The Land of Plenty

Then why don’t I have anything? or at least what I want/need/desire?

To me, a land of plenty means I can think about what I want, I can envision how to make it happen, and I have access to the materials I need to do it.

We have all these things. We have a mind. We have an imagination. We have something in our power to use. We have people around to help us and who need what we have to offer.

When you think about it, everything made on this earth began with the raw materials close to us.

That’s how last names evolved…Blacksmith, Wellman, Carpenter, Carver, Stonebraker, Shoemaker, Hunter, Potter, Goldsmith, Letterman…pick a trade!

Now days it could be…Blogger, EtsySeller, Writer, Photographer, Coach, Instagrammer, Utuber, Podcaster, Webman….trade your old trade-name for a new trade-name!

It doesn’t matter what your old last name was, take on the new name that is a better fit for today’s times and get busy!

We’ve got different kinds of trees to chop down and use in 2020, but they’re here for us.

They will build our homes. They will fuel our fires. They will cook our food. They will become chairs to sit on. They will introduce us to a whole world of new friends, and we will find our land of plenty where there is no lack!

It begins with the idea. It takes desire and courage to work it through to make it work.

Be determined. Get up. Keep moving. Fall down. Get up. Stay determined. Get moving. Look ahead. Keep your eye on your land of plenty!

How will I begin today? What tools do I already have? Do they need sharpening? Who can help me? What do I really want?

I will start small. I will commend myself for progress. God will open doors as I move forward. He will multiply my efforts.

A Piece of Pie for You

Several years ago our adult Sunday School class was having a discussion.

Two men were talking about new opening positions at work, hoping to be promoted. There was some consternation about another beating them to it first …and they really needed the increase in pay to provide for their families.

They were afraid if they didn’t get chosen, there would be nothing left for them…no hope.

It occurred to me…they were likening it to a pie with only so many pieces. Once it was all divvied up, there wouldn’t be anything left for them.

But God is the master pie maker here. When one pie gets eaten He will make another one. Who knows, maybe the first pie finished off was pumpkin and you’d ‘a rather had cherry, and that’s what the next pie up ‘just happened’ to be…

God will not run out of what you need.

God will have a piece of pie for you.

It will be a flavor you like!

Start planning your pie.

Don’t Give Up, Get Up!

It’s so easy to give up. All you have to do is do nothing! What more could you do?

But the law of sowing and reaping says that if you sow watermelon seeds, you’ll get watermelons, if you plant apple trees, you’ll get apples, and if you plant nothing, you’ll get nothing.

There’s a certain something about working for what you get that has a way of rewarding you that nothing else can. No free handout, no check from the relatives feels quite as good as obtaining it by your own two hands! God said He would bless the works of our hands, so we do the work, and He will bless and prosper it, to cause increase so our needs will be met…whatever need it is that needs to be done or had at the moment, whether it’s getting the bed made, your garage swept, your closet cleaned, or your  resume updated.

Of course, the Bible says, “the poor you shall always have with you”,  yes, there are some who are unable to help themselves for one reason or another and we need to help them, and feel for them, and pray for them, but for the rest of us, we can be confident that whatever God has given us capabilities to do, He will bless them and provide for us through them, and even have left over to help meet the needs of others….remember the story of the little boy’s lunch of fish and bread that Jesus prayed over and divided to feed not just one small boy, but over 5000 men, plus women and children!  And then they had baskets and baskets of food left over. Jesus was not stingy! Jesus did this twice to prove He cares about people, their hunger, their needs, their lunch, as well as their spirit.

If we can get a handle on how much Jesus really does love us, not only in word, but in deed, it will revolutionize our thinking and we won’t be among the ‘giver-uppers’, we’ll belong to the ‘get-uppers’!

Because if God will help us and grant us success, we just won’t want to give up. Once we get moving and start seeing good fruit developing in our lives, and progress being made by our own two hands, we won’t want to remain seated any longer!

Let the excitement begin!!!