Paul was writing to the Galatian people and selected positive words to communicate a basic principle.  He was discussing how we reap what we sow.  What we put into our ears, minds, hearts and lives is what we find pouring out of our minds, hearts, mouths and lives.  But instead of going into some long discourse over the perils of wrongful and harmful input, he simply says, “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up” (Galatians 6:9, NIV).  If we fill our lives with doing good, more good results.

Never give up doing what is good.  The point is positive.  Do good.  And while you are at it, keep doing good.  And when you grow weary, keep doing good anyway.  Even if we feel ineffective, doing good must prevail.  The message is of perseverance and promise.  We will continue positive activity in our lives if we keep a constant positive flow coming in.

I grew up on rock and roll and contemporary Christian music in the 70s.  Today, my favorite styles of music are not surprisingly classic rock and contemporary Christian music.  Go figure.  I had heavy doses of both growing up and still indulge today.  I know perfectly well that some rock music is certainly not “spiritually healthy”, but the drummer in me needs a driving beat occasionally.  I can tell when I spend too much time in that world as my attitude slowly transforms and becomes increasingly negative and rebellious.

When I allow too much negative input into my system, negative output soon follows.  This is not necessarily limited to my musical selections.  I can listen to gossip, or pessimistic people, or groaning neighbors, or TV talk shows, etc. and have the same outcome; a poor, pathetic attitude.  Am I also describing you?

Paul’s words remind me there is a positive and a negative side to all matters, and this text tells me that taking the high road is always the better choice.  I want to be positive in my life.  I have complete control over this by careful consideration of what I put in.

Sooner or later what you put into your life will win.  This can be good or bad news dependent upon your choice of input.  If you are like me, you prefer positive, healthy input.  As you also consider your treatment of others, be mindful of the input you project into their lives.  People need positive encouragement.

Please “pardon our progress” as this blog will soon be undergoing some slight restructuring.  This blog will become the area where I post sermon summaries and general devotional thoughts.  My other blog, http://davidpepplersr.blogspot.com is dedicated to leadership development and encouragement.  I find it best to separate the two instead of having one blog try to encompass too wide a topical appeal.  Thank you for your patience with me and I look forward to rekindling the fires of blogging in the very near future.

http://davidpepplersr.blogspot.com/

I am entering into a remarkably busy time in life from now through July 2011.  My final two semesters of formal education are going to be overflowing with commitments.  I want to thank you for your loyal readership.  Just knowing that the words on this blog are helpful is all the motivation I need to keep it rolling.

I do not anticipate having any time to write until classes are completed.  However, once they are behind me I am actually anticipating MUCH time for writing!  In addition to this blog, I also have created files for the beginnings of four books I intend to author.  Time will tell how all of that transpires.

For now, thank you again for reading what is on here.  I may pop in some devotional work between classes, but I must make this commitment to you and to myself – I will not be driven by the guilt I have felt in the past year for not posting regularly here.  If I allow that to be my motivation for writing, I can assure you that none of it will be worthy of the standards to which I hold myself.  I know you understand.

God bless you.  I look forward to rekindling my keyboard and this website.

Dave

My challenge to those of you who are not in ministry or church leadership positions is to pray this prayer for your pastor and other leaders.  It isn’t very often we ministers hear of such prayers being offered for us.

1. May your people have the boldness to invite many unchurched friends to attend with them
   
2. May God prepare the soil of newcomers’ hearts to receive the seeds you are sowing and be fruitful ground for growth
   
3. May you see more baptisms than ever in your church’s history
4. May every attender grow closer to God and more committed to serving him
5. May the Holy Spirit clearly show the direction you need to lead your people
6. May your people be so focused on their mission for God that they don’t have time to even notice the little internal things that can lead to dissension
7. May you see beyond your walls and find new ways to bless your community
8. May all your people find a new love for, and desire to be in, the Bible
9. May all your ministries move further from informing to transforming
10. May God give you release from good ministries to focus resources on best ministries
11. May you have a fresh excitement about your ministry

Pray these things for your church leadership.  Trust me, it will be GREATLY appreciated!