August 8

June 6

Volunteer

My late spring pot looks pretty barren. I planted a couple of marigolds, but that was it.  I knew that God would do the rest.  Probably 5 years ago I planted some vincas in this pot, and every year since they have  come up from seed "voluteer." Of course, they also come up in every crevice on my patio, too, which I don't mind either.  It reminds me that what we plant one year can have longer effects than what was originally intended.  What we sow, we also reap. We often think of that passage in the negative, warning people of the dangers of sowing bad deeds, but the passage ends in the positive. Sowing good things, even once, may benefit others for years to come. Think about how some word of encouragement that someone spoke to you years ago still lingers in your mind unbeknown to the speaker. "Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a person sows, this he will also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will reap destruction from the flesh, but the one who sows to the Spirit will reap eternal life from the Spirit. Let’s not become discouraged in doing good, for in due time we will reap, if we do not become weary. So then, while we have opportunity, let’s do good to all people, and especially to those who are of the household of the faith." Galatians 6:7-10

 

Wouldn't that be enough?

God has given us hundreds of promises in His Word. "I will never leave thee nor forsake thee." "Fear not for I am with thee." "And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus." "He careth for you." "the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoeverthou goest." But what if God had only given us the death of His Son for the redemption of our souls from everlasting torment? Wouldn't that be enough?

Consider all that Christ suffered for us. The physical torture: the beating, the scourging, the tearing of skin and muscle, the slaps in the face, the spit, the nails, the thorns, the weight of the cross after such abuse. The emotional suffering: the betrayal, the denial, the mockery, the loneliness, the fear. The spiritual anguish: the bearing of the sin of the whole world (especially mine), the turn of His Father's face from Him.

Wouldn't all that alone be enough for me to love Him with all of my heart, soul, mind, and strength for the rest of my earthly life and all through eternity? Wouldn't that be enough for me to serve Him all my days even if there were no other promises? Wouldn't that be enough?

Only fear the LORD, and serve Him in truth with all your heart; for consider what great things He has done for you.
I Samuel 12:24

Oaks of Righteousness

When God uproots, he plants something beautiful. After His judgment comes mercy.

Is. 61.
The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me,
because the LORD has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim freedom for the captives
and release from darkness for the prisoners,

2 to proclaim the year of the LORD's favor
and the day of vengeance of our God,
to comfort all who mourn,

3 and provide for those who grieve in Zion—
to bestow on them a crown of beauty
instead of ashes,
the oil of gladness
instead of mourning,
and a garment of praise
instead of a spirit of despair.
They will be called oaks of righteousness,
a planting of the LORD
for the display of his splendor.

4 They will rebuild the ancient ruins
and restore the places long devastated;
they will renew the ruined cities
that have been devastated for generations.

5 Aliens will shepherd your flocks;
foreigners will work your fields and vineyards.

6 And you will be called priests of the LORD,
you will be named ministers of our God.
You will feed on the wealth of nations,
and in their riches you will boast.

7 Instead of their shame
my people will receive a double portion,
and instead of disgrace
they will rejoice in their inheritance;
and so they will inherit a double portion in their land,
and everlasting joy will be theirs.

8 "For I, the LORD, love justice;
I hate robbery and iniquity.
In my faithfulness I will reward them
and make an everlasting covenant with them.

9 Their descendants will be known among the nations
and their offspring among the peoples.
All who see them will acknowledge
that they are a people the LORD has blessed."

10 I delight greatly in the LORD;
my soul rejoices in my God.
For he has clothed me with garments of salvation
and arrayed me in a robe of righteousness,
as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest,
and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.

11 For as the soil makes the sprout come up
and a garden causes seeds to grow,
so the Sovereign LORD will make righteousness and praise
spring up before all nations.

My Thrown-away Garden

Lots of people have beautifully landscaped yards instantly by visiting their local garden shop and purchasing flowers and bushes that are half-grown which they only have to stick in the ground. Me? Well, a meager yard budget has forced me over the years to get my backyard foliage a little at a time mostly by rescuing plants that other people have discarded. A few years ago, our neighbors on the right side had some azaleas that were dying in their backyard. They pulled them up and dumped them in the empty lot on the left side of our house. Of course I eyed them immediately and dragged them to the back yard. They were pitifully spindly and weak, but I saw what looked like a hint of life left in them. What was I to lose? If they died, I wasn't out any money. So, I pruned them back drastically to cut off dead limbs to encourage new growth. At the same time, I had to leave some weak looking branches that had the few surviving leaves in which to collect sunlight. They had an awkward shape, but the next year they looked a little healthier and I was able to cut off a few more limbs and shape them up a bit. Each year I've babied them along until this year although not very large, they are full of healthy leaves. My garden may take me forever, but there is a certain satisfaction of rescuing something that is dying or that someone else is tired of and giving it a home in my backyard and watch it flourish. It reminds me a little of our rescuing God. Only it is more amazing that while He has the resources to discard us and begin again, He chooses to rescue us and place us in His kingdom. For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son (Col 1:13 NASV)

Are you wandering in the desert?

Some wandered in desert wastes,
finding no way to a city to dwell in;
hungry and thirsty,
their soul fainted within them.
Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble,
and he delivered them from their distress.
He led them by a straight way
till they reached a city to dwell in.
Let them thank the LORD for his steadfast love,
for his wondrous works to the children of man!
For he satisfies the longing soul,
and the hungry soul he fills with good things.
Ps. 107:4-9

Today's Seed of Thought

"How do I know that God loves me?" If someone off the street had asked me that, without thinking I probably would have blurted out, "He has given me a wonderful husband and fine children and a nice place to live and..." So... what about the woman whose husband has left her in unfaithfulness? Does God love her less? What about the homeless man? Does God not love him? There is only one right answer to this question. I know that God loves me because he gave the supreme sacrifice of His Son in order to redeem this worthless self from eternal damnation. Nothing else in this world matters. Lord, forgive me for thinking of anything else except Your ultimate gift as the proof of Your love! That seed of thought germinated from the short and focused presentation of a teenager at church last night. Thank you, Erika.

Dependence

"For whatsoever is not of faith is sin."Romans 14:23

This verse has often bewildered me until recently. God desires that we be totally dependent upon Him. When we are independent, we are acting wholly within ourselves and faith is absent. As I watch my flowers grow I am reminded that they exemplify total dependence upon God. They cannot germinate unless God grants the proper conditions. They cannot grow and thrive unless God sends rain and sunshine. They are totally at God's mercy. If He should withhold the rain or send a blast of wind to uproot them, there is no rebellion among the plant kingdom. They quietly submit to His plan. They do not spend their days worrying about what is on the morrow. Why then do His creatures that He has formed in His image fret and scheme to control their own lives?

Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? Matt. 6:28-30

Patience

Nasturtium has a very hard seed coat. I planted some a week ago and the only reason they are sprouting this soon is because I soaked them in warm water before I planted them. They are just breaking ground now. The waiting is the hard part.

I remember praying day after day, month after month, and then year after year for my sons with very hard seedcoats. I knew that the Lord would soften them in time...but how much time, I didn't know. I wondered if I was praying right and sought out some books on prayer. With Christ in the School of Prayer by Andrew Murray soon became a favorite. I was encouraged by his chapter on persevering prayer: "But why, if this be true and His power be infinite, does it often last so long with the answer to prayer? And why must God's own elect so often, in the midst of suffering and conflict, cry day and night?...'Behold! the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, being long-suffering over it, till it receive the early and the latter rain' [James 5:7]. The husbandman does indeed long for his harvest, but knows that it must have its full time of sunshine and rain and has long patience. A child so often wants to pick the half-ripe fruit; the husbandman knows to wait till the proper time."

Weeding the Garden of my Heart

I've been working in the yard trying to get it up to shape after a busy school year. We have bermuda grass which is beautiful in the yard, but it creeps into the garden. I was amazed at how much had grown into the beds, and then I remembered that last summer unexpected responsibilities kept me from weeding as I should. Had I caught those little sprouts of grass last year when their roots were small, it would have been an easy job then and an easy job now. But as it is, the roots had a whole year to spread deeper and take a stronger hold on the dirt, and they have vowed not to let go without making me struggle. My body has complained every night for the last week and a half, yet there is still more stubborn grass to pull and dig. Even more irritating is the knowledge that I'm not getting it all. There are so many hidden runners deep in the heavy clay that it is impossible to get it all. After the mulch is laid, they will send up their little blades to taunt me.

"Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life." Prov. 4:23. This experience reminds me of how important it is to keep my heart garden weeded everyday. When I let even a little harmless sin go, it takes deeper and stronger root even when the visible part is doing little. It is going to be harder to get rid of it because I can't see where all the roots have spread, and until I get it all, it will keep popping up. I need the Master Gardener to point out to me these little sprouts and help me be strong to unroot them no matter how painful it may be.

The promise of a seed

Every seed appears to have promise. From the outside one seed looks like all the others. It is only when we place it in the ground and allow the outside to die that we really find out if the inside has life. "Truly,truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. He who loves his life loses it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it to life eternal." John 12:24-25