them. Don't be misled you cannot mock the justice of
God. You will always harvest what you plant. Those who live only to
satisfy tier own sinful nature will Harvest decay and death from that
sinful nature. But those who live to please the Spirit will harvest
everlasting life fro the Spirit. So let's not get tired of doing
what is good. At the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if
we don't give y. Therefore, whenever we have the opportunity, we
should do good to everyone-- especially those in the family of faith.
Galatians 6:4-10
Therefore
we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses,
let us lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily ensnares
us...looking to Jesus the author and finisher for our faith who for
the joy that was set before Him endured the cross despising shame,
and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider
Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you
become weary and discouraged in your souls. You have not yet resisted
to bloodshed, striving against sin. And you have forgotten the
exhortation which speaks to you as sons: my Son do not despise the
chastening of the Lord, nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by
Him; for whom the lord loves He chastens, and scourges every son whom
He receives.” If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with
sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten? Hebrews
12:1-11
When we
are given an area of our life that needs to change, whether it is
laziness, or lust, or complaining, or speaking truth instead of
failure; we need to be obedient to God and walk in it. If we do not
accept making the change needed we will not grow.
It is
plane and simple; obedience is faith as a seed. We plant the seed by
doing what God tells us to do; get rid of that sin, walk a straight
walk, be kind to that stranger. Whatever it is if God gives us the
guidance we need to examine our hearts and walk in it accordingly.
When you
sit in church, or listen to a speaker on the radio who speaks to you
about tithing, do you squirm and think they don't deserve your money?
Or do you ask God to show you if you are to give?
When you
are told to clean your room, do you put it off for lame reasons such
as not enough time, not caring or too much stuff? Or do you ask for
help to get the task done?
If you
can't fit your clothes in the drawers you either have too many shirts
or you need to relearn how to fold them.
Sometimes
we think we have it all down, our own system as it were, to deal with
our problems. Then God sends someone in to shake us up a bit and tell
us we are wrong.
How we
deal with the message God gives us makes all the difference in how we
grow.
If we
take it in and consider it before dumping it out, we may grow a
little from what we have learned.
If we
take it in and mull it over and find out where to put it to use in
our life, we will grow a lot more!
God
doesn't always do things the way we think He should; sometimes He
tells us to rearrange our drawers and sometimes He tells us to get a
new dresser to put them in. Still other times we find the need to get
rid of some of our clothing and give it away in order for things to
fit correctly in our drawers of life.
If your
life is too cluttered with stuff, maybe its time to clean out your
life? Maybe its time to get rid of the extra 'shirts' or activities
that keep you from doing the will of God?
We can
look back on the seed scripture and realize that before we plant we
must first get rid of the bad stuff in the soil and make sure it is
ready and prepped for growth. When we plant obedience to the Word and
truth then we will reap in the same. It may not be when we think it
should be, like tomatoes with a mind of their own; we may find the
harvest is not so plentiful early on in the season, but if we water
them correctly, weed out anything that fights against its growth we
will have a ton of tomatoes.
When my
husband plants a tomato plant he expects a tomato to come from it;
not a pepper. When God plants a seed of encouragement, growth, or
obedience, He expects those very things to come from them.
He wants
us to hear and do what He says today. Lets not put on selective
hearing and only follow the part of the Word, or the sermon we like,
lets do the will of God in our lives.
Dear
Heavenly Father; help us to do Your will in all that we do; guide us
to reap what we sow and let that sowing be done with mercy and
obedience to you. In Jesus name, amen.
Suggested
Reading: Galatians 6:1-18 , Hebrews 12 :1-29, Ephesians 4:1-32, and
Psalm 84:1-12