The Small Branch

  I live in the woods.   There is a ring of grass around my house and then woods, including lots of weeds.   There are cacti around, which seems odd based on the climate and makes me wonder if someone dumped them out at one time.   There are also some weeds that have weird silvery leaves with spikes on the edges.   Today, I looked out of my window and one of the cacti has a beautiful yellow flower on top.   The spiky weed just a few feet away has a lovely purple bloom.   Isn’t it amazing how something so harsh, even painful, can have beauty come from it?   I am reading a book of Charles Spurgeon’s sermons from the book of Job (I’ll get to a book review on it when I finish).  Job suffered a lot and not because of anything he did or didn’t do.  Sometimes life is just hard.  Sometimes, God allows us to suffer so that we will have all the extra and unnecessary stuff stripped away and He can bless us with better.   That’s wh...

  (I’ve covered some of this in previous posts, but thought I would expand on a few things here.)   Most people consider the elementary school years to be Kindergarten through fifth grade, about ages 5-11.  Personally, as I’ve state before, I don’t see any reason to start any kind of formal school until 8-10 years old, depending on your child.  For the kids in the “elementary years” who aren’t yet ready for formal education, you can continue as you were doing in the preschool years (see previous post).  Remember, though, that you want your children to be ready for learning.  This includes making sure they are learning to be obedient, learning to sit still, and learning to work hard even when something is a struggle for them.  In this phase of “school age but not yet school ready,” make sure they are learning these lessons well.  This is something I utterly failed at.  We were too busy playing and having fun, and I was too lazy as a mom, to...

  2 Corinthians 10:5 tells us that we are to “take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.”   This phrase is part of a sentence and larger section discussing spiritual warfare.   A large part of fighting the sin in our lives, those strongholds that don’t seem to let go, begins in the mind.   Just because we don’t act on our thoughts doesn’t mean we haven’t sinned.   Letting thoughts that are not obedient to Christ run rampant in our minds is sin.   Yes, just the thoughts.   It seems like our thought life should be private and not censored because no one else can see it.   But our thought life greatly affects our actions, even if we don’t go as far as we are thinking about going.   When we harbor bitter or angry thoughts towards situations or people, our words come out bitter and angry, even to people not involved in the original thoughts.   When we harbor lustful thoughts, even from fiction stories, we begin to be unsatisfied...

  In 2022, G3 began a reading challenge.   I’ve mentioned the 2023 challenge before, but I thought I would post what I read for the 2022 challenge.   I’ll be honest, I didn’t start this until fall of 2022, so I’m not quite done yet (I’m still working on the first two categories), but here’s what I am reading/have read. Complete a Bible-Reading Plan : I chose to use the Chronological Bible Reading Schedule from Mostly Sensible.   I started in the New Testament and have mixed the Old Testament up more than suggested, but I am thinking I will be done with the whole thing in another month or so.  Just reading through the whole Bible is a challenge for me, so this has been hard, but I am persevering and finding it helpful to get the history and prophecy or letters, etc. put together well. A Hymnal : I chose Hymns to the Living God , which you can download or purchase.  ( I like my spiral bound copy because it lays nicely on my piano stand. )  I am abo...

  Proverbs 1:7 says,   “The fear of Yahweh is the beginning of knowledge; Ignorant fools despise wisdom and discipline.” (LSB) Let’s break this verse down (I’m using the BLB App and the dictionary as references.  You can also find this at www.blueletterbible.org ). “The fear” - fear of God, reverence, piety (the quality of being religious or reverent); respect; fear, terror, awesome or terrifying thing; revered “of Yahweh” - Jehovah - the existing One; self-existent or eternal One; “I am Who I am”; the personal name of God “is the beginning” - first, best, beginning, chief; the first in place, time, order or rank, first fruits; principal thing “of knowledge” - knowledge, perception, skill, discernment, understanding, wisdom, cunning; in highest sense, knowledge of God (including obedience) “Ignorant fools” - one who despises wisdom; of one who mocks when guilty; of one who is quarrelsome; of one who is licentious (promiscuous and unprincipled in sexual matte...

  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...

  This year, I am participating in the G3 reading challenge (you can find this challenge HERE ).   One of the books that I have read so far is Edward T. Welch’s When People are Big and God is Small .   (I definitely recommend this book and the whole reading challenge in general.)   One of the main points of this book is that when people have a proper fear of the Lord, then we will fear nothing else.   Since fear of man is something I struggle with, I decided to do some looking into fear of the Lord and share my findings with you. Several times in Leviticus, we are commanded to fear the Lord (Leviticus 19:14, 31; 25:17, 36, 43; etc.).  Deuteronomy 6:13 says, “Yahweh your God you shall fear; and Him you shall serve; and by His name you shall swear,” and verse 24 says, “So Yahweh commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear Yahweh our God for our good all our days and for our survival, as it is today.”  Deuteronomy 10:20 says, “Yahweh your God yo...

  There are numerous verses in the Bible, especially in Proverbs, about the sinfulness of laziness.   It is easy to see that God does not want us to be lazy, that laziness is sin.   Laziness is a hard thing for me.   Where does it stem from?   Yes, my flesh and my sin nature, but it is often more complex than that.   My biggest trouble is that I see things that need to be done but get overwhelmed because of how many things there are to do, or the magnitude or difficulty of the job, or the many unknowns in how to do the job, or the fact that, even if I do the job well, it will need to be done again the next day.   These feelings of being overwhelmed seem to “shut down” my system.   Sometimes, I struggle because I’m just waiting for someone to tell me what to do.   I am almost positive that this stems from growing up in the shadows of American education.   Teachers are there to tell you what to think and when to think it and what to do a...

 From Hebrews 5:  11  Concerning him we have much to say, and  it is  difficult to explain, since you have become poor listeners.   12  For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the actual words of God, and you have come to need milk and not solid food.   13  For everyone who partakes  only  of milk is unacquainted with the word of righteousness, for he is an infant.   14  But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to distinguish between good and evil. And continuing in Hebrews 6:1a Therefore  leaving  the  elementary teaching about the  Christ, let us press on to  maturity,     When a baby is born, he or she is  completely  dependent on others for food.  A baby must be nursed or fed a bottle each t...

 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...

 What is nobility?  The dictionary defines nobility as the quality of being noble in character, mind, birth, or rank.  Noble means belonging to a class of aristocracy or having fine personal qualities or morals.  Basically, nobility means that you are somehow "above" those around you.   Acts 17:11 says, "Now these were more noble-minded  than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so."  The Bereans were considered to think like nobility because they searched the Scriptures checking what they were taught against Truth.  These men and women were "above" others in their thinking because they were thinking for themselves and thinking about Scripture.  They didn't trust anyone when it came to what they needed to learn.  They trusted in the Word of God and therefore made sure that those they were listening too measured up to the standard of God's W...

 I haven't been posting much because I am feeling a little lost.  I know that God always has a plan for my day and a plan for the whole of my days, but sometimes I feel like I can't possibly figure out what that is.  I usually end up doing something lazy at that point because I just don't really know what to do with my time.   This morning, I was continuing my study of the New Testament in Acts.  Acts 16:6-8 says, "They passed through the Phrygian and Galatian region, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia; and after they came to Mysia, they were trying to go into Bithynia, and the Spirit of Jesus did not permit them; and passing by Mysia, they came down to Troas."  Paul and Silas needed direction.  They needed to know where to go and where to preach.  Did God make it a mystery?  something hard to figure out?  NO!  He made it clear to them by His Spirit. Why isn't it as clear to us?  Mostly, we aren'...

 I've been listening to a sermon series on Galatians .  I'm no where close to done with it (there are 24 sermons, as you can see), but I am finding my thinking challenged and convicted.  You see, I grew up in a "performance based" household.  Everything I did was to gain favor with someone.  In a lot of ways, while I had a basic understanding of grace, I thought God was the same way.  This balance of works/law and grace is hard to figure out.  Especially for someone like me who wants to puzzle things out until complete understanding dawns.  I don't really think complete understanding will dawn for me on this one for a very long time, if it does this side of heaven.   Galatians 5:1 says, "It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery."  At the same time, in chapter 6, verse 9, Paul says, "Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do n...

 A few weeks ago, God brought together the perfect storm of conviction for me and I began exercising again.  So far, I have worked out every day for just over two weeks.  Not much, I know, but it is a start.  While I am on the treadmill, I usually read, listen to sermons, or watch videos on RightNow Media.  This morning, I was reading Shepherding Women in Pain  by Bev Hislop.  In my exercises after the treadmill, I was pondering the chapter I had just read, all while sweating and groaning as my muscles struggled to work.  The author had made a very good point about the Western view of pain.  We always look at pain as something to avoid.  Something to be fixed.  Something that is just plain wrong.  This viewpoint often leads to very unhealthy reactions to pain.  As I was feeling the pain in my workout, I realized that this is true, except in the gym.  Anyone who exercises will tell you "no pain, no gain."  We all ...

This morning I was pulling weeds and had the very frustrating experience of not being able to get them up from the roots.  I was feeling pretty lazy, so I just pulled what I could.  That often meant just getting the above ground parts.  The Holy Spirit whispered a lesson to me in this.  We can't just clean up the sin on the outside.  We need to be cleaning up on the inside, pulling out the roots of our sin.  RC Sproul talks about this in The Holiness of God .  He mentions the Pharisees' need to look good on the outside, while perpetuating their misunderstanding of the Law that addresses the inside.  Moses talks about this in Deuteronomy.  He makes a covenant with the people and all those who come after them, warning them to serve the Lord only.  Verse 18 of chapter 29 says,  "so that there will not be among you a man or woman, or family or tribe, whose heart turns away today from the LORD our God, to go and serve the gods of th...

 Have you noticed how anything of worth takes time and effort?  I read an article this morning interviewing a weight lifter.  He was talking about how weightlifting had taught him some disciplines that have really helped with his spiritual growth, too.  When one wants to lift weights, bulk up, etc., one must work hard, day after day.  There are small gains and sometimes set backs.  One must start small and build up to the heavier weights.  All of these have parallels to our spiritual lives.  As I was pondering this, I was working in my yard.  When we bought our house a year and a half ago, the previous owners had been struggling with health issues for a few years and the yard had been neglected.  I want a nice looking yard, but I despise yard work.  But I realized today that there was a lesson to be learned here, as well.  My yard will probably take a few years to get back into shape.  It will take time and effort.  I...

 Have you ever heard the expression "use it or lose it?"  As I get older, I often hear that said in regards to physical fitness and even mental fitness.  While the expression fits with both of these, this morning I was thinking about it another way.  Have you read the parable of the talents?  In the book of Luke, it is "minas" rather than talents, but the idea is the same.  In all the Sunday school lessons I have heard, we focus on the parable as one showing us we need to cultivate and use our talents for the kingdom.  I want to look at that with a little bit of a twist. Luke 19:20-26 says, "Another came, saying, 'Master, here is your mina, which I kept put away in a handkerchief; for I was afraid of you, because you are an exacting man; you take up what you did not lay down and reap what you did not sow.' He said to him, 'By your own words I will judge you, you worthless slave.  Did you know that I am an exacting man, taking up what I did not lay...

 Have you ever used whitewash?  I haven't, but a lot of the books I read mention it (remember Tom Sawyer ?).  Basically, it's paint.  Paint makes things look pretty and new.  But have you ever painted over something only to later realize that you shouldn't have?  Take mildew.  If you paint over mildew without first scrubbing it out and killing it all, it will just grow back.  The paint doesn't fix the problem.  Paint is just a temporary cover up.  Our lives are like that.  If we think we will be better by looking better on the outside, we soon find that it is only a temporary cover up for a heart problem that needs to be fixed.   Matthew 23:25-28 says: 25  “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence.   26  You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and the plate, that the ou...

 Do you ever feel like your life took a wrong turn and you have no idea how to get back on the right road? Sometimes I feel that way.  I am almost done with my master's degree in curriculum and instruction.  I have worked hard to finish this second degree (my first is a bachelor's in math with extra classes to be able to teach), but the only thing I feel like I have learned is that I do not agree with the American education system and I really don't want to teach in a classroom, especially not math.  So then the question becomes, "what now?"  Well, at this particular moment, I am back to homeschooling three of my kids.  If I stick with that, which we plan on, that will take 5 or so more years.  But then what?   I always want a plan.  I want to know every detail of what I should be doing and I think that each "should be doing" is a permanent fix.  Unfortunately for me, that isn't the way life works.  Sometimes, God gives us a plan fo...

 Do you ever get tired of the dailyness of life?  This morning I was realizing that I really  needed a haircut, and I found myself annoyed with the fact.  Why do I have to keep cutting my hair every month or so?  Why do I have to eat multiple times a day?  Isn't once enough?  Why do I have to buy new clothes?  I'm not growing anymore (or at least, I'm not supposed to be).  Why does the kitchen need to be cleaned over and over?  Why does the laundry need to be done every day (almost)?  etc. etc. etc. Do you ever think about these things?  This morning, I was struck by the fact that it annoys me so much that everything I do isn't one and done.  In fact, most things in life don't work that way.  I could feel the nudge of the Spirit, though, letting me know that there is a reason for this.  We can't be one and done with our relationship with Christ, either.  Just because we have surrendered our lives to Him does...