Direct Sunlight

Greetings,

For over two years I have had a Desert Rose in a teacup planter sullenly sitting on my terrace. They are so beautiful when they blossom, but my little plant just would not bloom.  Then a couple of weeks ago I saw a whole row of them at the Home Depot, and they were glorious!  There were so many different hues of pink, whites, and purples, and it occurred to me that maybe I should read the little plastic tab inside the plants with care instructions.  The first thing it said: "These sun-loving plants require a full sun location."

All along I figured a cool shade was the best thing, and I was wrong.  I immediately moved my sun-starved Desert Rose to the edge of the terrace where the sun hits it all day.   This morning I noticed the beginnings of new buds, and I am thrilled!

Sometimes, dear brothers and sisters, the best thing for us is direct sunlight.  We scoff at the notion. It's too hot, I can't take it, I will wither, I will dehydrate, I will not survive, and yet, that very thing that is putting the heat on you is what will make you bloom!  Your prayer life will become better. Your faith will become brighter.  Your hope will color everything and everyone around you. And your peace will flourish. 

"When your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete [in your faith], lacking in nothing" (James 1:3-4).

Rather than avoiding the heat, and rather than shrinking back in the shade, let's embrace those moments when we are in the sun and we will grow!

PRAYER: Dear Lord, thank You that we are never alone when the heat is on. Even during times of testing, especially during these difficult moments, we know You are near and that You are blessing us and preparing us to perfect and complete us in our faith. We praise You that we lack nothing! Every single thing we need is found in You, and we are growing more bright and more beautiful every day!  In Jesus' name, AMEN.

Becoming a Tree~

“The grass withers and the flowers fade, but the word of our God stands forever” (Isaiah 40:8).

Greetings,

This past Thanksgiving I hosted the family, and I purchased some orange pots and yellow-flowered plants to decorate the tables. They looked so pretty, but guess what? Fast forward two months and these pretty little centerpieces are wilting and losing luster. That’s ok. Such is life. I never expected to have them around until the next Thanksgiving.

God’s word, however, is ever fresh, enduring, trustworthy, vibrant, and alive! 

This means it’s powerful and has the ability – when we read it – to change our hearts, strengthen our faith, bring forth blessings, immerse us in peace, fill us with joy, comfort us with hope, and give us an abundant life!

PRAYER: Dear Lord, Thank You that Your word is Your living, breathing, eternal, powerful and loving message to us.  Psalm 1:2-3 says that when we delight in Your teachings we become “like a tree planted beside streams that produces fruit and whose leaves do not wither!” What a beautiful and necessary promise! Help us to delight in Your word knowing that as we do, we will produce fruits of peace, joy, patience, love, faith, and hope in our lives. In Jesus’ name, AMEN.  

A Gravelly Heart~

“A farmer went out to sow his seed...and some fell in the gravel; it sprouted, but withered because it didn’t have good roots...(Luke 8:5 Message Version).”

Lessons in farming cont…

Some of the seeds the farmer sowed fell in the gravel.  They actually sprouted only to wither

away without good roots to keep them in the ground.  Jesus explains that, “The seeds in the gravel are those who hear with enthusiasm, but the enthusiasm doesn’t go very deep. It’s only another fad, and the moment there’s trouble it’s gone.”

Interesting, people, very interesting.  Right off the bat I am reminded of a story I once heard. 

A young wife and mother was struggling in her marriage. She and her husband were united in almost everything, but she was a church-goer, and he was not.  It became a really difficult topic between them, and she was very discouraged.  She wanted her husband to come to church with her and the kids, but he was not interested. Then one Sunday she came home from church super excited about the sermon she had just heard based on this passage: “Some husbands may not obey God's word. They are indifferent to any words about God. Their wives could win these men for Christ by the way they live without saying anything.  Their husbands will be captivated by their life of holy beauty. What matters is the wife’s inner disposition (1 Peter 3:1-2).”  

The game plan sounded easy enough: Don’t preach, don’t nag, don’t pester. Rather, cultivate inner beauty. The thought of captivating her husband and winning him to Christ by focusing on herself was appealing to her as well as encouraging.

But then reality set in.  That very same afternoon, hubby made a comment that if she hadn’t gone to church, they could have set out earlier to a football game.  And now there was so much traffic…

The words that she responded with can not be shown here, but honestly, I am inclined to give this girl a break.  Nevertheless, he knew how to push her buttons, and she, at the first sign of trouble, lost all her enthusiasm for taking the high road and keeping her mouth shut.   

What went wrong?  It sounds so judgmental to say that her heart was gravelly and that’s why the seed had trouble taking root.  Truth is, we all have gravelly hearts sometimes.  We know what God says in His Word, we know what we should do, we have every intention of doing it — of loving, forgiving, serving, giving, praying…but then something happens and we give up.  The Bible says we give up because the enthusiasm doesn’t go deep enough.  The way to get enthusiastic and stay enthusiastic about God is to connect with Him daily.  It is by communicating with God via prayer that we grow strong, deep roots -- roots that are deeply embedded in supernatural faith, the kind that is enough to survive setbacks and disappointments.  

PRAYER: Dear Lord, Thank You for not being mad at us.  You accept us even when we are less than enthusiastic that You are our Father and that all Your power, glory, and protection is available to us.  When we do have those moments when the seed withers away, You are right there reminding us to shovel that gravel away and make way for new seeds.  Thank You! In Jesus’ name, AMEN!  

Rich Earth~

“A farmer went out to sow his seed. Some of it fell on the road; it was tramped down and the birds ate it. Other seed fell in the gravel; it sprouted, but withered because it didn’t have good roots. Other seed fell in the weeds; the weeds grew with it and strangled it. Other seed fell in rich earth and produced a bumper crop (Luke 8:4-8 Message Version).”

Greetings~

I read everyday by choice.  No one is forcing me, and this shocks the people in my family.  None of them reads for relaxation or for fun; they only read when it’s required.  I love getting all cozy under Rayray’s old pink and white and tattered quilt – a relic from her teenage years – putting on my +1.25 reading glasses, loudly announcing that “I am going on an imaginary escapade with the cast of characters who are in the book I am reading at the moment so don’t bother me,” and locking the door!

If my door is locked, no one dares interrupt unless there is an emergency. And it is behind that locked door where I immerse myself in all kinds of adventures.  Mostly spy, but I am truly drawn to anything that’s lying around.  That’s how I found out I was married to a farmer.  Well, the etymology of Jorge’s name means, “farmer, a person engaged in agriculture, which is the cultivation of plants used to sustain and enhance human life.” (Thank you, Wikipedia).

And we would all be wise to be farmers ourselves.  It is vital to our Christian lives to produce a crop, and when we do, we too will “sustain and enhance human life,” mostly our own.

 Lots of stuff, however, gets in the way of successful farming.  Birds eat up the seeds, seeds land in gravel and don’t grow for a lack of good roots, and seeds fall on weeds and try to grow but those weeds strangle them.  But then there’s the seed that falls on rich earth.  It produces a bumper crop – an overflow, extravagant, and over abundance of blessings.

But what exactly does the seed represent? And the birds, gravel, and weeds? How about rich earth?  We will look at each of these in the next few DEVOs, but here’s a sneak peak.  “Rich earth” is symbolic of those people who with good, noble, perfect, and honest hearts are able to produce what is good no matter what! That’s what we want for us and our families!

PRAYER: Dear Lord, Prepare our hearts to be rich earth.  This is the kind of soil that allows for an overflow of wonderful blessings, and that’s something we all need. In Jesus’ name, Amen~