Alive

Sawdust I am

Living water added to me

Clay for the Potter

Shaped by His hand

Not a puppet on strings but

A vessel I become

To pour out His greatness

To give Him glory and honor

Part of His plan

Time marches on

Little by little

I disintegrate for Him

And return to a pile of sawdust

Then

Blown by the Holy Spirit

Borne away to the splendor of my Eternal Home

I will be

Reformed and perfect forever

Tracy Whipple ©2011

Lessons From This Summers Garden

I planted a vegetable garden this year.  It is interesting the lessons I learned and how they apply to my spiritual life. 

Water is essential for things to grow.  It was very hot and dry this summer here in Kansas.  Daily watering was necessary and even then it wasn’t enough for some of the plants.  When it rained the plants always did better than when I watered them by hand.

John 4:10  Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, Give Me a drink, you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.  

Jesus always waters us best like the rain waters the garden.

Weeds will come up everywhere and keep coming back no matter how much you  pull them up.  It was amazing to me that no matter how hot and dry it was, the weeds always grew better than the vegetables. 

We can never get rid of the weeds of sin on our own.  Only God can uproot them out of our lives. They will come up over and over especially when we are the driest and least watered.  

John 1:29  The next day he saw Jesus coming to him and said, “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.”

Sometimes seeds  get planted where you didn’t intend on it.  In the Spring, I planted bean, carrot, watermelon, cucumber and cantaloupe seeds.  It was a breezy day and the seed packets blew around on the patio.   A while later, I had carrots growing in the strawberry bed where I did not intentionally plant them.  Yet I am looking forward to how good those carrots God saw fit to plant for me will taste!

Luke 8:11  Now the parable is this:  the seed is the word of God

Jesus is the Living Word.  As Christians He is in each of our hearts.  We will sow Him wherever we go as He shines in our life. He will grow seeds even where you did not think to sow them.

Sometimes the plants you grow, don’t always survive to produce fruit.  I had beautiful yellow squash plants.  They had huge flowers, each time fruit came on from the flowers, they withered and shriveled up.  I think we may have gotten two tiny (I mean really tiny) squash off the plants.  One day I came outside and the plant was withered and no amount of watering helped it.  Some insect had infected it and it died. 

John 15: 2  Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away: and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it, that it may bear more fruit.

I pray that you and I will be fruitful for Him.

Taking a plant and transplanting it to a new place I want it to grow isn’t always a good thing.  When I planted a new raspberry vine, I wasn’t sure where I wanted it to ultimately be.  Later on in the summertime, I had decided so I dug it up and moved it.  I watered it faithfully and still it withered and died.  I am hoping it will come back next season, but can’t be sure til then.

God needs to be the one in charge of moving people He has planted.  We can’t be the ones to decide for them and take over.  We come alongside of them and pray for them and let Him move them to where He wants them to grow and be fruitful for Him.

These are just a few of the things I learned and I pray that they will be of some benefit for you in your own walk with the Lord!

Love Your Neighbor

I just returned from the wonderful weekend for women conference! What a great time of fellowship and teaching!

One thing that reached me in particular is "Starting Something New".

There are so many people in the United States today that will not walk into your church. They are so turned off to organized religion that they will not come. But they are hungry and thirsty for the Only One who can satisfy. He desires that all come to him.

So why not reach your neighbor. I have them on all sides of where I live. I am sure you do too. Invite them over for coffee. Organize a cookout in your backyard and ask them to come. Start a bookclub. Invite them for dinner.

Get to know them. Don't start out with your Bible in hand spouting the Roman  road to salvation and turn them off. Just love them as Jesus loved people. Share in their lives. Pray for them. Ask them what you can pray for them. The more time you invest in loving them, the more Jesus will shine through you into their life. Let Him be the guide in your relationship. He knows their needs and heart.

You can also simply shine Him where ever you go. In the store, smile and make eye contact with people. It is so hard for them not to smile back. It is contagious.

So many people today feel so lonely or busy that a simple smile, or holding the door open for them, or letting them go ahead of you in line will lift their heart. God will use the simplest of things to touch someones heart.

It's all about compassion and loving your neighbor.  Jesus did it, why not start right now?

What's Your Handicap?

We all have handicaps.   We don’t like to think we do but we have them nontheless.

There are lots of things I can’t do.

                                                     Many I can’t do well at all.

                                                                                               Some I am afraid to do.

They are my handicaps. 

Isaiah 41:10  “ Do not fear, for I am with you;

                                                 Do not anxiously look about you,

for I am your God.

                                     I will strengthen you,

                                                                       surely I will help you,

                                 Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.”

God likes to use handicaps. 

                                                 In them HE gets the glory and credit, not us.

He used Moses to lead millions to a new land.  He could not speak well.

            He used Esther to save her people.   She was a Jew in a foreign land.

He used Jonah to preach to Ninevah.    He was terrified to go and hated them.

            He used Mary to give birth to His Son.       She was not married.

He used a demoniac to spread His gospel.             He was demon possessed.

            He used Peter to preach the word.       He was impulsive.

He used Paul to reach the gentiles.   He hated Christians and had a physical handicap.

            He used Zaccheus to reach the lost.        He was short and a tax collector.

He used a Samaritan woman to reach the lost.         She was an adulteress.

            He used a blind man to preach to Pharisees.          He was blind from birth.

2 Corinthians 12:9   “ And He has said to me,

                                                MY grace is sufficient for you

                                                                        For power is perfected in weakness

                               Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast

                                                                        About my weaknesses

                                    So that the power of Christ may dwell in me.

We are afraid to be weak

The world wants us to be strong in ourselves and hide our weaknesses.

               It wants us to fit in and go with the crowd doing their thing, choosing their path.

The crowd shuns handicaps.  

                God sees them as useful, beautiful, a way to give Him glory and honor.

What are your handicaps?

                                          We all have them.

                                                                        Turn them over freely to God

And let Him use them for His glory.

           

           

God Is......

                  We spend a lot of time talking about attributes of God.

                                      Things like redeemer, healer, provider, shelter, savior, friend…..

                  Lately, I have been thinking of….

Painter

    Vibrant sunsets

Wildflower meadows

                     Sparkling daylilies

               Faraway galaxies

                                                                                           Butterfly wings       

                                                                                                           The  iris of our eye

 

 

         Engineer

     Solar systems

                       Mitochondria

                                         The Great Barrier Reef

                                                                    A bird’s feather

                                                                                              Tides

                                                                                                        Seashells

                                                                                    

                                        

Musician

     Gentle breezes

                        Thunderstorms

                                        Bees buzzing in the garden

                    Children’s laughter

                                             Ocean Waves

Knitter

     Tree leaves

                  Human bodies

                                   Kelp forests

                                                   Rain forests

                                                              Food Chains

                                                                               Puppies

                                                                                                                                                            

Sculptor

            The Grand Canyon

                                 Sand Dunes
                                                             Glaciers
                                                                        Volcanoes
                                                                                     Infant Fingers and Toes

Psalm 104

                                                                               God Is…..  An Artist

                            

                       

Tied Up In Knots?

As an avid crocheter,   I often get really irritated by the fact that a lot of yarn has poor quality control. Not long ago while making a shawl, I had a huge tangled mess come out of the center of a pull skein.  Through it, God gave me some interesting insights to share with you.

Sometimes we are like that skein of yarn.  On the outside we look all nice and neat and orderly.  But on the inside we may be tangled up.  We may be harboring unforgiveness, anger, frustration, feelings of inferiority, disappointments, stress, or a myriad of other things that keep us feeling tied up in knots.

Some days in pulling the yarn from the skein, a small looped knot will come out.  Work on the finished project has to stop and the knot pulled loose.  Usually this is easily done if the knot hasn’t been pulled too tightly.  Then work can begin again on the project. 

We often have these looped knots in our life.  It may be just some simple crummy event in our day, but God has to stop our forward progress and remind us of His word and presence in our life and He gently untangles the knot and gets our attitude back on track moving us forward.

Other times, pulling the yarn from the skein results in a huge tangled up mess with lots of knots and loops that look like a pile of spaghetti on a plate.  Once again, the finished project must go on hold, needle put down and lots of untangling removing one knot after another gently and slowly so as not to make it worse. 

Sometimes there is a huge mess inside of us that builds and builds till we are a tied up tangle of knots.  God has to stop our forward progress and slowly, patiently one by one untangle all the things that have built up inside of us.  Removing them one by one, gently showing us that we need to let go of them, until all of them are untangled, before we can begin to move forward on the path He has for us.

Then there are times the mess comes out so tangled up that no amount of working on the pile can remove all the knots or tangles.  After many patient minutes, I realize that the yarn isn’t going to untangle and if I could untangle it, it will be so out of shape that it won’t crochet properly.  It is time to take the scissors to it, cut it, retie it beyond the tangle and move on back to the project.  Trash the mess and continue forward.

Sometimes we have such a bad thing in our life that it is impossible to untangle all the feelings, frustrations and pain and move forward.  Only God can move in and help you cut out that mess and begin anew so that you can move forward.  Only He can enable you to get rid of it totally. But even then there will still be a small scar left behind but He can work it into His finished project of your life.

Notice too though in all of this, the skein of yarn could not fix itself.  So often, we try in vain to fix all our problems that are mixing us up and we want to not admit it to God and let Him do the repair.  But to really be fixed, we need to stop and be still, talk to Him and let Him take us in His able hands and untangle us and not fight Him while He does it. 

Are you looking good on the outside but inside are you balled up, tied in knots?   Let go and let God take hold of the mess and let Him fix it for you guiding you through His Word, showing you the way to go.  Ask Him to help you get untied.  Only then can He finish His work in you to the end allowing you to become a beautiful work of art for Him.

Stars, Traffic and Ants

It has been a while since I’ve posted.  I have been traveling and planting my garden mostly.  While traveling I was reflecting on how many people there are.  We were traveling through a city with numerous levels of interstates crisscrossing and lots and lots of rush hour traffic.  So many people, hurrying here and there all at once. 

I traveled for two days by car.  How many people did I pass by?  How many in their homes, offices, hotels, cars, trucks, bikes, RVs?   How many of them know God? 

Psalm 147:4 He counts the number of the stars; He gives names to all of them.

He counts the stars.

                                     He names them.

                                                                     He counts all of us, and names us.

 How many billions of people throughout all of history and to come?   I can’t count them.  I am overwhelmed by the sheer numbers on the interstate at rush hour. 

As I have been gardening, I have been watching ants as they make their way past my back door, to the hummingbird feeder to eat its nectar.   There are so many tiny ants that I can’t begin to count all of them.

                                    God knows each one of them.

Luke 12:6-7  Are not five sparrows sold for two cents?  Yet not one of them is forgotten before God.  Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered.  Do not fear; you are more valuable than many sparrows.

God knows the ants, sparrows and He know all of us down to how many hairs we have.

He knows our thoughts.

                                         He knows all about each of us.

  Even if we don’t know Him.

                                                      Even if we don’t want to know Him.

If He is so mighty that He knows all of this, how in my smallness can I even begin to  think I can tell Him how to do things?  Or that I know so much?  Or that I can rule my life alone?

Yet He says we are more valuable than the sparrows.  We have worth.  Down to every last hair on our head.  He is so worth getting to know, moment by moment.

  Take time to know Him today.

                                                            Let Him teach you about Himself.

Got Wheat?

For the past few days I have been driving by fields of wheat.  Some taller, some shorter, all golden in the summertime heat.   The edges of the field were sharp, neat  and crisp. 

Some wheat was taller than the rest.  Interspersed all through out the field in small little clumps. 

It looked like wheat, same shape, same color but it wasn't wheat...   it was tares.  Taller than the true wheat, stretching up to catch the sun and take what it needs away from the wheat. 

False wheat.  Trying to make its mark, stand out, take over, be better.  

Many folks here are not wheat, they are tares.  Living only for this world and what they can get here and now. Not concerned about the harvest at all.

Matthew 13: 36-43 says what will happen to them when the Master Gardener returns to earth.

Are you a tare or wheat?

God's word says the harvest is plentiful but the workers are few.   The field is full of tares.  Lets help them become genuine wheat before they get burned in the fire. 

Got wheat?

It's a Jungle Out There

We have been moving during these last two weeks.  Last week,  someone mentioned the word jungle and it got me thinking about how much in our life is like a jungle:

Tangled cords behind our entertainment center

Traffic on a busy commute

Choosing and standing in line at the grocery

Trying to decide which movie to see while waiting in line for tickets

Facebook updates

Twitter updates

Tons of emails piling up in the inbox

Tons of spam in the inbox

Junk mail

Walking through downtown pedestrian traffic on a Saturday

The first day of the farmer’s market

Looking at the guide to determine which tv show to watch

Watching the news and trying to decide how much of what we hear is truth

Listening to politicians in Washington

Myriads of websites and blogs to look at

Navigating through residential services for elderly parents

Navigating through state services for a disabled child

Finding a new church to attend

Finding things to talk about while socializing at a party

Preparing a presentation for work

Studying for tests

Some things are physically jungle-like such as navigating through crowds, lines, traffic, etc., but  a mental jungle is also out there.  There are things vying for our thoughts and attention that we have to wade through as well.  It can be exhausting to wend our way through all of this physical and mental jungle each day. 

The other day I was reading about machetes.  Now I know that you are thinking I must have a ton of time on my hands to be reading about that, but I was really trying to learn about them because they are the tool most folks who walk through jungles use to clear a path.  In reading steps in machete use, the first thing listed was to take good care of the tool.  To hone it so it stays good and sharp.  To oil it so it won’t rust.  Another interesting item on the list was how to wield it.  As a non machete user, I thought you just kind of would hack away at whatever was in your path until your arm got too tired and you needed a rest.  But that isn’t the correct way.  If you hone the machete first and it is sharp, all you should need to do is walk along, and gently flick your wrist and arm at the proper angle and the machete does the work and you don’t get as tired.  The real power is in the prep work, honing the tool and then putting the tool to use letting it do the hard work.

“For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart”  Hebrews 4: 12 NAS

God tells us that His word is sharper than a two edged sword.  I am thinking machete! What do I need to do?   Hone it.  Read it. Immerse in it.  Learn from it.  Remember it.  I have a hard time with memorizing, but I need to memorize it.  We all do.  It is our sword.  Our way to find the path through the jungle of this world we are living in.  The Word of God will be the way to carve out that path.  It needs to be sharp in my mind and heart.

Then I have to use it.  If I wield the word of God like a machete to break through the jungle, then the word of God does the work I just call on it.  Keeping it sharp in my mind and heart is vital and wielding it so His power gets me through the mess and on the path.  I should not have to work until exhausted.  Are you exhausted?  There are many days like that for me.

Another thought to consider, machetes are one edged swords.  So if the word of God is sharper than any two edged sword, then it will actually be more powerful than any machete could be!  It will get us through faster and more powerfully than we can ever do on our own in our own power.

So are you stuck in traffic?  Dwell on His word.   Are you trying to decide which movie or tv show you should watch?  What does His word tell you is appropriate to see?  Are you looking for appropriate words in a social situation?  Let God give you the words because His word tells you He will do that for you. 

Most owners of machetes who use them all the time, will lovingly take good efficient care of their tool.  They know that it is vital to their success to do so.  How much more should we as Christ followers, do the same?  We should look forward to reading the Word of God and immersing ourselves in it because it is the key to our own success in navigating the jungle of this life here on earth. 

It’s a jungle out there, what are you going to do about it? 

Psalm 119:105

John 1:1

John 1:14