GROWING SEEDS: "Like The Leaf, We Are Part of The Bigger Story"

October 23, 2018

It's Fall.  

Hands-down, this is my absolute favorite time of year.   A time when the leaves are barely hanging on....grabbing the tree they've come to know for the past six months as their solid foundation, through every breeze that blows.  But that solid foundation is telling them now, 

"It's time.  Time to let go...your season is over.  

You have served your purpose on this earth and served it well.  

You have provided shade and beauty and shelter for many.  

But now, its time to rest awhile.  

You must let go."  

And so they fall slowly to the ground that awaits them.

As the clock ticks down the final days of Fall and the leaf's life starts to show signs of aging, its grip not as strong as it once was, the soil prepares itself to bury the leaves of summer.  The death and burial of these leaves are the very nutrients that provide food so the tree can live on.  Ironically, even in death, the leaf sustains the tree.  

So, too, are we like the leaf...a moment in time we are here to grow from the Gardeners hand.  We have held on in the strong winds of life and have provided shade and shelter to many throughout our short time on this earth.  We have experienced the nurturing rains of Spring and the blistering heat of Summer.  And we have felt the finality of Fall.  But in order to find our true glorious potential, we must die.  We must die to Self.

"If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.  

For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake, will save it."  

Luke 9:23-24Like

Like the leaf, we are part of a bigger story. 

GROWING SEEDS: The Soul Creator

Each Tuesday morning at 10:00 am, a crazy hodgepodge bunch of women sits at an old wooden table in a local coffee shop for a little dose of sisterhood.  Many of them bravely came not knowing a soul sitting in the chair next to them when we first met for coffee several years ago...each one needing the other. 

And I've discovered through coffee Tuesdays that women birth women...they need each other...they long to feel the skin of the hand of the sister next to them....and like water to a thirsty mouth, they want to know they are not alone in this journey called Life.  They are servants to each other.

"For even the Son of Man came not to be served

but to serve others and to give His life as a ransom for many."

Mark 10:45

This past Tuesday while sipping my sweet cream mocha, I sat back and just watched this movie of sisterhood taking place in front of me at this old wooden table.  I smiled as I watched five different conversations taking place all at the same time, remembering how each of these women came because of a simple Facebook post to just "show up" to any and all women.  I watched as they nurtured each other...listened to each other...held each others hands while laughing and crying salty tears together.  They shared the deepest parts of their soul with the woman they met just last week.  Souls that have been broken....souls that have given up at some point...souls that have rejoiced at the simplest of pleasures....and there's just something about merging your soul with another.  It helps you breathe.  God-Breath.

But what I realized as these women from all denominations, all walks of life, all shapes and sizes, drank their hot cup of coffee while the rain fell hard outside, was how closely this resembles God's love and sacrifice for each one of us.  He is constantly grabbing our hands...bending His ear to hear our worries...grabbing the tissue and wiping our tears...as well as His own, because there just isn't anything like merging our God-given soul with another God-given soul.  

Because He is the Soul-Creator.

GROWING SEEDS:: Empathy vs Sympathy

"For we do not have a high priest who is unable to EMPATHIZE with our weaknesses, 

but we have one who has been tempted in every way, 

just as we are - yet he did not sin."  

Hebrews 4:15

One day, Jesus and the Devil were having a discussion about who was the best, so God suggested a typing competition. He sat them down at two computers, one each, and told them to type up an article.  The first to complete the typing would win.

Both Jesus and the Devil were typing away frantically when there was a power outage and both computers switched off. Their typing work had disappeared from the two screens.  When the power was restored and the computers re-booted, Jesus's work re-appeared on His screen, but the Devil could get nothing back and had lost all his work.  So Jesus was declared the winner.  The Devil complained bitterly to God saying it wasn't fair and demanded a rematch, but God said,

"Stop whining Satan, you know why Jesus got his work back - everyone knows.... "JESUS SAVES!"

As much as I've tried, I have been unable to tie this joke in with today's scripture.  It has absolutely nothing to do with Hebrews 4:15, but I liked it and thought you might too.  

Have you ever wondered how Jesus was able to live a perfect, sinless life during his 30+ years on this earth as a man?  I've often wondered if His parents ever grew frustrated with their "perfect" child.   How about His siblings who were busy getting spankings and hanging out in time-out, yet their brother Jesus was always busy being the exemplary child.  My sister was the perfect, goody-two-shoes in our family and I royally resented her.  I feel for Jesus' siblings.

Although Jesus never fell to temptation, He was indeed tempted.  He could smell the butter as Satan tempted him to turn the stone into a loaf of bread after 40 days of not eating.   He felt the sting of each strike of the whip on His back by the Soldiers and He cried out with each swing of the hammer that drove the nails into His feet and hands.  And don't think for a second He couldn't have gotten Himself out of it, because He could have.  But He chose to bleed red just like us.....and that's why Hebrews 4:15 says He has "empathy" for you and me.

See, Empathy is different from Sympathy.  It's taking your shoes off and stepping into someone else's sorrowful shoes and walking it out with them.  Jesus' empathy opened His arms up for you to climb into His lap and find comfort and peace.  That's why He chose not to eat the bread or to save Himself from pain and heartbreak.  You, my friend, were more important to Him than His own comfort because He knew.....

"You never know what you're alive for

until you know what you would die for."

GROWING SEEDS: Forgiveness Is Hard

FORGIVENESS

So.....there's this scripture that goes something like this:

“For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 

But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.

~Matt. 6:14-15

Forgiveness is hard.  It's unnatural in this big wide world to extend amnesty to someone who has wronged you, lied about you and talked smack about you.  The last thing....the hardest thing...to do as your soul recovers from the sucker-punch to the gut is to say "I forgive you" when all you really want to do is hurt them back. Am I right?  Please tell me I'm not the only person to feel this way.....

Take the example of the man whose 10-year-old daughter, kneeling beside her bed at night, asks to pray for the accuser of her Dad.  "A lot of wisdom for a 10-year-old", her choked-up Dad says to us through our TV screens. 

Now....think for a second.  

Have you ever been accused of something you "didn't" do?  Have you ever been called-out on something you actually "did" do?  I sure have...and I would imagine you're shaking your head right now remembering when you were.  In both cases, whether I did what I was accused of doing or not, they both required me to quietly and privately ask God for Forgiveness; whether the forgiveness was for me or for the one wrongly accusing me. 

The best part is....God has made it a win-win situation!  If I'm being wrongly accused and I pray for forgiveness for my accuser, it releases me, the prisoner, from the pain of being accused.  (Trust me...this works!) And if I'm the guilty party, asking for Forgiveness releases me from the prison I've been hanging out in since committing the sin.

Forgiveness helps us understand why Jesus took a nail for your sins; He had to find a way to forgive you.

GROWING SEEDS:: My Prayer Door

"The prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective."  

James 5:16

"When a believing person prays, GREAT things happen",  my good friend Max Lucado reminds us. 

A few years ago, we needed a new front door.  Our existing door was warped from standing in water for a day or two and was currently being held shut by a single concrete block.  Our contractor insisted it couldn't be repaired and must be replaced.  The problem was, there wasn't enough money in the budget for a new front door.  

Day and night, I thought about that door.  I researched...I double checked the bank account...I scoured the internet for deals, even found the perfect door, but it wasn't financially feasible to purchase it.  One day my wise husband finally suggested, "Why don't we pray about it?" to which I remember responding, "Has it come to that?"

For some reason, we have it in our heads that God considers our less-than-tragic issues unworthy of His time. We act like we have a certain quantity of prayer requests we can ask for and we don't want to "waste" any of our prayers on something less than huge.  Praying for a new front door seemed like a crazy thing to pray about and a true waste of God's time when I had bigger fish to fry with Him.  But we did as my husband suggested.  We prayed our Father would bring us a new front door, if this was His will.

After a few weeks, our new wood floors were installed and we headed to Dallas to return the left-over flooring back to the store.  I counted as we loaded the boxes into our van...a total of 15....and knew I would also be required to pay a 20% restocking fee. I mentally calculated the anticipated refund in hopes we could come close to affording that new door.  As they unloaded the boxes out of our van at the store, they unloaded 18 boxes.  I had them recount.  I knew we loaded 15 boxes...I had counted it three times in the driveway before leaving....but somewhere between Mt. Vernon and Dallas, we gained 3 extra boxes of wood flooring.  When I went to finalize the credit, there was a note on the register from the manager saying, "I'm waiving the 20% restocking fee for Ms. Etheridge".  As they rang up the total credit, it shockingly came up to the EXACT amount of the door we had wanted.  Not a penny off.

Tears of joy were pushing their way down my cheek as I walked out the door of the flooring store, credit receipt in hand and feeling the intense power of prayer I had just witnessed.  "When a believing person prays, GREAT things do, indeed, happen."  Amen.

GROWING SEEDS:: Tug-A-War With Satan

"Humble (submit) yourselves to God.

Resist the devil and he will flee from you."

James 4:7

Do you believe these words?  Have you found yourself kneeling beside your bed praying (begging) for God to remove the devil from your life?  Good gracious, I have approximately 589,450 times.  But before we can ask God to zap the devil, there's one little thing we need to do first:  Read the verse again.  Did you skip over it the first time?  "Humble yourself, Liz (this is where we all place OUR name in this scripture), to God."

See, I prefer to think that our submission to God....IS our resistance to the devil.

Have you ever played the game Tug-A-War?  I love this game although I'm awful at it.  The object is to put everything you have into pulling the center of the rope to you and away from the opposing team.  The more you "pull into" the rope, the better chance you have in moving that center towards you.  Satan loves the game of Tug-A-War too, but he plays it with our daily activities....putting things on the sidelines that distract us....saying hurtful, personal things to us while he's pulling the rope (us) closer to him which makes us insecure about ourselves, makes us weaker,  and is a constant reminder that he's stronger than we are...or so he wants us to think.  What he desperately doesn't want you to know is.....pulling into God IS pulling away from the enemy.

We spend a lot of time and energy trying to defeat the enemy....working to not let him win....when actually, our time would be better spent pulling the rope (ourselves) into God instead.    Our victory is in allowing God's presence to occupy space within us and be the muscle that wins the Tug-A-War battle with Satan.  

Give it a try.....you'll win every time!

GROWING SEEDS:: Tell Your Heart To Beat Again

This week just completed the 17th year of 9-11 memories.

 

You're shattered like you've never been before

The life you knew....in a thousand pieces on the floor

And words fall short at times like these

This world drives you to your knees

You think you'll never get back

To the you, you used to be

 

Who of us walked through this week without remembering all the families torn apart by hate 17 years ago?  Hate.  Hate for the lives of Americans.....Hate for what we stand for....Hate for the life we live....Hate.  Pure evil.  Satan-Hate. 

 

Tell your heart to beat again...

Close your eyes and breathe it in

Yesterday is a closing door

You don't live there anymore

 

We all remember exactly where we were....what we were doing....everything about that day....a fear most of us have never felt before in the deepest parts of our gut.  And isn't that what the enemy had hoped for?  Wasn't that their goal?  But that event also turned a lot of people's hearts towards God......unfortunately, for many, it was short lived and temporary.  Sometimes I feel like we Christians aren't much different from the Children of Israel.  Living our lives for ME....and when tragedy happens, we go running back to God.  In no time at all, we forget the reason we ran into His open arms in the first place.  We go back to our old lives .....our old ways....and we pull away from His arms until the next tragedy happens and then we go running back to Him once again.  Isn't that what the Israelites did time after time after time?  Oh how that must grieve His heart.....

 

Loves healing hands have pulled you through

So get back up and take step one

Leave the darkness and feel the sun

Cause your story is far from over

Your journey has just begun*

And if you still have breath in your lungs and a beat in your heart, your story is indeed far from over.  Remember the person you were right after this tragedy and place God first once again.  Make sure He is above your family, above your job, above your house, above your car and yes, above your shopping addiction.  He paid too high a price to be anywhere in your life but first.  

May we all run back into His waiting arms and never let Him go.

*Song, "Tell Your Heart To Beat Again"

GROWING SEEDS:: The Big Deal About Partiality

The Big Deal About Partiality

"There will be no mercy for those who have not shown mercy to others."  

James 2:13

Two visiting families walk through the doors of a church at the same time.  One family wearing their Sunday best, pressed and clean...while the other also wearing their Sunday best, but theirs wrinkled and stained, noticeably purchased from the rack at Goodwill.  Be honest.  Which family do we extend our hand to first?  Which family do we give a tour of the church to, and usher to the best seats in the sanctuary?  Which family do we want to be seen sitting next to?  And which family are we most eager to have join our church? 

Why would we favor one family over the other?  We like to say the ground is level at the foot of the cross, but it's not always level in the church, is it?  We tend to favor people with money and influence because we think they can help us reach our goals and make us look better when we stand next to them.  But James kindly reminds us.....

"Hasn't God chosen the poor in this world to be rich in faith?  

Aren't they the ones who will inherit the Kingdom He promised to those who love Him? 

James 2:5

Interestingly enough, when God chooses members of His team, He usually starts with the poor.  

There's a fictional story about a new pastor who arrived at church dressed as a homeless man his first-week preaching.  Since no one had met the new pastor, he could mingle unrecognized with the congregation before the service.  He watched the reaction of his new congregation to him as a dirty, stinky homeless-looking man and saw how, although the church was full, he found himself sitting alone.  He greeted people only to be greeted with stares and dirty looks in return.  The time came for the elders to introduce the new pastor to the church.  The congregation looked around clapping with joy and anticipation. The new homeless-man-in-disguise pastor, started walking down the aisle.  The clapping stopped with all eyes on him as he walked up to the podium, took the microphone, and quoted James 2:8 to his new congregation, "You do well when you complete the Royal Rule of the Scriptures: "Love others as you love yourself."  

Friends, being a Christian is more than something you claim.  It's something you live by and share with others.

GROWING SEEDS: Satan Wants To Neutralize You

"Let me be clear....you, (insert your name here), represent a challenge to Satan's plan.  

You carry something of God within you, something noble and holy, something the world needs 

- wisdom, kindness, mercy, skill."

Max Lucado

Have you ever wondered why Satan would mess with a Christian?  I mean, if we are promised in John 10:28 that "I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand", why would Satan waste his time on a Christian?  He knows his time to gather followers here on earth is short, so why would he spend what little time he has on something he can't have...Christians?  

"If Satan can neutralize you, he can mute your influence."

Awww, there it is...thank you, Max Lucado, for pointing out the obvious.  When pain and strife continue to smack you in the face....when darkness falls all around you....when evil is creeping into the crevices of your soul, remember; if Satan can scare, discourage, depress and quiet you, he can STOP your influence. 

It's a clever plan, really.....using shipwrecks in our lives....to stop our voices.  But as Christians, we know its these shipwrecks we have survived, that can be the very life preserver that saves others.  When we make it to the shore after our lives have crashed against the rocks, we are only then able to help resuscitate those in the throes of their own shipwreck. 

Nothing explains this better than the story of Job.  Job's friends were the kind of friends we often are if we haven't suffered - they are more interested in explaining his plight to him than sitting with him in it.  They're incapable of the compassion that would demand them to suffer with him.  Because they themselves had not sat in the dirt of despair as Job had.

Don't let a shipwreck moment in your life go to waste.  Use it.  Tell others about it.  Be vulnerable and wrap the life preserver of compassion and understanding around those who find themselves sinking from their own shipwreck.  

You were rescued....to help rescue others.

GROWING SEEDS: JOB-ETTE

"Put on all of God's armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil."

Ephesians 6:11

JOB-ETTE

That's the name someone called me a few years ago as I struggled through a battle with Satan and his little minions.  An invisible war...a fight so strong and exhausting, you wonder how you're going to keep your footing as you climb up that steep hill of despair.  Satan had an advantage; he knew my weaknesses.  He had been watching my patterns and me for many years.  If only I had been watching his as much as he had been watching mine.  If only I had a battle plan....

My Dad's favorite book of the Bible is Job.  Seems an odd book to be a favorite of, but you don't know my Dad.  He's had many trials and struggles and Job-moments in his 90 years of life.  He has a right to call that his favorite book.  And if there had been a book titled Job-ette in the Bible, well....that would have been his daughter's favorite book as well.  

"For we are not fighting against flesh and blood enemies, 

but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world....."

As I see it, we could learn a lot from Job, because the story of Job is the story of us.  Catastrophic loss, by definition, precludesrecovery.  It will transform us or it will destroy us, but it will never leave us the same.   God gave us the ability to know the enemy, as well as the enemy, knows us.  He has personally handed us His own tools...His own armor....and given us the strength and WILL to win this battle.  So why do we so often head into combat with Satan without a game-plan?  You can sure bet Satan has a mapped out strategy.

So the next time you feel dirt thrown in your eyes or the words "Give Up" in your ears, head to the War-Room.  Buckle up that belt of truth around your waist and place the impenetrable breastplate of righteousness over your heart.  Pick up that shield of Faith that will protect you when the arrows of Satan's wrath head your way.  Place that helmet of Salvation over your head where nothing can mess with your mind and secure with velcro that sword of the Spirit.....the Word of God....firmly in your hand.

And lose the white flag, for goodness sake...YOU'RE GOING TO WIN THIS BATTLE!