Well, today I sunk these. I can't wait to be harvesting them for the house. Scattered daffodils around the house to surprise Hubbs today. It was a beautiful day at GR, Jesus. Took a vacay day to get some gardening in. Much joy in that for me.....
I think that we, me and my fellow earth dwellers, spend a LOT of time running about trying to get useful. Who ever heard of a field that runs about the neighborhood? Runs from the very Farmer who needs it to be still so He can till the land and sew a crop? It's the mundane activities, done with excellence in peace, that build us into the very rich harvest that You most desire, Lord Jesus.
It takes faith to believe that You ARE working a harvest in me. Faith that my mundane activities are the stuff that You lead me in toward a greater understanding of You. Like David, tending sheep faithfully, fending off predators and securing safe pasture while wiling away endless hours with You writing Psalms. All the while, You built in him the heart of a king, Jesus. Only because he believed and was diligent and patient in his tasks, taking joy in Your company.
I don't pretend to know all that You want of my life. I know some, though. Some, I relish..... other things, I admit I fear. Some things You have asked of me cause me to tremble.... down deep, even my very heart shakes in the face of some things. I don't mean to turn aside at the smallness of my faith, Jesus. I can ONLY beg You to forgive me for my unbelief and grant me NEW opportunity to get things right.... FOR YOU. The GREAT thing about the 'School of the Spirit' is that we never flunk out, we just get to keep taking the same tests until we get them right ! I will accept and receive any words to my Spirit that You might feel lead to offer with eagerness. I know that You already know where I will fail You.... I know that, that too, falls under the heading of Your plans for me. I'm sorry when I let You down. In the meantime, I am chasing down joy, excellence and faith to TRUST that You are accomplishing Your work in me, despite me, for Your glory. amen
__________________
1 Corinthians 2:3-16 (The Message)
3-5 I was unsure of how to go about this, and felt totally inadequate—I was scared to death, if you want the truth of it—and so nothing I said could have impressed you or anyone else. But the Message came through anyway. God's Spirit and God's power did it, which made it clear that your life of faith is a response to God's power, not to some fancy mental or emotional footwork by me(or them) or anyone else.
6-10 We, of course, have plenty of wisdom to pass on to you once you get your feet on firm spiritual ground, but it's not popular wisdom, the fashionable wisdom of high-priced experts that will be out-of-date in a year or so. God's wisdom is something mysterious that goes deep into the interior of his purposes. You don't find it lying around on the surface. It's not the latest message, but more like the oldest—what God determined as the way to bring out his best in us, long before we ever arrived on the scene. The experts of our day haven't a clue about what this eternal plan is. If they had, they wouldn't have killed the Master of the God-designed life on a cross. That's why we have this Scripture text:
No one's ever seen or heard anything like this,
Never so much as imagined anything quite like it—
What God has arranged for those who love him.
But you've seen and heard it because God by his Spirit has brought it all out into the open before you.
Who ever knows what you're thinking and planning except you yourself? The same with God—except that he not only knows what he's thinking, but he lets us in on it. God offers a full report on the gifts of life and salvation that he is giving us. We don't have to rely on the world's guesses and opinions. We didn't learn this by reading books or going to school; we learned it from God, who taught us person-to-person through Jesus, and we're passing it on to you in the same firsthand, personal way.
These verses that You gave me the other day, they are still bumbling around in my Spirit, today. I know them some. I live them some. I find them to be the greatest difference between me and MOST other people that I encounter, on my yielded days that is. YOU in me DOING the DOING. In the mystery of a bazillion moments of utter stillness... there is YOU... toiling in my soil, planting 'bulbs of the Spirit.' At least, that is, when I am still enough to be of any use to Your purposes for me. 3-5 I was unsure of how to go about this, and felt totally inadequate—I was scared to death, if you want the truth of it—and so nothing I said could have impressed you or anyone else. But the Message came through anyway. God's Spirit and God's power did it, which made it clear that your life of faith is a response to God's power, not to some fancy mental or emotional footwork by me(or them) or anyone else.
6-10 We, of course, have plenty of wisdom to pass on to you once you get your feet on firm spiritual ground, but it's not popular wisdom, the fashionable wisdom of high-priced experts that will be out-of-date in a year or so. God's wisdom is something mysterious that goes deep into the interior of his purposes. You don't find it lying around on the surface. It's not the latest message, but more like the oldest—what God determined as the way to bring out his best in us, long before we ever arrived on the scene. The experts of our day haven't a clue about what this eternal plan is. If they had, they wouldn't have killed the Master of the God-designed life on a cross. That's why we have this Scripture text:
No one's ever seen or heard anything like this,
Never so much as imagined anything quite like it—
What God has arranged for those who love him.
But you've seen and heard it because God by his Spirit has brought it all out into the open before you.
10-13
The Spirit, not content to flit around on the surface, dives into the depths of God, and brings out what God planned all along.
14-16 The unspiritual self, just as it is by nature,
can't receive
the gifts of God's Spirit. There's no capacity for them. They seem like so much silliness.
Spirit can be known only by spirit
—God's Spirit and our spirits in open communion.
Spiritually alive, we have access to everything God's Spirit is doing, and can't be judged by unspiritual critics. Isaiah's question, "Is there anyone around who knows God's Spirit, anyone who knows what he is doing?" has been answered: Christ knows, and we have Christ's Spirit.
I think that we, me and my fellow earth dwellers, spend a LOT of time running about trying to get useful. Who ever heard of a field that runs about the neighborhood? Runs from the very Farmer who needs it to be still so He can till the land and sew a crop? It's the mundane activities, done with excellence in peace, that build us into the very rich harvest that You most desire, Lord Jesus.
It takes faith to believe that You ARE working a harvest in me. Faith that my mundane activities are the stuff that You lead me in toward a greater understanding of You. Like David, tending sheep faithfully, fending off predators and securing safe pasture while wiling away endless hours with You writing Psalms. All the while, You built in him the heart of a king, Jesus. Only because he believed and was diligent and patient in his tasks, taking joy in Your company.
I don't pretend to know all that You want of my life. I know some, though. Some, I relish..... other things, I admit I fear. Some things You have asked of me cause me to tremble.... down deep, even my very heart shakes in the face of some things. I don't mean to turn aside at the smallness of my faith, Jesus. I can ONLY beg You to forgive me for my unbelief and grant me NEW opportunity to get things right.... FOR YOU. The GREAT thing about the 'School of the Spirit' is that we never flunk out, we just get to keep taking the same tests until we get them right ! I will accept and receive any words to my Spirit that You might feel lead to offer with eagerness. I know that You already know where I will fail You.... I know that, that too, falls under the heading of Your plans for me. I'm sorry when I let You down. In the meantime, I am chasing down joy, excellence and faith to TRUST that You are accomplishing Your work in me, despite me, for Your glory. amen
__________________
Bow'nDown
~~---->>> Love; from above and within, Shachah <<<----~~
<--~~~-->
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica]Strong's: 7812[FONT=Arial, Helvetica]~ hxX:[FONT=Arial, Helvetica] ~ [FONT=Arial, Helvetica]Definition : [/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica]to bow down, prostrate oneself before superior in[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica]homage; before God in worship;...[/FONT]
<--~~~-->
[FONT=Arial, Geneva, Helvetica]1 THESSALONIANS 5:5...8 [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Geneva, Helvetica]~ The Message Remix ~[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Geneva, Helvetica]<--~~~-->[/FONT]
~~---->>> Love; from above and within, Shachah <<<----~~
<--~~~-->
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica]Strong's: 7812[FONT=Arial, Helvetica]~ hxX:[FONT=Arial, Helvetica] ~ [FONT=Arial, Helvetica]Definition : [/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica]to bow down, prostrate oneself before superior in[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica]homage; before God in worship;...[/FONT]
<--~~~-->
[FONT=Arial, Geneva, Helvetica]1 THESSALONIANS 5:5...8 [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Geneva, Helvetica]~ The Message Remix ~[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Geneva, Helvetica]<--~~~-->[/FONT]