09/30/2007

Luke 9: 57 "As they were going on their way, a man said to Jesus, “Lord, I will follow You wherever You go.” 58 Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes. Birds of the sky have nests. The Son of Man has no place to put His head.” 59 He said to another, “Follow Me.” But the man said, “Lord, let me go first and bury my father.” 60 Jesus said to him, “Let the people who are dead bury their own dead. You go and preach about the holy nation of God.” 61 And another one said, “Lord, I will follow You, but first let me go and say good-bye to those at home.” 62 Jesus said to him, “Anyone who puts his hand on a plow and looks back at the things behind is of no use in the holy nation of God.” 10 After this the Lord chose seventy others. He sent them out two together to every city and place where He would be going later. 2 Jesus said to them, “There is much grain ready to gather. But the workmen are few. Pray then to the Lord Who is the Owner of the grain-fields that He will send workmen to gather His grain."

The Spirit of the Lord is saying, "I bid you now to put your hand to the plow and follow Me where I lead you. I bid you to walk forward and not look back. Do not desire to turn back to the old places. You did not know that in the old place you were in captivity, for your eyes were blinded. Now I have made your eyes opened. Look and see the liberty that I have given to you, look and see the newness that I have called you into. You are Mine, you belong to Me. You do not belong to another, you belong to Me. I ask you My children, to take your eyes off of what was long ago, take your eyes off of what is behind you, take your eyes off of all others and place your eyes upon Me, for I have called you to be My laborers. I have called you out and I send you forth by the breath of My Spirit, and I make you ready. 

In what manner is it that I send you with your hand upon the plow? I say to you, I send you in the manner of love. Do not look at yourselves and say, 'but I have not knowledge', Do not look at yourselves and say, 'but I have not excellency, or I have not been educated.', I tell you, you may have everything but if you do not go in the manner of love, all you have is nothing. Will it not be by this very love of Mine that you are stirred and that you are beckoned to place your hand upon the plow?"

The Lord keeps showing me those who kept putting their hand to the plow and it seemed to them to be a harsh, grueling task. This is not so. Yes, there may be labor within it, but it's not a harsh, grueling labor. It's not the labor of one's own strength. As we follow His Spirit into the harvest fields, the Holy Spirit is the One who makes the way. The Holy Spirit is the One who plows and tills the ground before us. Le's not go out in our own strength. Le'ts not go out in our own endurance. Let's be obedient laborers, following the Lord, obeying Him quickly and swiftly as He gives us utterance to go. The Lord is saying, (Matthew 11:) "28 “Come to Me, all of you who work and have heavy loads. I will give you rest. 29 Follow My teachings and learn from Me. I am gentle and do not have pride. You will have rest for your souls. 30 For My way of carrying a load is easy and My load is not heavy.”

The Lord just keeps drawing me back to so many who have been striving to labor in their own strength. People, there is rest in the Lord! I hear the Spirit saying, "As you place your hand to the plow I will give you rest. What is left behind in the trail of the plow is the legacy of love. The legacy of love, which is everlasting, endures all things. No amount of effort from the enemy to cause hatred and strife can stop the legacy of My love that is left behind by the plowmen who I have sent."

Amos 9: 13 “The days are coming,” says the Lord, “when the man who plows will catch up with the man who gathers. The man who crushes the grapes will catch up with the man who plants the seed. The mountains will drip sweet wine, and all the hills will flow with it. The Spirit of the Lord says, "And I will do this"; 14 And I will return My people Israel to their riches. They will build again the cities that have been destroyed, and live in them. They will plant grape-fields and drink their wine. And they will make gardens and eat their fruit. 15 I will plant My people on their land. And they will never again be pulled up from the land I gave them,” says the Lord your God."

The Spirit of the Lord is saying, "I have given a mandate to this generation. I have called you forth from your mother's womb, so you may bring in the harvest. I have created you. I have breathed My own breath into you and I have prepared you for such a time as this. I ask you now, 'Will you take up the cross and follow Me as I lead you into the harvest fields? Will you place your hand to the plow and come with Me as laborers in the field?"

I want to share with you what the Lord let me see when He was speaking to me about bringing us forth from our mother's womb. He actually let me feel it. I felt the love He had when He created each one of us and I saw Him knitting a little tiny being together and when He was doing it there was such an awesome love. It was like He was putting together the most precious treasure there ever was. He absolutely adored that little being. We are that little being. You know how you look at your own kids and you love them? I know when I had my first baby, I couldn't believe how much I loved that baby. I didn't realize a person could love another person like that. You wouldn't have to think twice about laying down your life for that person. There wouldn't even be a moment you would have to stop to think about it. Imagine that love you have for that child and multiply it a zillion times, and I tell you, that is the love the Father has for us. That's why He could send His Son to the cross to take all that He did for us, because He loves us that much. How could we not give ourselves to Him? He is faithful! 
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