Warning of fallow ground

if riches increase, set not your heart on them.”

Hosea 10:11Sow for yourselves righteousness; reap steadfast love; break up your fallow ground, for it is the time to seek the Lord, that he may come and rain righteousness upon you. You have plowed iniquity; you have reaped injustice; you have eaten the fruit of lies. Because you have trusted in your own way and in the multitude of your warriors, therefore the tumult of war shall arise among your people, and all your fortresses shall be destroyed,

Proverbs 1:31  therefore they shall eat the fruit of their way, and have their fill of their own devices.

Psalms 52:7  “See the man who would not make God his refuge, but trusted in the abundance of his riches and sought refuge in his own destruction!”

Galatians 6:7-8  Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap.  For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.

Isaiah 31:1  Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help and rely on horses, who trust in chariots because they are many and in horsemen because they are very strong, but do not look to the Holy One of Israel or consult the LORD!

Isaiah 55:6  “Seek the LORD while he may be found; call upon him while he is near;

Luke 13:24  “Strive to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able.

Jeremiah 29:12-14  Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you.  You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.  I will be found by you, declares the LORD,

When it comes to full commitment to God, fallow (unsown; unused, dormant, resting, empty, bare, stagnant; barren, unproductive) ground has no place in our heart and mind.  Yet, it seems the place where most comfort is found and why so many lack God’s power, strength, peace and rest for their lives.  Life is easy when we can do what seems best in our own eyes. 

When we void ourselves of God’s word and it’s affect on and in our life, how is faith to grow, how can true kindness be displayed, how is generosity glorifying to God, how is God’s love understood, how is sin made known, how is the need for forgiveness and salvation understood, how is the need for repentance seen, how is God praised, how are eyes able to see His might and awesome work, how are spiritual gifts used, how are others to hear, how is Christ proclaimed, how is the love of God proclaimed, how is worship meaningful, how are we to hear His whispers of guidance????????

Keep the word of God in your daily routine.  Keep prayer and communication with God active.  Keep your ears open to His leading, correction, and promises.  Keep you eyes on His active working in the world around you.  Keep nurturing and growing your faith.  Keep the light of Christ’s love ever shinning.

There is no time to wait for another day to start being intentionally committed to His word every day.  Humbly serve, honor, glorify, praise, worship, follow and obey Him.

I go prepare a place

“Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.”

John 14:1  “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me.  In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.  And you know the way to where I am going.”

John 14:18     “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.  Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live.  In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you.  Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.”

Matthew 25:32-34    Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.

2 Corinthians 5:6     So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord,  for we walk by faith, not by sight.  Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord.

1 John 3:2    Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.

Revelation 22:3     No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him.  They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads.  And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.

We will see Him.  He will be our light. We will be with Him forever.  We will be like Him.  We are His children.   We are blessed and have a kingdom to look forward to.  God loves us. He will not leave us.  He will come to us.  He will prepare a place for us. He will take us to Himself.  Our home will be with Him.  Faith is the substance of things hoped for and evidence of things not seen.  We walk by faith and have courage because of this faith. Our faith is built on Jesus Christ and through Him these promises are ours.  Through these promises we have reason to live and can face whatever troubles come our way.  We have peace that passes worldly understanding because He lives and is coming again to take us to Himself.  Will He find us waiting and looking forward to His return?  Set your mind on humbly serving, honoring, following, and obeying Him until we see Him again and live with Him forever and ever.

Food for living

“And he said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken!”

“And he answered them, “O faithless generation, how long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you?”

“And the LORD said to Moses, “How long will this people despise me? And how long will they not believe in me, in spite of all the signs that I have done among them?”

“And he said, ‘I will hide my face from them; I will see what their end will be, for they are a perverse generation, children in whom is no faithfulness.”

John 13:36  Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, where are you going?” Jesus answered him, “Where I am going you cannot follow me now, but you will follow afterward.”

John 14:4   And you know the way to where I am going.”  Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?”

John 16:17     So some of his disciples said to one another, “What is this that he says to us, ‘A little while, and you will not see me, and again a little while, and you will see me’; and, ‘because I am going to the Father’?”

John 20:25     So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.”  Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.”  Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!”

Hebrews 5:11     About this we have much to say, and it is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing.  For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food,

Having a store house of food and starving to death doesn’t make much sense.   All a person would have to do is go to the store house and eat to live.  How long can the body go without food?  Having the food in our possession does us no good if we do not use it for sustaining our life.  We can tell ourselves that we are fine not eating but slowly we are dying.  God’s word is food for our soul that gives us hope, faith, love, purpose, strength, courage, and peace.  God has given us this store house of spiritual food to know Him, to grow in this understanding, and to have a light to our path this side of eternity.  Read His word, meditate on it, and obey His leading for your life.