It’s Harvest Time….

       The long, lazy days of summer have turned into short, cold, brisk nights. Our once flourishing green gardens have withered away from the bite of a bitter frost. Fall is here. It’s time to prepare for the endless snowy winter ahead.

                This beautiful cycle in nature brings to mind a much more significant meaning. A harvesting of souls so to speak. Sometimes we long to live in the comforting summer months. To bask in the warmth underneath a golden sun. To praise God only while all is good and right in our lives.

But fall will come, and soon, winter will briskly be knocking on the door. It’s inevitable. Before we know it, we will be tossed into the bitter cold to face the storms that rage and wreak havoc in our lives. The penalty of sin is death and we live in a fallen, broken world. So, is that it then? Is that the only message that winter brings? No, because our story doesn’t have to end there. We have been given a choice.

As the snow melts, spring begins to breath new life and order once again, just as Jesus Christ does to a sinner’s soul. God can work in our lives if we choose to follow Christ. Like the budding of a tiny tulip breaking through the icy ground, we too can be born again and face another winter. Let Christ harvest your soul, and carry you through your most desperate and darkest of days. Praise God through all your difficult journeys, because He promises us abundant, eternal days ahead. Christ is the true Son in our lives that warms us from the inside out. Let His light in, so that others may see it too on their darkest of days. Because when we are born again, we are here to help harvest souls.

Come, Ye Thankful People, Come

Henry Alford, pub.1844

Come, ye thankful people, come,
Raise the song of harvest home;
All is safely gathered in,
Ere the winter storms begin;
God our Maker doth provide
For our wants to be supplied;
Come to God’s own temple, come,
Raise the song of harvest home.

All the world is God’s own field,
Fruit unto His praise to yield;
Wheat and tares together sown,
Unto joy or sorrow grown;
First the blade, and then the ear,
Then the full corn shall appear:
Lord of harvest, grant that we
Wholesome grain and pure may be.

For the Lord our God shall come,
And shall take His harvest home;
From His field shall in that day
All offenses purge away;
Give His angels charge at last
In the fire the tares to cast;
But the fruitful ears to store
In His garner evermore.

Even so, Lord, quickly come,
Bring Thy final harvest home;
Gather Thou Thy people in,
Free from sorrow, free from sin,
There, forever purified,
In Thy garner to abide;
Come, with all Thine angels come,
Raise the glorious harvest home.

“All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God.”

2 Corinthians 4:15

    The kids and I recently read in the book of Matthew 14. It shows Jesus feeding thousands with just a small amount of food. It’s one of my favorite stories in the Bible. So much can be learned from this one miracle. In Jesus’ hands, the insufficient becomes sufficient, the 5 loaves of bread become a feast as God is revealing to us who his Son really is. Through Jesus’ miracles we see what God has been doing all along from the day of creation; taking nothing and making it into everything. He is taking away the darkness or sin of the world, and replacing it with light and salvation. If you give God the small amount you have in terms of your life and resources, he is able to multiply them and use them greatly. Jesus himself shows us this.

Psalm 13 talks about having faith in not only the good times, but also in the bad.

Keep Praying: ‘Look on me and answer, O Lord my God. Give light to my eyes’ (v.3).

Keep Trusting: ‘But I trust in your unfailing love. I’ve thrown myself headlong into your arms’ (v.5)

Keep Rejoicing: ‘My heart rejoices in your salvation…. I’m celebrating your rescue’ (v.5)

And Keep Worshipping! ‘I will sing to the Lord, for he has been good to me’ (v.6).

Remember all that God has done for us. Praise Him!

       To anyone who struggles with social media this post is for you. I have, in the past, wondered what role as a Christian I could play on such a seemingly harsh online environment. Many pull away from sharing the good news for fear of being judged or being seen as a hypocrite. Let me ask you this, where are many of our youth today? Where are much of our friends, neighbors and family? Yup, you know where I’m going with this, they are online. Everyone is glued to phones and devices. I am in no way condoning the behavior of always needing a device or smart phone for entertainment. In fact, I long for the days where phones were attached to the wall. When my friends and I talked face to face. Our kids will never know that. So the problem then arises. Should we follow the ways of the world? Should we leave social media all together? If it’s a platform for you for harsh debates, rude comments, bragging, gossiping and hating on others, then yes, you should not be on social media. We are in no way to conform to the world but that doesn’t mean we shy away from it either. Where did Jesus go when he went into the world? The dark, sad places. Guys, this is where we need to go. We need to be a light on social media and reach out to as many as we can! We need to lift up, love, encourage, pray and build others up. I challenge you, if you are on social media, to be a light for God. Walk where we are needed. Go and share the good news in any way that you can!

God bless you!

Here is a wonderful link to the Good Morning Girls ministry and their Romans Bible study. She shares an insightful video on being a  presence on social media. Check it out here. For more resources check out and follow Homeschooling With Heart on Facebook.

We wrapped up a full week of the first 5 chapters in the book of Romans through Good Morning Girl’s Ministry. Romans is a book many tend to shy away from because it’s very heavy on law and the doctrine side. But it’s through these laws that we see how we all fall short. It points and states the obvious; the desperate need for a Savior. The rawness and reality of the heavy weight of man’s sinful nature was made evident in chapters 2 and 3. But wait. Verses 1-5 of chapter 5 had my heart skipping a beat. We see Paul start to reveal this beautiful gift God offers to us. There is a light after all at the end of this long, sorrowful tunnel. Chapter 5 begins,”Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have all obtained access by faith into grace in which we stand and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God” Amen! Have you obtained access into grace through your faith and relationship with Christ? The freedom and peace that only Christ brings from once being ensnared by sin is life changing. Praise Him!