The Garden Path

Last week I told you about the jasmine that grows along the path to my garden.  Today I want to tell you about the path itself.  It is made of flagstone, edged with cut stone that was left over from the rock that is on our home.  I created the path by first outlining the edges of it with the cut stone.  Then I filled the walkway with crushed limestone or road base.  In South Texas, we call it caliche.  The crushed limestone then had to be leveled so that the flagstone doesn’t wobble or shift when it is stepped on.  Since the flagstone is not uniform in thickness, each stone had to be leveled with more or less base to make it sturdy.  Then, since the flagstone is of random shapes, it was like putting a jigsaw puzzle together to make all the pieces fit without having too wide of a space between the stones.  That’s why this was my project and not my husband’s.  He doesn’t like to work puzzles.  Once the puzzle pieces were in place, I filled the space between each stone with concrete to hold them all together and to make the pathway strong and stable.

My pathway is long and narrow.  There are branches off the main path that lead to other areas in the yard.  One branch leads to the grandkids’ play area.  One branch leads to a bench that sits under an arbor, a quiet spot to sit and relax.  Another branch leads to the compost pile and further on to the rose garden.  But the first branch leads to the vegetable garden.  That’s the pathway that is used most often.

When I look at the flagstone in my pathway, and when I think about how all the stones fit together, I am reminded of the Church.  Not just “my church” or “my denomination” or even the “American church.”  The flagstone reminds me of God’s universal church – the church that began over 2,000 years ago when Peter preached and the Holy Spirit came into the lives of believers for the very first time, the church that has grown and continues to grow all over the world, the church that will live in eternity in Paradise with King Jesus on His throne.  The church where we will worship Him in heaven will most likely be a whole lot different than what we are used to here on earth.  After all, when we stop and think about all the nations, all the people groups, all the different kinds of churches that exist in the world today, and have existed for the last two millennia, do you think the church in heaven will be just like mine?  Or yours?  I doubt it.  I think it will be something entirely new, but something that we will all

agree glorifies God in the most complete, perfect way!  God is using all kinds of churches today to usher in His Kingdom.  Each of those churches is like one piece of my flagstone pathway.  Each church is held together with all the others by the Holy Spirit and our faith in the same Jesus.  We are each different in our language, our customs, our music, our buildings, and our form of worship.  But we are all alike in our trust in the same Savior, Jesus Christ, and His blood that was shed for each of us.  We are each sealed with the same Holy Spirit, and we will all worship together in the same heavenly chorus as we sing, “Holy, holy, holy, worthy is the Lamb Who was slain!”  Just like God uses many different individuals with different gifts within each church, He is using many different individual churches with many different looks, missions, and customs to make up His world-wide church! 

 

Read with me, Romans 12:4-6(The Message): 

“In this way we are like the various parts of a human body. Each part gets its meaning from the body as a whole, not the other way around. The body we’re talking about is Christ’s body of chosen people. Each of us finds our meaning and function as a part of his body. But as a chopped-off finger or cut-off toe we wouldn’t amount to much, would we? So since we find ourselves fashioned into all these excellently formed and marvelously functioning parts in Christ’s body, let’s just go ahead and be what we were made to be, without enviously or pridefully comparing ourselves with each other, or trying to be something we aren’t.”

All my life I have read that passage, and I have understood it to mean that a church is made up of many individuals with unique talents and gifts, none more important or less vital than the other.  That is true.  But think about that passage in a broader sense.  Think about all the individual churches, each with its own language, its own customs, and its own mission reach.  No matter its size or its location, each church is just as precious to God as any other, and each unique congregation is vital to His plan for this world. 

When we watch the news and hear about Christians in other parts of the world who are being brutally murdered because of their faith, or when we hear about churches that have to meet in secret, or when we hear about churches that have only a page or two of the scripture, do we give them a second thought?  I hope so.  I hope that we who have it so much easier will do all that we can to support our brothers and sisters around the world who are truly being persecuted, and that we will never forget that God is fitting us all together to form His church.  Just like my pathway would not be complete and would not serve its purpose if any of the stones were removed, God’s church would not be complete, it would not function as He planned, if any of His precious congregations did not exist.  God told us that His church would face persecution.  “Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted (2 Timothy 3:12).”  But He also told us that His church would never fail.  “And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it (Matthew 16:18).”

Does that mean that people of all beliefs are a part of God’s church?  Not by any stretch of the imagination. 

 

Just like my pathway, the road to heaven is straight and it is narrow.  Jesus said, “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few (Matthew 7:13-14).”   On my path, if you turn off in another direction, you will not get to the garden, but in my yard, every path leads to somewhere equally pleasant and beneficial.  However, if you stray from God’s straight and narrow path, Jesus said your way will end in destruction.  Not all paths are beneficial or pleasant.  Don’t be fooled by all the “feel-good” doctrine that says there are many paths to heaven.  “Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me (John 14:6).’”  He also said, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven (Matthew 7:21).”

What path are you on today?  Is your life invested in a church that is a part of God’s straight and narrow pathway to Heaven?  Is your church bound together with all God’s other churches by the concrete of His Holy Spirit?

My prayer for you and for me today is that we will be vital, active participants in our own local churches, and that we will each be more sensitive to the needs of the churches in other parts of the world that may have needs that we do not even understand.  I pray that our hearts would be broken when we hear of the persecution of our brothers and sisters in other parts of the world, and that we would thank God every day that we are free to worship Him.  I pray that we would never take that freedom for granted.

“Finally, brothers, rejoice. Aim for restoration, comfort one another, agree with one another, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you. Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the saints greet you. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all (2 Corinthians 13:11-14).”

Unless otherwise indicated, all scripture is from the English Standard Version.

A Parable of The Jasmine Vine

Many times I’ve said that I feel nearest to God when I am in my garden.  For the next few weeks I want to share with you some of the ways He has spoken to me, using my garden as a classroom.

On the pathway that leads to my garden, I have a wrought iron, arch-shaped arbor and a fence.  Growing on that arbor and fence is some star jasmine.  It is so fragrant in the springtime when it blooms.  I wish the blooming season could last all summer, but we enjoy the beautiful, sweet, white blossoms for only a few weeks.  After the blooms have faded, the vine goes into its growing season.  It seems like the new growth appears overnight, and it must grow several inches every day.  That’s good because it makes the vine fuller and promises even more blossoms the following spring.  But it also creates a problem.  The new growth becomes unruly, shooting out vines as much as three feet long, wrapping around other plants, dangling into the pathway, generally making the walk toward the garden less than pleasant.

Every few days I must tend to the vines.  When it’s possible, I weave the new growth into the fence or the arched arbor, adding fullness to the overall growth.  But sometimes the vines are stubborn and woody making it hard to weave them into the desired structure.  And sometimes the new growth is in an area that is already full and there is no more room to weave it.  In those cases, I have to trim the vines.  You see, I have a plan for this jasmine.  My plan is to create a privacy screen on the fence and shade on the arbor.

God has a plan for you and for me, too.   “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope,” (Jeremiah 29:11).  He wants us to have a full life. “I came that they may have life and have it abundantly,” (John 10:10b).
 
But just like the vine, we tend to go off in every direction unless we yield ourselves to God’s plan for our lives.  “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death,” (Proverbs 14:12). “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.  In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths,” (Proverbs 3:5-6).

God has a way of weaving us back into His plan when we get off track, just like I have to weave my jasmine when it becomes unruly.  Sometimes He uses Scripture or our Christian friends to point out to us when we are headed in the wrong direction.  “The ear that listens to life-giving reproof will dwell among the wise.  Whoever ignores instruction despises himself, but he who listens to reproof gains intelligence,” (Proverbs 15:31-32).  When we listen to His instructions, even if we have strayed from His plan for us, He mercifully weaves us back into the pattern of life that is pleasing to Him.

If we refuse His instruction we will face His anger, and our future is death.  That is when people face the danger of being pruned out of the vine.  “They abandoned the Lord and served the Baals and the Ashtaroth. So the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he gave them over to plunderers, who plundered them. And he sold them into the hand of their surrounding enemies, so that they could no longer withstand their enemies,” (Judges 2:13-14).  “And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind,” (Ephesians 2:1-3).

But when we listen to Him, and when we agree with Him that His way is the only way, He forgives us and, once again, He weaves the branches of our lives into His perfect plan.  “Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin,” (Psalm 51:1-2)!  “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.  For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them,” (Ephesians 2:4-10).

That is why God tells us, “Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it,” (Proverbs 22:6).  Just like I am “training” the vine to go where I want it to go, we are taught to “train” our children.  We need to teach them, beginning the day they are born, that God loves them, He has a plan for them, that His way is the way of abundant life, and any other way leads to destruction.  That does not mean that our children will always do the right thing and make the right choices.  We all get off track sometimes.  But when we train our children, and ourselves, to submit to His plan for our lives, the end result will be a life that is full and that glorifies Him.  And the ultimate result is a life with Him in eternity.

Just as I expect my jasmine to conform to my plan for it, my prayer for you and for me this week is that our hearts and our desires will be transformed by God and that our lives will be conformed to His perfect plan for us:

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect,” (Romans 12:2).

All Scripture references are from the English Standard Version.

Computer Problems

I'm still having computer problems. First it was the system board that was "fried." We thought it was fixed, but now the expert is saying the first problem created hard drive issues. So, I'm without a computer again. Prayers appreciated.

Silly as a Sidewalk

For the last five years I have been working on building a flagstone pathway in our back yard.  So far, I have finished about 112 feet of it, and I have about 18 feet left to do.  Part of the delay in getting it finished is our South Texas weather, part of it is my refusal to work outside when it is too hot, too humid, too cold, too windy, too… whatever.  But just a few weeks ago my husband and I decided it was time to sell the house.  We are getting older, it is getting harder and harder for us to keep up with the yard work, and the house it too big for us, so we plan to downsize.  So, that decision put a lot of pressure on me to finish my project.  This spring has brought record rainfall, so it has been almost impossible to work on the sidewalk most days.  A couple of weeks ago, though, we had almost an entire week without rain.  Aside from the heat and humidity, it was just about perfect weather for working on my sidewalk – that is, as long as I could get started very early in the morning before the heat was unbearable.  Did I mention that I am NOT a morning person?  I am usually pretty slow getting started in the mornings, unless I have somewhere I need to go.  I had to get up early when I was working, but now that I am retired, I like to indulge myself by sleeping late on those days when I can.  That particular Friday, a couple of weeks ago, I had an appointment at 11:00 a.m., so I knew that if I was going to work on the sidewalk, I would need to get started no later than 7:30 a.m.  I could work for two hours then get cleaned up in time to make my appointment.  I had my alarm set for 7:30, but that doesn’t mean much, since I don’t have a problem hitting the snooze button when I really don’t want to get up.  That day I didn’t even need the alarm.  I woke up about 6:30 and couldn’t go back to sleep.  I eventually got up, and I was dressed and out in the back yard, working with the flagstone by 7:30.  To my amazement, the breeze was cool, the pieces of rock fit together a lot more easily than usual, and instead of my usual three feet of sidewalk in two hours, I was able to finish about four feet by the time I had to quit.

As I was getting ready for my appointment, I was thanking God for getting me up, giving me a beautiful cool morning, and making my work go smoothly so that I could make more progress than I expected.  I became giddy with the thought that Our Sovereign, Holy God, Creator of the universe, Sustainer of all life, even cares about something as silly as a sidewalk.  I was reminded that we are instructed to look for, notice, and acknowledge His activity in and around us, even in the simplest, most mundane things:

In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths (Proverbs 3:6, King James Version).

Well, I don’t know that He cares about the sidewalk, but I KNOW, without a doubt, that He cares about me:

Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are?  . . .  And if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith? (Matthew 6:26, 30, New Living Translation).

Then He reminded me that, if He cares about me and my concern about something as silly as a sidewalk, how much more does He care about more important, more life-changing things?

Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to his disciples to distribute to the people. He also divided the two fish among them all. They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces of bread and fish. The number of the men who had eaten was five thousand (Mark 6:41-44, New International Version).

And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more (Isaiah 2:4, King James Version).

Someone criticized me recently for praying for something they thought was silly.  They implied that God should not be bothered by trivial things, but that we should spend our time praying for more important things.  Isn’t it wonderful that God does not have to prioritize and schedule His to-do list like we do?  He is so great that He spoke the universe into creation, and He holds it all together in perfection:

And God said, Let there be light: and there was light (Genesis 1:3, King James Version).

For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together (Colossians 1:16-17, New International Version).

And at the same time, He knows each one of us so personally that He knew us when we were conceived, and He knows each hair on our head:

You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb. Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it. You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb. You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed (Psalm 139:13-16, New Living Translation).

Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows (Luke 12:7, New International Version).

Do you trust God with every little silly thing in your life?  If not, why not?  How can you trust Him with the big things if you don’t trust Him with the small ones?  Begin acknowledging Him in even the tiniest things – take a walk, notice the tiniest wildflowers, the softest breeze, the most distant sound of a bird chirping.  Thank Him for those things.  Then notice the smile on a friend’s face or her kind words, and thank God for giving you friends.  When you begin to acknowledge Him in the small things, it will be easier for you to trust Him with the big things.

 

My prayer for you and for myself this week is that we will recognize His work in and around us, even in what we may call the silly things, so that we would learn to trust Him with the big things (See Philippians 4:6):

Dear Jesus,
Don’t (allow me to) worry about anything; instead, (remind me to) pray about everything. (Remind me to) tell God what (I) need, and thank Him for all He has done. Then (I) will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard (my) heart and mind as (I) live in Christ Jesus.

Computer Problems

I'm sorry, but I don't have a blog for today. My computer crashed last week, and I still don't have it back, yet. I'm typing this on my iPad, but it doesn't work very well with the blog format. In the meantime, I hope you are having a wonderful week.  Remember that God is in control, even when things don't go as planned.

Don’t panic. I’m with you.There’s no need to fear for I’m your God. I’ll give you strength. I’ll help you. I’ll hold you steady, keep a firm grip on you (Isaiah 41:10, The Message).