Fences:

            Recently the Lord has been showing me importance of fences in my life.  Fences are just boundary markers allowing for physical enclosure of your property.   Even a simple hedge between two houses can provide a sense of yard inclusion. 

            As a Landscaper, fences, while necessary, are not always my friend.   They involve extra work because grass and weeds grow up next to and in-between fence slots.  I could use grass killing products, such as Round-up; yet to maintain a well manicured appearance, trim-line weed-eating is the method of choice.     

            Fences serve two purposes.   One, it establishes a barrier to block out what we don’t want to experience and second the fence allows us to and contain and maintain those things we need to be paying attention to.   Spiritually speaking, there are all sorts of things Satan throws in our paths to distract and frustrate us.   While, I may never be able to successfully block out every annoying arrow he hurls my way, by taking the time to erect spiritual fences, we can keep alert and avoid getting sidetrack.   

            Have you ever watched the process of building a fence piece by piece?  I admit I don’t have the eye or patience for it.   A plumb line is used at every step of the way and you’re measuring constantly to make sure it looks straight as an arrow.  

            Although fences will always be expensive and difficult to construct, we continue to enjoy the solitude and seclusion they provide.  (Fences also help contain our dogs and keep us from having to look at the foot high grass in the neighbor’s back yard.  These are just a couple of added benefits.) 

            Prayer:   “Holy Spirit please reveal specific hedges, barriers or boundary markers that can help me stay focused today and steer clear of all that would deter me from glorifying You with my life.   Amen.”

                                                                   Flip-Flops Won’t Cut It

            Any landscaper, who works more than one season, can tell you that wearing flip-flops won’t cut for long.   Good shoes and proper foot-care are essential.  Blisters, cuts, and insect bites are not our friends.   Strong feet, ankles and legs are provided by God as a good foundation, yet as landscapers we have to do our part. 

            Our foot/ankle combination is made up of about 26 bones and over 30 joints.  It also contains almost a hundred muscles, ligaments, and tendons all working together to allow you to stand, walk, run, pivot, and make a variety of other functional movements.   Athletes know that by applying sox’s properly, getting a good shoe fit, and lacing shoes by the book, you will have increased speed and endurance.   However, unlike athletes, landscapers are on our feet more hours of the day so.   We’ll need, band-aides, lubricants, sports tape, and foot pads, to avoid blistering aching feet. 

            Just as our feet become the foundation upon which we operate, Jesus Christ is the head of the Church and our chief foundation stone.  In Matthew 7:24, Jesus tells us that anyone who listens to his teaching and follows it, he will become wise.   He will be like the man who builds his house on a solid rock.   According to the apostle Paul,  Jesus wants our spiritual house (our body) to be built on the best and only true foundation, Jesus Christ, (1 Corinthians 3:11).   The person who “digs deep and lays the foundation on solid rock, when the floodwaters rise and break against that house, it stands firm because it is well built,” Luke 6:48 (NLT)

             Is your spiritual house well built?  Are you standing on a solid foundation?  How are your spiritual feet looking these days?  If you’re not already a Christ follower why not become one?  Write me back and I’ll tell you how.  If you are a Christian and need additional strength or endurance why not take a little extra time and renew your relationship with Christ, through prayer and reading his Word?   Oh and those cheep flip-flops, ditch-um.  Winter’s coming!

  

                                                                             STRETCH

            Forcing myself out of the nice warm bed, I grimaced once my feet hit floor.   Ouch, I thought, remembering I had started jogging again the day before.  The lactic acid which had built up in my legs was punishing - a high price to pay for good health.

            During this same week, I’d been troubled by a noise coming from the back of my lawn truck.  At first, I thought it might be the hitch, but later realized it was my heavy metal bagger.   The bungee cord I had used to secure it to the metal trailer had stretched out of shape.   That cord could no longer secure my bagger, yet now was the perfect fastener needed to hold my ladder in place. 

            Later, I remembered a great sermon illustration shared by Jonathan Faggart about rubber bands.   Pastor explained that, over time, as rubber bands are used they loose their form and elasticity.   Like with rubber bands (or bungee cords) if we allow ourselves be stretched by God, our shape and capacity will be changed forever, by the tensions being exerted upon us. 

            Are there trials that are beyond your capacity to endure?  Do you ever feel stretched out of shape?  Perhaps you’re being expanded or developed for a greater purpose?   Too often, I find myself recoiling from the painful things of life instead of embracing them.  Like the Psalmist, we should be brave and courageous, waiting patiently for the Lord, (Psalm 27:14).   As He transforms us through the process of stretching, we are made whole, complete, and will lack nothing.   Our capacity to encourage others with their trials will also be increased and expanded.

            Oswald Chambers once said, “God never gives strength for tomorrow, or for the next hour, but only for the strain of the minute.”   Embrace the Stretch.  

             

WHERE IS YOUR PAD?

        Ok, so you’re not a Writer.   Do you have any senior moments?  Have you ever forgotten something important you wanted to accomplish?   I have, yet, these days, not so much.  I’ve learned to keep a notebook, legal, pad or even a blank envelope with me throughout my day.   Yesterday, I even wrote a note to myself reminding me to make a laminated sign for a customer’s gate that prompts everyone to keep it closed, so her dog won’t get out.  

        Writing things down can be invaluable.   Most people report that with the simple act of writing something down, they remember it without the note.  That’s because the idea becomes cemented in our brains by using our visional and kinetic movements.   These days, with life assaulting our senses on every front, a pad can be a powerful weapon against absentmindedness.  

        Even the prophet Habakkuk used a pad (well maybe a scroll) in his communication with God.  In Habakkuk 2:1,2 (NLT) he states: “I will climb up to my watchtower and stand at my guard post.  There I will wait to see what the Lord says and how he will answer my complaint.  Then the Lord said to me, ‘Write my answer plainly on tablets, so that a runner can carry the correct message to others.’” 

        When Habakkuk came before God he wasn’t in a hurry.   He planned ahead of time and brought his writing materials, expecting to get an answer or insight.   Why do we need to be in a hurry when we come before omniscience?  Would we forget to bring pen and paper to class?  When we encounter the Lord God Almighty, are we prepared for revelatory knowledge?   Keep your pad close.  Don’t leave home without one.   Have a blessed day.  

  

Blowing Lizards

     As a Landscaper, one of the most fun things I get to do is blow lizards around with my back-pack blower.  (My now adult son loves this even more than me!)  The thrill of seeing those poor defenseless creatures trying to cling on to anything for dear life is the bomb!

     Shouldn’t that be our posture as Christians?  Standing with arms outstretched waiting for the wind of The Holy Spirit to blow on us.  That wind is always refreshing, life-giving, and progressive. 

     I’m reminded of the story found in Ezekiel 37, where the prophet was led to a bunch of dry bones scattered across a broad valley.  The Lord asked Ezekiel if he believed that the old bones could come to life.  God told him to prophesy to the bones and he watched as the Lord assembled full skeletons of people and adding flesh, muscles and skin.  

     Although this miracle happened right before Ezekiel’s eyes, the bodies still had not come to life.  The Lord told Ezekiel again to prophesy to the dead bodies so that they would breath again.  Ezekiel did and the scripture said the bodies stood upright as a mighty army!

     So many times I trudge through life feeling like a set up those old dried up bones.  Why not let THE wind of the Holy Spirit blow upon us and give life.  Like those Lizards, why not throw your hands into the air and acquiesce to His life giving power?

Blowing Lizards

     As a Landscaper, one of the most fun things I get to do is blow lizards around with my back-pack blower.  (My now adult son loves this even more than me!)  The thrill of seeing those poor defenseless creatures trying to cling on to anything for dear life is the bomb!

     Shouldn’t that be our posture as Christians?  Standing with arms outstretched waiting for the wind of The Holy Spirit to blow on us.  That wind is always refreshing, life-giving, and progressive. 

     I’m reminded of the story found in Ezekiel 37, where the prophet was led to a bunch of dry bones scattered across a broad valley.  The Lord asked Ezekiel if he believed that the old bones could come to life.  God told him to prophesy to the bones and he watched as the Lord assembled full skeletons of people and adding flesh, muscles and skin.  

     Although this miracle happened right before Ezekiel’s eyes, the bodies still had not come to life.  The Lord told Ezekiel again to prophesy to the dead bodies so that they would breath again.  Ezekiel did and the scripture said the bodies stood upright as a mighty army!

     So many times I trudge through life feeling like a set up those old dried up bones.  Why not let THE wind of the Holy Spirit blow upon us and give life.  Like those Lizards, why not throw your hands into the air and acquiesce to His life giving power?

“LITTLE TO WORK WITH?”

I love the story of Elisha helping the Poor Widow in chapter 4 of Second Kings (NLT).  The woman came to the Prophet announcing that her husband had died and a creditor was going to take her two sons as slaves to pay the debt.  

Without becoming caught up in her emotions, Elisha asked, “What do you have?”

She replied, “Nothing at all, except a flask of olive oil.”

His instructions were simple.   Begin borrowing as many empty jars as she could find.  Next, after the three of them were in privacy, begin filling the jars with oil.  By the time, she and her sons ran out of empty jars the oil stopped flowing.  The widow had enough oil to sell pay the creditor and live on the profits left over. 

In the Bible, God often used oil as a symbol for the Holy Spirit.  How many times do we as men walk around full of ourselves refusing to come to God to ask for help.  His all powerful enabling Holy Spirit waits eager help us if we’ll simply come to Him like one of those empty jars.  

Instead, we too often, run others for help or try to buy tools that won’t solve our problem.  All the while, His still small voice is calling us to empty ourselves.  Then He asks, “What we have to work with?”   Holy Spirit can then take these ordinary accouterments of this life and empower them to become EXTRA-ordinary tools in our hands.   “EMPTY?  What do you have to work with?”