A View from the Garden

The garden view is awesome this year and I didn't have to deal with the garden hose at all...

Ohio enjoyed (survived) the Great Flood of 2015.

yeah-this is our yard...a few days ago...

and oh--this is my husbands replanted soybean field too....

 rain makes life messy sometimes...

but sometimes it produces some great flowers in a garden

and weeds...

I love flowers...I dislike weeds...

alot.

Yup...the front of the bed looks great...but as you can see they are being held up by brilliantly green and vivaciously happy 

weeds.

Which leads to the garden...that I actually MOWED today...

yeah---the riding lawn mower.

And I am a farmers wife for crying out loud...

humiliating. 

I really should have a manicured garden since that

is our family tradition.

pshaw.....not this year.

I AM MANAGING A FAILING ENDEAVOR...

(stop laughing)

Each of us have a heart that looks like my garden...

A little bit fancy...

A lot of nasty weeds...

Pleasantly productive...

Particularly  pitiful....

That's how life is.

We live in the flesh and it is messy.

Yet God still chooses to use us.

...to live in us.

I AM IN CHRIST.

and even though I am a mess...

He counted it all JOY

to go to the cross

for me

so he could bear fruit in me...

Sweet sister,

the power you have access to

brought Jesus back

from the dead!!!

He wants us to know

that YOU ARE HIS.

BLOOD BOUGHT.

SPIRIT FILLED.

SEALED.

EQUIPPED.

The down payment that tells you that you are His bride...the sealing of the Holy Spirit inside of you. 

"...I am sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise who is given as a pledge of our inheritance..." 

Ephesians 1:13-14

God gave each believer a SEAL.

A GENUINE MARK

OF AUTHENTICITY.

HIS STAMP OF APPROVAL.

Irrevocable.

He gave you the free gift of the Holy Spirit to let you know

YOU ARE HIS.

no doubts.

NO SECOND GUESSING.

Living inside of YOU...

and He will NEVER leave.

NEVER

"I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever." 

~John 14:16

Flesh and Spirit.

Painfully jumbled together as we climb upward to the high calling of being IN CHRIST.

I am thankful he doesn't look at my weedy mess and declare my

insufficiency .

I am IN CHRIST

and HE is sufficient.

I am IN CHRIST

and I am SEALED WITH...

THE HELPER.

COMFORTER AND COUNSELOR- John 14:16

TEACHER-1 Cor 2:13

LEADER- Romans 8:14

GUIDE TO TRUTH- John 16:13

GIFT GIVER- I Cor 12

COMMANDER- Acts 8:29

CONVICTOR OF MY HEART- John 16:7-11

And if the Holy Spirit is living inside of you...He will faithfully deal with the sinful weeds that are choking the life out of you.

Not because he is mad at you.

A garden can't weed itself.

It must have a caretaker.

I didn't walk out to my garden

and rant because it was full of weeds...

The garden was just doing what gardens do.

 And my sinful heart does what sinful hearts do.

I sin.

Our Perfect Caretaker pulls the weeds

and it is painful yet productive

Because

God knows that when those nasty weeds 

are gone...

you will be more aware of

of His presence! 

You will experience the glory of His goodness!

...and be overwhelmed by the grace

freely given to you IN CHRIST.

Sweet one, you are going to fall more

deeply in love with JESUS.

So press on sister to the high calling of 

KNOWING WHO YOU ARE 

IN CHRIST!!

It is a

great place to be.

..weeds and all.

Foundational Thinking

Today's headlines...you read them. HISTORIC DECISION BY THE SUPREME COURT--MONUMENTAL. Fundamental Change...Foundations are shaking. Everyone is weighing in on the issues. yak-yak--blah-blah...he said/she said.It is somewhat irritating if it weren't so important.

...and I sit and ponder what the future holds for America...for our children and our grandchildren

...and my heart simply burns with a deep ache for what lies ahead.

...and my eyes sting with tears--because marriage is at the very heart of God

...and I look around at a world of wars, chaos, evil and disease...

...and I open THE WORD...

to the beautiful book of Ephesians...

...and the heart of God speaks so softly--and sings so sweetly of His GRACE AND PEACE to me. (Eph 1:2)

...and he tells me that He chose me to be IN CHRIST before the world began...and he sees me as blameless and holy before Him. (Eph1:4)

...and He tells me that I am His Child because His will is kind  (vs5)

...and I am redeemed through His blood and forgiven lavishly by grace (vs7-8)

....and I find my position...once again...

I am in Christ.

I am IN Christ.

I AM in Christ.

I am in CHRIST.

That phrase wraps around my heart like a warm blanket. It calms the inner storms and gives me a peace that can't be taken away.

In Christ-I know who I am.

In Christ-I know who He is.

In Christ-I know where I am going.

The courts can make rules--the governments of this world can go to war--our leaders can boast and celebrate over what breaks the very heart of Our God. We save whales yet kill the unborn child....we hug trees yet hunt down Believers...they can take away our right to pray in schools and remove the manger scenes from public places. They can sterilize Holidays and History books...

but our God wins.

period.

He has the final word...

because HE IS THE WORD.

IN CHRIST. That is my position. My foundation is the person of Jesus Christ. He can't be moved-broken-sterilized-taken away-over ruled-legislated or silenced. He isn't subject to opinion or culture and won't change with the political climate.

HE WAS

HE IS 

AND HE IS TO COME.

HOW FIRM IS YOUR FOUNDATION?

Lessons from a cat...

What do you get when you cross a dumpster at the Aeschliman farm...a wild Tom cat...and empty peanut butter jar?

Yes. This is a real-and this cat really did this to himself. This poor Tom cat apparently crawled into our dumpster and found some choice dining. Crazy. While sporting his new attire-he crashed into buildings--flopped--flipped--rolled--jumped in a futile attempt to rid himself of his newly found identity. (...it was actually pretty funny!!) And folks-the jar wasn't coming off no matter what that cat tried. Tommy needed some outside help if he was going to ever catch the next meal. It took 3 attempts by Keri to get this face mask off of this furry feline. I am proud to say--he appears normal and probably is busy re-populating our neighborhood. (sorry.) And yes-he still is snacking in our dumpster--hopefully a bit more wisely.

God has a way of giving me some fairly crazy visual aides to help me in my walk...I guess he knows what works with me. Apparently a dumpster diving cat with a craving for Peter Pan extra creamy helped me to understand Ephesians 1: 1-6. (...check that passage out!) 

Identity. We all chase something that will define us...make us unique...always wanting to be different than everyone else. WE want to matter. A passion. A mission. A calling. A testimony. You name it. We chase it whether it is good or bad.

" We try to control our image, since what is inside feels impossible to fix." 

~Jennie Allen (Chase) 

That is true--and...most of the time we end up looking just as ridiculous as my dumpster diving cat. 

We dig around in the worldly dumpsters hoping for a morsel to satisfy.
We get a taste of something...something yummy...and then we are stuck. 
We can't move like we are meant to move.
A wrong identity gives us a dangerous world view. 
Our vision is blocked-we are on a collision course...and if we keep it up long enough...it could kill us.
Unless we have outside Help.

Maybe if we could grasp what transpired at the cross--we wouldn't be so inspired to chase the wind.

Transformation only happens when I begin to grasp the depth that Love had to go to save this sinner.


"For those of us who know Christ, we stand on the unchanging reality that we have been so loved by our God that He purchased us with the blood of His Son. See, we have worth, but it doesn't come from within us--it comes to us from the One who made us." ~Jennie Allen (Chase)

I walked away from Tommy with a profound thought.

I can just be me. 

I don't need to be someone else.

I look pretty stupid when I chase after things that are a temporary fix.

I don't define me. God does.

Ephesians 1:1-6 says that I am 

adopted.

loved.

accepted.

holy.

 blessed.

All because of what Jesus did for me.

Jesus died for the real you...not some future version of you that is new and improved...not some superwoman who has it all together. Jesus died for the real you...the messy you...the broken you. God has abundant grace to pick you up and give you a new identity.

God is for you.

He is not against you.

I CAN'T GET THIS SONG OUT OF MY HEAD...AND THE PICTURE OF THAT CRAZY CAT...and how much I want to know my worth in Christ-believe it with my whole heart--and then live like it.

AND I AM ON FIRE!
I AM CHASING MY GOD!
I AM CHASING HIS IDENTITY FOR ME!
AND BOY IS IT A BEAUTIFUL SOUND...CAN YOU HEAR HIM CALLING YOU TODAY?

Drops in the Ocean by Hawk Nelson

Crank up the tunes and praise

Him for who He is!

Feel free to check out my other posts on the same topics!

  Identity Crisis

Chaff

When the Hurt and the Healer Collide

Little Places

Dirt and the Farm Wife

Confidence in...who? 

Calmer of the Storm