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Waiting and Watering as the fruit ripens in September
Our series called "Gardening the Soul" is aimed at helping anyone who lives in desperate circumstances. The September "gardening" article is now available; we hope it brings comfort and renewal.
James 5:7-8- “Consider the farmers who patiently wait for the rains in the fall and in the spring. They eagerly look for the valuable harvest to ripen”
This month is a time to wait on the Gardener- wait for the rains to come--the Holy Spirit watering your heart!
Jn 7:37 “Anyone who is thirsty may come to me. Anyone who believes in me may come and drink. For the Scriptures declare, ”’Rivers of living water will flow from his heart.’” ( When he said living water he was speaking of the Spirit, who would be given to everyone believing in him.)
Listen to Psalm 65 and think of the earth as your heart, the Holy Spirit as the water, the grain as Love( His Perfect Spiritual food) and the “You”, as God, the Gardener…
August is a time to prune
Our series called "Gardening the Soul" is aimed at helping anyone who lives in desperate circumstances. The August "gardening" article is now available; we hope it brings comfort and renewal.
John 15:2 “He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn’t produce fruit, and He prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more.
Last month we saw how God weeds the garden in your heart by cutting off the useless thoughts –branches which do not produce fruit at all. He throws the weeds and dead branches -which have no Beauty- into His compost pile. We learned to run to Him with our weeds, our unproductive, selfish thoughts and feelings , for Him to judge.
This month , we will consider the Gardener’s pruning – the cutting off of good branches to make more fruit- He prunes the plants He wants to keep in our heart. ( note: A gardener doesn’t prune dandelions -weeds). This month, we’ll bring the good plants like kindness and humility to His attention. His Spirit of Truth can judge whether or not the good plants are overgrown , misshaped or even dying- less productive. He’ll help us to improve the beauty and usefulness of our good ways. Just as He helped us to identify the weeds, He prunes or cuts back His good plants of Love to produce more abundant fruit of the spirit- peace, joy, love… ( Gal 5:22 ) . Let the fruit, not the plant , be your criteria for pruning . ( We already know that the plants He grows in our hearts are good. It is because He is growing the good, perfect plants in our human (imperfect ) heart, that we must keep an eye on our garden and prune. It is because the soil of our hearts is imperfect, His good plants can grow a little wild.
July is the time to weed the garden
Our series called "Gardening the Soul," is aimed at helping anyone who lives in desperate circumstances. The July "gardening" article is now available; we hope it brings comfort and renewal.
Matt 15:13 “ Jesus replied, “ Every plant not planted by my heavenly Father will be uprooted, so ignore them.”
July is a good time to weed the garden. The garden in your heart needs to be weeded just like the garden in your backyard. Weeds grow everywhere and, whenever I see a weed (a plant in the “wrong” place), I want to pull it up! Weeding can be a never ending task. You can choose to spend all your time and energy working against the weeds or, you can choose to turn from the weeds, ignoring many of them (listen to Jesus’ Word above and really try to follow His wise words in your life). This month , (after a month of fertilizing the good plants of Love- those that grow in His Light), we’ll spend time, our thoughts and activities, in the weed patches – learning to carefully recognize spiritual weeds , showing them to God , listening to His Voice which teaches about the weeds and then letting the weeds go as directed - ignoring them with faith they will be uprooted by God.
The Word of God Is Not Bound
"The pastors aren't going to be very willing to hear a message from a woman" quipped a seminary faculty member. I was already nervous about the speaking invitation, and my Ukranian friend's comment was not helpful. How does one address a hard core group of Russian evangelical pastors?
June is the time to fertilize the garden.
Our series called "Gardening the Soul," is aimed at helping anyone who lives in desperate circumstances. The June "gardening" article is now available; we hope it brings comfort and renewal.
Luke 13:6 “Then Jesus told this story: A man planted a fig tree in his garden and came again and again to see if there was any fruit on it, but he was always disappointed. Finally, he said to his gardener, “I’ve waited 3 years and there hasn’t been a single fig! Cut it down. It’s just taking up space in the garden. The gardener answered, “Sir, give it one more chance. Leave it another year and I’ll give it special attention and plenty of fertilizer. If we get figs next year, fine. If not, then you can cut it down.”
Fertilizing is the act of giving nutrients, good food, to the plants you want to strengthen. All living things, like plants ( and yourself) , grow better with good food. The plants of love God grows in your heart are no different. In June, we will be fertilizing or feeding the garden in your heart.
Judge had sent slain boy to live with mother
In a custody battle, a judge in Virginia ordered that a four year old boy spend the summer with his mother in Utah. The Associated Press reports that on Tuesday the child’s mutiliated body was found in a northern Utah Canyon. The boy’s mother and stepfather, Stephanie and Nathniel W. Sloop, are being held on suspicion of aggravated murder, descration of a corpse, felony, child abuse and obstruction of justice.
Among the many terrifying aspects of domestic abuse is that of custody arrangements that place children at risk.
May is a time of waiting...
Call For Papers
Justice for All: Overcoming Barriers to Peace and Safety in the Christian Home
May 13-15, 2011, Columbia Bible College
(Abbotsford [Vancouver], British Columbia, Canada)
PASCH (Peace and Safety in the Christian Home), an evangelical Christian organization, invites session and paper proposals for our 5th conference that will be held in Abbotsford, British Columbia. The conference will be a venue for the discussion of strategies, research projects, best practices, legal processes, and therapeutic initiatives related to creating peace and safety in the Christian home, Christian responses to wife abuse, and other forms of domestic violence.
Pakistan contemplates legal ban on domestic abuse
Pakistan’s Parliament is considering a law that would outlaw domestic abuse, though it is currently locked in committee. The Associated Press reports “surveys have shown that up to 80 percent of wives in rural parts of Pakestan fear physical violnce from their husbands, while 50 percent of women in urban areas admit their husbands beat them, according to a 2009 Sate Department report on Pakistan.”[1] Though probably under-reported, in 2008 there were 7,571 reports of domestic abuse including rapes, beatings and other violence.” A cruel and common form of abuse is that of throwing acid on a woman’s face, thereby destroying not only her face but also her future.
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