The Parable of the Heart

Luke 8 and the parable of the soil. The parable of the heart. The parable of the Farmer Who sows good seed. 

We are so blessed the Farmer wants to make our lives into something beautiful, something fruitful. I am so thankful that He has scattered His precious seed into the soil of my heart, my life.

I pray Lord that you help me to cultivate that soil, that it would be tender and rich with nutrients from Your Word. I pray that You would help me get rid of the rocky places of bitterness, unforgiveness, hopelessness, arrogance and indifference. I pray the soil of my heart doesn't get hard and dry, that the gentle showers of your love and grace seep deep into the entire field of my life. I pray Your precious seed is watered so that crops might grow and bear good fruit. I pray that You protect me from the "birds" that would come and snatch the seed away and that you would protect me from those things that trample my heart.  I pray my heart is receptive and fertile as You water, till, and even let me lay fallow at times.

And as for the crop. I need to remember it is Your crop. You know what you are planting and how it will benefit Your Kingdom. Help me yield as I have no knowledge of the landscape, the big picture view that only You can see from high above. You see the patchwork quilt of our lives and how they fit together to make the world a more beautiful place. A garden fit for a King. A kingdom of beauty and love.

Thank You for you seeing fit to tend to me. Help me do my part (with your help and guidance) in keeping the soil of my heart a place where You can grow beautiful things. Thank You that I can be a little part of your glorious Kingdom.

He Comes to Me

The juxtaposition of my scripture reading this morning was amazing.  Mind blowing really. I was reading in Psalm 24 about the King of Glory, the LORD Almighty. The LORD Who is strong and mighty in battle. The One Who made and owns everything. I was meditating on the grander and majesty of God. His immenseness. Psalm 24 paints a picture of the LORD that is all powerful, magnificent, and exalted above all things.  That was my Psalm reading.

Then I turn to my gospel reading and I find myself in Matthew 21. Jesus is preparing to ride into Jerusalem where He knows the fate that awaits Him. Part of the reason why He was born. His death is eminent. A brutal death on a cross. Many Bibles call this passage the title The Triumphal Entry. It was kind of a bittersweet entry I would say.

And then it says, "See, your King comes to you…..gentle." I was stopped cold. He comes to me. This All Powerful God Almighty comes to me. I am being asked to "see." Do I see that God comes to me, ever so gently? He could have come soaring on the wings of the wind or He could have mounted a cherubim to come  (see Psalm 18:10). But no. He came humbly on the colt of a donkey. He came as one of us and made this grand entry that reflected His heart of humility.  It started with birth in a manger and continued throughout His life on earth. Humble. Lowly and meek. Our King. And He comes to us that way still.

All of it is so much to wrap my head around.  The utter humility of this God made man. The grace of His coming to us knowing we aren't wired to go to Him, with our pride , our fears, our self seeking ways.  He exhibited love every single day on earth as He interacted with every sort of person He crossed paths with. Not to mention the sacrifice He made for us on that cross.

And He crosses paths with us still. He comes to us, gently, humbly. Do I see? Do I notice Him in my life? Do I acknowledge His grace? Revel in His love? That is what I am being asked today. He wants me to see, to know, that He is with me.

My response? Utter gratitude. Awe. Thanksgiving.

Remembering

I woke up thankful this morning. Thankful because last night I went through some of my old journals and I found treasure there. I was reminded of the many things the Lord showed me in moments when I needed them. I have been dwelling in Psalm 145 recently.

The eyes of all look to you,

and you give them their food at the proper time.

You open Your hand and satisfy the desires 

of every living thing.

The Lord is righteous in all His ways

and loving toward all He has made.

Psalm 145:15-16

His grace towards me is involves timing. His timing. He knew how to encourage me back when I wrote in those journals. And He knew exactly when I would open those journal again to read. He knew I needed that exact encouragement again.  Right now. He knew I would look back and remember how He came alongside of me and walked me through all of the things that concerned me. He reminded me that His hand of love and guidance is  always with me. 

And so in remembering, I learn it deeper. What I learn from Him isn't measured in breadth. It is measured in depth. It just keeps going deeper and deeper into my soul. Slowly.....I learn to trust. To surrender. To rest.

There is a rhythm of His grace and faith in my life. I come to Him. He sends me out. I keep coming back because I don't have it down. I struggle and strain trying to get hold of the reality of Who He is in my life. The reality of His Presence which is always with me.

Thank You Lord for Your patience, Your grace and Your incredible words of encouragement. Thank you that You often remind Your people to remember. We are so quick to forget.  Thank You that you keep teaching us, undeterred by the wanderings of our restless souls. 

 Be strong and courageous! 

Do not be afraid or discouraged. 

For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.

Joshua 1:9b

Of Giving and Gifts

The Magi followed the star, found the Child, bowed down and worshipped. The Message, in Matt 2 says, "Overcome, they knelt down and worshipped Him."  Then they opened their treasure and presented the Child King with their gifts.

After their long journey in search of the newly born King, they worshipped. And they gave.  It was the overflow of their joy. Overcome, they gave their treasure away. 

We all have treasure. Everyone. It may be the kind we think of when we hear the word treasure, gold, precious stones, hard cash. But we have other gifts to give to our King. We have  talents, abilities and skills to great or lesser degrees. We have time and energy; we have our bodies, our hearts and our minds. What we have to offer is different for everyone. We are all uniquely and wonderfully made. (Psalm 139:14) 

So do we do we give out of duty? Or do we give because we are overcome with the joy of knowing Jesus. Does it overflow out of the delight of spending time with Him. Of being full to overflowing with the goodness of His Presence, His grace in our lives? God wants us to give, out of gratitude. 2 Corinthians 9:7 says God loves a cheerful giver,  not one who gives under compulsion.  We can't muster up cheerful giving apart from finding Him. This only leads to resentment. Only in finding our ever Present God, in knowing Him and His great love, can we give cheerfully to Him.

There are other issues, questions I need to ask myself.  Am I giving to Him or am I giving, trying to please others? Or am I holding back, keeping my treasure to myself? Or am I holding back thinking that what I have to offer isn't good enough? Do I compare myself to others?  Good hard questions.

I want to learn to give freely and not worry about if what I give is good enough. I want to  trust the outcome of my giving, like letting a bird go and watching it fly away, never knowing where it will land. I want to set it free for the joy of watching it fly. What I have is Yours Lord!

I do seek Your Presence, Lord. I want to be overcome with the joy of knowing You. I want to offer my treasure as overflow, given to You with unabashed love and joy. Thank you Lord, for being the King who Shepherds my soul. The One Who loves me, just as I am.

But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, 

are by no means the least among the rulers of Judah;

for out of you will come a Ruler 

who will be the Shepherd of my people Israel.

Matthew 2:6

Through Locked Doors

John 20:19. One of my favorite passages. He came to them. They were behind locked doors living in fear and anxiety. They were scared, confused.

Jesus came. 

He stood among them.

"Peace be with you!"

And then He showed them His wounds. It was Him! Joy!

It was all true. He had spoken to them in the upper room about this. He had promised. He reassured them that every thing would be alright.

John 14:18 "No. I will not abandon you as orphans; I will come to you."

John 14:28 "...I am going away and I am coming back to you."

John 16:16 "In a little while you will see Me no more, and then after a little while you will see Me."

John 16:20 "You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy."

John 16:33 "I have told you these things SO THAT in Me you may have peace."

Over and over again. He told them. He prepared them. To trust Him. To have peace. In Him. He knew they didn't understand. In John 16:16:18 the disciples said, "We don't get it." What an understatement. They kept asking all the wrong questions. Yet Jesus was so patient with them. He gave them explanations, promises, His words to remember. It would all become clear in time. They would remember what He said. And they would learn to trust. 

What was it that He promised? It was the promise of His Presence. To never to leave or abandon them. He came and stood among them.

They were still in the school of Christ. They had a steep learning curve. As I am. How much of what I learn from Him, I just don't get. How much more peace and joy would I live in if I just trust His words? All my questions are probably 99% the wrong questions. Thank you Lord for Your patience with me. Thank you that You come to me over and over again. Thank you that there are no doors that you won't penetrate in your pursuit of me. 

They were overjoyed when they saw it was Him. It was really Him. He had conquered death. The promise of joy was theirs.  Thank you Lord for your Presence. Help me to live in Your way. I thank you for your love and your grace. For joy. Unspeakable joy.

The Big Picture

 "If we let Him go on like this, everyone will believe in Him, 

and then the Romans will come and 

take away both our place and our nation."

 John 11:48

This was the religious folks talking here. The ones in charge of the things of God. They were so far off base they were plotting to kill the Son of God. I never could understand how they thought this would work as this was actually on the heals of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead. It just shows how blinded we can become. It is the epitome of religion gone bad and the world reeks of it.

It is a reminder that I need to walk closely with the Lord, listen intently, and hold loosely to all things. It is all His. His place, His nation.  That is where they got it wrong. They thought it was theirs. They had themselves comfortably ensconced in their own little kingdoms. They worked hard to keep the status quo. All in the name of God. They lost sight of the big picture even when He was standing right in front of their eyes.

There is a big lesson here.  We need to remember Whose Kingdom we live in. Whose we are. That is actually, the wonderful part. As His, we can rest. There is no striving. We can trust we have a good Shepherd Who provides good pasture for us. He determines the pasture, and we certainly don't own it. We just know that the Shepherd has our best interest in mind. He is our provider. Always.

God help me to hold loosely. To be working and resting with You in all I do. With You and not for You. To know when to let go and when to hang on.  Give me wisdom Lord. Thank You for being my good Shepherd. Thank You for Your guidance, Your leading, Your great provision, and Your amazing love.

Searching for Jesus

John 6:22-24. A funny little passage of scripture this morning. A transition really.  Almost a throw away. Yet it spoke so much to me. Such is God's powerful Word. Not one word is without meaning and life. 

Jesus has gone off to be alone. The disciples are out in a boat. Those are the big stories, chocked full of miracles.  This is about the crowd that was left behind. And then they realized something.  That alone made me pause.  What do I need to realize? What are those seemingly insignificant moments I need to realize, to pay attention. Those moments filled with the Presence of God.  I am reminded of the quote by Elizabeth Barrett Browning:

Earth's crammed with heaven, 

And every common bush afire with God: 

But only he who sees takes off his shoes.

The earth indeed is crammed with heaven. That is why I am working on slowing down. To take notice. Take off my shoes and enjoy! To give thanks, as Jesus did when He was about to hand out the loaves to feed the 5,000 before they ate and were satisfied. 

I guess what struck me this morning is I need to realize what Jesus has done and what He is doing even right this second.  Am I present in the moment to see, to realize that He is at work, He is always at work, as He points out in John 5:7? Jesus said to them, "My Father is always at work to this very day, and I, too, am working." Our Lord, our Creator, the Lover of our soul in our midst, always at work. What an amazing reality! Do I realize it? Do I live like it? In the mundane moments? The stressful times? The times of questioning and of suffering? Do I look? Do I look hard enough? Do I slow down enough to see? Do I take time to give thanks?

The crowd went searching for Jesus. I look too.  I'm working on slowing down. Being present. Trying to be as helpful as He would have me be and not more. Obedient, living in His love. I fall short, struggle and strain. But Lord, You are so faithful, patient, forgiving and kind to me as I seek your Face.  

I praise you for Your loving-kindness. Demands clamor at me. Life is full of tricks and turns. Heartache. Distraction. Lord, You see. You see it all. You hear the cries of your people.

Have mercy Lord. Have mercy on us as we are lost without You. Thank you for hearing me. For being with me, always, to the end. Help me to remain in You, as You are never far from me.