The Flower Garden
I have this manicured patch of weeds in my front yard!
A green thumb I definitely do not have. Gardening is one of those things that I consider work way more than relaxation. I think it goes back to my childhood. Living in rural East Texas, many folks have a garden each year. For us, it was a primary source of our annual groceries. What we did not eat fresh was often canned or frozen to be eaten later. Having three boys and one girl under the roof required alot of food, particularly as we hit our teen years! (I never knew quite how much until my kids have begun to devour everything edible!)
Because we had a large family, that meant we needed a large garden. Each year we planted somewhere around a 1/2 acre and my grandfather planted well over an acre. Thats alot of vegetables. I remember when I was small, my grandfather had an old mule, Jack. Each spring he would hook Jack up to his plow and spend all day Saturday going up and down the field, tearing up the soil and what was presently grown there. Later he upgraded to a rototiller after Jack passed.
Now vegetables are good (I used to not thing so.) but require alot of work, not so much for the vegetables but for the soil in which they grow. You have to break it up, clean it up, fertilize it, clean it again, break it again, make rows, plant seed, water, clean it, water, clean it, water, clean it and so forth for several months before you can reap your harvest.
Cleaning the soil was the part I hated. Cleaning the soil, basically meant pulling weeds. I have concluded nothing grows better in freshly turned soil, be it in east Texas or Northwest Washington than weeds. Man how I hated pulling weeds as a kid, and still do today.
Now my aversion to pulling weeds has posed a great problem for me. I moved into my house last December and it had this lovely patch of dirt that the previous person had been grooming for a flower bed. I thought how wonderful it would be to have those flowers in my yard. So as this year as developed, I realized as each passing day, the flowers werent there and the weeds were growing. Only a few at first, so I did not stress, but over time, it has become this lush green, ugly weed infested patch of dirt!
S
o yesterday, I got out there and started pulling weeds, and then I hired one of my kids to help, then I hired another, and then another! And low and behold it only took 7 hours with us pulling weeds to clear a patch of dirt 3 feet wide by about 30 feet long. I filled up my yard wast bin (55 gallon) over half full with weeds! What a sense of accomplishment. Cleaning the weeds and then turning the soil. It looked great. I even got so bold as to enlist the help of a neighbor to add a few plants.
However, when I awoke this morning and wanted to go bask in the glory of my accomplishment, I was shocked. Weeds! More weeds! They were poping up throughout. Argh!!!
Then as He often does, God challenged me. You see, that patch of dirt out front is alot like my life, and yours. Left unattended weeds will take root and grow. And the longer we neglect pulling the weeds the more will grow and they will spread. And when we do invest in cleaning them up, we can not sit back and think it is going to be pretty. No, it takes continual work. Weeds have a nack of always trying to spring up. Even when it looks like they may all be gone, there is always something more just under the surface that needs addressing.
Well as usual, I was challenged and boy did I find some weed patches. How about you? How is your garden today?
Proverbs 4:23 Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.
Matthew 23:23 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cummin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former.
Hebrews 2:1-3 1 We must pay more careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away. For if the message spoken by angels was binding, and every violation and disobedience received its just punishment, how shall we escape if we ignore such a great salvation? This salvation, which was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard him.
Honor God?
In a recent conversation, I was asked “Do you think you are honoring God with your life/actions?”
For some reason this question gripped me and sent me down the proverbial rabbit hole, so I thought I would take you with me a bit. So come along as I consider things.
I think to answer such a question, one must first consider what “honor” means. After reviewing several sources and definitions I derived the following definition of what I would consider honor to be:
To provide a source of credit and distinction by showing high respect, esteem and glory that sums itself as an act of devotion or worship by living a life of honesty, fairness, and integrity in one’s beliefs and actions.
What a mouthful! If I considered that definition when asked the question, I must regretfully say that I dont. I think that at times I come close and at other times I miss the mark entirely.
One of the biggest areas I think by which I personally miss the mark is that I often make my life about me. I can get things backwards and think and act like everything should revolve around me, but the truth is, it’s not about me, or you. It’s about Jesus Christ. I act and think that my thoughts or beliefs make a difference in the truth concerning our Creator and maker. However the truth in the Bible is that it is all about Jesus no matter your beliefs or religion for that matter. There is no other God. Jesus is the only way to a relationship with the one-and-only God. No matter what a person believes in this life, the Bible says, “every knee will bow, every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.” I fail to honor God when I make it all about me.
Another area that I think I miss the mark is in obedience. I fail to obey Him – at times, I am just downright disobedient. There are many possible reasons or excuses that I will often throw out why I disobey God. I am not going to explore all the possibilities now—I’ll save that for a later post—but they all come down to obedience or disobedience no matter what the reason. In short, the truth is this, if we understand and truly know who God is and understand our relationship with Him and how much He loves us there is no good reason to disobey Him. We should do, without hesitation, whatever God tells us to do but that is hard sometimes since our flesh doesn’t like some of what God wants. Jesus said it like this: “If you love me, you will obey what I command” (John 14:15).
So this morning I sit both humbled and somwhat ashamed in how I fail. I do love Him. I do want to obey. I do want to honor and bring Him honor. How about you?
Matthew 5;16 “In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.”
John 5:22-23 “Moreover, the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son, that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father, who sent him.”
One final word on this today, and that is for all of you who may feel a little like me today. Don’t loose heart. Don’t give up. He loves you. He is still there for you. He came for you, knowing who you were already! John 3:17 says “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” Rejoice! Get Up! Try again! Proverbs 24:16 ” . . . for though a righteous man falls seven times, he rises again . . .”
2 Corinthians 1:21-21: “Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.”
Floundering
Life, Faith, Relationships
It all gets a bit messy sometimes. The joy in our life ebbs and we wonder, “Where is God?”. We question, “How could He let this happen?”. We can very quickly find ourselves in a state of floundering. I like how the dictionary defines floundering, “to struggle with stumbling or plunging movements; to struggle clumsily or helplessly” I think, “yep, thats me alright!”.
My faith has been floundering lately. I have struggled with questioning God, asking at times where was He, Why wasnt He fixing things? How could this happen to me? Where did I fail? Then I recalled the story of the two fellas on their way to Emaus after the ressurection of Christ.
“That same day two of them were walking to the village Emmaus, about seven miles out of Jerusalem. They were deep in conversation, going over all these things that had happened. In the middle of their talk and questions, Jesus came up and walked along with them. But they were not able to recognize who he was. He asked, “What’s this you’re discussing so intently as you walk along?” They just stood there, long-faced, like they had lost their best friend. Then one of them, his name was Cleopas, said, “Are you the only one in Jerusalem who hasn’t heard what’s happened during the last few days?” He said, “What has happened?” They said, “The things that happened to Jesus the Nazarene. He was a man of God, a prophet, dynamic in work and word, blessed by both God and all the people. Then our high priests and leaders betrayed him, got him sentenced to death, and crucified him. And we had our hopes up that he was the One, the One about to deliver Israel. And it is now the third day since it happened. But now some of our women have completely confused us. Early this morning they were at the tomb and couldn’t find his body. They came back with the story that they had seen a vision of angels who said he was alive. Some of our friends went off to the tomb to check and found it empty just as the women said, but they didn’t see Jesus.”
Then he said to them, “So thick-headed! So slow-hearted! Why can’t you simply believe all that the prophets said? Don’t you see that these things had to happen, that the Messiah had to suffer and only then enter into his glory?” Then he started at the beginning, with the Books of Moses, and went on through all the Prophets, pointing out everything in the Scriptures that referred to him. They came to the edge of the village where they were headed. He acted as if he were going on but they pressed him: “Stay and have supper with us. It’s nearly evening; the day is done.” So he went in with them. And here is what happened: He sat down at the table with them. Taking the bread, he blessed and broke and gave it to them. At that moment, open-eyed, wide-eyed, they recognized him. And then he disappeared. Back and forth they talked. “Didn’t we feel on fire as he conversed with us on the road, as he opened up the Scriptures for us?”
They didn’t waste a minute. They were up and on their way back to Jerusalem. They found the Eleven and their friends gathered together, talking away: “It’s really happened! The Master has been raised up—Simon saw him!” Then the two went over everything that happened on the road and how they recognized him when he broke the bread.
You ever had one of those moments? Felt alone and abandoned by God? Then BAM! All of the sudden your eyes are opened and you recognize that he has been with you all along. I love that about Him. Even when I cant make sense of things, I can be assured He knows. Yes He knows and He cares! What more is needed?
Jeremiah 23:23-24 Am I a God at hand, saith the LORD, and not a God afar off? Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith the LORD. Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the LORD.
Elvis Has Left The Building
Growing up in the early to mid 70’s, there was one singer that my mom adored and always listened to, Elvis Presley. When Elvis died it was a time of mourning around our home, almost as if a member of the family died. I grew to enjoy not only his music but also his movies. I can remember dancing around and imitating the “king” and thinking how cool I would be if I could be like him. As a performer, Elvis often attracted wild crowds and people would linger and desire more when he finished, always hoping for an encore. A phrase that originated at the end of those events, “Elvis has left the building” would signify to fans that the concert was truly over and their would be no more Elvis tonight.
The phrase has since become one of those pop culture phrases that we all hear from time to time and occaisionally use ourselves. It is used to refer to anyone who has exited in some sense. For instance, it might be used when someone makes a dramatic exit, baseball announcers on radio or television sometimes use the phrase as a humorous way to describe a home run, which is typically hit over the outfield fence and into the stands.
This morning as I think about the true King, I am glad that He has not left the building. What an amazing performer Jesus is. He continues to deliver spectacular performance after performance, doing great and mighty things. And I long to dance around and imitate Him!
1 John 4:4 (New International Version) You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.
Colossians 1:10-14 (NIV) And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
Romans 8:38 – 39 (NIV) For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
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