Message from the purple flower - Don't give up!

Early spring has to be my favorite time of the year with new life just starting to show. The other morning as my wife and I looked out the window, she pointed out a purple flower that is coming up to our delight. As we were admiring it, it both occured to us that we had no idea what type of flower it was.

I tried to figure out what it might be thinking to myself did we plant something there last year like a tulip or some other type of flower? As I thought and became more excited, I began to think about what other wonderful surprises and things of beauty are lying just under the surface ready to pop open?


Then as I was considering this (I consider many things early in the morning), a troubling thought of regret occurred to me... I wish I would have planted more in the summer and fall so we could see more surprises spring up after the hard cruel winter. These things are beautiful and I should have spent more time planting so we can benefit from them now.


It was then the obvious spiritual remindar hit me like a ton of bricks...What spiritual things have I planted and am I still planting each day? Do I share my faith with others? Do I do the good things I should do and plant seeds of love, hope, faith and kindness in others lives? Do I pray for others and invest in their spiritual growth by asking God on their behalf? What am I sowing right now so that a beautiful spiritual harvest will bloom at the right time?

One message in the bible that is quite clear is the concept of reaping and sowing. It's very clear that this is the way things have been set up in the universe. If we sow good things...those things according to the Spirit...we will reap eternal life, but if we sow to our flesh, we will reap destruction. It tells us as Christians to sow what it good and not give up sowing what is good and because if we do not give up, we will reap a great reward.

I know I look forward to spring time and the surprises that wait to spring up and reveal their beauty and life...so let's be reminded to sow generously the good things of God so our spiritual yards or gardens will be overflowing with beautiful things when the time comes!!

Peace


Vince

Buy from me real Gold...

I am sure most now days are no stranger to tough times economically. Things seem to be getting tighter and unfortunately, there is not alot of hope coming out of the news media these days. ( Good thing we don't have our hope there! )

I was reminded last night that we should not look at these times as tough, but rather as great times of opportunity. As it was described " let the church finally be the church"...

This morning, I met with a long time brother and we talk about the things that concern eachother as we do each week. It's a great time of instruction, confession, and need sharing that always ends with us praying for eachother and our families.

One of the concerns I shared with this brother was a problem I am having with a recent reduction in earnings at my current place of employment and some bitterness as a result.
My brother prayed a great prayer for me, that I would be able to show my co-workers the gospel in how I did my job during this time to help me overcome my bitterness.

Well, just this morning I had a big sale ready to close, along with the idea that this was God's blessing for me to get this deal and start earning more. Unfortunately, it did not turn out that way, in fact, we had to give this lead to another salesman in what I considered at the time a technicality. Needless to say, my first reaction was dissappointment with a quick swerve toward self pity and a little anger. Afterall, I did all the work and deserved the sale..right???

I am thankful for my brother's prayer...it caused me to reflect before I reacted. After considering the situation for a few moments I started to see it much differently. I decided that I was going to act like Jesus said to act..."Do unto others as you would have them do unto you" After being disappointed, I wanted to throw the lead away with the attitude..."well if I can't have the sale let them figure it out..." But instead I made the choice to do the best I could to fully cooperate and give the other guy the best opportunity to make the sale...and let him be blessed even though he did not deserve it...

I hope you all see where I am going with this and how my brother's prayer was answered with this great opportunity. And it was not long after I made the decision to do the right thing that I remembered the scripture from Revelation exhorting us to "Buy from me real gold"... I can't say this for sure because I am not a biblical scholar, but I believe what Jesus meant by this is that when we do what He says to do, we gain experiences and understanding and become a little more conformed into His image...this is far greater than the temporary gain or temporary gold I was working for...this is good to keep in mind especially in tough economic times...

I pray we all focus and pray for one another to make the most of all the opportunities God gives us each day to buy from Him real Gold. Let the church be the church and God's people be His people...


Vince

Care and Not Cure

Why is it that men especially always want to fix things? I mean, when someone comes to me with a problem my first reaction always seems to be," Well so and so, if you just did this, or I remember the time I did this and this happened...we always want to lead with the "quick fix" or advice when sometimes that not at all what's being asked for. ( This is especially true in our marrige). We always go for the cure first before the caring. We forget the saying that says, "no one really will care to hear what you know until they know you care."

I was reminded of this recently from a book I have been reading titled "One Anothering" and also from some things we have been learning about our spousal and children relationships in the Men's Fraternity class.

Sometimes it's not the cure or solving of the problem people are looking for, but rather, they just need someone to talk to, to listen to them, to affirm that what they are feeling is valid and to share with them in their pain or problem. I think this is what Paul referred to as "bear with one another eachother's burdens and thus fufill the law of Christ" Galations 6:2

The scripture also exhorts us to "be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry" James 1:19. Sometimes, just letting a person drag their fear, difficulty, grief or anger out in the light by letting them talk while you listen is all we need to do to start the process of healing. In addition, it gives us, the listener, the proper information to know how to pray for the person and love them in the situation.

You won't have to look very far to see a bunch of hurting people out there. And you also won't have to look very hard to see the barrage of advice on how to deal with your problems, your hurts and difficulties from Oprah to Dr Phil to the 6:00pm news. What you won't see alot of is people who are willing to just listen and care in a face to face situation...

I don't look at this a negative, however, but rather an opportunity to grow in love and care for eachother... Not to show, how much you know or try to "fix" the other person, but rather, how much you care. We should start, by practicing this with those who are closest to us...family, church family, friends...those in need.

I say all these things not as an expert or even a consistant practicer of this, but as one who desperately desires to grow in my care and love for others. I envision what Jesus was saying that if we do the things He taught us to do, especially in loving one another, which becoming better listeners and carers of one another this is one way we could love, the world would know we are His disciples and that He is real...after all, is that not what it is really all about?

Peace...Vince