Harvest

Pulling out Those Pesky Thorns!

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Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them.             Matthew 13:7 ESV

Thorns come with a wide variety of nasty consequences to their recipients. From the big ones that roses hide beneath their blossoms to the tiniest that coat the stems of stinging nettles, they are designed to cause pain. Why would any farmer choose to plant in such a place? Oh that is because without his knowing the thorn’s seeds are carried by the wind and rain and bed themselves down in the same nicely plowed field as the wheat or corn.

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The message for us is that we not only need for things to be taken out of our field, like rocks and roots, but we need to watch out for what comes in. It is not only about having good soil; it is also about guarding against bad seeds. Living for Jesus isn’t complicated. Wrong motivations, temptations and sin are constantly working to try and make our lives seem more complex than they really need to be. So how do we pull out those thorns from our lives? Paul’s message to his friend Timothy makes it simple. Focus on the things that matter to God and He will take care of the harvest!

The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.  1 Timothy 1:5 ESV

A 2 Way Street

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In our backyard is a lemon tree that loves to give fruit. Every year right after Christmas you will find it loaded with hundreds of lemons. No one has ever done any pruning spraying or fertilizing. It loves where it lives. I have discovered that its secret is in its flowers. Each year in early March when the weather turns warm it is covered with the sweetest smelling blossoms this side of heaven. Every bee in the county knows where our tree lives and lends its help in making sure next year will be a bang up harvest again.

Have you stoped lately to check if the sweet aroma of a relationship with Christ is in our attitudes and words? Is there anemic looking fruit on our branches? Jesus isn’t trying to whip us into action to produce a better crop. He is appealing tp us to just learn to love where we live in Him. If we will delight in the backyard He has planted us in, He promises to fill us with fruit. But without Him there won’t be a single lemon on our tree!

It’s Almost Time!

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 Moving into the home that once my Dad’s in Florida has meant some major changes in our lifestyle including a good deal of downsizing. There was not much room for a garden here though we were able to preserve a few Irises in pots along the walk.  But tucked away in the back yard between the property line and an overgrown holly is a lemon tree that my Dad planted about thirty years ago. It large lemons are, according to our friends,  the best on earth! Though that tree stands no more than eight feet high, each year it yields scores of the biggest and sweetest lemons anywhere. It simply finds a way in its small spot to give more than anyone expected.
If our life sometimes feels like we’ve been downsized a notch or two, we don’t need to give in to discouragement. In our tiny patch of ground where our roots are planted, God still sends just enough sunlight and rain for us to grow. Yielding sweet fruit really has nothing to do with talent, effort or opportunity.  Yielding fruit means that, like our lemon tree, just keep growing till branches bud, buds become flowers, and flowers to small green fruit. Then one morning to everyone’s joyful surprise it will be time for another year of lemonade and lemon meringue pie! Yes everything has its season and here it means the lemons are almost ripe.

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