My prayer for today!

Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. ¹³ Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. ¹⁴ And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.

 ¹⁵ Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. ¹⁶ Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. ¹⁷ And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. Colossians 3:12-17

It’s far too easy to forget the unity God calls us to as Christians. But we must put aside our grievances, forgive and reach out in love.

My leaves will always be green!

Today’s Verses: Jeremiah 17:7-8 But blessed is the one who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in him. They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.

These verses were a love letter from my Heavenly Dad who knows every facet of my life. The last four days have left me badly shaken, primarily because I took my eyes off of God and looked to myself for strength. (Unfortunately, I do that all too often.)

The two verses before those above are a picture of how I felt this weekend. But God reminded me this morning that I choose whom to look to for strength and in choosing that I choose to be either a bush dwelling in the parched places of the desert or a tree planted by a stream.

I choose to be the tree by the stream and to let God’s love and strength flow past my roots, so that my life will, in it’s abundance of green leaves, glorify Him.

Pruning

Today’s verses: Jeremiah 1:9-10 Then the LORD reached out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me, “I have put my words in your mouth. See, today I appoint you over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant.”

God gave Jeremiah the power to be his audible voice for the purpose of correcting Israel. In Jeremiah 2, the Lord lists all that is wrong in Israel. They are no longer listening to his voice, they do not remember all that he has done for them and they have allowed themselves to be polluted by the worship of false gods.

As I read this this morning, I kept visualizing a garden which has become overgrown, filled with weeds and is no longer producing the fruit it once did. Jeremiah will be like the gardener who takes over the plot and begins to prune, pull weeds and plant.

So how does my garden grow? Am I in need of a new gardener? And if so, who will I allow to prune me so that the garden of my life is a showplace for God’s glory?

If I am to be a gardener, may it always be with God’s words in my mouth and for his glory.

How does your garden grow?