Monday, March 15, 2010

Sowing to Please God

S - The one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Galatians 6:8b-9

O - We are to continue to do what God has called us to do. We might not see the results immediately - or even anytime soon. But we need to trust God for the proper time to see and bring about the results. This could be with a friend who doesn't know Christ, or with our children or another ministry/area we are involved in. We must press on because we want to please God - the Spirit.

A - Today, I will call my friend, A, who has been on my heart and check in with her.

P - Dear God, please help me to continue to connect with A. Show me how I can show your love to her and her family. Soften her heart to your love and help her to see the need she has for you in her life. Open my eye to your leading and the people around me.

Who is somebody that God has been placing on your heart? Would you share a name, their initials, or even just your relationship with them with us?

5 comments:

  1. Merrilee, the same two verses spoke to me this morning. They were good encouragement to me that actually seeing the "harvest" is not to be my motivation. Faith that the "harvest" will come "if we do not give up" is to motivate me. My prayer today is for the people of the Indian community we are serving. Even though we can't see the path by which they may come to faith in Christ we still show his love to them and pray for the "harvest" to come.

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  2. Wayne - Thanks for more clearly articulating what I was thinking & hearing. :) - M

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  3. Thanks for the challenge, M. I will email a friend I met recently, K, to see if we can get together sometime this week. Please hold me accountable!

    Also, for those who are willing to read a long SOAP, I wanted to share mine:

    Whitewashed Christians

    S: "Those who want to make a good impression outwardly are trying to compel you to be circumcised. The only reason they do this is to avoid being persecuted for the cross of Christ." -Galatians 6:12

    O: The Israelites were often concerned with outward appearances rather than internal truth; they whitewashed themselves by "painting" the law over a dirty heart in order to hide what was underneath. Likewise, some believers in the new Christian church became concerned with outward appearances because they didn't want to be persecuted by the Israelites. Ironically, they became hypocrites to escape persecution from hypocrites. Unfortunately, we still see this happening in the Christian church today.

    Christ promised persecution to those who follow him. This is not an easy concept to accept, and we often do anything we can to hide whatever it is that causes persecution. Satan is crafty and will use our fear of persecution to carry out his plans. But when we whitewash ourselves, not only do we become hypocrites, but we also make Christ out to be a liar, whitewashing over the gore of his shed blood and broken body on the cross. Instead, may we live as authentic Christians standing firm in Christ.

    A: What does it mean to be an authentic Christian? To me, it means being honest, showing weakness so that Christ's power can be seen, admitting mistakes, doing God's will even when other people pressure me otherwise, not pretending things are okay when they're not, surrendering my life to Christ. It reminds me of the time my neighbor came over when I was still in my pajamas. My first thought was not to open the door because I wasn't presentable. But Christ compelled me to answer it, and I was able to serve my neighbors by babysitting when the mom was called into work. Had I not answered it, I wouldn't have experienced the joy in serving Christ that day.

    So what about today? Well, it's hard to anticipate a neighbor needing something unexpected. That was something I never could have planned for. But I can always plan to have a ready and willing heart to obey Christ, whatever--and whenever--he brings a need my way. And so today I won't pretend to have it all together. After a draining and exhausting weekend (physically and spiritually), I am going to recuperate and rest in Christ. Yet at the same time, I will prepare my heart to "answer the door" no matter what state I'm in.

    P: Lord God, may your power be made perfect in my weakness. Help me to be an authentic Christian, not one who whitewashes over the mess of life. Give me your strength and renew my spirit today. In Christ Jesus, Amen.

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  4. It seems like everytime I grow weary of trying to reach out in the Spirit, everytime I start to lose conviction that the Spirit is using me at all, I read a passage, hear a comment, or in this case both, where God puts in front of me a reminder to be patient and CONFIDENT in his promise! Today I was weary, and I have been weary, of what I perceived as walls that are too high or too thick to penetrate! Thank you Lord for using your word, through Merilee, to reinvigorate me for the long haul!

    Doug R.

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  5. Thanks for this very clear challenge. I did take the first step in contacting a friend who has been on my heart lately. Now I need to make sure I follow through and not let our plans get sidetracked!
    -Tracey G.

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