THE FARMER'S ATTITUDE

The above picture is of my beloved Granddaddy Reid. He had his home going a little over a year ago. He is ever on my mind and this message will be a tribute to him. His life is a testimony of what Jesus can do for a person. In the 1950's, Grandaddy Reid gave his life to the Lord. There was an instant transformation, something most of us do not experience. For the most, our transformation is an ever increasing event, but that is OK because God did say we will be changed from glory to glory. A little bit by little bit. I guess the most amazing quality about my Granddaddy Reid was that once he put his hands to the plow, he never looked back. Once he decided to follow Jesus, his dedication never wavered. Never ! And you want to know something else? He had the farmer's attitude. That is what I want to share with you today. Do you have a minute? Thanks, and I am so joyful that I have yet another opportunity to share more thoughts from the throne with my dearly beloved brothers and sisters in the Lord. And if you haven't decided to follow Jesus yet and inherit eternal life, well then maybe this is your hour...you are only a prayer away.

Let's begin as we always do. May we gather together on our knees as we approach Almighty God with our hearts, hoping to touch His as He surely has ours. Glorious Father God, we humble ourselves under Your mighty hand. Thank You for Jesus, Your Word and Holy Spirit. Place within us a great thirst for You and righteousness. Transform us into the image of Your dear Son. Reduce us to love. Create within us a great joyful expectation of Your Coming. Use us as Your light in this dark world we pray. We receive Your love....please receive ours too. AMEN. Well, let's throw out a bomb shell right off. Turn, if you will, to Hebrews 6:12. It reads, "We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and PATIENCE inherit what has been promised. Did I lose any of you? Most don't want to talk about the patience thing...but we must.

Many people shy away from praying for patience because of their misconception of the following verse. In Romans 5:3 we read: "But we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces patience. Have you ever heard someone say,"Oh, don't pray for patience because it means we will have to go through some kind of suffering?" But let's continue in Romans to get the bigger picture. Verses 4-5 says, "Patience produces character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts(which means we can trust Him) by the Holy Spirit, whom He has given us." Don't we want to display the character of Jesus? It takes time. That is probably the one area I am having trouble with as far as being patient is concerned. Waiting on righteous fruit to be formed in me. I want to be like Jesus...NOW. God says that it will come. And it will !! Why does Father God talk so much about suffering, tribulation and the like? How does going through the fire of life cause us to grow up in Christ Jesus? Well, that question will be answered more fully in a future study. For now, let's just ponder a simplified version. When you go through a test or trial, does it cause your flesh to act in an unChrist-like way? God knows how to draw out what only He knows is in our hearts. The things that must be crucified. We see an ugliness come out during our crisis then we look at it; we ask forgiveness (if it caused us to sin); then we ask for the Holy Spirit to help us come up higher in that area. DON'T STOP PRAYING FOR YOUR LOVED ONES !!

Are you praying and praying for that loved one, friend or co-worker to be brought into fellowship with the Lord Jesus to seemingly no avail? You may even see them getting worse. But good news ! Go to I Corinthians 3:6,7. Let's read, "I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow." Here we see that Paul was sowing the seed of the gospel. Another came along and watered it (preached it some more). But God is the One who brings the soul harvest. He also brings the prayer harvest. Try not to agonize over that unanswered prayer concerning your loved one because God does and will answer prayer. He will bring a harvest when it is time. That reminds me of a verse in John 11:39,40. This was the story where Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead. But Martha (the sister of Lazarus) had some doubts about the power Jesus had at His disposal. She (and many more too, I would imagine) just couldn't get herself ready to receive a miracle. Her believing was stuck on the circumstances surrounding the event and not on God's Word. That's what happens when we take our faith eyes off the promises of God and His faithfulness. Our problem becomes bigger then God. OK, back to John, and we read: "Take away the stone," He said. "But, Lord," said Martha, the sister of the dead man, "by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days." (Martha was also upset that Jesus didn't get there sooner...hey Martha, didn't you get the memo? The promises come by faith and patience!) Then Jesus said, "Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?" DON'T STOP PRAYING FOR YOUR LOVED ONES !!

I look at patience like this: I see a promise in God's Word (and often even things I hear the Holy Spirit saying to my spirit); I believe it and then I wait for God to fulfill His part which is to perform what He promised to do. I must admit that God, most of the time, causes me to wait on almost everything. With that said, how about some more scripture on this most important subject? Here goes....fasten your seat belt ladies and gentlemen, we are coming in for a landing. "But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the Word, retain it, and by patience produce a crop." (Luke 8:15) This was Jesus explaining the Word being sowed in our hearts. This one in particular described the heart which was good ground. In Romans 8:24,25 we see that hope (or fulfilled promise) is the end item of our faith. It says: "But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently." OK, one more for good measure shall we? "Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops patience. Patience must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. OUCH, HALLELUJAH !!

"But Brother Kenny G., what does all this have to do with the farmer?" Glad you asked. Have you ever noticed that much of the examples and analogies in Scripture have to do with agriculture? The people's of the day usually understood such things because many of them were farmers. So, what exactly is the farmer's attitude? Let the Holy Word speak to us again. "Be patient, then, brothers, until the Lord's coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop and how patient he is for the autumn and spring rains. You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord's coming is near." The farmer is patient as he waits for the plants to be fed and come to maturity. I believe that God is telling us to wait, and be patient, for all things which come from Him. That includes His promises and our prayers. My dear brothers and sisters, do you have the FARMERS ATTITUDE?