Leave it

When you harvest your grain and forget a sheaf back in the field, don’t go back and get it; leave it for the foreigner, the orphan, and the widow so that God, your God, will bless you in all your work. When you shake the olives off your trees, don’t go back over the branches and strip them bare—what’s left is for the foreigner, the orphan, and the widow. And when you cut the grapes in your vineyard, don’t take every last grape—leave a few for the foreigner, the orphan, and the widow. (Deuteronomy 24:19-21)

I wonder if we have given much thought to the various "harvests" we have in our lives. The great work of producing the end result of a tremendous "intake" of grain is almost missed by us because we simply go to the local grocer and purchase the bagged flour, loaf of bread, or cake mix right off the shelf. If there was a greater appreciation for the "work" which makes the harvest possible, I wonder if we'd have any greater appreciation for the "filled shelves" at the grocer? A harvest is the general work of seeing something to the point of maturity - then storing up the thing which has been brought to that point. It is a process producing a certain outcome - the benefits of which provide for the basis of what will be "stored up" for the future. There is an inability to "store up" if there first has not been a "supply of". So, the beginning point of the harvest is in the supplying of what will produce the harvest. In the simplest terms it means if there is no seed, there's no harvest. The type of seed always determines the harvest, right? So, in the most literal sense, we could turn this to the type of seeds we DON'T sow as providing the results we will reap. No unkind words - no strife in a relationship. No impulsive choices - no regrets or shame.

What "supply" we tap into most is what we will see as the resulting harvest we will "store up" for days to come. If the "supply chain" is directly from the hands of God, the stored product will be that which produces further fruitfulness in our lives. If the "supply chain" is something other than God's best, the harvest may not be as beneficial for our storehouses! The connection I want us to see this morning is in the supply of what will be planted and the harvest which will be available for storage during "leaner" times in our lives. Something coming to a place of maturity before it is harvested almost escapes us today as many farmers "reap" the crops long before they ripen - so they have a longer "shelf life". Here's the rub - they just don't taste the same! When ripening occurs exactly where the seed was planted, the "taste" produced is richer or more flavorful. Why? The product was meant to "mature" where it was planted! It was not meant to "mature" in a fruit bowl on your kitchen table, or in the brown bag on your shelf! It might allow the fruit to ripen, but it still doesn't taste the same as a vine ripened tomato, or the tree ripened avocado. The outward appearance may be the same, but it is in the experience of the "taste" where we really note the differences.

You can "force" ripening - but the result is a pitiful excuse for the intended taste! The same is true in our spiritual lives. We can remove ourselves from the place where we have been planted way too soon. Sure, we see evidence of fruit - something worth harvesting. If we are removed too soon from the place where we are planted - the harvest will only yield tasteless seed! The richness and robustness of the produced fruit is really only evidenced when the fruit is allowed to ripen right where it was planted. If you haven't noticed, the seed wasn't planted in the dark! It was planted in the light, watered regularly, and the soil around it was worked regularly to keep it weed free. Before the harvest comes a whole lot of purposeful planning and consistent work. In the season of harvest, we are tempted to "store up" when we see the beginning evidence of fruit - but waiting just a little longer often brings just the right amount of added "son-shine" we need to experience the richest of harvests. There is an intentional leaving of something behind. This may seem like a senseless waste - leaving some of the harvest behind. But...in what is left, there is even greater provision! You see, there are those who cannot produce the fruit without a seed - the seed you provide by the intentional leaving of something of the harvest available for the taking. I don't know about you, but some of the best "seeds" in my life have been left by those who have allowed the seed they were "supplied" to come to maturity in their lives - allowing me to glean a little of their harvest. In turn, those "seeds" supplied by their harvest have become the basis of growth for the similar harvest in my life.

I don't know the harvest you will bear today - or even if the harvest will be today. The season of harvest may be in seed-form in your lives right now. It could be just about to begin the "reaping" phase. Regardless of where you are in the process - you needed the first "seed" to be supplied. You and I are called upon to intentionally provide for those who have no way of producing the harvest in their own lives without the seed you have already seen come to the place of maturity in yours. We become instruments of God's "supply chain" in the process. If you are anxious to call it a "harvest" and be done with the entire maturing process, remember this - the harvest is best when the maturing is allowed to occur right where the seed was planted. Don't rush God's handiwork. You might get fruit, but the richness of it may not be as enjoyable as it would have been if you'd have stayed a little longer where you were planted. Just sayin!

Mooooove back to where you belong

God respects the choices we make. We can either choose our own path, or his. The simple fact is that it is OUR choice - and he honors it. If we choose to hang out in places or with people that present opportunities for compromise in our lives, we may choose that course of action. If we choose to be in the place where God can bless us, he honors that choice. This does not mean that we never "hang out" anyplace but church, a convent, or a monastery! God intends for us to be light and salt in this world. He does expect us to make choices that are honoring to him WHILE we live in this world and hang around with others in this world.

God blesses those people who refuse evil advice and won’t follow sinners or join in sneering at God.
instead, the Law of the Lord makes them happy, and they think about it day and night. They are like trees growing beside a stream, trees that produce fruit in season and always have leaves. Those people succeed in everything they do. That isn’t true of those who are evil, because they are like straw blown by the wind. Sinners won’t have an excuse on the day of judgment, and they won’t have a place with the people of God. The Lord protects everyone who follows him, but the wicked follow a road that leads to ruin. (Psalm 1)

God gives us the tools to help us make the right choices. The first "tool" he gives us is his Word - the Bible. We are to "chew on" the Word we receive - not just do a cursory 'fly over'. In other words, we engage in a process of meditating on it. Meditation is not something "mystical", but is simply a process of reflecting on something over-and-over again, until we get something out of it. Something that is considered that frequently begins to have an affect on us - it begins to 'get into us'. The second "tool" outlined is our "proximity" to God - a tree planted well can bear fruit! If we are not staying close to God - enjoying times of his refreshing - we will be influenced by what we are closest to at that moment in time. God gives us the ability to bear new fruit. Fruit is a result of the process of growth. If there is no active growth, there is no fruit production. Choices affect action. Action affects where it is that we end up (our location). Location affects the next steps we take - after all, don't they always say it is location, location, location?

Simply put - if we make the right choice, we manifest actions that yield fruit in the right season. Think about a small calf in a large pasture. That calf has many fascinating things that may attract his attention along the way: a butterfly flits about out of some bush and draws his eye; the strands of grass moving in the wind a little farther off might lure him for a nibble; the rustling of the leaves in a stand of trees could even get him a little spooked. As the calf is distracted by these things, it wanders farther and farther from the safe source of nourishment, protection, and sense of safety (his MOM). Soon, the calf is growing hungry and kind of concerned because he doesn't actually see his mom any longer. It begins to bellow out in absolute misery - calling for the security and nurturing of mom. We are sometimes like that - wandering away, in seeming innocence, then realizing that our wandering has made us miserably hungry, lonely, and with a deep sense of needing the security we once knew! As long as we stay close enough to the source of our growth, we are content. When we wander, we "feel it".

God has given us "feelings" as one way to "measure" our location in life. When we are not quite "feeling right" about where it is that we are at, the choices we have made, the acquaintances we have been keeping, it is likely that our feelings are pointing out the fact that we have wandered too far from the source of our nourishment and nurturing - from that place of absolute safety and security - God's protective arms. Remember this: The tree "planted" is the one that bears fruit! It isn't the tree uprooted, or the tree torn down by the winds - it is the one 'planted' securely, firmly, and committed in that placement. Just sayin!

It is raining!

"Sometimes when you're in a dark place, you think you have been buried, but actually you've been planted."  (Positive Hits PER on Facebook)  I saw this on the Facebook feed this past week and just wanted to take a moment to give that one a little thought.  My BFF said something similar the other day when she said, "Sometimes we pray for the rain to come, then we complain bitterly when it starts to storm."  She definitely nailed that one on the head, didn't she?  There are times we want so badly for things to change because it seems like the worst possible place we could be in, but then all of a sudden something comes a long to show us we weren't in all that bad of a place to begin with!  The darkest places in our lives are not to be dreaded or overlooked for their significance - for they may just be the place transition and growth occurs!

Those planted in the house of the Eternal will thrive in the courts of our God.  (Psalm 92:13 VOICE)

The rains come, not in the absence of the storm, but in the midst of it.  The seed produces the plant, not in the absence of darkness, but in the presence of the careful planting of the one who knows how to nurture growth from the soil in which it is planted.  We may not agree with God's methodologies some times, but they are quite effective, aren't they?  I often stop to consider the darkest places, not focusing on how dark they seem, but to look for the evidence of light breaking through!  

Some things I'd like us to keep in mind as we go through our day today:

1. We have a caring God watching over our lives - nothing will escape his watchful eye.  We may want to stop cursing the place we are in right now and consider if it is perhaps by God's design we have been placed there!  His movement in our lives is with intent and determined purpose.  His actions on our behalf are never without love - even if they seem to place us in the darkest place for a short while.

2. Our perspective is often keeping us focused on the darkness around us - feeling like the walls have closed in around us.  What we often need the most is just to close our eyes to the darkness and see the face of God - for he resides in us and when we stop for a moment to consider his peace deep within, we will see his face and revel in his presence with us.

3. To be planted is one thing - to thrive is quite another. The one who tends our lives is the one who determines the growth which will come forth.  If we want to be the ones tending to the planting, we will likely be disappointed by what is produced.  If we allow him to tend what has been carefully planted within our lives, he will bring forth growth way beyond what we could ever imagine possible.

4. The presence of darkness doesn't mean there is an absence of light.  Light resides within - we are never without light - even in the darkness of storm, or the closeness of the walls which would seek to confine us.

5. Darkness need not stunt our growth.  A seed has to die before it can bring forth the evidence of life.  We often need to surrender our "willfulness" in order to realize the evidence of his character becoming our own.  

Just consider the storm and the darkness another source of his carefulness over your lives!  Just sayin!

One tiny Douglas Fir

As we took the Durango-Silverton Steam Train ride through the wooded passages carved deep with rapidly running rivers and lush green meadows, it was a joyous moment when I observed this Douglas Fir, about one foot tall right smack-dab in the middle of the rapidly running Animas River.  Now, at first you might not think much about this "find" of mine, but let me assure you of a couple of things.  First, the tree was growing - not just laying there or lodged into a rock.  It was actually growing right in the middle of the rapids! Second, it was growing straight up toward the open sky - no bend, no lean.  Lastly, it was lush in growth and green.  If you find this a little odd, so did I because we don't usually see trees growing in rapid waters - maybe along the banks of the river, but not right in the middle of the rapidly flowing cold waters of high country run-off.  It brought to mind the passage about growing strong, like a tree planted by a stream - a tree sure to produce fruit, whose leaves will never wither.  The passage took on new light as I considered the possibilities of not only being able to grow "by" the waters, but right smack-dab in the middle of them!

Great blessings belong to those who don’t listen to evil advice, who don’t live like sinners, and who don’t join those who make fun of God. Instead, they love the Lord’s teachings and think about them day and night. So they grow strong, like a tree planted by a stream—a tree that produces fruit when it should and has leaves that never fall. Everything they do is successful. (Psalm 1:1-3 ERV)

You might think that this tiny tree would not be able to send down roots deep enough to keep in long-term.  I don't know if it will last to grow as tall as those surrounding it in the nearby forests, but I do know that for now, it is planted well and growing strong.  I marvel though at the tiny tree's "will" to take root, for it faces many forces which act as "stress" against which it must grow.  

- The raging waters.  Now, if you have traveled through these deeply carved gorges in this area, you will know the power of these waters.  These were white water rapids!  Not just a lazy flowing stream, but muddy, raging waters.  I cannot imagine the continual buffeting this tiny tree is taking by the flow of these waters, but it doesn't seem to be adversely affected.  Why?  That "stress" from the waters flowing "against" it actually gave it deep enough roots to resist the urge to be uprooted, carried away, or even bending beneath their force.  Stress isn't always bad, my friend.  Sometimes we need a little stress to actually do us the good deed of digging in a little deeper!

- The harsh weather conditions.  Rain pelted us that day as we traveled along, but harsher conditions would have been the "lot" of this tiny tree much earlier in this season.  The snows around the area would have been present not long before our visit and in fact, were expected during our visit, as well.  The Animas River is known for remaining "ice free" in the winter months, but that doesn't stop the snows from flying in the area.  In fact, those cold conditions present the second stress this tiny tree has to face.  We all know what the cold does to us - making us slow down.  The tiny tree cannot slow its growth, though, for every season sends the challenges which will cause it to take even deeper root and grow stronger against the elements which challenge it.

- The many falling and moving rocks.  Within these gorges are huge rocks and rocks which just break off, falling into the Animas and being carried by the force of the raging white waters.  Imagine this tiny tree beginning to take root - averaging about 12 - 24 inches of growth per year, depending on the conditions.  This tree was about 12-18 inches in height making it about 1-1.5 years old.  In that time, it has been pummeled with many a river stone, not to mention silt carried by the raging waters, falling rock wedging its way into the crevices of the waterway.  One of the things a person knowledgeable in the growth of trees will tell you is that a tree grows when the soil conditions are the best.  Imagine the rocky conditions of this river bed and think about the stress of having to constantly send roots around rocks.  Those rocks create not only stress against which the roots must exert pressure, but they exert pressure on the roots as they move and shift in the raging waters.  I imagine these rocks add to the already challenging growth conditions for this tiny tree, but I don't see them as uprooting it anytime soon!

Just some observations from a tiny tree wedged deep into the waters of the Animas.  We might not be "in the waters", but be assured of this, we are challenged to put down deep roots, to find strength against the elements which would seek to challenge us to slow our growth, and those things which come against us to seek to uproot us.  In each case, these things can serve us well - when we put our roots down deeper and grow straight and tall toward the light we have been given.  Just sayin!

Anthills Galore!

Remember, you aren't feeding the root; the root is feeding you.

(Romans 11:18 The Message)

The entire chapter from which this verse is taken is about Israel - the chosen of God - and the "branches" that were grafted in.  Let me explain before I go on.  Israel was chosen to be the people of God - redeemed from a life of slavery and misery.  Then they chose their own way.  As Paul puts it:   Well, when Israel tried to be right with God on her own, pursuing her own self-interest, she didn't succeed. The chosen ones of God were those who let God pursue his interest in them, and as a result received his stamp of legitimacy. The "self-interest Israel" became thick-skinned toward God. (Romans 11:7 The Message)  Notice that I underlined a section of this passage.  Paul really sets out two diametrically opposed conditions of the heart - those that pursue God because of their own "self-interest" and those that let God pursue his interest in them.  

It was the pursuit of God in order to fulfill their own self-interest that caused Israel to reject their Messiah when he came (Jesus).  In turn, God made a way for the "outsiders" to the Jewish faith to be "grafted in".  That is what Paul has spent some time developing in this chapter - the non-Jew was pursued by God and grafted into the "family tree", so to speak.  Their rejection of the Messiah opened the door for those of us of that now are welcomed into the family of Christ.  There are a couple of things we need to see in this chapter that bear us spending some time considering.

First, God pursues us - we don't pursue him.  Whenever we get that backwards, we end up being unsuccessful in our pursuit!  It says that when we think we can pursue God on our terms, we actually get a little "thick-skinned" toward God.  We lose our sensitivity to the things of God's Spirit.  This means that we are so caught up in the way we "think" we should act, or dare I say perform, before God that we miss out on just being ourselves.  God doesn't pursue us because of anyway we "perform", but because he loves us.  God pursues "his interest" in us - in other words, he has invested in us and he is pursuing what he has an interest in!  

Second, thick-skinned people are really 'dull' in their perception of God's presence.  The people of Israel actually did not realize that the presence of God had left them - they were so caught up in their tendencies to do things on their own, looking to other gods, and being swayed by the religions of the day that they missed seeing God's presence was no longer there in their "worship".  Whenever we substitute anything for the presence of God in our lives, we run the same risk - becoming so thick-skinned that we don't even realize that the presence of God is gone!

Last, but certainly not least, we have a tendency to get things backwards when we get out of the presence of God.  Our passage puts it this way:  We think we feed the root and forget that the root actually feeds us!  I planted six plants in my yard about six weeks ago.  Three on the right side of the yard and three on the left.  The ones on the right are thriving, the ones on the left are withering.  At first, I thought it was a watering issue, but a quick check of the sprinkler system did not confirm that suspicion.  There was adequate water.  Then I wondered if it was too much sun on the left side of the yard compared to the right side, but I could not really see a difference there either.

In the end, here is what I discovered.  There are thousands of ants doing a number on the roots of those on the left side of the yard!  The plants don't have a chance to thrive because the ants are attacking the roots!  I have attempted to kill them, but they seem to be pretty impervious to the chemicals I have used and the hills just seem to flourish.  In the meantime, my little bushes are affected by what is happening to their roots.  The roots feed the plant, not the other way around!  Nothing kills the plant quicker than the roots being cut off from their source!

We should never forget that in God's pursuit of his interest in us, he ensures that the roots are planted in places where they will flourish.  He tends our lives with great care - when he is allowed to do the tending, that is!  He places us where we will grow - take root.  Then, he encompasses our roots with the spiritual nutrients that will bring the growth into our lives.  We don't feed the root - the root feeds us.  Are you allowing God to place your roots in rich soil, or are you trying to tell God where you should be planted?  I think it is best to allow God to pursue us - we probably don't know the best soil to plant those roots in on our own!