Thursday March 8, 2012 "Help Wanted" 5

Then He told them many things in parables, saying "A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky places where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow, but when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop, a hundred sixty or thirty times what was sown. He who has ears let him hear."

Good Thursday Morning, my dear brothers and sisters. It is a beautiful morning here at the Southern Location of the North Pole, in fact, it is like a late spring morning. Thursday, the day we pray for churches and also "The Church of God." We pray for families and for schools and all who enter them. Recently non-believers put up a billboard in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania,  showing a "Black Man" in chains or something like chains and quoted the Bible from Colossians 3:22 - "Slaves, obey your earthly masters." Of course this upset a lot of folks in the community near where the billboard was located. Of course, folks, those non-believers did not quote the full scripture and even used a version of the Bible that quoted the scripture as Slaves, while the King James Version uses the term "Servants." Folks, there is a big, big difference between the term slave and servant. Was Jesus Himself not a servant? After all, He did serve others. Of course you need to read Colossians 3:18 through the end of chapter 3 to understand this fully. It amazes me that people do not look deeper into that scripture and bring that out to the news people. Folks,  I am happy to be a servant, for I am a servant of our Lord Jesus and want to do what He expects out of all of us. I would love to hear from some of you who might have followed this story out of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. The reason those non-believers are doing this is because in Pennsylvania it was made the "year of the Bible."

March 8, 2012 "Help Wanted" 4 Matthew 13:3 - Then He told them many things in parables, saying "A farmer went out to sow his seed. 4 As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5 Some fell on rocky places where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow, 6 but when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. 7 Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. 8 Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop, a hundred sixty or thirty times what was sown. 9 He who has ears let him hear." (NIV)

As spring approaches we see farmers out in the fields doing the spring plowing and getting the fields ready for planting. They take the waste from the barn and spread it on the fields and plow it under. Some farmers will rotate crops, and while I do not understand the farming business I do know this about farming. It is hard work!! If the farmers work the fields and the Lord sends the rains that are needed then the farmers get a good yield. The harvest will be good and plentiful. However, we must understand that when the Lord speaks in parables He is really telling us other things. And in some of the parables, and this is one of them, He might be pointing out more than one subject to us.

Let me look at two examples Jesus is telling us, not counting the farmer and his fields and crops. Let's look first at our own lives as we work for others. We are hired to do a good job for those we work for, and I am sure you agree with that, and if you don't, then think about putting yourself in the boss's shoes. As the farmer prepares his fields for the crops, so should we prepare for the work we do for others. I am sure when you go to the food store, you like to get a check-out person who talks to you and has your interest at heart and does not stand there talking to the bagger and making mistakes on your order. Again, put the shoes on the other feet.

But the thing I think Jesus wants us to really pull out of this is how to raise our families and how to even work for Him. How again we should be answering that "Help Wanted" Sign for Jesus. And since Jesus wants us to be working the fields of Harvest to bring in the lost souls I am sure He wants us to set good examples as we are working for Him. After all Jesus set and still sets good examples for us to follow. So how about, are you going to prepare the soul, get it ready for the seeds you are going to sow for Jesus when you go out and tell them this... REPENT FOR THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IS NEAR.

Yes, Dear Father in Heaven, help us to repent and to get ourselves ready, sort of like a farmer working on his tractor, we need to work on ourselves with Your help of course to get ready to work for You. Help us, Lord, Help me, Lord,  and Lord, as for our prayer requests, please honor them according to your will for those folks. In the name of Jesus, I pray. Amen.

Now go forth sharing your blessings. Love ya, Pastor Dan.