All in Spiritual Growth
All summer long, my backyard rose bush produces hundreds of pink roses. I notice that it blooms and then most of the roses die about the same time. With my garden shears, I cut away the spent blooms. I imagine it sighing and saying, Thank you. Now I have room to grow and bloom all over again.
For the past two fall seasons, I’ve experienced severely dry eyes. Raw, irritated and red. Most of the time I just want to close them.
The young man sitting across the table confided, “When I was twenty-five, I thought I knew everything and was bullet proof. Nothing could hurt me, and no one could teach me anything. In the past few years I’ve discovered neither of those was true.”
The shower was running, the music blaring, when I walked down the hall to the bedroom: “How deep is the ocean? (How high is the sky?)”* Exactly, I said to myself in light of the lunar eclipse of the evening before. How could a Blood Moon turn red in the shadow of the earth? Space.com tells us this much: “Sunlight scatters to produce the red colors of sunset and sunrise when it enters Earth's atmosphere at a particular angle.” Does it not make you pause for a moment to wonder at the majesty of creation?
Every spring a battle rages between grass and weeds. As a child I watched my dad care for our yard. The grass was still brown and dormant from the winter, but speckled with bright green patches of weeds.
My daughter recently discovered a synonym for the word ‘meditate’—ruminate. When I casually mentioned that cows ruminate when they ‘chew their cud’ she burst out laughing. She said she’ll always have the association of meditating on God’s Word with cows chewing their cud!
I met a man from Mosul, Kurdistan, an elegant godly man. That’s when Nineveh and the story of Jonah and the whale became real to me. Mosul is the modern-day city of Nineveh. The gentleman grew up there and told me Jonah’s Tomb was located there, though recently desecrated.
My sister and I took a trip to the San Diego zoo. On the zoo’s tour bus, the guide gave numerous fascinating and sometimes comical facts about the animals. A tour bus travels by the ostrich pen approximately every 15 minutes. Because the ostrich’s brain is extremely small for the size of its body, each time an ostrich sees a tour bus, it’s a brand new experience!
Would you describe yourself as relationally wise? Here is a description of relational wisdom: But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere (James 3:17). Take a moment to think about each of those descriptors. How closely do these parallel your attitudes and actions toward others?
According to The Flat Earth Society, the earth is not round. Well, obviously, it’s flat. They even have the math equations and Bible verses to prove it.
Flatists, as they are called, have found reasons to believe the earth is flat.
Others might base truth on tradition.
Even as recent as last year, I wanted to take the easy way out. I wanted someone else to interpret scripture and give me the SparkNotes version.
After years of Bible study, I still didn’t know how to interpret some of the difficult passages.
I like a good tomato.
As a child, I grew up on home-grown tomatoes (also known as vine-ripened) from Granny’s garden. Nothing compares.
On a mission trip in Africa, I visited Victoria Falls, the largest waterfall in the world. The thundering roar can be heard from twenty-five miles away. As you approach, you realize that even if your words could be heard, they would be inadequate to describe the beauty before you.
Have you ever watched a video that was filmed with time-lapse photography? My favorites to watch are those of blossoming flowers. A process that takes hours in real-time is shown in mere seconds. Subtle movements, not seen by the naked eye, are clearly displayed.
The deliberate “I am” metaphors in John culminate in a peek at the Jesus who not only provides life and light, but who produces fruit in those who believe in Him while they are still on earth.
My husband and I put our home on the market, and it sold in three days. We were restoring my grandmother’s home as a place for family and friends to gather. Because of the quick sale of our home, we moved into the home we were restoring. I have spent a lot of time scrubbing, scraping, and sorting. The move and restoration process has not only made me do a lot of physical organization and inventory, but spiritual inventory as well.
I never participated in sports while growing up, but by nature I am a very competitive person. I like to win and be a part of the winning team. When I face spiritual competition I want to be victorious as well. In order to have spiritual victory we must fight through prayer, and sometimes those prayers should be offered while on our knees.
How many of you can relate to the feelings of the disciples in our passage? Have you ever been caught in a storm in your life? Have you had a time when your problem seemed too big and your faith was too small? Have you ever felt threatened by the storm and its uncertainty?
Our Girl Scout troop had enjoyed sliding down the largest slide at our city park. At noon we left to eat our picnic lunch in another area.
I loved to swing as a child. Our teachers would take turns swinging us on the playground. When I learned to pump, I became an independent swinger. How invigorating to soar higher and higher.
