PERSISTING IN THE PRESENCE OF GOD

And he is God, the one who rules over everything and is worthy of eternal praise! Amen.
Romans 9:5

When morning gilds the skies,
My heart awaking cries:
May Jesus Christ be praised!
Alike at work and prayer
To Jesus I repair:
May Jesus Christ be praised!

To Thee, my God above,
I cry with glowing love,
May Jesus Christ be praised!
The fairest graces spring
In hearts that ever sing,
May Jesus Christ be praised!

Does sadness fill my mind?
A solace here I find,
May Jesus Christ be praised!
Or fades my earthly bliss?
My comfort still is this,
May Jesus Christ be praised!

When evil thoughts molest,
With this I shield my breast,
May Jesus Christ be praised!
The powers of darkness fear,
When this sweet chant they hear,
May Jesus Christ be praised!

When sleep her balm denies,
My silent spirit sighs,
May Jesus Christ be praised!
The night becomes as day,
When from the heart we say,
May Jesus Christ be praised!

Be this, while life is mine,
My canticle divine,
May Jesus Christ be praised!
Be this th’ eternal song
Through all the ages long,
May Jesus Christ be praised!
1828

I love looking around at nature and feeling the effects of the season changes on my senses. Seasons seem to change so slow-quick. The sun has changed its rise position from north of east to south of east and it sets the same west. Because of our latitudinal position, the prevailing west winds usher in those cooler temperatures and try as he may, the sun cannot significantly encourage that temperature up to those we’ve recently enjoyed. There’s a big contrast in the seasons in our neck of the woods.

So the worst-best and I were walking up the road last weekend. It was beautiful. It was chilly (I had my overalls on) but the sun was shining so bright on the mountain. The sunshine warmed the coolness. So while the worst-best stops for a sniff and to try to eat something that makes you not want to kiss her, I look across the field and notice the frost. Frost, dew drops that freeze when they land on a cooler surface, like the ground, or a fence, or your windshield. These glistening, beautiful little ice crystals really look like snowflakes to me. Simply, frozen dew. Anyway, as I was looking out across the field I noticed something. Where the sun shone the frost was melted and the grass was stretching tall. The parts of the field shielded from the sun were still frozen and brittle and crunchy to the foot. Do you see that?

The contrast in one field was striking to me – the grass in the sun and the grass in the shade. Warm and cold. Melted and frozen. Pliable and hard. Tall and beaten. Life and lifeless. Light and shade. Having the two extremes side-by-side required me to look at both at the same time. I could see the light and I could see the dark. It challenged me to think, honestly, where do I want to be – sun or frost, light or shade? And, I had to ask myself, am I where I want to be? Where am I standing right now? I challenge you as well, sun or frost, light or shade? Where are you standing right now?

I have come as a light to shine in this dark world, so that all who put their trust in me will no longer remain in the dark.
John 12:46

There are decisions to be made. Are we standing in the warmth of His light or frosted in the shade? Are we standing in the shadows or are we standing in the Light? It really is a matter of heart. Do we want hearts radiating the Son or hearts that radiate the cold, brittle, frozen? Have we placed our trust in Him? If so, we will be walking in the Son. If we’re feeling frosted, crunchy to the touch, we may need to rethink where we’re standing.

“While you have the Light, believe in the Light, so that you may become sons of Light.”
John 12:35-36

The big question is — Are we standing in the Light? Today, let’s evaluate where we’re standing – not where we should be standing we all know that answer, but where we actually are standing. Our words and our actions should give us a good clue as to where we stand – Son or frost. Look at the field. Are you standing in the middle or in the shade, out of reach of the Light?

Today is Veteran’s Day. A day we recognize those who sacrificed for all of our freedoms. Many made the ultimate sacrifice. We are grateful. We tend to just tool through life doing our thing without ever thinking about the ones who cleared the path so that we can do our thing. We honor today those who cleared the path.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these united Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States, that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. — And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.

That’s the last paragraph of the Declaration of Independence. Since 1776, and before, scores have been clearing our path so we can do what we do. Cleared the path for independence. Cleared the path of oppression. Cleared the path of tyranny. Cleared the path for safety. Cleared the path for democracy.

There’s been a whole lot of path clearing going on and we’ve all played a part in some way. However, the most important paths aren’t the ones that were cleared “for,” “of,” or “from.” The most important path cleared was “to.” The path “to” the cross. Jesus cleared the way for us for eternal life. It seems odd to say that the ultimate freedom was when Jesus paid the ultimate sacrifice, doesn’t it? But, isn’t that what Veteran’s do? Sacrifice themselves for others? Earthly Veterans have sacrificed their lives to give us freedom here on earth. Jesus sacrificed His life to give us eternal freedom.

Veteran’s cleared the path from a king who “plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.” Jesus cleared the path from the one who plunders, ravages, burns, and destroys the lives of people here on earth.

The Lord will keep you from all harm—
he will watch over your life;
the Lord will watch over your coming and going
both now and forevermore.
Psalm 121:7-8

So, maybe today is the day we should think about the One who walked the path “to” the cross so that we would know The Way for eternity.

Do you see those water drops on the fence? That’s morning dew. You know, when you walk out in an early morning and everything is wet, completely saturated. Heavy dew is usually seen in the warm, moist summer. Those days have moved on. These little drops of water appear on surfaces and in the grass in a morning or evening as a surface cools down. When the surface cools down, the moisture in the atmosphere cools faster than it can evaporate creating dew drops. The best-worst and I are not seeing many dew drops on our walks these days as the weather has turned and our dew drops are now frost flakes. When I see these dew drops, I’m reminded of Gideon. You know, the dew-drop deliverer.

Once again the people of Israel sinned against the LORD, so he let the people of Midian rule them for seven years. The Midianites were stronger than Israel, and the people of Israel hid from them in caves and other safe places in the hills…so Israel was reduced to starvation.
Judges 6:1-6

Israel had once again gotten themselves into a pickle. They were on the down of the obey-disobey teeter-totter and had hit the ground with a thud. It was their modus operandi. It is ours too, isn’t it? Who is ruling us as a people? As a country? We get sideways because of disobedience and then what do we do? Exactly what the Israelites did…

Then the people of Israel cried out to the LORD for help against the Midianites, and he sent them a prophet who brought them this message from the LORD, the God of Israel: “I brought you out of slavery in Egypt. I rescued you from the Egyptians and from the people who fought you here in this land. I drove them out as you advanced, and I gave you their land. I told you that I am the LORD your God and that you should not worship the gods of the Amorites, whose land you are now living in. But you have not listened to me.”
Judges 6:7-10

And what does the Lord do? He sends the most unlikely person to put His plan in motion. He doesn’t call the greatest, the most experienced, the most faithful, the got-it-all-together person, He surprisingly uses the weak – sometimes physically, sometimes mentally, sometimes spiritually. Why is that? Because it’s unexpected, it is unusual. If He used the greatest, most experienced, most faithful, the person who has got-it-all-together, that would be expected and the glory would be misplaced. He uses unexpected people to do unexpected things so that His glory shines through.

Then the LORD turned to him and said, “Go with the strength you have, and rescue Israel from the Midianites. I am sending you!”
“But Lord,” Gideon replied, “how can I rescue Israel? My clan is the weakest in the whole tribe of Manasseh, and I am the least in my entire family!”
The LORD said to him, “I will be with you. And you will destroy the Midianites as if you were fighting against one man.”
Judges 6:14-16

Just like the rest of us, Gideon made excuses. Why? Because Gideon was looking through the self lens and not the God lens. Looking through the self lens reveals all our weaknesses our hidings beneath the threshing floor. Gideon just couldn’t see how God would use him. So…

Gideon replied, “If you are truly going to help me, show me a sign to prove that it is really the LORD speaking to me. Don’t go away until I come back and bring my offering to you.”
He answered, “I will stay here until you return.”
***
“Oh, Sovereign LORD, I’m doomed! I have seen the angel of the LORD face to face!”
Judges 6:18, 22

Gideon sought confirmation from the Lord. We can all look at the story and say that Gideon should not have tested the Lord. But, don’t we do the same thing? What I love about this exchange between Gideon and the Lord is just that – the exchange. Gideon was weak in faith, like me, like you, and he voiced that to the Lord – Lord, don’t go away. When Gideon received confirmation from the Lord, he did what the Lord asked of him. Gideon destroyed the altar of the idols that Israel was worshiping. Gideon acknowledged God and then got rid of all other gods. Isn’t that what we’re asked to do too? Recognize the Lord, forsake other idols, get ready to enact God’s plan?

Soon afterward the armies of Midian, Amalek, and the people of the east formed an alliance against Israel and crossed the Jordan, camping in the valley of Jezreel. Then the Spirit of the LORD clothed Gideon with power.
Judges 6:33-34

You’ve just got to love Gideon! He was made ready for the task at hand, he was clothed with the Spirit of power from the Lord! But…Gideon needed more proof. He was vacillating between that self lens and the God lens, again. See, he is just like me, you! The self lens said, Gideon this is outrageous you can’t do this. The God lens said, you are weak but I Am strong. So, Gideon called on God to do the dew, and God did the dew, not once but TWICE!

“If you are truly going to use me to rescue Israel as you promised, prove it to me in this way. I will put a wool fleece on the threshing floor tonight. If the fleece is wet with dew in the morning but the ground is dry, then I will know that you are going to help me rescue Israel as you promised.” And that is just what happened. When Gideon got up early the next morning, he squeezed the fleece and wrung out a whole bowlful of water.
Then Gideon said to God, “Please don’t be angry with me, but let me make one more request. Let me use the fleece for one more test. This time let the fleece remain dry while the ground around it is wet with dew.” So that night God did as Gideon asked. The fleece was dry in the morning, but the ground was covered with dew.
Judges 6:36-40

Now I’m not saying that the fleece-test is the best-test, it definitely is not. But there are some amazing lessons and reassurances from God in the story of Gideon. Our strength can only come from God, no other idols can replace the power of God, despite what we think, including self. Gideon conversed with God. He shared his fears. He asked questions. He sought guidance. Gideon called – God answered. He always does. God always does the dew!

So we all come from a long line of complainers. Sorry, but we do. All of us. That’s just what humans do, we act like humans – imagine that! I’ve been grumbling a lot lately – Too hot. Too cold. Stinkbugs! Too busy. Too much. Too little. Too late. Too early. Too tired. Too hyper. Too much fighting. Not enough fighting. Too much politics. I think I’m getting a cold! Too much work. Not enough work. Winters’s a comin. Summer’s a comin. Fruit flies! Those people from the east. Those people from the west. It’s raining. It’s snowing. That driver on the highway. That driver on the backroad. I don’t like… I wanna… They shoulda… I’m gonna…

Those are just a few things I’ve said in the past week. When I put it on paper, it makes me wonder – who would even want to be around me? I don’t even want to be around me! Who wants to be around someone who grumbles and complains all the time? For me, grumbling is a huge sin. Oh sure, I can couch it – make a complaint, followed by a but and a smile…I’m really only fooling myself, not even. We grumblers and complainers are good justifiers – we’re not complaining, just making a statement or an observation, not even. We grumblers and complainers are also looking for allies, aren’t we? It’s really deflating to grumble and complain to someone and be met with joy, isn’t it?

Do all things without grumbling or complaining, that you may be blameless and innocent…
Philippians 2:14

Why is it important? Why does it matter? Because we are to live Christ. Christ never grumbled or complained. In fact “He never said a mumbling word.” Christ spoke life to all. What do we speak? What we speak directly impacts His reputation, you know that, right? How are we doing? Ouch! Sorry!

The thing we have to remember is that God is in control. He is sovereign over all things. Not just some, but all. Every complaint we make calls into question God’s sovereignty. How’d that turn out for Job?

Christ is the visible image of the invisible God.
He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation,
for through him God created everything
in the heavenly realms and on earth.
He made the things we can see
and the things we can’t see—
such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world.
Everything was created through him and for him.
He existed before anything else,
and he holds all creation together.
Colossians 1:15-17

The workload is the workload, because God allowed it. The season’s are the season’s, because God allowed them. It snowed, because God allowed it. The traffic is heavy, because God allowed it. The President’s the President, because God allowed it. The sun shines because God allowed it. There are fruit flies and stinkbugs, because God allowed. Illness… Death… Absolutely nothing happens without God’s permission. Nothing.

So, if God is Sovereign over all, what does it say when I grumble or complain? What does it say to God? What does it say about God? What does it say about me? What does it say about my faith in God?

Some are saying that those little comments about weather, about busyness, about the line at the store, about the clerk who was having a bad day, about customer service, and so on and so on are just comments made, we don’t mean anything by them. Then why would we say something we don’t mean? What comes out of our lips is straight from our hearts. Our words reflect our heart condition. Ouch! Sorry!

But the words that come out of your mouth come from your heart. And they are what make you unfit to worship God.
Matthew 15:18

Life is hard, no doubt about it. Here’s the thing. We are not living our lives for us, we are living our lives for Christ. If we look at it with that lens, we may be better able to keep our attitudes in check. The message isn’t come to Jesus and we won’t have anything to complain about. That’s not reality. The message is that when we come to Jesus He equips us to handle all those things we so easily grumble and complain about. So, what are we reflecting to the world? Life’s hard and complaining about it means I’m ill equipped to handle it? Or, life’s hard but because Christ lives in me, I chose not to complain about it because I know where my help comes from?

Because of a sweet, sweet heart, our daddy had a dream come true. Now anybody that knows our daddy knows he’s a nut when it comes to baseball. Don’t get me wrong, he can commentate with the best on any sport, but baseball is his thing. He played baseball, coached baseball, and our mom would say ate, drank and slept baseball.

So, daddy got to go see his favorite team (when they’re winning), the Washington Nationals play in Game 4 of the World Series. Absolutely thrilling! The World Series! Oh sure, you may not be a baseball fan, but everyone’s heard of the World Series. You know, the best in the American League and the National League (aren’t all U.S. teams in both? curious) playing for the title of World Champions. Baseball, hotdogs, apple pie and… It went to the wire, seven games. A week of angst for baseball fans.

Before going to the game and despite the loss of Game 4, daddy called it the chance of a lifetime. And it was. This chance of a lifetime has had me thinking about the chances of our lifetimes. Now surely we wouldn’t pass up the gift to attend the World Series, or some other cool event. Would we? A vacation? A fishing excursion? A bowl game? A new car? It may not be the World Series, or any sporting event, but we all have what we’d call chances of a lifetime. But there’s another kind of chance of a lifetime that truly is the chance of a lifetime. How about the chance to reach out to those who need Jesus? Those who need salvation? Isn’t that a gift? Do we have that chance? Is there an opportunity for us to give a gift and an opportunity for someone else to receive a gift – a chance of a lifetime? Don’t we have the chance of a lifetime to offer an eternal lifetime to others?

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
1 Peter 3:15

We all know the outcome of the World Series, the National’s won! But, we don’t know the outcome of life, unless we know the Savior. We have the chance of a lifetime to reach out to others. Life is short, no matter how long we live. What are we doing with our lifetime of chances? Are we talking about the Gift? Are we giving others the chance of a lifetime?

Can you see that? There are seven stars, dim, I know, but if you look very closely you might be able to see what I see in the mornings. A question mark! It is the strangest thing. Do you remember as a kid laying in the grass and watching the clouds, seeing the shapes they’d make? A funny face, an animal, you know. Well I do that with the stars. I don’t lay in the grass at 5:00 a.m. in the morning, but, as I’ve said in the past, I do take note of the stars.

For the past couple of months, those seven stars (I’m sure there are more I just can’t see), have lined up into a question mark. I first saw them lined up over top of the barn. Hmmm? As Shenandoah and I continue to walk west on the road, those stars are now a question mark over the front field. Stars are funny like that. I’m a person who thinks everything means something, and so I started thinking about that question mark, and how it seems to be everywhere. What does that mean?

Life is all about questions, isn’t it? Asking questions is how we gather information. How we get the full story. How we learn. How we know. Asking questions is the only class I’m way above average in. The first six words journalism majors are taught are Who? What? Where? When? Why? How? Let’s check this out for a minute:

Who? It’s so odd. This morning while looking at the question mark, I heard a barred owl calling in the woods. Their call sounds like “who calls for you” to the rhythm of “coo coo ca-choo.” But, I usually only hear the “who” part. Who? Who? I’m looking at that question mark and I hear Who? Who? Hmmm. Jesus has asked us the same question, you know:

Then he asked them, “Who do you say that I am?”
Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”
Jesus replied, “You are blessed, Simon son of John, because my father in heaven has revealed this to you.” Matthew 16:15-16

How do we answer the who? Who do we say He is? Do we say Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of the living God?

What? What was Jesus’ mission? What was Jesus’ purpose?

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for he has appointed me to preach Good News to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released, that the blind will see, that the downtrodden will be freed from their oppressors, and that the time of the Lord’s favor has come.” He rolled up the scroll, handed it back to the attendant, and sat down. Everyone in the synagogue stared at him intently. Then he said, “This Scripture has come true today before your very eyes!” Luke 4:18-21

Have we answered the what? Have we heard the Good News? We are the poor, you know. The poor in spirit. We are the captives, the downtrodden and the oppressed, you know. Captivated, downtrodden and oppressed to and by our sin. But wait! The Good News in the synagogue is the same Good news we’ve heard today — the time of the Lord’s favor has come!

Where? Where is God? Where does He live? Where do I find Him? Is He really there?

I ask him to strengthen you by his Spirit – not a brute strength but a glorious inner strength – that Christ will live in you as you open the door and invite him in. Ephesians 3:17

Test yourselves to make sure you are solid in the faith. Don’t drift along taking everything for granted. Give yourselves regular checkups. You need firsthand evidence, not mere hearsay, that Jesus Christ is in you. Test it out. 2 Corinthians 13:5

Do you know the answer to the where? Is God living in you? Do you see how easy He makes it for us? He will live in us, if we only ask. Experiencing the life of the His Spirit within us as a guide, teacher, intervenor, will change our life. If our lives aren’t changed, Paul says we have failed the test.

When? When did God come? When does God appear?

And that’s the way it was before Christ came. We were salves to the spiritual powers of this world. But when the right time came, God sent his Son, born of a woman, subject to the law. God sent him to buy freedom for us, who were slaves to the law, so that he could adopt us as his very own children. Galatians 4:3-7

Do you see the when? In the fullness of time. In the nick of time. In His time. We forget that God has a plan and His timing is always perfect. In our impatience, fear, anxiety, we want God at our beck and call. We demand. God always answers. God shows up. His plan has no many moving parts, that sometimes something must happen before something else happens. Trust His timing. After all, He is God.

Why? Why did Jesus come? Why does He pursue me? Why me, Lord? Why trust Jesus?

For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. God did not send his Son into the world to condemn it, but to save it. John 3:16-17

So many why’s. The answer to all of them is Love. He has loved us with an everlasting love. A love with such outrageous dimension. A love we can’t fathom, can’t comprehend. No greater love exists beyond Him.

How? How did God show His love for us? How did God redeem us? How were we saved?

But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. And since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God’s judgment. For since we were restored to friendship with God by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be delivered from eternal punishment by his life. Romans 5:8

How…death on a cross….love, written in red.

So, now that you have the whole story, the full story. Now that it has been fully investigated and all the questions have answers, you have decisions to make. How will you answer the questions?

Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the priceless gain of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I may have Christ and become one with him. I no longer count on my own goodness or my ability to obey God’s law, but I trust Christ to save me. For God’s way of making us right with himself depends on faith. As a result, I can really know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead. I can learn what it means to suffer with him, sharing in his death, so that, somehow, I can experience the resurrection from the dead! Philippians 3:8-11

This scripture was referenced in a book I was reading recently. Seen it a million times. Today it stopped me in my tracks. You know me. I have this running dialogue in my head. Some of you do too. Maybe one of the reasons it stopped me in my tracks is because the author asked if this passage described me (you) and if that’s how other folks would describe me. Wham! Right upside the head. I fall to my knees.

Piece-by-piece. Bit-by-bit.

Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the priceless gain of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I may have Christ and become one with him.

Wow, complete surrender. Surrender of thoughts. Surrender of lifestyle. Surrender of things, even good, but ungodly. Is that true for me? In the verses before, Paul laid out his life, a mini-autobiography. You see, Paul was quite the man before he met Jesus on that road. He was living the good life. He was the ultimate Jew – from the tribe of Benjamin. His tribe, along with the tribe of Judah (who came from there?) were the only tribes that returned to Israel following the exile. One of the “it” tribes. Paul was a Pharisee, a learned man, highly esteemed, highly revered. He knew the law inside and out, moreover, he lived the law – to the strictest letter – to a T. Paul was the real deal. So, when Paul’s life did an about face, complete surrender, and he made the claims that “everything else is worthless,” he’s saying that his knowledge, his power, his position, his life, were nothing compared to knowing Christ – priceless. Remember that commercial? What’s in your heart?

What does complete surrender look like to me, to you? Am I willing to chuck everything I have so that “I may have Christ and become one with him.”? That’s a toughy isn’t it? Let’s go around back – what am I willing to chuck? Am I willing to toss out anything that keeps me from becoming “one with him.”? You see, we do get to pick and choose what we will and will not take to the dump. He gives us free will. Here’s the thing though, until we lay it all down, not just the things we’d like to get rid of, we will not be “one with him.” Some things in our lives and our hearts are easy to toss on the heap, some things not so easy. What’s in your heart? What do we need to take to the curb?

I no longer count on my own goodness or my ability to obey God’s law, but I trust Christ to save me. For God’s way of making us right with himself depends on faith.

Paul’s transformation revealed to him that he simply couldn’t be good enough. He couldn’t count on himself, by following all the rules, towing the line, doing the right things at the right time. No matter what Paul did, or what we do, we simply cannot be good enough to inherit the kingdom. There is not one thing we can do – Christ has already done it. God used His only Son to make us right with Him. Believing on the Son, faith in the Son, is the only way. Even rule followers cannot enter the kingdom without faith, not even Paul, not even us.

But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. John 1:12

As a result, I can really know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead. I can learn what it means to suffer with him, sharing in his death, so that, somehow, I can experience the resurrection from the dead!

Paul trusted Christ, he had faith in Christ, and as a result he was reborn. Paul experienced the resurrection power of knowing Christ and his life was transformed. The things Paul previously thought were important were no longer important. I feel certain that before his transformation, Paul used the same absolutes we use. I will forever be a Pharisee. I will always follow the law. I will never follow this Jesus. But, Paul surrendered and look what happened – just as Christ was raised form the dead by the glorious power of God the Father, he was living a new life, a life that will be resurrected from the dead to live for all eternity.

Remember, Paul thought he had it all before. After meeting Jesus, he knew he had it all. So, what are we hanging on to that is worthless compared to Christ? What do we need to discard, take to the dump, get rid of, throw out?

On some evenings, the moon is particularly radiant in our neck of the woods. Last night the sky was completely clear, not a cloud. The moon was spectacular. While looking at the moon, I couldn’t help but be in complete awe and wonder. Trying to wrap my brain around God’s outrageous creation held me in awe. I wondered that a God that created such a spectacular creation created and loves me. Even me.

Walking this morning in the dark I again was struck in awe and wonder. There’s this mud puddle in the field across from ours. In that mud puddle I saw the reflection of the moon. Gorgeous. It was crazy, I could see two moons. One bright and brilliant in the sky and one bright and brilliant in the puddle, but wait – the one in the puddle is out of focus – in focus – out of focus – in focus, you get it. What’s going on? While watching the puddle I noticed the ever so gentle breeze, almost imperceptible, moving the water causing the moon to lose its sharpness. The moon in the puddle was crispless.

This reminded me of my relationship with God. When things are going well, He is perfectly clear. Peace? When I study His Word, He is perfectly clear. When I snuggle up to Him and cleave to Him, He is perfectly clear. But you know, like the wind, it only takes the very slightest movement to knock Him out of focus for me. The gentle breeze of an argument with a loved one, an overdue bill, car issues, kid issues, animal issues, health issues, job issues, sin issues, etc. issues, all cause ripples in the puddle and distort our vision.

Like the moon in the sky, God is always perfectly clear. Like the moon in the puddle, life encourages us to lose our focus. But we have great hope! Jesus came to bring our lives into focus. The prophesy of Isaiah in Chapter 42 tells us of that promise. It tells us of that Jesus.

Look at my servant, whom, I strengthen. He is my chosen one, and I am pleased with him. I have put my Spirit upon him…To open blind eyes. To bring out prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house.

He came to open our blind eyes and show us how to see clearly. He can do for us what he did for the Disciples on their way to Emmaus. Suddenly, their eyes were opened and they recognized Him. Suddenly, everything came into focus. Suddenly, the Disciples could see Jesus for what He was. Suddenly, the ripples stopped. Suddenly, everything came back into focus. Suddenly.

Suddenly can happen to me too. I can regain focus by feeding on His Word, eating the bread of life, and drinking the cup. By taking Him in. By refocusing. By persisting in His presence. By talking to the man in the moon.

Look at that big momma! Ain’t she a beauty? That’s my pumpkin plant. Yep, right in my front yard. I love pumpkins. I don’t know what it is about them. Maybe it’s the reminder of fall. Maybe because their color is so rich. Maybe because they’re just kind of goofy looking – bumpy, lumpy, misshapen. I don’t know why – I just love them.

This pumpkin plant is special to me. I’ve always wanted to grow pumpkins, but have had very little, actually, no success. I’ve planted pumpkins three different times, using three different techniques, in three different places on our property. The first time, I dug up the soil, carefully placed the pumpkin seeds in holes two feet apart, and mounded the soil on top of them – that’s what the package said. They never came up. The second time, I tried the “container method.” Starting from seeds, I dug a hole, placed the seeds in the hole in a container. After the plant became strong and mature, I was going to remove it from the container and place it in the ground. It never came up.

My third attempt was successful, as you can see. I got a pumpkin last year at Orr’s Farm Market. It sat on my porch through fall and when it started to cave in a little I thought I’d try to harvest my own seeds. Maybe that was the problem with my other two attempts. You know, GMO. So, I harvested my own pumpkin seeds. It was a painstaking task, ahem. I picked this caving pumpkin up – if you’ve ever waited too long to remove your pumpkin you know what happened. It turned to mush in my hands and I dropped it beside my front porch. I had every intention of going out and cleaning it up. You know what they say about good intentions…As the story goes – fall became winter, winter became spring, spring became summer, and summer became pumpkin! A pumpkin plant right in my front yard! My very own victory garden!

I am so excited about this pumpkin plant. It really is huge, probably about 8×10 and it continues to grow. As you can see, it overtook my rooster, it has overtaken my sidewalk, and I have no doubt it will continue through the front yard to the road in front of our house. The leaves are so big you could use them as umbrellas. The blooms are gorgeous, brilliant orange. It looks so healthy. There’s hope!

There’s only one small problem – it has no pumpkins. Not a one. Zero. Zilch. Zip. Nadda. Oh, it started out on the right path. We had one pumpkin about four weeks ago. It got to be about six inches in diameter well on its way to Great Pumpkin fame! One day I walked outside and my Great Pumpkin had started to rot. Aaahhh!!! My neighbors heard that. Anyway, I have this massive, beautiful pumpkin plant and no pumpkins. Folks, I got no fruit. We’ve theorized about the lack of fruit. Too wet? Definitely not too dry! Bad seeds? They came from last year’s perfect pumpkin. Not the right soil? Look at those healthy leaves and the size of that thing and tell me the soil’s not right. Lack of pollination? Haven’t seen bee one. There’s only one explanation – it’s not getting something it needs to produce fruit. Duh, you say. Now I’m no horticulturalist so I don’t really know what the problem is, I just know there’s a problem. To be honest, I don’t care what the problem is, I just want pumpkins! A colorful, beautiful, lush, fruit bearing plant is no good without fruit! A pumpkin plant has one job in life — to produce pumpkins.

Paul tells us, just like the pumpkin plant purpose, our lives too are to be all about the fruit:

But when the Holy Spirit controls our lives, he will produce this kind of fruit in us: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Here there is no conflict with the law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there. If we are living now by the Holy Spirit, let us follow the Holy Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives. Galatians 5:22-25

Do we have fruit? What’s our fruit look like? Ouch – get off my toes!

You see, there are two forces at work in our world. Sin (evil) and God (good). Our sinful nature, which leads to death (destruction) and our Spirit nature, which leads to life (eternal fruit producing life). When we follow the desires of our sinful nature (our old life) we cannot follow the desires of the Spirit (our new life). If we do, we are not changed.

So I advise you to live according to your new life in the Holy Spirit. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves. The old sinful nature loves to do evil, which is just opposite from what the Holy Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are opposite from what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, and your choices are never free from this conflict. But when you are directed by the Holy Spirit, you are no longer subject to the law. Galatians 5:16-18

Our sinful nature is in direct contradiction to our Spirit life. Our sinful nature is what the law speaks against. The law that’s designed to protect us. The law has never been able to change our sinful hearts. Only Christ’s sacrifice on that cross could offer freedom from the law. The law where people thought they could gain acceptance by God by being obedient to the commandments, by following the rules. Impossible! You see it’s about the heart – it’s about the Spirit. Our sinful nature cannot produce fruits of the Spirit. Only changed hearts and the indwelling of the Spirit can produce good fruit – the Great Pumpkin! If we are being ruled by our sinful nature (it’s all about me) and not by our Spirit nature (it’s all about God) we will not produce the fruits of the Spirit.

If our hearts are changed, we will want to keep his law, not to gain His acceptance, but out of our great love for Him. In Psalm 40:8, David wrote “I desire to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart.” If our hearts are changed, our lives are changed. If our hearts are changed, the Holy Spirit is in control. If the Holy Spirit is in control, we produce good fruit, Holy Spirit controlled fruit!

In Romans, Paul quotes King David from the Psalms when he says there is no one perfect, “not even one!” But that does not give us an out. Matthew 5:48 says: “But you are to be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect.” We cannot be flawless, completely without fault, but we are to make it our goal to be as much like Christ as possible. When we do, the fruit appears.

So, I ask again: Do we have fruit? Have we turned from our sinful nature to the Spirit nature? What’s our fruit look like? Have we nailed our passions and the desires of this world to His Holy Cross? The ways of the world are very wily. The world will tell us it’s enough to have beautiful, healthy looking leaves – to be big and powerful — and to have beautiful blooms. That’s a lie. The world doesn’t care about our fruit. The forces of the world don’t want us to have fruit. Have we given the Spirit full reign to produce good fruit within us or do products of the sinful nature still appear in our lives?