been a loooooooong time i know...

There's no excuse like the one of being too busy. And it's not like I have many words of my own to share with you right now, but I do have some things to share. First, I miss you all and hope you're having a great new year. I've been working with the video team here as they are now live streaming the services, which if you're sitting there like, "so what kinds of things to they teach you there?" you might be interested in checking this out....
www.ibethel.tv/media/free

And the second thing I want to share comes from my good friend and leader in school, Jason Vallotton. He's actually a couple months younger than me but seems to have the wisdom of a grandfather. Here was something he recently wrote...the deeper you look into it, the more amazing it becomes in your life...

The fruit of the hard times...

Oh the pain of plowing and the reward of reaping. Broken blisters cover the sewer’s hands as he works to break up the heat baked ground. He’s beat down by the scorching sun, there is no escape from the dusty hot air that his labor is producing. He works tirelessly from dusk till dawn, day in and day out to produce something that will not be enjoyed for months to come. The work is endlessly tiresome and grueling at best. For him, the end is not yet in sight, for breaking the hard ground is the first part in this long process of sowing seed.

It is the fruit of the hard times that will carry him through the good times. The fruit that he produces in this curtail time will actually create the enjoyable seasons in his near future. The farmer understands this principle; he knows it because this core value has been passed down through the generational lines from his great grandfathers. He is not worried about the heavy price that he is paying now; he is not concerned that the seed will not grow. He is diligent in his work knowing full well that what he plants will grow. Former generations have handed him the faith that he operates from. Experience has given him the confidence to labor, knowing that it will not be in vain.

The lazy man has no generations of wisdom to fall back on. He sleeps during the heat of the day knowing all to well that the only thing a hard days work in the sun produces is blisters and heatstroke. There is no expectancy of good times or abundance; he is not concerned about the future because he is too busy trying to survive today while exerting the least amount of effort possible. This man has not been taught about the secret of the hard times; he only knows of the punishment that hard labor dishes out. His view of the world justifies his lifestyle; to him it is better to beg through the winter than to sacrifice in the spring. These people are in the church they are the ones that are never full; they look anemic and are dying all the time to get what you have. Crisis follows them around like collectors chase debt. I am not talking about the hungry in the body that are sowing from what they are eating, I am talking about the habitual taker that has no vision for sowing. To be honest, many of us have areas in our life that are like this, it may not be your whole life, but it may be one area.

Another reality letter.

Sometimes we don’t understand why we only have hard times in this life, I want to tell you that you are not sowing in the hard times, you are surviving. There is a dramatic difference between working towards the future and surviving today. This is an easy mentality to get into to. Laziness (lack of vision) creeps into areas of our life slowly crating complacency, soon you will settle for a hot meal at the end of the day instead of a harvest planted. Success will be whittled down to a full belly and a warm bed at night. Because of the lack of sewing seed, there is no harvest for the future. Every bit of his seed is eaten in order to preserve his life. If he wants to break this cycle he will have to understand this principle, the present will always have to sacrifice for a brighter future.

There is a great opportunity that comes with every hard season for those who have eyes. The farmer’s mentality should be put into action and the work must begin. There is an excitement that comes for the farmer every season, he is not excited about the blisters but he is excited about what the pain produces. I have said it a million times in the past letters and I will say it again, adversity pushes a great man to the top. The resistance that hard ground creates produces strength for the farmer, this strength will carry him all through his life, it will be the strength that he will use in he elderly years. The wisdom he gained through the labor will carry on beyond his years passed down through his family. His faith will become their faith, in the tough seasons; his son’s will use the testimony of their father to produce a harvest in their life and there will always be enough.

The Lord created adversity; He is not afraid of resistance and his first concern is not our comfort. We must change the way that we view hard labor. We spend countless hours watching TV, and listening to the news. We fill our minds with our Sports Illustrated subscriptions investing all of our time in things that produce no future harvest. These things are not bad in moderation, it can be a healthy escape when the labor of the day is done, but when this becomes the seed that we are sowing, you can only expect to reap a limited harvest, one that will be malnutrition and fruitless at best.

The seed that you sowed today came from the fruit of last years harvest. It is important to begin to look into the future and begin to sacrifice now so that you will have something to plant when the next season arrives. What does planting look like? To me it looks like stewarding the season that you are in. What ever your hand finds to do, do it will all your might. I will make a separate letter on this issue, but it really breaks down to the simple things, spend time working on the season that you are in. If you are raising children, spend time working through love and logic until you master it. If you are working on heart identity issues, use your free time to review who you are in Christ over and over again until it becomes who you are. If you don’t have money, give… What ever you want you first have to sow.

Spend your time preparing your mind for greatness; fill your life with the wisdom of God. Use the wisdom of God to show you where to Labor towards your future, sowing where the ground is fertile. Plant the seeds of truth that come from a life of diligent seeking and prepare for abundance. You will have more than enough to give and prosperity will follow you like success follows wisdom.

The fruit of hard times will be what thrusts you into your destiny. This harvest will be enjoyed way beyond your golden years. What has been sown through the sacrifice of your youth will be passed down and carried throughout the generations. So the next time you inter into the “difficult seasons of life”, break the crust on the dry ground and prepare for the fruit of the hard times…