The Plantings of The Lord

I recently bought a few plants for my home.  I asked a lot of questions, but specifically about plant size.  How big would it get?  Would I need to change the pot after a while?  Will it take over my house?  The lady informed me that some plants can grow quite large, but if you keep it in a small pot you can stunt its growth and keep it small.

In Bible Study last night the leader said we are "the plantings of God".  But where are we planted?  Because of free will we make our own choices.  God has placed a seed of potential within us but we have to be careful about the size of the pot we choose to grow in.  If a plant could choose its own pot I doubt it would choose a small one.  You don't ever have to tell a plant not to grow.  It won't grow is if its growth is restricted by lack of space to spread its roots and find more nourishment, or it's deprived of the light of the sun.  So, we too need to be deeply and widely rooted in our faith and ensure we get enough Light from the Son.

Not all plants are the same.  Some need lots of water, some thrive in shade, some in direct sunlight, some are sensitive to touch, some have thorns, some bear fruit, and some have poison. We're the same - some of us need constant encouragement, some like to be alone, some like to be in the spotlight, some are very sensitive, some lash out when people get too close, some are givers and some poison all they come in contact with.

Which type are you, and where are you planted today?  Do you have room to spread your roots and grow?  Are you firmly planted?  Like fertilizer, the Word of God causes growth - but not always the type of growth you can immediately see.  We have to grow inwardly before it's seen on the outside.  We have to grow in our thought processes, habits and even our desires.  Then the way we behave shows what is really inside us.  We cannot do what we have never thought of.  Action always comes after thought.  Be careful of the seeds you allow to be planted in your mind, your heart and your spirit.  Some seeds are lovely and bloom into beauty and some are like weeds, choking the good things that are trying to grow in our Lives.  Weed regularly, fertilize often, and give yourself room to spread your roots.

The roots of young plants can become entangled as they grow and spread out, so it's often recommended to plant seeds a certain distance apart or even in separate pots, to be transplanted later. As these seeds grow separate from each other, we too must grow separate from each other.  Your growth rate may be differrent from another and here you are with your roots bursting out of the pot you were put in, ready to be transplanted to a bigger and better pot, while another is struggling to keep a single green leaf. 

Be resilient!  I've seen trees that burst through concrete because the roots spread so much.  It had to grow, and it wasn't letting a slab of concrete get in its way.  So what more are you than a tree?  Are you letting something hard block your growth?  Push through it!

My plant is stuck where I plant it, but you have a choice.  If you aren't growing, you can change your "pot", or you can change your fertlizer.  What are you feeding yourself daily that will cause growth in your Life?  If you want the flowers and the fruit, you have to be willing to put in the work.  Do something every day that will encourage your growth - feed your spirit, read books, develop skills, learn something new, spend quality time with loved ones.  What you feed in your Life is what will grow.

The pot you are planted in is your mind, and like a plant will not grow well in a small pot, you will not grow until you open your mind to the possibility of achieving your God-given potential.  The Japanese art of Bonsai turns what would have grown into a huge tree into a table-top miniature version.  God planted the seed; what you do with it is your choice.  Do you want to be a full-sized tree, or a table-top tree?  It's your choice.

If you plant a seed this year, and you see that first little leaf pop out of the soil, by next year you should have something that is much, much bigger.  We can't look the same way this time next year.  If we do, it means we haven't grown.  Nurture yourself where you are planted.  Where there is good nourishment, push your roots deep, spread them out...

Now grow!

Delete

I woke up this morning from a dream: I typed the word "god" and wanted to capitalize the "G".  So I deleted only the small "g" and replaced it with a capital "G".  I did this a few times, and every time the small "g" would reappear on the screen.  Frustrated, I deleted the whole word and re-typed it with a capital "G".  Finally, the word stayed as I typed it. 

In getting aligned with God we can't just change one thing, we have to change everything and start over.  So just as I was changing one letter of the word and it kept changing back, so too when we change one thing in our Lives we can keep changing back to our former selves.  We have to change everything.  We have to delete our old ways and start again with a new mindset and new habits. 

The awesome thing about starting over with God is that we get a full set of instructions on how to move forward with our new Life.  We can't lose!  Don't be afraid of the delete button. It doesn't matter if you've only written one word or many chapters in your Life Story, God will write something new, something better.

"Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!"  -  2 Corinthians 5:17

Go ahead.  Click "delete".

Wisdom is Wealth

I was talking just yesterday about the need for Wisdom, and was led to Proverbs 8 in my morning devotion time.  This verse stood out: "for wisdom is more precious than rubies, and nothing you desire can compare with her." - Proverbs 8:11

Are you chasing a dream?  It could be your dream job, a dream companion, a dream home... Whatever it is, it won't work out if we don't make wise choices. Sometimes we get just want we want, only to watch it slip through our fingers.  Unwise choices will make us mess up.  It's possible to pray for the thing but never seek the ability to manage the thing we desire.  God in His Divine Wisdom often witholds from us what He knows we will mis-use.  If we're not ready, why give us what we cannot handle in the right way?  Sometimes we feel God is cruel.  But in every situation He is wise.  A child may need to learn to write, but you don't give a pencil to a 2-week-old baby. They won't know what to do with it, so you wait until they show signs that they are ready.  Often when we hear "no" God is saying "Not yet...you aren't ready."  So get ready.  Get Wisdom.

In Proberbs 8 Wisdom is portrayed as a woman speaking, saying that she was present when the world was made.  God made everything to work in harmony.  Things that seem unrelated working together to create the universe.  He had to think of every detail.  That took Wisdom.

Wisdom isn't found in books.  It is found within our spirits when we align ourselves to God's Will.  One of my pastors defines Wisdom as the practical application of God's principles to daily Life (I'm paraphrasing).  Wisdom doesn't come with gray hair and a long beard.  It's not a shimmering purple mist that sits over our heads.  It's not for "certain" people.  It's for those who ask for and seek it out.  It comes from sitting at God's feet, paying attention to the movements of His Spirit and acting on what He deposits within us.  God downloads all the directions we need for Life.  We just have to keep the connection open.

So what happens when we get this Wisdom?  I will let her tell you: "With me are riches and honor, enduring wealth and prosperity." Proverbs 8:18  Did you hear that?  Those things come when we seek Wisdom.  It's a package deal!  But instead we seek the things and work ourselves into the ground to get them.  Wisdom will show us not only what is right for us but how to manage it well.

If we want more than we have now, we have to be more than we are now.  Challenge yourself today to find Wisdom and keep her close.  She will prove to be a good friend.

Check Your Heart

"Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it." - Proverbs 4:23

Have you ever done or said something that hurt someone and then wondered how you could have done it?  You think of yourself as a good person but your actions did not reflect the same.  You think, " That wasn't like me."  Or was it?

The truth is, we can only do and say what is in our hearts.  Proverbs 23:7 tells us that we are as we think in our hearts.  Our actions are the results of our thoughts, and it is in our thoughts that the battle for Life and death take place.

If "Life and death are in the power of the tongue" (Proverbs 18:21), we must  fiercely guard the hearts that influence what our tongues will speak.

Think of your physical heart.  Everything that enters your body affects it.  In the same way, everything that enters your spiritual "heart" affects it and will influence how it functions in a positive or negative way.  Your physical heart flows within your body, but because we are spiritual beings, or spiritual "heart" flows not only within us, but also to God and to those we come into contact with.  The spiritual circulatory system is much more complex than the physical, and much more delicate.  What you eat physically affects you physically, but what you eat spiritually affects everyone.

In the same way that a healthy physical heart needs certain nutrients in order to work properly, a healthy spiritual "heart" needs a steady diet of good spiritual food.  If you consistently eat an improper diet, you risk heart disease, stroke, and even death.  Diet alone can influence so much, both physically and spiritually. 

In the same way that a healthy physical heart needs to be exercised through vigorous activity, the spiritual "heart" needs to be exercised through constant prayer and meditation on spiritual things.  Keep your spiritual heart rate high!

If you want to not only survive, but thrive, check your heart.  How are you feeding your heart? Is it getting enough exercise?  Many of us are suffering from spiritual heart attacks - our spiritual hearts are failing and we are dying inside.  But God is a mighty healer, both physically and spiritually, and He can repair or replace a faulty heart.  All we have to do is check ourselves in to His Heavenly Hospital.  He also makes house calls, and all treatments have been prepaid.

Check your heart.  Your Life depends on it.

Be Good-Looking

Are you good-looking? 

Most people would look in a mirror, check themselves out and answer, "yes", but that's not what I'm talking about here.

Good-looking people are those who look for good things in Life.  They do good and expect good to surround them.  They encourage posititivy, they seek peace, they love openly and completely. They don't kill dreams, or destroy reputations.  They don't envy the success of others, but support and learn from their achievements.

Good-looking people don't ignore the bad things; they just don't dwell on them.

"Finally brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about such things."  - Philippians 4:8

So, are you good-looking?

Do-over

I love to create, but I realized that there were some things in my physical and mental spaces that had to go.  They were holding me back.  Moving forward is harder if you are carring what you don't need.

I'd love to say, "push through and make things happen", but the truth is that, while there is a time for that, there is also a time when we have to stop, regroup, adjust our direction when we've gone off track, and then move forward.

Don't be afraid to start over or change your plan. Life doesn't always work out the way we want it to. You are not a failure if you've learned from your mistakes and you don't repeat them. You only fail if you give up.

If you Fail to Plan, You Plan to Fail

People often tell me I am organized, but I'm really not.  I am a huge procrastinator and I'm very forgetful.  I've tried so many planning systems over the years, from Palm Pilot to Microsoft Outlook to Franklin Covey to my smartphone, and now, my Mead spiral-bound planner I got for a few dollars at Target.  It's okay, but I recently found out about Erin Condren planners, and I want to give that system a try.  You can get more information about the planners here.  Unlike my current planner, the days are set up vertically, with a week's view on two pages, and each day is divided into three parts.  My days are broken up this way.  Morning and evening are more family time, where I am getting my family ready for the day in the morning and helping with homework and winding down in the evening.  I like the separation of the day so I can prioritize tasks.  It reminds me that I need to wrap up "me time" and get back into family mode.

With all the advances in technology, I still work best with a paper planner.  I hardly note appointments in my phone any more.  Good old pen and paper seem to work for me.  Towards the end of last year I started planning on paper again and it's reduced my stress level a lot.  I try to stay on top of managing my household (and I still forget stuff!) but I've been more successful when I wrote tasks down than when I didn't.

I just ordered my Erin Condren planner.  There's currently a 40% off sale, so you know I am thinking about this one!