Wisdom & Understanding

“So I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, the crawling locust, The consuming locust, and the chewing locust, my great army which I sent among you.” Joel 2:25   I love getting old stuff, cleaning it up and repurposing its use. My eyes light up when I spot a “treasure” while perusing the aisles of a thrift store…I can see the potential in what may be someone else’s cast off.   Now don’t get me wrong, I like new stuff too, but I seem to get so much joy out of things that have been around for a while. To me they have a story and even though they are inanimate objects I wonder what they have witnessed in their “lifetime”.   Some old things have aged gracefully and show little wear, which means they may have been in a china cabinet or a room and never really used; while some pieces are what I call all “jacked up” and look as if they have been kind of thrown around.   Were they cared for and appreciated? Are some of the questions that...

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener.   He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. John 15: 1-4 “Pruning is a horticultural practice involving the selective removal of parts of a plant, such as branches, buds, or roots. Reasons to prune plants include deadwood removal, shaping (by controlling or directing growth), improving or maintaining health, reducing risk from falling branches, preparing nursery specimens for transplanting, and both harvesting and increasing the yield or quality of flowers and fruits. “   -Wikipedia   I have a plant that I have had for a number of years. I bought it as a small plant and now it is in a very large pot. T...

My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. John 10:27 As I wrote about in my last post, I believe this is a season of healing for me. After many years of being a part of what I now see was an abusive church situation; finally leaving there and then desperately trying to “fit in” somewhere else, only to find that I never could. I see now that while I was trying to return to what I thought would please God was only a deterrent to what He was trying to do in my life…heal my wounds and get me to know Him for myself rather than what someone had portrayed for me. In Matthew 10: 1-3 it says that Jesus called the 12 disciples and gave each of them authority to cast out demons and to do miracles.   If you’ve had some doubt as to rather or not that included Judas, read verse 3 that specifically states Judas, yes the one that betrayed Jesus was in that number also. Jesus equipped Judas with everything that the others had; the only difference was Judas’ motive of the he...

A Time to Heal… There is a time for everything,     and a season for every activity under the heavens:     a time to be born and a time to die,     a time to plant and a time to uproot,     a time to kill and a time to heal,     a time to tear down and a time to build,     a time to weep and a time to laugh,     a time to mourn and a time to dance,     a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,     a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,     a time to search and a time to give up,     a time to keep and a time to throw away,     a time to tear and a time to mend,     a time to be silent and a time to speak,     a time to love and a time to hate,     a time for war and a time for peace. - Eccl...