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.

Sweet Surrender

I feel like I've had the same discussion with several people over the past few weeks so I thought I would share it here as well.  We have been talking about the radical difference between following Christ and surrendering to His will.  I was saved in 1998, not too long after my brother's accident.  By saved, I mean that I recognized that Jesus Christ was my Lord and Savior and that He had died for my sins.  By His death, I was made new.  I felt an immediate change in me.  There was a peace in my heart that I had never experienced before.  I began reading the bible and trying to learn more about God.  As Pastor Michael used to say, God works out salvation in many different ways.  I had a few hurdles and setbacks in the first few years but God didn't give up on me.

I went on this way, chasing after Jesus, striving to be "enough" and then God called me to another church. This church was different and it was there, at Desperation Church, that I began to learn about the love of God.  I began to learn that there was no such thing as "enough".  I had been striving for 11 years to be good enough for God...but I found that God loves me for who I am already. I am good "enough" simply because I am HIS.  It was when I realized this truth...and I mean really understood it, that my life truly began to change.  I went from being someone who gave my life to Christ to someone who let Christ fully into mine.  I entered a place of true surrender.  Relying on the Lord to direct my path.

A few weeks ago, my dear friend sent me an email that said, "...I had a similar talk with God today.  I just told Him that if He needs to continue to break me for anything to make me the person I am supposed to be, I am okay with that."  I told her that she was in for the ride of her life.  That she had entered into that sweet place of sweet surrender.  I warned her that it will be tough and that God will continue to break her, and it will hurt, and she will wish she never told Him that He could..and that she will be better for it.

See, God's going to break you, and mold you into who He needs you to be but it so much sweeter when you are a willing participant.  You look at each thing that happens to you as a blessing or a lesson.  It changes your perspective on life.  God will use those lessons to allow you to speak into the lives of others so that they might learn the lesson a little bit faster than you did.

Are you a God follower who is simply walking it out, trying to follow the "rules" or are you in a place of surrender where you are earnestly seeking  His will for your life, regardless of the cost?  I would encourage you to ask Him on a constant basis, for Him to break you.

My Really Old Can of Pork

Today, I want to tell you about this here can of "PORK".  Leanna found it in one of the kitchen boxes the other day and because she knows the story behind it, she left it out so I could have a minute with it before we put it away.

I got this can of pork in 1994.  Yup, this can of pork has been with me for 20 years.  I was fresh out of high school and sort of bouncing around from house to house, roommate to roommate.  I finally moved into an apartment in Turner with a friend from work.  I was working as a video clerk making $4.16 an hour and we were both struggling to make ends meet.  There were times we couldn't keep the lights on.  I was not having any part of God at the time but my friend had grown up in the church and made an appearance there on occasion.  Someone in the church figured out that we hadn't eaten in a few days and they left a bag of food in front of our apartment door.

When we came home and found the food, we immediately went through the bag to see what kind of goodies might be in there.  There were things like spaghetti and sauce, mac and cheese (also known as Kraft Dinner), beans, canned veggies, and then there was this can of Pork.  The picture above just really doesn't really do the can justice.  It is just a gun metal gray can with a pig on it and it says PORK with natural juices.  I stared and stared at that can of pork.  No matter how hungry I was, there was no way I was eating that.  Don't get me wrong, I was super blessed and grateful for the food.  There was just something about this can.  Let me tell ya'll that getting that can of pork affected me.  I didn't want to ever again be in a place where this can of pork was my only option.

I would like to say that life took an upswing at that time and that the can of pork motivated me to bigger and better things...but it didn't.  I learned later that I was going to need Jesus for that.  Instead, things actually got worse :(  We got evicted out of our apartment because my friend was stealing the rent money instead of paying the rent with it.  As many of you know, I eventually hit rock bottom when I ended up homeless and living in my car.  Looking back, I find it funny that I was living in my car, but I sure did have my can of pork with me. I think a part of me knew that things could get bad enough that I would need to eat it, and a part of me let the can serve as a reminder to keep trying to change the situation.  It took several more years of bouncing around before things in my life started to stabilize.

That can of pork traveled with me from apartment to apartment.  If I had experienced a super rough day at work, the can was pulled out of the pantry so that I could remember what a super rough day looked like.  Two days ago, when I took a minute with my can, I took a minute to be thankful for where I came from.  I took a minute to be grateful for the change in me.  I took a minute to pray for those who might be facing a situation where that can of pork would be a blessing.  When I open the pantry and see that can, I am reminded of the amazing power of a loving God.  I reckon I'll keep it until it explodes or something.

Look around you.  Do you have something that can serve as a visual reminder for all He has done in your life?  If not, I recommend you find something, even it's something as silly as a can of pork.

We Don't Deserve It Anymore Than They Do

I've got so many things on my heart that I want to share but I reckon I'll take them one post at a time.

Several years ago, I was sitting at lunch with a coworker on a business trip in Brazil.  I didn't know him very well so most of our conversation was just idle chit chat.  All of a sudden, he turned to me and asked, "Have you always been a religious person?"  It kind of blindsided me.  I told him that I didn't really consider myself a religious person as I had been deeply hurt by "religion".  I told him that my heart's desire was to chase after Jesus with all of me.  He had a few questions for me and he shared how, he too, had been hurt by "religion".  That after the death of his Mom, he didn't believe there was a God.  I explained how the death of my Brother actually brought me to the Lord.  As usual, it came down to the "How do you know God is real" question and I gave my usual answer, "I know where I came from, I know who I was, and I know what He brought me out of."  I went on to explain that at one point I had been homeless, where my only salvation came in the form of the Denny's conference room.  God had taken me from that place to a place where I was on a business trip in BRAZIL!!!  I explained some of the times when God had shown up in a BIG way in my life. Then he dropped the bomb of a question on me.  He said, "What makes you so special that God has favor on you and not other people?"  I really didn't know how to answer at the time.  I might have said something about being lucky or something.  That question haunted me for a while after that trip.  Why have I received God's favor when others haven't?  I sought out the answer through prayer and God finally revealed the answer.  My blessings come from obedience.

God has asked me to do a great number of difficult things in my life.  I would like to pretend that I always jumped at the chance to follow His will but that isn't true.  Sometimes, I knew the things He was asking me to do were going to hurt.  I didn't want to do them but eventually, I always knew that what He was asking for me to do would make me a better person.  Sometimes what He asked me to do had nothing to do with me.  It would result in a major blessing for someone else.  Sometimes there has been no rhyme or reason to what He's asked me to do and to this day, I still don't understand it.

The reason this is on my heart is in regards to our new beautiful house.  I have posted a few pictures of it on Facebook and the comments have been incredible.  Most of the comments are about how happy everyone is for us, how beautiful the house is, or about how much we deserve it.  While I am so blessed by the comments, I haven't posted a response as I don't know what to say.  There is a part of me that feels guilty for having such a nice home.  We have friends that are struggling to pay their mortgage.  We have friends trying to come up with money to adopt.  We have friends who don't know where their next meal is coming from.  Who are we that we get to have this beautiful house in paradise?  We don't deserve it.  Don't get me wrong.  We have worked hard to get to a place where we could buy it.  I spent years juggling travel with spending time with my family.  Leanna worked hard to get her Masters degree and she teaches with such a passion.  We faithfully gave our first fruits to God, even when we weren't sure how to keep the lights on.  We worked HARD to get out of debt.  We gave freely of our time and money to whatever/whoever God called us to.  We poured into the live's of children through our Junior Bible Quiz ministry (even when some in the church didn't want us to).

The thing is, I know dozens of people who live out their faith just the way we do.  They are obedient, faithful, giving, loving, and amazing.  They are all of these things, yet life is a daily struggle.  See, we don't deserve this beautiful house any more than they do.  This house is nothing but a straight up blessing from the Lord.  I hope I never take that for granted.  We prayed about what type of house to look for.  We consistently heard that we needed a place that will be a peaceful haven, and not just for us.  When I found the house and the price tag was at the top end of our budget, I took it back to the Lord.  I wanted to make sure that I didn't put our house above being financially able to help when God calls us to.  The Lord put my heart at ease.  This house is a blessing for us, but it is also going to be a blessing for others.  We wanted desperately for it to be a place where people can come visit and enjoy the beach, or Disney, or just a quiet place to put their feet up and read a book.

There is a peace when you walk in the front door of our home that I can't quite explain.  I guess you'll just have to come down and feel it for yourself.