Lord

It’s Been Showers of Blessing From God

/ Bill Jones / 6 Comments

The beginnings of the garden

Each spring, when I finally get around to it, I do get a garden started. Sometimes it may be a few tomato plants and some peppers. This year I decided to fill up all the raised beds I have.

Garden shot in June

And the Lord has blessed us with an abundance of rain – and zucchini & yellow squash, peppers, beans and blueberries. The tomatoes and cucumbers are coming along too.

“And I (the LORD) will make them and the places all around my hill a blessing, and I will send down the showers in their season; they shall be showers of blessing. And the trees of the field shall yield their fruit, and the earth shall yield its increase…” Ezekiel 34:26-27

Look on the Heart

/ Bill Jones / 6 Comments

English: A MARTA rapid transit train and the A...

The young woman stepped into the MARTA train car, spied the empty seat next to me, walked over and sat down. She was dressed nicely in a knee-length wool skirt (at least I assumed it was wool because of its thickness and the temperature outside) and a crisply pressed white blouse. A pair of medium-heeled black shoes finished off her business outfit. Since we were traveling toward Five Points Station in the middle of downtown Atlanta, I wondered what her occupation was and where she might be headed to work.

I figured I had good reasons to be curious. From the neck down, she was a well-attired professional person. Up from there, it was a different twist. She was a blonde – or at least half blonde. The bottom half of her shoulder length hair was colored green. In addition, two studs stuck out from her cheek like silver pimples. What a contrast!

I realize I’m conservative and always behind the times on fashion. And, I was definitely “country come to town” in the big city. I was confused about what my reaction should be.

(I wrote the above three paragraphs earlier this week – the MARTA trip was a few months ago) Interestingly, at a meeting today, a business speaker talked about the Millennial generation. (Typically considered those born in the 80’s and 90’s – which is where this young woman probably fits). Among other points, he said they generally dress casually and want to be judged on achievement, not on external things.

This blog and the young woman came to mind. Green hair and studs in her cheek probably have little effect on her “achievement” at whatever occupation she has. And, more importantly, if she is a Christian, I can’t see how they would affect how closely she is following God.

We didn’t have a conversation. My observation of her “life” ended in a few minutes at the next station, where we both left the train and went separate directions. My only information about her was external.

When Samuel was examining the sons of Jesse to determine who should be the next King of Israel, God made it clear that the external things were not what mattered most:

“But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the LORD sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart.” 1st Samuel 16:7 ESV

If the young lady had wanted to know (which I am sure she didn’t), I could have told her my first impression had given me pause. If, say, she was a financial advisor and sat down before me as her potential client, there would need to be a lot of conversation to convince this aging Baby-Boomer that she was the right advisor for me (regardless of whether that’s right or wrong on my part, it is accurate).

But, if, say, she came into the church I attend, the green hair and studs should not be a factor. My response should be to thank the Lord for her presence, and welcome her with gladness that we would have the opportunity to worship God together.

The Joy of the Lord is Our Strength!

/ Bill Jones / 32 Comments

 

This post is part of the Christian Writers blog chain. Our theme for this month is “Joy”. Please see the list to the right and visit my friends’ blogs to see what they have to say about this topic

Our church is having a Good Friday Tenebrae Service tonight. Tenebrae is a Latin word meaning shadows or darkness, and the service commemorates Jesus’ last days leading to the cross. With a combination of music, and Scripture readings from the Prophets and the Gospels, we’ll follow the path from light to darkness.

The candles will be lit during the opening song, “Jesus is the Light of the World”. As the service progresses with more songs and Scripture, the candles will be extinguished one by one. Total darkness comes after the singing of “The Power of the Cross” and a reading of John 19:30: “When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost.” The congregation will leave in silence (in the shadows, in the darkness) as the choir sings “Beautiful Savior”.

As you might imagine, it can be a solemn and touching service. Participants can find themselves grieving like the people of Israel when Ezra read the Law. In the eighth chapter of Nehemiah, we read of Ezra and other priests publicly reading the Word of God. Apparently, that had not been done for many years, and “all the people wept when they heard the words of the Law” (v9).

Nehemiah’s response to their weeping: “Then he said unto them, Go your way, eat the fat, and drink the sweet, and send portions unto them for whom nothing is prepared : for this day is holy unto our Lord: neither be ye sorry ; for the joy of the LORD is your strength. So the Levites stilled all the people, saying, hold your peace, for the day is holy; neither be ye grieved.” Nehemiah 8:10-11 KJV

Nehemiah wasn’t telling them God’s Word should have no effect on them. He was saying the time to weep was over – it was now time to rejoice – much as described in Ecclesiastes 3:4, there is “a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance.” At times, The Word should cause us to mourn over our sin, but The Word will also take us beyond that into great joy. And, as Nehemiah said, the joy of the Lord is our strength that overcomes and can turn us from grief to rejoicing.

In a Tenebrae service, such as many churches will have tonight, or in our own time of Bible study and meditation, we should be broken-hearted when we consider the suffering Jesus endured for us. It may bring tears to our eyes when we imagine the hammer’s ring as the nails are driven in, or remember His forlorn cry of “My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?” as the Father turned His face away.

But, we can’t stay there long. We should continue to what awaits – to what washes all the darkness away – the joy of the empty tomb! Yes, the joy of the Lord – Who He is and what He has done for us – is our strength that overcomes the darkness.

 “Sing unto the LORD, O ye saints of his, and give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness. For his anger endureth but a moment; in his favor is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.” Psalms 30:4-5

I searched and searched,but the lettuce had bolted!

/ Bill Jones / 2 Comments

Bolted Lettuce

Radish (or other) roots

Last Saturday, for the first time in several months, I enjoyed a day playing outside. Bad or cold weather, scheduling problems, and a few bouts of just plain laziness have come in various combinations to keep me otherwise occupied. However, Saturday was clear and warm and I didn’t feel lazy, so, even though I did have some “to do” items, I ignored them and indulged myself.

I cut the grass (actually, mostly weeds at this point – but it still looked good when I finished). That was after I pumped up two lawn mower tires that were flat from just sitting there a couple of months.

I cut down the dead stalks of the angel trumpet in the flowerbed by the back door – and could see the new shoots coming up around the base of the plant. The purple verbena was blooming and had already invaded territory reserved for the coneflowers, coreopsis and liriope. So, a good whacking was completed and its normal borders were re-established.

The remnant of the fall crop of greens was still in the raised beds so I started clearing them out. The mustard and turnips had long since faded and were yellow with age and covered with insect chewed holes. I had left several carrots after an earlier harvest, but now found only holes in the dirt where they had been. Since the bed is covered with netting, I assume it wasn’t rabbits from above, but moles from below that got them.

The most interesting beds still contained combinations of “microgreens”, mixed greens and various kinds of lettuce that were planted in the fall. You can see from the picture that one plant had gone to seed (or bolted as it’s sometime called). Once it’s been neglected long enough to do that, it’s not any good to eat. I’m not sure it’s lettuce but that’s what the seed pack said.

I’m also not sure what the other picture shows. It looks like radishes but they smelled like a root (dirt) with no pungent radish smell. (Maybe someone can give us an idea of what type of plant it was). I wasn’t brave enough to taste it since I didn’t know what it was. Rather than going to seed, those plants had apparently “gone to root”, and were probably beyond the good eating stage too.

It was a great day, and on Sunday, I told Sharon I was wonderfully sore and stiff from the first good bit of exercise in a while.

The story above has several possibilities for devotional topics: The mower tires went flat when neglected. The angel trumpet stalks died but the shoots showed new life and God’s promise that the seasons will change until the end of time. The verbena can be invasive and overwhelm other plants around it, so it needs a good whacking now and then. The carrots were covered with netting but still had something attack them from an unexpected direction. The lettuce (?) bolted and was now unfruitful because I didn’t pay attention. The radishes (?) had taken root in a big way when left alone to grow unchecked.

I may develop those someday, but today I just want to thank the Lord, and praise Him for the work He allows us to do, and the fruits of our labor that we enjoy as blessings from Him. And sometimes, those can be as simple as being stiff and sore from doing something we love.

“Saying, Amen: Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honour, and power, and might, be unto our God forever and ever. Amen.”  Revelation 7:12