Have Some Fresh Fruit...

Look at how beautiful this new growth is on our spruce trees. Somehow these beauties delight me with their velvet soft tender new sprouts that grow off the end of the branches and are as soft as velvet (for now!). At least this spruce is not only alive but thriving.  Thriving means to grow or develop well or vigorously.

I love the early summer and watching the way the flora and fauna are progressing in their growth!  It shouldn't be too long and I may be able to see my yellow Lady Slippers appear (although they can be a bit fickle in where they show up.) We have a small ravine that runs through the back of our property so we can have all kinds of interesting plants that grow along the waterway that don't grow on the higher ground.

But...all that to be said that in our personal life, are we seeing growth in who we are becoming?  Are we making visible the fruit of the Spirit that indicates that we aren't standing still but growing forward?  

Galatians 5:22-25 gives us a beautiful snapshot of a maturing life in Christ:

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit."

Make an assessment of the fruit in your life by honestly looking at each element of the fruit of the Spirit to see where you are in your spiritual growth. Maybe take one of the elements and pray that God would show you where you need to "add a little fertilizer" to your day to improve upon the output, so that it would grow and thrive vigorously! Could be through a bit more quiet time or maybe an accountability partner that you will allow to speak honestly into your life and encourage encourage you along in your journey.

Father, I want to grow and not remain stagnant.  I want to produce goodness out of Your abundance toward me!  Let me risk taking a look at my life with You and then dare to ask You to prune me so I would continue to grow more and more into Your beautiful image, amen.

Clean Hands and a Pure Heart

I did something I have since regretted--I had acrylic nails put on. I have always wanted to have nice nails but the reality is I do not. They are weak, brittle and I absolutely hate to wear rubber gloves when doing dishes.

Photo by ebemobile

Back in November I needed to have some professional pictures taken and this gave me a good excuse to get acrylics. Now I don't just mean the 'Lee Press Ons', no, these are the 'spendy' ones. Wow, they are great and oh, they look so nice. Finally, I have these lovely nails and they are amazingly durable too. I only had to tend to them once a week, usually on a Saturday night before bed. I was quite surprised at how long they lasted too. Now to justify the cost I gave up my weekly white chocolate mocha coffee treat for the next couple of months. There is some maintenance that is required to keep the nails looking really great but that would cost another month or so of my coffee treats so I opted to file them down myself and then just paint them.

As it goes with time, they were filed down to the point where they could be gently picked off and I was horrified at what I found underneath the exterior. My poor nail base was not only paper thin but shredded to bits and they looked horrible. What a sad discovery that I may have ruined my real nails for a fleeting couple of months with acrylics.

Ah, lessons for life, you gotta love it!

To what extent do we go about attempting to make ourselves look great on the outside? After all there are tons of beauty magazines filled with all the details on what it takes for us to 'look great' and after all, isn't this how the world tends to measure our success. Yet when I think of the time, energy and money it takes to look great on the outside I wonder what we have neglected or covered up on the inside? It is possible that masked by the lovely exterior is bitterness, resentment, jealousy and or unforgiveness? It could also be just the lack of growing in our spiritual maturity, still needing the milk like an infant.

This reminds me of the Pharisees who were so adept at looking great on the outside but their insides proved their hypocrisy. They wore their lovely robes, prayer shawls and their phylacteries, while saying all their prayers on the street corners. Looking great on the outside but listen to these strong words from Jesus in Matthew 23

Six times Jesus begins by saying "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites..."

• ...you shut off the kingdom of heaven from men; for you do not enter in yourselves...
• ...you devour widows' houses, even while for a pretense you make long prayers;
• ...have neglected the weightier provisions of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness;
• ...you clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside they are full of robbery and self-indulgence.
• ...you are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness.

These are such strong words regarding those who looked so holy on the outside but were full of evil on the inside. They refused to tend to the things on the inside while they looked 'right' on the exterior.

Now don't get me wrong. There really is nothing wrong with taking care of yourself and looking as great as you can provided you are not neglecting taking care of the stuff on the inside.

David said in Psalm 139:23,24:

"Search me, O God, and know my heart;
Try me and know my anxious thoughts;
and see if there be any hurtful way in me,
and lead me in the everlasting way."

I sure love David's willingness to make himself vulnerable and open before God, asking Him to point out the crud that was sticking to his ribs. (A thought came to me that maybe plaque is all the crud that we refuse to deal with. Just a thought!) His desire was for God to lead and direct him. He certainly made many mistakes but his heart was such that he seemed to be teachable.

There are so many things that take up our time and keep us just too busy to clean the inside of the house or tent as Paul referred to it. I do believe that we need to inventory on a regular basis to assure that we have properly dealt with the things that build up the plaque. And it does take a certain amount of quality time to do so. So as an exercise, see how much time you spend on your exterior, the things that help you look your best. (Please know that God wants great representation.) Is that which is on the inside a balanced representation for our exterior? I believe that is what God desires. If we don't live it, then what is reflected means nothing. I don't know about you but I sure desire to have a balanced life that reflects an interior filled with love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

Abba Father, I am so humbled to be Your work in progress. This growing into maturity takes time and can be difficult. I want David's heart because he was willing to be exposed out of his love for You. It is not pleasant to see the plaque that is within but thank You for helping me to deal with whatever crud is in there, that keeps me from reflecting You. It is Your kindness that leads me to repentance and Your Holy Spirit that teaches me along the way. Keep me teachable and growing in Your way of everlasting. Amen.