Learning from Lilies: Earth Day

Earth Day is a day to remind each other and ourselves to be good stewards of nature because of all it provides for us. This Earth Day, I'd like to focus on a different aspect of the earth. . . It's ability to teach us.

God is faithful. He is Creator. He designed within nature life lessons. Jesus, himself, used nature to teach spiritual lessons as He did here in Matthew.

I'm learning anew that worry, regret and even striving with all my might do not produce success.

"Do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they? And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life? And why are you worried about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil, nor do they spin, yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little Faith!" 

~Matthew 6: 25-30.

He's not saying here that we don't need farmers, we don't need to plant or gather in the harvest. He's saying our hope for the provision of our needs is rooted in our faith in God. He is our provider, our source. So when our human efforts are not enough, which is all of the time, we need not worry because God is the One who will bring forth the result.  

Next Jesus says, "But seek first His [God's] kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you." Matthew 6:33

If we occupy our minds with God's purposes in the earth as we go about our daily tasks, God will take care of our needs. We see this truth reflected in the flowers and birds of this earth. 

This Earth Day, let us remember to be good stewards of the earth. To maintain God's creation in the way He made it is honorable and helps all life on earth. And let us also take this opportunity to find God and His purposes as we ponder nature. 

Brain Power Enough to Heal?

I recently read an article about the effect placebos have on healing. "The Nothing Cure," Whole Living, Dec. 2012, cites studies that found the placebo to offer healing results as well as the medication being tested. This has led to more research on the effect of placebos and the power of the brain to heal the body.

"Even the ancients knew what powerful healers our beliefs could be, and for centuries medical training included instruction on placebo tactics to aid patients when nothing else seemed to work," the article states. Research is proving it, and now some say placebos could be our best option against illness.

"In humans, a strong belief in a remedy's effectiveness may produce even better results" (than the medication alone), says Bruce Barrett, M.D., a leading cold researcher at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

This idea is fascinating to me in light of a few verses in the Bible. (The following scripture are taken from the Common English Bible translation)

Mark 11:24: "Therefore, I say to you, whatever you pray and ask for, believe that you will receive it and it will be so for you."

James 1:2-8: "My brothers and sisters, think of the various tests you encounter as occasions for joy. After all, you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance. Let this endurance complete its work so that you may be fully mature, complete, and lacking nothing. But anyone who needs wisdom should ask god, whose very nature is to give to everyone without a second thought, without keeping score. Wisdom will certainly be given to those who ask. Whoever asks shouldn't hesitate. They should ask in faith, without doubting. Whoever doubts is like the surf of the sea, tossed and turned by the wind. People like that should never imagine that they will receive anything from the Lord. They are double-minded, unstable in all their ways."

John 11:40: "Jesus replied, 'Didn't I tell you that if you believe, you will see God's glory?'"

James 5:15: "Prayer that comes from faith will heal the sick, for the Lord will restore them to health. And if they have sinned, they will be forgiven."

Biblically we can easily argue the importance of believing and not being "double-minded." When our mind is divided, we accomplish nothing; sickness and depression have an open door.

I believe God heals supernaturally at times. And I believe God created gifts of healing for us to use in nature. Yet, He also created our minds, and He created us in His image, with minds that can create. How like Him to give us the ability to enhance His natural healing gifts with this ability to believe.

What are your thoughts about the mind's ability to heal?

Miracle Missed

I've been reading in Matthew where Jesus fed the five thousand and then the four thousand. In one case a boy offers to share his packed lunch with the crowd. The disciples take it to Jesus but feel kind of silly doing it considering the huge number of people in the crowd that must be fed.

I suppose it took faith of some kind to even bring the boy's food to Jesus. The disciples might've just said, "Aw, thanks little boy, but you don't have any idea how much is needed for a crowd like this. Why don't you just keep it."

That's how we might've acted, recognizing the boy's nice gesture, but telling him to keep it. After all, why should he faint on the way home along with everyone else?

The boy had simple faith. He didn't try to figure out how Jesus could use it to feed so many. He just wanted to share...to be part of the solution.

But today I started to wonder about another person, one the Bible doesn't mention. I don't know if he was there, but it's very possible. It's the man who also thought to bring a lunch, but didn't share it.

This man would've been old enough to know how much food it would take to feed a crowd of that size. He'd recognize the foolishness of those who'd come so far without thought for their own provision. Weren't they similar to the virgins Jesus spoke of who didn't bring any extra oil in anticipation that the bridegroom might be late?

This was a smart man, a hard worker who always took care of his family. And he knew he'd have to make it home without fainting because his wife and children would be waiting for him. He'd be the one to provide for them for many days and years to come. They depended on him.

This man might've separated himself from the crowd slightly. He didn't want to rub their mistake in their noses. He'd hang back from the rest long enough to eat his small lunch and then rejoin them to hear the rest of what Jesus had to say.

We can understand his reasoning, can't we?

Yet, how tragic!

He missed the miracle!

He missed seeing Jesus take a small boy's small lunch and feeding over 5,000 people with it.

He missed partaking in God's supernatural provision.

Faith = Lavender for the Soul

Nature reveals so much about God. The more we learn, the more we understand that God is trustworthy. Did you know that Jewel Weed is a natural antidote for Poison Ivy? Did you also know that it is almost always found growing near Poison Ivy? I just learned this recently on a hike with my critique partners (waving to all you, Sharpies). I suspect our heavenly Father created a plant for every need we would have, and placed it close to where it would be needed. Jehovah Jireh is one of his names, after all...The Lord our Provider.

Essential Oils are the lifeblood of a plant. The Bible mentions the usage of oils in healing. Lavender is one of those plants our Creator provided. It has a wide range of uses. It is antibiotic, antiseptic, antidepressant, sedative, and a detoxifier which promotes healing and prevents scarring. I keep a bottle of Lavender essential oil in the kitchen in case of burns and in my "medicine" cabinet in the bathroom with my other essential oils.  Lavender is one of the few oils that can be used as a relaxant as well as a stimulant.

Lavender helps ease stress, relax muscles and calm the mind. It also stimulates thoughts and increases energy, giving that little push we may need to get up and go.

God thinks relaxation and rest are important. He instituted the Sabbath, commanding us to rest one day a week. He knew how we'd be...thinking we're so important we can't rest for a whole day. He also made celebrations throughout the year that included rest from work. And He promised peaceful sleep to His people.

Hebrews 4 encourages us to enter God's rest. Chapter 3 gives an account of Israel's sin of unbelief and how they were prohibited from entering the rest God offered them.

"Take care, brethren, that there not be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart that falls away from the living God. But encourage one another day after day...For we have become partakers of Christ, if we hold fast the beginning of our assurance firm until the end." ~Hebrews 3:12-14

Hebrews 3 and 4 demonstrate how unbelief was the sin that caused Israel to strive in the wilderness for 40 years rather than entering into the rest God had hoped to provide for them.

Do you ever strive and worry, causing yourself stress while God patiently holds the door open for you to enter the rest He already provided? 

(Maybe that's only me).

"'Today if you hear His voice do not harden your hearts as when they provoked Me.' Who provoked Him when they had heard? Indeed, did not all those who came out of Egypt led by Moses? And with whom was He angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness? And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who were disobedient? So we see that they were not able to enter because of unbelief."

~Hebrews 3:15-19

When we're not convinced of what we beleive, we disobey because we don't trust God to do what's right and best. We think we know better, whether we admit it or not. That is the cause of sin.

Hebrews 11 tells us that faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the evidence of things unseen.

So then faith is the key.

Faith is like Lavender for our soul. With it we can rest easy in God's hands entrusting all our worry to Him. And with it we have the motivation to actively obey His commands. 

Dreams and Faith

“Those who are realistic and practical are less realistic and practical in the long run than those who dream big dreams and passionately pursue them.”  —   Hans Selye, scientist.

"Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful." ~Hebrews 10:23

I wonder if I've hesitated because I didn't want to work too hard or because of fear that I'd fail. Either way, I've lacked passion and faith. Lord, I confess.

No more. I'm tired of being realistic and practical. I want to see my dreams accomplished. I want God's kingdom come, His will accomplished in my life. 


Let faith have it's way in me.