The High Calling of God

I love nature- not only for the beauty and intrigue it brings but for the lessons we can learn from it. While Jesus walked among us, He taught us many spiritual lessons using nature and He is doing the same today- if we take the time to listen.   I recently bought some flowers to put into containers around our house. I had bought some petunias and re-potted them into hanging baskets. A couple days later while I was taking it off the hook to reposition it, the pot slipped from my hands and fell several feet to the sidewalk. I just stood there for a little bit looking at it- all the new potting soil I had placed under, around and above it was spread all over the sidewalk and the yard. And there was the original piece of sod with the four beautiful petunias just lying there. I had just been admiring how nice they were looking since being in their new pot, just before I left them fall to their possible death. I went off the porch, scooped up the petunias and the new soil, put them...

John 10:1-11 I recall as a little girl in Sunday School seeing those beautiful and comforting pictures of Christ as the Shepherd with the sheep. It was always such a peaceful scene and I still enjoy the thought to this day. Jesus Christ- our Good Shepherd! What more could we want! If you have ever did any reading on the subject of shepherds you know that it is very interesting. I always picture the shepherd as the great defender of the sheep, warding off wild animals and making sure each and every sheep stayed safe. I have heard that at some point throughout each day, the shepherd spends some time with each individual sheep, looking it over to make sure it didn't have any pests that would cause disease and looking for bruises or anything that would cause harm to the sheep. I have read that he would anoint the sheep's head with oil, especially around the nose to keep parasites from entering into the sheep and causing disease and probably death. He carried a staff, a large rod...

In John 15:1-8 - Jesus makes another of His "I am" statements. In verse 1 He states: "I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser." Also He brings this out in verse 5: "I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.   That word "abide" means to remain or stay in a certain place. We, as the branches, must remain-- abide- in the true vine- Jesus Christ- in order to survive. As long as we stay connected to the vine, we will flourish and be productive. But when a Christian decides to walk on his own, walk away from the Presence of God- eventually he or she will wither and die. How often have you seen a branch that was broken off a tree continue to have the leaves. But in time, those leaves will have to die because they are no longer receiving nourishment from the tree.    On the other hand- when we stay attached to the vine we will blossom and bear fruit. W...

John 7:53-8:20 Continuing with Jesus' "I am" statements, in this reference He is stating that He is the Light of the World. In John 8:12 He makes another bold statement that left His skeptics and critics in an uproar. He said: "I am the light of the world . He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life." John the Baptist had already witnessed to the fact that Jesus Christ would be the true light in John 1:4-9, and in Luke 2:25-32 Simeon prophesied that Christ was "a light to bring revelation to the Gentiles." Light means “to shine or make manifest; esp. by rays; (1) and d arkness is defined here as "spiritual depravity or moral darkness, emblematic of sin, as a condition of moral or spiritual depravity."   (2). The unregenerate man can not understand the spiritual things. He has to be regenerated from within by the Spirit of God.   From the very beginning God separated the darkness and the light. It w...

John 6: 22-63   John 6:51 Jesus is saying: "I am the living bread, which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world."   The disciples had no clue what Jesus was talking about. He had just performed a miracle by feeding 5,000 people with five loaves of barley bread and two fish. ( John 6:1-14 ). But when Jesus made this statement a little later they did not understand. Sometimes even Christians have a hard time understanding this, but it has to be understood in the spirit and not the natural mind. Verse 63 in this text states : "It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life." We must understand scripture in the spirit, we can not understand it in our own natural mind. Jesus wasn't talking about literally eating His flesh and blood, and even when we take commu...

What kind of pudding do you prefer- instant or the kind you have to cook on the stove? I have had a thought lately that I can't get out of my mind. It is this: there are two types of Christians and they are like these two types of pudding.   First, there are the "Instant Pudding Christians". They want everything NOW! They don't want to have to go through any process (dealings with the Lord)- they just want to do and be everything now. Think about it. What is instant pudding like? It is runny and lumpy. It doesn't have much of a flavor and it has almost no consistency. It doesn't take much effort to make- just pour the box into some milk, whip it up and ta-da- you have it! But just what is it?  In my opinion the only thing to do with instant pudding is to dump the box into something else like cakes or pies or other desserts. It isn't much good on its own merit.   Then you have the "Cook and Serve Christians". They are willing to be put on...

I frequently learn spiritual lessons from our 10 year old Golden Retriever Ginger. Recently my husband and I were getting ready go away for the weekend. Our dog loves to travel and even though she was only going to be dropped off at the kennel- still she DID NOT want to be left behind! The night before we started getting our suitcases ready and all the things we were taking with us. She always becomes so anxious when she sees all this activity going on. On the morning that we were leaving my husband was packing the car and Ginger was just beside herself. Every time I went upstairs to get something she followed me, panting and pacing. Every time my husband went outside she wanted outside with him. Then she wanted back in, just panting as only dogs can do- and pacing and being so anxious. You would think that after 10 years she would have learned that we have never left her alone while we have gone away. But she couldn't keep us out of her sight and she was pacing all over the plac...