Sowing is an extreme act of faith. How do I know this? The first thing you do to the seed after broadcasting it is cover it up. Anne D. LeClaire in her book Listening Below the Noise writes, "Just as a seed is first nourished in the dark and silent depths of earth, creativity begins in the void: the empty canvas, the blank page".
God is calling us to a deeper steadfastness and stillness: a repetitive and more consistent fidelity. Sowing to righteousness means I will never jump out on my own apart from God.
Would I have jumped all about from row to row sowing seeds as a child alongside my father? No way. I would have been told to quit my foolishness, stop jumping around, and stay steady.
This is our challenge today. Stay steady. Keep moving forward. Do not fret if your best efforts seem to get covered over by all the stuff that is going on these days. Keep on going and remember, sowing is an extreme act of faith.
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Try to Live Your Life (Not a Lifetime), Today
Remember our theme verse from Hosea 10: 12. “Sow for yourselves righteousness, reap the fruit of unfailing love, and break up your unplowed ground; for it is time to seek the Lord, until he comes and showers righteousness on you.”
Remember when it comes to you and God, Believe everything, force nothing. Sowing is always a deliberate action. Anything accidental is spillage. Even my father, who could broadcast seed quicker than anyone I know, always cast it forth with accuracy.
This is our calling during Lent and everyday. "Sow for yourselves righteousness." Have such a Jesus-centric life that even if your sowing appears quicker than most it retains its accuracy.
Believe everything. Force nothing. Today you are to live your life, not a lifetime. There is grace enough for that later. Today, dip your hand down into the bag of seed God gives you. Draw your hand out full and ready to match God stride for stride in sowing righteousness. Walk in rhythm to God's grace.
Try to live your life (not a lifetime), today.
Remember when it comes to you and God, Believe everything, force nothing. Sowing is always a deliberate action. Anything accidental is spillage. Even my father, who could broadcast seed quicker than anyone I know, always cast it forth with accuracy.
This is our calling during Lent and everyday. "Sow for yourselves righteousness." Have such a Jesus-centric life that even if your sowing appears quicker than most it retains its accuracy.
Believe everything. Force nothing. Today you are to live your life, not a lifetime. There is grace enough for that later. Today, dip your hand down into the bag of seed God gives you. Draw your hand out full and ready to match God stride for stride in sowing righteousness. Walk in rhythm to God's grace.
Try to live your life (not a lifetime), today.
Breaking Up Is Hard to Do
Yesterday, you saw my theme verse for Lent 2010- Hosea 10:12, “Sow for yourselves righteousness, reap the fruit of unfailing love, and break up your unplowed ground; for it is time to seek the Lord, until he comes and showers righteousness on you.”
Today, we focus on seeing what might be delaying the showers of righteousness God wants to pour out on us. The first thing we notice is God expects us to do something for ourselves. The grace we need to get going has already been supplied. God's call to repent and believe has already gone out. They have been spoken to you. Now, and especially in Lent it is time for you to do something about it. The verse closes with this injunction: "for it is time to seek the Lord". What is the hold up?
The second thing we notice is the directive to reap. Sieze ahold of what is good and let the rest go. A 17th century contemplative said, "Four things a man must learn to do if he would make his record true: To think without confusion clearly, To love his fellow men sincerely, To act from honest motives purely, To trust in God and heaven securely." ... Is this what you are working towards doing during this Lenten season?
Finally, we are called to break up our unplowed ground. I know of three reasons why you can't plow the land. #1. The ground is too hard. I pray that is not your problem. If it is ask God right now to soften your soul with a good soaking of his word and Spirit. Father, heal the wounds that have scabbed and crusted over but have never become whole. #2. The ground is too wet, too slippery. Don't make decisions when you are tired or depressed. Don't rush to speak or answer when you haven't heard everything out or thought everything through. Act, but act with the certainty of Holy Spirit conviction and peace. #3. You try to plow too deep, too quickly. Move at the speed of grace. Be patient. Be kind to yourself.
The Lord stands ready to shower righteousness upon you!
Today, we focus on seeing what might be delaying the showers of righteousness God wants to pour out on us. The first thing we notice is God expects us to do something for ourselves. The grace we need to get going has already been supplied. God's call to repent and believe has already gone out. They have been spoken to you. Now, and especially in Lent it is time for you to do something about it. The verse closes with this injunction: "for it is time to seek the Lord". What is the hold up?
The second thing we notice is the directive to reap. Sieze ahold of what is good and let the rest go. A 17th century contemplative said, "Four things a man must learn to do if he would make his record true: To think without confusion clearly, To love his fellow men sincerely, To act from honest motives purely, To trust in God and heaven securely." ... Is this what you are working towards doing during this Lenten season?
Finally, we are called to break up our unplowed ground. I know of three reasons why you can't plow the land. #1. The ground is too hard. I pray that is not your problem. If it is ask God right now to soften your soul with a good soaking of his word and Spirit. Father, heal the wounds that have scabbed and crusted over but have never become whole. #2. The ground is too wet, too slippery. Don't make decisions when you are tired or depressed. Don't rush to speak or answer when you haven't heard everything out or thought everything through. Act, but act with the certainty of Holy Spirit conviction and peace. #3. You try to plow too deep, too quickly. Move at the speed of grace. Be patient. Be kind to yourself.
The Lord stands ready to shower righteousness upon you!
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
My Theme Verse for Lent
We are in the season of Lent: a time of preparation to meet the Risen Christ! My theme verse for these forty days is Hosea 10: 12, “Sow for yourselves righteousness, reap the fruit of unfailing love, and break up your unplowed ground; for it is time to seek the Lord, until he comes and showers righteousness on you.” In this one verse, the prophet describes the three ways I can change everything that needs to change in my life.
First I sow to righteousness. I think long term. Will what I presently do yield a productive and pleasing life to God? Brendon Burchard, author of Life’s Golden Ticket, reminds us: “At the end of our lives, we all ask, ‘Did I live? Did I love? Did I matter?’” Lent is the perfect time to ask those questions now. Hosea 10: 13 says we have all fed on lies. Sowing to righteousness means giving God the opportunity to break the power and influence of every lie and replace it with truth. Develop a habit in these forty days of feeding on God’s word.
The second thing we do is set short term goals for this Lenten season. Hosea 10: 12 says “reap the fruit of unfailing love”. The King Kames Version says, “Reap in mercy.” Take advantage of God’s grace to make a difference in your life and the life of others. When you reap you don’t try to carry away the whole stalk. You cut the heads off the grain. You grasp what you want. Do you have long term goals? Do you have big dreams? Run after them. Accomplish as much as you can. Our commitment is to be closer to our goal at the end of Lent than at its beginning. Heed the warning of Hosea 10: 13. We have already reaped more than enough, the results of short cuts, unhealthy choices and bad habits. Enough of that! We are now taking full advantage of God’s grace.
The final thing we do is “break up your unplowed ground”. We plow into our soul. We break in before the moisture of God’s leading evaporates. We do not wait until tomorrow to be serious about our Lenten preparation. We do not wait until the next distraction keeps us from obeying God in this moment. We act and act now. We turn over every tillable part of our heart.
“It is time to seek the Lord, until he comes and showers righteousness on you.” It is time to act until the fruit of our reaping and the results of our sowing are plain. Yoke up with Jesus today. Give, pray, and fast until your breakthrough comes.
First I sow to righteousness. I think long term. Will what I presently do yield a productive and pleasing life to God? Brendon Burchard, author of Life’s Golden Ticket, reminds us: “At the end of our lives, we all ask, ‘Did I live? Did I love? Did I matter?’” Lent is the perfect time to ask those questions now. Hosea 10: 13 says we have all fed on lies. Sowing to righteousness means giving God the opportunity to break the power and influence of every lie and replace it with truth. Develop a habit in these forty days of feeding on God’s word.
The second thing we do is set short term goals for this Lenten season. Hosea 10: 12 says “reap the fruit of unfailing love”. The King Kames Version says, “Reap in mercy.” Take advantage of God’s grace to make a difference in your life and the life of others. When you reap you don’t try to carry away the whole stalk. You cut the heads off the grain. You grasp what you want. Do you have long term goals? Do you have big dreams? Run after them. Accomplish as much as you can. Our commitment is to be closer to our goal at the end of Lent than at its beginning. Heed the warning of Hosea 10: 13. We have already reaped more than enough, the results of short cuts, unhealthy choices and bad habits. Enough of that! We are now taking full advantage of God’s grace.
The final thing we do is “break up your unplowed ground”. We plow into our soul. We break in before the moisture of God’s leading evaporates. We do not wait until tomorrow to be serious about our Lenten preparation. We do not wait until the next distraction keeps us from obeying God in this moment. We act and act now. We turn over every tillable part of our heart.
“It is time to seek the Lord, until he comes and showers righteousness on you.” It is time to act until the fruit of our reaping and the results of our sowing are plain. Yoke up with Jesus today. Give, pray, and fast until your breakthrough comes.
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