Dozen Eggs a Day

Our Rhode Island Reds are doing very well.  We are down to 20 chickens now (we lost four along the way to unidentified varmints). We are collecting at least a dozen eggs a day! That is more than we eat, so we are starting to sell some to others. I moved the portable coop into the garden so they can fertilize the area all winter. Still haven't decided what to do with them next Spring since I have concluded that I do not like to keep them inside the small coop I built for them even though we were moving it every day.

Resolve to Follow Jesus

"If anyone would come after me . . ." (Mark 8:34)

The word translated "would" in the ESV is thelo, which could mean to desire or to purpose. This second meaining could be defined like this: “to have something in mind for oneself, of purpose, resolve, will, wish, want, be ready" (BDAG, 448).  Based on the context and commitment of the call, "purpose" would certainly be appropriate, if not the necessary meaning. Thus, “if anyone purposes or resolves to follow after me . . .”

Jesus is establishing that following him is a pretty serious endeavor. The first condition is that one desires and purposes to follow him. We all struggle with conflicting desires and we must decide what we want the most. We can be a friend of the world or a friend of God, not both. We can love and serve God or we can love and serve ourselves, not both. We have to make a choice. We can resolve to follow Jesus.

I pray for a great passion to follow Christ. A great fire in my heart that is greater than my desires for fleshly satisfaction. I renew my commitment today to follow Jesus. I purpose again today, with even greater understanding than when I first decided to give him my life, to follow him to the end, no matter what the cost.

Trust the Strategy to the Commander

"Cloud of battle-dust inevitably dims the overall picture of the campaign. The individual soldier must just trust the strategy to his commander and obey the orders given to him personally. In the spiritual realm the same is true of the disciples (soldiers) of Christ. But when the battle is over and the dust has settled, what has happened and the reason for certain orders will become apparent to even the common soldier. In that day ye shall ask me nothing."- Isobel Kuhn, Green Leaf in Drought

Getting Set Free From Myself

“The wise heart will know the proper time and the just way. For there is a time and a way for everything, although man’s trouble lies heavy on him” (Eccl. 8:5-6).

Right now, my trouble lies heavy on me. And in the midst of my trouble, I pray for a wise heart. I want to know the proper time and the just way in this. I have despaired at times. But I have been comforted by remembering that God knows what is happening, he has allowed what is happening, and he can enable me to serve and please him in the midst of it. And, although I have missed this point up till now, he has allowed this trouble to lie heavy on me for my sake, so that he can take me deeper, draw me closer, make me stronger, open my eyes wider. How can I doubt his gentle, faithful care for me? And so I want to allow this trial to drive me to him, to lean more heavily on him, to learn to let him live in and through me.

And that is when I realize how much of my life is lived in my own thinking and power. I get along pretty well without him. But pretty well (according to my own or the worlds evaluation) falls far, far below God’s mighty power and eternally outpouring of joy and fullness.

“Thank you, Lord. Yes, I thank you, Lord, for this trial. Thank you for freeing me from myself and my small thinking and my mediocre living. Thank you for pushing out of my limited self by giving me more than I can handle. What a freedom!”

The Arrest of Polycarp

Here is an amazing account of what happened when Polycarp was arrested before his martyrdom. This is from Eusebius' Church History.

"Soon the pursuers arrived and arrested two of the servants there, one of whom, under torture, showed them to Polycarp's quarters. It was night, and they found him lying in an upper bedroom. He could have moved to another house, but he had refused, saying, 'God's will be done.' When he heard that they had come, he went down and talked with them in such a cheerful, serene manner that they were astounded in view of his old age and confident air and wondered why there was such anxiety to arrest an old man of such character. He ordered that a table be set for them and invited them to dine with gusto, asking only for a single hour to pray undistrubed. This granted, he stood up and prayed, filled with the grace of the Lord, to the astonishment of those present, many of whom grew distressed that so dignified and godlike a man was going to his death."

How God Uses Resources in Our Lives

I just upload a message from Sunday, July 11 from 1 Kings. You can subscribe, download, or listen from the audio player in the right sidebar. Following the story of how God provided for Elijah, we observe several principles of how God uses resources in our lives:

1. God uses resources in our lives to provide for our needs (vv. 1-6).

2. God uses resources in our lives to direct us (vv. 7-9).

3. God uses resources in our lives to increase fellowship with others (vv. 10-16).

4. God uses resources in our lives to demonstrate his power (vv. 14-16).