Post by Jerod W. Rickert on Mar 23, 2009 14:24:04 GMT -5
Mat 9:35 And Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people.
Mat 9:36 But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd.
Mat 9:37 Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few;
Mat 9:38 Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest.
Luk 10:2 Therefore said he unto them, The harvest truly is great, but the labourers are few: pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth labourers into his harvest.
Luk 10:3 Go your ways: behold, I send you forth as lambs among wolves.
Luk 10:4 Carry neither purse, nor scrip, nor shoes: and salute no man by the way.
Luk 10:5 And into whatsoever house ye enter, first say, Peace be to this house.
Luk 10:6 And if the son of peace be there, your peace shall rest upon it: if not, it shall turn to you again.
Luk 10:7 And in the same house remain, eating and drinking such things as they give: for the labourer is worthy of his hire. Go not from house to house.
Within this selection of verses, there is such a wealth of teaching and knowledge to be found. Let us hear the heart of our Saviour and Lord. Have we lost our passion for the lost and dying?? Do we still have the ability to weep over the souls that are fainting and are scattered abroad?? Do we who know the voice and love of the Shepherd have the compassion that drives us to work, as labourers with HIM?? Please take the time to listen to this song and take these words to heart, lest we become one of the the many whose love would grow cold in these last days...
Each day as we spend time in prayer for the souls of the lost, let the words of our Saviour echo into our hearts and souls "The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few; Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest." My precious brothers and sisters, the souls of the lost and dying are ready, the harvest is plentiful and ripe. But so many of us (and God forgive me, i count myself chief among these) spend our time praying that the Lord "will prepare their hearts and minds" while we do nothing. Let us rise up and step into this harvest field, take that light yoke and work side by side with the Master who is toiling alone...
Everyday we "pick and choose" who is ready and worthy and Christ calls us to exactly the opposite in truth. Let us look again at those last 3 verses..
Luk 10:5 And into whatsoever house ye enter, first say, Peace be to this house.
Luk 10:6 And if the son of peace be there, your peace shall rest upon it: if not, it shall turn to you again.
Luk 10:7 And in the same house remain, eating and drinking such things as they give: for the labourer is worthy of his hire. Go not from house to house.
We are to offer the peace, to pray that blessing... but NO MATTER WHAT, whether the peace enters the the home or returns to us... WE ARE TO REMAIN!!! "Go not from house to house" Let us learn that there is NOT one step of this life the Lord has not foreseen and known we would tread. And let every step be to HIS glory and service, no matter what we think or feel. HE has called us to be a peculiar people and and pilgrims in a strange and foreign land. We MUST stop living as residents and remember this place is NOT our home, we are only passing through on our way to Glory and to our land of Promise!!!
HE has called us to "get our hands dirty", to dine with the tax gatherers and sinners. HE walked among the lepers to take love where none would dare to tread. HE preached and taught and loved, never counting HIS own safety or even success as what mattered, but the obedience to what GOD had called and ordained. Through suffering and success, loved and hated, whether feasting or famished... HE counted it all nothing compared to reaching out in love to a world that was dying and lost.
Where is that love and devotion today?? I know it is such a low and dying flame in my own life. I stand in such shame and conviction over the man i am NOT. I call myself a Christian, but do i know the sting of rejection and persecution of my Saviour?? Do I crucify my flesh, daily, and follow after HIM with a heart and mind fixed upon what HE has called me to be?? Or do i cling to my precious rights, do i love my secret lusts and sins more than i love HIS Holy Word and commandments?? Do I look upon this world and weep?? Or do i sit in the comfort of my 4 warm walls, staring out through Rose-Colored Stained Glass Windows?? Am I more broken by the plight of the millions going to hell or am i just thankful that I am no longer one of them and turn my back to return to a life of safety and complacency??
Rev 3:14 And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God;
Rev 3:15 I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.
Rev 3:16 So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.
Rev 3:17 Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:
Rev 3:18 I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.
Rev 3:19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.
Rev 3:20 Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.
Rev 3:21 To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.
Rev 3:22 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.
Oh Lord, help us see our blindness, our wretchedness, our nakedness, let us see we are poor and miserable. The Lord is teaching me more and more that we are so trapped and bound by a spirit of the Laodiceans. And HE cries to us, still today, Repent of this life of lukewarm, be hot or cold. My precious friends, HE is standing at the door knocking. THIS IS WRITTEN TO THE CHURCH, not to the lost!!!! Let us open our ears to the Spirit of the Living God... He is still speaking to the church today!!!
Please know that I am not casting stones nor speaking as the voice of condemnation. This lesson today is for me!! God is shattering and breaking me to a point that I am weeping as i write this. Let us come home to the throne of Grace in repentance and be washed and bathed and healed and restored!!! Let us not rest in the dangerous land of complacency and comfort. Let us move forward into the land of danger and the unknown. There is never peace without war. There can be no victory without battle and loss. Can we truly say that we have put on the full armor of God if we have never seen combat?? Can we say that we have done all, given all?? Would we wash the feet of our betrayer and our denier if we knew them for who they were?? No, we cannot. We have become like the Rich young Ruler, wanting heaven on OUR terms, not HIS. And when the Lord rebukes us gently, and asks for the one thing we cannot give... will we walk away sadly, or will we walk away from everything we have ever known to follow HIM in to the great unknown??
I close this now, humbly coming before you, my friends and loved ones, asking your forgiveness for the Pride and selfishness that has characterized my life for so long. I desire nothing more than to be the man of God that HE has called me to be, that will be the father, friend and servant that this world needs. To follow the way of the Master and to count everything loss for HIS great glory and Namesake... I pray that the Spirit of the living God will speak to your heart and spirit today, the still small voice of love and mercy and conviction. God Bless you all richly in the abundant love and mercy of correction and reproof and restoration!!!
Mat 9:36 But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd.
Mat 9:37 Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few;
Mat 9:38 Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest.
Luk 10:2 Therefore said he unto them, The harvest truly is great, but the labourers are few: pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth labourers into his harvest.
Luk 10:3 Go your ways: behold, I send you forth as lambs among wolves.
Luk 10:4 Carry neither purse, nor scrip, nor shoes: and salute no man by the way.
Luk 10:5 And into whatsoever house ye enter, first say, Peace be to this house.
Luk 10:6 And if the son of peace be there, your peace shall rest upon it: if not, it shall turn to you again.
Luk 10:7 And in the same house remain, eating and drinking such things as they give: for the labourer is worthy of his hire. Go not from house to house.
Within this selection of verses, there is such a wealth of teaching and knowledge to be found. Let us hear the heart of our Saviour and Lord. Have we lost our passion for the lost and dying?? Do we still have the ability to weep over the souls that are fainting and are scattered abroad?? Do we who know the voice and love of the Shepherd have the compassion that drives us to work, as labourers with HIM?? Please take the time to listen to this song and take these words to heart, lest we become one of the the many whose love would grow cold in these last days...
Each day as we spend time in prayer for the souls of the lost, let the words of our Saviour echo into our hearts and souls "The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few; Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest." My precious brothers and sisters, the souls of the lost and dying are ready, the harvest is plentiful and ripe. But so many of us (and God forgive me, i count myself chief among these) spend our time praying that the Lord "will prepare their hearts and minds" while we do nothing. Let us rise up and step into this harvest field, take that light yoke and work side by side with the Master who is toiling alone...
Everyday we "pick and choose" who is ready and worthy and Christ calls us to exactly the opposite in truth. Let us look again at those last 3 verses..
Luk 10:5 And into whatsoever house ye enter, first say, Peace be to this house.
Luk 10:6 And if the son of peace be there, your peace shall rest upon it: if not, it shall turn to you again.
Luk 10:7 And in the same house remain, eating and drinking such things as they give: for the labourer is worthy of his hire. Go not from house to house.
We are to offer the peace, to pray that blessing... but NO MATTER WHAT, whether the peace enters the the home or returns to us... WE ARE TO REMAIN!!! "Go not from house to house" Let us learn that there is NOT one step of this life the Lord has not foreseen and known we would tread. And let every step be to HIS glory and service, no matter what we think or feel. HE has called us to be a peculiar people and and pilgrims in a strange and foreign land. We MUST stop living as residents and remember this place is NOT our home, we are only passing through on our way to Glory and to our land of Promise!!!
HE has called us to "get our hands dirty", to dine with the tax gatherers and sinners. HE walked among the lepers to take love where none would dare to tread. HE preached and taught and loved, never counting HIS own safety or even success as what mattered, but the obedience to what GOD had called and ordained. Through suffering and success, loved and hated, whether feasting or famished... HE counted it all nothing compared to reaching out in love to a world that was dying and lost.
Where is that love and devotion today?? I know it is such a low and dying flame in my own life. I stand in such shame and conviction over the man i am NOT. I call myself a Christian, but do i know the sting of rejection and persecution of my Saviour?? Do I crucify my flesh, daily, and follow after HIM with a heart and mind fixed upon what HE has called me to be?? Or do i cling to my precious rights, do i love my secret lusts and sins more than i love HIS Holy Word and commandments?? Do I look upon this world and weep?? Or do i sit in the comfort of my 4 warm walls, staring out through Rose-Colored Stained Glass Windows?? Am I more broken by the plight of the millions going to hell or am i just thankful that I am no longer one of them and turn my back to return to a life of safety and complacency??
Rev 3:14 And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God;
Rev 3:15 I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.
Rev 3:16 So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.
Rev 3:17 Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:
Rev 3:18 I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.
Rev 3:19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.
Rev 3:20 Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.
Rev 3:21 To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.
Rev 3:22 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.
Oh Lord, help us see our blindness, our wretchedness, our nakedness, let us see we are poor and miserable. The Lord is teaching me more and more that we are so trapped and bound by a spirit of the Laodiceans. And HE cries to us, still today, Repent of this life of lukewarm, be hot or cold. My precious friends, HE is standing at the door knocking. THIS IS WRITTEN TO THE CHURCH, not to the lost!!!! Let us open our ears to the Spirit of the Living God... He is still speaking to the church today!!!
Please know that I am not casting stones nor speaking as the voice of condemnation. This lesson today is for me!! God is shattering and breaking me to a point that I am weeping as i write this. Let us come home to the throne of Grace in repentance and be washed and bathed and healed and restored!!! Let us not rest in the dangerous land of complacency and comfort. Let us move forward into the land of danger and the unknown. There is never peace without war. There can be no victory without battle and loss. Can we truly say that we have put on the full armor of God if we have never seen combat?? Can we say that we have done all, given all?? Would we wash the feet of our betrayer and our denier if we knew them for who they were?? No, we cannot. We have become like the Rich young Ruler, wanting heaven on OUR terms, not HIS. And when the Lord rebukes us gently, and asks for the one thing we cannot give... will we walk away sadly, or will we walk away from everything we have ever known to follow HIM in to the great unknown??
I close this now, humbly coming before you, my friends and loved ones, asking your forgiveness for the Pride and selfishness that has characterized my life for so long. I desire nothing more than to be the man of God that HE has called me to be, that will be the father, friend and servant that this world needs. To follow the way of the Master and to count everything loss for HIS great glory and Namesake... I pray that the Spirit of the living God will speak to your heart and spirit today, the still small voice of love and mercy and conviction. God Bless you all richly in the abundant love and mercy of correction and reproof and restoration!!!