Watching Us Grow

Back in October, the lady of the house that hosts us was given an orchid as a gift. It was covered with large, white blooms. But, after a few weeks, the blooms faded and dropped off. Having never had an orchid before, Solveig asked me what she should do with it. I trimmed back the dried stem to the base of the plant, put it in her sunny kitchen window, and we began to watch it.

In about two weeks, a little 'knob' began to form just beside where I had cut the previous stem. I mixed up some liquid fertilizer, saturated it, then drained the excess. Then, Solveig began an ongoing vigil each day to see how much it had grown.

At first, nothing much happened. Finally, the 'knob' began to grow, but it seemed slow. Then, after it got about an inch long, it just took off. I made sure I kept it on a regular feeding schedule.

Every day we would 'oooh' and 'aaaah' over it. After the initial 3 to 4 inches of growth, it began to grow about 1/2 inch every 24 hours. The bloom stalk is now just under 30 inches, and is beginning to branch off at the top to form the smaller stems that will hold the blooms. We should see blooms by mid-February.

This past Saturday, Olav and Solveig had a couple over for lunch. The elderly woman had had major heart surgery and a pacemaker put in in October, and is just now getting out and about.

When the phone took Solveig away, I found myself at the kitchen sink talking to this frail woman. I told how I had cut the plant back, then watched as it grew a new stem. I explained how it grew so rapidly, yet was a very strong stem.

I picked up the plant and show her the new stem that was just beginning to 'knob' out, and the two roots that had grown since the new stem began. In the back of my mind, while I was amazing her with the story of the orchid, I thought of God, and does He look down at us like that?

"As for man, his days are as grass: as a flower of the field, so he flourishes." Psalm 103:15

When we are planted in God's garden, John 15:2 tells us that He prunes away what will not bear fruit. The branches that are left, He prunes back even more to produce more fruit.

But, what has to happen before we can bear fruit? We have to bloom! When plants are in bloom are when they are the most beautiful, and the most desirable.

We all have to grow, beginning at the place where we were pruned back to, with a new stem, new growth, new buds to develop new blooms that will become the pod that holds the new seed within the fruit.

Solveig and I are eagerly awaiting blooms. I wonder if God looks down at us, seeing us grow from our pruned-back state, with as much fervor and excitement as the two of us has had over this orchid. Is He watching us day after day, anticipating the development of the bud, the bloom and, eventually, the fruit?

I wonder if we each examined ourselves, what stage of growth would be be in? Are we still being pruned, to get all the dead wood cut away? Have we just been grafted in? Have we began to grow? Or, are we in a place where we can see the fruits of our labors, and know that the seed has been passed on?

Update: March 20, 2013

The Doctor is IN

A few years ago one of my good friends came down with an awful cold/flu so bad that caused her to behave rather strangely. On one of her worst days, her temperature was up, but the temperature outside was down near freezing. Being a young mother with 2 little ones, and a self-employed husband who was tinkering with his dump truck outside, she tried to carry on as normal as possible.

 

The house had a free-standing fireplace that was their main source of heat. When the husband came in for a sandwich, he remarked that the fire was getting low, and made a move to put wood in. She interrupted him, saying she would do it, for him to go ahead and eat, which he did.

 

After a while, he came back in to warm by the fire, which was almost gone out. When he opened the door and looked in, there were just a few orange coals glowing dimly. He questioned her, but she was adamant that she had put wood in just after he had left earlier. It was obvious, even to her, that no wood had been put on, yet she stuck by her statement that she had. Her husband soon had the fire up and roaring again, and all was well.

 

Later on, when the supper call was made, the husband opened the refrigerator to pour milk for the kids. There, in front of the carton, was a split log of hickory, leaving just enough room for the door to close.

 

It's been more than 20 years since this took place, but it still brings laughter every time the story is told. But, this morning, as memories of that story came across my mind, so did an analogy of the Christian life when we are spiritually sick.

 

How many of us are adamant that we have done our God-called job, and done it well, only for it to be discovered that our fire has almost gone out because we put our effort in a place where it does no good? How many of us Christians are so bound and blinded by spiritual illness that we 'misplace' the very elements of God that keep us warm and comfortable? How many of us have caught the spiritual flu, but tried to carry on as if nothing is wrong? And, lastly, when we have taken our spiritual penicillin-a dose prepared especially for us by the Great Physician-do we follow the doctor's orders to get some R&R? Rest and Repentance?



Thy Rod & Thy Staff

 A couple of years ago, I was approached by a single mother who was very strong in her faith and very active in her church. She had a five year old daughter that was not disciplined, except by the grandparents. She had been told by doctors while in her 20's that she could never have children, even though she had had a corrective surgery in her teens. In her zeal to protect the gift that God had given her, she spoiled her, and did not discipline her. There were public temper tantrums, fits of jealousy over anyone talking to the mother, and the need to be the constant center of attention.

When she came to me, who had two grown daughters and a grandson, I had known her only a few weeks. When she asked, I had already prayed over the situation~about whether to say anything or not. God had given me the words to say. The conversation went something like this:

Me: When we as Christians, get out of line or act inappropriately, what does God do with us?

Her: He chastises us.

Me: And what does the Bible say about why he does that?

Her: Because he loves us.

Me: That's right. It proves that we belong to him. And what about those that receive no chastisement?

Her: They are bastards, and not sons.

By this time, realization was beginning to set in.

Me: Using our relationship with our heavenly Father as the example, you are telling your daughter that (1) she doesn't belong to you and, (2) you don't love her.

At that moment, she could have been knocked over by a feather!

Her: I didn't realize.....

Me: You are the authority figure in your daughter's life right now. If she doesn't learn to obey you, then how is she going to obey God when he asks her to do something for him later in life.

She left with a deeper sense of her responsibility as a Christian mother. 

David, in Psalms, wrote that 'thy rod and thy staff they comfort  me.' He, having been a shepherd, understood  better than  anyone how the rod and staff  worked,  because he had used  them with  his earthly  father's sheep.  This gave him the experience needed to lead the people~the spiritual sheep~ when he became king,  setting the example for the rest of us to seek the heart of God.  The following is an excerpt about the use of a rod and staff. http://www.antipas.org/commentaries/articles/shepherd_psa23/shepherd_07.html

In the Middle East the shepherd carries only a rod and staff. These are the common and universal equipment of the primitive sheepman. Each shepherd boy, from the time he first starts to tend his father's flock, takes special pride in the selection of a rod and staff exactly suited to his own size and strength. He goes into the bush and selects a young sapling which is dug from the ground. This is carved and whittled down with great care and patience. The enlarged base of the sapling where its trunk joins the roots is shaped into a smooth, rounded head of hard wood. The sapling itself is shaped to exactly fit the owner's hand. After he completes it, the shepherd boy spends hours practicing with this club, leaning how to throw it with amazing speed and accuracy. It becomes his main weapon of defense for both himself and his sheep.

The rod, in fact, was an extension of the owner's own right arm. It stood as a symbol of his strength, his power, his authority in any serious situation. The rod was what he relied on to safeguard both himself and his flock in danger. And it was, furthermore, the instrument he used to discipline and correct any wayward sheep that insisted on wandering away.

Another interesting use of the rod in the shepherd's hand was to examine and count the sheep. In the terminology of the Old Testament this was referred to as passing "under the rod":

And I will cause you to pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant: (Ezek. 20:37). This meant not only coming under the owner's control and authority, but also to be subject to his most careful, intimate and firsthand examination. A sheep that passed "under the rod" was one which had been counted and looked over with great care to make sure all was well with it.

Because of their long wool it is not always easy to detect disease, wounds, or defects in sheep. In caring for his sheep, the good shepherd, the careful manager, will from time to time make a careful examination of each individual sheep. As each animal comes out of the corral and through the gate, it is stopped by the shepherd's outstretched rod. He opens the fleece with the rod; he runs his skillful hands over the body; he feels for any sign of trouble; he examines the sheep with care to see if all is well. This is a most searching process entailing every intimate detail. It is, too, a comfort to the sheep for only in this way can its hidden problems be laid bare before the shepherd.

The skilled shepherd uses his rod to drive off predators like coyotes, wolves, cougars or stray dogs. Often it is used to beat the brush discouraging snakes and other creatures from disturbing the flock. In extreme causes, such as David recounted to Saul, the psalmist no doubt used his rod to attack the lion and the bear that came to raid his flocks.

We turn now to discuss and consider the shepherd's staff. In a sense, the staff, more than any other item of his personal equipment, identifies the shepherd as a shepherd. No one in any other profession carries a shepherd's staff. It is uniquely an instrument used for the care and management of sheep -- and only sheep. It will not do for cattle, horses or hogs. It is designed, shaped and adapted especially to the needs of sheep.

The staff is essentially a symbol of the concern, the compassion that a shepherd has for his charges. No other single word can better describe its function on behalf of the flock than that it is for their "comfort." Whereas the rod conveys the concept of authority, of power, of discipline, of defense against danger, the word "staff" speaks of all that is longsuffering and kind.

The shepherd's staff is normally a long, slender stick, often with a crook or hook on one end. It is selected with care by the owner; it is shaped, smoothed, and cut to best suit his own personal use.

Somehow the staff is of special comfort to the shepherd himself. In the tough tramps and during the long weary watches with his sheep, he leans on it for support and strength. It becomes to him a most precious comfort and help in his duties.

There are three areas of sheep managment in which the staff plays a most significant role. The first of these lies in drawing sheep together into an intimate relationship. The shepherd will use his staff to gently lift a newborn lamb and bring it to its mother if they become parted. He does this because he does not wish to have the ewe reject her offspring if it bears the odor of his hands upon it.

The staff is used by the shepherd to reach out and catch individual sheep, young or old, and draw them close to himself for intimate examination. The staff is very useful this way for the shy and timid sheep normally tend to keep at a distance from the shepherd.

The staff is also used for guiding sheep. Again and again I have seen a shepherd use his staff to guide his sheep gently into a new path or through some gate or along dangerous, difficult routes. He does not use it actually to beat the beast. Rather, the tip of the long slender stick is laid gently against the animal's side and the pressure applied guides the sheep in the way the owner wants it to go. Thus the sheep is reassured of its proper path.

Jesus and JFK

John F. Kennedy's speech has been quoted many, many times, especially when a patriotic concept is present. But, what would happen if we exchanged the word 'country' for the word 'God'? Ask not what your God can do for you-ask what you can do for your God?

A lot of people are quick to quote John 3:16 when relaying to others their need for salvation. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. There is hardly ever the follow-up of our part after the initial acceptance of Jesus into our hearts. For that, we must look at 1 John 3:16: By this perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. So many 'Christians' think that salvation is the end of their work, and that that is all that required of them. But, actually, it is only the beginning.

If the disciples teach us anything at all, it is to be 'sold out' for Jesus. When He came upon Simon and Andrew, fishermen on the sea of Galilee, he told them to to follow him, and he would make them fishers of men. (Matthew 4:18-20) There are several important concepts present in that statement.

The first is 'Follow me.' No premise of ever stopping is given. Nothing to imply that the job has an 'end' date. Nothing that says it falls to a lesser place on our list of priorities.

The second is 'I will make you.' This says that Jesus, through the Holy Spirit, will teach us the particulars of our new job. And, since the responsibilities of teaching falls on the shoulders of the Holy Spirit, he may use any means he chooses to have us learn. Our job is to be obedient to all of the convictions that the Holy Spirit brings into our lives. (But when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say, For it is not you that speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks through you. Matthew 10:19-20)

The third is 'fishers of men.' Whatever a person's job has been, the knowledge and abilities learned while in it will be used as a pattern in the new job Jesus calls a person to. He will definitely expand a person's knowledge base and experience, but whatever character makes up our person, it will be used to promote the kingdom of God.

'They immediately left their nets and followed him.' In this statement are several concepts in how things change.

Firstly, when the opportunity to follow the Lord presents itself, then we should immediately leave our post to do so. When the opportunity presents itself, we should not delay in our decision to do the right thing.

Secondly, when we are called into ministry, we leave the tools we used in the world behind. We will be equipped, by the Holy Spirit, with the tools needed to do the job asked of us.

Thirdly, when we leave our worldly tools in place, someone will be put in that place to keep the world turning. Our previous job will be a blessing to someone who needs the work to feed their families and move forward in their own life.

Jesus went on to call James and John, who was in a ship mending nets with their father. (Matthew 4:21-22) They immediately left the nets and their father. In this example, all concepts apply here as they did with Simon and Andrew, with additional perceptions.

Firstly, if a person is in the 'family business' and the Lord calls them to break tradition and follow him, they should not hesitate to do just that.

Secondly, a person should not be made to feel like they are abandoning their parents if they choose to follow the call into ministry.

Ultimately, we are asked to give our 'all' for him, just as he gave his 'all' for us. Our sacrifice does not go without reward, if we give him our whole heart. (Mark 10:29-30 And Jesus answered and said, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake, and the gospel's, But he shall receive an hundredfold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions; and in the world to come eternal life.)

As the old saying goes, a person gets out of a pie what he puts into it. It is the same with God. If we give God 100%, he will return to us in abundance. Whatever we sow, that we will we reap. We've got to give it all, or nothing. We can't be 'in between', because that is a lukewarm place, and he will spew us out of his mouth if that's what we are. (Rev. 3:16)

Of Fences and Offences

The definition of a fence is a freestanding structure designed to restrict or prevent movement across a boundary. There are many uses for fences. In agriculture, they keep livestock in and predators out. They provide privacy for those who want some seclusion. They demarcate perimeters to keep out trespassers and show boundaries on real property. They can function as a decoration to enhance the visual effect of a property. Ultimately, fences are designed to create a separation or division.

Some popular cliches are examples of this:

Straddling the fence means a person can't make up their mind about which side they are on.

Jumping the fence when we get to it means dealing with an issue when needed and not before.

Good fences make good neighbors means neighbors will get along if each minds their own business.

Sometimes we put up invisible fences in our life. Some can have existed for so long that they become part of our character. They can be so ingrained in our psyche that we feel we can't exist without them. They can pertain to emotional wounds suffered in childhood. They can come from experiencing a physical trauma. Fences can be erected as a protective measure when there has been any type of pain or crisis in our life that we want to make sure does not ever happen again. In order to do that, we have to 'separate' that part of  ourselves from everything else so as to not to be vulnerable to those that would hurt us.

But, what do we do when circumstances come along that causes us to want to 'expand'? How do we go about removing something that has been such an intricate part of us for so long? Is it possible to take down a fence carefully enough that we do not injure ourselves in the process? We may get a splinter or jabbed by a barb if we go about it the wrong way. The removal of old barriers should begin with prayer requesting guidance for the plan of action.

When we have fences in our lives, they almost always lead to offences. The definition of an offence is: a violation, an annoyance, a displeasure, a resentment. It can be the source of annoyance, displeasure, anger, or an attack or assault. To give offence is to cause annoyance or displeasure to someone. To take offence is to feel injured, humiliated, or offended.

'Offences' give 'fences' a purpose for existing. As long as we hold onto an offence in our life, whether it is something from childhood or it has just happened, we then create a 'fence'~a barrier~to keep from getting hurt in that same way again.

In Matthew 18:7, Jesus says, Woe unto the world because of offences, for it is necessary that offences come, but woe unto the person through whom the offences come. There are those people, having in themselves an ungodly spirit, who seeks to create offences in others to prevent them moving forward in God's knowledge and grace.

We are told in 1 Cor. 10:32 to Give no offence to the Jews, nor to the Gentiles, nor to the church of God. This means that we, as Christians, should not engage in thought or activity that would create an offence in anyone else, whether they are a believer or not.

By the same token, because we have accepted Christ into our hearts, and He has taken all our sin upon Himself, we cannot 'take offence' from anyone that might dish it out to us.

Romans 4:25 says, He was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification. Knowing this, when offences come our way, we are obligated by our acceptance of Him to relinquish the offences to Him. The next step is to pray for the person through which the offence came, so that we can move forward without hindrance on our Christian journey. The offences must be given to Jesus, so that we can walk with Him unencumbered by the things that would have kept us fenced in.