…those who mourn...

Flowers appear

Buried sin

How do you like my new car? 

I got it when I bought the property it’s on...in. I don’t know how long it has been here. The license tag says 1960, but that doesn’t tell me anything about when it was covered up.

I didn’t know it was here until I took the grandsons ‘exploring.’ They were looking for spiders, snakes, birds, animal tracks, etc. None of us expected to find a car. And, of course, it raises all sorts of questions.  “How did it get there?’ ‘Why is it there?’ 

That is how it is when I go to the Lord seeking forgiveness. I sometimes find sins I didn’t know were there. ‘Where did that come from?’ ‘How long have I hidden this?’  The junk car that is now land-fill will have to remain where it is, but--Thank You, Jesus--my sins don’t.

 “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9

Maybe I need to spend more time exploring my heart for buried sin.

What about you? 

gain from loss

Pruning

Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit.

John 15:2-3

Dead-heading is something rose growers do to help the rose bush flower again. It also helps the plant, in that available nutrition is sent to those flowers that still need it.

I pray that the Lord will break off the dead blooms of my life--things that don’t honor Him--and start to feed those flowers that will glorify Him.

Loss and Gain

Sunsets are, to me, some of the loveliest of God’s artwork. 
Each evening and each area of the world get a different masterpiece. And yet, the loss tugs at my heart--

the loss of the beauty of the day

and the loss of the colors displayed in the sky.

The gain for us is the possibility of a new day

and a new opportunity to serve and worship our Lord.

He has made 

everything beautiful in its time.

Ecclesiastes 3:11