Surprise!

                  

          Surprise!  Suddenly this foxglove appeared at the patio with a burst of color!  Years ago I had
planted it, but it just didn't do well, so it disappeared.  Or so I thought.  It decided to make a grand entrance this spring and put on a show.  It has reminded me of a few things.  No surprise to you, eh?

          One plant a garden does not make.  The flow and rhythm of a garden is about the whole.  Just as the church Body of Christ is about the whole.  One person is not the church.  It isn't about one person, it isn't about one receiving.  The church is about worship and glory to Jesus Christ.  He is the Whole, He is the focal point.  We come together to corporately to lift our praise and hearts to Jesus.  We come together to sing praises and study God's Word, to grow and mature, to serve and extend God's kingdom.  Occasionally someone will leave the "garden" for various reasons, but most often it is because their own "needs" and desires were not met by the church.  How sad is that!  And how glaring of a heart exposed!

          My encouragement to your heart today is to take a second look at your church, and to take a second look at why you go to church or don't go.  All of us have been offended and hurt in life, but we don't stop going to other places, so why would we stop going to church?  We go to church because  Jesus is our Savior, we are sinners, He redeemed us from sin and from ourselves, and we understand that much.  All of us on a journey toward heaven, and in the meantime we want to worship Jesus and give ourselves to His service.  It is about giving of yourself, not about receiving for yourself.  Our hearts are changed when we give our time, our service, our money, our talents to glorify Christ. All of a sudden it becomes "our" church not "the" church.                                                                        K.C.

Fruitful Vines

          It is already the end of April!  How did that happen?  It happened when I was studying the book of Psalms.  What a book!  Always having loved and lived in Psalms and having God speak to me through it, did not prepare me for actually studying it.  Studying it has made me question whether I have ever really read it!  We simply don't take enough time to study.  God meets me in a special deep way when I delve into His Word.

          This week Psalm 128 has been in focus.  The man (or woman) who fears the Lord and walks in His ways is blessed - or as the Theological Wordbook says - that one is to be envied with desire.  It is not God doing the blessing here.  It is the result of fearing God, putting Him first, centering my life around Him and His ways.   Now that is something to meditate on, isn't it?

          Verse 3 says the wife shall be like a fruitful vine.  I've been thinking about that in light of the vines around our house.  We have grapevines, trumpet vines, akebia vines.  And each of them require support to grow to their full glory.  When a branch sets forth on it's journey it reaches for the sky and stretches out for the world.  If it continues on, eventually it will drop to the ground, only to be stomped on, muddied, bug-eaten, and worthless of the purpose it's Creator desired.  The fruit will be spoiled and thrown away.  It struck me that this is a picture of the wife who desires her own glory and wants her own way, demanding others make her happy and obeying her wishes.  Eventually that wife will crash and wonder what happened.  But God has an order to His family.  Fearing and honoring and reverencing and obeying Him only brings bliss - that's blessing!

          As the vines are growing I lift them up to encourage their twining around the support provided for them.  Isn't that a wonderful scene of the Heavenly Father lifting us up to the support of His Word and twining strongly around His ways.  It isn't about the husband, you wives, it is about you and your relationship with Jesus, the Living Word.  Sometimes there is a strong resistance from a branch who wants its own way.  Nothing I do helps it obey.  Oh the future heartache of that branch!

          Lord, help me to be supple and pliable in Your hands as You lift me up,  train me, and produce fruit in me.    Fruitful vines always lean on the support of Your Word.                 K.C.                                                                                                

The Frame

          It is a new year!  Once again the new year holds new ventures and new starts.  This foggy picture out my window spoke to me this week.  Despite the heavy fog, the frame of the tree was clear.  No leaves and wintry air displayed the barebones and challenged me to think on what my life is framed by.

          Despite the fog, the way is clear.  It is clear because it doesn't depend on my sight.  At best my sight is blurry.  Like David in Psalm 63, I want my soul to desire and thirst for God.  David was running from his son in the wilderness, and yet it was in that hard and very unclear place that He saw His satisfaction.  His eyes clearly saw God's lovingkindness was better than life, and that no matter what circumstances life held, his lips would praise God.  He was a man of single vision, and it had nothing to do with his physical eyes.

          My way is clear.  God's Word has set the foundation and frame for my days.  And for your days.  So why do we make it so fuzzy and difficult?  I am thinking that our tendency is to make choices in life too difficult because we are looking for something more.  More than thirsting and longing for God, more than praising  and blessing God.  More than meditating on God.  More than rejoicing in the shadow of God's wings.  We are wanting our circumstances changed.  Though David's circumstances were not clear in the wilderness, though his son was seeking his life, though he had to leave his comfortable home, he still had clear vision.  He wasn't looking for more.  He was looking for God.

          This year my main clear goal is to keep my eyes on THE one thing - the simple and yet profound Gospel of Jesus Christ.  That's the frame for all of what's important in life.  The Gospel doesn't end with salvation, but starts there. The Gospel not only brings me salvation by God's Spirit, it changes me daily by grace, it realigns me daily by repentance, it rejoices me daily with joy unspeakable, it day by day adjusts my life to it's frame.  The Gospel brings me into God's presence and makes my way clear to Him.  Yes, God's way is very clear even when I look through the fog.                                                                      
                                                                                                                                                   K.C.