Covered Presence

 One morning the clouds and fog rolled in so thick that the hills were swallowed.  I knew they were still present even though I couldn’t see them.   Pretty soon gentle breezes dissolved the fog and slowly the hills appeared.  I just can’t always live by what I see or even what I experience.  This dirty old giant pot holds a lot of dirt and mulch and really isn’t very attractive.  I keep it in the garden by faith.  As spring unfolds there will be tender shoots of dahlias coming up.  By faith, I trust that each year the dahlias will grow to 8 or 9 feet tall.  They always amaze me in their size and their huge flowerheads.  But I have to keep in mind that for quite a bit of the year their presence is hidden from my eyes.  It is the time of year strength and growth takes place in the bulb for it to be able to shine in the summer.

I love God’s Word.  It is the main delight of my heart and life.  There have been times, though, when I wonder where God is in the midst.  God has a habit of covering His presence in our lives.  That is one reason it is so important for us to soak our hearts and minds in God’s Word.  Knowing and trusting the promises of Scripture strengthens and toughens our spirits.  There are bleak,  dark times in life and there are times of gray indecision and questioning.  These are the times I must trust in what I know from God’s Word.  Just like the dark days of winter when the dahlia bulbs are resting in the soil, I must rest in the soil of God’s Word.  You don’t have to be a Bible scholar to recognize that Abraham, Moses, Joseph, David, Jeremiah, John the Baptist..... had many blank periods of questioning and waiting for God’s presence.  Are we any better than they are?  Just as they learned to persevere, trusting in God’s goodness and waiting on God’s presence, we, too, are strengthened and perfected in the same manner.  Let’s keep company with the greats of Scripture!  

The covered presence of God will lift in His timing.  And glory will appear!

Simply Step Back

 

It’s been a while since I’ve written.  When life gets really consuming and overwhelming my way of facing it is to step back.  Stepping back means a return to the simple things.  Very simple things.  One simple enjoyment is to keep a close eye on the chickens and ducks. These big birds eat left over seeds from the finch feeder, consume large quantities of slugs and spiders, and bring me much delightful joy in watching them.  They just remind me to count the blessings of God, rather than to count the griefs of life.   

How many birds do you count in these pictures?  The total count is - 13 chickens and 4 ducks - and we sure keep them counted!  Already we have saved 3 of them from the dogs around.  They waddle all around us when they are out of their pen jumping in the raised beds looking for treats.  I could name them for you, but you would know then how simple I really am.  There’s Greta and Charlotte, there is Toast....there is Jeffrey....  Just adorable little creatures.  They really are pets.  When it is warm out, the ducks waddle up their ramp and plop into their little pool of lukewarm, brown, buggy water.  It looks so soothing.  Not.  And then sometimes, behind us in the wood pile we will hear a bawk, bawk, baaaawkkkk.  Ah ha!  An egg has been deposited!   

Lest you think this is all nonsense let me illustrate.  For several paragraphs I have written about chickens and ducks.  While reading this have you even thought of trials you are facing, or the frightful politics and news of the day, or pressures facing you?  You see, you can’t do both at the same time.  At least it is a little harder to do that.  My point is this.  So much is piling in on our hearts and lives, so many concerns and worries, fears and what-ifs, that we are carrying mountains that God never intended for us to carry.  Bringing your minds and thoughts back to ultra simple things gives you a mental and emotional break and allows you to refresh and regroup.  It allows the mountain to be flattened just a bit.  God wants our whole soul to be in tune with Him, and when we get caught up carrying mountains, He is left out.  We are the losers then.  I encourage you to find several simple things you enjoy and step back.  Simply.  Step.  Back.            

                                                                                                                                                      K.C. 

 

 

 

 

Standing Tall

Standing tall, waiting on God’s smile, these daffodil faces are shining bright. Lifting their adorable little faces up to the Lord, they are standing tall in lonely vigil on guard for Resurrection morning.  No one will see them Sunday morning at church though.  No one but God.  No one will admire their lovely dresses and fine bonnets.  No one but God.  No one will be looking at them Sunday morning for no one will be there.  A church building empty on Resurrection Sunday!  How can that be?  

God doesn’t “need” church buildings.  We do.  Since God’s Spirit lives in His children, we gather to worship Him together.  God doesn’t “need” our worship. But we need to worship Him.  God is and has always been I Am, complete, holy, and without any “need”.  But, we surely need Him!  What is amazing and mind boggling is that the very worship we give Him, feeds us, fulfills us, heals us.  We need church buildings.  We need each other.  We need God’s Spirit to help us worship Jesus together.  In these days of the coronavirus quarantine, these truths have been underlined and highlighted by God. He is shouting at us!  This time has surely emphasized that we need to be worshiping our King together!

Like the sweet daffodils standing tall, may we lift our faces to God in total gratefulness and worship. Though we can’t gather in church buildings this Resurrection morning, we sing praise that we can worship Him in Spirit. May we thank Him for church buildings to worship together.  Wherever we are let us worship our King Jesus!  May we come back together after this refining time with profoundly purposeful hearts that seek to worship our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  Though church buildings will be empty, little daffodils, keep shining for Jesus’ Resurrection morning.  Our hearts will be shining, too. 
                                                                                                            K.C.

Tools of the Trade

          I found these old toolboxes at a junk shop and thought I'd try them for planting.  There's
something established about them that I like.  They just look "gardeny" to me.    Always on the
lookout for containers to use since pots are costly, I thought I'd experiment.

          Toolboxes hold tools of the trade.  Every profession and every hobby has tools that enable the craftsman to create.  Without the right tools it is just about impossible to obtain good results.    For the gardener it is shovels, hoes, clippers, gloves, wheelbarrows, and the list goes on and on.  We
always think of tools as objects to use which is in the dictionary definition.  But the tool I am thinking
of is not an object.  It is a part of our body - the back.  All the tools that go in a toolbox or in a shed
to use working in the garden are pretty worthless without the strength of our back.  When is the last time you have thanked our Lord for His breath of strength in you?  This summer God has been speaking and whispering to me each day as I have been "overgardening".  In the back of my mind was the whisper, "This might be your last summer to really garden."  By the end of each day pain
was increasingly becoming severe in my back.  For a serious gardener this is a serious problem!
And sure enough, doctors have given me their command - no bending, no lifting, no twisting.  No more gardening.  So, Lord, You are redirecting.  Let me be soft clay in Your hands.

          Maybe this is a good encouragement for you to spend some quality time praising the Lord
for the daily strength and stamina He gives you.  We are so prone to take so much for granted!  Isn't
that the height of arrogance!  Whether you are a gardener or whatever you are, it is the Lord who
gives you each breath and the day-to-day strength to use the tools in your toolbox.                   K.C.

Evidence to Cherish

             


                         

          Winter gardens can be a lot of fun in the afternoon sunshine.  My sweet cherubs gathered
their dishes from under the garage shelf where I had washed and stored them for the season.  Wandering through the bare paths, plucking "salad" from stray branches, stirring in a few rocks and leaves makes for great cooking.  Those cherubs have such innocent fun!  I didn't realize they had brought a bowl full of dishes out with them until this morning.  Daylight dawned and revealed evidence that the garden had seen visitors yesterday.   Somehow it gave me a comforting warmth to know my cherubs cherish my garden, too.   My garden is a real joy in my life, but my cherubs bring far more joy than anything!  And putting the two together is a delight!

          Thinking about evidence.  We all leave evidence behind as we pass through.  Sometimes that evidence is pretty destructive and hurtful.  But the evidence God leaves behind where He has been is life and hope, joy and grace.  When I am sorrowful and grieving, Jesus draws near.  As I struggle with making a difficult decision, Jesus gives me the peace of His presence.  When I am hurt He
reminds me that He will never leave me and He is for me.  I absolutely love the evidence God leaves behind!  Even when He corrects and reproves me, the evidence He leaves me with is that He is enabling me through His Spirit to grow.

          This new year I am going to be more aware of the evidence God leaves behind.  I am also going to be more aware of the kind of evidence I leave behind.  May God's Spirit open our eyes to see evidence that Jesus has been with us.  Now THAT is evidence to cherish!                              K.C.

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.