Wilderness

Matthew 3:1-5  1 In those days John the Baptist came to the Judean wilderness and began preaching. His message was, 2 “Repent of your sins and turn to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near.”
3 The prophet Isaiah was speaking about John when he said,
“He is a voice shouting in the wilderness,
‘Prepare the way for the LORD’s coming!
Clear the road for him!’” 4 John’s clothes were woven from coarse camel hair, and he wore a leather belt around his waist. For food he ate locusts and wild honey. 5 People from Jerusalem and from all of Judea and all over the Jordan Valley went out to see and hear John.

Jesus went to the wilderness to be tempted by the devil according to the Gospel of Matthew.  He fasted for 40 days and nights prior to his temptation.  He became empty of fleshly provision.  He was physically alone, he had no “creature comforts,” not even food.  Another interesting part about Jesus in the wilderness is that He was led there by the Spirit. 

Hosea 2:14 says, “But then I will win her back once again.  I will lead her into the desert and speak tenderly to her there.”  Another translation for desert is wilderness.  Noticing that verse 14 is not the beginning of the story especially when it starts with, “But then.”  First the sinful one was stripped of fleshly provision and all of the filth that she clung to.  Then He would allure her to the wilderness.  Lead her to the wilderness.    This unfaithful one did not have anything to cling to in that setting but the one who drew her there in the first place. 

What is the significance of the wilderness?  I believe the wilderness in these 2 settings is a place of abandon.  It is a place of allowing nothing to interfere with communion between the one doing the alluring and the allured.  When John the Baptist was in the wilderness, it could be said that he lived a simple life.  He did not have worries of clothes and food and family.  He ate locusts and wild honey.  He cried out to prepare the way of the Lord.  Is it a similar type of abandon that John had reached when he began to cry out.  Could he have been a voice crying out in the city with gold rings and braided hair and fine linens?  The question is rhetorical as I don’t have the answers.

Consider this of your personal walk with the Lord and the things He has called you to.  As I worship, as I intercede, I must come to the end of myself and press in to Him.  As Jesus was fleshly empty, He was prepared to overcome temptation.  As the bride in Hosea was stripped of everything and in a wilderness place, she was restored and trouble was turned to hope.  John the Baptist called out from that place, “Prepare the way of the Lord.”  I believe God is ready to release a breakthrough, but it will come from that place of wilderness - that place of abandonment within His Bride. 

I may not quote this properly, but the way I heard an evangelist recently was that we need intercessors.  She said that there are many who just want to be on the worship teams, but not many craving to be intercessors.  I would have to agree with that statement in this, I am now an intercessor, but it was not always that way.  I desired to be a musician and became a worshipper.  Through the connection with God that I found in my worship, I cannot help but be an intercessor.  I crave the connection, but it doesn’t always come in a musical form.  There are sometimes when all of that is stripped away and all I have is a heart’s longing to connect with I AM.  The Spirit of God groans within me.  It is from that intimate place of wilderness where the breakthrough comes.

Sometimes, the whole idea of wilderness or desert sounds intimidating or like gall.  I would rather not endure the stripping away of fleshly provision.  Fasting for 40 days seems insane.  Having my shame exposed to the community seems unbearable.  Even still, whatever it may look like, I want to be in that place of undistracted devotion.  I want to be in that place of crying out.  I don’t want to walk away downcast like the rich young ruler who just heard that he must give his possessions to the poor to be saved.

Come, Lord, Jesus!

The Well-Maintained Garden

Gardening and Jesus are 2 of my favorite topics and I’m glad to share my heart on both.

The Shack, by William P. Young, is a book that some call controversial.  I know that the Christian bookstore where I use to live refused to sell it and gave lectures to anyone who asked about it.  No matter the feelings about the book, I will say that I was deeply moved by the book and there is a particularly interesting few passages that I would like to share with you.  I won’t share any “spoilers,” so if you haven’t read it and plan to, I don’t think I will ruin the book for you.  If you’ve read the book, I’m sure you’ll recognize this portion as well.  If you don't plan to read the book, I hope you at least glean from these portions what God desires for you to glean.

p. 128 the 2^nd and 3^rd paragraphs.  “Mack concentrated instead on staying to the walkway.  As he rounded the trees, he saw for the first time a magnificent garden and orchard somehow contained within a plot of land hardly larger than an acre.  For whatever reason, Mack had expected a perfectly manicured and ordered English garden.  This was not that!
It was chaos in color.  His eyes tried unsuccessfully to find some order in this blatant disregard for certainty.  Dazzling sprays of flowers were blasted through patches of randomly planted vegetables and herbs, vegetation the likes of which Mack had never seen.  It was confusing, stunning, and incredibly beautiful.

p. 133 3^rd paragraph.  “… Sarayu thrust a hand shovel at Mack, picking up the rake.  ‘To prepare this ground we must dig up the roots of all the wonderful growth that was here.  It is hard work, but well worth it.  If the roots are not here, then they cannot do what comes naturally and harm the seed we will plant.’”

p. 138 3^rd and 4^th paragraph.  “…Mackenzie … this garden is your soul.  This mess is you!  Together you and I, we have been working with a purpose in your heart.  And it is wild and beautiful and perfectly in process.  To you it seems like a mess, but to me, I see a perfect pattern emerging and growing and alive – a perfect fractal. … He looked again at their garden – his garden – and it really was a mess, but incredible and wonderful at the same time.”

Keep these thoughts in mind as I continue. 

Another book that is “controversial” in some Christian circles is Song of Solomon or Song of Songs.  My translation of the title … ”The Best Song Ever.”  Regardless of what people think of this book, it is still included in the whole of the Word.  There are many parts of the Bible that are less fun to read like Numbers, Ecclesiastes, Ezekiel.  Just because a part of the Bible is “boring” or difficult to understand, it is not irrelevant.  God gave us the whole thing, so we need all of it.

There are several thoughts on the book of Songs.

1.       Literal – between a man (possibly King Solomon) and his beloved.

2.       Figurative – between God and Israel

3.       Figurative – between Christ and the church.

There may be more, but for tonight, I’m using the 3^rd thought pattern. 

Consider these texts as if they were from Jesus to us, His bride, the church.  He is completely enamored and delighted in us.  It is His divine romance.  When reading Song of Songs, which actually can be done in about 15 minutes, one can see a tapestry of love woven in the words between Bride and Bridegroom.  Here are a few phrases from the groom to his beloved one.

Song 4:12  “You are a garden locked up, my sister, by bride, you are a spring enclosed, a sealed fountain.”  

She replies in vs 15-16, 

“You are a garden fountain, a well of flowing water streaming from Lebanon.  Awake north wind, and come south wind!  Blow on my garden that its fragrance my spread abroad.  Let my beloved come into his garden and taste its choice fruits.”

The garden is mentioned again in 5:1, 6:2 and 8:13.  No matter how we interpret these scriptures, we belong to Him.  You find references throughout scripture about we being “His people,” and He is “our God.”  Since we’ve been talking about gardens tonight, I’m bringing us to this place to give a different perspective on our relationship with Him.

A “Locked Garden,” to me is one that can only be enjoyed by the owner of the key.  When I go into my garden, I am filled with pleasure knowing that the place I’m visiting is my own special place.  Mine is a vegetable garden, some may have a flower garden, some may have a rock garden, but I know that my garden is a special place.  If I had my own locked garden, my family may never find me.  I would be there every time I could get away.  It would be a place I longed to be even when I couldn’t get to it.

Jesus is all present and all-knowing God so He can get into the garden as He wants, but He also is tender and patient and often waits for an invitation before He accesses the garden of me.  I invite Him, but limit what I offer Him access to.

If the idea of being a locked garden unto the Lord seems a stretch to you, try this one out. 

I Cor 3:5-9  5 After all, who is Apollos? Who is Paul? We are only God’s servants through whom you believed the Good News. Each of us did the work the Lord gave us.6 I planted the seed in your hearts, and Apollos watered it, but it was God who made it grow.7 It’s not important who does the planting, or who does the watering. What’s important is that God makes the seed grow.8 The one who plants and the one who waters work together with the same purpose. And both will be rewarded for their own hard work.  9 For we are both God’s workers. And you are God’s field. You are God’s building.

That has a hint of “garden” in it, doesn’t it?  Then Paul goes on to say:

I Cor 3:16 Don’t you realize that all of you together are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God lives in you?

It seems to me that being a temple of the Holy Spirit is easier to grasp.  Maybe that is because it’s been taught to me since childhood.

I first shared about the garden of Mack from The Shack – a wonderful mess.  God enjoys the garden of me no matter if it is chaos or if it is beautiful.  I think He deserves more than my chaos.

When we view ourselves as a temple or a garden we may rather be a garden because the temple must be a holy place.  It must be sacred, undefiled.  A garden has weeds and bugs and wildflowers and fruit/veggies and fragrance and … the point is though, we are both.  We are His holy temple and His own garden.  We were made both for His pleasure and for His dwelling.

We need to be kept up and ready for the wedding day.  As a bride, we get our nails done, we shave our legs – and not just below the knees.  We whiten our teeth, we shop for the beautiful attire of a beautiful bride.  Should we do less for our heavenly bridegroom?  Not in the physical, obviously, but in Spirit?

I’m celebrating 16 years with my groom tomorrow.  I still put on make-up and get fancy for him because I love him.  I don’t want to come before him as an unkempt garden.  I want him to enjoy his time with me – alone!

As a gardener, how do I prevent an unkempt garden?  I tend it EVERY DAY!

1.       I water it at least every day

2.       I fertilize it

3.       I pull weeds

4.       I prune plants

5.       I harvest fruit when it is ripe.

The whole point of my vegetable garden is fruit (veggies).  The crops in my garden are evidence of the time I spend in it.

The fruit of my life is the evidence of the time I spend with my Bridegroom tending the garden of me.  Yes, He loves it even when it is chaos like Mack’s, but I want to give him more.  I want the evidence of more.   The fruit of the spirit are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

How do these fruits develop and grow?

1.       Water at least every day.  – Read the Word at least every day

2.       Fertilize – Find deeper revelation of the Word.  Study it, ask for His revelation, find someone to teach you.  Surround yourself with those who will help you grow!

3.       Pull weeds – get rid of sin.  Ask Him to search you and show you.  Get rid of hidden sin that is robbing your fruit’s nourishment.

4.       Prune – this takes help.  Thin out the things that take your attention.  My tomato vines were ripening golf-ball sized fruit.  I pruned the vines that even had fruit on them.  I hate doing that!  Guess what?  The next fruit was baseball-sized before it ripened.  Not everything is bad, but not everything is beneficial.  I Cor 10:23 “ I have a right to do anything,” you say, - but not everything is beneficial.  “I have a right to do anything” – but not everything is constructive.”

5.       Harvest the fruit when it is ripe.  It is not good to just have fruit, it must be used for its intended purpose.  Otherwise the fruit will ROT on the vine and the vine will STOP producing fruit.  Do you expect to hear someone say, “I have patience, but I’ve waited long enough!”  Put fruit to its purposeful use.

II Corinthians 6:16-7:1  16 And what union can there be between God’s temple and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God said:
“I will live in them
and walk among them.
I will be their God,
and they will be my people. 17 Therefore, come out from among unbelievers,
and separate yourselves from them, says the LORD.
Don’t touch their filthy things,
and I will welcome you. 18 And I will be your Father,
and you will be my sons and daughters,
says the LORD Almighty.”
1 Because we have these promises, dear friends, let us cleanse ourselves from everything that can defile our body or spirit. And let us work toward complete holiness because we fear God.

I hope the next time you are in a garden or even eating fresh fruits or veggies, you will remember what you are to Him – a place to delight and a place to dwell.  He will help you become a beautifully maintained garden that produces wonderfully the fruit of His Spirit.  The best part is that you get to enjoy Him enjoying you.

I am Your garden

Song of Solomon 4:12 You are my private garden, my treasure, my bride, a secluded spring, a hidden fountain.  

The Song of Solomon is a love poem written years and years ago.  There is much debate on the meaning of the text and who wrote it and who it is written to.  Many Christians avoid it because of its sensual themes, but there is so much in there that is rich.  Yes, I just pulled this verse from the text and I hope not to take it out of context as I write.  I think if you read the whole passage you will see that lover speaks to lover and it is almost like a dance.  The lyrics are woven in and out from one to another and sometimes I see it as almost a waltz, but more intimate.
The words that really pop out to me are "You are my ... garden."  As I go into my garden, I am given a new depth of what those words connote.  Whether a flower garden, and herb garden, or a vegetable garden, there is a certain pride that one takes when entering their own garden.  A private garden would be even deeper than that.  My own secret place where only I can visit is almost unthinkable.  Well the lover has said that to his beloved.  She is a garden that only he gets to enjoy.
The romance part seems obvious to me and I like to dwell on it and get dreamy-eyed, but today in my own garden, I had an experience worth sharing.  Weeds.  No matter when I go out to my garden, I see weeds and sometimes I work to take care of them and other times, I just water the garden and walk away.  Some days I take my garden hoe and scrape up the weeds between the rows and make the garden look better.  I enjoy walking between the rows of vegetables and pick off a few spinach leaves and nibble on them while I work.
Today, I worked on the weeds in detail as I do every week or so.  After hoeing and making the rows look pretty, I found that it wasn't enough.  There were weeds right up against many a plant that bore fruit.  (Well, actually veggies)
As I removed the weeds I thought about how from a distance, my garden already looked pretty good.  Unless you actually stepped foot into the garden and bent down to harvest something, you may not know that I didn't do a thorough job with my weeding.  You may not now that some of the smaller plants could easily be choked out and roots of other undesirable plants were taking the precious food and drink of the choice fruit.  Even after a good weeding, I still didn't get all of the roots.  In a day or two those yucky things could grow up and continue choking things up if I don't get all of the roots.
In a spiritual application, I can see these levels of "weeding" in my own life.  There are times when I let my guard down and it is pretty plain to see that I really need to get rid of some junk.  I can honestly say that I regularly take care of the surface weeds as soon as I recognize them. This is like hoeing between the rows.  From a distance I look like a Christian and act like a Christian.  I hope that when I meet someone at the grocery store, they can see that I am a good person and maybe even sense the love of Jesus, as someone walking by my garden could from a distance think that I have a nice garden.
The next level is the weeding near the vegetables.  Some of those weeds are easy to spot especially the grass that is shooting up taller than the plants that I desire.  I would consider that like my attitude.  People can see that and sometimes it is near the areas of my life where the Spiritual Fruit is evident.  I show outward signs of displeasure with something and ungodliness is quite evident in me.  I weed these from my garden frequently, but not as often as I run the hoe between the rows.
The last level is the deep.  The places where I can easily hide the weeds.  Today when I moved the spinach and lettuce leaves, I was amazed at how many little tiny weeds were growing beneath them.  I do this thorough weeding the least often because it is very time consuming and tedious.  To my children, who don't notice detail, I really have nothing to worry about once the other 2 levels of weeds are removed.  Well, just because they aren't visible to everyone doesn't mean they are not present.  The worst part about those weeds is that they suck the life out of the plants they surround.  They rob the nutrition and water from the soil that was intended for the fruit.  If I let these little weeds take root in my soul, they will take away from my fruit.
The point of the garden is to bear fruit and the point of my life in Christ is to bear fruit.  I am His garden.  I don't want hidden sin to ruin the fruit in my life.  Even though it is painful and tedious work, I must cleanse myself regularly by seeking His help to rid myself of that which destroys fruit.  No matter if you believe that His grace will cover little sins or if you believe that you must repent each time you sin very quickly, we all must seek to bear fruit.  If we don't care one way or another, then what is the point of living a Christian life?  What is the point of Salvation through the blood of Jesus Christ?

John 15:4-5 Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me. 5“Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing.

Preaching to the Choir

First of all, who is the choir?  Generally when someone says, "I know I'm preaching to the choir," they are speaking to a group of people who are assumed to be the faithful or loyal to the cause.  The choir is often the group of people who comes in early to rehearse and hears all the cues and knows what will be spoken and get a "behind the scenes" look of things.  Do those things in themselves qualify one as holy?  Do they make one guiltless and sinless?  Who is the choir?  The choir is me in many instances, and I'm sure most people can put themselves in the category of "choir" in many circumstances.
There are times when we think being in the choir is a ticket to exemption from a message or a point.  One might think, "certainly this is for someone else."  Often when a minister or speaker is sharing his/her heart and pouring out a message that was given to them by Holy Spirit, they ask of the listeners to search themselves.  I experienced that this morning in our church service.  My initial thought was, "I think I'm good in that area."  He asked for a response from the congregation and very few outwardly responded.  He asked that even if you don't have this conviction, please respond so that those who respond don't feel alone.  Still, very little response.  God put a message on this man's heart and he shared it with the passion that God put there.  Was he just preaching to the choir?
While I don't presume to know the hearts of man, I doubt that there were only a small percentage who should have responded.  Why are we so immovable?  Why are we so apathetic?  The Spirit is moving and we must respond and remove ourselves from an "exempt" status to a "vulnerable" status.  Our mindsets must move from, "It's not me!" to "Lord, search me and show me."
Here's an example direct from the "choir."  As a team of worshipers, we were required to file music at the end of each encounter.  Different people would do it, but there were only 6 of us.  Somehow, the music was not in alphabetical order every time.  All of us are intelligent women.  All of us know how to file music, but somehow, it wasn't always done correctly and all of us complained.  The interesting part is that none of us were the one who filed incorrectly.  Apparently at least one of us made a mistake now and again.  I suspect that each of us made a mistake, but none were willing to admit it.  (If you are one of the 6 reading this, please know that it is not accusation, but observations from my perspective.  I love you guys and if the alphabetizing is perfect now that I'm gone, I guess I was the only culprit.)
Apply this to the choir.  Obviously when God gives a message to one of His messengers, it is for all those who have an ear to hear.  Often when I have delivered a message to a congregation or to a small group, God meant it for me first, but wouldn't have burdened me with it further if it were not meant to be shared.  I don't want to have an apathetic heart.  I don't want to be unmoved when God speaks.  I don't expect that every person should outwardly respond to every altar call or every challenge from a pulpit.  I do expect that even the elect, the choir, the elders, the congregation, the leadership whatever name you give to it must first examine themselves and respond as God would have them respond.
Perhaps I have it all wrong.  Perhaps I am the only one who immediately thinks of someone else when I hear a challenging message.  Perhaps each person responded in their heart even though the Pastor implored us to move forward in response.  That is not my place to judge and I hope I am not being judgmental.  I just noticed my own apathy and non-response when I should have responded.  The reward for response was His freedom!  I couldn't ask for much more than that.
God has given us an opportunity to hear His message.  He has sent an invitation, "Come."  Just as when we each receive an invitation to a party or celebration.  The same invitation is given to each invitee, the host doesn't beg for each guest to come.  In fact in a parable Jesus told, the "choir" or "choice guests" all had excuses why they couldn't attend the wedding and their invitations were given to those on the street.  I just don't want to miss my invitation again.

Enough?

Philippians 4:12-13 12 I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little.13 For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.

These past few months have been an adjustment for our family.  We moved and found a  new church family and began homeschooling.  As my husband said the other day, "we are happier as a family than we've ever been."  That is true we are being united into a family unit unlike we've ever experienced.  There are those few hitches, though.
While we've lived on 1 income for 2 years now, I've learned a lot about budgeting and living without the excess.  There was a lot of excess that I threw away or gave away to prepare for our move too.  Wow, I can't believe how much stuff I've collected through the years.  We were essentially debt free before our move and now we have a few moving expenses and a few bills that couldn't be covered because of  the move.  Well we have a house to sell to take care of those things.  The problem is that the house needs to sell for us to gain the benefits of its sale. We also need to sell a car to pay last years taxes and buy some other things.
Our single income is better than it had ever been and we now have health insurance.  I don't notice the insurance as much because I've learned to live through illness instead of seeking a doctor and God has blessed us with no serious illnesses since a few weeks before I resigned from my job.  I am so grateful for that!  We always have food for the table and it is relatively good food.  We always have enough to pay for all of our bills and have never over in our bank account since we've lived here.  We bought a house in our new location.  We own dependable vehicles.  We get great hand-me down clothes from various places so we are well clothed as well.  God has provided for us!
Lately I've found myself grumbling a lot about the things I don't have.  My steam mop broke, my weed eater broke, my large crock pot broke, our house hasn't sold.  We have to pay a lump sum in taxes while many others get large refunds.  I was comparing what I have and what I do and what I owe with that of other people.  I was griping because our house hasn't sold.  I was complaining because God told us to move here and so our house should have sold right away and our car should sell so we can pay our other bills.  Complaining, complaining, complaining.
The NIV says in Philippians 4:12 "... I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation."  I know this secret, it is Christ!  On Wednesday evening, our Pastor shared and I can't remember his point, but I can at least paraphrase his statement that really hit me hard.  He used the example of a mother working hard to prepare a meal and everyone gets to the table and complains about what has been gifted to them.  Those complaints are just like saying that what has been prepared for them is not good enough.  So as I had been pondering the Philippians verse for several weeks now, Pastor's words struck me in the heart.  When I grumble so much about what I don't have, I'm in a sense telling God that what He has provided is not good enough.  I may say we're as happy as ever and inside I'm griping and whining and discontented.  I've had to backtrack and apologize to God because His provision is more than enough.
When we can't go to the swimming pool every day, we will be together using our imaginations and creativity to enjoy the family that God gave us.  When I don't have extra money from the sale of our house and the lesser payments we need to make each month, I need to live a more disciplined life.  I am not as wasteful of the provisions He has given to us.  I am not as wasteful of the time He has given to me because I have to be more deliberate with my planning.
In the last 2 days of reflections, I'm learning to thank God for His provisions for me and my family.  I am learning not to complain in my heart about the things that we cannot afford right now.  I will strive to control my conversations when someone asks if our house has sold and guard my heart from anger, bitterness and discontent.  Many mothers cannot stay home and enjoy their children in the way that I get to enjoy mine.  This joy that I have is not always laughing and feeling on top of the world, but it is an inner fountain that is irreplaceable.
God is good!  He is Good!  His provision is more than enough!