Perpetual Spring

As I walked from the bus stop today, evidence of spring was all around.  Nearly every tree and shrub had bunches of fresh, new growth at the tip of every branch.  Tender green foliage was noticeable everywhere I looked.  Trees that shed their leaves during winter are now cloaked with bright green, and even our sad lemon and mandarin trees have shoots of new growth.  Last year I trimmed back both trees and was disappointed with the result.  They did not grow, bud, or fruit.  But what a difference spring makes!

My lemon tree has been the source of many good object lessons for me.  It was evident right from the start that a former tenant had taken upon themselves to trim the tree.  It was an utter disaster:  the top was chopped, suckers below the graft were allowed to remain, and it had been neglected.  Insects had ravaged the leaves.  Not only was the tree fighting pests and poor pruning, the location was awful.  Tucked away in the corner of the fence in the shadow of two larger trees, the tree had to fight for water and sun from its oppressive neighbors.  Now both of those trees have been cut back and the new growth is clean and healthy.  Though some of the leaves are curled and stiff, the new leaves are flexible and healthy.

When I consider that tree, I see a multifaceted picture of a Christian.  We have been grafted into Christ and it is He who makes us fruitful.  But even with copious water and sun, there are many enemies which seek to hinder us from growth and fruitfulness.  The traditions and doctrines of men are like ignorant arborists who try to shape us in their image.  Our own misconceptions about God and the Bible can also break boughs and leave us susceptible to disease.  The enemy of our souls is like those pesky insects which damage leaves.  When the new growth first appears, stinkbugs and ants suck the life out of the tender tips and stunt the growth.  Praise God we have a heavenly Gardener who is able to overcome all the obstacles and give us the feeding, trimming, and fertilisation we need.  The more fruitful we are, the more we are pruned so we might bear more fruit.  Pruning, though at times painful, is a way God designed trees and plants to be rejuvenated.

A fruit tree is also an appropriate picture of an individual Church of believers.  Churches have seasons of pruning, growth, sickness, and fruitfulness.  Some leaves might be curled or be a resting place for stinkbugs while boughs are loaded down with fruit.  Growth is an exciting prospect for any church.  A church that is not growing closer to Christ is starting to die.  It's important that as a tree is taking root it is staked for stability.  Yet it is also important that the tree be free to move a little in the wind.  This movement causes the tree to send roots down deeper into the soil.  A church that faces struggles and trials must resist the temptation to rely on particular people or programs for support when Christ is our foundation.  Psalm 1:3 describes such a one:  "He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper."

I don't know about you, but I welcome the changes each season brings to my life and the church of Christ.  God has seen fit to create varieties of deciduous and evergreen trees.  Not only is there diversity in seasons, but also in the way that seeds germinate and grow.  Some trees require fires to germinate their seeds, and others can be carried along in the breeze.  I am excited about the prospect of spiritual growth  and maturity in my life and in Christ's Body, the church.  The key to maximising our potential growth and fruitfulness in any season is abiding in Christ.  Jesus says in John 15:5-8:  "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. ⁶ 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. ⁷ If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. ⁸ By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples."  When His Living Water springs in our souls, we will always have the potential of fresh growth and fruitfulness.  In Christ we have perpetual spring!

Leaven and Doctrine

In the New Testament, sin is sometimes compared with leaven.  Even as a small amount of leaven will leaven the entire lump of dough, sin allowed to remain in a life or a church will permeate and corrupt it.  Leaven is not always a direct reference to sin, however.  Jesus refers to doctrine as leaven.  Doctrine means "instruction, teaching."  Matthew 16:6 states, "Then Jesus said to them, "Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees."  The section concludes in Matthew 16:12:  "Then they understood that He did not tell them to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and Sadducees."  As there is sound doctrine, there is also bad doctrine.  The doctrine or teaching to which a man holds will influence his life, even as leaven permeates and changes the consistency of dough.  Jesus told His disciples to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees, for adherence to it would corrupt them.  The Pharisees and Sadducees were Hebrew sects who taught the traditions of men as the commands of God, and actually held their traditions in higher regard than God's Word.

We do well to take heed of the doctrine that we expose ourselves to.  If it is doctrine founded upon the naked Word of God, we find a firm, safe foundation for our feet.  The Bible is food indeed for our souls.  Peter affirmed that Jesus alone had the words of life.  There are many teachers and teachings in the world which clamour for acknowledgement and acceptance.  Some are doctrines of demons, doctrines of men, traditional or extra-biblical "revelations" that pull a dark shroud over seeing eyes, and worldly philosophies of men.  As the quality of food we eat correlates directly to the physical health of our bodies, so the doctrine we feed upon will have a spiritual impact.  Even as people have different tastes for food, various doctrines will have more appeal for one person above another.  We must heed and beware of doctrines that do not find their source in the holy scriptures and lure our hearts from remaining fixed upon Christ.

Behold the wisdom of God, that He would use a timeless book through the Holy Spirit's leading to direct us to know Him, receive instruction concerning God's character, daily living for eternity, the natural sinful condition of the heart of man, and the hope of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ.  May our lives remain unleavened, as we feed daily upon the Bread of Life.  The stream is no purer than the source.  Let us take heed that the streams we seek to satisfy our thirst from spring only from the Source of all wisdom, truth, and strength:  Jesus Christ.

Give God the Credit

I saw an advertisement today about a new iphone.  Apple promotes this product as a ingenious marvel of design, perfectly fitting in the human hand.  The thing I find highly ironic about this commercial is we marvel over advances in modern technology but miss the timeless engineering of the human hand!  What is harder to create:  an ergonomically designed phone, or a hand to effectively use the phone?  There is no way a glass and metallic box of circuits and a battery is more complex than a hand created by God.  The voice over in the ad says concerning the customised screen, "That's either an amazing coincidence, or a dazzling display of common sense.  Pretty sure it's the common sense thing."  Obviously.

Without God, there would be no common sense.  No logical sense comes out of sheer randomness.  No operative systems manage to develop either in the government or in the human body without the control of intelligent beings.  No ordered chains of information arise from nothing.  Books do not write themselves.  Life cannot come from non-life.  Chemicals, not even when carefully mixed and treated in laboratories by the best scientists the world can muster, have ever yielded a single living cell.  If you were to come across an iphone or even a memory stick without ever seeing one before, it would be obvious even to a child that it is a device made by man for a purpose.  When I see a human being, animals, the stars, waterfalls, flowers, and bees, my reason refuses to accept that they are merely accidents or randomly generated beauty.  I give credit to God for creating all I see, for the Bible affirms that without Him nothing was made that is made.

Did you know that your thumbprint is like none other in the whole world?  Factories churn out millions of identical iphones, but God created only one of you.  He loves you and made you as a unique creation according to His design.  It is His delight when the people He creates rejoice in the things He has made and recognise it as the handiwork of an awesome God and worship Him.  A fingerprint on a touch-screen can identify one person in the world, and God's fingerprints are all over us!  Let's give credit where credit is due!

Are You All Alone?

I was deeply saddened over a story reported on cnn.com about Amanda Todd's story, a casualty of blackmail and bullying.  She was a desperate girl who felt all alone.  It seems a regrettable decision led to a spiral of panic, fear, and shame.  Instead of finding support among those Amanda thought were her friends, she was driven away.  I know that Amanda is not alone.  Many people in this world are victims of brutal and malicious bullying.  But they are not as alone as they might think.  There is hope for the hopeless, if we will believe and receive it.

You might be very alone in this world, without a single friend.  Perhaps enemies surround you on every side.  You are judged and misjudged.  You feel forgotten and lost in the darkness.  You have made decisions that you regret and wish you could take them back.  The hurt and pain are so real and raw you are desperate.  So-called friends have betrayed and disowned you.  Maybe you are even hurting yourself because of the pain.  Is there anyone who cares?  Please allow me to offer a handshake and a hug to you.  I'm so sorry you are hurting.  I'm sorry for the things you have suffered.  You might ask, how can I truly love you without knowing you?  I can legitimately love you because Jesus loves me.  He has changed my heart.  Jesus says this in John 15:12:  "This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you."

How has Jesus loved me?  1 Corinthians 13:4-7 describes this unfailing love.  "Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; ⁵ does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; ⁶ does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; ⁷ bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things."  God has put this love in my heart.  He even gives us the ability to love our enemies.  Jesus proved His love for me by dying on the cross.  I was once an enemy of God, but His love has transformed me.  Are you desperately hungry for this love?  This is no joke.  This love is real and I offer it freely to you.

Please don't believe the lie that you have nobody in the world.  Jesus will have you if you will have Him.  Proverbs 17:17 reads, "A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity."  I'm not perfect, but I offer you love and my friendship.  I can't be there for everyone in the world, but Jesus can!  I will do my best to respond to any messages.

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