Logging Together

          Afternoon at the pond logging together - Brenda (missionary friend) and I were walking through the park and came upon this scene.  I thought this was so cute and so reminded me of us as people.  Looks like quite a session of chatting, comparing notes, pushing each other around.  And one of these critters is even at rest!  It is a firm bet that all these on the log do not always see eye to eye.

          Studying Hebrews 10:24 - 25 this week has reminded me of this picture taken in the fall when it was still beautiful and sunny.  "Let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching."  Definitions of words create visual pictures that go beyond the mere words.  Here's the meaning of the verse using word definitions.    Unless we are together there is no way to provoke, agitate, stir up each other to agape love - love that is not self-seeking, but whose pattern is the Cross of Christ.  That is the kind of love we are to help each other attain, and it cannot be done unless we are in community activity.  This is not a leader led activity but is supposed to be what we do together all the time.  Interesting that when we are together friction happens occasionally with different opinions, focuses, and giftings.  So we as people tend to withdraw or leave, but when we do we are missing the very thing God intends to accomplish!
God means to create a Body of believers with one heart.   He does this with totally different kinds of people that center their lives, activities, and interests on making Jesus King.

          This week have you "considered" how to log together?                                                     K.C.

Glory Shed

               





 

          Our little Ginko tree down the driveway has shed its glory.  It was so vibrant, almost fluorescent.  The leaves are now puddled beneath shining with residual light.   Now the tree is just a little skeleton, waiting for the fresh sap to run through it next spring.

          Reminds me that I am just the frame on which Jesus Christ can bless and rest a bit of His glory.  And that is a freeing thing!  I am to just abide, trust, and stand waiting for the next working of God in my life.  He will take care of the growth and the glory in His time.  The glory He sheds on me is just to bring attention to Himself anyway and remind others of who He is and what He has done for them through the cross. Where we mess up is when we want to retain some of that glory for ourselves.  That makes a lot of work and stress in life.  But to just be available as the frame for Jesus is restful.  Being a follower of Jesus and watching what He does in people's lives is amazing!  His Words are alive and bring life, even to the deadest looking tree.  The branches aren't the life.  It is the life-giving Sap that flows through them.  It is the same with us.  We don't bring life to ourself, it is Jesus' Spirit who brings life.  And oh, is that not freedom!                                                                         K.C.

In the Midst of Storms

                     








                                                                                 

          In the midst of rainstorms today the sun shone brightly, so I quickly ran out to snap this picture of amazing beauty against the dark sky.  The colors of fall are vibrant and striking in themselves but especially so when the sun shines through the clouds.  God's seasonal colors are truly awesome, just coming down from His throne as gifts to us.  "Splendor" is a word that captures the scene for me.  These fluorescent colors against the dark sky pull my heart to lessons the Lord Jesus is trying to teach me about His love for me.  Today just happened to be one of those days He spoke.

          You do know words of love may come in different forms, right?  It did today for me in the form of that flash of sunlight through the storm clouds.  The last 5 years have held some difficult trials for our family, and the Lord has walked with us closely through these years.  Skies looked pretty stormy and dark, yet God was our strength and upheld us.  What I find now though, is that I am almost holding my breath waiting for the next trial.  With all our children grown and married, I don't see them everyday.  So when I do see them I breathe a sigh of relief.  When my husband comes home I breathe a sigh of relief.  That flash of sunlight today spoke;  you are walking by sight.  Seeing my loved ones brought rest.  That's not faith.  Oh, Lord, I repent, I hear what You are saying!  The sight of brilliant light exposed the colors of the trees, and it also exposed my heart.

          Jesus' lovingkindness worked deeply in our hearts during the trials so why am I dreading another dark day?  His lovingkindness will also keep on working and holding us up no matter what comes.  Faith is seeing with the eyes of Jesus all He will do and resting there.  Psalm 116:7 says, "Return to your rest, O my soul, for the Lord has dealt bountifully with you."  The definition of rest there is, "a time or place of security; rest for the soul because of the Lord's mercies and blessings; it points to a location where something  settles down and remains there or cessation of work in order to refresh oneself."  God wants my faith to settle down and rest in Jesus, not on what I see with my eyes.  It is refreshing my soul in Him.  And leaving the rest to Him.  His Sonlight will shine on me then, creating His colors in my heart and life.                                                                   K.C.                                                                                                                

 

Hammock Heart

          This lovely hammock taught me a few lessons this past summer.  After spending massive energy all summer on a long list of items, I was over-ready for vacation.  Aren't we all?  Our idea of vacation though, is not to go, go, go, see, see, see.  Our idea of vacation is to screech to a complete halt!  It is to have hours upon hours of quiet, solitude, peaceful surroundings with a view of nature that God has created with utmost detail and care.  It is to have endless hours to read and chew on God's Word.  It is to admire our most Beautiful Jesus Christ and His lovingkindness, mercy, and grace.  But, normal life is not made of such hours, so we end up having to return home.  

          Back to the hammock.  Nothing accomplished, nothing checked off my list, nothing cleaned, ironed, cooked, weeded, studied, written, read, or fixed.  Seems like a waste doesn't it?  Hammock time with no expectations.  What a refueler, refresher, rewinder!  Not even expecting any extraordinary word from the Lord is  is a breath of heavenly air!   In our daily times with the Lord we have lists and expectations of what we want to receive or express to Him.  But extra special time with Jesus is when I can just be with Him.  Period.  You know how it is when someone just wants to be with you without needing anything from you.  It is so refreshing!  That's how it is for me in the hammock with Jesus.  Filling up with His presence.  Experiencing the peaceful joy of His love.  This is what I wanted to take home with me.  

          So, coming home from vacation,  I purposed to set aside more time in the hammock -  to grow a hammock-heart.  When times get overly busy, I can get overwhelmed with lists and tasks.  Or I can purposely slow down, simplify, and get un-busy.  Why am I trying to accomplish so much in such a short time?  What is the purpose of my long list?  Who am I trying to please?  Who will it help?  Where will it end?  No.  It will not end, unless I choose to stop.  I desire to spend more time in the Lord's presence - with no agenda other than enjoying Him.  What a goal!  What a joy!              K.C.

Toothless

       

     On the lookout for some tasty bird, our old Musket poses for me on the birdbath.  He gets a closer view of the seed platform above his head, and remembers the old days of bird hunting.  He is really like an old dog more than a cat, but the birds don't know that.  It has been many a day since he caught a bird.  For one thing, the birds don't know that he has just a couple of teeth left.  He still looks like a cat to them.  And Gary has a soft spot in his heart so that he buys soft food for Musket.  Don't tell the other guys though, since they would laugh at him.  We will be sad to see him go to "cat heaven".

     On a different "tooth" level, I was thinking about the enemy of our souls this morning, and all he tries to do to derail and harm us, as well as eat us alive.  A friend recently has been wrestling with all the destructive thoughts the enemy plants.  But, as evil and destructive as he is, he is now "toothless" and has lost his power over believer's lives.  Jesus Christ has "wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us....And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.  Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it."  (Colossians 2:14 - 15)  The enemy may still scare us and try to hurt us, but he is "toothless" and has been disarmed.  As my friend came to the Word, it shouted to her, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me!"  (Philippians 4:13) 

     Yes, our protection and safe refuge is in God's Word to us.  It sounds too simple.  It sounds too naive.  It sounds too easy.  But God does not ask us to do anything other than trust Jesus Christ and all His work at the cross, to trust His Word.  Psalm 119:114 tells us, "You are my hiding place and my shield; I hope in Your Word."  Jesus Christ will strengthen me each time I go to His Word.  I will be camping there.  How about you?                                                                              K.C.

Wrestling and Praying

                                                                                      

 

 

          This is my view from my chair each morning when I read God's Word and spend time with Jesus.  It is a beautiful view, peaceful and restful.  Kind of opposite of my inner soul right now.  I read the headlines and grieve for what I see happening in the world.  Wrestle with how to rightly respond and rightly pray.  Here I sit seeing with my eyes the beauty of God's creation, yet seeing with my soul the conflicts and sorrows of a lost world.  How to reconcile these two?  Only through Jesus' eyes.  He is outside of "time" and sees the end from the beginning;  He knows how to weave all things together for good for those who are His children.  Waiting for the end product is a difficult thing to do, something we aren't very good at.  In waiting, I pray and I stay close to Him, I speak His name and serve His children.  In waiting, I trust and pray for the world to know Him.  He takes the "rags" of our lives and weaves them together on His perfect loom in order to bring glory to His name.  He does this also for His children who are undergoing great persecution, and I must pray and believe for them that He is seeing and is doing so much more that I can't understand or "see" with my eyes.  Believers are bound together and what hurts one hurts the another.  So I stand before the throne with them before our great and mighty God who is our help and refuge.  The same One who created the striking colors of petunias, zinnias, and roses is the same One who will make all things right soon.  Come, Lord Jesus.                                                                                                     K.C.

Cantaloupe Perspective

     Isn't this the cutest cantaloupe? It is growing big  and hopefully it will ripen this month and be juicy and luscious.  There are a good number of them on my vines and they are getting special care and treatment.  Just like caring for a growing cantaloupe,  growing in our love for Jesus  purposely takes time and special care.   Just wishing for spiritual growth or thinking it will come automatically is a delusion.   Special care in reading and meditating on God's Word, special times of prayer, purposeful hours set aside with the Lord, along with a listening mind and heart are what we would call fertilize and nurture to our soul and spirit.  It is not so much that I am working on my spiritual character and growth;  it is that I am seeking the filling of the Holy Spirit.  Sometimes we get the two confused.  I am just the vessel that God is seeking to fit for His Spirit, and remembering that leaves no room for spiritual pride.

      I don't want to just be all vine and show.  I keep trimming off the new blossoms and vine growth so that some of the cantaloupes mature and ripen.  My human nature constantly fights for attention to get the upper hand just like those blossoms.  I want to be fruitful and bear fruit, which means resting and abiding in Jesus as He trims me.  And when I am abiding in Jesus I am free from myself, free for Father to fill me with His fruits.  No credit to me, for it is all Him.  Keeping this perspective is so important in our lives.  Perspective that keeps the focus on Jesus' work and not on mine.  Perspective that keeps the glory shining on Jesus and not on me.  So my purposeful care in the spiritual disciplines does not make me spiritual.  Jesus does.  It is about Jesus in me.

     Notice the perspective in the whole picture.  All of a sudden this large cantaloupe takes on a different appearance.  All because of perspective.    Let's don't take ourselves too seriously, but let us do take Jesus Christ seriously, praising Him for all He does in us and for us and through us.  Let us keep our perspective on Jesus.                                                                                                                                                      K.C.