1 Corinthians 3:6-17 (NKJV): I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase. Now he who plants and he who waters are one, and each one will receive his own reward according to his own labor. For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, you are God’s building.
According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation, and another builds on it. But let each one take heed how he builds on it. For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each one’s work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is. If anyone’s work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward. If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.
Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are.
Ephesians 2:8-10 (NKJV): For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.
WE ARE GOD’s PLANTERS, GOD's SOWERS, and GOD's FIELD, GOD’s BUILDINGS, GOD's TEMPLES, and GOD’s WORKMANSHIP, created in CHRIST JESUS for GOOD WORKS, which GOD prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. Each of us, created in GOD's image, according to His likeness, are fearfully and wonderfully made, with gifts and talents for the glory and honor of GOD, and each of us is LOVED and KNOWN by GOD the FATHER, who has a divine PLAN and PURPOSE for our lives.
We're called to LOVE GOD and LOVE OTHERS; we're called to PRAY, to HUMBLE ourselves, to BLESS, to GIVE, to SERVE, to FORGIVE, to SURRENDER, to OBEY, for we are the AMBASSADORS of CHRIST, the SONS and DAUGHTERS of the KING of KINGS: GOD; and we are JOINT-HEIRS with the LORD of LORDS and PRINCE of PEACE: JESUS. We're FISHERS of MEN, WOMEN, and CHILDREN; we're the EPISTLES of CHRIST--LIVING BIBLES and LOVE LETTERS to be READ in our generation.
We're SOJOURNERS--SOUL-SEARCHERS and WORLD TRAVELERS--MISSIONARIES and TEACHERS, EVANGELISTS and LEADERS, PROPHETS and PASTORS, APOSTLES and SERVANTS; we're CO-LABORERS with GOD and FOLLOWERS of JESUS, COMMISSIONED to GO into NATIONS--into FIELDS RIPE FOR HARVEST, to MAKE DISCIPLES, to SEARCH for SOULS, SEEK the LOST, and FISH for MEN, WOMEN and CHILDREN, not for the GLORY and HONOR of Self but for the WILL and PURPOSE of GOD.
We're not called to be PASSIVE and SILENT, to merely SIT and OBSERVE from the sidelines and comforts of our homes or to WATCH from televisions or church pews but to GO BEYOND OUR BUILDINGS, OUR SMARTPHONES, OUR TELEVISION SCREENS, OUR WALLS, and OUR COMFORT ZONES--into the streets, into the offices, the workplaces, the schools, the hospitals, the mental wards, the prisons, the cities, the countries, and the nations. We're to SHARE the GOOD NEWS, LAY the FOUNDATION of FAITH, and PREACH the GOSPEL--the UNCOMPROMISED WORD of GOD, that of JESUS CHRIST CRUCIFIED and RESURRECTED, that of THE RISEN SON, the LIVING GOD, the KING of KINGS.
We're to PLANT, WATER, and SOW, PROCLAIMING the KINGDOM of GOD and LETTING GOD GIVE THE INCREASE, CONVICTING the hearts of others, DRAWING HIS CALLED and CHOSEN into the SECURE HANDS, PROTECTION, HEART, and HOPE of JESUS CHRIST, after they have SUBMITTED to GOD, REPENTED of their sins--CHANGING THEIR MINDS, LIFESTYLES, and DIRECTIONS--and they have ACCEPTED GOD's GIFT of GRACE and have RECEIVED FORGIVENESS, SALVATION, HEALING, RENEWAL, PEACE, RECONCILIATION, and DELIVERANCE through JESUS' SACRIFICE of LIFE and BLOOD on CALVARY's CROSS.
THIS is GOD's FIELD of SOULS, and we are HIS FELLOW WORKERS, SERVANTS, TEACHERS, LEADERS, and MINISTERS--PLANTING, SOWING, and WATERING--LAYING A FOUNDATION of FAITH and BUILDING on that FOUNDATION of CHRIST JESUS--THE ROCK and CHIEF CORNERSTONE--and PRAYING for the HARVEST as GOD GIVES THE INCREASE--the SPIRITUAL GROWTH.
In the end, those of us who have LABORED WITH GOD, through JESUS CHRIST, through the GUIDANCE, POWER, and GIFTS of the HOLY SPIRIT, will REAP the BENEFITS and REWARDS of this LABOR of LOVE--ETERNAL LIFE in the FAVOR and PRESENCE of GOD. And what's important for us to remember, especially today in this generation that seems more addicted to possessions, creations, and technology than to the CREATOR, SAVIOR, and GIFT-GIVER: GOD, the FATHER, the SON, and the HOLY SPIRIT, is this TRUTH in GOD'sWORD: ONLY THESE THREE REMAIN--FAITH, HOPE, and LOVE--and only THESE THREE ARE ETERNAL: the SOULS of PEOPLE; the WORD of GOD; and the LIVING, TRIUNE GOD, who's unchanging--the same yesterday, today, and forever. And we are GOD's FIELD and GOD's PROPERTY--HIS BUILDINGS and HIS WORKMANSHIP--and HE IS and ALWAYS WILL BE OUR CREATOR and MASTER BUILDER, OUR HEAVENLY FATHER and OUR SOVEREIGN KING of KINGS: GOD, who IS the HEART, SOUL, and SPIRIT of LOVE.
