HOW ARE YOU PLANTED?

God uses the tree to teach us the critical components of building a successful spiritual life. No tree can survive and grow without nurturing and anchoring roots. The emotional sustenance provided to us by our parents in our early, formative years are our roots. Like a gardener watering a sapling, our parents nourish us with their love and nurturing. They cultivate the foundations that anchor our lives, and their validation infuses us with self-confidence. Don’t be deceived, some people might look like mighty trees but when you cut below the surface you may discover roots that have short root bases, under watered roots, lack of proper nutrients. What happens if a person is lacking roots, or the roots are compromised? It’s like a tree that is lacking the nourishment necessary for its survival. Without healthy roots we end up having a weak faith base, lack of spiritual nutrients for a healthy spiritual walk, which in turn effects virtually every aspect of our lives. Why? Everything needs a root. To be secure in life, you must have a strong root base that is nurtured and growing. Your roots are your emotional and spiritual sustenance. For a tree to bear fruit, it must have solid roots and a strong trunk. If the roots begin to deteriorate, the rest of the tree will also deteriorate. The fascinating thing about roots is that even though the roots are beneath the ground, the roots are also the reason that the tree grows.

Majestic trees grow outward with free abandon, but their roots are deep within the earth underneath them. They say that the only thing that grows in two directions at once is a tree: The roots grow downward as the tree grows upward. Even though the roots are not visible to the naked eye and don’t seem so obvious, they are like the foundation of a building. Its solid foundation allows it to grow. Think of it this way: A bird first needs a protective nest before it can fly. When you have a nest to come back to, you have the confidence to fly securely, your confidence has been built up by the nurturing it received at its nest. People who don’t have a proper nest, might look like they are flying, and they might actually fly, but they are not flying securely.

The tree trunk is a metaphor for unwavering solidity, standing firm because it was planted correctly. While underground roots are the indispensable foundation of a tree, which allow it to grow upward and outward, a tree also has a solid trunk above ground. Trees are known for their solidity. A strong tree does not get destroyed in a storm. It sways, but it stands. The firm tree trunk reflects our solid, unwavering values; our integrity. What do you believe in? What is your purpose in life? What are boundaries that you will not cross? In what areas of life are you reliable, and in what areas of life are you spontaneous? Does your spontaneity need to be balanced by reliability, or vice versa?  The deeper the roots, the greater the fruits. When we have healthy roots and solid values, we reflect a healthy life. Growth is the ultimate expression of a successful life, one that does not simply remain standing, but is always growing and spreading out. Growth also includes bearing fruit. What is the beauty and power of a fruit? Boundlessness. The fruit, via its seeds’ germination and growth, can continue to produce fruit even after the end of each fruit life. Fruits have perennial impact. The seed bears a fruit, and the fruit in turn bears seeds, which then bears more fruit.

The life of a fruit gives us a taste of eternity. Fruit defines our eternal impact as humans. In our life journey we have the opportunity to plant seeds wherever we go, through our kind words and good deeds. You may have said something to someone 10 years ago, and then you hear that your words bore fruit. We don’t always see the fruit borne from the seeds we plant, but we can be assured that our good fruit will continue to produce good things even after we are gone as our fruit, bears more fruit in a never ending continuum. "But he who received seed on the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty." Matthew 13:23

 

Hold Fast,

-Bren

DO NOT PARK!

Wouldn't it be wonderful if before every mistake we made, a flashing yellow light would pop up in our mind's eye screaming to us, "don't go there!" Making mistakes is a normal part of our everyday lives. But if you're dwelling on your mistakes and they are bringing you discouragement and defeat, there are things that you can do to make it better. However, you have to make the effort.

There are some places that we should never allow ourselves to stay if we stop by and make a visit on the road of regret. Those are the places that will distract us, disturb us, defeat and destroy us if we let them. Anger, discouragement, worry, doubt, guilt and fear just to name a few. God's word tells us the right things that we are to think about and dwell on and instead of pulling up and parking our minds on the wrong things we need to quickly choose to think on those things that will help us move on.  Sometimes, the mistakes we make are more serious than others, and more complicated. It may also take us longer to learn from them and to change our ways. The most important thing in these instances is to learn how to accept what’s happened and move forward, rather than dwell on the past. When you make a mistake, keep in mind that it doesn’t mean anything about who you are as a person if you are working on making it right.

Try not to jump to conclusions about your worth or value. Your reputation belongs to the Lord.  No one’s perfect, and that’s okay. When you mess up and you will, don’t hide the fact and don’t try to sugar-coat it, own it and face it. Even though it’s often a really difficult thing to do, it’s important that you accept full responsibility for your actions. If others are involved, you are only responsible for the part you play. The sooner you deal with it, the sooner you can get yourself back on track. If you’re making excuses for yourself, you’ll simply just prolong the process. Philippians 4:5-9 says, "The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. ... And the God of peace will be with you. I love how Paul speaks to his friends, he says, "Therefore, my brothers, you whom I love and long for, my joy and crown", "that is how you should stand firm in the Lord…!" God's word tells us how we should think and what perspective to think in.

I love the story about the small blind boy who every day sat on and old wood crate in the city park. Beside his feet was an old bucket that had a sign taped to it that read, “I am blind, please help.” One day a kind man came walking by and noticed the boy. As he looked inside the boys bucket, he noticed only a few dimes and pennies. The man reached in his pockets and pulled out all the money that he had and placed it inside the boys bucket. He then took the sign, turned it around and wrote some other words on the back of the sign and placed it back on the bucket so that everyone who walked by would take more notice. Before long, the bucket was overflowing with money.  For the first time, more people had taken notice of the boy than ever before. That afternoon the man who had changed the words on the sign came to see how things had gone. The boy recognizing the footsteps from earlier that morning  asked, “Are you the one who changed my sign this morning and if so would you tell me what you wrote?” The man said, “Yes son, it was me and I did change your words, but I only said what you said, just in a different way.” I wrote, “Today is a beautiful day but I cannot see it.”

You see friend, that man did for that little boy that which the little boy knew not to do for himself. While both signs told people that the little boy was blind, the boy’s sign simply said that he was blind. The man’s sign  reminded  people to be thankful that they were not blind. God is trying to help us, if we will allow Him to re-write the scripts that we play out in our stinking thinking. So, on those days that you are tempted to dwell on stinking thinking, be sure not to park there, but move on! The Higher Road is by no means easy, but it is the right way!

Hold Fast,
-Bren

WHAT A BIRD TAUGHT ME

The great blue heron is a large wading bird often seen standing silently along inland rivers and water fronts on the Gulf Coast. Sometimes they are misidentified as cranes and are a common sight along the beaches, especially around fishing docks and piers where they hang out in hopes to snag small fish that anglers may throw their way. They are generally solitary feeders that locate their food by site and swallow it whole. Sometimes these birds have been known to choke on their food, if it is too large for them to swallow. Their  feeding behaviors consist of standing in one place, probing, pecking, walking at slow speeds, moving quickly, flying short distances hovering over the water, to pick up their prey.

This past week I spent a little of my vacation time getting to know a blue heron, dubbed "Jeffery" by some of the young boys who played along the docks that we fished on. It was amazing watching this calm, tall, bluish-gray wading bird with his graceful S-shaped neck stand with endurance as he waited on his breakfast, lunch and dinner, provided by us, the local fisher folk. I read that these birds spend 90 percent of their waking hours hunting for food, or in Jeffery's case, waiting for us to throw him food. While these birds can wait a long time for feeding, their attack on their food is sharp and swift. We watched Jeffery as he watched us fish. He never took his eyes off the corks unless we were removing the fish from our hooks tossing them his way. Once the fish was removed from the hook and dropped down on the dock, Jeffery moved in with lightning speed to pierce the fish with his sharp spear like beak and then toss the fish into his mouth, swallow and return to his sitting position, ready to retrieve his next free meal.

One of the things that I noticed Jeffery doing which amazed me was how he watched me cast out my bait and then, the patience he had waiting for the cork to go under. The moment I began to reel the fish in, Jeffery would began to move closer to me. It was though he was expecting the reward and could not wait to receive it. I thought of many spiritual comparisons as I watched my little friend, but the one thing that I could not get off of my mind was how he moved with lightning speed as he saw me reel in his meal. Jeffery reminded me about the verse in Isaiah 40:31 that says, "But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint." They that wait upon the Lord implies, the expectant attitude of faith. For the faithful, there is no failure, and faith knows no weariness. This so pictures Jeffery! His still waiting reflected such confidence in my catching fish for him to eat. What an example to me of my own patience with God working in my life.  

May we all learn from Jeffery and therefore watch against doubt, unbelief, pride, and self-confidence. If we go forth in our own strength, we will faint, and utterly fall; but having our hearts and our hopes in the Lord, we will be carried above all our difficulties, and be enabled to lay hold of the prize of our high calling in Christ Jesus. Matthew 6:26 says, "Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?" God is fishing today sweet friend on our behalf. May we sit watchful and waiting, as He reels in the plans that He has for us!

Hold Fast,

-Bren

CHANGE YOUR PERSPECTIVE

While trying to help a group of patients deal with their grief, a young phycologist took them out into the middle of a busy city street and had them observe their surroundings. He then, took them up to the roof of a tall building on that same street and told them to look around again and tell him what they saw. Their responses were completely different. Instead of flashing lights, noisy traffic, and people rushing around, some noticed the blue sky, some noticed sunshine, while others noticed the rooftops decorated with small gardens all around them. The doctor reminded them that they were on the same street as before, only their perspective had changed. I love that analogy.

There are times that we can become overwhelmed by entrapped feelings of not having answers, not understanding the motives and actions of others and discouragement which can keep us from not seeing past our current situations. However, it is in those moments that God can lift us up to a higher place, a place where if we will go, we can see things differently, possibly from God's standpoint.

I always find it helpful to remind myself by asking this question, "not only what does this time of struggle mean to me, but what does it mean to God?" In our most desperate moments, if we can mentally drag ourselves upwards to that higher place of spiritual footing or ground, God may very well give us a glimpse however brief, of His divine love, insight and perspective. And that different perspective may be just what we need to keep hanging on and enduring.

In most cases it is always simply, "another perspective". Seeing every situation from God's standpoint. A farmer may look at cow manure as something which he must endlessly shovel out of the barn and probably the least likely job to perform on the farm. The gardener, on the other hand, looks at manure as free fertilizer. He can see the potential when others may see only waste. The gardener delights in getting manure. They shovel it around in their gardens and flower beds with delight. A mere matter of perspective.

Our perspective is very much a reflection of who we are. A Christian’s perspective is very much determined by his or her spiritual gifts. To the apostle Paul, John Mark was a liability, a man who could not be counted on, and thus a man who should not be taken along on his missionary journeys. To Barnabas, whose gift was encouragement, Mark was an opportunity and a challenge to disciple. Mark was a man who needed encouragement, and Barnabas was the man to give it, just as he had ministered to Paul in the early days of his Christian walk.

Both men impacted the world with the gospel. Both, loved the Lord Jesus and loved each other. But they saw things from their own perspective and did ministry within their own spiritual gifts and personalities. "I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you…" Eph. 1:18. May God grant us all the perspective to see life through His eyes and for His good purpose and may we never, ever forget to walk in love!

Hold Fast,
-Bren