You learn something new every day, and what I learned recently is that you should never overwater your orange trees. I feel so much better just knowing I have that one stashed away on a mental micro chip!
Citrus trees, if given an over supply of ground water, will expand their root systems to lap up the extra bounty. As a result, the roots get wider, but not much deeper, and very little nourishment goes up the trunk of the tree to produce leaves and fruit. Therefore, it is best to irrigate the tree at intervals, pausing between dousings to force it to absorb and use what it is given.
I think that really helps me understand some other things that greatly trouble me from time to time.
For instance, I have often wondered why God seems to alternate the times of great spiritual blessing with times of spiritual drought. In my prayer life, it seems that on one day God is so near that I take my shoes off; the next day He seems so far away that I want to put my shoes back on and walk around looking for Him. There are times when the people I witness to open the doors of their heart to Jesus Christ and trust Him as their Savior; at other times, they slam the doors of their homes on me. Why is that?
C.S. Lewis called it "The Law of Undulation". Our Heavenly Father alternates spiritual blessings and challenges in such a way as to ensure that we invest His gifts to us in ministry to others rather than just absorbing them. John 15:8, 16 and Galatians 5:22, 23 indicate to us that God demands spiritual fruit in our lives, not just roots, the former being merely a tool to reach the latter. As a matter of fact, THE PROOF OF THE ROOT IS IN THE FRUIT!! Too many of us are Matthew 13: 5,6 (also see verses 20, 21) Christians, whose roots flourish at the surface level, but have no tap root beneath and no blossoms (or fruit) above.
So, the next time you seem to be more barren than blessed, remember that God the Master Gardner knows what He is doing (John 15:1). Dig deep and wait for the latter rain (James 5:7), and draw His spiritual blessings and challenges upward into spiritual fruit!
Fruitfully Yours,
Pastor David Blevins
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Mercy Me
Her name is Marilyn Vos Savant, and the Guiness Book of World Records at one point said that she was the smartest person alive (they no longer have that category in their book). Her I.Q. clocked in somewhere just north of Einstein. So, I dare to disagree with one of her pronouncements? You had better believe that I do!
Not very long ago, someone asked Marilyn this question, "If you had a wish for mankind, what would it be?" The Guiness Guru replied, "Sometimes I simply wish that we would all get what we deserve." Well, why not just ask for a worldwide dose of bubonic plague and call it a day?! As William Shakespeare asked, "Treat each man as he deserves and who should 'scape whipping?"
Even better than Shakespearean question is the comment of an unknown Southern soldier during the Civil War. General Robert E. Lee commanded the Great Army of Northren Virginia. General Lee was also a West Point graduate who survived that strict institution without accumulating a single demerit. Classmates called him "The Marble Man." During the Civil War, a buck private stood before "Massa Robert" for an infraction of the rules.
The General, seeing the man tremble before him, said, "You don't need to be afraid, son. You'll get justice here."
To which Johnny Reb replied, "I know it, General Lee. That's just what I am afraid of."
Let me ask you, dear friend, do you really think that you will make it to heaven someday based on your good works? Romans 6:23 and Ephesians 2:8,9 teach us otherwise! One day you will stand before Jesus Christ, Marble Man Who had no sin (I John 3:5), Who knew no sin (2 Cor. 5:21), and Who did no sin (I Pet. 2:22; Heb. 4:15). He will judge everyone of us by His perfect standard of sinlessness. We all have fallen short of that perfection of righteousness (Ecc. 7:20; Rom. 3:23).
But praise God that, because of the Cross of Calvary, justice has yielded to love, grace, mercy and forgiveness! To those who have trusted in Jesus Christ as their personal Savior, His words will be, "You don't need to be afraid, child. You'll get grace here."
Seeking Some "Lee-Way"
Pastor David Blevins
Not very long ago, someone asked Marilyn this question, "If you had a wish for mankind, what would it be?" The Guiness Guru replied, "Sometimes I simply wish that we would all get what we deserve." Well, why not just ask for a worldwide dose of bubonic plague and call it a day?! As William Shakespeare asked, "Treat each man as he deserves and who should 'scape whipping?"
Even better than Shakespearean question is the comment of an unknown Southern soldier during the Civil War. General Robert E. Lee commanded the Great Army of Northren Virginia. General Lee was also a West Point graduate who survived that strict institution without accumulating a single demerit. Classmates called him "The Marble Man." During the Civil War, a buck private stood before "Massa Robert" for an infraction of the rules.
The General, seeing the man tremble before him, said, "You don't need to be afraid, son. You'll get justice here."
To which Johnny Reb replied, "I know it, General Lee. That's just what I am afraid of."
Let me ask you, dear friend, do you really think that you will make it to heaven someday based on your good works? Romans 6:23 and Ephesians 2:8,9 teach us otherwise! One day you will stand before Jesus Christ, Marble Man Who had no sin (I John 3:5), Who knew no sin (2 Cor. 5:21), and Who did no sin (I Pet. 2:22; Heb. 4:15). He will judge everyone of us by His perfect standard of sinlessness. We all have fallen short of that perfection of righteousness (Ecc. 7:20; Rom. 3:23).
But praise God that, because of the Cross of Calvary, justice has yielded to love, grace, mercy and forgiveness! To those who have trusted in Jesus Christ as their personal Savior, His words will be, "You don't need to be afraid, child. You'll get grace here."
Seeking Some "Lee-Way"
Pastor David Blevins
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Dial 911
Fred Bowers reminded me of God.
Some time ago I read about Fred who worked the night shift in the Deck Park Tunnel, a half-mile section of Interstate 10 between Third Street and Third Avenue in Phoenix, Arizona. It took more than 5 years and 700 million dollars to build and a good deal of that went into the subterranean control booth where Fred took up his lonely vigil. From this booth he could...
...monitor traffic flow using 20 closed-circuit cameras and a bank of plasma screen monitors that gave him a constant view of the whole tunnel.
...alert motorists of accidents or traffic jams by tapping out warnings which appeared on message boards throughout the tunnel roadway.
...determine if smoke or carbon monoxide was being released in harmful levels, and literally blow it away by starting up several 750 horsepower fans to create 70 miles per hour winds.
...do everything, in fact, but contact the stranded motorists who could have talked to him just by picking up one of the emergency phones that were located at regular intervals (every 150 ft.). For that conversation to take place, they had to call him.
Yes, Fred reminded me of God. Think about it. God did not simply create State Route Straight and Narrow and then retire to His office to get away from the traffic jams of humanity. Instead, He wired Himself into His creation and the lives of His creatures. From the throne room of Heaven, He can...
...watch every soul on Earth as we pursue our seperate paths (Prov. 5:21; Prov. 15:3).
...use His Book, the Bible, to warn us of danger or trouble ahead so that we can avoid fatal collisions with sin (Psalm 119:9, 11, 105).
....send the mighty blast of the Holy Spirit to blow away the noxious fumes of sin (Gal. 5:16, 25).
...do everything but initiate the call for help. Actually, He can do that one too, if He so chooses, but He gives us the honor and responsibilty of making a choice.
Fred Bowers often fumed in frustration as a hapless motorist stumbled by phone after phone, too proud to make the call or not knowing what the phone was for. Just think, my friend, how often God must weep with compassion as stranded sinners stagger from heartbreak to heartbreak, leaving the phone of prayer useless on the hook of grace. God sees your need, and He has infinite power to meet it...but He waits for you to call (Psalm 120:1; Jer. 33:3; James 4:2).
Dial 911,
Pastor David Blevins
Some time ago I read about Fred who worked the night shift in the Deck Park Tunnel, a half-mile section of Interstate 10 between Third Street and Third Avenue in Phoenix, Arizona. It took more than 5 years and 700 million dollars to build and a good deal of that went into the subterranean control booth where Fred took up his lonely vigil. From this booth he could...
...monitor traffic flow using 20 closed-circuit cameras and a bank of plasma screen monitors that gave him a constant view of the whole tunnel.
...alert motorists of accidents or traffic jams by tapping out warnings which appeared on message boards throughout the tunnel roadway.
...determine if smoke or carbon monoxide was being released in harmful levels, and literally blow it away by starting up several 750 horsepower fans to create 70 miles per hour winds.
...do everything, in fact, but contact the stranded motorists who could have talked to him just by picking up one of the emergency phones that were located at regular intervals (every 150 ft.). For that conversation to take place, they had to call him.
Yes, Fred reminded me of God. Think about it. God did not simply create State Route Straight and Narrow and then retire to His office to get away from the traffic jams of humanity. Instead, He wired Himself into His creation and the lives of His creatures. From the throne room of Heaven, He can...
...watch every soul on Earth as we pursue our seperate paths (Prov. 5:21; Prov. 15:3).
...use His Book, the Bible, to warn us of danger or trouble ahead so that we can avoid fatal collisions with sin (Psalm 119:9, 11, 105).
....send the mighty blast of the Holy Spirit to blow away the noxious fumes of sin (Gal. 5:16, 25).
...do everything but initiate the call for help. Actually, He can do that one too, if He so chooses, but He gives us the honor and responsibilty of making a choice.
Fred Bowers often fumed in frustration as a hapless motorist stumbled by phone after phone, too proud to make the call or not knowing what the phone was for. Just think, my friend, how often God must weep with compassion as stranded sinners stagger from heartbreak to heartbreak, leaving the phone of prayer useless on the hook of grace. God sees your need, and He has infinite power to meet it...but He waits for you to call (Psalm 120:1; Jer. 33:3; James 4:2).
Dial 911,
Pastor David Blevins
Thursday, September 8, 2011
Wanna Make Something Of It?
Lewis Carroll's poem, "Father William", describes a conversation between an old man and his son. The son interrogates the father as to the reason for his uncommon physical vigor. One of his questions concerns his father's ability to eat meat, though at his age, one would think him incapable of chewing it. Consider the reply:
"In my youth," said his father, "I took to the law, and argued each case with my wife; and the muscular strength which it gave to my jaw, has lasted the rest of my life."
Well, if a love of argument strengthens the jaw, I know some people who should be able to bite through steel! Do you know anyone like that? Hmmm.
What does the Bible say about this business of "argument aerobics"? Well, consider the words of Solomon in Proverbs 18:2, "A fool hath no delight in understanding, but that his heart may discover itself." The NIV states this passage of scripture this way, "A fool finds no pleasure in understanding but delights in airing his own opinions." I wonder how often we talk just for the pleasure of hearing ourselves, and how many of us love argument for its own sake? Former NFL Football great Jerry Kramer once said of Dave Robinson, his teammate on the Green Bay Packers, "Robby'll argue any side of any question, just for practice. I once heard him argue for half-an-hour that black-eyed peas are really black-eyed beans. Maybe they are, but who cares?!"
I sometimes think that we Christians have developed a whole subculture of this sort of thing. "Did Adam have a naval?" "Where did Cain get his wife, what with the shortage of computer or on-line dating services?" "How many angels can dance on the head of a pin, or the brain of a Christian who asks questions like that, both of which are about the same size?"
Someone has said that people will not care about how much we know (or think that we know) until they know how much we care. So, give it a rest. Focus on the big issues of being conformed to the image of Christ (Rom. 8:28, 29) and leading others to know Him (Matt. 4:19; Mark 16:15)! Don't love to argue; drop the modifier and just learn to love (Matt. 22:36-39).
"Wanna Make Something Of It?"
Pastor David Blevins
"In my youth," said his father, "I took to the law, and argued each case with my wife; and the muscular strength which it gave to my jaw, has lasted the rest of my life."
Well, if a love of argument strengthens the jaw, I know some people who should be able to bite through steel! Do you know anyone like that? Hmmm.
What does the Bible say about this business of "argument aerobics"? Well, consider the words of Solomon in Proverbs 18:2, "A fool hath no delight in understanding, but that his heart may discover itself." The NIV states this passage of scripture this way, "A fool finds no pleasure in understanding but delights in airing his own opinions." I wonder how often we talk just for the pleasure of hearing ourselves, and how many of us love argument for its own sake? Former NFL Football great Jerry Kramer once said of Dave Robinson, his teammate on the Green Bay Packers, "Robby'll argue any side of any question, just for practice. I once heard him argue for half-an-hour that black-eyed peas are really black-eyed beans. Maybe they are, but who cares?!"
I sometimes think that we Christians have developed a whole subculture of this sort of thing. "Did Adam have a naval?" "Where did Cain get his wife, what with the shortage of computer or on-line dating services?" "How many angels can dance on the head of a pin, or the brain of a Christian who asks questions like that, both of which are about the same size?"
Someone has said that people will not care about how much we know (or think that we know) until they know how much we care. So, give it a rest. Focus on the big issues of being conformed to the image of Christ (Rom. 8:28, 29) and leading others to know Him (Matt. 4:19; Mark 16:15)! Don't love to argue; drop the modifier and just learn to love (Matt. 22:36-39).
"Wanna Make Something Of It?"
Pastor David Blevins
Friday, September 2, 2011
What's A Matta, U?
What should the New Testament church be like? The best example I have read about in quite a while is Valenti's, an Italian restaurant in South Miami, Florida.
When Hurricane Andrew hit a number of years ago, Valenti's survived. The storm skirted the building, and a wiring fluke kept electricity flowing to the restaurant when the rest of the area went dark. As the owner, Charlie Valenti, Jr. crouched on the floor watching entire palm trees blow by, his only thought was how soon he could open his restaurant back up and how he could help the people caught in this crisis. He found several ways.
He could feed them, and he did, even though it meant spending hours on the phone to scrounge up tomatoes and cheese. Diabetic and Dialysis patients needed to chill their medication, so Valenti's provided ice. Babies needed fresh milk, and Valenti's gave it for free to all comers. A paraplegic needed power for her electric wheelchair, and Valenti's offered her a wall socket to plug into. Perhaps most importantly, shocked, storm-tossed people needed a quiet, clean place to sit and eat. Valenti's fed them all.
Not without sacrifices, of course! The first thing to go was the profits. Charlie Valenti never raised his prices, even though he had to pay five times the normal rate for Pepsi and boil his pasta in $3.25 bottles of Evian water. Convenience was another casualty: only four waiters could get to the restaurant and the boss himself helped them to serve the swollen crowd. The dress code suffered also, as people tramped in shoeless, with mud clinging to their clothing. The sick, the storm-shocked, and the soiled: Valenti's took them all.
How is that like the church? Hurricane Adam (Rom. 5:12) has made a mess of mankind (Rom. 3:23; Rom. 6:23), but the church is hooked up to the Eternal Power Supply (Psalm 62:11) and our one thought must ever be of spiritual service to those in need. It takes lots of money; we have to work very hard; and most of those we reach out to don't dress or act as we would like. But our calling is to serve, no matter the cost, and to provide a place of peace and refuge in the midst of disaster.
So church, let's get to work! God has not spared us by our own merit or for our own amusement (I Cor. 6:19,20). We are warm and well-fed in a cold, wet sinful world that is in constant turmoil: at all costs we must spiritually help those who stand outside.
"What's A Matta U?"
Pastor David Blevins
When Hurricane Andrew hit a number of years ago, Valenti's survived. The storm skirted the building, and a wiring fluke kept electricity flowing to the restaurant when the rest of the area went dark. As the owner, Charlie Valenti, Jr. crouched on the floor watching entire palm trees blow by, his only thought was how soon he could open his restaurant back up and how he could help the people caught in this crisis. He found several ways.
He could feed them, and he did, even though it meant spending hours on the phone to scrounge up tomatoes and cheese. Diabetic and Dialysis patients needed to chill their medication, so Valenti's provided ice. Babies needed fresh milk, and Valenti's gave it for free to all comers. A paraplegic needed power for her electric wheelchair, and Valenti's offered her a wall socket to plug into. Perhaps most importantly, shocked, storm-tossed people needed a quiet, clean place to sit and eat. Valenti's fed them all.
Not without sacrifices, of course! The first thing to go was the profits. Charlie Valenti never raised his prices, even though he had to pay five times the normal rate for Pepsi and boil his pasta in $3.25 bottles of Evian water. Convenience was another casualty: only four waiters could get to the restaurant and the boss himself helped them to serve the swollen crowd. The dress code suffered also, as people tramped in shoeless, with mud clinging to their clothing. The sick, the storm-shocked, and the soiled: Valenti's took them all.
How is that like the church? Hurricane Adam (Rom. 5:12) has made a mess of mankind (Rom. 3:23; Rom. 6:23), but the church is hooked up to the Eternal Power Supply (Psalm 62:11) and our one thought must ever be of spiritual service to those in need. It takes lots of money; we have to work very hard; and most of those we reach out to don't dress or act as we would like. But our calling is to serve, no matter the cost, and to provide a place of peace and refuge in the midst of disaster.
So church, let's get to work! God has not spared us by our own merit or for our own amusement (I Cor. 6:19,20). We are warm and well-fed in a cold, wet sinful world that is in constant turmoil: at all costs we must spiritually help those who stand outside.
"What's A Matta U?"
Pastor David Blevins
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