Lessons learned the first 50 years

-
Image
I hit a milestone. I turned 50 years old. I am thankful that I don't feel 50.   I am thankful for things God has taught me throughout those 50 years. .  I have learned that God loves mercy and when I feel a sense that justice needs to happen over mercy, all I need to do is remember that I am thankful for when God gives me mercy instead of a just punishment.   (Micah 6:8 8 He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.) ( Luke 6: 36  Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful. ) I have learned that hurt people end up hurting people.   When I am able to see that I didn't hurt them but I am bearing the results of that persons hurt inflicted by other people, it helps me forgive whatever hurt they pushed onto me and move on.  (Romans 12 : 18  If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. )  I have learned that anyone who thinks they have God
Post a Comment

Feeding fruit trees or feeding thorny plants?

-
Are you feeding a thorny plant when you think you are feeding a real fruit tree? I was. 

 8 years ago, a sweet old lady shared several plants with me... for free.   She gave me a few butterfly bushes, monkey grass, a couple of apple trees, ..etc.   I was especially excited to have the apple trees.  I planted them in full sun, fertilized them each spring, watered them during drought, ... I was just sure that I would have apples in a couple of years.   I trusted what this little old lady said.... I trusted  that those trees were apple trees.   Surprise!  When I went to prune some lower branches of those two apple trees yesterday, I realized they had HUGE thorns on them. 
I knew of no apple tree with thorns...
so I went to trusty Google.. News?  No apple tree.   They were   Callery trees. Callery pear, Pyrus calleryana, is an ornamental pear with wicked thorns.... a FALSE apple tree!   
(It is the large tree to the right) 


I have a fairly green thumb.  I love to garden.  I love to be outside.  I read and research how to take care of my garden,  Yet.... I was tricked.   I do not think this sweet, old lady meant to trick me... .I think she too was tricked.   So, what did I do?  I stopped taking care of the lie.  I stopped fertilizing it..  I stopped watering it.  I stopped caring for it.  Today, I took a tree saw and stopped  caring for a lie. .... I cut those two Callery trees down.  Those trees didn't do what I thought they would do.... give fruit.  
Lesson?   Nancy Leigh DeMoss has a book called "Lies Women Believe".  She says all sin begins with a lie (like in Genesis).  We hear a lie.  We dwell on a lie.  We believe the lie.  We act upon the lie.   To counter the lie, we must take these steps.  We have to recognize it as a lie... and find the truth, hear the truth, dwell on the truth, believe the truth ..and act upon the truth. We need to question every thing.  We can be tricked by well-meaning believers, and by  believers without such good intention. Don't let someone plant a lie into your mind. Don't let someone plant a lie into your heart.   What do we do?  We have to stay in God's word so we can discern everything. What do we do if a brother or sister in Christ says they have a "word" for us? We have to ask: Does this line up with God's word? Does this line up with what I know of God?  Of course, roses have thorns.  Just because someone tells you something that is painful, it doesn't mean it isn't true.  You have to stay grounded in His word to KNOW!    If you still aren't sure...after reading, searching for His wisdom, asking Godly people you trust, and praying,    then search God's word again. Stay grounded in His word..and you will be a lot less likely to care for a lie (a false tree) for very long.  

Proverbs 17:24

A discerning man keeps wisdom in view, but a fool's eyes wander to the ends of the earth.


Phillipians 1:9 And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, 10 so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, 11 filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.     

      1 Thessalonians 5 
Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 19 Do not quench the Spirit. 20 Do not despise prophecies, 21 but test everything; hold fast what is good.

1 John 4: 4 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3 and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already. 4 Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. 5 They are from the world; therefore they speak from the world, and the world listens to them. 6 We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error.


Comments

  1. Vicki MillerApril 23, 2013 at 1:00 PM

    Great spiritual analogy. What a bummer though! Are you going to buy an apple tree? Your yard looks so pretty. :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Vicki MillerApril 23, 2013 at 1:00 PM

    This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Why does God call us sheep?

-
Image
Before you jump to the conclusion that I am saying Christian are "brainless" sheep, read this post completely.  If you still aren't sure, read this post:  Are Christians brainless? Why does He call us SHEEP? ( The Bible makes reference to sheep no less than 220 times).   A few of the more notable passages that come to mind are the 23 rd Psalm, Isa. 53:6 and John 10.  There are many references to His People being sheep. So why not something more powerful, like a ram or horse? Why not something more graceful and valued, like a prized bird? Well, God chose to use the word sheep to identify His followers, as we are "His sheep." Our shepherd, Jesus, is leading the way, so let's look at the facts about sheep-the  nature of  sheep.  Let's look at the facts about sheep- *Sheep aren’t intelligent . Sheep are not known to be smart or cunning animals when it comes to safety; rather, they are susceptible and tend to wander away from the prote
Read more

Lessons learned the first 50 years

-
Image
I hit a milestone. I turned 50 years old. I am thankful that I don't feel 50.   I am thankful for things God has taught me throughout those 50 years. .  I have learned that God loves mercy and when I feel a sense that justice needs to happen over mercy, all I need to do is remember that I am thankful for when God gives me mercy instead of a just punishment.   (Micah 6:8 8 He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.) ( Luke 6: 36  Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful. ) I have learned that hurt people end up hurting people.   When I am able to see that I didn't hurt them but I am bearing the results of that persons hurt inflicted by other people, it helps me forgive whatever hurt they pushed onto me and move on.  (Romans 12 : 18  If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. )  I have learned that anyone who thinks they have God
Read more

The call of Fellowship

-
The Fellowship of the Believers  (Acts 2) 42  They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. 43  Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. 44  All the believers were together and had everything in common. 45  They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. 46  Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47  praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved. How cool!  God shows us in Acts the need for the church  to devote itself to  “fellowship.” What do you think about when you hear the word fellowship?   If you are a good old Baptist, you probably think of food. :)     We expect the church to ’ teaching” and  “to prayer”... but we have to equally expect fellowship.     Notic
Read more