The Wait of Preparation

 Psalm 130:5

I wait for The LORD; my soul does wait, and in His Word I put my hope. 

Wait: twist, linger, expectancy, bind together, patient seeking

    Actively seeking what The LORD had promised is the word "Wait" not only here but in too many other verses to mention. Sorry, you'll have to study that much more out for yourself. 

    As for myself, I'm learning to "wait". The LORD says that I am not stuck, I am "waiting"; I'm in a waiting place, seeking Him out where He can be found, placing all my hope in Him. The LORD is my Testimony, my Sanctifier. For He has set me apart from who I used to be and the worldly lifestyle I used to participate in. How this world defines quiet times, God says, "Come to Me, all you that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." (Matthew 11:28; Jeremiah 31:25). 

    I'm seeking an audience with The King, to meet Him face to face and remain there in His eternal presence for ever and ever. But to get there I must first seek Him out here in this life God has given me. I must read His Word daily, asking Him to reveal Himself to me, that I may know in each day what He would have me to know, to understand, to take in that I may grow in Him and He in me. 

    The twisting in this word "wait" means 'to bind together'. It is not twisting in the wind, being blown from one doctrine to another to none. It is to be so fully intertwined with God The Father, God The Son and God The Spirit that none can tear us apart. This is the covenant relationship which is promised to each faithful believer who follows Christ wherever He leads us. This is strength in unity. 

    Beyond the individual who waits on The LORD, there is congregational waiting, when believers come together in worship and prayer to seek out God through faith in Christ, who seek to be empowered by God's Holy Spirit. Breathe on us, Holy Spirit. Take our little bits of faith and grow in us righteousness that we might, indeed, be called and known as trees of righteousness, the planting of The LORD God. 

    That's why we go to church. As long as the person giving the message from God is anointed by God to do so, may our ears be prepared to hear, our hearts be prepared to receive and obey The Word being preached or taught. 

    Let nothing distract us from waiting for The LORD. The Word tells us "not to look to the left, nor to the right", but to focus on what is ahead of us. The immediate path, the Holy Way, the path of righteousness wherein we walk by faith in The Son of God, Who not only leads us up this path, but walks with us. How wonderful to know that Jesus walks with me! 

    I'm not stuck. I'm waiting for The Lord. 

A Crucified Life - - Is A Gatherer's Life

    2 Corinthians 8:15

As it is written: “He who gathered much had no excess, and he who gathered little had no shortfall.”

    This word 'gathered' is used 384 times in the Bible and has quite a few definitions. But in this context the definition is:

*Strong's Ex. Conc. No. 4863

Gathered: to lead together, to collect, assemble; to come together, to receive with  hospitality

From the Greek word 'sunagó' (pronounced (soon-ag'-o). 

      Matthew 13:8

Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.

    Matthew 9:37,38

Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.”

    2 Thessalonians 3:1

Finally, brethren, pray for us, that the Word of the Lord may have free course, and be glorified, even as it is with you: and that we may be delivered from perverse and evil men; for not all are of the faith.

    It's not a question of how many people we reach when we share the gospel of salvation through Jesus Christ. It's a question of obedience to the gospel ourselves. When we are faithful and fully committed to spreading the good news that God loves us and sent His Son to save us from the penalty of sin, then the Spirit will move on the hearts of the listeners. It's up to the hearer to respond to the Spirit.

    It's not about the quantity of souls gathered in by our actions, it's about our actions being done in love, sprinkling grace, mercy and compassion into our conversations. The fields that are ready to be harvested are the hearts of those people who are seeking a better Way, something, Someone they can believe and place their trust in.

    We know that 'Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus' and we encourage the people we meet in our lifetime, including the family we are born into and is born through us, to also lay claim to the promise of trusting in Christ. When they do, we are gathering a harvest that had been planted before ever we arrived on the scene. 

    Stop comparing your ministry to another's. Do what God has called you to do. Plant the seed of the Word of God when opportunities are given to do so. Water the seed you have planted with the tears of your prayers. Be prepared to harvest the seed others have planted, others have watered. 

    Preparation is preparedness. A crucified life has put aside that which is not profitable in the kingdom of God. What is not profitable in the kingdom of God? A couple of examples are:

~tainted faith (Matthew 5:13)

~lack of motivation to fully obey God's Word (Matthew 25:30)

    A crucified life follows the path of the crucified Savior, preaching the kingdom of God; the kingdom of Divine Love, Divine Forgiveness and Divine Grace. These tools are what is needed to gather in the harvest to which we are called. Let us be found faithful and not lacking in any way.

GATHERING THE HARVEST

Grave Clothes - Stephen McWhirter

Bringing In The Sheaves - Shiloh Worship

Shall We Gather At The River - Burl Ives

The Commission - CAIN

The Gospel - Ryan Stevenson

Come To The Table - Sidewalk Prophets

I Speak Jesus - Here Be Lions

One Gospel - CityAlight

Taste & See - Shane & Shane

Sinner Saved By Grace - Gaithers