Patiently waiting

One of the joys and frustrations of sewing seeds is waiting to see what will germinate. I'm learning that I haven't quite figured out the full potential of seeds and what the germination rate will be and am tending to sew too many seeds in one tray. I tried removing some seedlings from a tray too quickly and they were too fragile to move and I ended up having to chuck the whole tray and start over.

That's the secret. In life we plant seeds but because become impatient, we rip the ground up before the seedlings are ready and as a result destroy the crop. We need to learn to patiently wait until the seeds are ready before moving them in order to get the best result.

Patience is a fruit of the spirit and as with all fruit needs time to grow. As we mature in God we will learn how to operate in patience allow God to bring forth the fruit we desire in our lives. Good things do come to those who patiently learn to wait on the Lord.

Harley on scooter

The other day in traffic I spotted a sight that made me laugh out loud. A guy on a scooter was wearing a Harley Davidson jacket. Well, I don't need to explain the irony. The only thing I could think of is; this guy must have the most positive attitude in life.

It was obvious this guy had vision. He wore his heart on his....jacket and it was clear as to what direction he wanted to take his life in. The amazing thing is that I can bet my bottom dollar that if I had to run into this bloke in a few years time, he'll be driving that Harley.

God says, “write the vision and make it plain.” Be clear as to what you want in life and put your heart and soul into it. That way you gain momentum and with momentum on your side it is easy for God to steer you in the right direction.

Save regularly

Don't you just hate it when you are in the midst of a complex task or calculation and the power goes down and along with it all your workings. That's why when working with computers it is important to save your work regularly. That way your data is stored and safe.

How do we secure the word of God in our heart and memory. Through repetition. The more often we read a passage, the more the words will resonate with our spirit.

The human spirit was created to seek God and when we read God's word, our spirit recognises our creator and the connection is made.

I encourage you to make time to read God's word regularly.

Between the eye balls

I read a snippet from my Joyce Meyer amplified that hit me right between the eye balls. I've been praying about a certain situation in which I really need change. The question is, why must God bring change when we can't even be grateful for what we have? In most cases, once we have the change a few months later we'll end up complaining about it anyway.

I hear you saying I wouldn't do that and that's what I thought too. Then God reminded me of Israel. For 400 years they groaned and complained about being slaves in Egypt, God freed them and what do they do but complain about being in the desert.

You would think that knowledge of thwe word would produce instant obedience, but sadly it doesn't. It still requires a surrendered heart. One that says, "Lord, forgive me for my attitude."

Garden wars

My new neighbour Tracy has taken a great interest in developing her garden. That gave me the kick in the butt I needed to get to work on mine. So far I am getting whipped in the front yard, but I think my developing herb garden is going to be show stopper once it is fully stocked.

This very friendly rivalry is having great health benefits. Gardening is really good exercise and being outdoors soaking up the sun is just wonderful. I often wonder about Eden, about how beautiful it must have been. I think in some way, just tending my own garden is allowing me a small piece of the joy Adam must have had tending the gardens in Eden.

We've heard it said, love what you do and you'll never work a day in your life. Indeed I think that would be our equivalent of Eden, but in real life that is just not always possible. I think that is why God gives us spaces and places where we can reflect, come to a place of peace and draw strength from his presence.

Block printed

Block printing is a technique for printing text, images and patters used widely throughout East Asia both as a method of printing on textiles and later on paper. The earliest surviving examples from China in 220.

Block printing requires an image to be pressed from a block onto another object. Likewise we need to allow Christ's image to be imprinted on us. How do we do that? When we read the word we need to reflect on its meaning and allow that to imprint on our soul.

An imprinted life isn't perfect, sometimes there are smudges on the edges or the ink runs, but it retains the pattern of the original. God doesn't expect us to be perfect, but rather that we should strive attain the image of Christ. Are you willing to allow Christ to imprint your life?

Ancient origins

I was meditating recently at how amazing computer technology is and how awesome it is to be able to type and publish a written work internationally in a matter of minutes. For the most part it seems as if the this development has been over the last 50 years or so, but truth be told, printing has ancient origins.

That made me wonder what we can learn about this ancient development as to date the bible is still the most popular book by printing volume. The use of round cylinder seals for rolling an impress onto clay goes back to the ancient Mesopotamian civilization before 3000 BC.

We sometimes get impatient with God thinking, “why is he taking so long to get this sorted out”, but here God had to wait for mankind to learn and invent more effective methods of recording data before he could bring Christ into our world. This so that the gospel would be recorded and documented as accurately as possible through to our time.

Don't grow impatient with God while he is working in your life. Know that he has everything planned exactly as it should be.