From: "Dwayne Savaya" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> God's Work Ministry E-mail
Dear Friend, No matter where we are in life, we should expect to reap exactly what we sow. Whether we are happy and contented or discouraged and feeling miserable, if we think hard enough, we will find that our present reaping has much to do with how we sowed into our own lives. The Bible is a very accurate book and one needs only to look within its timeless pages to find the truths that are evident throughout. The Bible declares in Galatians 6:7-8 "Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting." (Psalm 119:10-16) (John 1:1-3) (Galatians 6:9-10) We must think of our lives as living plants who will ultimately grow and show exactly the same types of seeds that were planted in our hearts. When we plant seeds of envy, jealousy, strife, hatred, etc., we shouldn't expect to reap generosity, love, peace and joy. We will receive or draw to ourselves exactly the same types of seeds that we have sown. We must remember this at all times and be mindful to carefully sow into our own lives and the lives of others good seeds that will bring back a good harvest of blessings. (2 Corinthians 9:6-9) (Luke 6:35-36) (Acts 20:35) I hope this message inspires and challenges your heart to be careful how you sow your seeds in life because when you sow correctly, the reaping will be all the more joyful. PLANTING HAPPINESS Last year, I placed a flower pot on my patio. It was only half-filled with potting soil. There wasn't any sign of life. There were no seeds to grow. So as you can imagine the flowerpot remained barren. Last week, I decided that the neglected flower pot needed a little lift. I went to a garden shop and checked out the blooming plants. While trying to decide which flowers to purchase, I went to another store and ran across some flower seeds. I picked up one of the packages and read the instructions for planting. "I am up for the challenge," I thought. Many people have green thumbs, but I have always insisted that I don't. Either I water my plants too often or not enough. I either bake the plant in the sunshine or place it in areas that are too shady. I know some plants like it hot and wet, while others like it dry and shady. But for the life of me, I cannot remember which are which. As I stood holding the envelope of seeds, I felt the urge to see if for the first time I could actually make something grow. I purchased several packages and returned home with a gardener's determination and drive. I immediately planted the seeds in the almost forgotten flower pot. For a couple of days nothing happened. But I continued to water the soil. On the fourth day, I actually saw green sprouts as they had just broken through the soil. I was so excited. The tiny shoots brought a smile to my face. I called Roy to come to look at them. Maybe my thumb wasn't completely off-colored after all! Maybe I could make something grow! I thought about how growing flowers are much like growing happiness. Our lives are sometimes like the empty pot. Our days are filled with worldly tasks and possessions. But because worldly things are of such little importance, we lack a feeling of completeness. We sense there is something missing. The missing ingredients in my flower pot were the things that created life itself -- seeds. The things that we may be missing in life are seeds of hope, love, faith, and determination. When we accept the fact that our life garden will produce exactly what we plant, we become more concerned as to what we plant. I planted a variety of flower seeds that day. I understand that the zinnia seeds will produce zinnias. The morning glory seeds will produce morning glories. Likewise, if I plant happiness in my daily life, low and behold, I will find joy in everything I do. If I plant negative thoughts inside my heart, I will only grow more discontented with each passing day. Whatever is planted inside my heart will grow. If we plant seeds of hope, we can expect miracles. When we plant seeds of passion, love will come back to us. The Bible tells us that without faith we cannot possibly please God. Shouldn't we all plant seeds of faith? And if we plant seeds of determination, there is absolutely nothing that can stop us from being the persons God created us to be. When God is pleased with us, our blessings multiply much like the blooms produced from a tiny seed. In the next few days and weeks, I am expecting the tiny sprouts to grow taller. Then I am expecting a flowerpot filled with blossoms. The once neglected pot will hold beautiful flowers of assorted colors, simply because I planted faith along with those few seeds. This past weekend, our granddaughters Hannah and Katie came for a visit. Three-year-old Katie wasn't initially fond of the idea of returning home. When her Daddy told her that he had missed her, she looked up at him and whispered, "But Daddy, I was just so happy at Nana and Pa's." We laughed together. We played together. We blew bubbles in the backyard. We watched television together. We went to the zoo. And we went on a picnic. The weekend was ours to do nothing but to plant seeds of happiness in the hearts of our granddaughters. Are you planting seeds of happiness in the hearts of those you love? By Nancy B. Gibbs Read and meditate on these scriptures: Romans 12:14-17 "Bless them which persecute you: bless, and curse not. Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep. Be of the same mind one toward another. Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate. Be not wise in your own conceits. Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men." Luke 6:30-31 Jesus declares "Give to every man that asketh of thee; and of him that taketh away thy goods ask them not again. And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise." 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 "Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. Charity never faileth..." Philippians 4:8-9 "Finally brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you." All of these scriptures can be found in the King James Version Bible. Today's Selected Poem: WISDOM OF THE SOUL Click here to read --- http://www.Godswork.org/enpoem182.htm Today's Selected Testimony: JESUS MY DELIVERER Click here to read --- http://www.Godswork.org/testimony136.htm =============================================== God's Work Ministry E-mail Dear Friend, I hope you are doing well and are in the best of health. I am doing very well and am thankful to the Lord for His continued leading and blessings in my life and this Ministry. The Lord is amazing in His care and diligent in His leading. I find myself in awe of how God continually shows me the next step that should be taken for this Ministry's work. The Lord is also always on time with what messages should be sent to our members. God knows what each of us needs and His timing is always perfect. Many of our members can testify to this truth. The Lord has spoken to my heart to write a message concerning how we should worship Him and how we should deal with the other Saints whom we also love. There are many people who truly love God, but have a misunderstanding concerning how they should pray and worship when it comes to the Saints of old. I hope this message truly ministers to your heart and shows you that only the Triune Godhead which is God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit is to be worshiped and exalted. (Isaiah 42:8) (Deut. 5:7-9;6:13-15) Concerning false worship, I think of the Virgin Mary. There are many people in the world who exalt the Virgin Mary even above the Lord Jesus Christ. They see her as holy because she gave birth to Jesus without ever knowing a man. While it is true that God favored her among women, the Bible never teaches that we should worship or pray to her. The Virgin Mary herself says in John 2:5 concerning Jesus "His mother saith unto the servants, Whatsoever He saith unto you, do it." We are to worship the Lord Jesus Christ. We are to pray to Him, seek His guidance and accept Him as our Lord and Savior because He is the one who died for our eternal Salvation. Concerning the other Saints such as Paul, Timothy, Luke, Mark and others that have become renowned through the centuries, we are to learn from what they have accomplished in their ministry for the Lord Jesus Christ, but we are not to pray to or worship them. The Bible says in 1 Timothy 2:5-6 "For there is one God, and One mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; Who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time." The Lord Jesus is enough. He is the One who died for us so that in the fullness of time we will be reconciled back to God the Father through Jesus. We are to worship Him, pray to Him, exalt Him and magnify Jesus above all others and let God know that our hearts are focused on Him. (Luke 1:34) (Luke 1:28) (Romans 5:10-11) (Psalm 115:1-18) (Isaiah 25:1) How are we to pray? Should we pray to the Virgin Mary, to St. Paul or St. Timothy? Jesus made it very clear how we should pray. He never said to pray to a Saint or even to His mother. The Lord Jesus says in Matthew 6:9-13 "After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen." As children of the Lord and followers of His command, we must take heed to follow what He has taught. We should not follow the traditions of men, but rather we are to follow the command of the Lord. (Exodus 20:3-5) (Jeremiah 29:13-14) (1 Chron. 16:29) (Isaiah 1:19) To further show that only God in heaven is to be worshiped, I want to emphasize a couple of scriptures from the Book of Revelations. When the Apostle John was caught up to heaven, he was amazed at all that he saw and when the angel had finished showing John the glories of heaven, John fell to his knees to worship the angel. We read this in Revelation 22:8-9 "I, John, am the one who heard and saw all these things. And when I heard and saw them, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who showed them to me. But he said, No, don't worship me. I am a servant of God, just like you and your brothers the prophets, as well as all who obey what is written in this book. Worship only God!" The Angel told the Apostle John that we are fellow workman for the Lord and only God is to be worshiped. The Angel dared not to accept worship and I believe the same would be said of all the Saints of old including the Virgin Mary. (Revelation 7:11;19:10) When we get to heaven on that glorious day there will not be denominational sections made in the kingdom of God. There won't be a Catholic section, a Baptist section, a Church of God section, a Pentecostal section, etc. In heaven, there will be the redeemed of the Lord Jesus Christ. Those who accepted Him as their Lord and Savior will be in heaven to worship the Lord God Jehovah. The same Saints that some of us pray to today will be on their knees just like the rest of us worshiping the God of heaven in truth and in humility. When God created the heavens and the earth, there was only the Triune Godhead in existence. Nobody else was there to help God or to give Him advice. He is the One we must worship. (Philippians 2:5-11) I pray that you have received from this message what it was intended to impart. I mean no offense to anyone's denomination, but I do want to emphasize that the Bible is clear in how we must worship and pray to the Lord. If you are having trouble in this area of life, I encourage you to seek the Lord in prayer and ask for His guidance. The Lord is faithful to hear and answer your heartfelt prayer. (Romans 15:13-16) (Psalm 34:1-10) Read and meditate on these scriptures: Acts 4:12 "Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under Heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved." John 3:16-18 Jesus declares "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be saved. He that believeth on Him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the Name of the only begotten Son of God." Psalm 116:1-2 "I love the LORD, because He hath heard my voice and my supplications. Because He hath inclined His ear unto me, therefore will I call upon Him as long as I live." John 14:13-14 Jesus declares "And whatsoever ye shall ask in My name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask any thing in My name, I will do it." Revelation 11:16-17 "And the four and twenty elders, which sat before God on their seats, fell upon their faces, and worshipped God, Saying, We give Thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, which art, and wast, and art to come; because Thou hast taken to Thee Thy great power, and hast reigned." All of these scriptures can be found in the King James Version Bible. Today's Selected Poem: JESUS IS Click here to read --- http://www.Godswork.org/inpoem10.htm Today's Selected Testimony: PRAISE THE LORD Click here to read --- http://www.Godswork.org/testimony180.htm In Christ's Service, Dwayne Savaya God's Work Ministry Please feel free to visit the Website to read more Encouraging and Inspirational stories, poems and testimonies. Our E-mail Archives are available as well to read the messages that have been sent in the past. You can now hear our stories and poems right on our website. Volume One contains 15 messages that can be heard and enjoyed at Godswork.org. To hear our messages, please click on this link: http://www.Godswork.org/Audio.htm You can also send Free E-cards to friends and loved ones with the many choices available. You are also welcome to post your prayer requests in our Prayer Forum. All this and more available at --- http://www.Godswork.org You can also send prayer requests to --- [EMAIL PROTECTED] Add your E-mail address if you'd like correspondence with the prayer partners.
