Year: 2019

Sing!

Your day will have a message to those around you each day. What will you let take up residence in your attitude, your thoughts, your words, your work TODAY? What will your presence and example teach and demonstrate within your workplace, your home, your cycle of influence? Someone is watching, and someone is following. Whether we realize it or not, we are leading and influencing those around us. Will we live today intentionally and with a purpose? Will we sing a song and advertise something meaningful and useful today?

“You are the salt of the earth. But what good is salt if it has lost its flavor? Can you make it salty again? It will be thrown out and trampled underfoot as worthless. “You are the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father.
Matthew 5:13‭-‬16 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/mat.5.13-16.NLT

Link to original: https://www.smule.com/p/796834962_2024789871

Link to original:

https://www.smule.com/p/151821080_2251795841

So thankful for the opportunity to worship with my dear friend Kimberly Earp Dunn on these songs. Check out her YouTube channel here:

https://www.youtube.com/user/vkdunn95

What seems sweet can be bitter poison

My son, pay attention to my wisdom; listen carefully to my wise counsel. Then you will show discernment, and your lips will express what you’ve learned. For the lips of an immoral woman are as sweet as honey, and her mouth is smoother than oil. But in the end she is as bitter as poison, as dangerous as a double-edged sword. Her feet go down to death; her steps lead straight to the grave. For she cares nothing about the path to life. She staggers down a crooked trail and doesn’t realize it. So now, my sons, listen to me. Never stray from what I am about to say: Stay away from her! Don’t go near the door of her house! If you do, you will lose your honor and will lose to merciless people all you have achieved. Strangers will consume your wealth, and someone else will enjoy the fruit of your labor. In the end you will groan in anguish when disease consumes your body. You will say, “How I hated discipline! If only I had not ignored all the warnings! Oh, why didn’t I listen to my teachers? Why didn’t I pay attention to my instructors? I have come to the brink of utter ruin, and now I must face public disgrace.” Drink water from your own well— share your love only with your wife. Why spill the water of your springs in the streets, having sex with just anyone? You should reserve it for yourselves. Never share it with strangers. Let your wife be a fountain of blessing for you. Rejoice in the wife of your youth. She is a loving deer, a graceful doe. Let her breasts satisfy you always. May you always be captivated by her love. Why be captivated, my son, by an immoral woman, or fondle the breasts of a promiscuous woman? For the Lord sees clearly what a man does, examining every path he takes. An evil man is held captive by his own sins; they are ropes that catch and hold him. He will die for lack of self-control; he will be lost because of his great foolishness.
Proverbs 5:1‭-‬23 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/pro.5.1-23.NLT

Consider the Farmers

In today’s instant gratification culture, patiently waiting for something is becoming a foreign concept. When we can speak “Ok Google” or “Alexa” or “Hello Bixby” and have our technology give us answers to any question we can think up, it is hard to remember a day when answers took a dedicated effort, and time, and learned skills in order to research, comprehend, and identify truth. When we can use our Amazon Prime memberships to have everything from technology, to groceries, to clothes, to seeds and plants, to books and manuals, to videos and games, it is hard to remember a day when selections were limited and one had to “travel to town” to resupply.

Dear brothers and sisters, be patient as you wait for the Lord’s return. Consider the farmers who patiently wait for the rains in the fall and in the spring. They eagerly look for the valuable harvest to ripen. You, too, must be patient. Take courage, for the coming of the Lord is near.
James 5:7‭-‬8 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/jas.5.7-8.NLT

Life Application Study Bible
The farmer must wait patiently for his crops to grow; he cannot hurry the process. But he does not take the summer off and hope that all goes well in the fields. There is much work to do to ensure a good harvest. In the same way, we must wait patiently for Christ’s return. We cannot make him come back any sooner. But while we wait, there is much work that we can do to advance God’s kingdom. Both the farmer and the Christian must live by faith, looking toward the future reward for their labors. Don’t live as if Christ will never come. Work faithfully to build his kingdom-the King will come when the time is right.

But the culture of the day is not meant to rule the hearts and minds of Christians. The way the world lives, the way those who do not know Him think, the way those who have no fear of God speak and act — is NOT our way, is NOT the narrow path, is NOT the life of a disciple of Christ with their hand firmly upon the plow. We are to be courageously bold in our faithful kingdom work and purpose — even as we are patiently awaiting His return.

Farming today has changed somewhat, as technology like irrigation, tractors, fertilizing, genetic modification, etc. has all worked to improve efficiency. But no farmer can say “Ok Google”, make my empty and unplanted field bear fruit for me to eat this morning. No, the farmer must still prepare his fields in due season, sow his seed in due season, tend to the weeds and bugs in due season, water and prune his plants in due season, and harvest in due season. So we can still “consider the farmers” as James urges his original audience — and we can appreciate this very different concept of patience that the Word of God calls us back to, even as the world entices us with its promises of instant gratification.

“In due season” stands out. What is due for me to be doing today, in this season? And what do I need to be patiently trusting will come in some future, due season?