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Over the years that our family has lived in Iowa, we have quite naturally met many people who grew up on farms. Since my early years were spent in the suburbs of Buffalo NY, Boston MA and Cleveland OH, the stories and experiences that these friends had were far different than mine. I have found these stories to be interesting , entertaining and educational.
One structure that farms have in common is a barn. There are a lot of different barn designs and buildings. Depending upon the type of farm, the barns may have different purposes. A barn for hay storage is different than a barn for milking the cows. One feature that they seem to have in common though are cats. Barn cats can be really helpful in keeping the rodent populations down. Apparently these cats can have a tendency to reproduce and also to get underfoot and in the way when things are going on in the barn.
One friend in particular told us what their family did when they needed to have the barn cats out of their way. They would catch the cats, put butter on their paws and put them in an out-of-the-way corner of the barn. The cats would be so focused on licking their paws to get all the butter off that they would stay put and pay no attention to what else may be going on.
That is quite a picture of course and it made me think of how God’s adversary works. (Yes, there is an adversary and sadly most Christians seem to be ignorant of his devices and therefore vulnerable to him). This adversary has two desires: to be like the Most High and secondly, to hinder the purposes of the True God. One way that this adversary will hinder the purposes of the True God is to distract God’s children from God’s Will and Purpose for their lives. It seems that there is no end to the variety of the distractions! Work, sports, television, the computer, religious activities (gasp) can all be “butter on the paws”. Obviously that list is not exhaustive.
If it seems that you never have time to quietly and privately commune with God – you may have butter on your paws.
If you are always too tired to stay your mind and meditate upon God’s Word – you may have butter on your paws.
If it is never convenient to fellowship and worship with likeminded believers – you may have butter on your paws.
If you are too busy to pray with and be of service to a brother or sister in Christ – you may have butter on your paws.
If you are never able to find a way to share out of your abundance – you may have butter on your paws.
There is nothing more satisfying in life than to live in harmony with our Heavenly Father and in alignment with His purpose for our lives.
A....Is for All that he made us to be, in Christ
Also for everything(All) that he has doe for us
And for All that he will do for us
B.... is for our Being in Christ
and Bringing us the victory. Before I go on, let me add he made us the Best
Did I forget spiritual Blessings, and the right way to believe
C... is our Completley, complete, completeness
In Adam we got in-Complete, but in Christ a new Creation, what Comfort!
D... is for God's Dedication, Determining long ago to be our Dad (it's Abba Dad)
When Christ Died, we Died. sin has no more Dominion
We make a Decision to Do that which is pleasing
E.. is for the Excellent gift, with the Exceeding greatness.... in an Earthen vessel
His Ever-present power, His Ever-present help
That His love Envelopes us, that we can Edify ourselves and others too.
F... is for when he said it is Finished... I ascend to my Father, and to your Father
That we have the First-Fruits of the spirit
That we are For one another
G ... is for the God and Fahter of our Lord Jesus Christ
And He Gave some.... not to mention the unspeakable Gift
Knowing we are epistles enGraven on the hearts..........
H.... is for Holiness for without His spirit is not possible
For Helpmeets, those that are married know what I mean
For Holding fast to the gospel, for Holding on to one another, for Holding on
I... is for inspiration, those wonderful worship manifestations
To hear from God, For "I" can do
For I will never leave thee nor forsake thee.
J... is for Joy and reJoicing. We count it all Joy, and reJoice in Christ Jesus
Having no confidence in the flesh.
And for our Lord Jesus Christ, who for the Joy that was set before him.....
K... is for Comfort, remember its not by works, and for caring too
The Cloven tongues like as of fire
The same spirit that burned in their heart(Kardia) burns in ours too
L... is for Love, but we must go back to A and get the L out of the human kind and walk with the AGAPE, God like kind
Don't ever be a tinkling cymbal, for we are not litigaters, not Legalistic
But Loving Ambassadors
M... is for Memory, how in the same night he was betrayed, he took Bread and wine....
Keep in Mind, the hope is coming our way,
And the Manifestations, Measured to every Man the same
N... is for Not even once let it be Named among us as becomes the saints
Nay, in all these things, we are more than Conquerors, and Knowing this first....
O... is for the battle is Over, we Won, because we are One
We are Over-all Gods, best treasured sons
Our victory Over all things in Christ
P... is for Patiently waitng the coming day Patiently knowing the Lord is at hand
patientlY Praying, Practicing the Presensce of God
Pushing towards the Prize of the High calling in Chrsit
Q... We are quiet because of patience and studyt
We are quiet and peaceful because Christ is in us
R... is the Realization of Christ in you He ReallY seated us in the heavenlies too.
Ambassadors of His Sacred will as Righteous ones, Redeeming all who will hear.
With the Word of Reconciliation, my dears
S... is for spirit insides filled to the full, Splashing all over when manifested bold
His Signs and wonders for all men to behold,
Spectacular, Awe-inSpiring like in the times of old.
T... is the Totality of the new birth, the Truth always sure
And we are part of his great Testimonies
U... our aUnity with God, always our aim, never congforming, but transfoming the brain
And never unequally yoked as we go along the way
V ... is the victory which God always casuses us to triumph in
W... The Word of God, Which makes up his Will.
We Will never Want, Where WE are ever sure
We Win, When We Work his Word.
His Word Works our Win
X... is for X marks the spot, Revelation says Armegeddon is where it will be.
Y... is for Why sit we here until we die. rise up and claim what the word says we have today
Z is for Z-end I Corinthians 15:28
AND WHEN ALL THINGS SHALL BE SUBDUED UNTO HIM, THEN SHALL THE SON ALSO HIMSELF BE SUBJECT UNTO HIM THAT PUT ALL THINGS UNDER HIM, THAT GOD MAY BE ALL IN ALL
My hubby's son, Mark Luebbers is in Manhattan and needs a place to stay for Sept 12, 13, & 14th - he is doing a photo shoot and will be working 7am till late, so just needs a couch or bed to get a few hours shut eye. Can anyone help us out?
Our family moved to Marion, our current hometown, in 1987. The first home that we lived in had a spacious backyard. The back border of our yard was a small creek and just beyond that were farm fields. Depending upon the year, the field was planted in either corn or soybeans which are the two major crops in our state. We always enjoyed watching these fields get worked, especially in the fall when the combine would harvest the crop. Living in Iowa has afforded us a close up view of sowing and reaping and I would like to share some observations that I have made about this. These observations are certainly not unique nor are they exhaustive.
You reap what you sow. This is kind of obvious; you sow corn and you will reap corn. You sow beans and you will reap beans. It goes all the way back to the opening chapters of Genesis with everything “after its kind”. The expanded applications are many. If you want to be loved, be loving. If you want to be understood, be understanding. If you want to be forgiven, be forgiving. Obvious I know – but sometimes I benefit greatly by reminding myself of the obvious.
You do not reap what you sow, you reap much more. One kernel of seed corn produces and ear of corn with hundreds of kernels. One soybean seed produces a plant with pods of beans. One seed will replace itself with seed for the next cycle and a crop for the sower...”seed to the sower and bread to the eater”. (Isaiah 55:10). If you need a big harvest, make sure you sow accordingly.
Timing is important. There is a “time to sow and a time to reap”. Sow the seed too early and you run the risk of a frost when the plants are young and tender. Sow the seed too late and the crop may not have time to properly mature. Try to harvest too early and the crop is not ready. Procrastinate on reaping and the winter snows may come before the crops are in. When you think of someone you love, sow that seed and tell them. Do it now when the time is right (after all you thought about them for a reason!) If you are thankful for someone let them know. Do it now, right when you are thinking about it.
It (sowing and reaping) doesn’t always work. Sometimes the farmer gets his seed in the ground, the plants start to come up but storms cause the creek to overflow and field gets flooded and the crops do not survive. Sometimes the rains do not come at all and the crops do not survive. A summer storm brings hail that shreds the half-grown plants. High winds in the late summer knock the nearly mature crops flat. I have seen all that and more. It happens because there is a “thief who comes to steal, kill and destroy”. Farmers take steps to protect themselves from all the perils I mentioned. Believers can’t go through life successfully by ignoring the thief. He must be dealt with.
Yes, living in Iowa has afforded us the chance to observe sowing and reaping in action for years. As I wrote earlier, these observations are not unique or exhaustive – but perhaps they will give you something to consider.
