20 Words

JUST 20 WORDS 
 
 
GOD OUR FATHER, WALK THROUGH MY HOUSE AND TAKE AWAY ALL MY WORRIES AND ILLNESSES; AND PLEASE WATCH OVER AND HEAL MY FAMILY IN JESUS' NAME. AMEN

The Sower Sows The Word

Meditation: Mark 4:1-20

 

The sower sows the word. (Mark 4:14)

This is one of Jesus' most popular parables. In fact, most of us can probably recite it from heart. We know that Jesus told this story to help us examine what kind of "soil" we are. Am I rocky, thorny, weedy, or fertile? Does the word of God have a fighting chance to take root in my life? Or is something in me hindering its growth? These are good questions to ask, and they can be helpful as we seek a closer relationship with the Lord.

But Jesus didn't just say that we were the soil into which he sows the word. He also told us that we ourselves are the "word of God" that he is sowing into the world. We are the "ones sown" (Mark 4:16), sent out to proclaim his gospel with our lives.

That's quite a calling, isn't it? It's an honor to know that God is entrusting us with a treasure as great as the good news of his kingdom. It's also a challenge to know that he is asking us to bear fruit worthy of him—the fruit of evangelization.

How can we meet this challenge? Like the good seed in this parable, we can "hear the word and accept it" (Mark 4:20). It seems almost too simplistic, but these words tell us just how powerful the gospel is. We tend to think that evangelization depends on our powers of persuasion and our own courage in proclaiming the gospel. Surely that is part of the equation, but God has a very important role to play as well. It's his job to take our efforts, fill them with divine grace, and use them to pierce the hearts of the people around us.

So do you want to bear fruit for the Lord? It's simply a matter of making sure that you are planted in fertile soil. Stay away from the weeds, the thorns, and the other threats to your growth. Resist the temptation to try to bear fruit solely on your own power. Then, as you are rooted deeper and deeper into Christ, you will find yourself bearing fruit "thirty and sixty and a hundredfold" (Mark 4:20).

"Come, Lord, and increase my confidence in your power. Make my life into a living gospel for all to read."

Hebrews 10:11-18; Psalm 110:1-4

Use what you have

Don't waste a lot of time making judgments about what you have. Instead, put it to use.

Stop complaining that it's not enough or that it's not fair. Just get busy and make the most of it.

Fighting against what already is, will only slow you down. Instead, make good and productive use of what is, whatever it may be, and you'll find many ways to move forward.

If you wait until things are perfect before taking action, that day will never come. Use what you have, as flawed and imperfect as it may seem, and you'll soon be making massive improvements to it all.

Don't worry about comparing what you have to what others may or may not have. Just concern yourself with doing the best you can do.

Start from where you are, with what you have, and persistently do what you know you must do. There is no limit to where you can go.

Opportunity is Everywhere

There's no need to spend a lot of time looking for opportunity. It is everywhere, and every day more opportunities are being created.

There is always work to be done. There is always value to be created.

Instead of waiting for a new opportunity or searching for the perfect opportunity, go ahead and get to work. Make the most of some of the opportunities that are already here and now.

There is great value that can be created on this very day. There are problems that can be solved, processes that can be improved upon, and endless ways to be purposefully creative.

Opportunities are worthless unless they are acted upon. Choose to take the actions that will turn the best opportunities into real and lasting achievements.

Opportunity is everywhere, already, right now. Step forward and put it to work.

-- Ralph Marston

New News Issue #1

News that the electric car ordered by my boss for his use is coming tomorrow excited the rest of the department personnel. We are eating out!

A Challenge for the End and the Start of the Year by Pastor James MacDonald (Walk in the Word Ministry)

Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us . . . Hebrews 12:1

My son Luke and I were on the computer a while back when I asked for his password. He answered, "It's 'Keep on.'" I told him that was a great password and he said, "Oh Dad, that's my password for everything."

Keep on. Keep on. Keep on.

For sure he'll change his password now, but I hope he'll never change his perspective. These two words are critical to success in life and in the Christian life. The biblical word is endurance or perseverance--the ability to keep on doing the things you have committed yourself to doing when you feel like it and when you don't. Nothing is more essential to success in the Christian life than perseverance. Faith gets you started; perseverance keeps you going.

This matter of perseverance is so critical to the Christian life that James 1 tells us that above all other human traits, perseverance is the characteristic that God is trying to build into your life and mine. The ability to keep on going. Keep making and keeping the commitments of life.

It's easy to start the race. All kinds of people get up in the morning and put their jogging suit on and begin to run. But when the miles click past and the muscles start to fatigue and life isn't easy anymore, what do they do? What do you do?

It's easy to put on a white dress or a tuxedo and get to the front of the church; everybody knows that. But to have a happening marriage--not for five--but for 15 or 40 years, that takes perseverance!

It's easy to conceive a child and, by comparison, it's easy to birth a child, but to keep on training and raising those kids day in and day out, following through on what you have said and taught--that takes commitment!

Might I say in addition to that, it's easy to pray a prayer and walk an aisle; it's easy to confess faith in Christ. But to keep on following Christ--even when the pressure is on--that takes staying power. "My brothers, consider it pure joy when you fall into various trials knowing that the trying of your faith produces perseverance."

Staying power! Did you know that if God could get that one thing into your life, He could give you everything else? James 1 goes on to say, "But let perseverance have its perfect work that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing" (v.4).

This week we stand on the hinge between two years--2008 and 2009. How will these two years mark your life? Look back on 2008 for a moment. If your year was like mine, you can see some pretty significant peaks and valleys. Praise God for them. Praise God that at this year's end, you can stand before Him in faith and humility and say, "No matter what is behind me, I finish this year strong in Christ." Like Paul in Philippians 3:13-14 "but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus" I press on--that's perseverance.

Now look ahead to 2009. You don't know what the year will bring, but you can be sure of this, God is faithful. His mercies will be new every morning of every day of the new year. There's power in the day when you start it with faith in God and a commitment to perseverance.

Keep on--it's a great password for 2009.