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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.

New Kittens, New Camera

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One of the new kittens

Our old camera took its last picture last week – not sure what happened to it, but we went ahead and bought a new one. Here’s one of the first pictures we took with it.

We also have 5 new kittens with us – that makes 11 cats at the moment so we’re looking to give some away. More about that at a later date.

“For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made.” Romans 1:20 ESV

I didn’t choose that verse to imply God is cute, but He sure knows how to create it.

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

Can Weeds Reveal the Glory of God?

/ Bill Jones / 16 Comments

Volunteer Weeds

We’ve all heard the saying that a weed is any plant in the wrong place. I’ve had several plants this year in the wrong place (or at least I didn’t put them there) but I wouldn’t call them weeds. I’ve posted about all the sunflowers the birds dropped around the yard that brightened up everything wonderfully. (If you look closely you can see the bumblebee on one of them)

Volunteer Grain

I assume the plant above came from bird seed from one of the feeders in the back yard. It did quite well where it wasn’t supposed to be. And I like it there. (Good timing and contrast with the guara that’s faded for the season.)

Volunteer Vines

These vines come back each year along the fence. I never planted them there – they just showed up. I look forward now each year to them coming back. Just what the fence needed.

Joe Pye Weed

I had to put this one in since it’s called a weed – and it’s exactly where I planted it.

I do have real weeds (and quite a few of them) in the garden and flower beds by this time of the summer. They are definitely the wrong plants in the wrong places – but I’ll work on removing them along and along.

Thinking about weeds brought this Scripture to mind: “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” 1 Corinthians 10:31 ESV

We can be in the wrong place if we’re out of the will of God (and that’s a different blog post). But, if we’re following Him, God may choose a number of different places for us. Because He chooses them, they’re the right places. I believe we can properly expand the verse above to include not just whatever we do, but to add wherever we are.

Even if we seem to be in the wrong place, we can be like the plants above that aren’t called weeds anymore. They became welcome companions because in their beauty, they reflected the glory of God.