Waved Palms To Pierced Palms, Post #24

April 15, 2014

Waved Palms To Pierced Palms, Post #24

Note: So much happened in those few days, few chapters of the Bible between Palm Sunday and Resurrection Day. Too much inspiration for this small blog post. With that in mind, if you would be so kind as to read two extra “Pure Inspiration” posts this week, one on Good Friday and one on Easter, Resurrection Day, I pray you will be encouraged in your faith.

What a week. What a Holy Week.

Scene 1: The week started out with us waving lush green palm fronds, led by the children parading down the aisle, as we all waved our palms singing “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” (Matthew 21: 9b NIV 1984). Palm Sunday is a joyful, respectful celebration of Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem.

We are fickle. The same crowd who waved palms at Jesus that Sunday before, yelled “Crucify!” on Good Friday, just five days later. Lord, forgive our two-mindedness, our waffly, indecisive hearts.

Scene 2: Then came Thursday night. Jesus wanted to celebrate Passover with His disciples. During His ministry, including the last days before His horrible death and glorious Resurrection, Jesus optimized every moment trying to teach, train and empower his dense, yet teachable disciples. What a Leader, the best Leader of all time. Jesus wanted to ensure He conveyed all He could. In His mind and heart, he knew it was the Last Supper. In our minds and hearts, it was the First Communion, the first Lord’s Supper. He taught His disciples that the bread is “My body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.” (Luke 22:19b NIV 1984) That the wine is His “blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.” (Matthew 26:28 NIV 1984).

How do you feel when you take communion? Do you take it for granted? May we prayerfully savor the bread and cup with deep gratitude each time we are blessed to take communion.

Scene 3: In a poignant scene in John 13 of unconditional love and humility, Jesus stooped down low to wash His disciples’ feet. They didn’t want Him to, mind you. Feet are gross. He was teaching them, sweetly, softly, tenderly, what it means to be a servant leader. To stoop down low to raise others high. The upside-down leadership pyramid.

“I tell you the truth, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him.” (John 13:16 NIV 1984).

Scene 4: Gethsemane. Moments after the Lord’s Supper, Jesus took his three closest disciples, Peter, James and John with him to pray. It is so difficult on my heart to see Jesus’ total transparency when He says, almost begs “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.” (Matthew 26:38, NIV 1984). Sadly, His three most reliable disciples all fell asleep, not even praying on Jesus’ behalf or showing support. Jesus prayed three different times asking for the cup to be taken away if possible, for God’s will to be done.

Scene 5: Judas betrays Jesus and has Him falsely arrested, in exchange for 30 pieces of silver, just a day’s slave wages. Jesus was in total control and knew this was God’s will.

Scene 6: Jesus was taken before the Sanhedrin. Even with false witnesses, they couldn’t find evidence to convict Him.

Scene 7: Peter, also known as the “Rock,” denied Jesus three times before the rooster crowed, just as Jesus had prophesied to Peter. Peter wept bitterly and repented.

Scene 8: Judas said he had betrayed an innocent man. Notice he didn’t call Him the Messiah or Son of God. Judas still didn’t recognize Jesus’ sovereignty. He threw the silver into the temple, left and sadly hanged himself. There would have always been an opportunity for him to repent, but Judas didn’t.

Scene 9: Jesus was then brought to Pilate, whose wife knew Jesus was innocent. The chief priest and elders gave the crowd a choice–to release Jesus or the notorious criminal and sinner Barabbas. Pilate thought Jesus would go free. The crowd wanted Barabbas released and yelled “Crucify!” to Jesus.

Guess what Barabbas means? “Son of Abba.” Barabbas means “Son of the Father.” Each of us is a son (or daughter) of the Father. That means all of us. We are Barabbas. Jesus was our substitute.

From the waved palms of the crowd singing “Hosanna!” to the peer pressured crowd crying “Crucify!” on Good Friday morning, resulting in the pierced palms of Jesus’ hands, may we deeply feel the matchless love and sacrifice God has for us, His children….

Reflect:

–Where do you fit into this Easter story? Please comment.

–What influence does a crowd make on decisions? Is the majority always right?

–Have you considered symbolically washing others’ feet? Are you a servant leader?

Renew:

–“But I say to all of you: In the future you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.” –Matthew 26:64 NIV 1984

–“All the people answered, ‘Let his blood be on us and on our children!'” –Matthew 27:25 NIV 1984

Recharge:

–How may we live more deeply for Jesus and show love to others?

–How will you embolden your Christian faith, even if you aren’t in a crowd or in the majority?

March 18, 2014

We Are Perennials, Post #20

After Easter last year, I drove by the 300+-year-old church cemetery near my home and noticed a pile of about 20 or so Easter lilies, all sadly discarded, unloved, awaiting their trashly demise.

I wheeled in, pulled over, spread out my yoga mat in my trunk and placed every one of those plants in my trunk. You see, an Easter lily is a perennial. It will come back to life each year and bloom. So many people, so many churches, throw them away after Easter, thinking their purpose is done. I hauled them all home, gave some of them to neighbors who wanted to reuse/replant them. Mom and I planted the rest in my yard and some at the end of my street. It thrills my soul to now see them popping up from the ground, almost a year later. They are destined to bloom again.

Do you ever feel like a discarded Easter lily? I do. God looks at us as perennials. We may have our personal wilting, decaying periods, but He sees our potential. He knows when we are tended and nurtured, we will grow and bloom again and again.

Last year I learned yet another sweet lesson from my precious Mom, the horticulturist. She came over to my home to help plant some caladium bulbs, which we both love in our yards. She brought eight bags of bulbs, a total of 64 bulbs to plant. One by one, we dug a hole, scooped the soil in, planted the bulb, fertilized, and watered. We planted them all around my big oak tree in the front yard, then the rest along the front flower bed.

When we finished, she did something I had not remembered her doing before. She offered to pray for them, for the newly planted caladium bulbs. As we both stood in the front yard, sweaty, knees covered with dirt from kneeling, she offered a prayer that I can still hear:

“Dear Lord, they’re in the ground now. Please help these bulbs grow well and thrive so that Danya and her neighbors can enjoy Your beauty. Thank You for creating even these bulbs that remind us of You. Thank you, Lord. We love You. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.”

I had a lump in my throat as we picked up our yard tools and cleaned ourselves off inside the garage. I had no doubt those bulbs would come up, their elephant-ear faces smiling toward heaven. They grew and flourished, every single one.

Have you ever prayed over seeds, bulbs you’ve planted? Do you, do we pray before any endeavor?

Similarly, how do we plant seeds/bulbs of encouragement? I encourage you to start today. It could be smiling at the grocery store cashier, looking her in the eye and asking how she’s doing. It could be to pull your neighbor’s emptied trash receptacle to the side of the house, so that he/she doesn’t have to do it when he comes home from work. It could be inviting your neighbor or coworker to church or Bible study.

We are blessed with endless possibilities of ways to plant seeds of encouragement in people around us. Remember, the Holy Spirit germinates those seeds in His timing. Remember, each of us is a perennial.

Reflect:

–Am I acting like an annual or a perennial?

–What (or whom) have you discarded, not realizing its potential?

–How can I plant seeds or bulbs of encouragement ?

Renew:

–“Each of us did the work the Lord gave us. I planted the seed in your hearts, and Apollos watered it, but it was God who made it grow. It’s not important who does the planting, or who does the watering. What’s important is that God makes the seed grow.” –1 Corinthians 3:5-7 NIV 1984

Recharge:

–Consider praying before every endeavor. Please comment.

March 11, 2014

Springing Forward–>Divine Pruning, Post #19

Welcome to the 2014 first full week of Lent and Daylight Savings Time. Although it’s not officially springtime yet, the warm sunshine on my face this past weekend caused spring fever to rise within me.

All around my yard this weekend I noticed how much all my dead-looking plants and bushes need pruning back, so that they sprout back out and flourish. It reminds me of what God is doing in me, in us, as we prepare our hearts and minds for Easter.

Divine pruning sure is a hard concept to grasp. I do liken it to the annual pruning back of the crepe myrtles, roses, and lantana in my yard. After the hardest freeze of the winter, all the dead growth is cut off, so the bushes or trees are almost level to the ground, ugly and barren. By waiting just a few months, they completely bud back out and blossom, many times even more beautiful and healthier than before.

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit, He prunes so that it will be even more fruitful…” (John 15:1-2 NIV 1984)

So often we don’t understand why God divinely prunes us down to our raw, barren nakedness. These times are the toughest on us. Many of us normal people, and even some of the most Godly, inspiring people in my lives, have at one point or another been stripped of everything except our faith. By trusting in God, He knows we will bud back out and blossom, even more beautifully and more healthy than before.

God also has to divinely prune us to bear more of His Fruit of the Spirit.

“But the fruit of the Spirit IS love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” (Galatians 5:22-23 NIV 1984).

Notice the verb “is” instead of “are” after the word “Spirit.” That means that all nine fruit are one, not separate. We strive through the Holy Spirit for all nine. What a high calling, impossible to do on our own without Him.

I am my mother’s daughter. We share a deep love for flowers and plants. Growing up, our yard was always immaculately landscaped. Mom even planted a rose garden in our backyard, which expanded until we had more than 100 lovely roses, taking up more than half the yard.

So vividly I remember a wrought iron placard she had staked at the entrance trellis of the rose garden. It was a quote by Dorothy Frances Gurney (1858-1932), English devotional writer and poet:

“The kiss of the sun for pardon, the song of the birds for mirth, one is nearer God’s Heart in a garden, than anywhere else on earth.”

Mom’s rose garden was a small paradise, although I didn’t realize it at the time.

One of my chores growing up was to “deadhead” the roses after school. I didn’t realize what a gift it was to inhale the fragrance and witness the beauty, without getting pricked by thorns, as I carefully clipped the dead roses and left the blooming roses. By me pruning off the dead growth, I was allowing space and freedom for the rose to bloom again, bigger and better than even before. What a sweet analogy for our faith.

In each room in my home growing up was a daily bouquet of freshly cut roses. I didn’t realize that all houses didn’t have this blessing. One of Mom’s ministries was to take roses to our church’s members who were hospitalized or home-bound. I know people were blessed by this outreach.

Mom depended on my chore of “deadheading” the roses for them to grow, bloom and bless others. I know I took this gift of fresh roses, this ministry for granted. Such valuable life lessons were taught in that garden.

May our souls continue to rise with spring fever as we divinely prune within.

Elisabeth Elliot, in her classic book Passion and Purity, so beautifully and poignantly writes,

“There is no ongoing spiritual life without this process of letting go. At the precise point where we refuse, growth stops. If we hold tightly to anything given to us, unwilling to let it go when the time comes to let it go or unwilling to allow it to be used as the giver means it to be used, we stunt the growth of the soul…” p. 163.

Reflect:

–To what are you holding on too tightly?

–What or whom in your life is stunting your growth and needs divinely pruning?

Renew:

–“Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit.” (Matthew 21:43 NIV 1984)

—“You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. This is my command: Love each other.”(John 15:16-17 NIV 1984)

Recharge:

—-What is your plan to divinely prune those people/items out of your life?

— How will you bear fruit this week?

Resource:

Elliot, Elisabeth. 1984. Passion and Purity. Grand Rapids: Revell.