The Old Apple Tree

Fruitfulness

John 15:16

you did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit - fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name.

When we moved into our house there was an old apple tree at the bottom of the garden. The house was built in the 1930's, and I think the tree had been there since then. It did not have a straight trunk, and started life as a dwarf tree variety. Consequently it grew quite twisted with gnarled lumps on its branches and knots of wood. In the early years half of it lost its bark and became dried and rotten. The  rotten branches dropped off eventually. It produced large sour green cooking apples, in late Autumn and I would slice and freeze the cooked slices of apple to use in pies throughout the year. Then we had a series of dry summers where the crop was sparse, and the tree was largely ignored. Then when the stubble fields, left from harvesting wheat,  were set alight after being harvested, the tree caught fire, and half of it was burned down. It recovered though and the next hot summer there was a plague of wasps around it, so no one went near it. That summer I had never seen so many woodpeckers: green and spotted, lesser and greater. All came to the tree to rest. I realised then, that they were eating the wasps - where there had been a wasp nest in the ground, next to the foot of the tree, the green woodpeckers had eaten every one them.

It made me think that in human terms our lives grow through different seasons of fortune and misfortune. For example, the greatest joy is having a new baby in the family, but the responsibility for keeping it safe, having sleepless nights and worrying over the little ones future is a huge pressure on parents. When you struggle in this new phase of life, and realise that your carefree life has ended, it can seem that this stage will never end, you have to mature, become less selfish, more motivated to care for your children. Isn't it true that each stage of of family life brings new treasures, but also new aspects of it, also create stress and worry?

This year we had an unusual amount of rain in the Spring, then a warm and pleasant summer. We also had an 'Indian Summer' in September with the warmest temperatures ever known.  I noticed that the apple tree and huge apples; each with a blush of pink colour on one side - they looked appetising. I picked one and risked taking a bite. I could not believe it, but the apples tasted sweet! They had transformed from cooking apples, to eating apples! 

Our church has had major building work done on the inside - the largely dark and dusty interior, with it's Victorian pews, and old iron gratings and cold, tiled floors have been totally renovated. It has oak floors, under-floor heating, new comfortable chairs and clean stained -glass windows that let in light. The Bishop came to rededicate the building to the service of God. Following this service there was a lunch for the church members, and all the architects, builders and renovators so that we could all celebrate these achievements.

How proud I was to take a huge apple pie, to the lunch event, made from apples from that craggy, old apple tree. The recipe needed barely any sugar. If that tree had ever had a diary written, about its life, this occasion, would have been its highest accolade - to have its  produce, the most luscious, sweet and rosy apples, to grace the table, of a Bishop's lunch, well that would have been unthinkable in the early years.

Is your life like the tree? Which stage is it at? Is it dry and barren? Ask Jesus to be your Saviour, to set you free from the burdens of Sin, so that you can live your life in freedom and filled with hope for the future. 

Is it scorched and burned by arguments, unhappiness, and a feeling of being powerless? God's love has the power to transform situations, to move mountains of disappointment, to heal the damage that other people do. Pray and confess your part of the damage, pray for the power to forgive others who hurt and abused you, even if you were innocent of any wrong, because He is the God of justice. His Holy Spirit will grow new branches, that will rewrite your personal history so that you can live a happy life once more.

Is it that, no matter what you do to try and change things, you are beset by failure and problems? Like the wasps, too numerous, like one powerful enemy. Keeping you away from the best that life has to offer? God sends solutions that we could not begin to imagine, like the woodpeckers - blessed by a feast of insects! We need to pray with honesty, be open with Him, tell him what you need, rather than want. His answers are more than you could have earned by trying to solve problems by yourself. They always surprise and delight, those who are willing to ask Our Loving and powerful Father in Heaven.

Galations 5;22

But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

There is nothing to stop us being fruitful, whatever stage in Life we are. Ask Him to show you how your Life may bless others today. Like this Year's apples, large, abundant and ripe, may God place in us the courage to face the future,  and fill us with the fruits of the spirit,  that our friends and families may experience the joy of knowing Him.  Amen

Ephesians 5:8,9

Live as children of light (for the fruit of light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) and find out what pleases God.

Purchased

Purchased

An idea really struck me today, in a way I hadn't really thought about before. I wasn't on one of my lovely walks but in the supermarket. Whilst I was busily filling my 'shopping bag for life' and saving the planet from plastic bag overload, one of the items fell off the belt, a piece of shrink wrapped fish. I considered for a moment whether the food had been spoilt at all. Unusually, the item had fallen after the checkout girl had passed it over the light. At that instant, I  realised, that I now owned that fish, whatever state it was in. 

Isn't that like being a Christian? Well Jesus has purchased us, once and for all. His great sacrifice saved us from eternal damnation; we cannot be ’unpurchased’. Once that commitment to follow Him has been made, we are forever part of His kingdom. Some folk may lose their way, and whatever Sin is committed after coming to Christ will have to be reckoned up; hopefully before their life ends as it wasn't in the original account. A bit like starting an unexpected overdraft at the bank; it is putting off the payment as a kind of goodwill deal. If a Christian finds faith once more those sins need to be brought to the foot of the cross. Not just by saying sorry to God, but having to make real and often difficult changes, to enable the forgiven person to walk that narrow path to  spiritual fulfillment once more. Once you have passed through the light, that is making a commitment to Christ, you have to keep short accounts with God; if your life falls by the wayside, you need the support of other Christians to help you back up again, you cannot lose the Lord from your life. 

1 Corinthians 6:19-20

Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; for you were bought at a price. Therefore honour God with your body.

Revelation 7:13,14

Then one of the elders asked me, "These in White robes - who are they, and where did they come from?"

"I answered, "Sir, you know."

And he said, "These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

 He watches over and waits, full of love, not judging, even the angels in heaven say prayers for you. It is always about choosing Him and not the other way around. Also, it is not in the spirit of, what's in it for me if I do, but choosing to live for Him, is freedom. The knots in your situation, the parts in Life you cannot change, the sad feelings, frustrations, and grief, begin to unravel; through prayer and an increase in faith. How does Faith increase? By the Grace of God, it is a gift that gathers gradually, like feathers developing on a chick; the feathers change, become stronger, more like quills. Stick with Jesus because one day, you will open those wings and fly!

A Heart for God

Our heart is where our passions lie, it is where we find our motivation for what we do. It is the centre of our thoughts, where we yearn inwardly, where we dare to dream. In this time of soaking prayer, let us lay our Hearts open before God. What are the things that we personally live for? Do we yearn to achieve more? And what does that perceived achievement look like from God's perspective? Are we feeling burdened by health concerns, or worried about issues within our family circle? Are we nurturing dreams that no-one knows about? That are just between us and God? But gathering dust in the corner of our mind. God's view of our life is higher and greater than ours. What are the barriers to receiving more of the father's heart into our own heart?

Psalm 53 v10 says

Create in me a pure heart, O God and renew a steadfast spirit in me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.

A heart that is right with God, spiritually, is able to receive more of His love. But our heart may contain less desirable passions, the sins of being selfish rather than godly, a love of material comforts, or we are intent on amassing wordly wealth: maybe we have a secretly rebellious side to our nature, that chooses self preservation rather than stepping out in faith, or another kind of disobedience like having a tendency towards procrastination, rather than meeting a challenging situation by letting God take the lead.

It as though our wordly nature can sculpt out holes, in our heart like those in this ornament, and this causes barriers to us receiving the whole of God's love, power and grace, that He wants to lavish upon us,  our pared down heart lessens our capacity to receive.

Lord we ask that you would help us in our weaknesses to get our hearts right with you.

When we became a Christian God anointed our lives with His Holy spirit. In Acts the holy spirit came upon the disciples in tongues of fire. 

This ornament reminds me that His Holy Spirit burns inside our heart like a small flame.

2Timothy 1:6 exhorts us to ...

...fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God did not give us a spirit of fear, but a spirit of power, of love and of self- discipline.

And God has the ability to give us a new heart, a heart that is  more perfectly aligned to His will.

Ezekiel 36: 26, 27

I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. I will put my spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees.

If we delight ourselves in the Lord, He is then the desire of our hearts, He is the one we long for, He is the one we seek. Nothing is greater than finding ourselves in the presence of God.

Psalm 16:11

In your presence is fulness and joy; At your right hand are pleasures for evermore.

Dandelion Clocks

Dandelion Clocks

Psalm 104

He makes the wind his messengers

What a masterpiece of propagation a dandelion is. A globe of gossamer, so light and transparent, that the wind transforms it into a tour de force for planting new seeds. Imagine if we as Christians were like that. How many seeds could we have sown in our lifetime? Whom have you told about God's saving love? How many ways have you demonstrated God's love to the folk who have crossed your path? In that ethereal ball, imagine there were a hundred seeds, and that they, like a hundred moments, were events in your life. Times when you comforted someone who was ill, spoke words of kindness where others did not, gave money in secret, believed the best of someone, encouraged, when it would have been easier to give up on them.

In this unusually dry spring weather, I went to the park, and on this day, it was like walking through a veil of white. I had never seen so many dandelion seeds filling the air as on that breezy day. People waved their arms as though coming upon a biblical pestilence of flies, batting these tiny seed fairies from their faces, lest they swallow any. 

Such a scene, struck a thought about perseverance; these vulnerable seeds, so flimsy, powered at random by the wind, which elevates them at just the right moment, have such great power and effectiveness in sowing for the future. As I looked on the ground, I saw bare stalks, millions of them, no wonder there was a fog of seeds. It was almost like when migrating birds flock and then suddenly take flight, it felt like, this was the day nominated for dandelions to take over the green spaces.

1Corinthians 2:4

My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power, so that your faith might not rest on men's wisdom, but on God's power.

It is when the supernatural power of the Holy spirit impacts on a person's life that the seeds of the kingdom are sown. We are like the wind, the vehicle for the power of God.

1 Corinthians 3:16

Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's spirit lives in you?

It is in our own relationships these seeds are planted. If the seed is planted in willing soil, another life will be transformed and saved by the Grace of God. By acts of kindness, going out of our usual comfort zone to help someone, demonstrating His love, leading by example or having such empathy with another person, that we may be Christ's own heart to them; weeping then consoling; listening and afterwards discerning God's will; praying and lifting their brokenness to God's love. 

1 Corinthians 3:6

 I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow.

Paul is explaining here about different encounters, between believers and non-believers that can affect the spiritual life of a person.  From a willingness to receive the Word, a new Christian finds a new desire grows within them. They begin to hear how God is making a calling on their life; it then allows each believer to develop their own relationship with God.

Think about those known to you, who will you be meeting with today? Could you pray for them before you meet? And ask God for the wisdom to make an impact however large or small, in the events of that meeting. If in a hundred such encounters, a hundred seeds were sown, and multiply that by members of your fellowship, then we might add a double zero to the amount of lives changed to fullness in the grace of God. Amen to that! What is needed is a little courage and forethought; then we might experience a day like the one I witnessed in the park - a day like that in spiritual terms would surely be a great revival!

Opportunity

Opportunity 

I am growing some new potatoes in a pink plastic bucket. It lessens the back - breaking digging you see. Also, I keep it in the potting shed; frost free, and bring it out in full view of the sun on bright sunny days. I reckon with the chlorophyll in the leaves, manufacturing plant food from sunlight, it will make those spuds taste even better. On one such day, I noticed that a plump little garden spider had dropped onto the compost, and was running wildly, around and around. This dark, moist, hidey hole that he had found for himself, this dark and secret place had suddenly become a place of threat and vulnerability. Call me daft if you must, but I thought about the futility of its plight: running round without end, the sides too smooth and slippery for him to climb out. I didn't want to pick him up in case I hurt him and with the speed he was going he could have risked losing limbs. I had a brainwave. I put a flimsy strip of paper, one end touching the surface of the soil, and the other end touching the ground. It was not very stiff, and the paper, torsioned and twisted in the middle. Oh well I might just see if anything were to happen to resolve his predicament. Do you know within twenty seconds, I looked back and he had gone! He saw an opportunity and took it. He had climbing skills but, like Superman under the influence of Kryptonite, had lost his powers, in the plastic bucket. No one had taught him how to climb and twist around on top of the twisted part; did he hang upside down?

It made me think about emotions that we do not let to the surface. They stay hidden in a dark place. Would we really want to be free of them? Can we use opportunities to be free? Or maybe some pet problems are stumbling blocks that are so familiar to us like a physical impediment; they could become part of who we are. We may regard them as immovable and unchangeable. It reminds me of the paralysed man who used an opportunity to be healed.

Luke 5: 18 - 20

Some men came carrying a paralytic on a mat and tried to take him into the house to lay him before Jesus. When they could not find a way to do this because of the crowd, they went up on to the roof  and lowered him on his mat through the tiles into the middle of the crowd, right in front of Jesus. When Jesus saw their faith he said 'Friend your sins are forgiven.'

The ill man was immobile. He needed his friends. Jesus saw the faith of the friends; they knew what to do. They were persistent. They loved their friend greatly, and each man had a vibrant, 'take action' faith. Jesus in this instance said ' Friend your sins are forgiven.' He knew the dark secrets, which had disempowered the bed-ridden man. Nevertheless, the man had allowed himself to be vulnerable; and had gone along with what his friends thought was good, he trusted their judgment. Jesus would have been moved by the paralysed man's willingness to be brought forward.

We may have pockets of unforgiveness in our hearts, that remain buried deeper, underneath our day to day concerns. These stumbling blocks can be the most difficult to overcome. Some may be so hidden we have forgotten how they got there. We need friends in good spiritual health: persons who will travel with us, in our faith journey; who can lead us to Jesus in prayer. They will help us to see opportunities and encourage us to take them.

James 1: 19 - 22

My dear brothers, take note of this, everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, for a man's anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires. Therefore get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent, and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you. Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.

God calls us to action: to use the opportunities that He gives us.

James 1: 25

But the man who looks intently into the perfect law, that gives freedom and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it - he will be blessed in what he does.

Lord Jesus search my heart, my past sins, even those that  I have covered over, and tried to forget; cleanse me from holding on to sins of the past, sins of omission, the things I should have done, sins that have paralysed me from moving forward spiritually. Help me to be aware of  the opportunity to change; to choose freedom in Christ; if I only can trust in Him, and have the desire to move forward, then Lord, I pray that you would meet me in my difficulty, so that I could stand before you upright, honest and free and ready to serve you.  Amen.

If a friend asks you, can I pray with you? What would your answer be? If the Lord asks you to go forward and meet a new challenge, to change where you live, or where you work, or even to give more time listening to Him: How would any of us answer? 

The garden spider ran to freedom from an instinct to survive, borne out of fear. We who know a loving God, we should be moved to change out of love. Opportunities, bring risks, and people of faith run to take them. 

A Case of Mistaken Identity

Charlock                                                 oilseed rape

I live near fields of oilseed rape. You can't miss the vibrant yellow swathes of flowers, robust, starting to pod. I noticed when I was driving along the main road, tall yellow plants, apparently escapees from the crop. I thought how persistent that seed must be that it can flourish on stony outcrops in the road: as though the buildings and roads could not diminish it's  survival under any conditions: not so, however. These plants growing singly and away from the field are impostors. They look hard to distinguish from the main crop, but they are in fact, called Charlock. Even the seeds are similar in both plants.  Often only scrutiny of the plants side by side, the Charlock and the oilseed rape, can reveal the true identity of each. The Charlock is a very invasive weed, also known as field mustard, and can damage the value of the crop by undermining the quality of the true seed. This weed also produces two kinds of seed, a darker brown seed and a lighter brown; the lighter brown tends to take root straight away, but the darker seed it produces, can lie dormant, bursting into life at a later date, and so avoid detection in the initial weeding out. The plant needs to be removed by decapitation, or burning, before the seeds have time to drop. The Charlock's ability to reseed itself, and swarm through the crop, cheapening the seed it produces, is like a metaphor for sin, ruining lives.

Hebrews 6:7,8

Land that drinks in rain often falling on it and that produces a crop useful for those for whom it is farmed receives a blessing from God. But land that produces thorns and thistles is worthless and is in danger of being cursed. In the end it will be burned.

 I remember once making a promise to God that I would start the day with quiet time, reading the bible and spending time in prayer. However, whilst making breakfast, I would start reading the newspaper and I would get so drawn in to the gossip, and headlines, that my original plan never happened. I even said I would only look at the cover, that too was so distracting, that the quiet time never happened. I really had to steel myself to only read the paper when I got in from work. 

As Christians repentance before the cross is a key part of our faith; but it is the innocuous activities that can lead to greater problems. For years I did not want to be too different to anyone else, in case they thought I was a stuffy, lack lustre, God squad member. This wanting to fit in is a tricky path to follow: but God knows, and waits patiently for our eyes to be fully fixed on Him. We need to be careful of the company we keep so as not to expose our thinking to sinful attitudes. We know that Jesus was a friend of all sinners, but he kept company with them, fully assured of who he was. Now I pray before I go out, that the Lord will give me the key to open doors for Him; in random meetings, casual conversations; I try to be alert to how He might use me. 

Galatians 3:22

But the scripture declares that the whole world is a prisoner of sin, so that what was promised, being given through faith in Jesus Christ, might be given to those who believe.

I had two people come to my house, with a leaflet, with a picture of Jesus with open arms, preaching; there were a few quotes from the Bible on it too. They started to talk about having faith in Jesus. I explained that I was already a Christian believer. Strangely though, they went on trying to convince me. I asked them if they were Jehovah's Witnesses. They did not give a yes or no answer, but said, well yes, we do believe in Jesus. Then one of them blurted out, but we do not believe that he is the Son of God. There was a hiatus of silence, a pregnant pause, and then they turned and left. No other words were necessary, as he had explained the fundamental difference between what we both believed. Why, I wondered did they promote Jesus and the Bible in their literature, when they knew that what they believed was so different about his work and teaching. It reminded me of the Charlock plant; it looked almost the same until you examined it closely.

Revelation 22:19

If anyone takes words away from this book of prophecy, God will take away from him his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.

Are there any innocent looking 'weeds' creeping into your life? At work, our colleagues will make coarse jokes, swear or pass on e-mails that you would rather not read. Our walk with God is not to have a 'holier than thou attitude', or be in any way judgmental, we will leave that to God; we need to be in the world, but not part of it, assured of who we are in Christ.  

1John 3:9,10

No-one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God's seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God.

... Anyone who does not do what is right is not a child of God; nor is anyone who does not love his brother.

God's Word, the scriptures have been planted into each one of us, like seeds, those seeds need light and water to grow. Our reading of biblical truths is the food for our spiritual growth, and will allow our outlook on life, to be Christ-like as we find our identity, the person Christ intended us to be, before we knew what it was to sin. 

Luke 6:44,45

Each tree is recognised by its fruit. People do not pick figs from thorn bushes, or grapes from briers. The good man brings good things out of the good stored  in his heart, the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks. 

As our attitudes and thoughts are aligned with His will, so we may produce an abundant crop of good works:  enabled to show His love to the lost and broken-hearted. Our motivation will not be sprinkled with the seeds of doubt or insecurity; but we will be empowered by the Holy Spirit's leading, in loving the unloved people, those cast aside by society, for they are our true neighbours and whom Jesus also weeps over.

Blue Sky Thinking

Blue Sky Thinking

Ephesians 4:31 - 

Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as Christ God forgave you.

When out walking I often lie flat, on a grassy spot and look up at the sky. We take what's directly above for granted; it is not in our eyeline. It takes effort to look up. You know what? It means that you really have to lie back, and let go physically, relaxing everything that is tense. Letting go mentally takes a little longer; but gradually you can release yourself from stress, oppressive ideas, and worries about the future. Is it something to do with our culture in the west? The idea, that sitting or lying on bare earth, is a risk too high to take: too unclean and spontaneous, for a modern adult. Are we mere human magnets for germs, earwigs and small things that cling? Such unplanned events have no business in our stringently clean lives, with houses scoured with cleaning products. Make no mistake though; I do check where I am sitting first, to avoid the rabbit droppings and such like. It does however, take courage, to have time out, and stop being busy. Living in a modern society, we lose our connection to what is obvious and natural. Do we lose the simplicity of who we are? : lost in a maze of man made confusion. Lying down is risky; like the showing of a soft white underbelly, in the animal world. It can leave you vulnerable to an approaching stranger, who could dial 999, perform CPR or take you for idiot, it's just unBritish. 

Ephesians 5:2

and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to god.

But ... on a sunny day with the sound of a skylark nearby, the peace absorbs into you, like litmus paper, when dipped into an alkaline solution: it changes your perceptions from acidic red to alkaline blue. The thrill of looking into a blue sky is like refocusing yourself through a new perspective. How small are we in the scheme of things? How vast the breadth and beauty of nature? It caresses all the senses - the warmth of the sun on your skin, the smell of grassiness, the buzz of a bee, all experienced whilst gazing into the ocean in reverse. Now, when laid bare emotionally before God: What does He see? He sees a person that He is in love with. He says let me take those burdens from you. Just be. Stay in my presence for a little while. 

Ephesians 3:16-18

I pray that out of the glorious riches he may strengthen you with power, through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ.

As you give up your struggle, you see all the ways in which your life has been blessed and a wellspring of praise rises up in you, like the poles of two magnets aligned together; a powerful force, then interaction and a mutual attraction. What a gift to enjoy!