The Small Branch

  Have you ever noticed that it is the transition periods in life that seem to be the most difficult to navigate?   Maybe I think that because I am in one of those periods.   My kids are 22, 20, 17, and 15.   Only the youngest is still homeschooling and, while three of them still live at home, they all are very busy with their own lives.   This is a transition time for me.   I’m moving from full time homeschool mom to empty nester.   The big question for me is - what do I do with my moments?   On the one hand, I need to be home.   I still need to clean house, do laundry (although a lot less), make meals (anywhere from 2 to 10 or more people eat dinner at my house each night), keep up with the budget, etc.   I also still need to be there when my high schooler has questions or needs me to correct papers for her.   Everyone in my family still has the “Mom is able to drop everything and do what I need her to right that moment” attitud...

  The story of the 10 Minas in Luke 19 tells of a master who goes away, leaving his servants with some of his money to manage.   I have always thought about this story (and the similar on in Matthew 25) as teaching me to use what God has given me (like talents, abilities, and resources) wisely in big ways, but for some reason, when I heard a sermon about this passage recently, the smaller things grabbed my attention.   In the middle of verse 17, this phrase stood out to me: “because you have been faithful in a very little thing,” and I have been pondering it since that Sunday.   What does it mean to be faithful in a very little thing?  Let me give you a little background so you can understand where I am coming from.  I have four children whom I have stayed home with and even homeschooled for most of their childhood.  At this point, only one is still in high school.  Even though three of them live at home, they all three have jobs and one is a...

 Have you ever felt pressure to witness in "just the right way" so that someone would come to know Christ?  Have you ever thought, "Oh no, I forgot to pray for that person's salvation today!  What will happen?"  I'll admit to thoughts like that.  For me, they come from a background of people teaching me that Jesus was necessary for salvation, but then I had better get to work to sanctify myself.  Of course, that isn't what the Bible teaches.  I have been studying Acts recently, and I came upon some verses I wanted to share with you. Acts 16:14 says, "A woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple fabrics, a worshipper of God, was listening; and the Lord opened her heart to respond to the things spoken by Paul." Acts 18:9 and 10 say, "And the Lord said to Paul in the night by a vision, "Do not be afraid any longer but go on speaking and do not be silent; for I am with you , and no man will attack you in order to h...

  Luke 13:6-9 says: 6  And He  began  telling this parable:  “A man had a fig tree which had been planted in his vineyard; and he came looking for fruit on it and did not find any.   7  And he said to the vineyard-keeper, ‘Behold, for three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree without finding any. Cut it down! Why does it even use up the ground?’   8  And he answered and said to him, ‘Let it alone, sir, for this year too, until I dig around it and put in fertilizer;   9  and if it bears fruit next year,  fine ; but if not, cut it down.’” In Matthew 3:8, we are told to "bear fruit in keeping with repentance."  In Luke, Jesus tells a parable about a fig tree not bearing fruit.  The tree is to be cut down, as we will be if we are not  "bearing fruit in keeping with repentance."  But notice this as well, the tree is spared for a time while given every opportunity to bear fruit...

 Sometimes, I wish I could just be with Jesus, hanging out at church, doing "Jesus things" with no complications.  But we have a bigger mission than that. In Luke, chapter 8, we are told of a man possessed by a legion of demons.  His life is no life at all.  Jesus crosses the lake to heal him.  He drives the demons from him and makes him well, whole, in his right mind.  The reaction of the crowd is interesting.  In verse 37, we are told, "Then all the people of the country of the Gerasenes and the surrounding district asked Him to leave them, because they were overwhelmed with fear."  These people had just seen the man formerly acting as a wild animal in his right mind, and all they could do was cower in fear.  They sent the One who casts out fear away.  The man's response is much different.  "But the man from whom the demons had gone out kept begging Him, pleading to go with Him;" verse 38 tells us.  This man desperately wants...

 What does it mean for something to be "first?"  When we run a race, we know that someone is "first" because they crossed the finish line before anyone else.  When we complete a list of tasks, the one that is "first" is the one completed before the others.  Is it safe to say that "first" means before everything else?  Lauren Daigle has a song called "First."     The song talks about seeking God first.  Above and before everything else.  First.  Before our coffee in the morning.  Before we watch the news.  Before we finish that best seller.  Before we work.  Before we play.  First.   Mary sought God first.  Mark 14:3 says, "While He (Jesus) was in Bethany at the home of Simon the leper, and reclining at the the table, there came a woman (John identifies her as Mary) with an alabaster vial of very costly perfume of pure nard; and she broke the vial and poured it over His head."  This perfume was wort...

 I'm not a wine drinker.  I have family members who really like wine and like to go to the vineyards for tours and wine-tasting, but not me.  So, when I ran across a wine reference in Zephaniah 1, I had to do some research to figure out what God was saying to the prophet.  I'll share -  Verse 12 in the NASB says,  "It will come about at that time That I will search Jerusalem with lamps, And I will punish the men  Who are stagnant in spirit, Who say in their hearts, 'The LORD will not do good or evil!'" Now, the phrase "stagnant in spirit" is actually literally "thickening on their lees."  Apparently, "lees" are the refuse of wine.  When wine is left too long in one container, it forms a crust on the bottom, "the lees."  The wine then becomes harsh rather than flavorful.  (If you think wine can be flavorful.  Personally, I think it smells, and therefore must taste, like kerosene, yuck!) So, why does God want to punish men...

 Matthew 26:39 says "And He went a little beyond them, and fell on His face and prayed, saying "My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will."   Here, Jesus is in the Garden of Gethsemane just before He is arrested, begging God for another way, but only if God wills it.  In my younger years of faith, I thought to myself, "Well sure, He is terrified of the pain and agony He will have to go through.  He is fully human and so will suffer so much pain from the torture He must endure.  Of course He wants to avoid that pain!"  But as I have grown, I really think that it not it at all.  Later, in Matthew 27:46, we read "About the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, "Eli, Eli, Lama sabachthani?" that is "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?""  This, my friends, must be the greatest terror ever known to mankind.  Jesus had all the sins of the world, for all time, laid on ...

As I was studying several days ago, I read John 12:24-25: "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.  He who loves his life, loses it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it to life eternal." God opened my eyes to see the results of dying to yourself, rather than just looking at the costs.  Too often, we look at the cost of following, the cost of obedience when the instructions don't make sense, the cost of obedience when those around us don't agree.  But we need to look at the results.  Fruit.  When a wheat plant falls to the ground, over time, it dies and is covered by dirt.  But this, this friends, is the time when it truly lives.  For, while in the earth, it is brought to life again in such a way that it not only lives again, but lives to bear much fruit.  In dying to ourselves, we truly live and, more importantly, we help others to tr...

     I was thinking yesterday morning (shocker, I know!) about ways to encourage my children in their faith.  One thing that is a very hard balance for all Christians is works.  We know, or at least I hope we know, that we are saved by grace - not by anything we have done or could ever do, but only because of what Jesus has done.  We are saved because we acknowledge that He is King and Lord and we are His subjects.  The fine line comes when we realize that we need to act like it.  Acting like His subjects doesn't mean that we are living under the Law, but sometimes, we get to going through the motions and that's what it feels like.  We feel like we are trying to be "good enough."  On the other hand, we know that our "fruit" shows our faith.  We know that we are supposed to be producing fruit and that we can only produce fruit through Jesus Christ working in our lives.  So I thought, maybe we need to do a "fruit check" periodica...