SeedOffering

He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart, yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end. (Ecclesiastes 3:11) 

The sovereign plan of God is unfathomable. It’s a mystery to the human heart and mind. Yet God has an appropriate time and space for every activity. Too, “God has placed within the heart of every person a sense of something eternal and a desire to know the eternal significance of what we do.” (Delitzsch)

Because we cannot grasp all of God’s plan, we can become discontent in our work, for we cannot see the full benefit or consequences of what we do. There’s often little gratification, to our dismay. We are caught in between. Our choice is either to persevere in our discontent or to simply trust God to be the God of outcomes. Solomon proposes that the outcome of anything is too much for our capability, no matter our material or physical strength. Our hope is in God and God alone.

Ask God for the ability to let go of outcomes, trusting that His eternal plan is right and good.

Prayer Focus: Benevolence “White Bucket” Ministry

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Then Moses summoned Bezalel and Oholiab and every skilled person to whom the Lord had given ability and who was willing to come and do the work. ³ They received from Moses all the offerings the Israelites had brought to carry out the work of constructing the sanctuary. And the people continued to bring freewill offerings morning after morning. ⁴ So all the skilled workers who were doing all the work on the sanctuary left what they were doing ⁵ and said to Moses, “The people are bringing more than enough for doing the work the Lord commanded to be done.” (Exodus 36:2–7)

Moses called upon those whom God had specially gifted and entrusted with both wisdom and the ability to perform the tasks necessary for the building of the tabernacle. Building the tabernacle could not have happened without the proper workers and materials; therefore, qualified servants were summoned by Moses, who continued to give instructions that came from the Lord regarding the building of His dwelling place.

Today, God has qualified and entrusted His people with the gifts to be stewarded for the building of His Bride. We are the “living stones…being built up into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood” (1 Peter 2:5). How is God inviting you to be a participant in His story through the giving of His gifts?

Offer praise to God for making His dwelling within you. Ask God for the courage to respond to Him with an overflow of gratitude for all He has given you to steward.

Prayer Focus: Staff at Sanctuary

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Then the disciples came to Jesus in private and asked, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?” ²⁰ He replied, “Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” (Matthew 17:19–20)

This is Christ in His power and grace, having just healed a demon-possessed boy while His disciples were watching. In dismay, the disciples question their abilities to perform such acts with such power.

Too often we live with faith in the wrong power, having instead either a shallow power limited by our own understanding or a selfish desire for power led by our need to be emotionally reinforced.

Today, ask God for belief in His divine promise. Ask Him for a faith that’s deeper than your ability to understand. Have the courage to ask God to test you and know you and help you see each moment of your day as an opportunity to live out, in faith, His power with you and in you.  Praise God for His power and promise that, although they may not yet be tangible, they are believable according to His grace.

“It is not my ability, but my response to God’s ability that counts.” —Corrie Ten Boom

Prayer Focus: Fishing for Hope

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Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the Lord until he comes and reigns righteousness upon you. (Hosea 10:12)

God’s prophet Hosea calls the people of God to repent, to return, and to reestablish a life-giving relationship with God. Hosea points to the kindness of God instead of to His judgment. Hosea calls the people of God to cultivate righteousness or truthfulness in view of God’s kindness.

“Breaking up fallow ground” is what a farmer does when he plows land that either has never been plowed or has remained untouched for a long time. God is using this word picture for the confession of sins, both those exposed and those that have remained untouched for a long time—maybe forever. Now is the time to seek God, to confess, to repent, and to trust in His kindness to forgive your sins and produce a harvest of righteousness.

Spend time in confession before the Lord prior to taking action. Seek His Person before you seek His plan. Receive the fruit of His unfailing love before sowing seeds today.

Prayer Focus: Worship Team

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