I am proud to be an American!
And a Christian! Praises to God that we live in a country that was founded on freedom and Biblical principles!
Sadly, Biblical principles and the truth of the freedoms that steeped deep within our country's forefathers and founders isn't readily understood by the majority of our culture...
But we have each been strategically positioned to influence the people and the culture around us.
Yes! YOU! Even you!
But how you might ask?
As this graphic post today states:
Sow righteousness for yourselves,
reap the fruit of unfailing love,
and break up your unplowed ground;
for it is time to seek the Lord,
until he comes
and showers his righteousness on you.
The NIV puts the emphasis on looking to your own heart first, and that is what you can do today...
1. Sow to righteousness (righteousness is right standing before God - seeking Him, growing in Godliness, putting away the things He tells you to and walking by faith are all ways we can 'sow to righteousness for ourselves')
2. Reap the fruit of unfailing love (the love that comes through dependence on Jesus and the Holy Spirit to produce).
3. Break up your fallow ground - this is a farming reference. Before a seed can be planted and expected to grow, the ground has to be broken up, softened and prepared, sometime amendments to fuel the growth of the seed is added. Fallow ground in particular is ground that may have been prepared at one time, but now is overgrown with weeds and thorns. It needs to be turned again to be good for seed growing. Soil is turned upside down and broken apart when the plow blade furrows through it. You may have been living through difficult circumstances, where you feel everything in your life is being broken apart. This is plowing. Where might you have strayed from the Lord? This is where your heart, your 'land', is fallow.
4. The final instruction is to seek the Lord until He comes. This means to seek Him and keep on seeking Him until you have the evidence of being in step with Him once again...the evidence is the "rain of His righteousness"...you might think of this as a fresh outpouring of His Spirit.
When you experience the fresh outpouring of His Spirit...that is when you know you are equipped to be an agent of change for the your world and your culture!
Spend time with Jesus. Let the Spirit of Truth flow through your heart and mind today, allowing yourself to be open to what He reveals...
(And comment below to share it with all of us - we can encourage one another!)
