As a farmer must sow seeds to reap fruit, you too have to sow seeds spiritually in order to bear spiritual fruit. To the extent that you try to rejoice in any kind of situation and sow seeds of joy, you will be able to reap more fruit and to rejoice more in all matters. When you try to find reasons to give thanks for and offer thanks with heart in every matter, you will receive more grace and have more reasons to be thankful for. When you sow seeds of prayer, you will be able to harvest more strength to pray and receive the fruit of answers.
Let's delve into three good ways to sow and harvest.
Rejoice always.
If you are filled with the joy of salvation, you can rejoice always in every matter. It is because you were set free from the eternal punishment of hell. Moreover, God has given you unimaginable honor in the kingdom of heaven. And you have been blessed even to call the Almighty God 'Father'.
The apostle Paul faced so much persecution and so many hardships while preaching in the name of the Lord, but nobody could take away his joy. In his letter to the believers while he was in jail, he advised them in Philippians 4:4 to "rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice!"
You should check yourself now. Have you forgotten the grace that you received due to difficulties coming from the reality of your situations? In the situations, some of you may stop fulfilling your God-given duties. You may be in the place where you have to be, but unwillingly, you have to force yourself to perform your duty. If you are full of God's grace and hope for Heaven, however, joy will overflow in any kind of situation and your difficulties will quickly turn into blessings. You can also grow in spirit quickly.
Give thanks in all respects with belief in God's love.
If you believe God the Creator and believe that He gives only the best things to you, you will feel thankful all the time in any kind of trial. Even if you do not act completely by the truth due to your shortcomings, you will have assurance of God's love for you and surely believe that God gives you strength to overcome any kind of problem. You can give thanks with the faith until the end. If then, all things will work together for good to you and turn into blessings.
However, if you complain and have resentment with sorrow, you should be aware of your lack of faith. If you have faith, you will feel grateful for the power of God who strengthens the weak, perfects the incapable, and blesses those in difficulties. Then, God will allow you to bear more abundant fruit of thanksgiving and bless you more in an answer to your prayers in every matter.
Pray unceasingly with faith that is accompanied with deeds.
Those who rejoice always and give thanks in every matter can pray in the fullness of the Holy Spirit and enter deeper levels of spirit. But if you find it hard to pray or if you don't have many things to say in prayer, although it is the time to communicate with God, you cannot say you love God nor reap the fruit of blessing. If you don't pray well, why don't you check how much you rejoice and give thanks to God?
The harder you find it to pray, the harder you should pray with earnest longing for the grace of God. When you ask for strength by praying fervently, you can pass through every step of the spiritual levels.
Suppose you haven't received blessing though you prayed. You should check your deeds of faith. Only when you show your faith with action can God be with you and give you blessing. He will also make you a great vessel, and thereby you will be able to receive great answers and blessings. Let's reap beautiful fruit both in spirit and body by rejoicing, giving thanks, and unceasingly praying with faith that is accompanied with deeds.
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