In The Garden

I've been trying to get in the habit of reading a devotion in the afternoons and spending a few minutes outside each day. Ya know, 'getting rid of the day' before settling into the night. It's amazing how quickly we can take on responsibility and pressure that doesn't belong to us. And it's equally amazing how only a few little minutes can reset the tone.

Long gone are the days that 'I need a drink' to unwind. -I mean I probably need to unwind more often, but for the most part, I've been sober for almost three years now. (Minus very few exceptions.) The new habit didn't necessarily coincide with exchanging the old but multiple adjustments allowed for one thing to completely replace another- or perhaps what I hoped the other would provide.

Last year, I started tinkering in my uncle's garden. I've never been a gardener before. But it seemed a shame to let something so beautiful sit unused just because he wasn't with us anymore. Especially, when he loved it so. -LOVED US so, and being able to provide for us, through it.

This year, it's been calling my name, and I couldn't wait to get started. Having this place so close to home is easier to find my way to. I can't tell you the peace I feel simply being near it. A new significance already seems to be blooming. -What a way to honor him, by making something of it.

And as my mind wanders over the details that I'm sharing, I can't help but notice that you have to look at your past and where you've come from, to see where you are and how it lines up to the path to your future. There is a connectedness in progress and in becoming.

I sat on a bench in the garden tonight and read the devotion below. I originally intended to share the pictures with a short caption, but again the connection evolves... into something else.

The truth is, I see a lot of similarities in my uncle's garden and our Fathers. Out of his great love for us, he hath provided and promises us his own kind of rest under that provision. In a sense, HIS realm is your garden. We may have to choose to leave one thing in order to accept another. But even the smallest change on our end can produce something so unexpected and so gradually in the making that you might not notice. --And then all at once you do.

Again there is honor in believing that he is able to do just what he promises. You may produce something as a result of your time there with him but somehow all the while it is YOU that does the growing.
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“THEY will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.” ‭(‭Jeremiah‬ ‭17:8‬ ‭NIV‬‬) -Thank you Father.

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I supposed you can save the pictures below for tomorrow. Will you find another 15 minutes?

Certainly, you could spend your quiet time anyway that you feel led to but if you need a little direction, try this: Go somewhere outside. Read a devotion or passage of scripture. Then set a timer and put the phone away. Do nothing. You can take a picture before or after if you'd like but it can't be part of the timed session. Do no other task. If you pray during this time, I would even limit that to only thanking God for the things that he's taking care of. 

Blessings to you!

I Am the Voice of The One

John 1:19-23

John 1 starts with the beginning of Jesus, and then around verse six, it goes into the mission of John the Baptist. He came as a witness to testify on God’s behalf.

There are many things that speak to me in this passage. Starting with the fact that John’s testimony is included in a passage titled God’s Birth Story.

But also, this whole passage is kind of like a guide to testimony.

·      In verses 21 & 22 people were trying to figure out who he was and they asked him if he was Elijah (a known prophet from 1^st Kings 17-19)  or if he was even the Messiah. People may also be more distracted by who you are than the things that you want them to know about you or your Lord.

·      Vs 23 - We don’t have to know all of the answers, but we can lean on scripture as John did. [Isaiah 40:3-5]

·      Vs 24-26 - We can’t save people ourselves, but we can lead others to Christ. – Boy isn’t that relieving? In fact, a friend recently reminded me that God calls us to obedience, not outcomes. Whew! We can just be bold in the areas that we feel the Lord leading us, and everything else is up to him.

Now let’s listen to (or read) Verses 19-23 and meditate on them.

¹⁹ Now, this was John’s testimony when the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him who he was. ²⁰ He did not fail to confess, but confessed freely, “I am not the Messiah.”

²¹ They asked him, “Then who are you? Are you Elijah?”

He said, “I am not.”

“Are you the Prophet?”

He answered, “No.”

²² Finally, they said, “Who are you? Give us an answer to take back to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?”

[Here it is – pay attention to the words.]

²³ John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet, “I am the voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way for the Lord.’”

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WHAT BOLDNESS!!

He doesn’t even say – “You can refer to Isaiah.” Or “I feel led to tell you…”

He speaks as if he is God himself. He says I AM!

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Do you and I DECLARE God? Is there AUTHORITY in our witness or even in our prayer life?

Sometimes we doubt what people will think. We doubt ourselves. We doubt the credibility of things we experience.  **Did this really happen or am I just crazy?**

So we over-explain or get twisted up wanting to be understood, or we avoid the situation altogether.

But JOHN completely skips himself and refers to God.

They even asked him, what do you say about yourself? He was given an opportunity and still only gave the moment to God.

Where can you and I do the same?

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Truthfully, even when we aren’t thinking about our testimony, when we’re alone, where can we give up thinking of ourselves and only declare and give the moment or our thoughts to God?

Isn’t our depression, our anxiety our worry, fear, and even sin, a result of our eyes being on ourselves instead of God.

Yet YOU are also part of God’s birth story.

YOU are a part of the great I AM.

YOU are the voice of the one calling in the wild.

Where in your life can you make straight the path for the Lord?

Let us pray…

I am the way, the truth, the... | Day 10

Day 10 of the #ScriptureChallenge - John 14:6

This is one of those verses that for some reason when I read it, I always have to say it once in my mind before I can say it out loud. –because I want to say ‘I am the way, the truth and the LIGHT.’ Yet in some ways mistaking ‘light’ in this verse, is rather symbolic.

What I mean is that when I have an issue in my life, I look up THE TRUTH, it shows me THE WAY and it brings freedom or renewed LIFE. –In other words, having an issue in my life, is kind of like a light shined on a place that I can get more Jesus in, bringing me that much closer to God himself.

Although when I explain the verse that way, it refers to the counsel that I receive from God now, while I am here on earth. While I learn much from reading about the life of Jesus, he is not just a high moral character that came in flesh and walked the streets here, but he is also part of the trinity – Divinity. God himself.

This full verse says that "NO ONE comes to the Father except THROUGH me." –which means that it doesn’t matter how kind we are, what good deeds we do, how we ‘pay it forward’. It doesn’t matter what level of ‘success’ we attain, or how much time we spend in a pew, or how much faith we have in our Pastor to deliver a good message- It is your direct relationship to (and through) Jesus alone that will get you to our Heavenly Father. –And in all the profoundness that you and I might see through the Word (which was God - John 1:1), or the character of Jesus (also God - John 10:30), or in the counsel of the Holy Spirit (again God - John 14:16-17), there is more… (Job 26:14)

Do you and I receive the FULLNESS of the Christ offered? –The fullness of who and what HE IS? Do we submit to ALL of God and not just the parts that we understand? (Revelations 22:13, Isaiah 33:22, Psalm 139:7, Psalm 95:6)

I am the vine, you are the branches | Day 9

I was recently tagged in a #ScriptureChallenge where you post a verse to your wall every day for 10 days and tag someone new to do the same. The only caveat is that I had to [because I love to] write about how it speaks to me. --And well that's a problem when you're verbose with little time! haha. It sounded like an opportunity to use a little video for the message. I really want to push myself here, mostly because it's uncomfortable.

I practiced in my office on a break. Then when I got home I did a Live Video on Facebook. People we're calling and the kids were walking in the door. I wanted to do it without my notes and I did-- YAY!!  -But I got distracted and forgot a point that I really want to include.  --If you watch the Live Video, when I talk about the growth, please know that you should see growth in your spiritual life too! -In your prayer life, knowledge of scripture, service to others, etc.  I hope that inclusion is a given but just in case... now ya know.

The video below was my first effort when I was still in the office and I just think I said it better here. So, I pray that it speaks to you!  --Be blessed.

-This is day 9.

When you lift the son of man | Day 8

Day 8 of the #scripturechallenge

I remember when it used to frustrate me to hear others talk about their faith. How they ‘knew’ God, or that they heard from him, or that they were SURE that they were saved. I couldn’t understand how or why they felt like they could and yet I couldn’t not. Was there something wrong with me? Was there something wrong with them? What was the difference?

It’s many years later, and I can finally say that I KNOW…

I share a lot of things here on the steps that I took (and am taking) that got me from there to where I am now. I can admit that as I’ve learned to have MY testimony, it has sometimes felt ‘braggadocious’ and sadly, I know that it has come out that way at times as well. [open to feedback or discussion here.] But I assure you that it is not because I think that I am a guru. I am not. It’s not because I want you to follow me. Please don’t. My only and sincerest hope is that something that I might share encourages YOU to dig deeper into your own faith as well. --Not only is a salvation available to all but so is a relationship. Follow Him!

But did you also know that Mat 10:27 says to share publicly, what the Lord tells you private Mat 10:32 says that if you acknowledge him, he will acknowledge you. Rev 12:11 says that your testimony helps to defeat the devil. But one of my favorite verses about our testimony is found in Philemon 1:6 and it reads: I pray that YOU may be active in sharing YOUR faith so that YOU WILL HAVE A FULL UNDERSTANDING of every good thing we have in Christ.

I can’t tell you what sharing my testimony has done for me and my faith over the years. The same is true for reading scripture, journaling, prayer, worship, obedience, repentance, forgiveness—and so many other components. Before you get overwhelmed—know that many of those things began over a span of 20 years, little by little. And every single piece is still a work in progress. Don’t delay your own progress. Start now. Go deeper. I assure you of THIS verse.

When YOU LIFT the Son of Man, YOU will know... John 8:28

Love one another as I have loved you | Day 7

Day 7 of the #scripturechallenge -

There are a lot of verses that make me think about marriage. I can honestly say that being married has taught me so much about faith, trust, and God but also that- GOD has taught me so much about marriage and what real 'love' looks like. --Well, at least that his version is so much better than mine. (I still have a lot to learn.)

Anyway, today, 23 years ago, Colin and I started dating. (In the creepy blue picture below, I just turned 15.) It was 'the first picture of us.' (Yes, you can squeal like a school girl if you want to. I did.)

No, we haven't been together that entire time. Nor do we have most of the pictures from when we were younger. As I was scrolling through the ones that we do have looking for something to post here, I found some real nuggets. haha. I thought to myself about how terrible some of these are and well, again, it reminded me of our walk with God. He sees us at our worst, and our craziest, and yet HE pursues us again and again. (Rom 8:37).

While that could be the verse that I use here, I think John 15:12 deserves the proper credit. It reads; "My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you."

I KNOW that I can credit God for my marriage. Not just because he has given Colin some crazy reason to put up with, and love, me all of these years; but also because of how God's standard challenges me privately. Throughout our relationship, it didn't matter if I was upset and feeling justified about something, or if I was super proud and on cloud nine strutting it- ANYTIME that I have had a notion about us, IF I stopped to think of God's love, it has always challenged me to go deeper and do a little more. -AND EVEN when I don't pull it off quite right, when I try to meet God's request, I always receive a greater return. <3

At this point, I'd just like to challenge YOU to do the same. Where ever you are in your own marriage. Keep pursuing God. Keep pursuing your mate and all of the ways that you can go beyond you... There is more! <3

When you seek me | Day 6

Day 6 of the #scripturechallenge - Jeremiah 29:13

Consider keeping a prayer journal. It might feel weird at first. So challenge yourself to write each prayer out like a letter to God. Then seek guidance in scripture. You can even write down the verses get your attention. Meditate on your study notes even when you're away from the task. Mark the prayers off when you get your answers and/or write the answers when received. (Then it becomes a blessing book. 😉) 

It made a difference for me.