"Let's not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don't give up." Galatians 6:9 Sowing seeds is hard work to keep doing if you don't believe you will produce a harvest. If you don't believe a harvest is coming you will give up. But the best thing about being a sower for God is that we can be confident that a harvest is coming. We don't know whether the harvest is coming today, tomorrow, next month or in twenty years. And, even though we don't know when it's coming, we can't give up and quit sowing good things for God's kingdom. Why not?! I'm tired! I'm frustrated! I'm ready to quit! God knows. And He is preparing you to receive a part

What are you sowing in your life? In the Parable of the Sower (Matthew 13:1-9), Jesus reminded his disciples that God calls us all to use the gifts He has given us to produce good things. The metaphor Jesus used was that we are all sowers who have been given seeds by God (resources, gifts, talents, abilities, etc.) to sow, which will hopefully grow into an abundance of good things depending on where we sow them. The problem we all face, which I believe Jesus points out to the disciples, is that we are often too afraid to use our gifts or to give away our resources for fear of not having enough leftover for ourselves. But Jesus promised the disciples in Matthew 6:33 that when a person pursues

"So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn." Luke 2:4-7 Jesus came into our world with no earthly fanfare. There was no choir present in robes with hymnals singing praises to Him. There was no guilded sanctuary in Jerusalem into which Mary bore him. There was no incense burning to

"And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High; for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him, to give his people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God, by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven to shine on those living in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the path of peace." Luke 1:76-79 It's seven days until Christmas Day. How prepared are you? I'm not prepared. I love Christmas and everything about the Christmas season, but the actual day always sneaks up on me and then disappears. I guess we miss it because all the preparation for Christmas involves cleani

"This is how the birth of Jesus came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly." Matthew 1:18-19 This is what Joseph was considering before an angel appeared to him in a dream. Joseph was afraid for how Mary would have been treated in her first century Jewish society. His duty as a God-fearing, Jewish man under the Law of Moses was to "expose her to public disgrace" since she was technically already married to him through the custom of betrothal; but, sh

"But after Joseph had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, 'Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit." Matthew 1:20 God did not choose Mary and Joseph at random. The fact that both Matthew and Luke take the time to identify Joseph as a "son of David" was enormously significant. If Jesus was going to be believed to be the Messiah to the Hebrew people, then he would have had to have been a descendant of King David. "The LORD declares to you [David] that the LORD himself will establish a house for you: When your days are over and you rest with your fathers, I will raise up

"The angel answered [Mary]..., 'For nothing is impossible with God.'" Luke 1:35, 37 Why is it so difficult to live our lives with the mindset that nothing we face is impossible for God to overcome or handle for us? I think it mostly has to do with our pride. We may believe that God can do all things, but we want a crack at it first. Or maybe it's that we believe we've accomplished all that we have without God's help so why do we need Him now? Pride is an obstacle. I believe it is honestly what keeps us all from growing stronger in our faith in Christ. Pride, which is often accompanied by arrogance, convinces us that our success is 100% up to us, our brute strength, and our tremendous will. T

"You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end." Luke 1:31-33 Can you imagine your response to an angel that just told you three wild ideas? You will experience a miraculous birth, your son will be the Messiah of the Hebrew people, and he will be the eternal king over everything forever. That might be cause for a microphone to drop as you watch the angel who delivered that news walk away. The only reaction I believe I could muster would be to be completel

Over the next twelve days, leading up to Christmas Day, I want to give you some inspirational thoughts from Matthew's and Luke's gospel stories. These are the two of the four gospel authors to record the events leading up to the birth of Jesus. "I myself have carefully investigated everything [about Jesus] from the beginning... so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught." Luke 1:3-4 Luke begins by explaining that his story has come from careful investigation and eyewitness accounts about the events of Jesus's life, death, resurrection, and ascension. Luke's intention was to inform his readers that he was not inventing some fictional tale, no matter how outlandish t