Into the Wind

What a blustery day we’re having!  It seems more like March than February.  The trash bin would be doing back flips if it still had a lid but that blew off last year!  We lost our electric power for about an hour this morning.  The house cooled off quickly because of the wind, so I was especially grateful when power was restored!  The birds are lying low until this passes but I find the occasional blue skies cheering.  While having my prayer time today, I observed a lone crow flying into the wind.  He must have had an important mission to endure such a buffeting.

As Christians, we, too, have an important mission.  Unfortunately, there are times when we must endure a buffeting from dark forces at work around us.  Even the Apostle Paul understood how difficult the Christian walk could be and wrote of our need for preparation in I Cor. 9:25-27;

Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last for ever.  Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air.  No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.

Rich recently attended a breakfast hosted by a local funeral director.  Each year, Mark invites the “clergy” from the area as a thank you for past business.  Indeed, all of us have made many visits to his funeral home in Camden – too many, it seems!  It is a good chance for R. to meet various religious leaders from the community.  Unfortunately, one is also exposed to many foolish, non-scriptural assertions in such a mixed group.  All the boasting of personal “spirit-filled” experiences made Richard eager to slip away as soon as it seemed courteous to do so, thanking his host for the breakfast.  In the meantime, Mark is further convinced in his belief that religion is “the opiate of the common people”!  And who can blame him when he is exposed to such imaginings?

As a follower of Christ, one can feel very alone in a world gone mad with pride over the traditions of men!  The Christian bookstores are filled with books promoting the latest fancies of men who are revered as religious leaders.  Yes, my friends, the winds of error are blowing strong across our land.  As God’s People, we must be prepared through prayer and diligent study to struggle against the prevailing winds;

Ephesians 4:13-14: …until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.  Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming.

Stay close to The Master and He’ll give you the strength to keep flying into the wind!

Love in Christ,  Elaine

Gardener by Creation

Genesis 2:4-5:  This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created. When the LORD God made the earth and the heavens— and no shrub of the field had yet appeared on the earth and no plant of the field had yet sprung up, for the LORD God had not sent rain on the earth and there was no man to work the ground

In God’s original plan Adam, the first man, would be a gardener in Eden.  Apparently man was as necessary as rain to the propagation of plant life.  The very first time I dug in the dirt and planted a seed, I knew I was a gardener by heart.  In time I came to learn that God made man a gardener at the beginning of creation probably because God Himself was a Gardener:

Genesis 2:8-9:  Now the LORD God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed.  And the LORD God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.  

Winter has arrived with its gray skies and treacherous traveling.  But, as a gardener by creation, I am content to stay indoors planning my gardens for the new year.  I am not discouraged watching the snow cover the ground and freeze one day and melt away again the next because I see my gardens as a work in progress.  Yes, it looks like a bunch of dead sticks out there but I can imagine the lush green of summer as God works His wonders with my “plants of the field”.  God is more than able to coax life and color out of the brown mud of spring.  Spring bulbs hiding beneath winter’s chill are already preparing for their big spring event!

Genesis 2:15  The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.

 

I get a real sense of accomplishment thinking back to past gardening projects – even the ones that didn’t work out so well.  I pray for the strength to see this new gardening season through to the end.  Then God will cover my gardens with a blanket of snow once more to await the warmth of spring.

Love as always,  Elaine (sorting seed packets)