TO THINK THE UNTHINKABLE ...TO SEE THE UNSEEABLE

     And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.    REVELATION 21:3

 

     You probably know somebody who thinks he is pretty smart, knowledgeable or maybe even a ‘know-it-all’.  Others might say that he know just enough to be dangerous.  You may have progressed to the point of knowing enough to ask good questions.  Actually, I have reached the point in life where the more I know the more I know how much I don’t know.

     When Daniel was thrown into the fiery furnace, or was that the Hebrew children.  No, they were the ones who went through the desert for forty days and walked on water.  No? One thing that is to know for sure is that their God was the god, the Creator-Father who brought us all into being and later came to the earth as the Son to live for us and to die for us.  And He was resurrected and ascended into Heaven. And that God knows each of us individually and that He calls us unto himself.  Now, that’s something to know!
     To look at God would be to see Him with our sinful and corrupt eyes, attempting to comprehend the incomprehensible. Lou 8/04/12

THY WILL BE DONE

“The fields of Heshbon wither the vines of Sibmah also. The rulers of the nations have trampled down the choicest vines, which once reached Jazer and spread toward the desert. Their shoots spread out and went as far as the sea.”   Isaiah 16:8

     Spring time is planting time. Farmers and gardeners alike are up at the crack of dawn, readying their equipment and gathering together seeds, bulbs and all the other paraphernalia required to begin their year, their crops and their gardens. Then the weather that they did not want, hits.  It’s too dry, too cold, too wet. And yet they struggle to get started.

     Sometimes we have calamities in the gardens of our lives but it is not God punishing us as He was doing to Moab.  Moab had become proud, conceited and insolent.  God was punishing her for not remaining true.  When we walk with God, in his garden, we are focused on His will; that it might be done here on Earth as it is in Heaven.
     Often, walking with God down the garden pathways of our lives is best accomplished by walking behind him to better see his pathway and to follow in each of his holy footprints.

 “This, then, is how you should pray: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”  Matthew 6:9-10

GARDEN TIP: Spring is a good time to thatch and over-seed the lawn.  Thatch buildup can smother your lawn and provide an environment for diseases.  Remove thatch with a brisk raking, a de-thatching machine, or a special blade for your mower that accomplishes the dethatching.  Aerating small gardens can be accomplished with a pitch fork or similar garden tool.

 

STEWARDSHIP: THE GOOD THE BAD AND THE UGLY

  “ . .  From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.’’ LUKE 12:48

     I need to write about stewardship to remind myself how I need to look at both good and the bad, the bright and the dark side of life.  The dark side of life is the opposite of the bright side.  That is profound!  But think of the times (as often I must), like this week and last week, when there seems to be a preponderance of dark stuff as I continue to deal with surgery to correct some of the aftermath of  prostate cancer. I understand that this is not my whole life, cancer, it just happens to be the focus, presently, the dark stuff of which I am equally accountable.    

     Dark stuff, bad stuff, cancer, lupus, unemployment and the list could go on to include whatever is in your life currently just seems to block out the sunshine and the Son-shine.  Just because I, we, can’t see the light, doesn’t mean that there is no light.  It just means the absence of light, at the moment. 

     I was sharing with a friend who is going through a particularly dark moment in her life as she battles Lupus and its’ seemingly insurmountable list of ways it can affect ones body. I, too, experience those dark days when the storm(s) rage mightily.  And, it is tough for all of us.  But, when the storms are great and the fear and doubt are ever present...I can’t tell God how big my storms are.  I must tell the storms how big my, our, God is.

 

     We can not let our storms take us to the depth of depression but we must take our storms to the mountain tops of prayer where we can meet with our Source...our source of Son Shine. Let not the deluge of despair cause you to wallow in the darkness of self-pity but encourage you to bath in God’s sunshine of compassion.

     “The disciples went and woke him, saying, “Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!”  He replied, “You of little faith, why are you so afraid?” Then he (Jesus) got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm.”  MATTHEW 8:25-26

GARDENING TIP:  The purchase of a 'spare' plant or tree which can be parked near by can often be an inexpensive way to replace an invaluable foundation or specimen plant. 

DUMPED ON

     “Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. ¹² For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against . . . the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”     EPHESIANS 6:11-12

     Isaac intensified becoming a Category One hurricane.  News and weather people reported it was barely a hurricane...just a Cat One. It was just a Cat One but when Isaac slowed to a walk for an extended stopover in the Big Easy there was a dump, dump, dump of rain. Like being run over by a slow moving eighteen wheeler which stopped, backed up only to run over you again, and again, and again.

     Life in our gardens is often a lot like that.  The minor problems, small mistakes, Cat One sins are ever present, relentlessly recurring.  They happen over and over again because we don’t prevent them or protect ourselves and they stop, back up and run us down again.

     However, there is hope.  Honor God, seek his word, listen for His voice, the Holy Spirit, the voice we hear deep in our souls.  Daily devotions, verse memorization and prayer give us daily protection from those small storms that sneak in under our radar.  Put on the full armor of God that you might be able to withstand Satan’s arrows of sin that dump guilt and shame on us every day, day after day, all day long.

    “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”    ROMANS 12:2

Gardening tip: When using any kind of chemicals (if you must) always read the labels; wear protective clothing or gloves; do not use chemicals in areas where spillage or usage results in contamination of the local water cycle.