We are learning that it is so simple to be a witness and to offer the loving, welcoming hospitality of Jesus. The Kraft family is practicing this in Fall City when they offer Soup Night to their neighbors.
One Thursday night a month, they invite the neighbors around them to come to their house for a simple meal of soup and bread. Last week, six families came to their home for Soup Night! One woman said, "I've lived here since 1983 and this is the first time that it's felt like an actual neighborhood."
Now the neighbors are beginning to take initiative to offer up their homes. One family is going to have a cookie exchange in December; others want to start bringing soup. It's beginning to multiply in a natural, organic friendly way.
A few years ago I was part of a team in my church that held an evangelism conference to equip people to be witnesses for Jesus. But, we never thought of how simple it can be and natural when we are willing to open our home and provide a cup of cold water and hot soup to those around us.
I am thrillled with the change taking place....maybe you would like to try it out too! If you do, let me know how it goes.
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Missio Lux Weekly Reflection
Missio Lux Weekly Reflection
October 5, 2010
“The Tree of Life: the Bible”
October 5, 2010
“The Tree of Life: the Bible”
I’ve been studying the brain the past few weeks and I continue to be amazed at how our thoughts, our responses to our thoughts and the commandments of the Bible are integrated. I have been repeatedly reminded that when I follow the ways that the Bible teaches me to live, I will have a healthy brain, body and life.
Deuteronomy 30 tells us to choose life or to choose death. I am coming to understand that our thoughts are vital in this commandment. When we think a fear thought, it actually sends a negative chemical into our body that helps to build a bush (the technical word is dentite) that becomes black and mangled. When we think a faith filled thought, it releases a healthy chemical into our body which builds healthy trees. Dr. Caroline Leaf, a neuroscientist who is also a Christian, calls our healthy thought “a breeze through the trees.” Healthy trees create healthy forests in our mind and body which build a strong foundation for which to live.
Do you remember Joshua? He was Moses’ right hand person and when Moses died, the Lord came to Joshua with a message. He was to lead the Israelite Nation to enter into the Promised Land. Joshua needed to be building healthy trees in his brain through faith filled thoughts so he listened carefully as the Lord gave him the key to being able to fulfill his huge calling.
This is the key: “Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. 8 Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.”
The key for Joshua to carry out his assignment was to follow the Scripture (which at that time was the Law). He was told that if he carefully obeyed the law, not deviating in any way from it, he would be successful. Then, just to make sure that he heard that word, God told him again: “If you meditate on the Scripture, you will be prosperous and successful.”
It’s an equation that makes sense: God’s way to live found in Scriptural instruction + what we are called to do = success.
It may make sense, but I find myself wondering how seriously we take Joshua’s commandment? Wasn’t that just for Joshua, after all he had a big job to do? It surely doesn’t fit into my small job as an office receptionist, or a stay at home Mom, or even a Microsoft or Boeing employee.
Or, does it? Have we gotten so far from what the Scripture tells us to do that we aren’t even sure what it says? Have we chosen to base our guidance on other things? Information is at an all time high right now, but our knowledge of how to live successfully, not just in terms of finances, but in health and relationships and integrated lifestyle, is actually declining. Information doesn’t equate to success, it can at times overwhelm and mislead.
If you like the idea of living a successful and prosperous life, then make the intentional connection to following God’s guidance to Joshua: know what the Bible says, think about it through your day, and follow it wholeheartedly!
So, I hear the question, how do I know what it says? Where do I start?
Missio Lux held a training at our kickoff for ways to engage the Bible. Keith Ferrin from “”That You May Know Ministries” led the training (www.thatyoumayknow.com)
Here are a few of his suggestions to help get you started:
Build a Foundation through reading the Bible;
Pray before you start asking for God to reveal his Word to you and pray after that God would continue to impress his Word into your thought life.
Read Continuously: read a book from the Bible in one sitting/look for natural breaks in longer books/read for purpose, theme and context/be consistent in reading it!
Repetitious Reading: read it over and over again. Read the same book or passage over and over again: perhaps 30 times in 30 days.
Independent Reading: don’t turn to all the helps in our reading, ask God to reveal his Word. Resist the urge to seek understanding of specifics during this phase.
Thoughtful Reading: work at not letting your mind wander/read out loud/think about what it says/ change your perspective on what you read with questions like:
What was the author thinking as he wrote?
What would the recipients be thinking as they read this letter?
What would the ramifications be if the purpose of this letter is carried out?
If reading the Bible is a new thought to you, here are some of my thoughts:
Set yourself up for success by choosing a reachable goal: make a decision to spend 10 to 15 minutes a day in the morning (or at night) reading. Decide to do this five days a week, so that if you miss a day during the week, you don’t give up in frustration or guilt.
Tell someone about your goal: Ask that person to encourage you in your goal and pray for you, as well as ask questions about what you are reading.
Keep track of how you see God being more present in your life; when you remember one of the things you have read and share it with others, and look for opportunities to multiply it with those who are closest to you.
Celebrate your success. Do something special for yourself each week when you accomplish your goal.
My prayer is that we can all understand that God’s call to Joshua is also to us. We have an important mission to live out on earth and we will be successful and prosperous when we follow the direction God gave to Joshua to meditate on the Law day and night so we can be careful to follow it.
Monday, October 4, 2010
The First Celebration Dinner
Last night Missio Lux stepped into new territory. We took our once a month worship service and turned it into a dinner in our home. It was a dinner with no agenda other than to make space for relationship: with one another, with God, and with those in our lives who are hungry to experience what we are authentically living.
I prayed about what to do before the meal and this is what I was given: throw your nets over to the other side of the boat. Remember Jesus standing on the beach after his resurrection asking his disciples if they had caught any fish during their long night of frustrating fishing.
They hadn't. God doesn't bless us when we try to go backward in our lives when he has shown us a new and living way. He wasn't blessing our Celebration Services because they looked like every other church service. It seems he wanted us to take our hands off of the plans and let him lead the agenda.
I asked a simple question before the meal: "Do you have a celebration to share from this week?" It was such a gift because the first one to answer was a 7 year old boy who was the
Student of the Week. It went from child to child as each one answered spontaneously the good things that happened in their week. Then, a couple of teens shared their experiences. I was thrillled, how simple for the family of God to be loving one another in the real places of our lives.
Our last celebration was one that will forever change us as people. It was from a very successful businessman about his transformation to becoming an authentic Jesus follower. He encountered some very challenging darkness and through it the Lord came through shining his light and offering his invitation to LIVE!
He was able to tell his story in all its rawness and the community was able to embrace him, celebrate his new life and to ask him about it through the night.
We are at a point in our lives of following Jesus that we are openly praying for one another. One man is starting a new job on Wednesday and we spontaneously gathered around him and prayed for his new start.
When people began to leave, many of them said, "I could bring my work friend here." Or, my favorite, "This is a church that I can get excited about."
And, you know what, I agree!
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Missio Lux Weekly Reflection
Missio Lux Weekly Reflection
September 28, 2010
September 28, 2010
“The Tree of Life: Hearing God”
Remember the wind storm that came three years ago to Seattle? I have memories imprinted on my brain of 100 foot trees completely uprooted from the ground because their root systems were completely inadequate to support such tall trees. The root systems were perhaps 18 inches deep, not nearly enough to withstand a storm that came with great intensity.
We have a root system that supports us too. It’s called “God’s voice.” He communicates to us in so many ways, but some of us never hear him because we haven’t taken time to understand the language in which he speaks to us. When we don’t hear God, we go through life experiencing just a shadow of our true potential, calling and impact in life. Understanding God’s communication style to us unlocks the real person within us that he created us to become.
So, how do we understand God’s communication to us, as we deepen the root system to our tree of life? Jesus tells us in John 4:24 that “his Father is looking for those that will worship him in Spirit and in Truth.” He showed us that we will understand God’s voice in both the Word of God and the Spirit and it is when we are able to embrace and operate in both that we begin to see great breakthroughs in our faith and life on earth.
The first is one that is common to most of us in theory, but not all that familiar in reality. It is the Word of God. John 1 tells us that “In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God.” The Word found written in the Bible is truth. It is described as “Logos.” This word is not just text in a book, it is powerful and alive because it comes from God himself. We often forget that it is God speaking to us, to us, as we read the Bible.
How often do we tell ourselves or hear others say that the Bible is boring, hard to understand, or irrelevant? This is definitely what our enemy wants us to think because in reality when we spend enough time with God’s truth to us, reading it, studying it, meditating on it, it actually feeds us in ways that nothing else in life can.
I spent a lot of time reading the Bible on our trip to the UK. I got up earlier than everyone else and spent over an hour every day reading through the Old Testament. Just reading it—and what I read were some of the more challenging parts of Scripture that many of us shy away from. I realized experientially that Jesus was right, “his Word is our daily bread.” It fed me like nothing else has for a long time. It made me feel alive and energized and very hungry for more.
I sometimes wonder if we have ever eaten enough of God’s living Word to us to know that it is the very thing we are hungry for.
The second root system that it is vital that we develop for the challenging times in which is we live is the other side of Truth, the Spirit. This root is one that some people or faith traditions feel comfortable with, but whole segments of the Christian faith have shied away from because it feels unfamiliar and uncomfortable.
But, let me ask you a question: Do you talk to the people in your house? Doesn’t it make sense, then, that the Holy Spirit would speak to us because he lives in our body?
The challenge for us is in discovering the communication style that he uses with each one of us. Some of us see pictures when we pray. Some of us get clear thoughts and impressions. Some of us have dreams. Some see words written across people’s foreheads. Some have reoccurring thoughts that don’t go away until we take action. Some hear gentle whispers. Few of us hear audible words or blaring sounds. God is more subtle than that; and he wants us to seek him to find his communication style to us. The Scripture, the Truth, tells us that “if we seek him, we will find him.”
The first step is to change our mind about the Bible and to realize that we have the opportunity to hear from the One who Created us on a daily basis when we seek him through reading and studying it. The second step is to identify our rhema language and how God speaks to us through it.
The next step is to begin to operate in both realms: “the Father is looking for those that will worship him in Spirit and in Truth. “ As we begin to hear from the Father in both ways we step into a place of maturity because we are communicating in both realms and God can confirm over and over his plans for us. We can move confidently knowing that we are on his path for our lives, even being clear for his plans for our day and every situation.
Deepening our root system in fertile soil is one of the best gifts we can give ourselves. It’s healthier than exercising and eating good food. It will change the way we think which changes the way we live. It deepens our relationships with our spouses, family and friends. It will make our bodies healthy as every thought we think either sends a positive chemical to our body or a negative chemical, depending on what the thought is.
Our root system will remind us of how deeply we are loved by our heavenly father, how valuable our lives are as we are God’s plan for sharing his Son with the world, and will bring great meaning as we live out of God’s unique plan for us.
How to start? First, read your Bible. Sit down and read an entire book in one setting. Think about how different it feels than to read a chapter here and a verse there. Make a commitment to read your Bible every day for your daily food.
Second, drink from the Living Water of the Spirit. Begin to observe when you sense something stirring in you. Take notes of the ways it happens. Begin to act on those promptings because action will bring more of them. Talk about it to other people. You might be surprised to learn that they also have similar experiences.
Finally, remember that a small seed of faith +God’ power=transformed people and transformed cities. We resemble those we know. The more that we come to know God through Spirit and Truth, the more that we look like he does and we do the things he does.
Jesus told his followers in John 14:12-14: “I tell you the truth, anyone who believes in me will do the same works I have done, and even greater works, because I am going to be with the Father. 13 You can ask for anything in my name, and I will do it, so that the Son can bring glory to the Father. 14 Yes, ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it!”
Take this seed and let God plant it in your fertile soil. Then, watch out, things will never be the same!
We have a root system that supports us too. It’s called “God’s voice.” He communicates to us in so many ways, but some of us never hear him because we haven’t taken time to understand the language in which he speaks to us. When we don’t hear God, we go through life experiencing just a shadow of our true potential, calling and impact in life. Understanding God’s communication style to us unlocks the real person within us that he created us to become.
So, how do we understand God’s communication to us, as we deepen the root system to our tree of life? Jesus tells us in John 4:24 that “his Father is looking for those that will worship him in Spirit and in Truth.” He showed us that we will understand God’s voice in both the Word of God and the Spirit and it is when we are able to embrace and operate in both that we begin to see great breakthroughs in our faith and life on earth.
The first is one that is common to most of us in theory, but not all that familiar in reality. It is the Word of God. John 1 tells us that “In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God.” The Word found written in the Bible is truth. It is described as “Logos.” This word is not just text in a book, it is powerful and alive because it comes from God himself. We often forget that it is God speaking to us, to us, as we read the Bible.
How often do we tell ourselves or hear others say that the Bible is boring, hard to understand, or irrelevant? This is definitely what our enemy wants us to think because in reality when we spend enough time with God’s truth to us, reading it, studying it, meditating on it, it actually feeds us in ways that nothing else in life can.
I spent a lot of time reading the Bible on our trip to the UK. I got up earlier than everyone else and spent over an hour every day reading through the Old Testament. Just reading it—and what I read were some of the more challenging parts of Scripture that many of us shy away from. I realized experientially that Jesus was right, “his Word is our daily bread.” It fed me like nothing else has for a long time. It made me feel alive and energized and very hungry for more.
I sometimes wonder if we have ever eaten enough of God’s living Word to us to know that it is the very thing we are hungry for.
The second root system that it is vital that we develop for the challenging times in which is we live is the other side of Truth, the Spirit. This root is one that some people or faith traditions feel comfortable with, but whole segments of the Christian faith have shied away from because it feels unfamiliar and uncomfortable.
But, let me ask you a question: Do you talk to the people in your house? Doesn’t it make sense, then, that the Holy Spirit would speak to us because he lives in our body?
The challenge for us is in discovering the communication style that he uses with each one of us. Some of us see pictures when we pray. Some of us get clear thoughts and impressions. Some of us have dreams. Some see words written across people’s foreheads. Some have reoccurring thoughts that don’t go away until we take action. Some hear gentle whispers. Few of us hear audible words or blaring sounds. God is more subtle than that; and he wants us to seek him to find his communication style to us. The Scripture, the Truth, tells us that “if we seek him, we will find him.”
The first step is to change our mind about the Bible and to realize that we have the opportunity to hear from the One who Created us on a daily basis when we seek him through reading and studying it. The second step is to identify our rhema language and how God speaks to us through it.
The next step is to begin to operate in both realms: “the Father is looking for those that will worship him in Spirit and in Truth. “ As we begin to hear from the Father in both ways we step into a place of maturity because we are communicating in both realms and God can confirm over and over his plans for us. We can move confidently knowing that we are on his path for our lives, even being clear for his plans for our day and every situation.
Deepening our root system in fertile soil is one of the best gifts we can give ourselves. It’s healthier than exercising and eating good food. It will change the way we think which changes the way we live. It deepens our relationships with our spouses, family and friends. It will make our bodies healthy as every thought we think either sends a positive chemical to our body or a negative chemical, depending on what the thought is.
Our root system will remind us of how deeply we are loved by our heavenly father, how valuable our lives are as we are God’s plan for sharing his Son with the world, and will bring great meaning as we live out of God’s unique plan for us.
How to start? First, read your Bible. Sit down and read an entire book in one setting. Think about how different it feels than to read a chapter here and a verse there. Make a commitment to read your Bible every day for your daily food.
Second, drink from the Living Water of the Spirit. Begin to observe when you sense something stirring in you. Take notes of the ways it happens. Begin to act on those promptings because action will bring more of them. Talk about it to other people. You might be surprised to learn that they also have similar experiences.
Finally, remember that a small seed of faith +God’ power=transformed people and transformed cities. We resemble those we know. The more that we come to know God through Spirit and Truth, the more that we look like he does and we do the things he does.
Jesus told his followers in John 14:12-14: “I tell you the truth, anyone who believes in me will do the same works I have done, and even greater works, because I am going to be with the Father. 13 You can ask for anything in my name, and I will do it, so that the Son can bring glory to the Father. 14 Yes, ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it!”
Take this seed and let God plant it in your fertile soil. Then, watch out, things will never be the same!
Monday, September 27, 2010
Missio Lux Arbors Family Missio Community
In a couple of hours, the door will burst open and lots of families will come through it. The children are always the first through the door because they are anxious to come and experience Arbors together. They love their friends, they love being present with others who bless them and make them feel important, and they love to celebrate birthdays with delicious desserts! (and we almost always have at least one birthday to celebrate!)
The parents come in after...bringing food, Bibles, guitars for worship and anything else of importance. They greet one another and ask how their weeks went. Today we are celebrating the new job of one of the women, last week we prayed for God to bring a teaching job and two days later she was offered a job in a low income school where many children don't speak English: a desire of her heart because of her heart for the foreigners and the poor. We just may see a great missio opportunity in her new role too!
Last week we gathered at the home of one family who has the responsibility to keep their roads cleaned up from trash! So, we all put on our orange vests, took our trash bags and combed the sides of the roads for treasures of trash! One girl that went with Bill and I actually found a license plate and she was thrilled with her find. When we gathered back together, we had 9 bags of trash, some happy children and a sense of doing something that took minimal effort but made a big difference. It also helped us to remember about our call by God to help care for the earth.
A Missio Community doesn't have to be complicated or a lot of work. We keep making it simpler and easy to be flexible. Michael Frost gives some easy tips in his book Exiles for how to move in our increasingly post-Christian world by:
Share: life and truth with one another by sharing stories and Scripture
Pray: for one another, the community around us and those that God is calling us to reach out to
Engage: people and our culture with the Gospel
Love: one another by eating and exercising hospitality
Well, have to go now and prepare our home for another week full of life!
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Changing our Minds Changes our Lives
I am studying the brain right now.
I am so amazed at how closely our brain is connected to God's pathways for living in the Bible. The more that we align to his boundaries for us: (the 10 Commandments, the Great Commandment and the Great Commission to start), the healthier we become.
One of the ways that we are seeking to align our lives more closely with Jesus' instructions for us is through huddle. This is our intentional process of coming together to ask two questions, "What is God saying? and How are we responding?" in an atmosphere of support and accountability. The Learning Circle helps us to recognize when we have a "kairos moment," the time when God breaks through and shows us something new.
A kairos moment can be positive or challenging, but they are never neutral. They can be an event or a thought or a moment with the Lord in Scripture. They can be an "aha" in a conversation with a spouse or a friend. They are anything that gets our attention enough to take a next step to "reflection."
I had a kairos moment a few weeks ago regarding eating. We had just gotten back from the UK and all the wonderful food we ate there and as I was preparing to go back on a strict eating plan, I felt the Lord nudge me and say, "Don't try to eat like this until you change your mind about food."
He then showed me a pattern. I eat really healthy at home, but when I go away from home on vacations, retreats, and dinners out, I hesitate to ask for what I need because it makes me feel like I am "high maintenance." So, I end up eating foods that trigger my body in negative ways, starting a cycle that sometimes make me feel out of control.
So, in order for me to live the healthy lifestyle that I desire, I need to change my mind about asking for special treatment with food. I can ask the servers, I can let hosts know in advance what I should not eat, I can prepare in advance for trips and retreats if I am willing to think differently about the idea of asking for what I need.
It's not going to be easy, but at least I am on a different track then knowingly subjecting my body to food that is not good for it. I continue to change my mind about food by telling myself the truth: "I choose to eat a healthy diet because of the positive benefits it brings me through healthy heart and lungs, beautiful skin and hair, a sharp and focused brain, positive energy and a healthy body weight."
I share this with you so you can see how absolutely practical the process of aligning our lives with Jesus' life can be, and the tremendous benefits which come from our decision to ask ourselves the question, "What is God saying to me about this situation?" and "How am I responding?"
I am so amazed at how closely our brain is connected to God's pathways for living in the Bible. The more that we align to his boundaries for us: (the 10 Commandments, the Great Commandment and the Great Commission to start), the healthier we become.
One of the ways that we are seeking to align our lives more closely with Jesus' instructions for us is through huddle. This is our intentional process of coming together to ask two questions, "What is God saying? and How are we responding?" in an atmosphere of support and accountability. The Learning Circle helps us to recognize when we have a "kairos moment," the time when God breaks through and shows us something new.
A kairos moment can be positive or challenging, but they are never neutral. They can be an event or a thought or a moment with the Lord in Scripture. They can be an "aha" in a conversation with a spouse or a friend. They are anything that gets our attention enough to take a next step to "reflection."
I had a kairos moment a few weeks ago regarding eating. We had just gotten back from the UK and all the wonderful food we ate there and as I was preparing to go back on a strict eating plan, I felt the Lord nudge me and say, "Don't try to eat like this until you change your mind about food."
He then showed me a pattern. I eat really healthy at home, but when I go away from home on vacations, retreats, and dinners out, I hesitate to ask for what I need because it makes me feel like I am "high maintenance." So, I end up eating foods that trigger my body in negative ways, starting a cycle that sometimes make me feel out of control.
So, in order for me to live the healthy lifestyle that I desire, I need to change my mind about asking for special treatment with food. I can ask the servers, I can let hosts know in advance what I should not eat, I can prepare in advance for trips and retreats if I am willing to think differently about the idea of asking for what I need.
It's not going to be easy, but at least I am on a different track then knowingly subjecting my body to food that is not good for it. I continue to change my mind about food by telling myself the truth: "I choose to eat a healthy diet because of the positive benefits it brings me through healthy heart and lungs, beautiful skin and hair, a sharp and focused brain, positive energy and a healthy body weight."
I share this with you so you can see how absolutely practical the process of aligning our lives with Jesus' life can be, and the tremendous benefits which come from our decision to ask ourselves the question, "What is God saying to me about this situation?" and "How am I responding?"
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
The Soil in our Lives
This year we planted two tomato plants in our yard. One went directly into the soil in the ground and the other one went into a pot that sits against our outside wall. The difference in how the two plants grew was rather startling.
The first plant that went into the ground grew one tomato. The plant itself never grew and the fruit was rather dismal (even the one tomato got eaten by slugs.) However, the pot backed up against our house had a different experience. It not only grew bigger, but it grew loads of tomatoes, all rather tasty and none affected by the enemy of slugs…
So, what was the difference? I believe the major difference was the soil they were planted in. The plant in the ground was planted into soil that is hard and impacted, and the potted plant went into pure potting soil that is healthy and easy to maneuver.
Jesus got this. He knew that his followers did too as they lived in an agrarian lifestyle. So, one day he told them a story to help them realize how important it is to take care of the soil of our own lives. Read what he says in Mark 4:
3"Listen! A farmer went out to sow his seed. 4As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. 6But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. 7Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants, so that they did not bear grain. 8Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up, grew and produced a crop, multiplying thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times."
The soil really matters in how a plant will grow. It’s obvious that not all conditions are conducive to good growth. Hard impacted soil, like a path that is traveled often, will not even allow a seed to go into the soil. Rocky soil keeps the roots from going down deep, and thorny soil chocks the plants. It’s only the seeds that get into the deep, rich soil will grow a plant that will bear fruit and eventually reproduce.
Jesus’ followers didn’t get it. They shook their heads and told Jesus to make sense when he taught. But, when Jesus explained how important it is for us to consider our own soil in relationship to our growth, the lightbulb went on for them.
Remember that the seed is a mustard seed, the tiniest of all seeds, but when it is planted in fertile, rich soil it can grow to be the largest bush in the garden. We only need a small seed of faith to follow Jesus, but we do need the proper conditions for our soil.
In fact, seeds shouldn’t even be wasted on the soil of the path. Seeds that go into rocky soil will die when any kind of adversity comes its way. Seeds that are planted into thorny soil will get distracted and choked by the worries of this life and the lure of wealth. But, when the soil conditions are right, the one seed grows into a plant that will reproduce itself many times over, Jesus tells us, even a 100 times more than the one seed.
So, obviously, we want to have fertile, rich soil in our lives. But, not so obviously, what is the pathway for getting our soil ready for the seeds to be planted and the harvest to come?
Let’s go back to Jesus’ thinking: what does a soil need to grow healthy plants? Well, it needs to be areated: loosened up so that the soil is easily moved and the seeds can find their place to root. The soil needs to be fed fertilizer. Sun is vital in growing a plant. A seed needs water to grow. Finally, protection: in Seattle, the major protection is from slugs and rotting from too much water!
If our faith is a seed, then the fertilizer is God’s Word. Jesus tells us that he is the Bread of Life and his Word is our daily food (John 6). The sun is himself; a relationship with the Light of the World (John 9). The water is the Living Water which will sustain us (John 4). The aereation is the challenge we face which causes us to allow in even more of Jesus’ life and truth. Finally, the protection comes from the Lord as we trust him to watch over our lives.
I think most of us would agree that the soil of our lives is important, but for me the question is: What are we doing about it?
How are we intentionally feeding our soil and watering the seeds, seeking out the sun on a daily basis and walking through challenge with a recognition of its importance in our growth?
Sometimes we pay a lot of attention to that which others can see. But, in order to grow a strong, healthy tree, we need to pay even more attention to that which is not seen. The Apostle Paul knew this and wrote to the Corinthians in 2nd Cor 4:16-18:
“Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. 17For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 18So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”
Take some time to reflect on this passage. What is the unseen that the Lord wants you to see? Perhaps there is much under the ground that will bring you great joy and overflowing fruit as you continue to prepare the soil of your inner life with Christ.
The first plant that went into the ground grew one tomato. The plant itself never grew and the fruit was rather dismal (even the one tomato got eaten by slugs.) However, the pot backed up against our house had a different experience. It not only grew bigger, but it grew loads of tomatoes, all rather tasty and none affected by the enemy of slugs…
So, what was the difference? I believe the major difference was the soil they were planted in. The plant in the ground was planted into soil that is hard and impacted, and the potted plant went into pure potting soil that is healthy and easy to maneuver.
Jesus got this. He knew that his followers did too as they lived in an agrarian lifestyle. So, one day he told them a story to help them realize how important it is to take care of the soil of our own lives. Read what he says in Mark 4:
3"Listen! A farmer went out to sow his seed. 4As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. 6But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. 7Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants, so that they did not bear grain. 8Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up, grew and produced a crop, multiplying thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times."
The soil really matters in how a plant will grow. It’s obvious that not all conditions are conducive to good growth. Hard impacted soil, like a path that is traveled often, will not even allow a seed to go into the soil. Rocky soil keeps the roots from going down deep, and thorny soil chocks the plants. It’s only the seeds that get into the deep, rich soil will grow a plant that will bear fruit and eventually reproduce.
Jesus’ followers didn’t get it. They shook their heads and told Jesus to make sense when he taught. But, when Jesus explained how important it is for us to consider our own soil in relationship to our growth, the lightbulb went on for them.
Remember that the seed is a mustard seed, the tiniest of all seeds, but when it is planted in fertile, rich soil it can grow to be the largest bush in the garden. We only need a small seed of faith to follow Jesus, but we do need the proper conditions for our soil.
In fact, seeds shouldn’t even be wasted on the soil of the path. Seeds that go into rocky soil will die when any kind of adversity comes its way. Seeds that are planted into thorny soil will get distracted and choked by the worries of this life and the lure of wealth. But, when the soil conditions are right, the one seed grows into a plant that will reproduce itself many times over, Jesus tells us, even a 100 times more than the one seed.
So, obviously, we want to have fertile, rich soil in our lives. But, not so obviously, what is the pathway for getting our soil ready for the seeds to be planted and the harvest to come?
Let’s go back to Jesus’ thinking: what does a soil need to grow healthy plants? Well, it needs to be areated: loosened up so that the soil is easily moved and the seeds can find their place to root. The soil needs to be fed fertilizer. Sun is vital in growing a plant. A seed needs water to grow. Finally, protection: in Seattle, the major protection is from slugs and rotting from too much water!
If our faith is a seed, then the fertilizer is God’s Word. Jesus tells us that he is the Bread of Life and his Word is our daily food (John 6). The sun is himself; a relationship with the Light of the World (John 9). The water is the Living Water which will sustain us (John 4). The aereation is the challenge we face which causes us to allow in even more of Jesus’ life and truth. Finally, the protection comes from the Lord as we trust him to watch over our lives.
I think most of us would agree that the soil of our lives is important, but for me the question is: What are we doing about it?
How are we intentionally feeding our soil and watering the seeds, seeking out the sun on a daily basis and walking through challenge with a recognition of its importance in our growth?
Sometimes we pay a lot of attention to that which others can see. But, in order to grow a strong, healthy tree, we need to pay even more attention to that which is not seen. The Apostle Paul knew this and wrote to the Corinthians in 2nd Cor 4:16-18:
“Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. 17For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 18So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”
Take some time to reflect on this passage. What is the unseen that the Lord wants you to see? Perhaps there is much under the ground that will bring you great joy and overflowing fruit as you continue to prepare the soil of your inner life with Christ.
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