Harvest Archives – Facets of Faith

Out of Thankfulness, How Do You Serve?

11.05.2019 by Tracy Stella //

Dear friends, welcome to FACETS of Faith! We pray you are blessed with a word from God each time you visit. We pray you hear His heart for you as you read. We also pray for prompt obedience if He places something on your heart. We have much to be thankful for even when we don’t always see it. I pray we see what God has done and is doing in our lives and that we take action on His instruction each time He asks. Let the lives we lead be a fragrant aroma to Him that smells sweeter and more savory than any Thanksgiving meal we will ever partake in. In Jesus’ name, amen!

Imagine travelling for months to an unknown, but hopeful destination. You made the bold decision to pick up your roots and reestablish yourself elsewhere. Now that the world wasn’t flat, you were flat out ready for an adventure. The decision felt right, so you moved forward. However, you didn’t fully calculate the cost.

Oh, you knew how much the trip across the ocean cost financially. You just hadn’t counted on weather and disease wreaking havoc the way it did along the way. You didn’t anticipate the stormy weather driving rain and cold to the center of your core. Once cold there aren’t enough socks and blankets to soak the chill from the marrow of your bones.

Right about now is when you start to doubt your decision-making ability. What was I thinking? Was I crazy to embark on this adventure? What might I lose because I followed my heart into this thing? I thought I heard from God. Was I wrong?

This is very likely what many of the settlers felt who crossed an ocean to see what God had in store for them. Many of them came for religious freedom. Some came for adventure. Others came for a fresh, new start.

Sacrifice may have been a bigger piece of the equation than any of them planned for. How could they really understand the magnitude of what this journey would cost? They’d never done it before. They were risk takers. They were courageous. But they couldn’t see into the future, even as they tried to plan for it. Even if they weren’t naïve, it would have been impossible for them to anticipate every obstacle ahead.

“Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it? For if you lay the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule you, saying, ‘This person began to build and wasn’t able to finish.’─Luke 14:28-30 NIV

Have you ever been there? Where you forgot to count the cost? Or you thought you had, but you needed to count a little longer and a lot higher? I’m with you, sister. I’ve done it too! Even when I thought I weighed my decisions, prayed on them, sought after God’s heart, will, and ways I underestimated what would be needed. Somehow things cost a lot more heart, time, energy, and stamina than we expected.

Truth be told, I think sometimes God doesn’t let us see all it will cost. Heck, none of us would get up off the couch and do anything good for God if He told us, So and so is going to be extremely rude when you are trying to help them. Or This one will slander you, but be nice to them anyhow. Or perhaps you’ll be called to walk alongside a prickly, unloving person. Maybe God will literally ask you to give a financial gift stretching you outside your comfort zone.

You get the point. If God’s intention is to grow us (hint: it is!), He might keep a bit of the struggle out of our sight while we’re stepping into His plan for our lives.

I have absolutely been here. I know I heard from God. He told me it was going to be hard (He just didn’t say HOW HARD!)

So why on earth would we step into something we KNOW is going to be a challenge? We’ve calculated the cost, and we’ve even budgeted for things to cost more than we think, because that would be the wise order of things.

Why? What’s the motivation?

Those settlers who embarked upon their life’s most difficult adventure didn’t know their situation was going to get just a bit more challenging once they anchored close to shore.

They were in unfamiliar territory. And the weather was just about to change. Winter. None of us likes winter. At all. Oh, I’m not talking about the weather now. I’m talking about those seasons where we wonder, where are You God?

The people nearly starved to death. Some did.

Life can be extremely harsh at times. Winter seasons are difficult to weather well. Spiritually, we need to prepare ourselves for that. In our vibrant, blooming seasons it’s important we store those experiences in our hearts and minds as encouragement for the future.

Even when life is hard, never forget God’s got victory just around the corner. Some choose defeat, not knowing God has deliverance around the next bend. Let’s take heart and tune into what God tells us in His Word so we weather the storm well.

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”─John 16:33 NIV (emphasis mine)

There will be trouble this side of heaven.

But the optimist in me says, sometimes it will also be extravagantly beautiful. Full of hope. Vitality. Life to the full! The Scripture above reminds us God has overcome the world. We know that, but in times of trouble, it’s powerful to speak this Scripture out loud with the full authority you’ve been given as a daughter of Christ.

Write it on the tablet of your heart. Literally, write it down on an index card and carry it with you. Remind yourself that you are made for VICTORY!

Jesus overcame the world (John 13:33b). In His name, you can too!

Again, Jesus tells us a thing or two about what this life is to look like.

“I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”─John 10:10b NIV (emphasis mine)

TO THE FULL. He died so we could live the fullest life possible. I’m not talking about travelling around the world and doing whatever we want, when we want. There’s nothing the matter with travelling. There’s nothing the matter with taking time for ourselves to refresh our spirit. (Even Jesus did that, and He commands us to rest as well.)

What I am saying is He also calls us to serve sacrificially. He led by example. God still leads by example.

We love Him because He first loved us.─1 John 4:19 NKJV

We don’t love Him because we are so awesome. We love Him because He showed us how. (But you are awesome, by the way. You’re fearfully and wonderfully made. But you get my point. We wouldn’t even know what love IS if He hadn’t given us experiences of His love in the first place.)

Remember those early settlers of the States? How did God love them? They’d sacrificed much and experienced great loss.

God sent them practical help from the people who already lived there. The Indians knew how to survive on this land that we call home. They shared ideas and taught the pilgrims how to make it through harsh conditions. And when all was said and done, they celebrated the harvest. Together. (Sadly, we know this camaraderie and unity didn’t last, but that’s for a different piece.)

For now, let’s talk about the harvest. It’s one of my favorite biblical principles, because we all want to know we make a difference somehow. If I’m investing time, money, gifts and attention to something, I definitely hope and pray there will be a harvest. I know we don’t always get to see the harvest, but sometimes we do. That is such an encouragement. Our sacrifice was not in vain. God wrung every ounce of good out of it to bring life to the full for those He asked us to help. And maybe we are a gift He is giving to someone else because someone invested in us first.

I think about my friend who invited me to church and kept inviting me. Because she included me in her life and invited me into her world, I now know the love of Jesus. And because I know the love of Jesus, I can now love others. I get to. But that wouldn’t have happened (at least when it did) if my friend hadn’t invited me to walk through the doors of the church reassuring me the building wouldn’t collapse around me because, man, was I a s-i-n-n-e-r! I didn’t know back then that we are all s-i-n-n-e-r-s in need of God’s grace. Every one of us!

What does all this have to do with serving God out of thankfulness? Let’s hear from Jesus again as He talks to Simon…and to us.

“Jesus said to him, “Simon, I have something to tell you.”

“Oh? Tell me.”

“Two men were in debt to a banker. One owed five hundred silver pieces, the other fifty. Neither of them could pay up, and so the banker cancelled both debts. Which of the two would be more grateful?”

Simon answered, “I suppose the one who was forgiven the most.”

“That’s right,” said Jesus. Then turning to the woman, but speaking to Simon, he said, “Do you see this woman? I came to your home; you provided no water for my feet, but she rained tears on my feet and dried them with her hair. You gave me no greeting, but from the time I arrived she hasn’t quit kissing my feet. You provided nothing for freshening up, but she has soothed my feet with perfume. Impressive, isn’t it? She was forgiven many, many sins, and so she is very, very grateful. If the forgiveness is minimal, the gratitude is minimal.”─Luke 7:40-47 MSG

What if we were women so grateful to God for all He has given us that we served others like she served Jesus? What if we’re really serving Jesus when we do?

She was emotionally invested and used whatever she had to sacrificially serve the Lord. She celebrated Him! She was glad He was in her life and her actions showed it!

What would our world look life if we stopped trying to impress others and instead impressed God?

What would happen in your heart if you overheard the Lord talking about you in this fashion?

Look at her. Look at what she’s doing for the kingdom. Look at what she’s doing for Me, because she knows what love looks like. She is a student of Love. Look at how well she receives my love and serves out of the overflow. She hasn’t forgotten what I did for her. She remembers what life was like before she surrendered to Me. Impressive isn’t it? Many will forget and move on with life. However, she took to heart all I taught her. I’ll keep interceding on her behalf so she can continue. Even when it’s hard.

God made you for impressive things, beautiful one. Are you doing them? Not in some striving, slaving fashion. Rather, out of the overflow of His love and grace, glistening from the glow of His anointing.

Shine!

Out of thankfulness we serve. We serve with our whole heart. We serve because we were shown how. We serve because that’s why we’re here. Otherwise, God would have taken us to heaven already. For now, He needs us. He needs us to remember all He has done for us. He needs us to respond, to roll up our sleeves and say, “Yes, Lord. Send me.”

Then I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?”

And I said, “Here am I. Send me!”─Isaiah 6:8 NIV

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Jesus’ Multiplication: Seed of Dependence or a “Muster Seed”

10.09.2018 by Jennifer Howe //

This month the FACETS are answering this question: How has God turned your little into much? It’s all about Jesus’ multiplication. What a perfect topic for the harvest season, eh? Check out Tracy’s post here. Kim will share next week, and then we have a beautiful guest we want you to meet. Visit us on Tuesdays to read new posts.

Welcome to fall, friend! I (Jennifer) live in the midwest, and the harvests are in. The fields are down, cornucopia decorations are in displays, and piles of pumpkins dominate grocery stores and veggie stands. I don’t dislike everything about the “boo fest” in October, it’s just that I’m fueled by my favorite things in autumn: all things apple, golden pre-harvest fields, colorful leaves, November, and a meaningful Thanksgiving.

The season reminds me God not only makes a crop possible but also multiplies the harvest. Soon I’m recounting the stories that reveal God’s multiplication table (often at the table). Then I ask how those stories relate to mine.

What’s my personal harvest story? Dependence.

A Jesus moment catches my eye. A little background—

Greeks (non-Jews) have come to see Jesus and hope Philip will introduce them. We can’t be sure the introduction takes place; the text doesn’t say. (I like to think it did.) We might assume it was a brow-raising moment, considering rabbis rarely mixed in the Gentile world. Jesus was different.

Then it’s immediately a prophetic moment. The Messiah predicts the crucifixion, though the majority of listeners have no idea.

Jesus replied to them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. I assure you: Unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains by itself. But if it dies, it produces a large crop. John 12:23-24 CSB

More eyebrows jump? Jesus turns attention to the potential in a tiny seed. Seeds were important in the Jewish agrarian culture. For a plant to grow a seed must die, and the crowd knew it. Then a seed has incredible mathematic potential. Whole crops are hidden in a single seed. He knew billions of seeds and a beautiful, large harvest would come from the sacrifice of His life. But He continues.

The one who loves his life will lose it, and the one who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. John 12:25

The seed that dies and yields a harvest is inextricably linked to one who “hates his life in this world.” (That’s dependence!) Today the follower of Jesus knows the sacrifice He made and the harvest of followers that came. We know He died to make a way for all of us to be in beautiful, eternal relationship with the Father. We have eternal life with God through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. (And that’s dependence!)

What’s most important to me is the little faith I began with. I knew placing trust in Jesus was the beginning. Trusting Jesus with all of life is ultimate dependence. As much as I’d like to say I instantly trusted Him with everything, every decision, every hard moment—I can’t. Ease and perfection didn’t come from a single moment. I had moments that were more like a “muster seed” in my own strength. No, it was a tiny step. I leaned into dependence just a little bit. And then a little more. Twenty-odd years later, it’s still a million little decisions I want to make each day. God multiplies my little faithful dependence into much. Sometimes it’s depending on Him more often, or in the bigger things, and in more of the little things. Little things can be as hard or harder than the big things, if I’m honest. It’s tempting to “get ‘er done” in my own way.

The next verse is beautiful. And challenging.

If anyone serves Me, he must follow Me. Where I am, there My servant also will be. If anyone serves Me, the Father will honor him. John 12:26

This is where dependence really shows. I can’t muster a thing on my own, really. A Jesus-dependent faith life looks like the life He lived. It’s a life of seeing and serving others and thinking of them more than your own self. It’s a life that serves Jesus because it serves others. My little dependent moment is a tiny faith step God transforms. A small thing becomes more loving, more frequent, and more—Jesus-like! I’m far from perfect (ask my family), but I’m growing. If you see anything of the dependent life, you know it’s really not me, right? It’s God doing a thing in my life, finishing the work He started, and I’m just revealing a little of that. *wink*

Thanks for reading, friend. The FACETS love to hear from you. What are some of your favorite fall things? Share your thoughts on God’s multiplication in your life here or at the Facebook Page. How has God turned your little into much?

How has God multiplied your little into much?

10.03.2018 by Tracy Stella //

Welcome to FACETS OF FAITH and this month’s inspiration from above. As we seek God, we desire to share His heart with you. We pray we reflect His heart, His thoughts, and His desires for He alone knows whom He is bringing to read each week. He alone knows what needs to be said.

We pray you take away nuggets of truth that God continues to water and nourish as you grow more and more into the precious royalty you are – His precious princes and princesses whom He desires to do great things in and through. That’s you, sweet one! You! Precious. Repeated three times so you don’t forget.

This month we are looking at the question: How has God multiplied your little into much? Sometimes I don’t have much, nothing much at all. I’m challenged for inspiration. I’m challenged for time. I’m challenged for words (and this coming from the woman who wrestles with word count, generally having far too many).

Truth be told, I don’t have much to offer in this blog post. I’m a day late, and probably more than a dollar short. Honestly, this has never happened where I have nothing – nothing at all to go on. Normally, I’ll have a sense of what God wants to say. All too often I have more ideas than I know what to do with. But I’m really at a loss.

Sigh.

So this is my little. I’ll show up. Let’s see (and hope and pray) that God multiplies it into much. I only have a fish snack and not enough to feed thousands. What’s a woman to do?

Give the basket to God. Let Him do what only He can do …. And stay out of His way. That’s my prayer. Help me stay out of Your way, God.

I’m reading an interesting book called, God Secrets by Shawn Bolz. It’s fascinating. It is teaching me how to connect to God’s heart more and more.

God is faithful to teach us as we stay connected to Him, rooted and planted in the nutrient rich soil of His Word which guides us into all truth and gives us a godly perspective as we navigate this big, bad, sometimes scary world. There are times of uncertainty. We don’t know what the future holds (hear on earth). We know eternity is ours if we are in Christ. But what about the hear and now? What about the going through of each day as an ambassador of Christ in a frightened world more inclined to slander and insults, hatred and unrest than love and kindness, peace and joy.

How do we act in light of all that the world has to offer? There is sadness, despair, terror and fright. There is hope dashed against the rocks. According to Annie, “It’s a hard knock life.” And sometimes it is.

I can look upon what the world’s people are doing to one another, and it saddens my heart. I can look upon what the church’s people are doing to one another, and that saddens my heart sometimes too. I can look in the mirror at my own unkindness sometimes and that is the saddest (to me) of all. I should know better. The fact is, I do. I just don’t always listen to that still, small voice. I try. But sometimes I can’t hear a word He is saying because I’m too busy speaking to let Him get a word in edgewise.

This is our lot.

Or is it?

But what happens when we live God’s way? He brings gifts into our lives, much the same way that fruit appears in an orchard—things like affection for others, exuberance about life, serenity. We develop a willingness to stick with things, a sense of compassion in the heart, and a conviction that a basic holiness permeates things and people. We find ourselves involved in loyal commitments, not needing to force our way in life, able to marshal and direct our energies wisely.─Galatians 5:22-23 The Message

What fruit speaks to you most? Affection for others? Exuberance about life? Serenity? Willingness to stick with things? A sense of compassion in the heart? A basic conviction of holiness that permeates things and people? Loyal commitments? No need to force your way in life? Able to marshal and direct our energies wisely?

It’s all good. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we all lived our lives in light of this truth?

After first coming to Christ, I would have said the most precious gift God gave me was Serenity. Coming from a tumultuous life, serenity felt safe. Finally safe. My need for safety was mostly emotional, and being tucked in God’s loving arms gave me His precious gift of peace. Praise Jesus!

Today, when I was reading through the list, I sensed Exuberance about Life. I DO want to live a life exuberant, lit up for Christ. There have been seasons where I felt like I embraced that exuberance. There have been others when I’ve chosen what is safe, or just what would cost me little (or less). I don’t want a languishing life, but sometimes I’m tired. Being tired and time aren’t really luxuries we have, at least not here on earth.

God has a harvest He wants to bring. The soil needs to be tilled. It is not prepared, or not enough, to receive Him. If anything, it is getting harder. I see it. I got a prayer picture of hard, cracked, parched soil. The soil needs to be overturned, disrupted, and exposed to Christ (not exposed to shame or exposed in a publicly vulnerable way). Exposed to Christ and His immeasurable LOVE. As God tills the soil, HE will water it well. HE will nourish it. HE will tend to it. HE will bring the harvest.

We may never see our part of His overall, over-arching plan this side of heaven. Oh, sometimes He will give us glimpses to encourage us, to strengthen us. But others … He may keep that secret until we stand before Him, face-to-face in the radiance of His glory in heaven and His holy presence forever and ever. He wants us all to be gathered like wheat and safely stored in His barn. Sadly, not every seed will desire to grow. But we can pray that the seeds grow so large that an eagle nests in it. Strong. Spiritually certain, because that’s what faith can do.

“He said, ‘No, if you weed the thistles, you’ll pull up the wheat, too. Let them grow together until harvest time. Then I’ll instruct the harvesters to pull up the thistles and tie them in bundles for the fire, then gather the wheat and put it in the barn.’”

Another story. “God’s kingdom is like a pine nut that a farmer plants. It is quite small as seeds go, but in the course of years it grows into a huge pine tree, and eagles build nests in it.”─Matthew 13:29-31 The Message

Join the conversation here or on our Facebook page.

And don’t forget to stop by in the weeks ahead to see what Jennifer, Kim, and our guest contributor have to say. I can’t wait to see how God multiplies their little into much!

Please share how God does that in your life. It would encourage our hearts much!