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Showing posts with the label Soil

A Gardener's Delight

We ask God to give you complete knowledge of his will and to give you spiritual wisdom and understanding. Then the way you live will always honor and please the Lord, and your lives will produce every kind of good fruit. All the while, you will grow as you learn to know God better and better. (Colossians 1:9-10) The moment we say 'yes' to Jesus, this 'grow as you learn' thing begins to happen. We might 'know' a little bit about God from what he has created, for creation speaks of him all around us. We might 'know' something about him because we went to church as a kid and heard 'things' about what he had done in the past. This walk with Jesus really begins in earnest once we move from just knowing 'things' about God into a place of really learning from him directly. Good fruit is produced at the hand of a skilled gardener. I have tried my hand at planting this or that in the 'garden', but I must not be a gardener. In truth, what ...

Consider what your soil bears

Virgil was a Roman poet of long ago, but these words remind us of the importance of considering where it is we both sow and reap: " Consider what each soil will bear, and what each refuses ." The type of soil is important because it directly correlates to what will be either accepted and produce, or what will be rejected, leaving good seed to become withered or choked out in time. What is the soil of your heart really like? At this very moment, would you say your heart's soil is well-cultivated, capable of bearing a bountiful harvest? Or would you say there are portions of your heart that haven't embraced anything worthwhile in a good long while? It could be we need to listen to what God is telling us about the condition of our hearts - because the good seed will never be embraced and produce a good harvest if the soil is never prepared! Can papyrus grow tall on a dry land? Can reeds grow without water? No, they will dry up before harvest. They will be too small to ...

Seeds - we need two types

What kind of seeds do you have planted? It is just about the time of year when folks begin to start their seedlings under grow lights in some protected environment, readying the starter plants for the spring planting season. Various vegetables and herbs will begin their growth - seeds sprouting under the watchful care of those who desire those gardens to flourish this coming growing season. The truth of the matter is that the gardener does not just plant any old type of seed - he plants corn seeds if he wants corn, eggplant if he desires that growth, and flower seeds if he wants to adorn the garden with some manner of color to attract the pollinating insects. It would be insane to think he could just plant one type of seed and expect all kinds of harvest of different produce! His harvest will depend on the seeds - not just that something was planted! Light-seeds are planted in the souls of God’s people,  Joy-seeds are planted in good heart-soil. (Psalm 97:11) Light seeds and jo...

Opportunistic Seed

Okay, you have probably heard this parable once or twice.  If not, this may not do it justice, but it may give us some "seed thoughts" upon which we can allow God's Spirit to develop over time.  A farmer planted.  One thing is for sure - seed purposefully planted is a wondrous thing.  Your gardens and fields can be filled with all kinds of manner of growing things - because of purposeful planting.  Just as amazing to me is the seeming strength of the stuff which is NOT purposefully planted in our gardens or fields!  How is it they manage to get there in the first place, or find root? A farmer planted seed. As he scattered the seed, some of it fell on the road, and birds ate it. Some fell in the gravel; it sprouted quickly but didn't put down roots, so when the sun came up it withered just as quickly. Some fell in the weeds; as it came up, it was strangled by the weeds. Some fell on good earth, and produced a harvest beyond his wildest dreams.  (Matth...

Soul Soil

14-15 "The farmer plants the Word. Some people are like the seed that falls on the hardened soil of the road. No sooner do they hear the Word than Satan snatches away what has been planted in them.   16-17 "And some are like the seed that lands in the gravel. When they first hear the Word, they respond with great enthusiasm. But there is such shallow soil of character that when the emotions wear off and some difficulty arrives, there is nothing to show for it.   18-19 "The seed cast in the weeds represents the ones who hear the kingdom news but are overwhelmed with worries about all the things they have to do and all the things they want to get. The stress strangles what they heard, and nothing comes of it.   20 "But the seed planted in the good earth represents those who hear the Word, embrace it, and produce a harvest beyond their wildest dreams." (Mark 4:14-20) Mom asked me to get some planting soil the other day so that we could freshen up a large housepl...