I went to sit at the Garden of Reflections yesterday, a nice green grassy area remembering September 11th – with peaceful places to pause – even if the memory is not of a peaceful day. This was my first visit this year and well, it is technically sentimental for me as it was 12 years ago that I wandered here on my awakening day – Feb 1st – and I had realized that after 6 weeks of pondering and writing out my awakening that I was now 100% with Jesus… yeah… That day I picked up one of the many decorative trinkets which was no trinket at all – it was John 3:16 on a coin – “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” – AND YES I COULD FINALLY BELIEVE IT.
This time at the sculpture from the steel beams there were not the multitude of trinkets and coins – but one perfectly placed charm – of “the tree of life” – a charm that I also have in a necklace and earrings – and I know that we as the tree are to stretch out our branches and become fruitful and change with the seasons – prepare for winter – spring out again in spring – and be a home for critters – and be a sight for visitors – shade in the summer and even a place to climb and rest in the branches. Our own TREE of Life is surely planted by the Lord – and as Psalm 1 calls out: “and like a tree firmly planted I’ll be, grounded in the Word.”
And God will prune our tree as He sees fit… And today is another day to GROW!!!
And so on this day, you (I) might expect some earthshaking feeling when I stepped onto the grounds where I knew I was reborn in Jesus, not turning back, but it was not that same day it was 12 years ago… We change and we grow… And there was a decrease in stress for sure, but the place of my life is different now than that day – it is different this morning than it was even last night – and last night was different than the middle of the day. It is not that my fire has diminished but that my embers are old and glowing rather than young and leaping flames… My faith still has a holy hold of me but maybe I can describe faith moved from a bonfire to a campfire to a torch – and now I keep moving that LIGHT to other places…
Still, it was good to sit – and work on my laptop and well I also accidentally fell asleep for a short nap – and clearly the Lord has put mechanisms into our lives that keep us alive and waking up from a choking neck bend, so it was good for that reflex to rescue me (honestly it is better to go to the beach and nap there!) – and I can attest to our mechanisms of life are a mystery and a marvel!!! And if these are marvels of our life – imagine the much bigger marvel of how God keeps all the plates spinning in the air at the same time.
Knowledge is knowing that the Lord has a plan – and that we are to bear witness that our hope is the result of us knowing the Good News – not just us living in it’s LIFElight (or limelight) but to Light Life.
Today will be a whole new day of wonder – and as “we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.” – we are to remember that each day has it’s own adventures – covered in mercy and grace…
Keep living in the branches – and hold onto that Vine of Jesus – feed from it – God is pruning us to make us more Christlike – and we shall sing praises in the Garden of His Reflection…
Amen
The “Jesus Always” devotion reminded of this scripture: “For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,” made His light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.” from 2nd Corinthians – which also has the great scripture of us being jars of clay – hard pressed on each side… I surely am not as pressed as disciple Paul was – but I get the same reminders from it: ponder the steps of life – don’t dilly dally in worry – work while walking – wonder out of just a wander – and always look for the LIGHT.
John 15:1-17 NKJV
The True Vine
“I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. 3 You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.
“I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.
Love and Joy Perfected
“As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love. If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love.
“These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full. This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.
2nd Corintinans 4:6-18 NKJV
For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
Cast Down but Unconquered
But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us. We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed— always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. For we who live are always delivered to death for Jesus’ sake, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So then death is working in us, but life in you.
And since we have the same spirit of faith, according to what is written, “I believed and therefore I spoke,” we also believe and therefore speak, knowing that He who raised up the Lord Jesus will also raise us up with Jesus, and will present us with you. For all things are for your sakes, that grace, having spread through the many, may cause thanksgiving to abound to the glory of God.
Seeing the Invisible
Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.
