Casting Seed to The World

Mark 4:9 "And He said to them, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear!”"

Theme- Casting seed

This is something that hit me as we are wrapping up our time in Guatemala. Before this verse it is the parable of the sower, we are called to be sower, not the waterers. We are supposed to be casting out the seed(the word of God), we are to spread the word of God to all that haven't heard the truth. Act 1:8 "But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”", that is straight from the Lord Himself. These were His last words in earth before ascended into heaven. It's not up to us to soften the soil so the word of God can sink deep into the people's heart, and bear fruit. God will take care of that, all we are to do is cast the seed.

The reason I bring this up is because my team and I have been thinking if we have done a good enough job. As I was in the men's bible study one night, He made me realize that we did a good job, because Christ was shown to these kids through us. Technically we didn't do anything, except allow God to use us and be a vessel for His love. And He is just so good because we don't even have to try and do it with our own power, because it's impossible to shine a light that isn't yours unless it is given to you. John 12:46-47 "I have come as a light into the world, that whoever believes in Me should not abide in darkness.  And if anyone hears My words and does not believe,  I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world."He is the light and He abides in us, and He saves not us, He is the one to soften the heart of the non-believers, we are to shine His light that gave us in the Acts 1:8. The Holy Spirit lives within us and with His help we are to spread the Gospel to the four corners of the earth, that there may be the soften of the hearts.

One thing I want to end with, we don't see what is going on in the hearts of who we are spreading the gospel to. So don't get discouraged because we might not see the fruit from the seeds we casted out, but the fruit isn't for us to bear. We do it for the glory of the Lord, so that He might be praised. We might not see the fruit in the hearts of those that are hearing the word,  but men look at the outside, and God looks at the heart.

Fighting

Ephesians 6:12 "For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places."

Theme- Fighting

The following verse talks about putting on the full armour of God. So that we may walk through every day prepared to face the day. Also when we find ourselves being attacked by the devil, we will know exactly what to do. It's cool to think Jesus doesn't only die for us, which is unconditional love as a living example. But He also gives us the full body of the Lord, not just a quarter of it, or half but the whole thing. I heard this saying a lot, and it always helps when I forget how good God is, "For God so loved the world He gave.......". It made me realize a lot of how little I can or want to do, and how much He has done, and will do in lives that are dedicated to Him.

I say these thing ps because we are in a battle and that is exactly what this verse is telling us. We are under attack by satan, and he is coming at those that are following Christ with everything he's got. For when we are doing the will of the Lord, satan is very happy.

I've heard a lot of stories of people that had crazy stories about demonic attacks, and I always had doubts since the people I heard them about are super spiritual and great followers of the Lord. Until, I had my own experience of a spiritual presence of just pure and utter darkness. I woke up once in the middle of the night, and could just feel darkness so I threw my covers over my head, sweating, and just waiting for something bad to happen. Just think of a 19 year old man, 6' 1" hiding under his covers. Trust me it's something you really don't ever want to experience. It took me probably 30-45 minutes to fall back asleep, because of the utter terror of being asleep when this presence being around me. Then the next night we had a visitor speaking to us, and He had a very similar experience in his past, but the one thing he did differently was, he called out to the Lord and that was the end of it.

God gives us His Holy Spirit to help us walk through everyday experience with the devil. Jude 1:9 "Yet Michael the archangel, in contending with the devil, when he disputed about the body of Moses, dared not bring against him a reviling accusation, but said, “The Lord rebuke you!”". That is all we have to say when we are under attack, "The Lord rebuke you!" When we are followers of Christ His name and His name alone. We are under attack everyday as followers of Christ, but when we fight the good fight we will be protected by the Lord, and will have the same inheritance as Him.

Always There For Safety

Psalm 91:2 "I will say of the Lord , “He is my refuge and my fortress; My God, in Him I will trust.”"

Theme- safety

Day by day,
I was slowly dying.
I couldn't go on,
There was something missing..

Until now I'm still searching
For the thing that'll stop my crying.
For someone who'll erase my fears,
For the person who'll wipe my tears.

But till then I'll keep on smiling.
Hiding behind this mask I'm wearing.
Hoping one day I can smile,
Till then, I'll be here.. waiting.

This a part of a poem I feel like a lot of people feel like throughout the an everyday life. I picked this poem because I can feel like it described my life as a high schooler. Now that I'm a teacher you can pick out the kids that live a life like I used to. The title to this poem was called mask and that is exactly what they put on everyday just to be accepted into society.

This is one of those verse I wish I could just make people believe. We get scared sometimes when we think we won't be accepted, so we change everything just so we will fit in. I like to call it being a "people pleaser". This is what I was when in High school. Being in ignite, and being the only guy on a team for six months. You figure it's not worth wearing a "mask" everyday. So you just become yourself and find out who you really are. The coolest thing is you find out who you are in Christ.

What I want my students to understand is that it doesn't matter who you are in front of people of society, only how you conduct yourself as a child of God. Because when we are a child of God when faced with a problem we can run to Him for safety. And it's not like a friend that might bail out on you or won't be able to talk, but like a God that will do anything for you and be everything for you at any time.

Trust in Something Good

Psalm 34:8 "Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good; Blessed is the man who trusts in Him!"

This verse didn't make very much sense to me when I was a kid or even just a young believer, but I was reading a book and  all the sudden it made so much sense to me.

So when I was a kid I heard this verse and like I said didn't make much sense. Before I thought how do you taste God? I truly just didn't get it, and so I just pushed it a side as a kid and didn't think about, but know I can't stop. I think it's because I have a lot of friends that just have walked away from the Lord and if they only followed this verse it would all make sense.

So to now this verse means if I can get a taste of what it is like to be a child of God I will never leave His presence. We are truly blessed to have a friend like God and it made all the more sense when I was in His presence. When I was a kid I grew up in the church, but lived in sin so it didn't make sense to "taste and see". But now that I'm a believer and put my trust in the Lord it all makes sense. So what I would love to tell my friends face to face, and pray that they do it, and try it. Because That's all that God is telling us to do, He is saying, "try Me out and if I'm not good then don't bother with Me." The cool thing in this verse is that it says is, "taste and see that the Lord is good;". He doesn't even bother saying see if the Lord is good or bad, just good for that is what He is.

Lastly, on top of finding out that the Lord is good it says," Blessed is the man who trusts in Him." It says we will be blessed to put our trust in someone that is good. I've heard this illustration a lot but it is good and simple. So you have a bench that sits in the bark and when you are tired of walking, running, or whatever you are doing you trust that the bench will hold you up. You don't know if it is a good bench or a bench that will break right out from under you. The Lord is good and you know it so why would it be so hard to put your trust in Him

Lifting up others

Ephesians 4:25 "Therefore, putting away lying, “ Let each one of you speak truth with his neighbor,” for we are members of one another."

Theme- lifting up one another

This is one of the many lessons I have learned in my time here of ignite. To lift up those you aren't very fond of hanging out with, but when you have to live with them it gets even a little harder. So like I might have said before I wasn't very happy I was staying with four girls I'm with right now. Remember that was when we started our serving time.

The girls weren't my favorite people in the world in the beginning of training, but when we all made the decision in our own hearts to try and make this team work. It began with prayer and led to lifting each other up and encouraging them in all things. So when it came time to say good job, we said it to each other. Speaking for myself that where it all started, and then I injured my knee and sometimes you don't realize how much you love people until they gone. So even though it seemed like just a small gesture of compassion towards each other, in our hearts it was something so much greater. Why?, because it was the work of God doing that in our hearts, and the best we can do is worst than the smallest thing God can do.

So if you are apart of a team, a body, a family, or a congregation. There are three step of lifting people up, prayer, action, and examination. This will help you realize the importance, and effectiveness it has on the body of Christ.

First, is prayer and I'm going to say little about it, but it is the most important part of these three steps. We are to pray without ceasing, and so that means we should constantly be in prayer throughout the day, and start all things in prayer. With doing that it is saying we are giving it up to the Lord before we even know what is going to happen.

Second, following prayer is action. We have to take steps of faith after giving it up to the Lord, we have to listen to what God has to tell us and follow His guidance. And in that we are taking action in which we prayed about.

Lastly, is examination for a good reason. Look at how you feel about your team or whatever you are apart of, and see how it is different. When I was taken out of something I thought I hated, I wasn't happy but devastated that I had to leave my family. And as I sat on my couch thinking about what I left behind in Guatemala, and where I was then. I realized what I had in Guatemala was a 100 times better than what I had in the states.

You will see how much God will change you and those you are communing with in a drastic way. Praying for all of you for we are all apart of the same body.

Rest in the Lord

Matthew 11:28 "Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest."

Theme-Rest

Have you ever felt that you just can't go on anymore, that you have to do so much work, but you just don't have the energy to do it. I encourage you to stop what you are doing close your eyes, and pray. Don't reach for the caffeine or the drink that will give you a little something to keep on going, don't go to the earthly things of this world for strength or energy, because they will wear off and just leave you worse than you were before. Reach for the living word that gives life, go to God and ask for strength to do His will, and His work. God give life to those who are dead in sin, a Helper (the Holy Spirit) so that we can keep going, and an inheritance of heaven.

So when you feel that you just can't do anything else, or that your brain just can't work any more, I encourage you to go to Him and ask for rest. Matthew 7:7 "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you." This is a promise when we ask of the Lord for the Lord's will, then we shall receive. And on top of that this verse Matthew 11:28 is a promise, so He is saying if we to go to Him needing rest then He will freely give.

The verses following says in 11:29-30 "Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” He even offers us His yoke which is light and easy, because we don't have to stand on our own, just be completely dependent on the Lord. Go to Him and find rest.

This is my last point, are you tired of doing everything on your own strength? Well then, just stop. These last two verse show us that we don't have to do it all on our own. We go to God and find rest, give all things unto the Lord, and He will take your burdens on His shoulders. He will give us something easy that we wouldn't be able to handle on our own, but we can be dependent on Him and He will keep us going. In Him you will have rest.

Application - rest in the Lord for 20 minutes in my spare time, and continue in prayer throughout my day.

Going through trials with faith

James 1:12 "Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him."

We all go through hard times in life, when we are tempted by our fleshly desires. At these points in our life we must, ".., count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing the testing of our faith produces patience. " James 1:2-3. sometimes that word patience makes me cringe for some reason when we are talking about the ministry of Christ. Just because I feel like we should constantly be doing something for the Lord. But when the word faith, and patience are together it makes a lot more sense. We have to have the faith that the Lord will keep His promise that we will be inheritors of the kingdom of God, where we will receive the crown of life.

Its not always going to be easy when it comes to trials that stand in the that we are walking on. They only become easier when we put all of our faith in the Lord and allow Him to guide us on the path, and through the hard and easy trials. I can't remember how many times I tried to get through an easy or hard trial by my own strength. All I end with is laying down on my face defeated, I was never able to do it on my own. Especially, on the missions field with the amount of spiritual attack that happens here. It's impossible to do the Lord's will without allowing Him to do it through you. Just to let you know when we live a life for Christ no matter where we are, we are on the missions. But something we always have to remember is that we aren't alone, God is always with us helping every step of the way. And when He is the one carrying ypu through the trail something always amazing happens for the kingdom of God.

James 1:12 "Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him." Lets get our job done here on earth with the help of the Lord.