Tilling my Mind

Reading Titus 2 today, I am reminded of the following...

God wants me to be of sound mind, controlled and alert. Tilling my mind should be like tilling the soil in the garden. Remove any weeds that have taken root. Don't let it go even for a while because it easily gets out of control. Be diligent, steadfast and prompt. Don’t just break off the top of the weeds but dig deeply and remove them by their roots. Sow the seeds of truth, righteousness and faith in straight rows. Fertilize them with daily time with God and His word.

Operation Christmas Child

Tomorrow my Wife and I will take part in a Family Fun Day to spread the news about Operation Christmas Child. This ministry of Samaritans Purse (www.samaritanspurse.org) takes shoeboxes and sends them full of gifts around the world! What is so incredible about this ministry is that the Gospel message goes with each shoebox to millions of children who have never heard about Jesus.

Take some time to go on-line to Samaritans Purse website and find a collection location near you. You only need to enter your zip code. You may also 'pack a shoebox' on-line if you don't have the time. Its a great family tradition to start today!

Christianity - A Process and Not a Destination

As I was reading Galatians 5 -6 this morning, I came across the 'Fruit of the Spirit'.

"But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, long suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control"

I am reminded that becoming a Christian (Christ follower) is not a destination. There is never a point when we have arrived. Yet, it is more of a process that is not unlike a traveling. We are always striving toward the perfection of Christ, knowing that we can never achieve it until we are indeed at our destination which is heaven and in His presence.

Don't ever think that a church membership, baptism or other ritual will get you to the point that you are at your destination. All are well and good but they are yet part of the process of traveling toward Christ.

Instead, strive toward integrity by keeping Christ-centered. Paul tells us in Galatians that we can do this by focusing on the fruits of the spirit.... love, peace, long suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. I wrote those on a 3 x 5 card today and will carry them with me. How will you focus your heart on the fruits of the spirit?

Agriculture - Foundational to Society

My wife and I just returned from the Sunbelt Agricultural Expo in Moultrie, GA. It was a fun and enlightening two days as we wandered among the equipment and new and innovative ideas to make farming more productive and sustainable.

I can't help to think of the disconnect that our society in the United States has with where their food originates. As political pressure increases from groups that claim 'environmentalism' as the end all means of thought and purpose, I am saddened to see the vast valley between their views and the foundational environmental views of the farmer which he/she has had since God placed man on earth. The farmer understands the environment intimately as it is the basis for his production of food or fiber. He understands and respects the delicate balance that is needed to protect what God provided through nature because an imbalance will mean total failure.

I am proud to be a farmer and to support farmers through what I do in my waking hours. They are a group of people that have faith in measures that are incredible as they sow, till and harvest the 'fruit of the land'. They have no problem believing in God and place an untold amount of faith in Him.

Agriculture is foundational to any society. Review history and where you see agriculture fail due to weather or politics, the failure of the country is not far behind.

The Seed

I spent most of yesterday in the garden (as my body can attest to today). We are blessed in Florida with growing conditions that almost encompass the entire year. In fact, the hardest time for me to grow anything is in the dead of summer when it is just too wet and hot.

The weather yesterday was perfect... mid 80's and sunny. I spent several hours behind a 'scuffle' hoe removing weeds and then a couple of hours putting new seeds in the ground.

As I dropped each seed into the soil after making the perfect hole (I like to use the eraser end of a pencil), I thought about all that is within that little seed. All of its DNA for life is in there, just waiting to come out and show itself to me. God designed and perfect! Each corn seed will become a corn plant, each lettuce seed will become a lettuce plant and so on.

I was thinking that indeed God designed us the same way... with HIS DNA! We are to grow in the likeness of God and He sent His Son, Jesus to give us an example.

I have two grandchildren on the way, each starting as a mere 'seed' and now growing into the likeness of Christ within my daughters. Amazing!

I look forward to seeing my corn "pop up in rows" and I look forward to beautiful little girls from my daughters and their husbands in the months to come. From God all blessings flow...

God Ways are SO Much Better

I am reminded tonight of just how much God's ways are better than our ways. We think we have it all together and our lives are in control. Yet, how much control do we really have on our lives.

Lately, I just have not been consistently focusing on God. I go through the motions and I roll through the day. The sun sets... the sun rises and I do it all over again. My prayers have been only so-so and my Bible study has been more routine than really seeking and searching for God's direction.

It has been many, MANY months since I've posted here and it took a person that read one of my older posts to bring me back to reality, back to the drifting that I was doing. It is AMAZING that God loves me so much that he used a man in another part of the country to bring me back to my senses.

Thank you to this person for jolting me back to what is really reality (a life walking hand in hand with God) and what isn't (the day-to-day of this world).

My life is but a weaving between my God and me...

Don't Trip on Today While Looking at the Horizon

The past few months can be summed up by one phrase --- "Be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth" (Psalms 46:10). I have spent a lot of time just thinking, just pondering, just being still. Last year I spent so much time looking to the horizons asking God where He wants Kay and I to be and what He wants us to be doing. I want to please Him more than anything. Should we be somewhere else serving You, God? How can You make that happen? Where will the resources come from? What do we need to do to prepare? The questions go on-and-on.

I have found that this process is equivalent to looking through binoculars at the horizon. Have you ever tried to go the daily things that today requires while holding the binoculars up to your eyes? Sooner or later your going to trip and probably hurt someone or something!

One verse keeps coming to mind, "For I know the plans that I have for you", declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." (Jeremiah 29:11) With that in mind, I have come to realize that I my focus was in the wrong place. Certainly, I should not walk looking only at my feet either but God has given us an incredible ability to look ahead and see both what is ahead of us several steps away as well as well ahead of us. God has given me today, He has not promised tomorrow. What am I doing for Him today in the place that He has set me in history? How can I witness of God's saving grace in a loving way to those that I meet by chance today in an appointment or even at the gas station? How can I reach out to my wife, my daughters and their husbands today ... those that God has entrusted to my spiritual care?

I am learning how to 'refocus my focus'! Help me in this area, please God. I want to honor You in my thoughts, my words and my actions.

Where do you find your focus? I'd love to hear from you.