Good morning....
I am posting this link a bit late today. I just got home from Maine and I am still a bit lagging. I would give this wonderful time I had in Maine a A+. For those of you who have friends and relatives in distant places you will agree with me that you wish all the people that you love lived in one place. I have a daughter in Minnesota, and others far and wide. Storm and her family are my "extended family." I receive love from them and give it back. When I leave the hole that my family and friends in Livermore is refilled, but the hole that I always feel when I am missing Maine is re-emptied. Aleisha and her family are mostly always missing from either of the "holes" I am talking about here. However, she keeps in touch with me. God has always blessed me with friends and my family. I would be a lost case without Him in my life. I also realize that the kind of experiences that I have been having are actually a kind of mountain top experience that is different than the times I spend on the day to day mountain tops with which God blesses me in my day to day life.
Have a Monday filled with His blessings...you never know what He has in store for you, so wait with expectation.
Corinne
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Today's devotional is called, "Roses for Sale." I have been reposting devotionals Mary Wilkins had written that are in the WFM archives since she had her kidney transplant several weeks ago. So, if some of the recent post have sounded a bit familiar, that is why. I wanted to give her exclusive time to concentrate on her recovery. I am going to check this week to see if she feels ready to start anew providing her amazing writings. Whenever I talk to Mary she is really upbeat and seems to be doing well. Please keep lifting her up to her Father.
Mary uses the analogy of planted roses to talk about the needs we have in life. Two roses faded because they were planted in pots and the necessary root system was not sufficient. Also the rains were sparse. The third plant had been planted in the soil. It did receive what it needs from the deep roots and eventual rain. Mary then writes, "When I find that I have become complacent, taking God for granted, forgetting to hold onto those truths that are food for my soul, I suddenly recognize I have been in a drought of my own making."
~~~~~~~~~~Roses for Sale
Wandering through the garden section of the local store I see a sign, "Rose Bushes Only $4.99." The thin long bags of dirt have a few sticks poking out of the top . Could I grow a rose? I take 3 bushes home imagining the beauty and scent these mere sticks might have one day.
Two plants find nice homes in large garden pots. But what about the third rose bush? Discussing my predicament with my daughter she asks why I don't just dig a hole in the ground. As I admit my aversion to hole digging she offers to do it for me. That's how 3 rose 'sticks' made their home just outside my kitchen window.
Five years later 3 beautiful rose bushes, tall and green, blossom at intervals, releasing silk petals whenever the wind blows. Suddenly one summer, a disease killed one of the plants, but the others stayed strong. Then a drought compelled us to water less and less. After 2 summers of reduced water, the remaining rose bush in a planter shriveled and died.
Only the rose with it's roots deep in the earth withstood the intense heat and lack of water. It didn't blossom but it survived. When the rains came again the plant burst forth in abundance as if it had been saving many seasons of flowers to grow and bloom at once.
When I find that I have become complacent, taking God for granted, forgetting to hold onto those truths that are food for my soul, I suddenly recognize I have been in a drought of my own making.
"For the word of God is living and active
and sharper than any two-edged sword,
and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit,
of both joints and marrow, and
able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
Hebrews 4:12 NIV
Dear Lord, thank You for bringing my true condition to my attention that I may repent and receive Your forgiveness. Please help each of us to drink in Your truth even when we don't think we are thirsty or dry. Thank You that Your Word will always prove true (see Proverbs 30:5). What a relief to know that I may fool others but I cannot fool You (see Hebrews 4:13). Thank You for not leaving us or forgetting us (see Deuteronomy 31:6). In Jesus name, amen.
Jordan Feliz performs "The River"
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Prayers are lifted up daily for
you by the Devotional Writers
and the Monthly Writing Staff
of Women's Focus Ministries.
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