This week as you read through our revisit from 2006, take time to think about where God wants you to be and why.
What
happens if we are left alone to our own ideas of what to do in life? You know,
they
always say we are to play the roll or do our own thing… but how can we
know what is good to do, and what is right? Where do we go to find what is
right or wrong?
Lets
look—In His Word!
Even a child is known by his deeds, whether what he does is pure and right. Proverbs 20:11
Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good; Blessed is the man who trusts in Him! Oh, fear the LORD, you His saints! There is no want to those who fear Him. The young lions lack and suffer hunger; But those who seek the LORD shall not lack any good thing. Psalm 34:8-10
Keep
your tongue from evil, and your lips from speaking deceit. Depart from evil and do good; Seek peace and
pursue it. Psalm 34:13-14
It
began as a sprout. Then grew to a plant.
Now it is a tree, with actual branches branching out and reaching upwards!
"For a good tree does not bear bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. For every tree is known by its own fruit. Luke 6:43-44
Think
on that for a moment. Planting the seed was a good thing; first of all, it made
my son smile. Second it made him focus on taking care of his seed by watering
it every day at first, then every so often, and now he has all but forgotten it
since we transplanted it and it has grown on its own. It got itself rooted in;
it no longer needs a stake to hold it up. When I look out the window I can see little,
tiny buds on it preparing for the springtime flowers that will no doubt blossom
there.
I
could have stopped my son from planting that seed, I could have squashed his
hopes of it growing by being doubtful, or more correctly letting him know that
I doubted it would work. Instead, I chose to do the thing that would encourage
growth in my child, as he was encouraging growth in a seed.
Though
the tree has yet to flower and bare fruit, it has already built my faith. It
has proven itself worthy of the birds perching on its branches. It is a good
thing to plant a seed.
When
we speak kindness, we plant seeds of kindness. If we speak in jesting, we plant
seeds of jesting, anger, then anger… you have the idea. It is all a matter of
choice.
We
can test our fruit to see if it is good or bad, by the scriptures. The Word of
God tells us throughout the Old, and New Testaments many times that we need to
watch what we say or do to be sure it is pleasing to the Lord. Now a child
learns this by trail and error. My younger son planted seeds this last year; he
did not follow the directions on how to plant them but did it his own way. His
came from a package, not from an apple. It came with instructions, how deep to
plant them, how far apart, how much water.
This
child, being one to do things his own way chose not to follow the instructions.
He got impatient and began just dropping them wherever they landed instead of
in the neat little rows we had set up for the seeds.
As
of this year, the seeds have not produced anything.
He
learned and this year we will be planting following instructions, fortunately
seed packets are not expensive and can prove to be a good life lesson. He
learned it was not good just to go about things all willy-nilly but to follow a
plan and any instructions that come with something.
This
same child loves Lego. He purchased an amazing creation with his own money, he
was so proud of it and showed the box to me with a huge smile.
I
looked at it and thought, “Wow, that will
be too hard for him.” But I did not say anything like that.
He trotted off to his room, pulled out the instructions, laid them out, and then followed them step by step. He created the exact duplicate to the picture on the box! Now if any of you have read the Lego instructions before you know that they are precise and you must follow them in detail, not jumping ahead, or you will have to break it down and start over at some point.
Our
lives are the same way, we must follow God’s plan, or we will have to break it
down and start over at some point.
All
of us start out in this world not knowing God, even though we may live in a
Christian Nation. Did you know that God knew you even if you did not know Him?
His Word tells us in Psalm 22, that He knew us in our mother’s womb! Even
before that! Just as my apple seed boy knew his seed came from an apple, God
knows what apple you came from!
Just
as my Lego boy knew what his creation was to become, even before he opened the
box, God knows what you are to become even before you are born! Today he has become a video game creator and other creative types of carrier. God knew he would become these and God has lead him to where he is, more than I did!
Our
job in order to make things good and right is to follow His example, His
direction and His Words.
For
instance, we can consider the fruit of our mouths. We are told many times that
our words can be a hindrance in our lives. We must be careful what we speak; we can
speak life or death, good or bad. We need to be sure that our fruit is
coming out as good fruit and not rotten. In order for this to happen sometimes
we have to treat our trees with vitamins, or bug deterrent sprays or
washes.
For
you and I that means we need to dig into the Word more and more. We need to see
if our lives line up with that Word.
Then
the LORD God said, "Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know
good and evil. And now, lest he put out his hand and take also of the tree of
life, and eat, and live forever"
Genesis 3:22-23
The
scripture tells us that we have been granted the knowledge of good and evil, so
none of us has an excuse for choosing to toss the seeds! We know what is right
and wrong and that is a given.
If
we follow God’s directions, and we choose to do the right thing in every
situation then we will grow more and more like Him. Now Jesus Himself said
there is none good, no not one; but we are also told that we are to someday be
like Him. This means we are a work in progress. Day to day we have to make
choices for good and not evil. For God is good.
Wouldn’t
it have been great if we had not had to make that choice? If we could just go
through life always doing what was good? Then we would never have to make restitution
or fix what we did wrong. Then we would never have to break up the work we had
done and rebuild it.
Do
you know that when you read the Word of God each day it puts the right thoughts
in your head? Think about it, there is only so much space for memory. If
you clog your mind with foolish things, or evil things, stinken thinking, then
there will not be room for the good.
We need to make room for the good in our lives.
Make
time for spending time with the Lord, with your family as well as alone. We get
so busy in our lives that we think God will fit in here and there. But the
truth is He wants all of our lives, not just portions of it. Then once we have
allowed Him to have them; He will reorganize them, refurbish them, and give
them back to us with greater understanding of what to do. But it takes filling our minds with the
things of God.
The only way I know to do that is to get in His Word, and in His face through
prayer. Prayer changes things: His Word builds on things, directs you in your
days and gives you peace.
When
I go with out these I am a bear, and am impatient, unkind, basically not
someone you want to be around. Even my kids know if I have not been in the
Word, or not had my prayer time in the mornings.
So
how do we know what is good, and what is not? We look to the Lord; we look to
His Word, and His direction. God is good. And if God is for us no one can stand
against us.
Dear Heavenly
Father, thank you for being here each day to meet with me in prayer. Help me to
do what is good and right today, that I might be a blessing to those around me
and not a hindrance. Help me to be patient, not pushy. In Jesus name, amen.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy,
peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness,
self-control. Against such there is no law. And those who are Christ's have
crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in
the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one
another. Galatians
5:22-26
Suggested
readings for the coming week: Ephesians
5:1-21, Philippians 4:1-20, John 15:1-27, Hebrews 13-all, : Galatians 5:1-26, : Romans 6
&7.
,
Teresa M.
Wilson
www.teresawilson.com
Copyright
© 2006
by Teresa M. Wilson.