A beautiful day in the neighborhood to be challenged

What an absolutely beautiful day it is. Warm, not hot, slight breeze, not windy, low humidity, so we won't melt. Thanks Lord! I think we need days like today to remind us just how good it is to be alive, healthy, able to sit up and take nourishment.

Today at church Dwight's message (see www.Newpointe.org to listen to today's message) we were challenged to harvest. Are we in the fields waiting to harvest, or are we waiting in line for something else? I felt very challenged. He also said that people are waiting (the harvest fields are ready, they are full) people are waiting to hear a message, but not to be preached at with fingers pointed in their faces. People accept being loved, and cared for, not being told how bad they are. That made me start to think. Then Dwight added that his mother's death two weeks ago didn't bring an end to the influences she made here on this earth. The choices she made, the children she had, and the grandchildren as well are still making an impact on this world because of the choices she made while she was alive.
Will I leave a legacy when I die? I hope I will be able to have people on this earth say their lives were changed because of the choices I made. The things I did to influence this world for the Lord. I hope it will be a long time after my death that I will be judged for the things I did while I was alive. Why? Because I want the things I do, the choices I make to be far reaching, to go on for generations and generations. (should the Lord tarry)

I have had a dream in my heart that I believe the Lord put there many years ago. To write this book about our daughter, and to be a part of a ministry that I truly believe God has planted in my heart. I have hidden the desire so far inside my head and my heart that I sometimes forget that God planted it there eight years ago. I only had a glimpse of what the Lord showed me, but it does have to do with harvesting. It has to do with being a laborer in His vineyard. Maybe God is renewing this vision in my heart, and bringing it back to mind because now is the time for this to begin.

Sometimes (at least for me) it is hard to believe that God can use us in a particular way, or even that God is able to use us at all. When He does use us we seem surprised or even shocked. We should always be prepared to be an instrument. The Bible says that we need to Preach the Word ; be prepared in season and out of season. (2 Timothy 4:2a) Am I prepared at all? My prayer is: Use me Lord, at any possible time, in any situation. Help me to be prepared to be an extension of You. Help me to have Your Word in my heart and in my mind that when I need to draw upon it, to bring life to others it will be there. Let my life be pleasing to You, let the things that I do be a reflection of You. Show me that I don't have to wait until I have been equipped to answer the call, that when I step out in faith, You will equip me as I go. Mostly Lord, help me not to be afraid. Afraid of what people will think, or that I will somehow let someone down.

If I don't praise the Lord the rocks and trees will cry out. I want to yell it from the housetops, but because I don't want to make a fool of myself I hold back. Is that how you feel? Maybe God is calling you to answer the call too. Think about it.