“[…] Jesus said there is only one way to develop and grow
spiritually, and that is through focusing and concentrating on God. In essence,
Jesus was saying, “Do not worry about being of use to others; simply believe on
Me.” In other words, pay attention to the Source, and out of you “will flow
rivers of living water” (John 7:38).
We cannot discover the source of our natural life through common sense and
reasoning, and Jesus is teaching here that growth in our spiritual life comes
not from focusing directly on it, but from concentrating on our Father in
heaven. Our heavenly Father knows our circumstances, and if we will stay
focused on Him, instead of our circumstances, we will grow spiritually[…] If
you want to be of use to God, maintain the proper relationship with Jesus
Christ by staying focused on Him, and He will make use of you every minute you
live— yet you will be unaware, on the conscious level of your life, that you
are being used of Him.” CHAMBERS
Have you ever planted a garden? One thing about gardens .. they don’t tend
themselves. I have spent many hours
preparing the ground, planting the seeds, watering. But often, I found that I was too busy to
spend time there. Oh, I could walk out into
the garden and pick the vegetables from it, but every time I noticed that there
were other things growing in the garden.
Things I did not plant … but things that must have been in the soil that
I did not know about and were now growing and taking over. Choking out what I
had planted. I wanted a garden, but was
not willing to take the time to tend to the garden. The wrong things grow so easily in the
garden. It takes work for the right
things to grow. If you want a garden to
grow and flourish, then you must take the time to nurture it, remove the weeds,
provide what is needed for the plants to produce.
So it is with your Christian life. If it goes unattended, then it will become
overgrown with the things that grow easily in our lives. The things that are already in the soil of
our nature. When those things appear,
they must be removed. What God has planted
in us .. the spiritual must be cultivated .. fed … we can’t expect to visit the
garden once a week to collect the produce.
We will find that the garden has become overgrown … that the fruit is
small or the plants are not producing at all.
Luke 8:5-8,11-15 “‘A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he
was scattering the seed, some fell along the path; it was trampled on, and the
birds ate it up. Some fell on rocky ground, and when it came up, the plants
withered because they had no moisture. Other
seed fell among thorns, which grew up with it and choked the plants. Still
other seed fell on good soil. It came up and yielded a crop, a hundred times
more than was sown.’ […] ‘This is the meaning of the parable: The seed is
the word of God. Those along the path are the ones who hear, and then the devil
comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe
and be saved. Those on the rocky ground are the ones who receive the word with
joy when they hear it, but they have no root. They believe for a while, but in
the time of testing they fall away. The
seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their
way they are choked by life’s worries, riches and pleasures, and they do not
mature. But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good
heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop.’”
Today would be a good day to spend some time in your
garden. ELGIN
Bondye Beni Ou (God Bless You)
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