Preserving - Not a One Person Job

Be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.  James 1:22

The apples are ripening and the clan wants to come over. They're all fiends for apple jelly, so I'll be passing along the knowledge of how it's done. I've given them the recipe, but no one has followed it yet. That's okay because I love doing things together as a family. There will be jobs for the youngest to the oldest. That would be me. The youngest is only a few months old so he's in charge of entertainment. The kids love the apple peeler. The boys love to use a knife. We'll need people to measure sugar and spices and squeeze hot jelly bags of cooked peels. Someone has to put all the apple pieces in the crock pot for apple butter, and someone needs to wash jelly jars (thank goodness for a dishwasher). A great time will be had by all!

Preserving becomes a joyful job when everyone participates, but what about preserving souls? That seems to be only the pastors' or the Sunday School teachers' job. There's something wrong with this picture. If we merely listen to sermons, but never actually help do the job of soul winning and discipling believers, nothing will ever be accomplished. We are deceiving ourselves if we think we do the work of the kingdom from the church pew. It's more fun when we share the work and rejoice together in the accomplishments. 

Hey Kids:

Do you love all things apples? 

Is there someone in your family who knows how to make jams and jellies and fruit butters?

Offer to give Mom or Grandma a hand.

What does Dad know how to do? Grilling? Woodwork? Mechanicing? 

The Amish have a saying, "Many hands make light work."

We can all welcome help from others.

Pastors and teachers can also use your help. 

Is there a group at church you can join that reaches out to win souls and disciple them? 

Maybe there are kids in your neighborhood or school that can benefit from your friendship. 

Even a child is known by his doings...Proverbs 20:11 

May we all be doers of the Word,

Gail

  

Treasures in a Hope Chest

For where you treasure is, there will your heart be also. Matthew 6:21

I love finding a bargain. I was shopping for slacks and ran up on tea towels, CHEAP, for my girls to embroidery. That’s not a skill they know, so this was the perfect item for our next meeting. The towels were the cutest little cupcake design with a few simple stitches and one a little more complicated, a French knot. This would be a life skill and a treasure they could keep for years to come. The towels would be a perfect item for their Hope Chests, if they know what a Hope Chest is! Ha! 

Learning to embroidery takes a little patience and a little practice. You stick your tongue out and concentrate and stick your finger. You make mistakes and have to go back and fix them. But in the end you have a pretty good piece if you took a little pride in your work. Being a Christian is a lot like that. It takes time to study and pray and learn from others. We make mistakes and have to ask forgiveness. But in due time we begin to see fruit from our labor. We begin to see people saved and living their lives for God.

In Matthew, Jesus tells us not to worry about storing up treasures on earth that won’t last and that thieves steal. Jesus wants us to lay up treasures in heaven that will last eternally. Treasure no one can take away. It is so good to know our family and friends will be with us in heaven forever because we took a little time and patience to show them Jesus through our lives as well as the things we said. Embroidery makes a little picture that will last a little while. Our lives make pictures that last forever. Laying up treasure in heaven through our witness is like a little Hope Chest of souls that we will one day get to open and enjoy with Jesus.   

Building on a Rock

And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone; In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord: In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spririt. Ephesians 2:20, 21, 22.

Have you ever used blocks or bricks or stones to build a house? Playing, we usually build towers that fall pretty quickly. But if we build a corner first, then lay the rest of the house or tower, it will stand.  We also need to overlalp the breaks between the blocks.  Try making a wall without over lapping the breaks of the rectangles or squares. The wall comes down quickly.  Try making the wall overlapping the breaks like a brick mason . Take a look at a house that has bricks in the foundation or walls. Do you see the overlaps? The house is strong becasuse it has a corner stone or brick. It can stand very tall because the bricks or stones  are overlapped in the breaks.

This is exactly what Paul was trying to tell the Ephesians. Our lives must be built on Jesus Christ. He is our foundation. Without him our lives will fall. We may turn over a new leaf but it won’t last long unless Jesus has become our Rock, our cornerstone, our foundation. To be strong in the Lord there needs to be that overlapping of the “bricks” in our lives. The bricks that build us into strong Christians are the reading of God’s Word, and the studying of God’s Word with others, and putting those things we learn into action. We as Christians working together are the place, the habitat, of God’s Spirit. Wow! God’s spirit lives within us if we have been born again. We can do great things together with God’s direction.

We would love to share your experiences in God’s Word. Together we can go into all the world and preach the gospel. Use the comment space to share. On the day of Pentecost 3000 souls were added to the church because the Christians shared the gospel.

Blessings. Gail