This has been a hectic, but great week. I have been thinking and praying about what God wanted to say through me these past couple of weeks and these words permeated my mind and heart,
” Never Forget the Difference you Make!”
I had to stop and reflect on this for a little bit. How often do we have the thought of “Do I even make a difference”, travel through our minds and hearts? If we are being honest probably more times than we would like to admit. I was reminded at Ladies Retreat about the difference I made in a young families life at LifePointe and I had no idea that I had touched their family so much. That, of course, opened my eyes to questions I had about bearing good fruit and being a kingdom builder.
“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.”John 15:1-2, 4-5 NIV https://bible.com/bible/111/jhn.15.1-5.NIV
I was always afraid that I wasn’t bearing fruit and doing what I was commanded to do, build His Kingdom and show Jesus to the world through my life and commitment to the Father.
“I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labor. “1 Corinthians 3:6-8 NIV https://bible.com/bible/111/1co.3.6-8.NIV. These verses in 1 Corinthians came to me when I was thinking about all this and it reminded me that our job is to sow the seed in someone’s heart and mind. We may never see that person come to Jesus, but that is not our purpose. We are just to plant the seeds of Jesus’s words and life. God then causes these seeds to grow and soften these hearts and minds to thirst and want to know more about God. We may never see the results of our “difference” that we make in someone’s life, but God sees it and sometimes if we are searching for the difference we are making, someone may come up to you and say thank you for loving me and showing me a better life to live in Jesus.
Ray Boltz wrote a song, “Thank You” and it tells of a dream he had when he went to heaven. Here is the chorus, “Thank you for giving to the Lord, I was a life that was changed. Thank you for giving to the Lord I am so glad you gave.”
This week remember to NEVER FORGET THE DIFFERENCE YOU MAKE! I love you all and you all have touched my life and made a difference to my life.
Lori