That morning back in June was so soft and gentle. A quiet rain was falling, the birds were singing in the trees. A squirrel jumped across the yard, looking for his breakfast. There was an easiness about that morning, a slowness, a time to stop and relax. Looking at the beautiful view from my back porch I saw so many shades of green.
The trees on the mountain now were fully crowned with leaves. Returning from the dormant state of winter, they had burst forth in bloom and transformed from barren, strong trunks with empty arms to these beautiful shades of green. In it I see God's people, the church.
We, His people, are like the trees. We look alike, only different. Just as He created each of us in His image, He has gifted each of us uniquely to accomplish the task of going, teaching, and making disciples. First Corinthians 12: 4 - 7 says: Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit, and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.
Do you see the shades of green? We each personally, individually, specifically, have a job to do. Praise the Lord we are different! As I get closer to the mountain I see more than faint shades of color. The leaves are different. The shapes of the trees vary. Bark. Limbs. Size. Closer and closer I get. Some have sweet fruit. Some bear nuts. Others provide cool shade. One tree towers above the others - so strong. A smaller one is just breaking through the earth.
After the tornado I walked the fenceline to see if there were trees down where the cows could get out. Thankfullly there was only one small place. However, I could see other places where trees had fallen. Get this image in your mind. A tree cannot fall without landing on something. Whether it lands on a fence, or if it tears the limbs out of another tree on the way down, even if there is an open field around, there is grass below, bugs, that will be crushed. Something will be touched when the tree falls. Usually it is a tree with a shallow root system or one that has been weakened by decay or disease that falls.
Sometimes, though, a strong, stately tree will fall. When it does we mourn its loss. It will be harder to replace. The question must be asked, "When I am gone from this earth will I be missed, mourned, hard to replace?" I do not want to be like a tree with shallow roots, easily replaced when my time on earth is done.
Why, then, do we try to change the color, shape, or size of our leaves? Why do we spend so much of our lives trying to be just like someone else? Why don't we spend our energy trying to become what we were created to be? Looking at the mountain, it is the variety that lends its beauty. There is an area of lighter, yellowish green on the lower left. An are of darker, blacker green is toward the top of the mountain, and some blue-green shades are closer to the bottom. Together it creates a beautiful picture.
Romans 12: 4 - 6 For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them.
Dear friend, find out what God has gifted you to do and do it.
Vicki
Monday, July 25, 2011
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
A Dusty Old Cup
It's pretty to look at. It sits gathering dust. Day after day, on the shelf. Made for a purpose, yet totally useless.
Unlike that cup, you and I can move ourselves into position to be filled up to overflowing. Time spent quietly alone with God. Reading His word. Praying. Adoring and worshiping. These things God uses to pour Himself into our hearts, filling us to the point that He begins to spill out of us into the lives of others.
The church in America today is full of pretty cups on the shelf. We come in a wide variety...just like the cups in my cupboard. Many were gifts. They are odds and ends - hand-crafted, fine porcelain, large, small, representing holidays and travels, declaring the greatness of coffee or tea, solid, patterned, plastic, glass. All different. All ready to be filled. All useless on the shelf.
As fun as it is to look at my collection of cups, as sweet as the memories they remind me of, the real pleasure comes when I pour that delicious hot coffee and begin delightedly to drink in the rich flavor and aroma. I can only imagine that is the way God feels about me. Pretty to look at, He still gets His greatest pleasure out of my life when I allow Him to pour into me, running over the top, and spilling into the lives of people all around me.
There is danger in getting off the shelf. We could be chipped or cracked, possibly shattered. What if we do not get put back in the same cozy spot? Life can be hard. It IS hard. The days hold chips and bumps for us, too. Sometimes God moves us - a job change, a new home, loss of a loved-one....
We cannot stay on the shelf, useless, afraid we will crack. Our joy comes in living out who God created us to be. When we allow Him, the Master Potter, to create us as a beautiful vessel ready to be filled and used, we are useful! Realize this: The one who takes the clay and begins to mold it finds great pleasure in that hands-on experience. Carefully, gently He nudges and shapes, until His creation is ready. Ready to be have life's color painted onto it. Ready to be filled, used. Ready to bring pleasure to all who see and drink from the richness poured into it.
We cannot bring pleasure to our creator unless we allow Him to use us. "Fill my cup, Lord. I lift it up, Lord. Come and quench this thirsting of my soul." My encouragement to you today is that you allow God to shape your life, to fill you up, and use you for the glory of His kingdom.
But now, O Lord, You are our Father; we are the clay; and you are our potter; we are all the work of Your hand. Isaiah 64:8
Vicki
Unlike that cup, you and I can move ourselves into position to be filled up to overflowing. Time spent quietly alone with God. Reading His word. Praying. Adoring and worshiping. These things God uses to pour Himself into our hearts, filling us to the point that He begins to spill out of us into the lives of others.
The church in America today is full of pretty cups on the shelf. We come in a wide variety...just like the cups in my cupboard. Many were gifts. They are odds and ends - hand-crafted, fine porcelain, large, small, representing holidays and travels, declaring the greatness of coffee or tea, solid, patterned, plastic, glass. All different. All ready to be filled. All useless on the shelf.
As fun as it is to look at my collection of cups, as sweet as the memories they remind me of, the real pleasure comes when I pour that delicious hot coffee and begin delightedly to drink in the rich flavor and aroma. I can only imagine that is the way God feels about me. Pretty to look at, He still gets His greatest pleasure out of my life when I allow Him to pour into me, running over the top, and spilling into the lives of people all around me.
There is danger in getting off the shelf. We could be chipped or cracked, possibly shattered. What if we do not get put back in the same cozy spot? Life can be hard. It IS hard. The days hold chips and bumps for us, too. Sometimes God moves us - a job change, a new home, loss of a loved-one....
We cannot stay on the shelf, useless, afraid we will crack. Our joy comes in living out who God created us to be. When we allow Him, the Master Potter, to create us as a beautiful vessel ready to be filled and used, we are useful! Realize this: The one who takes the clay and begins to mold it finds great pleasure in that hands-on experience. Carefully, gently He nudges and shapes, until His creation is ready. Ready to be have life's color painted onto it. Ready to be filled, used. Ready to bring pleasure to all who see and drink from the richness poured into it.
We cannot bring pleasure to our creator unless we allow Him to use us. "Fill my cup, Lord. I lift it up, Lord. Come and quench this thirsting of my soul." My encouragement to you today is that you allow God to shape your life, to fill you up, and use you for the glory of His kingdom.
But now, O Lord, You are our Father; we are the clay; and you are our potter; we are all the work of Your hand. Isaiah 64:8
Vicki
Monday, July 18, 2011
Welcome!
Welcome to my blog. I can't belive I have really done this! As I have been teaching lately, God has new and exciting things for us to do. So, here I am stepping out to share with you. The phrase Living Transformed means so much to me because it describes my life in Christ. He changed me from an ugly creature living in sin to a beautiful new being. Now I am trying to live each day to be who He created me to be. I encourage and challengeyou to live your life to the fullest - seeking to be who God created you to be. I hope you will enjoy reading and that what you read will encourage you.
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