Are you an active worker in the harvest?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ©

Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”
(Matthew 9:37-38 (NIV))

What do you see when you look around?

Do you see what the world has to offer, or do you see a world of lost souls who need Jesus? Do you see an urgency to get the next big raise and promotion, or do you see an urgency to bring as many people as possible into God’s Kingdom?

Each of us will target our efforts based on what we see, which is a direct result of what is in our hearts. Sadly, it is often the world that is truly in our hearts. Even if we profess a faith in Jesus, many of us are still so caught up in the worldly task of living and making that almighty dollar, that we fail to see the world as Jesus sees it. We don’t truly see the lost because we are thinking of ourselves. We don’t see the needy because we are too worried about our own wants. We don’t make an effort to rescue the dying because we are too worried about the splinter in our finger that has demanded all of our attention!

I often wonder if we have come to look at God’s harvest the same way that we look at grocery stores. When we go into a grocery store, we see all of the things that have been harvested and prepared for our consumption, yet we fail to recognize the work that was required to get everything there. We fail to see the time spent in preparing the soil. We fail to recognize the care that was taken to nurture the plants as they grew. We don’t ever think about the long days spent cultivating the crop and we definitely don’t think of the effort that goes into harvesting the crop. We simply look at the options and find ourselves thinking that the price we must pay is too high!

Do we think that the price that we must pay to work the harvest is too high?

Are we willing to prepare the soil of the heart to receive the seed? Are we willing to nurture that seed in the lives of those who have seen it sprout? Are we willing to cultivate that seed in the lives of those who are growing in their faith? Are we willing to step out in faith and join in the harvest? Have you been sent into the harvest field? Have you been obedient and have you gone?

Are you an active worker in the harvest?

Copyright 1998 – 2020 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
Subscribe to daily email delivery
Visit us on facebook

Never lose hope in the Lord!

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ©

Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
(2 Corinthians 4:16-18 (NIV))

Do you find the same comfort in this passage that I do?

With all the things, and some even coming from our churches, that are going on around us that are contrary to God’s Word, it is easy to lose heart.

Even with all this is going on, when we feel that we are wasting away as we see things that we know are wrong, take heart.

I know that this sounds strange to say that we should take heart when all around us is wrong in the eyes of God.

But . . .

If they were not so wrong, would we, as the Body of Christ, take a stand for what is right? We are being renewed daily in our faith, for we see things that go against God’s Word and we are taking a stand. Our conviction is growing. We are choosing which side we will be with. We can choose the world or we can choose God!

But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.”
(Joshua 24:15 (NIV))

Do you feel your faith growing during these times?

Do you know that this will pass when it is God’s will?

Have you fixed your eyes upon Jesus?

I find myself longing for what is unseen, for I know that God’s promises will be fulfilled. His track record of fulfilled promises and prophesies is proof of that. All that we have to do is place our faith in the Lord and wait for His timing.

And, while we wait, we must pray and allow the Holy Spirit to renew us and to guide us.

I wait for the LORD, my soul waits,
and in his word I put my hope.
(Psalm 130:5 (NIV))

Never lose hope in the Lord!

Copyright 1998 – 2020 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
Subscribe to daily email delivery
Visit us on facebook

Will our deeds be considered evil or good?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ^©

For God will bring every deed into judgment,
including every hidden thing,
whether it is good or evil.
(Ecclesiastes 12:14 (NIV))

Have you ever stopped to wonder why things that God calls evil are now coming out into the light of day?

I know, like many of you, that these things have always been in the world. They have been here ever since sin was introduced into the world. At times, some of them have ever become visible in certain parts of the world for a time, yet, today, it seems that sin is becoming a part of the whole world in ways that it never has before.

I can list countless things that I see, but I honestly don’t think it is necessary to go to that extreme. All that we have to do is know God’s Word and what God calls sin. With this knowledge, we then simply need to look at the state of the world to see that sin is running rampant.

Don’t get me wrong and try to take my words as meaning that righteousness is going away. That is far from the truth. I realize that we, as fallen creation, cannot be righteous on our own. what I do know is that churches that preach man made theology are dwindling in members while churches that preach God’s truth are growing in numbers.

We, as the Body of Christ, must decide where we will shine. Will our deeds be considered evil or will they be considered good?

Copyright 1998 – 2015 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
Subscribe to daily email delivery