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“But the fruit of the Spirit is love,
joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness,
temperance: against such there is no law.”
Galatians 5: 22,23
King James Version
My sister took me out to eat Tuesday and asked me if I needed
to go buy groceries. I told her no, that I had plenty of food.
My freezer was full of food. Yesterday, I started to take something
out to thaw and all that was in there was ice. I had completely
forgotten that I had thrown everything away because of Hurricane
Dennis.
I have had to swallow my pride and apply for food stamps several
months ago. I received a letter telling me they were going to issue
food stamps to replace the food that we had to throw away due to
the hurricane. However, they are not going to issue mine for two
more weeks. I had ten dollars so I went to Wal-Mart today and got
some canned goods and chips to last me until the first of next
month.
While waiting for my ride to come, this man came up to me. I had
never seen him before. He asked me if I needed some cash. I asked
him who he was and he just shook his head with tears in his eyes.
I knew immediately that he is a man who loves Jesus and desires
to serve him.
Five years ago, I would not have accepted that money from a stranger.
However, five years ago, God spoke to me in Church and told me
to give some money to the lady sitting in front of me. I had less
than a dollar and was embarrassed to give it to her, but I was
obedient. I have learned that not only does God bless us when we
are obedient, it makes Him happy. Today, the money that I had given
out of obedience was multiplied back to me several times over.
Several years ago when I was living in Texas, God spoke to my
heart and told me to give my computer to someone. At that time,
I was not serving God. I went to church and sang the songs, but
I had not accepted Jesus into my heart at that time. I had just
made a head commitment to him.
I am probably one of the most selfish people in the world. I did
not want to give that computer away, but I had read in the Bible
that Jesus Loved me so much that He died for me. I decided that
if He would give His Life for me, a horrible, wretched sinner,
then the least I could do was give the computer as He requested.
I heard a sermon preached many years ago, and
the pastor said, “If
you plant corn, you will get corn. If you plant tomatoes, you will
reap tomatoes”. God had put it in my heart to plant a computer.
When the computer I had bought after I had given my old computer
away failed on me and I didn’t have the money to go buy one,
God provided a computer for me through someone who put it on his
credit card and allowed me to make monthly payments to him.
What are you planting in God’s Garden?
Are you planting peace, smiles, love, compassion, and all other
things that make Jesus happy and encourages others? If you are
planting discouragement, sarcasm, criticism, cruel words, and
negative thoughts to others, that is exactly what you will get
back.
I challenge all of us to start planting words of hope, love, peace,
compassion, and encouragement to others. Then, watch how Jesus will
give them back to you in abundance.
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