Legitimate Child

"Endure hardship as discipline;

God is treating you as his children.

For what children are not disciplined by their father?

If you are not disciplined--

and everyone undergoes discipline--

then you are not legitimate,

not true sons and daughters at all.

Moreover,

we have all had human fathers who disciplined us

and we respected them for it.

How much more should we submit 

to the Father of spirits and live!

They disciplined us for a little while as they thought best;

but God disciplines us for our good,

in order that we may share in his holiness."

Hebrews 12:7-11

Her husband suffered from kidney failure.  Even after receiving a transplant, the new organ failed and soon he was back on dialysis.  Because of the difficulties with his body accepting the donated kidney, his doctors deemed him an unfit candidate for future transplants.  Consequently, he will be on dialysis for the rest of his life.  

Soon after this young couple settled into this new routine, another health scare came their way, this time in the form of cancer attacking her body.  What now?  She thought.  Don't we have enough to deal with, Lord?  Even as she asked, she knew the answer:  It's all being used to transform me into Your image, Father.

It's easy to get frustrated and downhearted when I struggle, suffer and endure trials. I can reassure myself, however, with the truth that I belong to God and He loves me too much to leave me as I am.  Instead, He uses the circumstances of life to mold me into His image.

Submit

"Curse God and die!" 

That was the advice given to Job by his wife.  This man had enjoyed a successful, fruitful life until one day when he went from the greatest man known in the East to perhaps the most miserable man who ever lived.  In one 24 hour period he lost his wealth and his children.  As if that were not enough, he then was afflicted with painful sores that covered every inch of skin.  A more tortured man never existed.

Instead of fighting the Lord's plan, however, Job submitted by falling on the ground to worship God saying, "Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return there.  The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; Blessed be the name of the LORD."  (Job 1:21 NKJV)

As Steven Curtis Chapman sings, "God is God and I am not."  The sooner I accept this truth and place myself under His sovereign authority, the closer I am to adopting the attitude of Job.  Whatever God allows into my life will be used by Him for good. (Romans 8:28)  Sometimes good doesn't feel good, and most of the time it doesn't live up to my expectation of good, but only God knows what truly is good. (James 1:17) So, I must trust Him.

When enduring hard times, the sooner I yield to God's purifying work in my life, the better.

Temporarily Painful

Anyone who has done any kind of physical training understands the adage, "No Pain, No Gain."  In order for progress to be made, whether that goal is a faster time completed, heavier weight lifted or bigger muscles and less body fat obtained, I will go through some kind of discomfort.  Athletes understand this necessary pain as temporary and simply a sign that growth is imminent.

In a similar way, I am like an athlete in training as a child of God through faith in Jesus Christ.  As I undergo conditioning in the form of difficult circumstances, uncomfortable conditions, and painful suffering, I can take on the attitude of one who is enduring the temporary pain as a way of achieving long term gain.  (2 Corinthians 4:16-18)

When enduring suffering, keeping the proper perspective will help me persevere.

Harvest

My cucumbers were under attack!  Some kind of borer had attacked the woody part of the vine, chewing through until one day it suddenly withered into a pitiful pile of useless leaves.  Thanks to that invading pest, I was never able to harvest any cucumbers that fateful year.

It's hard to garden successfully when there are so many enemies waiting to destroy the harvest.  My walk with Christ is kind of like that.  When hard times come, the Enemy is there to whisper words of despair and discouragement in my ear, tempting me to think I'm not loved and that God has abandoned me.  Nothing, however is further than the truth.

Just as a refiner of silver keeps his eye on the precious metal as he holds it to the hottest part of the fire, so my Father in heaven purifies my heart.  His eye never leaves me lest I burn, for it is never His intention to hurt me.  Rather, it is His purpose to burn away all impurities, leaving nothing but a heart devoted to Him.  (Malachi 3:3a)

When enduring difficulties, God will use it to produce a harvest of righteousness.  (James 3:18)

No one likes discipline, but it is a necessary part of living under the authority of another.  When I go through the trials of life, I can remember that my Father in heaven is demonstrating His love for me by treating me as His very own.  Therefore, I can learn to submit myself to His loving hand, keep in mind that the pain is temporary and that the harvest that is to come will make it all worth it.  Yes, it is good to be a child of God!

As I begin this day it is my prayer that I can keep my place as God's child always before me.

When do I have a hard time submitting to God's discipline?

How do I fight His efforts to refine me?  

  

Dangling Fruit

"(Jesus) also said, 'This is what the kingdom of God is like.

 A man scatters seed on the ground. 

Night and day,

whether he sleeps or gets up,

the seed sprouts and grows,

though he does not know how. 

All by itself the soil produces grain—

first the stalk,

then the head,

then the full kernel in the head. 

As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it,

because the harvest has come.'”

Mark 4:26-29

Carefully, I prepared the soil, working it with my hoe, incorporating the rich compost into the clay and sand.  Soon the earth became fine and loamy, ready to receive the seed.  As I dropped the seeds into the ground, carefully patting down the soil, I think of all the possible scenarios for each seed.  A bird could pluck it from the garden as a necessary morsel of nourishment, or it could be shielded from the needed amount of water, thus preventing the sprouting process, or it could push through the soil bed and grow into a fruit-giving plant.

The growth of a seed is a mystery.  No man can replicate the process, or force the progression of the procedure.  It happens all as a result of God's sovereign work, in His time and by His hand.  There is nothing I can do to speed it along, and I marvel at the miracle of a tiny seed turning into a meandering vine of watermelon, or a looming stalk of corn. 

The transformation of an ordinary soul into an extraordinary recipient of eternal life through simple faith in Christ as their Savior is a parallel mystery.  It is not accomplished through the labor of any man, but as a result of God's sovereign work, in His time and by His hand.

This truth should shape the way I approach non-believers.  It is of no work of my own that another come to Christ.  Consequently, my role as a farmer for God's Kingdom is limited. 

Scatter Seed 

During the growing season, a farmer's primary job is to plant the seeds.  He makes sure the conditions of the soil are favorable for growth, then scatters the kernels.  After that, his only responsibility is to maintain moisture levels and monitor weed growth. 

Likewise, I am free to lovingly share the truth with those God has placed around me, thus planting the seed.  I am not responsible for how the message is received any more than a farmer can prevent a bird from swiping the seed from the ground or ensure that every single seed will receive enough water and sprout.  Only God can change a heart and I must leave the mystery of growth in His hands. 

As a follower of Christ, I am called to scatter the seed of the gospel.

Harvest

The next busy time for a farmer is during the harvest when all the fruits of the plants that have grown throughout the season are gathered. 

I have heard it said that harvest time is simply a matter of plucking dangling fruit.  God has already accomplished the work of preparing the heart, growing the seed of the gospel in that heart, showing each one their sin and thus illuminating their need for Jesus.  All that is left for the worker to do is reap the harvest. 

CS Lewis, one of the great Christian intellectuals and writers of our time, spent his young adult years as an atheist.  But God was drawing Him to Himself through his readings and several friends who planted the seed of the gospel.  On a bus ride soon thereafter, he said he entered the bus as an atheist, and disembarked as a believer in the existence of God. God was working on his heart. 

In a series of steps, CS Lewis then was drawn irresistibly to Christ.  He finally relented and called on Christ as His Lord and Savior on September 22, 1931.  Through no work of his own or any man, he was courted by a God who loved him and had created him for relationship with Himself. 

For a man or woman who has been wooed by God, it is a simple task to carry out the final step of plucking the dangling fruit.

As a follower of Christ, I am called to be available to guide those God has cultivated into a relationship with Jesus Christ.

Production

A farmer plays no role in the actual formation of an ear of corn, or a tomato, or a watermelon.  He can only hope and pray.  

It is the same with those around us who are chosen to belong to Jesus.  Either God is working in their heart, or He has hardened their heart.  I can do nothing to force the seed of the Good News of Jesus to grow and produce fruit.  It can only happen as a result of God's mysterious work in their heart.  

Thinking about my own conversion, I sensed a definite attraction to God from an early age.  When later presented with the Gospel at a Billy Graham Crusade, I could not stop myself from going forward, as if propelled by an unseen force.  I was drawn like the psalmist described in Psalm 42:1-2.  "As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God.  My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.   When can I go and meet with God?"

When I heard how to meet God, through faith in Jesus Christ, I eagerly made my way to the spring of living water, drinking from it's goodness.

As a follower of Christ, it is not my responsibility to draw people to Christ.  That is  a part of God's inexplicable work.

The mystery of the transformation of a seed into a beautiful flower or fruitful plant is one of life's greatest unknowns.  But even Tagore, a gifted Indian poet and recipient of the Nobel Prize for Literature understood what a mystery we witness. 

"No, it is not yours to open buds into blossom. . .

He who can open the bud does it so simply. . .

At His breath the flower spreads its wings and flutters in the wind. 

Colors flash out like a heart longing,

the perfume betrays a sweet secret. 

He who can open the bud does it so simply."

God opens the bud of understanding and faith.  We simply scatter the seed and harvest the fruit.  God does the rest.

As I begin this day, it is my prayer that I will let God do His work in the hearts of those around me, watching for the dangling fruit to ripen.

How do I try to force fruit to form, thus denying the sovereign work of God in drawing someone to Himself?

How will this truth change the way I approach others for Christ?  Does it relieve the pressure I have placed upon myself to win people to Christ?