"In the harvest field now ripened there's a work for all to do; hark, the voice of God is calling, to the harvest calling you.
Little is much when God is in it! Labour not for wealth or fame. There's a crown, and you can win it, if you'll go in Jesus' name.
Does the place you're called to labour seem so small and little knwon? It is great if God is in it; and He'll not forget His own.
Are you laid aside from service? Body worn from toil and care? You can still be in the battle, in the sacred place of prayer.
When the conflict here is ended, and our race on earth is run, He will say to all the faithful "Welcome home, my Child, well done."
Little is much when god is in it! Labour not for wealth or fame. There's a crown and you can win it, if you'll go in Jesus' name."
1 Tim 4:12,
Tawney Rae
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
The Art of Inward Greatness series, part 1
Hello everyone,
Sorry this has been so long delayed in getting posted. I've been meaning to, but life has been busy, and I really wanted some time to think through this next series...
The qoute in the last post was our sort of kick-off for the series. If you really think about it... to practice deferred-gratification, and the pain there is in learning, we must first of all be found... faithful. Noone can stick to their standards and the pain it takes to grow, and become more like Christ, without being faithful to Him and what He has told us in His word. So often we hope God will endow us with all this knowledge, when we won't even put in the effort to read our Bible and toil to learn it. This takes us back to the point discussed in the last video of the series by the Harris brothers. If you remember, they discussed how the Vikings would row themselves to battle-instead of using slaves-and by that they were virtually undefeated becuaes of the strength they got from rowing. We can apply that to our walk with God; by learning to "row ourselves to battle" in our spiritual walk, instead of hoping our parents or pastor will do it for us. I won't belabor the point that I already made, so if you need to refresh your memory you can re-read the post.:) But, if we take our walk with God seriously, we will "embrace the pain of learning" by toiling in the Word and learning what God says about what we are to be about. The toil applies in many areas; such as prayer, reading our Bibles, and fasting. These all take deferred-gratification, actually! There is always a choice to use the internet instead of reading our Bibles and praying, or caving into eat when we know God told us to fast, etc. It may be painful, but we reap a great reward in the end of it.As it says in Galatians 6:7-9 : "Be not devieved, God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season shall we reap, if we faint not." The priciple of reaping what you sow. But we must be faithful in it. We will reap a harvest, if we are willing to toil and work, and we do not give up when we are weary. It can be hard, but it is the first calling of someone who is willing to follow Christ to DO hard things. We are first called to be faithful in doing the hard, small, inward things. Noone is called to the ministry who isn't first found faithful in little. See 1 Cor.4:2 and Matthew 25:14-30. Faithfulness is key to first having the inward greatness that God wants in us who are called to be used greatly by Him. We so often reach towards the great things that call for attention from others, but in our time alone we stoop to mediocracy. God didn't call us to live our personal life "like the average joe"; the lives that are used greatly by God all started with a heart change and a desire to follow God faithfully even in small things. So it's up to us to take the first step for our generation. To be faithful in the small things, to practice "deferred gratification" if you will, so God can then multiply it and use us in greater things then we could ever ask Him to. Don't shy away from doing things that are hard just because they are small; they are the building blocks for the rest of your life. You will reap what you sow, and if you patiently begin sowing seeds now for later on in life, you will be prepared to do great things for God when the time comes.
Questions:
What areas do you need to work on that are small that God calls you to be faithful in (prayer, Bible reading, etc.)?
What areas could you practice deferred-gratification in, so that you can learn more about Him? Would it be by taking a break from T.V., the internet (or for you Facebook people out there! :)), sleeping too late to read your Bible, etc.?
Yet also, are you becoming laxadazial and not moving forward, living in hard things God gave you long ago; using "faithfulness" as an excuse for laziness?
Stay tuned for our next post in this series; and please leave your thoughts in the comment bar!
1 Timothy 4:12,
Tawney Rae
Sorry this has been so long delayed in getting posted. I've been meaning to, but life has been busy, and I really wanted some time to think through this next series...
The qoute in the last post was our sort of kick-off for the series. If you really think about it... to practice deferred-gratification, and the pain there is in learning, we must first of all be found... faithful. Noone can stick to their standards and the pain it takes to grow, and become more like Christ, without being faithful to Him and what He has told us in His word. So often we hope God will endow us with all this knowledge, when we won't even put in the effort to read our Bible and toil to learn it. This takes us back to the point discussed in the last video of the series by the Harris brothers. If you remember, they discussed how the Vikings would row themselves to battle-instead of using slaves-and by that they were virtually undefeated becuaes of the strength they got from rowing. We can apply that to our walk with God; by learning to "row ourselves to battle" in our spiritual walk, instead of hoping our parents or pastor will do it for us. I won't belabor the point that I already made, so if you need to refresh your memory you can re-read the post.:) But, if we take our walk with God seriously, we will "embrace the pain of learning" by toiling in the Word and learning what God says about what we are to be about. The toil applies in many areas; such as prayer, reading our Bibles, and fasting. These all take deferred-gratification, actually! There is always a choice to use the internet instead of reading our Bibles and praying, or caving into eat when we know God told us to fast, etc. It may be painful, but we reap a great reward in the end of it.As it says in Galatians 6:7-9 : "Be not devieved, God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season shall we reap, if we faint not." The priciple of reaping what you sow. But we must be faithful in it. We will reap a harvest, if we are willing to toil and work, and we do not give up when we are weary. It can be hard, but it is the first calling of someone who is willing to follow Christ to DO hard things. We are first called to be faithful in doing the hard, small, inward things. Noone is called to the ministry who isn't first found faithful in little. See 1 Cor.4:2 and Matthew 25:14-30. Faithfulness is key to first having the inward greatness that God wants in us who are called to be used greatly by Him. We so often reach towards the great things that call for attention from others, but in our time alone we stoop to mediocracy. God didn't call us to live our personal life "like the average joe"; the lives that are used greatly by God all started with a heart change and a desire to follow God faithfully even in small things. So it's up to us to take the first step for our generation. To be faithful in the small things, to practice "deferred gratification" if you will, so God can then multiply it and use us in greater things then we could ever ask Him to. Don't shy away from doing things that are hard just because they are small; they are the building blocks for the rest of your life. You will reap what you sow, and if you patiently begin sowing seeds now for later on in life, you will be prepared to do great things for God when the time comes.
Questions:
What areas do you need to work on that are small that God calls you to be faithful in (prayer, Bible reading, etc.)?
What areas could you practice deferred-gratification in, so that you can learn more about Him? Would it be by taking a break from T.V., the internet (or for you Facebook people out there! :)), sleeping too late to read your Bible, etc.?
Yet also, are you becoming laxadazial and not moving forward, living in hard things God gave you long ago; using "faithfulness" as an excuse for laziness?
Stay tuned for our next post in this series; and please leave your thoughts in the comment bar!
1 Timothy 4:12,
Tawney Rae
Friday, May 6, 2011
The Art of Inward Greatness series, Quote from John Piper "kick-off"...
Our next series will be on inward manifestations of greatness that will come in the life of a Child of God before they do great things for God.
We will simply begin with this quote as a way to "kick-off" the series; and then we'll start very soon. For now, I'd like you all to really think over this quote and how it applys to you as a Christian.
"This is basic to all growing up. Part of maturity is the principle of deffered gratification. If you cannot embrace the pain of learning but must have instant gratification, you forfeit the greatest rewards of life."
-John Piper
My question to you:
What are certian ways we must practice deffered gratification so that God can teach us, and mature us?
I really can't wait to start this series, it is so foundational to the spirit of the person who strives to do great things for God. We must first learn inward greatness, and all else follows. But a lot of the learning involved in how to manifest inward greatness does lean on deferred gratification; we could also call some of it sacrifice. I will go into detail later how we can practice that daily, and certian areas the Lord has shown me that help me learn deferred gratification that helps me mature my walk with Him. Hope to hear from you all more as I get into this series!
1 Timothy 4:12,
Tawney Rae
We will simply begin with this quote as a way to "kick-off" the series; and then we'll start very soon. For now, I'd like you all to really think over this quote and how it applys to you as a Christian.
"This is basic to all growing up. Part of maturity is the principle of deffered gratification. If you cannot embrace the pain of learning but must have instant gratification, you forfeit the greatest rewards of life."
-John Piper
My question to you:
What are certian ways we must practice deffered gratification so that God can teach us, and mature us?
I really can't wait to start this series, it is so foundational to the spirit of the person who strives to do great things for God. We must first learn inward greatness, and all else follows. But a lot of the learning involved in how to manifest inward greatness does lean on deferred gratification; we could also call some of it sacrifice. I will go into detail later how we can practice that daily, and certian areas the Lord has shown me that help me learn deferred gratification that helps me mature my walk with Him. Hope to hear from you all more as I get into this series!
1 Timothy 4:12,
Tawney Rae
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