A Crucified Life - - Receives Its Increase From God

 

2 Corinthians 9:10

Now the One supplying seed to the one sowing and bread for food will supply and will multiply your seed for sowing and will increase the fruits of your righteousness. 

*Strong's Ex. Conc. No. 837

Increase: mature, to cause to grow, to augment

From the Greek word 'auxanó' (pronounced owx-an'-o): For the believer it is non-stop progress in discipleship, continually growing in the Lord as we walk our our Faith in Him.

    Hosea 10:12

Sow for yourselves righteousness and reap the fruit of loving devotion; break up your unplowed ground. For it is time to seek the LORD until He comes and sends righteousness upon you like rain.

    Ecclesiastes 11:6,7

  As you do not know the path of the wind, or how the bones are formed in a mother’s womb, so you cannot understand the work of God, the Maker of all things. 

  Sow your seed in the morning, and do not rest your hands in the evening, for you do not know which will succeed, whether this or that, or if both will equally prosper.

    What is the seed that I must sow? The love of God to us through Christ Jesus. When do I sow it (plant it)? In the morning, the early part of the day, as the sun's rays hit the horizon. Early in life when our children are young and eager to learn, we sow the seed of Christ into their lives:

    Reading them Bible stories

    Worship music/songs 

    Praying together (teaching them to seek God at all times),            Studying the Bible together 

    Speaking words of Love within our homes and in all our relationships 

    Speaking words of Forgiveness to each other and to those who have done us wrong

    

    Throughout the day the seed gets watered and receives sunlight. Our seed gets watered when we weep, when we cry out to God to hear our prayers and answer them. 

    Sometimes our children turn from the path we have set them on, making their own decisions independent from the way we have raised them, making their own mistakes and finding their way back to God. Just like we did. How? Somebody was praying for them just like somebody was praying for us. 

    We let them go so they can grow. In the evening of life we draw near to God and strive to stay there. In his presence is where prayers get answered. We need to learn to listen in our prayers, as well as speak our needs and requests. 

    In order to reap the harvest of souls whom we have been teaching, leading and praying for, we need to remain near the One who supplied us in the first place. It is God who gives both the seed and the fruits of that seed. 

    Let us work together in His fields, doing the work He has set forth for us to do: Seek and to Save the Lost; Seek God's Kingdom; Seek His Face. The day is waning, the hours to complete this work are fast arriving and soon the harvest will be ended. 

HARVESTING SEEDS

Heart In Hand Overture - Christy Nockels

All of Me - River Valley Worship

What If Cartoons Got Saved? - Chris Rice

The B-I-B-L-E - Heritage Kids

Somebody's Prayin' - Ricky Skaggs

'Tis So Sweet to Trust In Jesus - classic hymn

Jesus Keep Me Near The Cross - classic hymn

Seek First - Jason Upton

    

A Crucified Life - - Sows Generously Into The Kingdom of God

  

    2 Corinthians 9:6

The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.

*Strong's Ex. Conc. No. 

Sparingly: stingily

From the Greek word 'pheidomenós' (pronounced fi-dom-en'-oce).

    Proverbs 11:25

A generous soul will prosper, and he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed. 

    To sow sparingly into the kingdom of God is to be stingy with the finances God has given us. Not only are we commanded to bring a tithe into the house of God, but offerings above said tithe are commended and rewarded. As long as the offering is coming from a giving heart and not a begrudging greedy heart. 

    The 'anything goes' church attendees are besmirching and killing the church. Believers support it because they recognize that they are the church. The self-righteous church sees no need to support missionaries. Believers want to support their missionaries, recognizing the strength of their financial support is multiplied when given over to God: for He causes the increase and makes their little cover many needs.

     Whether we are giving into our church's missionary support system or to other mission-minded groups. For instance, VOM encourages us to provide Bibles to nations where the Bible is prohibited. Gideons Int'l supplies Bibles wherever they are needed. That's missionary support, too.

    Operation Outpour  is building an orphanage and a school, a garden to grow their own fruits and veggies, and helping by its efforts to support the little town in which the orphanage is. They even have a fair trade boutique where you can pick up nifty items for home and garden. 

    Maranatha CR is reaching the unreached in Costa Rica. Both JMM and  Samaritan's Purse are international aid relief ministries. 

    These are just a few of the many, but I used them here because they have remained faithful throughout the years to the cause of Christ: to spread the gospel by sowing seeds into the nations/cultures to which they have been sent. 

    When we listen to the Spirit of God, He directs where our missionary support goes. They covet our prayers, as well. We need to remain faithful in our prayers for them and it helps to know how many of these missionaries want to be prayed for.

    This book changed the way I pray for missionaries and the persecuted church. For me, it was life-changing, because I can see the effect my prayers for someone else are having on me. 

    Don't let the devil make you feel bad if your wallet/pocketbook is full of cobwebs and dust. When I had nothing financially to give, I asked God to make me a blessing. He's still doing that. 

    We are merely commanded to "Seek first the kingdom of God" (Matthew 6:33) and everything we need will be 'added to us'. Worry does not move the heart of God: faith does. 

    Galatians 5:22,23 tells us about the fruit of the Spirit, indicating that it is one fruit with many segments. Should one segment be missing the fruit is incomplete and will not accomplish its purpose. The fruit will rot on the vine and need to be removed. 

    Let us not be rotten fruit on the vine, but Spirit aligned. It is not too late to sow into God's kingdom. Christ has not yet been sent by the Father to bring His people home. There's still time to reach one more person, one more soul.

The Generous Sower 

Seek First - Jason upton

Give Me Your Eyes - Brandon Heath

Give Us Clean Hands - Chris Tomlin

Sow In Tears - Danny Daniels 

To Live Is Christ - Sidewalk Prophets

The Proof of Your Love - for KING & COUNTRY

Happy Day - Jesus Culture

Build Your Kingdom Here - Rend Collective