here’s the law of the harvest…

when you go through the delays in life don’t faint, instead be persistent and pray. 

remember GOD told joshua to march around the walls of jericho and they’ll all fall down.  it didn’t happen the first time they did it.  they had to do it seven times.  seven days in a row.  and on the seventh day they had to do it seven times.  why the delay?  if GOD was going to make the walls fall why didn’t HE make them fall the first time?  HE was teaching them to be persistent and pray. 

galatians 6.9 (mof), let us never grow tired of doing what’s right, for if we do not faint, we’ll reap a harvest at the right time. 

this is the law of the harvest:  in life, you will reap whatever you sow.  what you plant you will reap.  if you sow criticism, you will reap a lot of criticism in your life.  if you sow love, you will reap love back in your life.  if you sow generosity, you will reap back generosity.  it’s one of the laws of the universe.  we’ll always reap more than we sow. 

if i plant one kernel of corn, do i get one kernel back?  no, i get a whole stalk with thousands on it.  you always reap more than you sow.  but in the law of the harvest there is always a delay between sowing and reaping.  there’s always a season.  you plant in one season and you reap in another.  there is a delay in between. 

GOD wants to see if you’re going to keep cultivating, planting, sowing – see if you really mean business.  if GOD sees consistency in your life then the harvest comes.  it will not come immediately because it proves nothing if HE does it immediately.  no delay, no character development, no stretching your faith. 

calvin coolidge:  “nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. talent will not.  there is nothing more common than unsuccessful men with talent.  genius will not.  unrewarded genius is almost a proverb.  education will not.  the world is full of educated derelicts.  persistence and determination, alone are omnipotent.  the slogan ‘press on’ has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.”

just a thought from the front porch…

failure isn’t fatal…

another thing to do when you fail is to realize it’s not fatal. failure isn’t fatal.

we over exaggerate the effects of failure. we blow it out of proportion. it’s not the end of the world. it’s not going to kill you. you’re not going to die from it.

the fear of failure is far more damaging to your life than failure is. with failure – you fail, you pick yourself up and you go on. the fear of failure – you can let that haunt you for years and years. the fear of failure is actually worse than failure in what it does to your life.

studies show that the more talented you are, the more you tend to fear failure. you’ve got a lot to loose.

have you ever known the answer to a question but you were afraid to raise your hand because you might not be right? proverbs 24.16 (tev), no matter how often an honest man falls, he always gets up again. i like this verse because it says even good guys make mistakes, even the righteous stumble.

everybody falls. we all have belly flops in our lives. the difference between successful people and unsuccessful people is not that successful people never fail. they do. they fail as much if not more than failures. what is the difference between a failure and a success in life?

successful people simply get up and keep on going. successful people simple don’t quit when they blow it. successful people are persistent, determined, diligent. they have endurance. successful people keep on going after they’ve fallen. they learn from those failures. a righteous man falls but he rises again. an oak tree is simply a little nut that refused to give its ground. how do you get to be a success in life? outlast your critics. keep on plowing.

and paul understood this. 2 corinthians 4.8-9 (niv), we’re hard pressed on every side but we’re not crushed. we’re perplexed but not in despair. we’re persecuted but we’re not abandoned. we’re struck down but we’re not destroyed. phillips paraphrase says, like a boxer, i’m knocked down but i’m not knocked out.

everybody fails. but it’s not failure. successful people simply get up again and keep on going. successful people are simply ordinary people with an extra ordinary amount of determination. they keep going.

you’re never a failure until you quit. you’re never a failure until you give up and as long as you keep trying you’re not a failure.

just a thought from the front porch…

human love wears out…

what about GOD’s love for you? ephesians 3.17-18 (niv), i pray that you will grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of CHRIST.

GOD's love is wide enough to include everybody…GOD's love is long enough to last forever.

jeremiah 31.3 (niv), I have loved you with an everlasting love.

psalm 89.2 (tev), GOD's love will last for all time.

and that is so different from our kind of love. human love wears out. it can. that's why we have a lot of divorces. it wears out. i know a lot of people who are not divorced but they don't love each other anymore. there's a limit. it dries up. that's why you have to have GOD's love in your marriage if it's going to last.

i don't know how marriages last without GOD's love in them. human love can wear out, it can be hurt. but GOD's love never wears out. GOD's love is patient, persistent, persevering.

isn't it good news to know that GOD never gives up on you? no matter what you do HIS love never gives up. it's wide enough to include everybody and it's long enough to last forever. GOD will never love you any more than HE does right now. but HE also will never love you any less than HE does right now. HE loves you on your good days. HE loves you on your bad days. because HIS love is not conditioned by your response. GOD is love. it is unearned, undeserved. just accept it!

just a thought from the front porch…