Category: Spiritual Growth

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What if I told you to just write?

“What if I told you to just write?” This was a question that popped into my head one night when I was feeling weary – which I often did during the night when I do most of my thinking. At first, my brain tried to rationalize the situation and I tried telling myself it was something I made up to make myself feel like I was hearing God. I’ll be the first to admit that I ask those “…but is that really you Lord?” questions too often, both in genuine curiosity and also in rebellion, because I don’t like what I’m hearing.

I took a moment to just marinate and think about the question in front of me. If you know me you know that I consider, or used to consider, writing as a passion of mine. I stopped doing it when times got confusing and hard because I told myself that other things mattered more – such as fitting the mold I thought would please everyone else; the mold that seemed like the “right” next step, the one that made sense, and the one that was physical that I could see and understand. But that is the problem. We are not supposed to understand everything that God has for us. We are supposed to TRUST and have FAITH in God our Father. We walk by faith not by sight.

“For we walk by faith, not by sight.”

~2 Corinthians 5:7

There is a difference between being confused and not understanding. God is not a God of confusion. He is a BIG God. He is an INFINITE God. Which means that our brains aren’t able to understand or even comprehend ALL of who He is. But even in all his vastness and infiniteness He still pursues us – He still calls out to us – He still loves us. When I wrote the question that popped into my head on a piece of paper, I took time to just look at it. And then out of sheer curiosity (or nudging) I looked up what the word “write” meant in Hebrew. One of the translations for this word made that simple question turn into something more than I could’ve ever thought.

For the past month or so, I’ve really been struggling within myself about how or when I was supposed to spend time with God. I know that everyone has a different relationship with God, but if I’m being honest, there is a difference in knowing something and understanding it. For example, I know why grass grows but do I understand how it grows. I know that everyone has their own personal relationship with God but… do I understand why? Do I understand that God just wants me? He just wants you. He doesn’t want duplicates. He doesn’t want copies. He wants uniqueness. He doesn’t want religion, He wants relationship. Do I truly understand that? Do I truly understand that not everything is going to make sense? And that it’s okay – at that point is exactly where faith comes in, if you allow it.
       

Do you know what “write” translates into? It translates into connect, add, bind, link, piece, compose, tie, associate and join. When that question popped into my mind, I was asking God a bunch of how’s, what’s and why’s. He retorted it with a question so deep and full of love.


“What if I told you to just join?”
“What if I told you to just compose?
“…to just bind”
“…to just link”
“Just connect.”

The more I would look at these translations the more I realized it wasn’t really a question at all. It was a declaration of His infinite love. “Just be with Me.”

What if God just told us to be still? To forget about all of the hustle and bustle of the world. Would you listen? Would you have faith and trust? If you say yes right away, well that’s great, but be careful. You have to count the cost. Jesus said “So don’t follow me without considering what it will cost you. For who would construct a house before first sitting down to estimate the cost to complete it? Otherwise, he may lay the foundation and not be able to finish it. The neighbors will ridicule him saying, “Look at him! He started to build but couldn’t complete it!” Have you ever heard of a commander who goes out to war without first sitting down to do strategic planning to determine the strength of his army to win the war against a stronger opponent? If he knows he doesn’t stand a chance of winning the war, the wise commander will send out delegates to ask for the terms of peace. “Likewise, unless you surrender all to me, giving up all you possess, you cannot be one of my disciples.” (Luke 14:28-33 TPT)

God wants you. He wants you – but He doesn’t want half (1/2) of you, or three quarters (3/4), or ninety-nine point nine percent (99.9%) of you. He wants all of you, one-hundred percent (100%) of you, all the time. The real you. The you that is honest with Him. The you that doesn’t try to hide anything but the you that is transparent and real. It is definitely not always going to be easy but God doesn’t give you what you cannot handle; rather He lessons the severity of every single trial you face so that you can have a greater faith in Him and come out victoriously. (1 Corinthians 10:13) He loves you.

“What if I told you to just write?”

By Ainsley Wilson

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Do You Like to Wait?

Most of our culture has a very short time they are willing to wait. I remember when I was a kid and wanted something – I had to wait. Cartoons came on TV only on Saturday mornings mostly. If I wanted to hear my favorite song I had to wait for it to come on the radio. Now, I was born in 1980’s so I’m sure some of you will read this and recall even earlier times with no landline phones, indoor plumbing or air conditioned homes. I can only view things from what I’ve experienced.

The thing is, when I look at society as a whole, we don’t like to wait. Studies show that the average person loses patience after 2.5 minutes of waiting. Yes I said it – 2.5 minutes. That is shocking to me. Noah waited 40 days before sending the raven. Eventually, the dove brought back the olive leaf. Noah didn’t have cable to find a movie, apple music or social media to “mindlessly scroll” on Facebook. You know how people will text or message you and if you don’t respond in 1 nanosecond they go into panic mode? Noah would have had a hard time since mankind was having a permanent pool party. But he had to wait…….sad to say, “we”, including myself, don’t like to wait.

Isaiah 40:31 says, “But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.” We love to quote that one at church but soon after leaving service we get frustrated while having to wait 2 minutes for the red light to change so we can go eat. Psalm 62:5 says, “My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from him.”

Even when I consider to watch a movie, I will look for “reviews”. I like doing this simply because my time is valuable and I feel like I’ve wasted it if I don’t enjoy the movie. When I do this, I am trusting someone else’s experience and assuming that it will be the same for me…..
BOOM! Are you ready for this….. we do this in our walk with GOD! We have devotionals, books and apps on our phones. These are “reviews” and we are trusting other people with our time so that it saves time to get our “time with God” done quicker so we don’t have to “wait” for the experience and get all of the other things done that we have to do. A lot of this is “negative confession” because I am like this – I don’t like to wait. Now, in church the Pastor is VERY important, especially ours. He takes what he teaches very seriously and I definitely trust his “review”. But on the other side of the coin, God works on each one of us totally different – the Holy Spirit convicts, shapes and molds us in many different ways. Church needs to be the introduction of our book not the whole story.

My children have it the worst – they don’t have to wait for anything. Mostly poor parenting on my part but if they want to watch, listen or read anything it’s delivered instantly. Amazon delivers to our door and groceries are delivered to our car. I will admit both of these services are kind of nice but it seems like we don’t have to “earn” things or put in the work to receive the
reward. We let the other guy do the heavy lifting. Do we do this in church? We let the Pastor do the heavy lifting most of the time. Like I said, it may just be me that feels this way. I hope it is because that means there is a little less work to be done for a very impatient society. Remember the old ketchup commercial? “Good things come to those who wait.”

Just remember…. waiting on the Lord has many more benefits than ketchup!

By Jason Thomas

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The Craftsmanship of Individually Being One

When I was young I was fully aware of the fact that I was different. I could hardly be seen as the spitting image of my dad, a brilliant and computer savvy mind. I wasn’t exactly like my mom, a fearless go-getter with a photographic memory. Nor was I easily compared to my sister, a quiet, Shirley Temple look-alike that could spell “encyclopedia” at age five. I was loud, never still, always trying to make people laugh, and the biggest klutz anyone had ever seen. As I grew, the people I met and became friends with just reemphasized and proved my hypothesis. I was a bit of an oddity.

“I was a bit of an oddity”

From the beginning of time, no two people have ever been precisely the same and they never will be. If God desired for us all to look and act alike, or have the same passions, then why are we not all Adam, Eve, Abraham, or Sarah and so on? From an early age, we are presented with a choice:

1) We can conform to the world and try to better fit our environment of family, friends, co-workers and even acquaintances by burying who we are. But, in doing so, we are recognizing God’s handiwork and saying, “no thanks.” All the while taking that life and concealing it in tombs where we will forever hear the laments of “what if?” Or,

2) We could swallow our fears and embrace the workmanship of the Creator (Romans 12:2). This path beckons us to abandon our unrest and learn the beauty of being still long enough for God to pour into us. A cup that chooses to be still is easier to fill with the deluge of truth, light, and life more abundantly.

And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

– Romans 12:2

Honest confession… I oscillated between both paths until I conceded to the specific attributes God Himself engraved as specifically as a fingerprint in my spirit. When I acknowledged and said “Yes!” to that which the Lord fashioned and knew from the beginning, even before the womb, I took my first steps into not just the good or the acceptable, but the perfect will of God. Adam and Eve in their own way conformed to the world, thinking they needed to be, do, or know something more. Because hindsight is 20/20, they even became self-conscious of their appearance after the fall and tried to camouflage the outcome of conformity. We’re talking pre and post fall here, people. All the while, God called out to them, “Where are you?”, “Who told you, you were naked?” (Genesis 3:11). Both times God was looking for those whom He had molded to perfection and known intimately.

“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.” – Jeremiah 1:5

We can be one and still be individuals just as God is one and yet is also individually Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This can be experienced in many ways. In nature for example, not every flower produces the same scent or even conveys the same visual experience. Yet, they all spring forth soaking up the sun. Consider the tree. No two branches are the same in size or shape; but, still they are all connected to the tree. 1 Corinthians 12:12-25 and Romans 12:4-8 sheds light on this very subject. These verses create an exquisite portrait of a functioning body. Every part is as important as the other and not a single one is any less a part of the body. How silly would it be for a foot to masquerade as a hand? How inconceivable would it be for an ear to moonlight as an eye? You may be a foot to help the body stand firm. You may be an ear to help the body hear the drumming of God’s still small voice. Either way, we need you. We don’t just need you, but we need you to be YOU. God arranged us all as He wanted us. You are no mistake and you’ve been precisely placed in the body for such a time as this.

Now, there are seasons of change and growth. But even a tree ,whether its leaves are green, brown, or have fallen down, is still a tree. It is instilled in a caterpillar to be a butterfly, but it must undergo a metamorphosis to become what it’s intended to be. Letting go of the sinful nature, crucifying the flesh, and picking up your cross are all necessary. The human body sheds on average about 30,000 to 40,000 dead skin cells every minute. That’s around 43,200,000 to 57,600,000 a day. If our bodies didn’t shed these dead skin cells, we would be left wide open to a plethora of infections and diseases. Likewise we must shed the dead things daily. Ephesians 4:22-24 tells us to throw off the old sinful nature which is corrupt. What’s alive in us is life and what’s dead in us is death. But don’t throw out the baby with the bath water. We are beautiful in God’s eyes when we no longer imitate the ideals and opinions of the culture around us, and inwardly transform by the Holy Spirit. This empowers us with the discernment of God’s will (Romans 12:2).

Romans 12

4 In the human body there are many parts and organs, each with a unique function. 5 And so it is in the body of Christ. For though we are many, we’ve all been mingled into one body in Christ. This means that we are all vitally joined to one another, with each contributing to the others.6 God’s marvelous grace imparts to each one of us varying gifts and ministries that are uniquely ours. So if God has given you the grace-gift of prophecy, you must activate your gift by using the proportion of faith you have to prophesy. 7 If your grace-gift is serving, then thrive in serving others well. If you have the grace-gift of teaching, then be actively teaching and training others. 8 If you have the grace-gift of encouragement, then use it often to encourage others. If you have the grace-gift of giving to meet the needs of others, then may you prosper in your generosity without any fanfare. If you have the gift of leadership, be passionate about your leadership. And if you have the gift of showing compassion, then flourish in your cheerful display of compassion.

We each have cosmic significance according to Jewish and Christian teachings. It is possible that one person may live their whole entire lifetime for the single purpose of one word in one sentence that is only spoken once. So vibrate with the frequency of your role and ring out the note that is your designated design by the accuracy of our loving God. For the song of all creation wouldn’t resonate with the Conductor’s intended orchestrated arrangement the same, if even one of you were to be silent.

By Bryn Wilson

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You Light Up My Life

  • When you were a child, were you ever scared of the dark?
  • What did you do to help bring peace in the darkness?
  • Check for monsters under your bed? Pray? Sing, perhaps?
  • Did you ever brighten the room with this song?
  • This little light of mine
  • I’m gonna let it shine.
  • This little light of mine
  • I’m gonna let it shine.
  • This little light of mine
  • I’m gonna let it shine;
  • Let it shine,
  • Let it shine,
  • Let it shine.
  • Have you ever wondered about the significance that tiny little tune [those words] could have on you and your profound impact on the world?

“And God said, ‘Let there be light’: and there was light.” Genesis 1:3 (KJV)

  • “Let there be light.”
  • Four simple words.
  • Let. There. Be. Light.
  • The first four words recorded to have ever been spoken.
  • Possibly the greatest four words ever spoken.
  • Dare I say – the most powerful words ever spoken.
  • The first four words of creation.
  • Without these four words, we would not exist.
  • Think about that for a minute.
  • What exactly is light?
  • Light is the emission of energy [the ability to do work; it is how things change & move] detectable by the human eye.
  • God is Light.

“This is the life-giving message we heard him share and it’s still ringing in our ears. We now repeat his words to you: God is pure light. You will never find even a trace of darkness in him. If we claim that we share life with him, but keep walking in the realm of darkness, we’re fooling ourselves and not living the truth. But if we keep living in the pure light that surrounds him, we share unbroken fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son, continually cleanses us from all sin.” -I John 1:5-7 (TPT)

  • God established himself as the Word of Life.
  • The Word of Life manifested in order to be seen = LIGHT!
  • John 1:1 (KJV) says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
  • Light was formed out of darkness by the Word of Life – the SPOKEN WORD!
  • Speak Life.
  • Speaking Life will bring Light into the darkness.
  • Life is Light to live by.
  • “In him was life; and the life was the light of men.
  • And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not [could not diminish].
  • There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.
  • The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe.
  • He [John] was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness [be a messenger] of the Light.
  • That was the true Light, which lighteth [shines upon] every man that cometh into the world.
  • He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.
  • He came unto his own, and his own received him not.
  • But as many as received him, to them gave he power [authority] to become the sons [children] of God, even to them that believe on his name.
  • Which were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
  • And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
    • -John 1:4-14 (KJV)

Walk in the Light. The Word is a lamp unto our feet and a Light unto our path.

“Truth’s shining light guides me in my choices and decisisions; the revelation of your word makes my pathway clear.” Psalms 119:105 (TPT)

Everything the Light touches is our Kingdom. Let YOUR light shine!!!

By Pam Elders

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Healing: Manna and the True Bread from Heaven

One of my passions has been to research the times and seasons of the Jewish year, particularly the feasts. So, this journey about Healing: Manna and the True Bread from Heaven began with my studying the Feast of Passover, or “Pesach” in Hebrew. Passover is the journey from slavery to freedom.

Passover:

The Journey From Slavery to Freedom

In looking at the times and seasons of the Jewish people, one of the things you would check is the month the feast occurs on the Hebrew calendar. Their calendar is based on the lunar cycle. Passover occurs in the month of Nisan, or Nissan as some spell it. This festival is also known by the following names:
*Festival of Unleavened Bread (The bread the Jews ate during Passover), **Festival of Freedom or Redemption (They were set free from slavery) and ***Festival of Spring or the Season of Our Liberation (Passover occurred during the Spring & they were liberated).
The month of Nisan is referred to as the Month of Miracles because God delivered the Jews with signs and wonders, transcending the natural. Tremendous miracles occurred in the exile from Egypt, which occurred on the 15th of Nisan. Through these miracles, He set His people free from the physical bondage of slavery.

But the miracles didn’t stop with the parting of the Red Sea. When the children of Israel found themselves at the bitter waters of Marah (meaning “bitter” or “bitterness”), God told Moses to throw a certain piece of wood into the water and He miraculously made the water sweet. It was also here that God told the children of Israel, “Ani Hashem Rof’echa”, “I Am God your Healer.” This occurred in the second month – the month of Iyar – on the Hebrew calendar.

There are some significant aspects about the month of Iyar: *It is the second month on the Hebrew calendar. **One of the names is Month of Healing. The rabbis believe that the gates of healing are open to us during Iyar – whatever needs healing gets healed. (“I am God your Healer”). ***The entire month of Iyar is involved daily with the Counting of the 49 Days of Omer, which is all about teshuvah/repentance. ****It is the month of the Second Passover – representing second chances. This occurs 30 days after the first Passover.


In the month of Iyar, God began to rain down manna from heaven for the children of Israel to eat. And, for the next 40 years they ate manna – the bread from heaven or “heavenly bread”.
If this month—Iyar—is the month of healing, the month that God told the children of Israel that He was their Healer, and the month He began to send manna from heaven, did healing come to them by eating the manna?

…MANNA…


The manna that God provided for the children of Israel was perfect – it provided all the human body needed to stay alive and healthy day by day. This included healing for their bodies. In fact, several Jewish commentaries stated that the manna healed all who ate it. Some commentaries even said that God performed miraculous healing’s at this time restoring limbs, eyes, ears and broken bones. The reasoning is because of the children of Israel having to journey 40 years in the wilderness. They would have had to be in
good health – young and old alike. So, for 40 years, the manna brought healing to the people and sustained their lives in the wilderness. But this ultimately ended when they reached the borders of Canaan. If we look at the fact that God used a “bread from heaven” to heal His people and sustain their lives, then we see the connection with Jesus – Yeshua – the One who is the True Bread from Heaven, our Healer, and the One who came that we might have not only life, but eternal life.


JESUS, the TRUE BREAD from HEAVEN

When Jesus opened the book in the synagogue and read out of Isaiah 61:1 in Luke 4, He was revealing Who He was. One of His attributes was “Healer”:
17 “And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written, 18  The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,
19  To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.”

In the Bible, we know there are numerous instances where Jesus healed the sick. The people would bring all that were sick and He would heal them. In some instances, the Bible says He healed them all.

Matthew 12:15—”But when Jesus knew it, he withdrew himself from thence: and great multitudes followed him, and he healed them all;”

Luke 6:19—”And the whole multitude sought to touch him: for there went virtue out of him, and healed them all.”

Jesus also brought sight to the blind, as in the story of blind Bartimaeus in Mark 10:46-52. He healed all manner of sickness and disease.

Matthew 4:23—”And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people.”

But it was in John 6 when Jesus revealed that He was the “Bread of Life” and the “True Bread from Heaven” which took place “near the Jewish Passover festival”.

We see a connection here with the Old Testament–the Jewish Passover “festival” – the Feast of Unleavened Bread and the Feast of Freedom and Redemption. (There are so many more connections with Jesus and Passover which I won’t go into in this post.)

It began with the story of Jesus feeding the 5,000 with five loaves of barley bread and two fish, which was a miracle—miraculous provision. Then, the next day, the people began to search for Him because of He had fed them the loaves. In talking to Him, they referred back to the manna,
31 “ Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written: ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’”

Jesus’ response was,
32 “Very truly I tell you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven.  33  For the bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”

He went on to declare, “I am the bread of life.” 
Jesus told the people that day that although their fathers did eat the manna, they are “dead”:
49”  Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead.”

But, He went on to say that if they believed on Him – the “living bread” – they would not die but would live forever.
50 “ This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die. 51  I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live forever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.”

Another connection with the Old Testament, of course, is in Isaiah 53:5 –
“But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.”

Then it was confirmed in I Peter 2:24 –
“Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.”


In this comparison, we see that both the manna and Jesus, the True Bread from Heaven, brought healing and life to the people – the manna for the appointed time. Jesus heals yesterday, today and forever. He came that we would have life and life more abundantly, and ultimately, eternal life. When He said, “It is finished”, in John 19:30, it was finished forever.

“I am God your Healer”

In the New Testament, it was “near the feast of Passover” – in the month of Nisan – that Jesus, revealed to the people He was the “True Bread from Heaven” – not just for then, but for all time. He still heals, He still delivers, He still restores sight to the blind and He still sets the captives free forever and ever.


One point of interest to me in the parallels of the Jewish month of Iyar and what we have been studying is that, not only is healing paramount, but also the great emphasis on teshuvah/ repentance. We have been praying for healing for people and nations in this season we are in. For the Jews, it’s the Counting of the Omer—the 49 days leading up to Shavuot/Pentecost. The rabbis believe healing cannot occur until teshuvah is done. Hence their Counting of the Omer. For us, it’s the place of growing closer to God, to know Him, which involves repentance.

By Maribeth Alexander

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The Sower Sows The Word

“The sower sows the word.”

My definition of humility begins with ‘I am…’. I am virtuous. I formed my idol for self-glorification and fashioned it from my opinions of what you should be. I am not even aware that I do not understand. 

“The sower sows the word.”

My definition of discipleship ends with ‘I am impassioned.’. My commitment wanes between the moments that move me. I filled my void with rocks instead of soil. If I don’t feel you, you must not love me.

“The sower sows the word.”

What I defined as ‘most valuable’ a time ago, I now value much less. Worry over the approval of men restrict me. I love the noble cause more than I love you. The budding fruits I was to feed myself, others, and you are stunted.

In listening to the Parable of the Sower, Jesus sowed the Word [himself] into a crowd composed of four different groups of people. Many of us recall the moment where we ‘heard and understood’ and became as ones having ‘good ground’. We responded to the Word that was sown. But the Word of God is not sown only once. If we are followers of Christ, we live a lifestyle of the Word being sown into our hearts, as the Lord’s Prayer says ‘give us this day our daily bread’. The Word is sown every time we read scripture or hear ‘the still small voice’. ‘Good ground’ is not a moment, it is a choice we make every day.

Seed is planted in its season, continually.  The yields of previous seasons have little bearing on yields of the current season. Each planting season requires that we have thoroughly and properly cultivated our garden. Philippians 2:12 says ‘continue to work out [cultivate] your own salvation with fear and trembling’. Salvation is by grace, but we must cooperate with grace ‘with fear and trembling’- the reverencing fear of God. The Word is sown and the Holy Spirit brings forth fruit, but only after we have properly judged our own hearts to ensure that our ‘soil’ is hospitable to the Word. We exploit God’s grace when we don’t judge ourselves. If we don’t continue to judge ourselves – a lifestyle of repentance- we produce no fruit and what fruit that has begun to bud will stop growing and rot away. 

Each planting season requires that we have thoroughly and properly cultivated our garden.

Romans 10:10 says ‘For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.’ When the Word sown in our hearts finds soft, deep, and fertile soil, we grow in understanding and trust of the Word which leads us towards righteousness. The fruit that is then produced from the seed of the Word is an ‘abundance’ of the Word itself, as was said in the parable ‘…who indeed bears fruit and produces: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty’. Luke 6:45 says ‘Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks’ and what we speak, which is the fruit of the Word that was sown into our hearts-our confession- is unto our salvation. 

Fruit is meant to be eaten. When we go through trying times, truths that are deeply rooted in our hearts give sustenance to our hearts. Truth [the Word] encourages us, convicts us, gives us wisdom, and draws us closer to God. Feeding on these truths, the Word is replanted in our hearts from the seeds of our fruit. However, the fruit we produce is not only about us. Our fruit is for the Body of Christ, for the world, and for Jesus himself.  What happens if the time comes to feed people from our fruit, but we have only immature fruit or no fruit at all? You can’t give what you don’t have, and you can’t reproduce what you don’t grow. Instead of judging our barren soil and making changes[repentance], the temptation is to flaunt our beautiful, lush green leaves and hope no one notices our fruitless or abortive limbs. But in season, when Jesus becomes hungry and comes to eat of your fruit… he will notice, just as he noticed the barrenness of the fig tree. [Matthew 21:18-19] Matthew 5:13 says ‘You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.’

From the perspective of an observer, it looks like the sower indiscriminately sows seed- spilling it on to the wayside, tossing it into shallow, rocky soil, and sowing it among thorns. From the perspective of the sower, he is sowing the field for maximum yield.  This is the mercy of God. 1 Timothy 2:3-4 says ‘… God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” If it had been impossible for the soil to change, the sower would not have sown it. Soil can be tilled and broken, rocks can be dug up to create space for fresh dirt, and stubborn weeds can be pulled and thrown away. The sower is sowing. It’s not too late to cultivate your garden. 

“The sower sows the word.”

I am a self-centered man and am easily distracted- Have mercy on me, O God. The emptier I become, the deeper you will go. You desire truth in the places where I hide. Make me to know Wisdom.  Create in me a single-minded spirit, and show me idols I have built that take my heart away from you. Teach me how to love the way you do, and create in me a genuine, penitent heart.

By Josh Lipsmeyer