Break Up your Unplowed Ground

Break up your unplowed ground and do not sow among thorns.
(Hosea 10:12)

No farmer expects to reap a harvest if they just throw seed on unprepared ground!

They must first take the time to break up the soil and condition it so that it will be

ready for planting.
Our hearts also must be prepared to receive the seed of God's word.

We must examine our hearts, and break up the clogs that keep us from total surrender

to God.

The one who received the seed that fell on good soil is the man who hears 
the word and understands it. He produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty 
or thirty times what was sown. (Mathew 13:23)

It is time to put aside any rebellious ways, bitterness, or regret.

These things are only trying to hunt us down and rob our relationship with God.

All God wants for us is to open our hearts to Him and to be genuinely honest.

He wants to help us and bless us with spiritual gifts... if we will let Him. 

God will not help us if we insist on walking our own way. 

God will not bless us if we are harboring unforgiveness toward others.

If we have sin:

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and 

purify us from all unrighteousness.  (1John1:9)

Unforgiveness to someone:

For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also 

forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your heavenly Father will not 

forgive your sins. 

So Let us go to Him and He will help us, heal us, and restore us.
(Mathew 6:14-15)

Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of

refreshing may come from the Lord.  (Acts 3:19)

So Let us sow for yourselves rihteousness, reap the fruit of unfailing love and
break your unplowed ground.; for it is time to seek the Lord, until He comes
and showers righteousness on you.  (Hosea 10:12)

Unplowed

                                                                                                Plowed

Who Will Go?

Isaiah 6:8
Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? Who will go for us?"
Are you willing to listen to the voice of God and follow Him?
God's powerful words of invitation are to those who will listen. Are you one of them?

* Then do what is right and He will commend you. (Rom.13:3)

* For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those who are fully 
  committed to Him.  (2Chrn.16:9)

Choosing to follow God will often affect our relationships with other people. It may help heal some relationships, but can strain others. Are you willing to handle the pressures of criticism? Are you ready to trust God with your relationships with family and friends?

Take note of the scripture that says, "many are invited but few are chosen." (Mat.22:14)
Those who come and are chosen are those who have a relationship with the Lord
Jesus Christ. (John 10:27)
"My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me."

The cost of being a disciple is this:
"No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom 
  of God."  (Luke 9:62)

"Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; 
  anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; 
 and anyone who does not take his cross and  follow me is not worthy of me. 
 Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my  sake will find it."
 (Mat.10:37-39, Luke 9:62)

Covered By His Blood

Blood was the prophetic symbol of atonement in the Old Testament that leads us to Jesus Christ for salvation:

The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are; and when I see the blood. 
I will pass over you. No destructive plague will touch you when I strike Egypt.  
And He will not permit the destroyer to enter your houses and strike you down.
(Exodus12:13)

For the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement
for yourselves on the altar; it is the blood that makes atonement for one's life.
(Leviticus17:11)

God sent his Son Jesus Christ to make atonement through His blood.
(Ephesians1:-8)

In Him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance
with the riches of God's grace that He lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding. 

Without the shedding of the blood of Christ we are not clean.
Jesus Christ is the token atonement. God provided a way for us on the altar when
Jesus Christ sacrificed his own blood on the cross.
We can come to Him with full confidence because He suffered for us so that we might have life.
He will wash away our sins if we ask Him to come into our hearts and to cleanse us
from all the sins we have committed.  (read Heb.5:1-10,9:11-28)

As 1John1:7says,  The blood of Jesus his Son purifies us from all sin.
When God sees the blood of his Son in you, no condemnation will be found,
You are set free and escaped from death to life.
As he said in Exo.12:13,"No destructive plague will touch you and He will not permit 
the destroyer to strike you down."

                       
                                                      (I do not own this picture)