Showing posts with label labour. Show all posts
Showing posts with label labour. Show all posts

Wednesday 29 July 2009

Being fit to take care of a garden


"Unless we know the difference between flowers and weeds, we are not fit to take care of a garden.
It is not enough to have truth planted in our minds.
We must learn and labour to keep the ground clear of thorns and briars, follies and perversities,
which have a wicked propensity to choke the word of life."

- Clyde Francis Lytle

"Listen then to what the parable of the sower means:
When people hear the message about the kingdom and do not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in their hearts. This is the seed sown along the path. The seed falling on rocky ground refers to people who hear the word and at once receive it with joy. But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. The seed falling among the thorns refers to people who hear the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, making it unfruitful. But the seed falling on good soil refers to people who hear the word and understand it. They produce a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown."

Matthew 13:18-23

God, I am grateful that the sower has sown the word
and that I could receive it

let me cherish it and let the earth on which is sown be well maintained and properly edited.
Let me also bear good fruits,
that I ask You  in Jesus name, amen.
Dutch version / Nederlandse versie > Het verschil weten tussen bloemen en onkruid
+++
English: An icon depicting the Sower. In Sts. ...
English: An icon depicting the Sower. In Sts. Konstantine and Helen Orthodox Church, Cluj, Romania. Español: Ícono representando la parábola del sembrador, en la Iglesia Ortodoxa de Helen, en Cluj (Rumania) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

2013 update:
 
Enhanced by Zemanta

Wednesday 27 May 2009

Come ye yourselves apart ... and rest awhile (Mark 6:31)

"Come ye yourselves apart ... and rest awhile" (Mark 6:31)

WHAT loving consideration for his disciples is suggested by these words of Jesus! They had been engaged in the work of the Gospel - preaching, teaching and healing - and had returned to the Lord to tell him of their experiences. But "there were many coming and going, and they had no leisure so much as to eat". So Jesus suggested they should go elsewhere to seek quietude and rest.

"To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven", says the Preacher. Rest and recreation (i.e., re-creation) are essential to human well-being, whether on the physical or spiritual plane, and Jesus taught his disciples a very practical lesson in this respect in the incident recorded by Mark.

"Come ye apart and rest awhile! "Christ's advice is perhaps more needed to-day than ever before. The world is too much with us: it is well-nigh impossible to escape its insistent influence or find a quiet retreat free from its fret and turmoil. Many of us seek relief on holiday; but even in the solitude of the hills or in the wide expanse of the moors, the ubiquitous aeroplane intrudes, shattering the sense of seclusion and linking us again with man's unceasing endeavour to subjugate the physical universe.

How, then, can we come apart and rest awhile? There is no quietness or peace associated with the human world around us: stress, anxiety, clamour and warfare are its characteristics: we seek in vain in that direction. But one of old confidently tells us of a source of peace which he had discovered:

The Lord is my Shepherd: I shall not want.
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures:
He leadeth me beside the still waters.
He restoreth my soul (Psa. 23:1-3).

Here then is what we desire and seek: pleasant pastures, the waters of quietness, and refreshment for the soul: sought out and made accessible to us by the Shepherd of Israel. And does not His Son reveal similar consolation? Jesus, the good Shepherd, who laid down his life for the sheep, invites us: "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me: for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls" (Matt. 11:28).
Shepherds Crag
Shepherds Crag (Photo credit: Mikey Bean)


Rest unto our souls! That is our greatest need to-day and our most fervent longing: to be free from the anxiety which so easily possesses us; to banish the sense of unrest which so frequently consumes us; to secure that contentment of spirit which so readily evades us, and which only confidence in God can inspire. If we are to secure this rest unto our souls, we must learn of Christ: and when we are truly his disciples, he takes us apart unto a desert place - far from the crowded haunts of human life - and we rest awhile with him, forgetting in his serene presence the cares and anxieties of life, and the interminable struggle of flesh and spirit; so are we strengthened for further endeavour.

Each first day of the week we are granted in a very special sense the privilege of spiritual re-creation. Christ may be "known of us in breaking of bread", as he was to the disciples of old. It is essential, however, that we should come apart from the world with its restless comings and goings, and seek to find him who has promised to be with us when we are gathered together in his name. This is no easy thing to accomplish, for we are very definitely still in the flesh, and liable to be too readily influenced by the merely human aspects of the memorial service; often we determine its success or failure by the word of exhortation. Let us remember, however, that the essential feature of the memorial service is the breaking of bread: that alone is commanded; all else is subservient to it. In that ordinance we remember Christ, learn of him, and so find rest unto our souls.

Brother F.W. Turner
---------------------
Meditations - Chapter 7 - Rest Unto Our Souls

+++
2013 update:

And Jesus came to them and spoke to them, saying, All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth.
As you* are going, make disciples of all the nations, immersing* them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit:teaching them to observe all things whatever I commanded you* and behold, I am with you* all the days until the end of the world.
 Amen. (Matthew 28:18-20 MLV)

And he gave some to be apostles, and some, prophets, and some, evangelists, and some, shepherds and teachers.These were done *for the equipping of the holy-ones, *for the work of the ministry, *for the building up of the body of Christ,until we all arrive to the oneness of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ,in order that we may no longer be infants, tossed to and fro and carried around with every wind of teaching, by the trickery of men, in craftiness, after the wiles of error;but be truthful with love*. We may grow up in all things into him, who is the head, who is Christ;from whom all the body fitly framed and knit together through what every joint supplies, according to the working in due measure of each individual part, that makes the growth of the body to the building up of itself in love*.

(Ephesians 4:11-16 MLV)

Blogging for Jesus..

Enhanced by Zemanta

Tuesday 21 April 2009

1 Corinthians 15 Hope in action

"Our future in Christ is secure. Nothing can shake the promise of resurrection to God's faithful people. Resurrection is a certainty - more sure than anything else we can have in this life. Our resurrections will also be a time of great reward when we will receive a new and immortal life - a life that has none of the problems and pains of the life we now live. Resurrection is an incredible hope.
English: Resurrection of Christ
English: Resurrection of Christ (Photo credit: Wikipedia)


It is because of the certainty and the awesomeness of the resurrection, that Paul says this at the end of the chapter: "Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain." (1 Corinthians 15 v 58)

Take a look at your own life. Do we stand firm in our faith?

Do we always give ourselves fully to the work of the Lord? If either of those answers are "no," then it follows that either our faith in God's promises is lacking, or that we do not fully understand the implications of the resurrection.

This life is not worth the time and energy we give it. Let's focus on God's promises and the resurrection and always give ourselves fully to the work of the Lord."

- Robert Prins, Thinky Things

"O death, where is thy victory? O death, where is thy sting?"
The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.
But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable,
always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain."
1 Corinthians 15:55-58
+++
2013 update:

Enhanced by Zemanta

Wednesday 11 March 2009

Aim High: Examples of Godly Characters to follow


Be Abraham in faith.
Be Isaac in fear (Gen 31:42).
Be Jacobs in wrestling.
Be Abels or Noahs in righteousness.
Be Enochs in holiness.
Be Jobs in patience.
Be Moses' in sacrificing the pleasures of sin.
Be Jethro's in rejoicing (Exod 18:9).
Be Samuels in upholding obedience.
Be Josephs in forgiveness.
Be Davids in prayer and praise.
Be Nehemiahs in fearlessness.
Be Calebs or Joshua in whole heartedness.
Be Johns and Jonathans in love.
Be Josiahs in tenderness.
Be Aarons in consecration.
Be Jeremiahs in lamentation.
Be Pauls in enthusiasm and zeal.
Be Habakkuks in holy trembling.
Be Esthers in noble resolve (Esther 4:16).
Be Persis in labour.
Be Cornelius' or Dorcas' in benevolent work and arms deeds.
Be Isaiahs in sublimity.
Be Phebes in service and succour.
Be Stephens in irresistible argument.
Be Antipas' in faithfulness.
Be Nathaniels in guilelessness.
Be Arimathean Josephs in looking after the body of Christ.
Be Daniels in courageous devotion.
Be Marys in sitting at the feet of Jesus, and in expensive expressions of love.
Be John the Baptists in burning and shining testimony.
Be Mordecais in seeking the good of Israel.
Be Timothys in reading the Scriptures.
Be Gideons in valour.
Be Samsons in strength.
Be Solomons in wisdom.
Be Elijahs in fervent prayer.
Be Lydias in worship.
Be Sarahs in quietness and subjection.
Be Titus' in "earnest care".
Be Mark's in profitableness (2 Tim. 4:11).
Be Appolos' in eloquence, and might of the Scriptures.
Be Annas in testifying of Christ (Luke 2:38).
Be James' in faithful admonition.
Be Peters in boldness (Acts 4:13).
Be Philemons in refreshing the saints (Phil 7).
Be Lois' or Eunices in unfeigned conviction.
Be Hezekiahs in tearful recognition of the chastening hand of God.
Be Abigails in bountiful recognition of service rendered.
Be Nathans in straightforward accusation (2 Sam 7:7).
Be Elishas in discernment, as to time and circumstances when gifts may be
received and when refused (2 Kings 6:26).
Be Ezras in uncompromising counsel.
Be Ezekials in the faithful exhibition of wickedness and its consequences.
Be Lukes in writing to the excellent of the earth (Luke 1:3).
Be Malachis in bearing faithful testimony against evil.
Be Jepthahs in keeping your word (Judges 11:35).
Be Ruths in resolution and purpose.
Be Zadocks in not going astray.
Be Andronicus, and Junias in noteworthiness.
Be Priscillas and Aquillas in helpership.
Be Samaritans in neighbourly kindness.
Be Ephesians in refusing complicity with evil.
Be Pergamians in holding fast to the faith.
Be Thyratirains in works of faith, patience and charity.
Be Philadelphians in keeping the word, and confessing the name of Christ.

In a word, be Christ's in Spirit and in truth (Romans 8:9).

(1883)
+++
2013 update

Several characters from the game; left to righ...
Several characters from the game; left to right, Eliwood, Sain, Dorcas, Lyn, Rebecca, Hector and Serra (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Enhanced by Zemanta