Joan Boney ... apostle/prophet
I was watching a movie where active, purposeful people were interacting in a setting in New York City. These people were very busy doing things that other people viewed as meaningful. They had very full, interesting lives. As I watched, I was remind of the following: "Your labor in the Lord is not in vain." In an instant I knew all the things these people were doing were in vain. Their lives are only good for this present earth. That which I do in the Lord will carry on though all eternity.
Yet my life seems almost non-existent. (except for the Internet writings) To my neighbors it would look as if I do nothing. But my life is hid in Christ ... so it is not really that visible at this present moment.
For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. 4When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory. Col. 3
Jesus said ...He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it. Mt. 10:39
The following scripture is a strong light for me at the present time:
be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord. I Cor. 15:58
Don't allow yourself to be moved (affected) by feelings, by how things seem to be. Focus on the truth. Your labor is not in vain in the Lord. Often memories will come of projects I did before I was born again and I am ashamed. I know those works that I thought to be so very important were of no value at all though I spent my time and effort on them. They are worthless. But my labor in the Lord is not in vain. I won't have to be ashamed of that which God has authored. Instead it glorifies God because it is of God. The other things were of my own ideas, of my own flesh and are worthless. So many of the great things people do are worthless when seen though the eyes of God. Their works are like the grass which grows up in splendor only to be cut down. But the labor we do in the Lord will not be in vain. The scriptures we choose to obey will not be in vain. And if it cost us our lives on this earth (loss of family, loss of friends, loss of reputation, loss of money), it will not be in vain. And what it is like is the following:
the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls: 46Who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it. Mt. 13