Faith-bearing Seed for the Soul
"While the earth remaineth,
Seedtime and harvest
....shall not cease"

Genesis 8:22

"A Little Birdie Showed Me"

My husband LOVES animals...so much so, that he fixed a perch on a tree just outside our back door where he places sunflower seeds several times a day for the squirrels. As I watched the blazing red cardinals taking their liberty pecking up the seeds, I was reminded of the verses in Matthew 6 about how the birds and flowers are provided for, so I turned there...and a portion of a particular verse seemed to jump off the page to me.

Matthew 6:26

"Look at the birds! They don't worry about what to eat--they don't need to sow or reap or store up food--for your heavenly Father feeds them. And you are far more valuable to Him than they are."

I realized...I don't have to DO ANYTHING to earn His provision any more than those birds do! They haven't PLANTED anything, and their heavenly Father is taking care of them BECAUSE HE WANTS TO, because HE LOVES THEM. And how much MORE VALUABLE I am to Him!

We do nothing to earn our salvation...it is a GIFT! Why then, should we be required to earn His provision? I was saved by His grace and love, and I am sustained by His grace and love. I don't have to sow anything but love back to Him because He first loved me. I can give and give and give, but giving without love is a "sounding brass and tinkling symbol" to Him...

I Cor 13:3

"If I gave everything I have to poor people, and if I were burned alive for preaching the Gospel but didn't love others, it would be of NO VALUE WHATEVER!" (Emphasis in verses mine)

Matthew 22:37

"LOVE the Lord your God WITH ALL YOUR HEART, SOUL, AND MIND."

THAT'S IT! I am to do what I do because I love Him, not for any ulterior motive. I don't sow to reap! I sow because I love Him. I don't plant to force Him to give a bumper crop back to me so I can live in luxury. I plant because I love Him.

John 14:15

"If you love me, obey me..."

If I do all these works of righteousness, for righteousness' sake and not because I love Him...I am putting forth a futile effort! If I love Him first and foremost, these obedient works of righteousness will automatically spring forth out of His love in and through me, and it will not be because of what I have done... I won't be able to stand up before the congregation and say, "I sowed X number of dollars into the kingdom and therefore, I have reaped X number of dollars more." My testimony will MORE APPROPRIATELY be, "Jesus loves me, this I KNOW, for the Bible tells me so! YES! Jesus loves ME! Yes! Jesus loves me."

Psalms 50:12,15 L/b tells us PRECISELY what God wants from us...(emphasis mine)

"If I were hungry, I would not mention it to you--for all the world is Mine, and everything in it. No, I DON'T NEED YOUR SACRIFICES of flesh and blood. What I want from you is your true thanks; I want your promises fulfilled. I want you to trust me in your times of trouble, so I can rescue you, and you can give me glory."

We can't buy His love, we can't earn His love, we just receive His love and in return, we love Him with all our heart, soul and mind... and He provides for those He loves! And, yes, we will give, and it will be given to us, pressed down, shaken together and running over. We will sow and we will reap... but not because we EARNED it with works of righteousness, but because He loves us so very much...much more than the little birds He provides for...

A little birdie showed me!

Se'lah...(which means)... Pause and think about that!

Marlene

Texas Seed Sower

(Just because I love Him!)

NOTE: This "seed" sort of grew in size..(musta been a mustard seed..haha).

Normally, these thoughts will not be this long.

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"Keep on sowing your seed, for you never know

which will grow--perhaps it all will."

Eccl. 11:6

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