Reaping and Sowing

"Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what He sows." Galatians 6:7

We can sow life or destruction based on our yieldedness to The Lord. The Holy Spirit always directs us into fruitful sowing. If you are not being led by Jesus right now, you are setting yourself up for destruction. Thankfully God's grace can cover our fruitless sowing, but I want to give an example of God's justice when people sow with evil intent.

I did street ministry in Springfield, Missouri this summer. While downtown I met a women who was bleeding black blood, sick, and smelled of rotting flesh (sorry for the details...I was a little disturbed myself). But glory to God, He reminded me that greater is He in me! My faith was uplifted so that I knew I would not get sick myself. I talked with this women for a while, and she said that she and some friends had been casting spells and putting curses on people who wronged them.

As I heard this, I knew that she was unknowingly reaping those very same things she'd tried to sow in the lives of others. God was not mocked, He delivered justice instead. When this lady invoked evil in an attempt to hurt other people, she loosed an evil spirit. I believe that God in His sovereignty then redirected this spirit back to the sower. What a daunting example of this verse! Things like witchcraft cannot escape the power of God.

"You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified." Galatians 3:1

Praise God that He restricts the power of evil by limiting the damage done by evil spirits primarily to the sower. The Galatians were bewitched into believing otherwise and so are many people today. Those who sow evil do not understand the resurrection power of Jesus, nor the way that His blood covers us from receiving the curses of others. I am thankful for the hedge of protection God puts around His own. Even those who sow destruction, if they repent, can be spared from the results of their actions. God can, by His grace, subdue any power by the salvation found through His son.

The Joy of Being God's Child

This morning I was praying, and I began to begin asking God for many different things. I got kind of fearful as I was trying to cover all my bases in prayer... as I was praying, the Lord interrupted me and said, "Don't pray for those things". This may sound harsh, but there is a reassurance in targeted prayer solely into the will of God. When I was a less mature Christian, I prayed long prayers for everything and repeated myself often. But as I've come to be closer to God, I've been taught how to be bold and specific in my prayers. It takes some discernment to pray according to His will, but I've found that God is very thematic and confirms His messages, including what to pray for, among the body of believers.

Anyways, this stopped me in tracks, and I asked Him what he would like me to pray for. He told me quite clearly, "Pray that I give you the Joy of being God's child". I felt validated by these words...and struck at the interesting wording of that phrase. We need to let the joy of the Lord be our strength, the joy that comes from being blessed and highly favored. Believe on Him, that the firstborn of many brethren has made you a co-heir and fellow son. Many things in this world have the potential to steal our joy, but we need to keep in step with the Spirit's testimony that we are truly children of God.

Confirmed: A little while after I prayed this, God had me read Nehemiah. I only read a short section, but God made sure to confirm the prayer that He directed. In this passage, Ezra pronounced to the people that the time for mourning was over. Instead, he told them that the "joy of the Lord is your strength". All we need to do is realize and know the joy that comes from His salvation.

Confirmed: In church today a lady shared a vision she'd had. The message that accompanied it was stern, but I felt so at ease because of what God told me earlier. We need the reassurance of the Word of God to counter the lies of the enemy. Anyways, the message was that God "hates it when His children are lied to". Like I said, this message went along with a vision this women had. There were some scripture readings about false prophets and such, too.

This message could have been used against me to make me fearful (by the enemy), but instead it paralleled God's word and became a message of reassurance. God is jealous, and His anger is indeed fierce against those who do evil (the unsaved). The word says that He will contend with those who contend with us. This is His promise--let's rest on this and pray into His justice today! He is faithful to protect us from lies and deception as soon as we call on Him. Glory to God!