Gardening

Blessings From God – Blackeyed Susan Vines

/ Bill Jones / 2 Comments

Blackeyed Susan Vine

A few years ago I planted Blackeyed Susan Vine seeds along one section of the back fence. They grew and flowered wonderfully that year and the following year self seeded and blanketed the fence section in yellow again. I didn’t plant any more seeds so the annual show declined.

This year I had not seen any, until last weekend when I saw a peek of yellow in one of the hydrangeas. A vine had come up in the bush and had made it to flowering. One of those unexpected blessings from God – even though I had done no work to help the plant along. Sound familiar?

“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” Ephesians 2:8-9 ESV

Delight Yourself in the Lord!

/ Bill Jones / 2 Comments

Butterfly Net Whimsy

Sometimes you just go with the flow (sorry for the cliche’). I received an email last week that had this metal butterfly net and butterflies on a clearance sale. I couldn’t pass it up. Now it’s a bit of whimsy in the garden.

You might say it’s delightful!

“Delight yourself in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart.” Psalms 37:4

This is definitely a verse that requires both parts be considered – If you delight in the Lord, your desires will be what He delights in.

The Fragrance of Christ

/ Bill Jones / 4 Comments

Four O’clocks

“But, thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere.” 2 Corinthians 2:14 ESV

The picture above shows the four o’clocks growing by our back steps. The flowers open in the late afternoon and give off a wonderful fragrance. It’s not overpowering, just a subtle aroma that permeates the area.

You can stand near the bush and not notice it outright. But, after a minute or two, you begin to sense there’s something nice close by. Something that makes you want to hang around awhile and enjoy the presence.

The verse above tells us God uses us to spread the fragrance of the knowledge of Jesus everywhere. To do that, we don’t need to be overpowering. We should look for opportunities to tell others about Jesus, but we can also spread His fragrance without doing that.

I think the best way to spread the fragrance of Christ is to show His love in all we do and say. Those around us should sense there’s something nice close by (Christ’s Spirit) and want to hang around and enjoy His presence in us.

Unless the Lord Builds the House, or Grows the Figs

/ Bill Jones / 8 Comments

Fig Preserves

We finally found success. Sharon was able to make strawberry-fig preserves this year.

I’m not sure how long we’ve had the tree but it’s been a while. There were 2 or 3 winters that were cold enough to kill it back and it would start over. The last few years there haven’t been enough figs at one time to gather (but I did munch on them as I walked by the tree).

Fig Tree – Fruitful after all these years

Here’s the tree that finally bore the good crop this year. It’s still relatively young, so hopefully we can look forward to many more years of figs.

I guess the lesson is to be patient – continue working with your trees (or your Bible Study, or your ministries, or your prayer life, or yourself, etc.) and hope and plan for the best. And, of course, rely on God’s help, because nothing will be successful without Him.

Unless the LORD builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the LORD watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain. Psalms 127:1 ESV