One of the things the Lord shared with me during my personal retreat earlier this month was about being "planted" in Him. If I want to see fruit and growth, personally and in my ministry, I cannot do it apart from Him.
And, He provided the perfect visual illustrations as I sat near the Nile River, with the lush plants and trees at the shoreline. I don't want to write much in this post, but let the photos and scriptures speak for themselves. :)
"Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked,
or stand in the way that sinners take
or sit in the company of mockers,
but whose delight is in the law of the Lord,
and who meditates on His law day and night.
That person is like a tree planted by streams of water,
which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither -
whatever they do prospers."- Psalm 1:1-3
"But blessed are those who trust in the LORD
and have made the LORD their hope and confidence.
They are like trees planted along a riverbank,
with roots that reach deep into the water.
Such trees are not bothered by the heat
or worried by long months of drought.
Their leaves stay green,
and they never stop producing fruit." - Jeremiah 17:7-8
"Abide in Me, and I in you.
As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself
unless it abides in the vine,
so neither can you unless you abide in Me.
I am the Vine, you are the branches;
he who abides in Me and I in him,
he bears much fruit, for apart from Me
you can do nothing." - John 15:4-5
"Fruit trees of all kinds will grow along both sides of the river.
The leaves of these trees will never turn brown and fall,
and there will always be fruit on their branches.
There will be a new crop every month,
for they are watered by the river flowing from the Temple.
The fruit will be for food and the leaves for healing." - Ezekiel 47:12
(Loved this little flower and how it grew out of the rock near one of my favorite sitting spots overlooking the Nile.)
"There are times when we feel as though we are pushed into a corner. Maybe we have taken a position of absolute obedience towards God. We have declared to God that we are willing for His will to be done. It does not take long before we find ourselves in an impossible position. Such a position is basically about nothing less and nothing else but our faithfulness towards God. Are we prepared to die rather than take our life into our own hands and give up our dependency on God, to perish rather than do something which God has not told us to do?" T. Austin-Sparks, from The Rights of God, page 99. Abiding in Christ! He will draw you forward into Himself, into an ever-increasingly dependent relationship upon Him. He doesn't back up a dump truck full of overcoming life. But He does give you His life as you choose to overcome. He gives you the grace to make those moment-by-moment faith choices that please Father. Abiding in Him will always cost you something of self. But it is a glorious and good life because the life He gives is His very own. Allow Him to live His life within you and through you. Rich W.
ReplyDeleteBrother Rich, thank you for your comment and I appreciate your encouraging words. Yes, yes, the life we need - the abundant life - is found only in Christ!
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