Category Archives: Christ’s rest

Dandilions! Every Year!

Christ's rest, Grace, Hope, Jesus Christ, Spiritual Encouragement, , , , , , , , , ,

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Dandilions!  Every Year!

 

As every spring begins, there is a lot of yard work to go along with it.  And with the long winter that has been hanging around, it is indeed a pleasure…even though every muscle in my body will be yelling at me tomorrow!

The goal this day:  Remove the dandelions from the back patio.  They grow in-between the division in the bricks every single year.  The task seems so daunting.  But, I will admit, the sea of yellow really is pretty!

Now yellow is one of my favorite colors, so the question runs through my mind every year.  Do I really want to pull them?  They really are just pretty little flowers.  Ah, my reasoning really doesn’t hold up, so seeing the patio does become a priority.  But there is not a year that is different.  Every year.

I lean down to pull out the first one.  That was easy enough.  Oops, the green leaves seem to remain. Strange.  And even more curious is that every year I go through the motions of pulling these things!  One more try…just the yellow flower head!!

I decide that whether I like it or not, I am going to have to resort to the way in which I end up doing it every year.  Pointed blade of one of my garden utensils…first dig deep to the right, then the left….then pull!  Aha!  The entire flower came out roots and all!  I go for another one….great, two…super, three…I am on a roll!  Four…ooops, what happened?  The root was only removed in part.  

At this point it hits me…every year….these pretty little flowers are…..weeds.  Now I know to some they have value, but to me their value is nothing when they are coming up on my brick patio. They do not belong there.  The battle continues…every year.

What does that sound like?  It sounds a little like sin to me.  Sin is “missing the mark” and the result of sin…sins…”the fruit”.  That cute little flower was missing the mark, it was in the wrong place.  These weeds would soon take over and cover my patio.  Sin is so deceiving.  It can appear pleasurable and beautiful and good.  Then you see the root of it.  The consequences overtake you, they are inevitable at some point.

The deception is the key.  It can appear good, even beautiful.  It is pleasurable for a moment…then…

Hebrews 8:12 is one of many scriptures that give us hope.  “For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.”

Do you have dandelions in your life?  I sure do.  I have to ask myself if I am pulling them by the root so that they have no more life?  Or because they are “cute”, do I leave them there to simply overtake my life?  The decision is mine…the decision is yours. Every year, every day.

The Father wants us to live our life abundantly.  He has His “best” for us because He loves us.  Once we discover that truly those dandelions aren’t the best for us…we can replace them with lovely day lilies…and it will happen every, single year.

Be Blessed~

IN CHRIST ALONE

Isaiah 55:8-9

 

 

*google image, NIV Bible*

Stove Knobs-Part 2

Christ's rest, Discouraged Christian, Freedom in Christ, Grace, Hope, Jesus Christ, Spiritual Encouragement, To Rest in Christ, Trials, Troubles, Who I am in Christ, , , , , , , , , , ,

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Stove Knobs- Part 2

I know that you have been waiting with anticipation to find out the rest of the stove knob story! But I promise there is a point.

Remember the toolbox that was in my reach the whole time? Well…

Ephesians 4:11-15 “And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers,for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ

We are already “equipped” with all we need as believers in the Lord Jesus Christ!We don’t have to be a pastor, missionary or music leader! We are all equipped to build the body of Christ. To work toward unity of the faith and of the knowledge. This knowledge means “an intense knowledge because of thorough participation in the object of that knowledge” (Strongs). In other words, not just a head knowledge of who Christ is, but a Heart knowledge of who He is to you.

The verse goes on to talk about the “perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ..” Of course the perfect man is full grown as opposed to little children. Fullness in Christ means that Christ has filled us with all kinds of gifts and dwells and walks in it, the body. God was in his fullness and not simply a manifestation, Jesus was fully God and fully man. This means more than just being filled with food. You know, how you eat and eat and say that you are full and two hours later you are eating again. You weren’t really full. THIS fullness means there is no room for anything else!! God alone is enough to fill us!

We have been given a “toolbox” but sometimes don’t even know we have it..we don’t know how to access it, or we just ignore that we have everything we need! God has given us what we need to get through all that swirls around us, and to help others as well.

Of course there are times when we don’t feel “full” of Christ, or totally immersed in Him. There are times when we don’t think that we can get through the hurts we are experiencing…and then God sends someone our way to say the right thing, pray the right prayer, or give the right amount of money we need. When there are those times that nothing seems to be happening, be must believe what He taught us was true! We must retrain our brain to rest in Him.

So get out that tool box and see what kind of tools the Father has equipped you with…see what tools need to be used. Don’t let it lay on the floor! Who knows, you might have the right tools to help someone fix the knobs on someone’s stove!!

Blessings dear ones~

IN CHRIST ALONE

Isaiah 55:8-9

*google image, NIV Bible

Not Just Reading Glasses…

Christ's rest, Discouraged Christian, Hope, Jesus Christ, Spiritual Encouragement, To Rest in Christ, Trials, Troubles, , , , , , ,

ANIMATED%20GLASSES

It used to just be reading glasses…

Do you like to read?  I must say it is one of my favorite past times…but usually it is late at night and I fall asleep before I get through three pages!  But I still enjoy reading anything put in front of me.

There in lies the problem.  When I turned 40 my arms simply were not long enough. As time went on, I transferred from just reading glasses to the tri focal version.  And at 53, they are the first thing I grab in the morning.  They certainly amplify the words, and quite frankly, everything else I lay eyes on! All these things appear larger than they really are…but they indeed are true in image and focus.

I am so grateful for the ability to actually see better.  Looking through these glasses really gives me perspective of what I am looking at.

I contend that the Father gives us His eyes if we allow Him to do so. If we see personal problems and issues of this world through His eyes, somehow they become so much clearer.  They don’t go away, and we still might not understand.  But I have found that I can deal with personal problems with much different “vision”.

“Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess.  For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are-yet without sin.  Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”  Hebrews 4:14-16

 
Jesus gets it folks. When no one else understands, He does. He sees it with clarity, and although we may not really understand, we can always trust Him. I know from experience.

So I need my glasses. I am grateful with the “clarity” in which I now see…trust me, they help in many ways…..

Blessings dear ones…

IN CHRIST ALONE

Isaiah 55:8-9

*google image, NIV Bible*