Pay It Forward
60 Fold
It is most important
to define "it" so you can see
clearly what you are being required to
pay forward. "it" is simply
faith in the promises of God found in
the Holy Bible, that casue faith to grow.
1 These promises
are seeds that produce hope to yield fruit
under all growing conditions some thirty,
some sixty, and some a hundredfold. 2
The fruit is the awesome love of God always
increasing and abounding that brings encouragement
into the lives of others and your own
trying times. 3
Pay [Faith] Forward
As depicted in the movie
"Pay Forward", the little boy
believed passionately that his class project
would yield something good for others, if
put into action. Faith is acting upon your
belief that God's promises will not only
yield something good for you, but for everyone
who believes them. This spark of faith that
first ignited God's grace in your heart,
sparks the ability to "Pay it Forward."
This is thirty fold fruit bearing from a
heart of good ground that understands salvation
by grace through faith in the death, burial
and resurrection of Jesus Christ. 4
You should be concerned
if your life is not bearing fruit. Jesus
says "...when anyone hears the word
of the kingdom, and does not understand
it, then the wicked one comes snatches away
what is sown in his heart. This is he who
received the seed by the wayside. But he
who received the seed on stony places this
he he who hears the word and immediately
receives it with joy; yet he has no root
in himself, but endures only for a while.
For when tribulation or persecution arise
because of the word, immediately he stumbles.
Now, he who received seed among the thorns
is he who hears the word, and the cares
of this work and the deceitfulness of riches
choke the work, and he becomes unfruitful.
But he who receives seed on the good ground
is he who hears the word and understands
it, who indeed bears fruit and produces:
some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty."5
Maybe you need to acknowledge
your lack of understanding? it could be:
1) the devil stealing your
seed. 2) tribulation causing
you to stumble, or 3) the
cares of this world, deceitful riches choking
the seed. Regardless, you can not overcome
the world and bear fruit unless you understand
your identity in Christ. As your faith comes
alive, united in Christ's death, burial
and resurrection, the power to "Pay
It Forward" will spring forth a new
victorious attitude and testimony. For every
child of God defeats this evil world by
trusting Christ to give the victory. And
the ones who win this battle against the
world the ones who believe that Jesus is
the Son of God. 6
And you know that the Son of God has come,
and He has given you understanding so that
you can know the true God. And now you are
in God because you are in His son, Jesus
Christ. 7
Pay [Hope] Forward
Faith gives reality to
what you hope for exists. It convinces you
of things you can not see. 8
For instance, you hope for a better and
enduring reality in heaven. 9
By faith, your heart is convinced that God
raised Jesus Christ from the dead, so you
confess Him with your mouth as LORD. 10
You hope for His promised return, 11
Hope sees the spiritual realities which
transcend this world. I pray that your heart
will be flooded with light so that you can
understand the wonderful future God has
promised to you. I want you to realize what
a rich and glorious inheritance He has given
to you. 12 This blessed
hope enables you to bear fruit sixty fold.
Hope is the confident expectation
of good for every new moment of the day.
Whatever is good and perfect comes to you
from God above, who created all heaven's
lights. He never changes or casts a shifting
shadows. In His goodness He chose to make
you his own child by giving you His true
Word. And you, out of all creation, became
His choice possession. 13
You can hold on to His promises with confidence.
This confidence is like a strong and trustworthy
anchor for your souls. It leads you through
the curtain of heaven into God's inner sanctuary.
14 For He raised you
from the dead along with Christ, and you
are seated with Him in the heavenly realm
-- all because you are one with Christ Jesus.
15
You live with a wonderful
expectation because Jesus Christ rose from
the dead. For God has reserved a priceless
inheritance for His children, It is kept
in heaven for you, pure and undefiled, beyond
the reach of change and decay. 16
So think clearly and exercise self-control.
Look forward to the special blessings that
will come to you at the return of Jesus
Christ. Obey God because you are His child.
Don't slip back into your old ways of doing
evil; you didn't know any better then. But
now you must be holy in everything you do,
just as God -- who chose you to be His child
- is holy. For He Himself said, "You
must be holy because I am Holy." 17
As you walk connected to heaven in His holiness,
God's ability will flow forth to "Pay
It Forward."
Pay [Love] Forward
I Pray that God who gives
you hope wilI keep you happy and full of
peace as you believe in Him. May you overflow
with hope through the power of the Holy
Spirit. 18 There are
three things that will endure - faith, hope
and love -- and the greatest of
these is love. 19
Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous
or boastful or proud or rude. Love does
not demand Its own way. Love is not irritable,
and it keeps no record of when it has been
wronged. It is never giad about injustice
but rejoices whenever the truth wins out.
Love never gives up, never loses faith,
is always hopeful and endures through every
circumstance. Love never fails! 20
This is bearing fruit a hundredfold.
The fruit is God's love
from His throne in heaven flowing through
you. Jesus is the vine and you are one of
His branches. He cleanses you from the world,
the flesh and the devil as you abide, dwell
or remain [to settle down and make yourself
at home] in His love. 21
It is the anointing of the Holy Spirit that
enable you to know and believe the love
that God has for you. God is love, and all
who live in love live in God, and God lives
in them. 22 It is
not that you love God, but that He loved
you and sent His Son as a sacrifice to take
away your sins. 23
It is the message of God's love that cleanses
you to bear more fruit. You love each other
as a result of His loving you first. If
someone says, "I love God," but
hates another Christian, that person is
a liar; for if you don't love people you
can see, how can you love God, whom you
have not seen? And God Himself has commanded
that you must love not only Him but your
Christian brothers and sisters too. 24
It is the message of God's
love that brought you back to God through
what Christ did. And God has given you the
task of reconciling people to Him. You are
commissioned to "Pay tt Forward."
For God was in Christ, reconciling the world
to Himself, no longer counting people's
sins against them. Thls is the wonderful
message He has given you to tell others.
You are Christ's ambassadors, and God is
using me to speak to you. I urge you, as
though Christ Himself were here pleading
with you, "Be reconciled to God!"
For God made Christ, who never sinned, to
be the offering for your sin, so that you
could be made right with God through Christ.
25
A Prayer for Spirtual
Empowering
I pray to the Father, the
creator of everything in heaven and on eartn.
l pray that his glorious, unlimited resources
will give you mighty inner strength through
His Holy Spirit. I pray that Christ will
be more and more at home in your heart as
you trust in Him. May your roots go down
deep in to soil of God's marvelous love.
May you have the power
to understand, as all God's people should,
how wide, how long, how high, and how deep
His love really is. May you experience the
love of Christ. though it is so great you
will never fully understand it. Then you
will be filled with the fullness of life
and power that comes from God.
Now glory be to God! By
His mighty power at work within you, He
is able to accomplish infinitely more than
we would ever dare to ask or hope. May He
be given glory in the church and in Christ
Jesus forever and ever through endless ages.
Amen. 26
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