A Time to Plant

A Time to Plant

"A time to plant and a time to uproot" Ecclesiastes 3:2

When I think about planting, immediately Jesus' Parable of the Sower comes to mind. In order for planting to be successful and abundant, good soil is required - whether that planting is in the soil of the earth or in our hearts and minds, as this parable points to. The NIV Study Bible notes says this regarding an abundant crop that comes from good soil:

"The quantity of increase depends on the quality of soil."

Luke's Gospel has an account of the Parable of the Sower in Luke 8:4-15. I won't quote the full passage, but will simply focus on how Jesus explains the parable. The seed scattered on the ground represents "the word of God" (vs 11). He goes on, "

"Those along the path are the ones who hear, and then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved. Those on the rocky ground are the ones who receive the word with joy when they hear it, but they have no root. They believe for a while, but in the time of testing they fall away. The seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by life’s worries, riches and pleasures, and they do not mature.But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop." Luke 8:12-15

We have a responsibility to examine the soil of our heart and minds in order to give the seed - the Word of God - a healthy place to grow and produce fruit. So again, let's use this contrast of planting and uprooting, found in Ecclesiastes 3:2, metaphorically for reflection.

Ask God to examine your heart and life and reflect on these questions.

• Where might there be weeds that are preventing the good soil in your life? Habits that distract you and keep you from spending time in God's Word and in Prayer.
• What spiritual practices may help you choke those weeds? 
• What might God want to plant in you right now, in this season? 
• What might He want to uproot? 
• What might need pruning? 

In her book, Abundant Simplicity, Jan Johnson speaks of the spiritual disciplines of engagement and of abstinence. 

"Disciplines of engagement help us take in the life of God. Disciplines of abstinence help us let go of life draining behaviors. We need to exhale what is unnecessary as well as inhale nourishment from God." ~ Jan Johnson

Disciplines of engagement are things such as study, prayer, serving others, worship, community, etc. Disciplines of abstinence can include thins such as fasting, solitude, silence, serving in secret, frugality, simplicity of speech and time, etc.

Jan Johnson points out that we are more prone to practice disciplines of engagement. We fill up. But, she says, "They may know, practice and teach spiritual disciplines, but they still find themselves being impatient, egotistical or pushy. This is because they have not blended engagement disciplines with abstinence disciplines, which prune away self-indulgence and willfulness...If we don;t practice abstinence disciplines regularly, we find ourselves stuck. We become reliant on our own devices..." ~Jan Johnson

Practicing disciplines of abstinence may help us get in touch with those things that may be keeping us from a deeper walk with God. God may use these times spent in spiritual practices to help prune us for greater growth. This is definitely what happens in seasons such as Lent, when we choose to abstain from a particular food or practice and instead choose to focus on God. What might God be calling you to in this particular season?

Join Our Inspirational Facebook Group

Bernice Hopper, Valerie Sjodin and I are using one journal to record events, experiences and relationships and  to explore our word’s meaning in visual and fun ways. We are each blogging about our experiences and our art. If you would like to connect with others about creatively organizing your word, your ideas, thoughts, prayers, events, or your projects all in one journal, you are invited to join our Facebook group: Everyday Journals – Living Your Word of the Year.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/203309083575277/

Hashtags on Instagram: #everydayjournals2018, #livingyourword2018

Check out the other blogs:

Bernice: http://www.newlycreative.com/

Valerie: https://valeriesjodin.com/blog/

Advent Day 24

"Let’s not hurry through this night. Let us sit awhile beside the manger, in the muck of the stable, in the mess of our actual lives and soak in the glory of this truth. Immanuel. He is here. Even as we wait for His final coming, He is present. Sit still for a few minutes where you are. Can you feel Him beside you? Can you sense His mercy for you, can you hear the love He sings down over you? Listen — His life is in you, let the rhythm of your heart fall in sync with the pulse of heaven."

~Kris Camealy, p 118

Resources:
Come, Lord Jesus: The Weight of Waiting by Kris Camealy. Available at Amazon.
Come, Lord Jesus Advent Book Club at Creative and Free.
Visit my church's website where we are offering a weekly Advent theme devotion and resources on our blog: Grace Church 

Advent Day 23

"We wait for Jesus, and yet He has already come. His presence, through the gift of the Holy Spirit, our invisible helper, remains with us, not only with but within those who believe. Jesus told His disciples, “and I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever,even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you." (John 14:16-17).

He dwells with you and within you, but still, we wait for His coming. This is not an easy idea to understand, and this is what we mean when Christians describe living in the “already and not yet.” We are encouraged here not to grow weary, not to let our hands go limp and weak in the work that God has given us to do in the meantime. He has tasked us with a purpose, go therefore and make disciples–go, tell people about Jesus. Invite others to open their eyes to the story they too are living in, whether they acknowledge it or not. Our King whom we wait for is already in our midst. He is currently at work, writing the story that’s already been written. Our prayers, our worship, and our outreach are one of the ways we get to participate in this fantastic epic unfolding. The Lord is  in your midst (vs. 15)–Heaven touching earth". ~Kris Camealy, 110-111

Resources:
Come, Lord Jesus: The Weight of Waiting by Kris Camealy. Available at Amazon.
Come, Lord Jesus Advent Book Club at Creative and Free.
Visit my church's website where we are offering a weekly Advent theme devotion and resources on our blog: Grace Church 

Advent Day 22

"Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice.Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand;do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:4-7 ESV

"Several years ago, the results of a survey reported that 45% of people who responded actually dread the Christmas season. During the holidays, reports of depression or increased anxiety are up during the month of December. A quick Google search for “anxiety at Christmas time” returned over 18 million results. It seems the festive season of Advent, for many, is not an easy season for rejoicing. But Paul’s word to the people at Philippi (and to us)here is “rejoice…do not be anxious about anything.” Worship to combat worry .It’s effective, but it isn’t easy. When our anxiety levels are high, our first response is rarely to worship. Rising anxiety levels set off a whole chain of events in our hearts and minds and typically, worship isn’t the first, second or third response. To worship during seasons of worry takes more effort than most of us can muster. It takes holy intervention to turn our hearts towards praise rather than our problems. But God is always willing to woo us.He is always wanting our heart’s full attention. 

Rather than wring our hands with worry, Paul encourages us to bring it all before God in prayer, humbly and “with thanksgiving (vs.6).” God’s response to our prayers?–peace. When we surrender our fear and worry, God’s inexplicable peace becomes the guard of our hearts and minds."

~Kris Camealy, p106

Resources:
Come, Lord Jesus: The Weight of Waiting by Kris Camealy. Available at Amazon.
Come, Lord Jesus Advent Book Club at Creative and Free.
Visit my church's website where we are offering a weekly Advent theme devotion and resources on our blog: Grace Church 

Advent Day 21

"Waiting sometimes feels like sitting alone in the dark. When will the light finally come, we wonder. The dawn of a new day comes slowly, with a gradual lightening of the sky. With every blink, the sky seems to brighten, but it does not happen in an instant. We perceive the sunrise in incremental stanzas, until the fullness of light overwhelms the last ribbons of darkness, and we realize we are now standing in the full brightness of a new day.

"The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light;those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness,on them has light shone." (Isiah 9:2).

Though the Light of the World, the Christ, appears to be slow in His coming, His light does not meander into the world like the slow rising dawn. His coming, long foretold, is quickly realized as He slips out into a dim cave, in the night of a waiting world, a world so long blanketed in shadow and darkness. He comes to us in that long-awaited moment, awakening our hearts to Himself, as if someone has suddenly raised the shades. Our Light has come. And with His coming, all of the happenings of the dark shall cease." ~Kris Camealy, p102

Resources:
Come, Lord Jesus: The Weight of Waiting by Kris Camealy. Available at Amazon.
Come, Lord Jesus Advent Book Club at Creative and Free.
Visit my church's website where we are offering a weekly Advent theme devotion and resources on our blog: Grace Church 

Advent Day 20

"Sometimes, our barrenness has nothing to do with our physical circumstance and everything to do with our paper-thin heart. The thing that stops us from believing the miracle isn’t only our advanced maturity, but also our inability to imagine the impossible. We’re too old for the foolish imaginations run-rampant we see in children. Too wise in our own right, to dream fanciful dreams of the impossible-made-possible. We know better–we’ve lived hard times, our experiences fill us with doubt, or what we deem to be, a healthy measure of realism. We plant our feet in the solid earth and declare the miracle to be impossible. Absurd at best. We pray in our disbelief, and sometimes, God hushes us with His holiness, in order to restore us." ~Kris Camealy, p96-97.

This week, as we move closer to Christmas Day, let us allow ourselves to get caught up in the spirit of the Christmas season and embrace the miracle of the Incarnation - "The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us...." John 1:14

Resources:
Come, Lord Jesus: The Weight of Waiting by Kris Camealy. Available at Amazon.
Come, Lord Jesus Advent Book Club at Creative and Free.
Visit my church's website where we are offering a weekly Advent theme devotion and resources on our blog: Grace Church 

Advent Day 19

The passage I quoted on today's art journal page can be found on pages 91-92 in Come, Lord Jesus by Kris Camealy (link below). Advent week four was my week to write the devotion for our church website, which can also be found in the links below.

Resources:
Come, Lord Jesus: The Weight of Waiting by Kris Camealy. Available at Amazon.
Come, Lord Jesus Advent Book Club at Creative and Free.
Visit my church's website where we are offering a weekly Advent theme devotion and resources on our blog: Grace Church 

Advent Day 18

"In our waiting, we doubt. We forget God’s recorded faithfulness and distrust settles over our hearts. It’s proof that we’re always wanting, a sign that God is for us, that He is present, moving, and not as silent as He seems to be. When the angel appeared to the shepherds in the field, he told them outright, that “this would be a sign” for them. What’s the sign? The sudden appearance of an angel would be a sufficient sign for any of us that something important was happening, but the angel isn’t the sign, the

angel is only the messenger bringing news of the sign. 

And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger (Luke 2:12).

This is the good news the whole world has been waiting for. Since the 400 years of God’s seeming silence at the close of the Old Testament, people everywhere have been waiting for a sign, some bold, unmistakable clue that God has not completely abandoned and rejected them in finality. Of all the signs God could have sent, He selects His very own Son to be the sign of great joy, for all people. The sign and proof of His relentless love.

Jesus, the eternal, living sign of God’s immaculate love for us. Jesus, good news of great joy for all

people."

~Kris Camealy, p88 & 89

Resources:
Come, Lord Jesus: The Weight of Waiting by Kris Camealy. Available at Amazon.
Come, Lord Jesus Advent Book Club at Creative and Free.
Visit my church's website where we are offering a weekly Advent theme devotion and resources on our blog: Grace Church 

Advent Day 17

"In all seasons, God implores us to sing His song, a song of mercy and redemption, of rescue and restoration. This is the covenant remembered in Advent, the long-suffering in the waiting for the once and final Hope to gather us to Himself. Sing! Sing! Do not hold back, (vs.2) make room, Isaiah encourages. Go wherever God leads, without fear and hesitation for what may come. 

Whatever our circumstances in the midst of the waiting, God invites us to keep singing. To keep going. To recall and treasure His proven faithfulness and to remember His deep, irrevocable compassion for us that came first in a manger, and then on a cross. Sing, for the Lord has called you."

~Kris Camealy, p84

Resources:
Come, Lord Jesus: The Weight of Waiting by Kris Camealy. Available at Amazon.
Come, Lord Jesus Advent Book Club at Creative and Free.
Visit my church's website where we are offering a weekly Advent theme devotion and resources on our blog: Grace Church 

Advent Day 16

"Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote, “Advent creates people. New people.”The newness we experience in Advent only comes because of the steadfast love of God. Because He loves us, God gives us this time, a season of waiting, which isn’t passive at all. As we anticipate and prepare for Jesus’ arrival, our hearts can’t help but be transformed–we become new people, in the fullness of Jesus’ presence. This is what God’s steadfast love looks like in action. The generosity of the Advent season begs for us to notice the faithfulness of God. Seasonal hymns re-tell the story of our redemption, calling out the goodness of God for all people, and today’s reading offers rich words of worship, proclaiming a small sampling of God’s virtuous ways. Here, the psalmist reminds us that God has made a covenant, a promise of restoration. God has granted help, established a dwelling place, built a foundation and defeated the enemies of His people.

My faithfulness and my steadfast love shall be with him (Psalm 89:24).

Part of the promise Jesus embodies is the eternal presence of God’s love for all time."

~Kris Camealy, p76-77.

Resources:

Come, Lord Jesus: The Weight of Waiting by Kris Camealy. Available at Amazon.
Come, Lord Jesus Advent Book Club at Creative and Free.
Visit my church's website where we are offering a weekly Advent theme devotion and resources on our blog: Grace Church 

Advent Day 15

"In Advent as we remember the wild obedience of young Mary, we hear the word, “favor” spoken over her, and are reminded that through God’s choosing of her, by the inception of Jesus, the word, favor is spoken to us also. Through Jesus, God chooses us–He grafts us into the beautifully gnarled bark of His family tree. Through the flesh and blood of His Son, He chooses us, His creation, for salvation. When we remember our own standing as one favored by God, aren’t we that much more willing to say “yes” to what God has invited us into–even when it appears unconventional and dangerous? Knowing that we too bear the favor of God strengthens us to willingly embrace the unimaginable that He calls us to.

In Advent as we wait, we need not wonder if He will pick us. He has already chosen us, through the blessing of Mary, and the blood of His Son. We don’t know what this choosing will mean for our lives, where this honor will take us, but we can accept the title, favored, and live faithfully into all that it entails." ~Kris Camealy, p72-73.

Resources:
Come, Lord Jesus: The Weight of Waiting by Kris Camealy. Available at Amazon.
Come, Lord Jesus Advent Book Club at Creative and Free.
Visit my church's website where we are offering a weekly Advent theme devotion and resources on our blog: Grace Church 

Advent Day 14

"Church seasons, like Advent, root us in a tradition ages older than ourselves, connecting us to a history of generational, celebratory worship in the church that has gone before us. Traditions like Advent give us a familiar place to dwell, a place that has long been settled before we wandered in, and a place that will likely remain after we have wandered on to glory. The familiarity and routine of the practice comforts us, offering a stability when the rest of the world rocks and sways with discontent, terror, sickness, disease and chaos." ~Kris Camealy, p67.

Resources:
Come, Lord Jesus: The Weight of Waiting by Kris Camealy. Available at Amazon.
Come, Lord Jesus Advent Book Club at Creative and Free.
Visit my church's website where we are offering a weekly Advent theme devotion and resources on our blog: Grace Church 

Advent Day 13

"Jesus came and announced to us, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (John 8:12). During His sermon on the mount, Jesus told the people, told us, that we are the light of the world (Matthew 5:14). How can this be, we wonder, how can Jesus and we both be “the light of the world”? This is made possible because our lives as believers are hidden in Christ. Our lives now grafted to His, allow us to be a light as He was. Christ’s presence in us is reflected to the world through the living out of our active, sacrificial faith."

~Kris Camealy, p63.

Resources:
Come, Lord Jesus: The Weight of Waiting by Kris Camealy. Available at Amazon.
Come, Lord Jesus Advent Book Club at Creative and Free.
Visit my church's website where we are offering a weekly Advent theme devotion and resources on our blog: Grace Church 

Advent Day 12

"Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

"With everything else this season requires of us, God instructs us to pray without ceasing. It’s not only our continual prayer that He calls us to, but a continual position of gratitude. Give thanks in all  circumstances, Paul reminds. All circumstances. This is surely easier said than practiced. A pray-without-ceasing-with-an-attitude-of-gratitude lifestyle takes intentional effort and cultivation. Most of us do not inhabit this space by default, and without work.

To pray this way, we have to turn from our traditional view of prayer, where we sit still with folded hands and closed eyes for a time. To live out the prayer described here, requires that our very lives essentially become a prayer. We have to become aware of our need, and our complete and utter inability to create for ourselves the life God intends for us. Only in true humility, can we learn what it looks like to pray without ceasing. This kind of prayer can only come from recognizing and confessing our complete inability to do life on our own terms. We need God’s help, every hour, and so we discover in this recognition of our tremendous need, what it means to pray without ceasing."

~Kris Camealy, p56.

Today's reading was such a good reminder of the type of prayer God calls us to. And Kris has so much more to say on this in the rest of today's reading. Oh Lord, may my life become a prayer.

Resources:
Come, Lord Jesus: The Weight of Waiting by Kris Camealy. Available at Amazon.
Come, Lord Jesus Advent Book Club at Creative and Free.
Visit my church's website where we are offering a weekly Advent theme devotion and resources on our blog: Grace Church 

Advent Day 11

"Yes, we wait during Advent.We shift anxious with anticipation for the coming King. We prepare and plan and plot our next steps, diligently living each day as it comes, but sometimes, forgetting that though we wait, we are invited to dream. We are prodded towards hoping against all that our eyes see, for the heaven that is already here in our midst. Thy kingdom come. It has, it is, it will  again. Might we celebrate the fervent faithfulness of God, the restoration already given through Jesus, and the coming restoration of the earth like dreamers do, with shouts of joy, with visions of hope, with laughter on our lips? 

Let Advent be not only a contemplative time, but a spirited celebration of the joy of the already-here Jesus." ~Kris Camealy, p53-54.

Resources:
Come, Lord Jesus: The Weight of Waiting by Kris Camealy. Available at Amazon.
Come, Lord Jesus Advent Book Club at Creative and Free.
Visit my church's website where we are offering a weekly Advent theme devotion and resources on our blog: Grace Church 

Advent Day 10

"The blessing of Mary, through the gestation and delivery of Jesus, remains one of the most controversial miracles ever recorded. Never before, and never since, has there ever been another immaculate conception. Of all people from the beginning of time, God chose this one young woman, and no one else, for the birth that would change the entire world, forever. And here, in this passage [Luke 1:46-55], Mary recognizes the magnitude of what God has done, and she worships. She calls out the good faithfulness of God, reciting the mighty movement of His actions throughout history. She tells us that for those who fear Him, His mercy will stand, from generation, to generation (Luke 1:50). In other words, God has already chosen and will continue to choose us, again and again. He chose us first in Eden, in Egypt, in the wilderness, in Israel, in Gethsemane, and on the cross. He chooses us now, in Advent and all of the church seasons that come in between and after. 

Through Mary, God chose us, all these generations later. Out of her obedience and willingness, the miracle we long for has already come to us. Jesus. Immanuel. We are already filled with the only thing that can meet our every need."

~Kris Camealy, p48-49

Resources:
Come, Lord Jesus: The Weight of Waiting by Kris Camealy. Available at Amazon.
Come, Lord Jesus Advent Book Club at Creative and Free.
Visit my church's website where we are offering a weekly Advent theme devotion and resources on our blog: Grace Church 

Advent Day 9

"As we wait this Advent for the fulfillment of God’s ultimate recompense, let us live no longer as captives in our sin and brokenness, but as prisoners of hope (Zachariah 9:12). Let these promising words of Isaiah bind our wounds and relieve our grief. Let this hopeful passage drip like sweet oil over you, removing the ashes that have once been your uniform. Though we wait, we claim the joy of the Lord with our shouts of thanksgiving and praise for this, the good news!" ~Kris Camealy, p44

Resources:
Come, Lord Jesus: The Weight of Waiting by Kris Camealy. Available at Amazon.
Come, Lord Jesus Advent Book Club at Creative and Free.
Visit my church's website where we are offering a weekly Advent theme devotion and resources on our blog: Grace Church