The Root of the Problem
Father, thank You for helping me to get up and at it. My bed was so comfy but time with you will be much more beneficial! Open my ears that I might hear. Amen.
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I am by no means an avid gardener but I have done my fair share of yard work (and there is a bunch of it that needs to be done now!). I love flowers and have on occasion written of nature and how it can reflect our own actions. As it often happens, on one of my trips down the hall last night, Lord, I believe You “planted” a thought in my heart.
Just saying the word “dandelion” can generate a fair amount of responses – especially from those who enjoy green lawns in the spring and early summer. Beyond herbicides getting rid of them is very problematic.
We have a nice flower bed in front of our home. We have a bench, three nicely painted pavers, a bird bath amidst a cluster of beautiful holly bushes along with an array of beautiful perennials – mums, coneflowers, black-eyed susans, sedum, and, of course…dandelions!
No matter how many times I try to pull those little boogers up, they come back! And most of us know why. When we pull them out, inevitably there is part of the taproot, which can be up to 10 inches long, left in the soil. And any part of it left generates a whole new plant! It is a never-ending battle!
Do you see where this is going? What has the same impact on our spiritual lives? Sin. For all of humanity, sin is something which we must always be on the lookout to eliminate from our lives. Quite often we have those sins that seem to impact us in particular. We come to Christ seeking forgiveness and the sin in our lives is eradicated. Though our sin may be “cast into the depths of the sea” (Micah 7:19) our minds do not so readily forget them.
We have been forgiven through and through but our memories are the taproot. We may go for days and not be bothered by them, because we live in a world full of sin, something we see or hear stirs that memory and that “taproot” begins to regenerate.
First, keep James 1:13-15 in mind,
13 And remember, when you are being tempted, do not say, “God is tempting me.” God is never tempted to do wrong, and he never tempts anyone else. 14 Temptation comes from our own desires, which entice us and drag us away. 15 These desires give birth to sinful actions. And when sin is allowed to grow, it gives birth to death.
And then secondly, remember 1 Corinthians 10:13,
The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure.
We have the Master Gardener by our side – he never leaves or forsakes us (Deuteronomy 31:6). He is our Savior! Thanks be to God!
Oct 25th, 2018, Thurs, 6:48 am
As the Lightning Flashes!
I need this time with You this evening, Father. Draw me close, clear my mind of everything but You and Your word. Amen.
Matthew 24:26-35 (<<click to read the passage)
To my recollection, one of the most intense experiences of lightning was riding with a group of men in a passenger van as we were returning from a Promise Keepers’ event in Pittsburg several years ago. I don’t know how the driver could even see where he was going, the rain was torrential and it seemed, to me at least, that the lightening just didn’t let up! It lit up the night sky with great ferocity and with its accompanying thunder it was quite the experience!
If you are in even close proximity to a thunderstorm, you have no question at all of what is happening!
In reading some of the commentary on this portion of Scripture in my study Bible*, I read a sentence that is just great! In regard to Christ’s return, it says, “If you have to be told that the Messiah has come, then he hasn’t.” It then refers back to verse 27,
“For as the lightning flashes in the east and shines to the west, so it will be when the Son of Man comes.”
[“Son of Man” is a title Jesus used for himself.]
Jesus Himself said,
“So if someone tells you, ‘Look, the Messiah is out in the desert,’ don’t bother to go and look. Or, ‘Look, he is hiding here,’ don’t believe it!”
When Jesus returns – and He most assuredly will – we will all know. And ready…or not…that’s where we will find ourselves. May we all make our decisions now, while there is still time. When He returns, time will be up.
*Life Application Study Bible New Living Translation
Oct 24th, 2018, Wed, 6:10 pm
The Real Deal!
Good morning, Father! Thank You for encouraging me to join You this morning – there is no better way to start my day! May I hear You clearly in our time together. Amen.
Matthew 24:1-25 (<<click to read the passage)
Lord, Your word is replete with warnings of what the future will hold –in Old Testament and New. It’s interesting to read that, much like us, Your disciples wanted particulars, asking, “Tell us, when will all this happen?” And then they asked another question with which many in our day have become obsessed, “What sign will signal your return and the end of the world?”
Jesus’ reply? “Don’t let anyone mislead you…”
I have seen it happen, many are so intrigued with “knowing” what will take place and all the many particulars that they easily become misled. Quite often it is not so much that they are renouncing the truth of Christ but they become so consumed with their searching that they put little time or effort into what is truly important, following Christ!
One of the things in retail that we are on the lookout for constantly is counterfeit currency. Over the years it has been stressed to me that the best way to recognize counterfeit bills is to thoroughly know what genuine bills look and feel like. We can be easily deceived! One of the big problems not too long ago was counterfeiters bleaching $5 bills and then printing $20 bills on the paper. They would “look” real, and they surely felt real but just holding it up to the light, the watermark of the president’s face gave it away – Lincoln’s face was not Jackson’s!
Our focus and time and attention should always be on the real deal. We must always be about seeking the face of Jesus Christ! We mustn’t waste our time trying to figure out who the imposter is or will be. Look to Christ!
Oct 23rd, 2018, Tues, 6:28 am
Little Red Hen
Father, my heart is heavy this afternoon. A wonderful woman from one of my churches is in the midst of her last days with us. You will be welcoming her home soon. Watch over the family and hold them close. Amen.
Matthew 23:37-39 (<<click to read the passage)
As a child, I remember a series of books that were meant to communicate a theological message to children. They had big full-color pictures which I loved.
One I have thought of off and on over the years was called The Little Red Hen. The story is about a little red hen that, sensing danger from an onrushing prairie fire, gathers her chicks beneath her, losing her own life in the fire, but protects her brood from harm. One little chick that did not come to the mother is lost.
Of course, the lesson that is communicated is that Christ did the same for us, giving His very life that we might be saved.
Reading these verses brought it to mind again. The header over this passage in the New Living Translation is Jesus Grieves over Jerusalem. The Amplified Bible’s header reads Lament over Jerusalem. Lament is defined as a passionate expression of grief or sorrow. Jesus’ heart breaks for us. He longs (can I emphasize that word any more?) to gather us together under His protective wings. He loves us more than we can even begin to comprehend but so, so many refuse to find comfort there. But, truly, who knows us better than He?
Once again Ephesians 1:4 speaks volumes,
Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes.
Lord, help us to be drawn to You. May we understand that the greatest of comfort and protection is found in Your loving embrace. Amen.
Oct 22nd, 2018, Mon, 3:29 pm
Rightly Rebuked!
Father, I am grateful for Your presence throughout this day, in both worship services and in our time with family, as well as, traveling to and fro. As I quiet my heart this evening, may I hear what You have for me. Amen.
Matthew 23:13-36 (<<click to read the passage)
Lord, reading through these verses it is obvious that You held absolutely nothing back! The words You used were biting but totally appropriate! Words like hypocrites, blind guides, blind fools, snakes, sons of vipers! But…but You are love! How could You say such things?
Again I will stress, who You were talking to here. You weren’t talking to the lost, as such. You weren’t talking to those who didn’t really know any better. You blasted those who supposedly knew Your Law inside and out, from top to bottom! Those who intellectually knew all there was to know but spiritually were a parched dry land!
Yes, You most assuredly are love but there are times when tough love is the only means possible to get through to us. We have thick heads and hard hearts and soft, polite little niceties just won’t cut it!
My study Bible* lists Seven Sorrows,
23:13…………Not letting others enter the Kingdom of Heaven
and not entering yourselves
23:15…………Converting people away for God to be like
yourselves
23:16-22……Blindly leading God’s people to follow man-made
traditions instead of God’s Word
23:23-24……Involving yourself in every last detail and ignoring
what is really important: just mercy, and faith
23:25-26……Keeping up appearances while your private world
is corrupt
23:27-28……Acting spiritual to cover up sin
23:29-36……Pretending to have learned from past history, but
your present behavior show you have learned
nothing
It goes on to say that these are “still applicable anytime we become so involved in perfecting the practice of religion that we forget that God is also concerned with mercy, real love, and forgiveness.”
Lord, this list had to sting the religious leaders of Your day and if we are guilty of them Your words should sting us into repentance, as well. May we be attuned to Your will and hold nothing back in following Your direction – rebukes included. Amen.
*Life Application Study Bible New Living Translation
Oct 21st, 2018, Sun, 9:02 pm