The Daily Scroll - Buried or Planted?

 The cares of life so easily encompass us. Life can become like a tidal wave of challenges that lifts us up and pushes us away from where we want to be. We can come to the place where our enthusiasm for our  faith wanes and we ask ourselves, “Am I just burried here?”

“I want to do more, but all my dreams of service to the Lord seem unattainable, nay impossible. Are they just dreams, burried here with me?”  

Take the lowly acorn for instance, wedged and burried underground. If it could, it might say the same thing. But what the acorn doesn’t know is that it’s not burried, it’s planted. Therefore there’s an expectation of growth. There’s an expectation that one day the tiny acorn will become a mighty oak, and it’s leaves will provide shade for those who are weary of the sun, and its branches, a home for those who need a place to build their nest. 

No my friend, you’re not burried, you’re planted with an expectation of growth. Cheer up! It will happen. God has a plan and you’re a part of it. The Bible teaches us, 

“The righteous will flourish like a palm tree, they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon; planted in the house of the Lord, they will flourish in the courts of our God” (ESV) (Psalm 92:12-13)

Give yourself some time and you’ll see yourself burst through from the ground when you least expect it.

The Daily Scroll - I Am The Lord Thy God

 Wake up world! Those who are the called of the Lord wake up! I was watching television and saw a “man on the street” interview of various people. He was asking political questions. Some people walked right on by without responding, while others stood and gave lengthy opinions. Watching it made me wonder, what would it be like if Jesus walked out amongst the crowd with a microphone and asked questions of passersby?

What if he asks, “Who is your God?” I suspect some people would quickly walk by and ignore him without responding, while others might stop and try to answer his question about their God. Various gods may be mentioned, but the Christians would have a more personal story, a testimony of how God helped them in one situation or another. 

Then there’s the young man who would pause, look Jesus in the eyes and fall to his knees with head bowed. I can see Lord Jesus gently put his hand under the young man’s chin and gently lift it until their eyes meet. Their surroundings seemingly disappear as Lord Jesus asks, “Who do you say that I am?”

With trembling lips the young man says, “You are Jesus, the Son of the living God.” The glow of the Holy Spirit shines from around the countenance of Jesus as He replies. “Man has not revealed this to you my son, but only God our Father.  Hide this truth deep in your heart.” And then He was gone!

I have to ask myself if I would recognize Jesus? Would you? Are we close enough to Him? Or is He just a character in a book? I ask myself and so should we all, because He is coming soon.  Not as a nan on the street interviewer with a microphone, but in the clouds with the last trump sounding and the shout of the Archangel.

Jesus asked this question of Peter as recorded in the Bible. 

“But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”

Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”

Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven.”