What Are You Harvesting?
After a full day Father, I come before You. I am humbled as I sit in Your presence, to be used of You. I would ask that You would use to their fullest the gifts I have been given, they were given to me by You, and they are best used according to Your will.
Romans 7:1-6 (<<click here to read the passage)
I recently saw a clip of a cooking show on TikTok (♫♬ oh, be careful little eyes what you see ♬♫ – always be wary) and there was a 19-year-old contestant, who though fairly talented, was eliminated early on. His circumstances were tragic in that he was his family’s source of income – his parents, if I remember correctly, had some very serious physical problems. He wept when he lost but, one of the judges, a hard-nosed but well-respected chef in his own right, spoke to him.
In essence, he told the young man not to worry. Though he was being eliminated, he saw the gift he had, and rather than seeing him return to a potentially dead-end career in the fast-food industry, he offered instead to send him to culinary school and to support his family in the meantime! Wow!
The young man was overwhelmed. The chef made it very clear, that the talent was there but without help, he may never see his dreams and talent bloom into very possible greatness! And he wanted to give him every opportunity to see it become a reality!
Before Jesus became known to us verse 5 tells us that we were controlled by our old nature, sinful desires were at work within us, and the law aroused these evil desires that produced a harvest of sinful deeds…
That’s just the way it was. We were born with that old nature – we had no choice in the matter. But as time went on, we did make decisions – we willingly, knowingly yielded to those sinful desires…we allowed them to work within us. And whether we embraced those evil desires or felt that we had no other option but to yield, that is what we were compelled to do.
But then a light shined on our world of darkness, maybe we knew we had potential and maybe not…but Jesus surely knew whom we were created to be! He saw – and continues to see! – what we can become. But in our own strength, in our enslaved state of lostness – separated from God by our sin and rebellion, we cannot overcome our lostness.
But then came Jesus! When we died to the power of the law – all the rules and regulations that pointed out our sins and wrongdoings – we died to its hold upon our lives when [we] died with Christ. vs 4
The remainder of verse 4 goes on to say,
And now [we] are united with the one who was raised from the dead. As a result, we can produce a harvest of good deeds for God. NLT
Our circumstances were surely tragic, and we were doomed to eternal elimination but a higher power – indeed our very Creator! – reached out and gave us what only He could give – our salvation! With the blessings of His grace and mercy, Jesus has set us on the path to see our dreams and talent bloom into a promise of greatness – no guessing here! And only because of His sacrifice does that opportunity become a reality! Amen and amen!
Jan 15th, 2023, Sun, 7:38 pm
No Neutral
It is time for me to focus, Father. May I set aside all that would distract me and may my eyes be fixed on You. Amen.
Romans 6:15-23 (<<click here to read the passage)
Every single time I stop to pick up or drop off a student I set the emergency (parking) brake on my school bus and put it in neutral. There is no chance of it going forward or backward of its own accord. For the sake of safety, that is what is required. With the emergency brake engaged, even if I put my bus in gear it would be unable to move.
I’m sure that you have noticed that in life there is no emergency brake. No matter how strong our desire to slow things down to prolong joy or avoid a head-on collision with sorrow, life does what life does. Only when life ceases are the brakes set.
The other thing about life, besides it not having any brakes, is the fact that there is no neutral. And from a spiritual perspective (and whether we like to admit it or not – that is really the only viable perspective), since there is no neutral the only two other options are God…or sin. And the thing is, we chose which one will be our master. No one makes us. God does not make us choose nor does the world force us to choose. That decision is ours alone to make.
Paul states that we were once slaves to sin but because of Jesus’ sacrificial gift we are now free from slavery to sin and have become slaves to righteous living.
The slavery of which Paul speaks is one of choice…our choice. We were born into sin and continued to live in it. All of us gave ourselves over to impurity and lawlessness, which led ever deeper into sin. But the thing is, the result of that choice was eternal doom.
Now Paul exclaims that we must give ourselves to be slaves to righteous living so that we will become holy. Doing so means we are free from the power of sin and have become slaves of God. Now we do those things that lead to holiness and result in eternal life.
…the wages of sin is death but Paul concludes with the profound statement, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord. NLT
We may stumble. We may fail. We may utterly fall flat on our faces but when we do we fall, now we do so by falling into the waiting arms of our Lord and Savior for we are no longer slaves to sin. We, my friends, belong to God! And there is no better place to be!
Jan 12th, 2023, Thurs, 7:03 pm
What Kind of “Root System” Do You Have?
Father, I can think of no reason to not be thankful for a “routine” day. There’s been a couple of different elements but all in all, it has been good. Thank You for blessings in whatever shape or size they may come.
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In the spring of 2021, after a combination of heavy rain and high winds one of our neighbor’s spruce trees fell over. It didn’t snap mind you; it just fell over, root base and all. I have seen other types of trees do the same thing (I can think of two that I’ve seen on my bus route) but evergreens are prone to this problem.
The trouble specifically is that their root system does not go down, it tends to go out instead. Some trees have deep tap root systems – nut trees, oaks, and pines. The longest tap root ever dug up was from a wild fig tree in South Africa. It went almost 400 feet deep!
According to the U.S. Forest Service, blue spruce trees develop shallow roots after seeds germinate, perhaps only 2 to 3 inches deep. This reveals that this tree species grows with a spreading, shallow root system.
So, what kind of “root system” do you have? When the storms of life come howling about you, are you quickly down for the count? Do the winds of adversity take you out? Or like a mighty oak, are you grounded with a tap root deep into the soil, and then the rest of your root system radiates out from the trunk 3–7 times wider than the spread of the branches?
The Apostle Paul stresses in his writings to the church in Ephesus,
May (God) grant you out of the riches of His glory, to be strengthened and spiritually energized with power through His Spirit in your inner self, [indwelling your innermost being and personality], so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through your faith. And may you, having been [deeply] rooted and [securely] grounded in love, be fully capable of comprehending with all the saints (God’s people) the width and length and height and depth of His love [fully experiencing that amazing, endless love]; Ephesians 3:16-18 AMP
We all know that life can easily become overwhelming. No one is exempt. No one gets a free ride. We all get more than our fair share of struggles and heartaches and loss. And the only way to not succumb to it all is to be [deeply] rooted and [securely] grounded in love…not the love of this world but God’s love. And with all of God’s people may we come to understand the width and length and height and depth of His love.
And in case you still have your doubts, read these words of Paul to the Church in Rome.
For I am convinced [and continue to be convinced—beyond any doubt] that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present and threatening, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the [unlimited] love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:38-39 AMP
Amen!
Jan 11th, 2023, Wed, 12:17 pm
Halfhearted vs Wholehearted
Thank You, Father, today was a much better day than yesterday. I have been more in step with You and that’s the way I like it, too!
Romans 6:15-23 (<<click here to read the passage)
When you were in school did you ever have a partner in some project or lab assignment that could not have cared any less about the whole thing? There were things that had to be accomplished and you ended up doing everything because they had no interest in doing anything. To say their attempts were halfhearted would have been the understatement of the year!
People who succeed in life, those who are at the top of their game or their field, give it all they’ve got. Whether it’s in athletics, the arts, or the business world. Those who wholeheartedly give of themselves are the ones who are victorious.
Top-notch athletes in any field of play didn’t get there because they were good-looking or because they knew somebody, they got there because they worked hard and pushed themselves to be the very best they could be. Early morning hours before school, and grueling practicing until way after dark, were the norm.
The same can be said for musicians. One does not become the first chair of any instrument without hours of practice. Listening to those who would teach them and again pushing themselves to the limits of mental and physical fatigue to get all the nuances of that particular musical piece just right, was how they got to the place where opportunities became available to them. Good wasn’t good enough, they had to be the best – halfhearted efforts get you nowhere.
I would say that many of those things would require a certain amount of raw talent with which to work. But what about our relationships with God? Reading verses 16-17 can you honestly lay claim to the very last phrase?
Don’t you realize that you become the slave of whatever you choose to obey? You can be a slave to sin, which leads to death, or you can choose to obey God, which leads to righteous living. Thank God! Once you were slaves of sin, but now you wholeheartedly obey this teaching we have given you. NLT
Firstly, no “talent” is required. No one has a leg up on anyone else. Just because I was raised in a Christian home, just because I am an ordained elder and pastor churches, doesn’t make me special. Yes, I have a fair amount of experience, but if my relationship with God is shallow or non-existent – if I live out my relationship halfheartedly – a newly converted follower of Christ would be leagues ahead of me. Their relationship would be vibrant and impacting on themselves and others.
I could have all kinds of head knowledge but if I am not wholeheartedly obeying the teaching given me, it amounts to absolutely nothing.
May we be driven to invest our lives into our relationship with God. May we read, may we study, may we pray, may we listen to things that draw us to God and not things that build a wall between us. And the most wonderful thing of all is that it can all be done right in the middle of life. We don’t have to hole up in a monastery. We just need to pray and ask for the Holy Spirit’s infilling and His direction. And those prayers will surely be answered!
Jan 10th, 2023, Tues, 5:00 pm
Pressure!
I am sitting down far too late in the day, Father – but You know that of course. Reel me back in. Realign me. Use this flawed vessel once more, I humbly plead.
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Pressure. Most of us aren’t fans of pressure in our lives. We often see it with a fairly negative perspective. The more pressure we have in our lives, the less we enjoy our lives. Pressure can drive many people to extreme actions or reactions – violent outbursts, shutting down from interaction with others…even suicide.
But pressure can be beneficial. I read recently where two men who were serving in the military together had made a pact that if one of them was killed the other would not leave them but would make sure their body got back to be properly taken care of. Through the course of their service, one took a sniper’s bullet in the chest, and miraculously, he survived! All his buddy could do was apply pressure to where the bullet had entered his body, all the while dragging him to safety! It was enough to save his life!
Almost three months ago, I began using a CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure) machine to address my sleep apnea. Basically, sleep apnea is when you stop breathing while you are sleeping due to some sort of obstruction in your airway. Snoring can be a sign of this issue.
I’m not an expert on it all but the CPAP machine as the acronym states creates continuous positive airway pressure. The one I use automatically determines how much pressure is needed to keep the obstruction at bay. It takes a bit of getting used to, but one thing – I don’t snore anymore, for which Karen is very grateful. And reading the results from my machine tells me I have very little time when I stop breathing – before using the machine I had serious issues in that area.
And it all comes down to pressure!
There are some areas in life where we need to avoid pressure but there are times too when we must use the pressure to help ourselves to be victorious. Instead of letting pressure destroy us, we need to let it fortify us, making us stronger.
What does the Bible have to say about how we should deal with pressure? Here is Proverbs 3:5-6 from the Amplified Bible.
Trust in and rely confidently on the Lord with all your heart
And do not rely on your own insight or understanding.
In all your ways know and acknowledge and recognize Him,
And He will make your paths straight and smooth [removing obstacles that block your way].
From experience, I know that life is just too much to bear alone. Clinging to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, is the only way to handle the pressures of life. We must trust him; we must rely on Him and we can do so confidently! And we must do so, not half-heartedly but with all our heart. We cannot rely on ourselves. We must come to the full realization that He is the one that can take that pressure from us and in doing so can remove the obstacles that block our way!
Without pressure, we’d be very apt to think that we could handle everything. But with pressure, we realize that we can’t, and it is then that we seek out the Lord…and then we are victorious! Amen!
Jan 9th, 2023, Mon, 5:52 pm