Sower or Reaper, I Get to Rejoice Either Way

The church that we have been trying out had a message about the walk of Jesus a few weeks ago.  The Pastor encouraged us to pick one of the Gospels and read through it, focusing on how Jesus walked.  I was reading in John this morning and came across verses 4:34-38. I have read these verses many times but today they hit me in a new and fresh way (Funny how God makes that happen).

John 4:34-39
"My food," said Jesus, "is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work.  Don't you have a saying, 'It's still four months until harvest'? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields!  They are ripe for harvest.  Even now the one who reaps draws a wage and harvests a crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together.  Thus the saying 'One sows and another reaps' is true.  I sent you to reap what you have not worked for.  Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor."

These verses encouraged me to day.  We can often go about life trying to share the love of Jesus with those around us, trying to uplift and encourage people and point them back to the truth.  We don't always know that we are making a difference.  I mean, we hope we are, and sometimes God blesses us with someone who tell us that we make a difference, but we share about Jesus because we want to be those who "do the will of him who sent me."  We want others to know that Jesus saves and that a relationship with Him will fill an empty place in their heart in a way that nothing else can.  No drug, alcohol, earthly relationship, or good deed can fill that void.  Only the love of Jesus can fill it.

Sometimes we get to be the one who shares Jesus with someone who has never hard about him before.  Sometime we get to share about the real Jesus with someone who has only been shown religion.  Sometimes we get to be the one who speak into the life of someone who already believes but needs to be reminded that their hope, peace, joy, love comfort, and goodness comes from the Lord.  Sometimes, we simply play a supporting role while our friends chase after Jesus right along side of us.

We all have a role to play...whether we are the one sowing the seeds of faith..or whether we are the ones who get to witness that moment when someone is saved...we ALL get to rejoice!!! So listen to the call when the Lord places it on your heart to say something to someone.  Don't think that they'll think you are crazy...chances are that they already think you are crazy :) ...so say it anyway.  You may never know, this side of heaven, what role God has you playing in the lives of others.  It reminds me of the song, "Fifteen" by Greg Long.  Wherever I stand in line, I've got to make a difference.

Click here to listen to Fifteen
I was sitting at the table
As the waitress took our order
In her eyes, I knew that something wasn't right
And before I saw it coming
I was caught up in her story
Of the storms that she had weathered in her life
My friend said, can we pray for you
She said, I think I'd like you to
She walked away, we bowed our heads
But then he turned to me and said

Chorus:
If it takes fifteen times
To hear about Jesus
For someone to believe
Wherever I stand in line
I've got to make a difference
In case it comes down to me
'Cause, I may be third, may be the seventh
There may be years in between
But what if I'm fifteen
What if I'm fifteen

Just a chapter in a story
With the ending still unwritten
Do they find the truth of Jesus after all
As I listen for the whispers
And I follow where they lead me
I pray that I'll be faithful to the call
If I'm who I'm supposed to be
I know that God can work through me
I may not understand it now
But I believe somehow

Chorus

God I don't want to miss the chances
When you open the door
What may seem so insignificant
You see so much more

Chorus



Go make a difference in the life of someone else today!!!!!!

Safe in His Arms

Many of you have heard the story of how my brother's death forever changed my life.  The story of how God took my shattered heart and began to put the pieces back together again.  The following is a story that my Mom wrote about the experience.  May it serve as a reminder to pray that others might find Jesus.  Prayer does work.  Thanks Mama for not giving up on me.

SAFE IN HIS ARMS

Although raised in church, I did not develop my own personal relationship with Jesus until I was in my early forties.  I like to refer to the story of the man who hit the mule over the head with a 2x4 to get his attention.  In 1995, as a 43-year-old widow, I was diagnosed with breast cancer.  During  the following year, I had a mastectomy, chemotherapy, two attempts at breast reconstruction, a deadly staph infection and a chronic wound infection.  I always said that God allowed this to get my attention, for it was during this year I reached out to Him (another miracle - another story).

At the time, I had a 20 year career working for a major company.  Although I was making good money, the illness and workplace stress was taking a toll.  I was constantly tired and relied daily on the power of prayer to handle the stress at work.  In December, 1997, the Lord told me to quit my job.  In order to do this, and not knowing why, I had to forego hopes of a future pension and live on only a widow’s annuity.  After prayer and consideration, I took the leap and left my job in January, 1998.

My three children were grown by this time and, therefore, had not been raised in a Christian environment.  However, during the previous few years my daily prayers always included fervent pleas for each of my children’s salvation.  In January, 1998, the Lord gave me a word that my daughter, age 22, would be saved.  The following attests to how this came about and to the circumstances by which I know my oldest son, Bob, is now in heaven.

In 1995, when Bob was 24, he became the father (out of wedlock) of my precious grandson.  When the mother began using meth, he took the child and received sole custody through the court system.  I couldn’t have been prouder of the job he was doing as a single parent.  No child could have received more love and attention than little Josh was getting from his father.  The only thing missing was the inclusion of God in their lives. 

Early in 1998, during one of Bob’s frequent visits, I again said something to him about trusting in the Lord.  He said, “Mom, you have no idea how much I think about it.  I’m getting there.  Just be patient.”  Trying not to interfere and to let the Lord work in His own way, I didn’t say anything else.  I just continued to pray daily for these children of mine.

Around 2:30 PM on March 4, 1998, I received the phone call parents live in fear of.  My daughter, who was extremely close to her brother, was screaming hysterically into the phone.  She was so upset her words were unintelligible.  A woman finally took the phone from her and said, “There’s been a terrible car accident with massive injuries,” and gave me the location.  My daughter got back on the phone and screamed, “Bob’s hurt really bad.” 

I jumped in my car and sped to the scene of the accident.  The entire way, thinking my daughter and grandson had all been in the car, I just kept repeating, “God, please save my children.”  As I went around a corner, about 2 miles from the accident, a tremendous peace overcame me.  It was as if God was saying, “Everything is okay now.”  The peace was so overwhelming that I no longer felt the need to plead with God for their safety.  Although I kept repeating the words, the burning pain seemed to be gone.

When I got as close to the scene as the officers allowed, I was told my grandson (then age 2) was taken to Children’s Mercy, the officers would bring my daughter to me, and they had not yet gotten my son out of the car.   I was told to take my daughter and go to Children’s Mercy and see to my grandson while they continued working on my son.  When my daughter arrived, I discovered that she had been in her car following Bob and witnessed the accident as a reckless driver, going almost 60 mph, had smashed into his driver’s side door.

At Children’s Mercy the nursing staff and the chaplain all greeted me.  Although Josh was in shock and had been covered with blood (later told it was his dad’s), he had received nothing more than a scratch on his neck.  We waited there until the phone call was received from NKC Hospital.  “I’m sorry, we did all we could to save your son but his injuries were too severe to revive him.”  It sounded like something out of a television show.  The nursing staff, my daughter and I, with Josh in my arms, all joined hands while the chaplain prayed.

The next few days were clouded with funeral arrangements and worries over how I could raise this small child at my age, alone, and being still fatigued from my previous illnesses.  My biggest fear, however, was that Bob was not in Heaven because he was still “thinking about it.”  I remembered the peace I had felt the day of the accident and hoped God was trying to tell me all was okay and He had Bob in his arms right now.  I also was told Bob had called someone two weeks earlier to ask how to be saved.  I still had nagging doubts, though, and I prayed constantly, many times a day, using the following words, “Lord, I pray that Bob is safe in Your arms.”

This so plagued me that a couple of weeks later, I expressed my fears to my aunt, who was a real prayer warrior and frequently received miracles through prayer.  The next morning she called me.  “Guess what!  I said a little prayer before I went to bed and asked God to let you know whether Bob was in Heaven.  This morning I awoke humming a tune.  I hummed this song all morning and yet couldn’t recognize the song.  It was something I remembered from long ago but couldn’t place the words, only the music.  Finally it came to me.  The name of it was “Safe in the Arms of Jesus.”’ Although I had told no one, these were the exact words I had used in my prayers!  I knew I finally had my answer.

Because I followed the Lord’s leading and had quit my job six weeks prior to the accident, I was able to be a stay at home “mom.”  To further add to these miracles, my daughter, so traumatized by witnessing the accident which killed her brother, reached out in her grief and recurrent nightmares and came to know the Lord in July of that same year.

Remember:

Romans 8:28:  And we know that all things work together for good for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.