DAILY BREAD #34

 Our Daily Bread #34

To see it like God

THE SECRET GARDEN Read: Proverbs 4:20-27 Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it sring the issues of life. - Proverbs 4:23      The Secret Garden, a novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett, tells the story of Mary. A young girl who goes to live with her wealthy uncle Archibald on his estate in England. Mary gets to know Dickon, a working-class boy who loves nature. The two children discover a fenced-in garden that Mary's uncle has locked up because it reminds him of his deceased wife. The garden looks dead because of neglect. But Dickon assures Mary that with  proper tending, it will recover with new life. With the children's help, the secret garden eventually bursts forth with colorful, fragrant blooms.      All of us have a secret garden of the heart. How we tend it will determine what speech and behavior it produces. Proverbs wisely admonishes us: "keep your heart with all diligence. for out of it spring the issues of life" (Prov.4:23). The word keep means "to watch or guard with fidelity." Guarding what we take into our hearts and monitoring our response will determine what takes root there. As we remove the thorns of resentment weeds of lust, and roots of bitterness, we can replace them with the fruit of the Spirit: "love, joy, peace, lonsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control" (Gal.5:22-23).      Are you tending the garden of your heart? - Dennis Fisher Think not alone of outward form; Its beauty will depart; But cultivate the Spirit's fruits That grow within the heart. -  D. DeHaan GOD WANTS YOU TO WATER THE SEED HE'S PLANTED IN YOUR HEART.                            DWELL WITH UNDERSTAND Read: Ephesians 5:25-33 Husbands ... dwell with [your wives] with understanding ... that your prayers may not be hindered. - Peter 3:7      God wants you to water the seed He's planted in your heart. my wife, Marlene and I, have been married for some 30 years, and have learned to appreciate each other and enjoy each other's unique qualities. But even after all these years she still surprises me from time to time. Recently, she reacted to a news report in a way that was opposite to what I expected. I told her, "Wow, that shocks me. I never would have thought you would land there on this issue." Her response? "Your job is to figure me out, and my job is to keep you guessing!" The responsibility to understand your spouse is what keeps married life interesting and stretching.      This is an ancient challenge. Peter wrote: "Husbands, likewise, dwell with them with understanding, giving honor to the wife, as to the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life, that your prayers may not be hindered" (1 Peter 3:7). He saw it as a priority for the husband to become a student of his wife - to know and understand her. Without that commitment to understanding his spouse, a husband is not capable of doing what comes next - honoring her.      As a husband, if I am to love my wife as Christ loves the church(Eph.5:25), it will begin with the intentional effort to grow in my understanding of her. - Bill Crowder MARRAIGE THRIVES IN A CLIMATE OF LOVE AND RESPECT.                           BETWEEN THE ENTERNITIES Read: Hebrews 11:8-16 These all died in faith not having received the promise, but having seen them afar off were assured of them. - Hebrews 11:13      In the television western "Broken Trail," cowboy Prentice Ritter must provide words of comfort at the funeral of a friend. Uncomfortable in the situation, he quietly says, "We are all travelers in this world. From the sweet grass to the packing house, birth till death, we travel between the eternities."      In a sense, he was right. We are travelers - pilgrims - in a world that offers no lasting peace or rest. And while there is only one eternity, we travel between eternity past and eternity future, waiting for promises of a home and a hope that will last forever - promises yet to be fulfilled.      In those times of struggle and despair when our pilgrimage of life is difficult, it is helpful to remember that though we are pilgrims who travel between the eternities, we have a Savior who is the Lord and Master of eternity. He has offered us the promise of life with Him forever and has secured that promise with His own sacrifice. This was the promise spoken of by the writer of Hebrews 11:13.      We are locked into the moments and hours and days of life, but we look ahead by faith in Christ. One day, we will experience the promises of eternity when faith will become sight as we see Him.      That hope is what lifts us beyond life between the eternities to a joy that is eternal. - Bill Crowder  Guide me, O Thou great Jehovah, Pilgrim through this barren land; I am weak, but Thou art mighty, Hold me with Thy powerful hand. - Williams FOR TIME AND ETERNITY, JESUS IS ALL WE NEED.                                   POSIES Read: 2 Corinthians 2:14-17 We are to God the fragrance of Christ. - 2 Cor.2:15      One morning I was looking at a bouquet of flowers in a vase on an old carpenter's bench in front of our "window on the world." I realized the bouquet was spent; its leaves had wilted and the blossoms were falling. The same morning I also read George Herbert and quite by "accident" came across his poem titled "Life." In it Herbert talks about a "posy" (a bouquet of flowers) he gathered so that he could smell the fragrance. But, as he put it, "Time did beckon to the flowers, and they by noon most cunningly did steal away, and withered in my hand."      The loss of his flowers caused him at first to see "time's gentle admonition." Herbert wrote that it "[made] my mind to smell my fatal day: yet sugaring the suspicion." Yet even as the wilted flowers reminded him of his own death, he found in the metaphor something that sweetened the thought. Herbert concluded: "Farewell dear flowers, sweetly your time ye spent, Fit, while ye lived, for smell or ornament, And after death for cures. I follow straight without complaints or grief, Since if my scent be good, I care not, if It be as short as yours."      What wisdom in this poem! Our time, however short, may be spent "sweetly" - a sweet fragrance of Christ to others (2 Cor. 2:14-16). Should not this be our prayer each day as we arise? - David Roper A GODLY LIFE IS A FRAGRANCE THAT DRAWS OTHERS TO CHRIST.                                 GOD IS GOOD Read: Genesis 3:1-7 Good and upright is the Lord; therefore He teaches sinners in the way. - Psalm 25:8      The phrase "God is good, all the time; all the time, God is good" is repeated by many Christians almost like a mantra. I often wonder if they really believe it or even think about what they're saying. I sometimes doubt God's goodness - especially when it feels as though God isn't hearing or answering my prayers. I assume that if others were more honest, they'd admit they feel the same way.      The serpent planted a doubt in Eve's mind about whether God had been good to her and had her best interest at heart. He said, "God knows that in the day you eat of [the fruit] your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil" (Gen. 3:5). Satan tried to convince her to believe that God was holding out on her and not giving her something really good - more knowledge.      Do you feel as though God isn't answering your prayers? Are you tempted to doubt His goodness? When I feel this way, I have to remind myself that my circumstances aren't the barometer of God's love and goodness - the cross is. He has shown how good He is by giving His only Son Jesus to die for our sin. We can't rely on our feelings. But day by day as we choose to trust Him more, we learn to believe with confidence that God is good - all the time. - Anne Cetas  When you are tempted to deny God's goodness, love, and grace, Look to the cross of Calvary, Where Jesus took your place. - Spec CIRCUMSTANCES AREN'T THE BAROMETER OF GOD'S LOVE AND GOODNESS - THE CROSS IS.                             MAKING RESTITUTION Read: Luke 19:1-9 He shall make restitution for his trespass in full. - Numbers 5:7      During the compilation of the Oxford English Dictionary, managing editor James Murray received thousands of definitions from Dr.William Chester Minor. They were always sent in by mail and never brought in personally. Murray was curious about this brilliant man, so he went to visit him. He was shocked to find that Minor was incarcerated in an asylum for the criminally insane.      Years earlier, while in a delusional state, Minor had shot an innocent man whom he thought had been tormenting him. Later he was filled with remorse and began sending money to support the widow and her family. Minor was imprisoned for the rest of his life but he found practical ways of easing the pain of his victims and contributing to society through his work on the dictionary.      When the dishonest tax collector Zacchaeus heard Jesus' message of grace, he chose to return more than what he had extorted from others. "Look, Lord.... if I have taken anything from anyone by false accusation, I restore fourfold" (Luke 19:8).      The gospel of grace stirred Zacchaeus to help those he had harmed.      Have you wronged someone? What steps will you take to help make things right? - Dennis Fisher Forgive me, Lord, for all my sins, The many wrongs that I have done; And show me how to make things right, Before the setting of the sun. - Bosch MAKING RESTITUTION REVEALS GENGUINE REPENTANCE.                               IDENTITY THEFT Read: Matthew 5:21-26 Whosoever us angray with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment. - Matthew 5:22      Several years ago while having lunch with a friend, a white man called me "boy." Shock gave way to anger and hurt. My friend even shed tears. Why? The term "boy" was an insulting label used of black men in the US during slavery, an attempt to steal their identity by demoting them to less than men. As that ugly word recklessly barreled its way through my soul, I wanted to respond with an equally unkind name. But some ancient words from our Master about murder and anger changed my mind.      As Jesus was teaching His followers. He quoted the sixth commandment - "You shall not murder" - and the penalty for breaking it (Matt.5:21). Then He gave a fuller interpretation.      Taking someone's life was not limited to physical murder; you could show contempt for someone through name-calling and be just as guilty.      In Jewish culture, to call someone "Raca" or "Fool" (v.22) was the equivalent of calling someone empty-headed or an idiot. It was used to demean and demote another. What makes name-calling so damaging is that it insults the God who created that person in His image!      Jesus taught His followers that the weight of our neighbor's glory is a burden we carry daily. If we follow His teaching, we won't be guilty of identity theft. - Marvin Williams Teach me to love, this is my prayer, May the compassion of Thy heart I share; Ready a cup of water to give, May I unselfishly for others live. - Peterson TO INSULT THE CREATURE IS TO INSULT THE CREATOR.