GROWING SEEDS: When There's Water In The Desert

I always thought it was my job to be responsible for someone else's coming to Jesus.....their walk with the Lord....their very salvation.  But one day, a friend said these words to me: "It's not your job, Liz, to save people.  That's God's job.  Your job....if you choose to accept it (sounds a little like Mission Impossible, doesn't it??) is to be obedient.  Your job is to live out Christ daily to the people He places on your path."

It was like someone released every single ounce of anxiety I was carrying around inside of me.  Really?  It's not my job to save them?  Really?

I love the story of Philip and the Eunuch-dude.  Check it out at Acts 8:26-40.  Long story short, an angel came and told Philip to scoot on over to a road in the desert..  It's my understanding that Philip was quite happy where he was.....and heading to the desert wasn't exactly in his top 5 places to go.  But....without questioning, he packed up his stuff, buckled his sandals, and headed to the desert.

We are only called to OBEDIENCE, not to the creation of the moment.

Here's the short version:  While Philip was walking along the dusty desert road, a chariot passed him with the eunuch dude sitting reading the book of Isaiah, not understanding a word of what he was reading (sound familiar??).  The Holy Spirit said to Philip, "Go over and walk along beside the carriage." So Philip obediently did.  And as he ran beside the chariot not fully understanding why, he asks eunuch-dude if he understands what he's reading.  He says "No, how can I without someone to explain it to me?"  At this point Philip hops in the chariot and rides through the DESERT (important point here, folks) explaining the Good News about Jesus.  They then came to some WATER (pay attention...) and the eunuch asked Philip to baptize him...which he promptly did.

There's a lot happening in this awesome story.....but the thing that makes me smile the most is the connection between it being a DESERT and them coming to WATER to be baptized at just the right moment.  It's not like there's water on every street corner in the desert, friends.  God always provides.  It's not our job to save those around us.....but it IS our job to be obedient.  When we hear the still small voice telling us to go to the desert...or help that family down the street....or share your testimony with the person at the laundromat cause your washing machine crashed and burned, That - Is - Our - Job.

Be Present.....Be Obedient.....first and foremost with God, then in the precious lives of those around you.

GROWING SEEDS: A Mary-Hicks-Kind-of-Psalm

"God....my Best Friend,

You are my GPS, the One in the drivers seat of my life!

There is nothing I need that You haven't already provided.

You have brought me rest in the most beautiful of places,

And You have provided cool, fresh water (& coffee!) for me to drink from.

You have never lied to me,

And You remind me to BREATHE as I sit and watch the sunrise each morning.

You whisper when to go right and when to go left

Even when that direction sends me through hardship and darkness,

You promise to always be by my side.

The cool breeze on my face is Your breath and a reminder I am safe with You.

You provide food not just on my table, but in my very soul,

So when the enemy arrives, I will be strong and ready.

Your hand lifts my chin when the darkness is too much

and You wipe the tears from my face.

You pursue me like a Shepherd with a wayward sheep

And bring me back into Your arms 

For the rest of my life."

Psalm 23 (Liz-version)

As I was reading Psalm 23 this week in my Bible, I noticed a handwritten note to the side I must have jotted down many years ago.  It read, "Per Mary Hicks: 'You can't avoid the darkest valley; you can't go under it, nor over it, nor around it.  But you can walk through it with the comfort of knowing that God is by your side."

Many of us knew Mary Hicks......and we knew the dark valley she herself walked through.  Her death was not an easy death....and I have to believe the 23rd Psalm were words that comforted her as she and God walked through the darkness together.  I didn't know her well.....but I knew her well enough.  She lived these words.

As the winds blow and the storm clouds gather above you, do what King David and Mary Hicks did;  lift your face to the sky and feel the breeze and know it is God's reminder that He is walking with you.....not in front of you; not behind you.....but beside you.

Be at peace.

GROWING SEEDS; When Satan Attacks"

It was around this time two years ago, Chuck and I were preparing to move into yet another neighbor's house while our house was being rebuilt from damage caused from a 350-year flood.  Unbeknownst to me at the time, my husband was also noticing various signs that we eventually discovered were cancer.  Serious cancer.  

"Why?  Haven't we been through enough this year?", I remember asking God at the time.

Fear would grip me most every morning at 2:00 am.  It felt like a full scale Satan attack we were in and I prayed (and cried) harder than I have ever prayed (and cried) before or since. I felt completely helpless, hopeless and scared.

"He said to them, "Why are you frightened, and why do doubts arise in your hearts?"

Luke 24:38

I wrote scriptures of Hope and Peace and Faith everywhere....on my wrist, sticky notes on the Jeep dash and yes, all over our wall studs and sub floor.  I needed that constant reassurance that the attacks on our lives had more to do with who we might be in the future than who we were right then.  During the day, I could "see" the enemy was shooting arrows of distraction at us....wanting us to doubt....wanting us to remember the fear of that fateful day when we huddled in the bed listening to the water entering in and feeling the battle going on underneath us.  But at night, Fear continually whispered in my ear that I must have done something to deserve this.

And then I remembered reading these words, "The enemy does not attack you according to your history...he attacks you according to your destiny."

It's so easy to let the deceptive thoughts of Satan tell us we deserve what we're going through....that we must have done something to anger God and this was our punishment.  But friends, God is a God of love.....and Satan doesn't care about your past....he cares about your future.  He knows you better than you know yourself.  He sees patterns, he sees things you do when no ones looking....and oh, he's so strategic. 

So if you find yourself in the middle of the battlefield with Satan and his friends Fear and Doubt,  your best defense...your best ammunition....is to bend those knees, lift those eyes upwards and remember....

NO ONE launches that kind of attack on someone they are not threatened by.

GROWING SEEDS: "The Monday after THE Sunday"

It's the Monday after THE Sunday.  Easter Sunday. 

And everyone has moved on.  

No more talk about Jesus dying....and the day droplets of blood fell with each of our names on them from his body.  No more Easter eggs filled with coins, chocolate bunnies and a bizarre game called Chubby Bunny, and I woke that Monday-after-the-Sunday wondering what, in this world, Jesus was doing the Monday after He rose.  

As for me, I was planting impatiens and picking up glazed donuts for my friend Pam and myself....a tradition we do most every-other-Monday.

Pam talked of how her late husband, James, never had much to do with church.  "He'd just as well spit in a fire than go to church", she said.  But one day a new preacher came to town....a preacher determined to bring Jesus to her husband James even when the deacons of her little church shook their heads and told the new preacher he was wasting his time.  

So each week, this new preacher would show up outside the barn where James spent much of his days, and ask him when he thought he'd make it to church.  And James would assure the new preacher he'd better not hold his breath.....and yet, each passing week, the new preacher continued to stop by James' barn....to help him change a clutch on the tractor......or birth a calf......and asking him when he reckoned he'd make it to church.

This went on for over a year.  Then one Sunday....and it wasn't even Easter.....James got up, put on a suit and drove to church with his wife Pam.  The next week he did the same.  He never stopped.  And a few months later, James made the long walk down the aisle to the front of the church and accepted Jesus as his Savior.  Pam said there wasn't a dry eye in the place and everyone was rejoicing.  It had been a long journey for James to walk down that aisle, but the One who went looking for him, never gave up on him.  And much like the woman who had 10 silver coins and loses one in Luke 15, she "lit a lamp" (don't miss the symbolism of the Light)....searched and then rejoiced when it was found.  "She gathered her friends and family around her and they celebrated," my Bible says in verse 9.

Three years later, Pam buried James from cancer. 

Jesus says the whole community of Heaven dances the night away when each person figures it out, turns from their own ways and walks into God's arms.  I don't know about you, but I can just hear them rejoicing, "Thank God he's found; that was too much to lose."

GROWING SEEDS: Why We Need You, Dad.......

Growing up, our family of five always sat on the 3rd pew from the front on the piano side of the church.  Always.  Well....except that time when a visitor mistakenly sat in our pew.  I recall all five of us just stood there looking at the occupied pew wondering what in the world to do now.

During the sermon, Dad would put me on his lap, place my hand inside his suit jacket next to his clip-on tie, straight onto his heart where my hand could feel it beating and that beating heart would always lull me to sleep.  Dad figured out early this was the best way to keep his youngest daughter quiet during church.   It worked.  Always.

I thought about that memory as I drove the 100 miles to Dallas this weekend for Dad's 90th birthday.

My brother, sister and I were all coming together to meet at the same church to sit in the same pews next to our Dad and his clip-on tie.  First time in more than 40 years we've all been back sitting on those same wood pews.

My parents sacrificed much for us........to know God.

We were not a perfect family......far from it.  Probably more like All In The Family than Leaver It To Beaver if truth be told.  But without us kids even knowing it....Mom and Dad were building a concrete foundation right underneath this dysfunctional family of theirs.  I'm sure there were times when they wondered if this foundation would hold for the long haul.

But it did.

The years of sacrifice they made so we could be in church school......the piano lessons even when we couldn't afford a piano....the Lord's Prayer said on our knees each night before going to bed.....and the life lessons we learned from these two imperfect parents walked us straight into the arms of God....eventually.  

And that foundation stood the test of time.

Today.....we're still dysfunctional.  But I thank my Dad for being the best parent he knew how to be.  For sacrificing.....for loving us even when we were unlovable.  For teaching us we can do any thing we put our mind to....and for the hours at Restland Cemetary teaching us how to drive a stick-shift while repeatedly saying, "You can't kill anyone here."

Happy 90th Birthday, Pappo.  Thank You for loving me.

https://youtu.be/DZg7WBtWuNo

GROWING SEEDS: "The Sacrifice"

My dad is turning 90 this week.  9-0.  

He lives alone after the death of my Mom six years ago; and 90 was a number I never expected my Dad to ever see.  He grieved for years after Mom died and I honestly thought her death would be the death of him as well.

He raised us kids attending the Seventh-day Adventist Church in downtown Dallas and only allowed us to attend Adventist church schools....no public school for his kids.  He himself had grown up an Adventist and was determined to raise us the same.

He worked nights and Mom worked days as a warehouse worker for Sears so they could afford to send us three kids to church school.  They never thought twice about doing what must be done in order for their children to have a solid foundation.  It never entered their minds they had an option.

It's called "Sacrifice".

As Christians, do we fully understand what this word really means?  Webster's defines it this way, "An act of giving up something VALUED for the sake of something else regarded as MORE important or worthy."  It's hard to hear the word Sacrifice and not remember the work Christ did for us 2000 years ago....the very thing that solidified our foundation so we could have a future beyond this life.  

This weekend, my siblings and I will be celebrating our Dad's 90th birthday by showing up at the church he and Mom raised us in.  The very church they sold their beloved wedding rings for to help pay for a school so their children would have a firm foundation.  And as we slowly move towards the anniversary of this sacrifice called Easter, I pray we remember the sacrifice Christ made for each of us on that tree so many years ago...where every drop of blood that spilled from His body had a name on it....including yours.

What is the sacrifice we have made for Him?

GROWING SEEDS: " "Running On Thirsty"

When I was 2-years old, I taught my brother James how to say his first words.  The problem was.....he was 4-years old.  

Talking has always been one of my all-time favorite things to do.  I don't recall a report card where I didn't have a checkmark next to "Talks Too Much" or a teacher who EVER said, "She's such a shy girl."  I'm not shy and I talk too much.  Wicked combination.

Although we don't know how old the lady at the well was that John speaks of in Chapter 4 or even her name (Liz, perhaps??), we do know that this was the longest recorded one-on-one chat with Jesus in scriptures......and we know she had multiple husbands and a bad reputation.  

But when Jesus asked her for a drink of water that hot day, it was clear what He really wanted.  He wanted to talk.  He wanted her to know that, although she was broken and despised, He could give her something none of her five husbands could ever give her.  

Salvation.   

This Salvation was in the form of water that was alive and dipped exclusively for her.  Being a Samaritan or a Texan or even a Yankee from New York doesn't matter; God's water is FREE to anyone and everyone who asks.  You don't need a dipper to drink from cause God uses His very nail-scarred hand as a dipper for us.  And He wants to talk.....to YOU....and to me.  

I think this is where I get my love for talking from.....my heavenly Father......and what can I say; I inherited it!

But hear me well, friends; the time has come to hold out both of your weary and worn hands and receive all that Jesus has to offer.  It's easy to see why she left her water jar behind when she "went back to town" (John 4:28).  Her thirst was quenched.  Her future secured.

If not at a well, where did Jesus find you?

GROWING SEEDS: " It's Been An 'Even-If-He-Doesn't' Kind of Week"

 

 

There's this song that goes like this....

"I know You're able and I know You can

Save through the flood with Your mighty hand

But EVEN IF You don't.......My hope is in You alone"

The rains came flooding back to Lake Cypress Springs this past week.  My old enemies, Fear and Anxiety, were part of the first drops that came raining down from the sky.  The enemy knows my weaknesses.....he knows my faith rocks the boat when Fear and Anxiety are in town....and he loves watching me squirm:

"They say it only takes a little faith to move a mountain

Well good thing!!

A little faith is all I have right now

But God, when You choose to leave mountains unmovable

(And allow flood waters to invade)

Oh give me the strength to be able to sing,

It is well with my soul"

Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego knew about Fear and Anxiety too.  But they also knew a thing or two about Faith.  A Faith that God is God and we are not.  They understood and believed that, although they could feel the heat from the fire on their faces, God was in control of this situation and God never....NEVER....makes a mistake.  So....if their deaths were to come at the hands of a hot furnace, they would continue to trust in their God.

But I also feel safe in saying they desperately didn't want to perish in the fiery furnace....much like Liz desperately didn't want to sweep water out of her house again this past week.   

"I know the sorrow, and I know the hurt

Would all go away if You'd just say the word

But even if You don't

My hope is in You alone"

These three friends of Daniels had been through a lot together.  And just as they prayed courage over each other, our friends prayed courage over us this week.  The prayers that went skyward to the throne room of heaven on our behalf this past week were too many to count.  But I know He heard them....every - single - one - of - them.....and I'm grateful.....grateful the sky stopped crying over this lake of ours, but most of all, grateful for YOU.  Fear and Anxiety didn't stand a chance against your prayers for us!"

God will give us the courage we need in our

"Even If He Doesn't"

moments.

 

* Song "Even If" by MercyMe

GROWING SEEDS: "Thank You, Lord....Thank You"

 

 

Billy Graham, 99, blinked his cataract eyes this week and looked straight eye-to-eye into his Heavenly Father's face.   Billy Graham had the Joy of Belief.....

"My home is in Heaven. I'm just traveling through this world."

Billy Graham

YES!  That is the quote I want to paint on my wall, tattoo on my hand and sticky-note to my rearview mirror.  That is the one thing we Christians tend to forget the most.  We are simply travelers in a foreign land here.....hiking our way Home.  And along this difficult earthly path, we try to spread the cure of the malignancy of the soul to everyone we meet (italic quote by Kathie Lee Gifford)......

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Billy Graham taught us that our time on this earth is like a minute in eternity.  We get so caught up in the troubles and earthly possessions around us, we think we can't endure anymore.  Life is too hard....we have been wronged and hurt and alone and without....forgetting it's all temporary.  TEMPORARY.  The things of this world WILL grow strangely dim, friends.......

"Turn your eyes upon Jesus....look full in His wonderful face".  I can only imagine Billy Graham doing just that right now.  Eye to eye....hand to hand....he and Jesus sitting next to each other at this very moment.  The love of Billy's life here on earth, Ruth, who died several years ago, is sitting nearby with them.  I imagine Jesus talking to Billy as the Best Friends that they are.  I can't wait to be there when Billy receives his crowns.....so very many crowns....

And I can't help but ask myself, "Have I accomplished the work God intended for ME to do while journeying through my time on earth?  Have I honored him with my words, with my deeds, with my love like Billy did?  Or have I kept this cure for the malignancy of the soul to myself....not sharing it with everyone I meet or being the hands and feet of Christ every chance I got?  Why in the world would I keep this to myself," I ask.

There's a party happening in heaven this week....and the line is long with the many witnesses anxious to meet a white haired preacher named Billy Graham.  

Have your cameras ready, folks....I plan to shake his hand some day.

GROWING SEEDS: "Blessed With Thankfulness"

 

 

"As He (Jesus) entered a village there, ten lepers stood at a distance, crying out, 

"Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!"  

Luke 17:12

Back a few years ago, there was this adorably shy 10 year-old girl that came each summer to Lunches of Love.  Her eyes would twinkle when she looked at you and she had the sincerest of smiles covering her beautiful face.  Life had not always been kind to this 10-year old, but what made her unique and stand out from all the 150 other kids at Lunches of Love was......she would always come back and "thank" those of us who served her lunch, before she left.  The only one that did.....

I immediately thought of Savanah when I read today's scripture....

"One of them, when he saw that he was healed, came back to Jesus, shouting, "Praise God!".  

He fell to the ground at Jesus' feet, thanking Him for what He had done."  

Luke 17:15

This 10-year old knew the importance of gratitude.  Somewhere along the difficult road of her life, she had learned how to express and pass on the joy she was feeling in her heart, knowing full well it would not only bless her but others as well.

Savanah is now 15......and the kindness and love that lives in her heart can't help but be seen in her beautiful blue eyes.  I will never forget the awkward 10-year old who remembered to come back.....to bless us with her thankfulness.

"Feeling Gratitude and not expressing it, 

is like wrapping a present and not giving it."

William Arthur Ward