Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few.” (Matt. 9:37 NIV)

I really blew it!

A few years ago I sat down with a young businessman and for three hours discussed with him things he could do to promote his brand new business. He was enthusiastic, friendly, open, and very easy to talk to. I told him I would follow up with him as soon as I returned from a business trip I was leaving immediately for. I came back a few days later and was shocked to hear that he’d been killed in an automobile accident the very day I had spoken with him! Even though I had met with him for three hours I hadn't asked him about his relationship with God, and I should have! If I had known it was going to be his last day alive I certainly would have figured out some way to speak boldly with him about God. I could have broached the subject any number of ways during our lengthy conversation. I could have asked, “Do you have a church you are attending here in our community?” And spoken about Jesus from there. Or, even asked, “Does God play any kind of role in your personal life and business?” Or, I could have come right out boldly with, “Are you a follower of Jesus?” But I didn't! I spent three hours with him on the day he died, and yet I said nothing about the most important subject in existence, knowing Jesus! Truthfully, I don't know if he was or wasn't a follower of Jesus Christ, I sincerely hope he was! But, I do know I had spent three hours with him on the last day of his life on earth, and I didn't even ask him! I failed him and I certainly failed God! I am truly ashamed and greatly saddened about it!

Most Christians have never introduced someone to Christ!

Most Christians don't share Christ even to a family member or to a close friend! This, in spite of the fact that Jesus said, “The harvest is plentiful.” He was speaking about people who are already “ripe for harvest” and willing to be brought into fellowship with God. He said the reason they don't come into a relationship with God is because, “the workers are few.” The problem is that God’s people aren't actively working to reap the ready harvest!

Many are in the “secret service”

Many claim to be believers and followers of Christ, but you'd never know it by watching them. They are behaving as though they are in the secret service! If they were put on trial for being a Christian, there wouldn't be enough evidence to convict them! I believe God has provided lots of opportunities to share with those around us, but we just don't speak up! And what if we don't tell them? What if they die without anyone telling them the good news about Jesus?

How will they hear if no one tells them?

“But how can they call on him to save them unless they believe in him? And how can they believe in him if they have never heard about him? And how can they hear about him unless someone tells them?” (Rom. 10:14 NLT)

“But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.” (2 Peter 2:9 NIV)

This verse declares you to be four things.

 1. You are a chosen people

“He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him In love.” (Eph. 1:4 ESV)

“You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give to you.” (John 15:16 ESV)

“For you are a holy people to the LORD your God; the LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for His own possession out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.” (Deut. 7:6 ESV)

“But we should always give thanks to God for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth.” (2 Thes. 2:13 ESV)

2. You are a royal priesthood

“You also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” (1 Peter 2:5 ESV)

“He has made us to be a kingdom, priests to His God and Father--to Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.” (Rev. 2:6 ESV)

“But you will be called the priests of the LORD; You will be spoken of as ministers of our God You will eat the wealth of nations, And in their riches you will boast.” (Isa. 61:6 ESV)

3. You are a holy nation

“That He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless.” (Eph. 5:27 ESV)

“The LORD will establish you as a holy people to Himself, as He swore to you, if you keep the commandments of the LORD your God and walk in His ways.” (Deut. 28:9 ESV)

4. You are God’s special possession

“Now then, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be My own possession among all the peoples, for all the earth is Mine.” (Ex. 19:5 ESV)

“who gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds.” (Titus 2:14 ESV)

The purpose of all this is to bring praise to God

“That you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.” (2 Peter 2:9b ESV)

“Praise him for his acts of power; praise him for his surpassing greatness.” (Psalm.150:2 NIV)

"My tongue will proclaim your righteousness, your praises all day long.” (Psalm.35:28 NIV)

 "I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me - just as the Father knows me and I know the Father--and I lay down my life for the sheep.” (John 10:14-15 NIV)

A boy and his dog

I heard a story about a little boy and his dog traveling on an ocean liner. The boy was playing on the deck with his dog and a ball. He would roll the ball across the deck and the little dog would run after it, get it, and then run back to the little boy with it. And the little boy would do it again and again with the same results. But, in his enthusiasm, the little boy rolled the ball too hard and it went off the edge of the ship and into the ocean. The dog, who was in hot pursuit of the ball ran off the edge of the ship, too. Frantic, the little boy ran to the captain of the ship and cried loudly, “Captain, Captain! Please stop this ship because my dog has fallen overboard!” The captain replied, “Young man, I can’t stop this big ocean liner to save a dog!” And the boy said, “But, wouldn't you stop it to save a little boy?” And the captain said, “Of course I would!” And with that, the little boy ran and jumped into the ocean! Immediately, the captain stopped the ship, lowered a lifeboat over the edge, and saved both the little boy and his dog!

Jesus gave His life to save us!

“This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.” (1 John 3:16 NIV)

The world was saved through Him!

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” (John 3:16-17 NIV)

If you have the Son, you have life!

“And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.” (1 John 5:11-12 NIV)

“But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place.” (2 Cor. 2:14, NASV)

Life was very different when I was a kid

I grew up in a time where many still used ice boxes to keep their food cold during the summer. Everybody heated their homes with fire wood, cooked their meals on big wood stoves, and used outhouses (no indoor plumbing). We got our water from the creek – nothing was convenient back then. Doing things like bathing and laundry were major chores. Water had to be hauled, heated on the wood stove, and used carefully – it was a precious commodity!  Doing laundry was a complicated hard job and you had to set aside an entire day to it. There was no such thing as modern washing machines or indoor dryers. Clothes had to be hung outside on clotheslines and then brought in and ironed. We didn't have special laundry soaps or fabric softeners. There was no such thing as permanent press or easy care fabrics. And someone has called them “the good old days!” I remember those days as hard work days.

We now live in a wonderful age of many marvels of technology that most take for granted

We drive beautiful air conditioned vehicles in complete comfort with amazing entertainment systems and satellite controlled GPS systems. Homes have heating/cooling systems, hot water heaters, refrigerators, toasters, electric mixers, blenders, modern cooking ranges, microwaves and convection ovens. Much of our food is prepackaged and instant. We have big flat screen televisions, personal computers, the internet, and smart phones. Most of this was only a fantasy when I was a kid growing up in a log cabin in Alaska!

But wait! There’s much more to come!

Even though we've made many incredible  advances, there is so much more we haven't discovered yet as knowledge increases. The Bible predicted this would happen.

“But as for you, Daniel, conceal these words and seal up the book until the end of time; many will go back and forth, and knowledge will increase." (Dan. 12:4 NASB)

We haven't even scratched the surface of what is possible.

New discoveries are happening every day. When God created the world all the raw materials for everything we presently enjoy was already available, but we didn't have the knowledge to use them. And more discoveries are on the way. Soon cars may all be driverless and we will get into driving pods and tell them where we want to go (we already give verbal commands to our GPS devices). Think of all the ramifications of that!

We need to use what God has given us to share the Gospel!

In the so called “old days” of doing business, it took us a long time to get some important information to a group of people. Back then we didn't have instant email, texting, social media or the internet, like we do today. We had to type our message with a typewriter onto a stencil, attach it to a hand-cranked duplicating machine, print the copies onto special paper, hand fold them, insert them into envelopes, lick them shut, address them (by hand or type), attach a first class stamp, and then bundle and take them to the post office. It always took us a day or two to get our monthly newsletter prepared and into the mail! Today, we can get the same information delivered to a selected group of people instantly!

The Gospel message can be sent to a group of people by anyone, even you!

With over 1 billion active Facebook users, the potential is amazing! What to share? Share your personal conversion story, or share how God has blessed you, or answered one of your prayers. Your personal testimony is unique to only you and could be a powerful witness of God’s grace and even change lives. Write it up and send it out to your family and friends. Many of them may share it or  “like” it, and then their friends will be able to see what God has done in your life. It could be powerful!

Here’s an easy way to organize your testimony

1. Share briefly what your life was like before receiving Christ (keep it short and factual).
2. Share how you received Christ (tell how you heard, what words you prayed.)
3. Share briefly what your life has been like since you've received Christ (how He has helped you, changes that have resulted).
4. Share a meaningful verse of Scripture to close with.

And you can depend on God to lead you “triumphantly in Christ to present the knowledge of Him in every place!” (2 Cor. 2:14)

“As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease." (Gen. 8:22 NIV)

I love Spring!

It's my favorite time of the year! It's when the first flowers like crocuses, daffodils and tulips appear in my yard after a long cold winter. And boy did we have a frozen, snowy winter this year! It's such a relief to see the weather turning warm again. Spring time is also when we get the gardens ready to receive fresh seeds. I have always been amazed at how something so small, like a flower seed, can have such a wonderful miracle trapped inside. When placed in a properly prepared flower bed, fertilized, and watered, beautiful flowers come fourth! Without fail. And so it has been since the day God created the earth. It's a huge promise!

There are three words found in “seedtime and harvest” – seed, time and harvest.

It takes all of them working together to produce any kind of crop.

• Seed: God provides seed for the sower, and He increases it!

“Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness.” (2 Cor. 9:10 NIV)

• Time: Whenever you plant anything, it involves time in two ways.

First, you must plant the seed at the right time. “The sluggard does not plow after the autumn, So he begs during the harvest and has nothing.” (Prov. 10:5 ESV)

Secondly, you must wait for a period of time for it to grow.

“All by itself the soil produces grain-first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head.”

“There is a time for everything … a time to plant…” (Eccles. 3:1-2 NIVa&b)

• Harvest: You reap what you have planted on the day of harvest.

“A man reaps what he sows.” (Gal. 6:7b NIV).

And another huge blessing is that you get more than what you planted!

“Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop--a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.” (Matt. 13:8 NIV).

“I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” (2 Chron. 7:14b NIV)

I decided to stop watching the main stream news!

That's because so very much of it is extremely negative, and it's filled with personal attacks against individuals of one political side or the other, rather than just reporting straight forward information and the facts. Those “reporters” begin with a “political position or viewpoint”, either left or right, and then cherry pick what the other side says, and then they spin it to “prove” their position. They ALL do it! And it's extremely difficult to watch any if it!

What should you as a Christian do about those in leadership, even if you disagree with them?

You pray for them! That's right! That’s what God’s Word tells us we must do!

“Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence.” (1 Tim. 2:2-3 NKJV).

You are to pray, seek God’s face and turn from your wicked ways

It's interesting to note that God’s Word tells us that the answer to having a “healed land” is about God’s people, and what they must do, and it's not about our government leaders.

“If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” (2 Chron. 7:14 NIV)

God has the power to change the hearts of our leaders ...

… that is, If you obey and do what the Bible passage above says to do!

“In the LORD's hand the king's heart is a stream of water that he channels toward all who please him.” (Prov. 21:1 NIV)

God establishes the governing authorities

“Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God.” (Rom. 13:1 NIV)

"That their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, and attaining to all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the knowledge of the mystery of God, both of the Father and of Christ,  in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” (Col. 2:2-3 NKJV)

The wisdom of seagull eggs

When I was a teenager I spent a couple of summers with Joe Reddington, the “father of the Iditarod” in the Alaska wilderness. I learned how to live off the land by hunting, fishing and using the natural resources of Alaska. One of the things I learned to do from Joe, was how to collect seagull eggs wisely. He taught me to count the number of eggs in each nest. If there was only one egg in the nest, don't take it. If I do, the seagull may abandon the empty nest and lay no more eggs there. If there are three or more eggs in the nest, don't take any eggs because the seagull may have been sitting on them and there may be baby birds inside. But, if there are only two eggs in the nest, then take one and leave one, because the eggs will be fresh (no baby birds inside) and with one egg still in nest the seagull won't desert the nest and will continue to lay more eggs there. This is just one small example of how wisdom can help you do anything the right way, even when gathering seagull eggs!

The treasures of wisdom and knowledge

Wisdom and knowledge contain hidden treasures! Like any hidden treasures, however, you must first discover what they are, where they are hidden and finally, you have to dig for them!

What is wisdom and knowledge?

• Wisdom is defined in the dictionary as having: sagacity, intelligence, sense, shrewdness, astuteness, smartness, judiciousness, judgement, prudence, circumspection, logic, rationality, soundness and advisability! These words describe characteristics for achieving success in anything.

Here’s what the Bible says about wisdom

“But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere.” (James 3:17 NIV). Notice that God’s wisdom is described in this passage as impartial and sincere! It will sincerely work for anyone who puts it to work doing anything that needs to be done.

• Knowledge is defined in the dictionary as facts, information, and skills acquired by a person through experience or education; the theoretical or practical understanding of a subject. It is understanding, comprehension, grasp, command, mastery, expertise, skill, proficiency, accomplishment, adeptness, capacity, capability, and know-how. These words describe characteristics for achieving success in anything.

Here’s what the Bible says about knowledge 

“A wise man is strong, And a man of knowledge increases power.” (Prov. 24:5

“For to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, and to another the word of knowledge according to the same Spirit.” (2 Cor. 12:8 NIV)

How to get wisdom and knowledge

• Ask God who gives generously!

“If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.” (James 1:5 NIV)

“For the LORD gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.” (Prob. 2:6 NIV)

• Seek it out and add to your learning

“Let the wise listen and add to their learning, and let the discerning get guidance.” (Prov. 1:5 NIV)

“Teach me knowledge and good judgment, for I trust your commands.” (Psalm 119:66 NIV)

“The heart of the discerning acquires knowledge, for the ears of the wise seek it out.” (Prov. 18:19 NIV)

 “Be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of the lawless and fall from your secure position.” (2 Peter 3:17b NIV)

One night a little boy fell out of bed with a loud crash

His parents came running and said, “Johnny, why did you fall out of bed?” He said sleepily, “I must have stayed too close to where I got in.” Without realizing it, the little boy had placed his finger on a very important principle of the Christian life. We must not remain “too close to where we got in.” To remain strong in our faith, we must continue to grow in God's knowledge and grace. “But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” (2 Peter 3:18a NIV)

Things you can do to grow spiritually 

Set time aside to read the Bible, to pray, and attend a Bible believing, Bible teaching church where you can grow in the knowledge and grace of the Lord, Jesus Christ. Get together regularly with some Christian brothers and sisters for Bible study and fellowship. These are basic things, but they really work because they are foundational.

If you do these things you will never fall!​

“Therefore rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if you do these things, you shall never fall:.” (2 Pet. 1:10 NKJV)

God has a lifelong plan for us

“Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” (Phil. 2:6 NIV)

“I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” (Phil. 3:14 NIV)

“Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.” (2 Peter 1:2 NIV)

He gives more grace!

“But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: “God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.” (James 4:6 NIV)

Saved through grace!

“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.” (Eph. 2:8-9 NIV)

God's throne of grace

“Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” (Heb. 4:16 NIV)

You are under grace and set free

“For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace.” (Rom. 6:14 NIV)

Excel in this grace of giving!

“But since you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in the love we have kindled in you —see that you also excel in this grace of giving.” (2 Cor. 8:7 NIV)

He couldn't be silent about grace!

“I cannot be silent, and indeed I ought not to be, about the many blessings and the great grace which the Lord has deigned to bestow upon me.” – St. Patrick