Category: Fruit

10/24/2022 0 Comments

The Art of Silence

Perhaps one of the more challenging aspects of parenting is knowing when to speak into the lives of our children and when to refrain from doing so. Talking to closed ears is like pouring water on the sidewalk and not on the soil—it does no good. Or consider the coworker who when corrected is appreciative—to be silent in this occasion could be harmful. Some people when frustrated cannot hold back toxic words. Still others withhold thoughts and in quiet feed chaos.

Solomon wrote there is “a time to be silent and a time to speak” (Ecclesiastes 3:7b). Tony Evans says “We can sin not just with our words but also with our silence. Knowing when to speak and when to withhold something requires wisdom.”[1] Wisdom should not be neglected.

8/19/2022 1 Comment

Reproduction

My dad loves to teach the men he is discipling the five steps in training a man (applicable to men and women):
1. Tell them why they should follow Christ—Matthew 4:19.
2. Show them how to follow Christ—John 14:21.
3. Get them started in following Christ—Luke 9:23.
4. Keep them going as it relates to following Christ—John 15:4.
5. See that they pass it on . . . reproduce what they have learned—Mark 6:7,12.
Let’s focus on the fifth step establishing that training effectively occurred.

8/11/2022 1 Comment

As Usual

Mary Geegh is one of my heroes. She wrote a fascinating booklet called God Guides. Mary wrote, “I determined to listen to God for guidance in all matters, and I promised Him I would obey whatever He told me.” Mary had a critical spirit towards a coworker, so, in line with her new conviction, she asked God’s guidance on how to repair the rift between them. God told her to give her colleague a fresh egg. Mary thought that would insult her and resisted God’s prompting. But later, with prodding, she did what God asked, and He used that egg to refresh the woman and to bring new love into Mary’s heart for her—all the friction was gone! Mary created a habit that would change her life and give her countless stories of God miraculously working in her and through her for His Kingdom.

8/3/2022 0 Comments

Vines and Thorns

Jesus taught the parable of the sower to a large crowd assembled by the Sea of Galilee. Seed in healthy soil and free of the threat of birds, rocks, and thorns grows to produce vibrant crops. Had Jesus lived in other parts of the world, He might have added vines to His illustration. In southeast Virginia, there is a vine that produces a beautiful purple flower. It is called purple Wisteria. These vines produce a wide array of leaves in the summertime that form a cover and make for a lush, green setting. Wisteria is a beautiful addition to a lawn or garden if properly grown and maintained. But if left unrestricted, it can destroy trees and shrubs.

4/25/2022 1 Comment

The Problem with Religion

Did you know that God is offended by meaningless, false-hearted chanting?

1/6/2022 1 Comment

Tell the Righteous!

Meditation
Isaiah 3:10-11—Tell the righteous that it will go well for them, for they will eat the fruit of their labor. Woe to the wicked—it will go badly for them, for what they have done will be done to them.

God’s word to Isaiah challenged me to study the word righteous because it is in that context that things go well for people. What I found was staggering in some ways. But before we look at the signs and fruit of righteous living we should understand 14 lessons that teach:

8/23/2020 1 Comment

Marking People With Grace

Ron and Joyce York

At the age of 88, my dad is walking the final chapters of his life on earth still on fire to share the gospel with any and every person he can. Mark Cahill wrote the book One Thing You Can’t Do In Heaven and that one thing is evangelism. Dad is making sure he maximizes now what he won’t be able to do once he is home.
I’m working on writing a biography of his life and was challenged by an entry in his journal on October 10, 1983 while he was serving as the country leader for the Navigators in the Philippines.

6/22/2018 0 Comments

Have You Fertilized It?

Meditation
Luke 13:8,9—He answered him, “Sir, leave it alone this year also, until I dig around it and fertilize it. And if it bears fruit, well. But if not, after that you shall cut it down.”

Jesus shared the parable of the barren fig tree to His listeners about a man who, frustrated with the fact that his fig three after three years was still not producing figs, told his vinedresser to cut it down. The vinedresser was more patient and felt like corrective steps were necessary before just killing the tree.

11/30/2015 0 Comments

Kindness Saved the Harlot

It was truly an implausible act. She lived behind fortified walls yet chose to be vulnerable. For a woman of the street she possessed great insight. She knew that her city would be destroyed because she believed the reports of the Destroyer. As new stories meandered along hot, dusty streets and through bustling merchant shops, hearts despaired and courage disappeared. She saw things differently; embracing faith from a heaven and earthperspective.

Why did the spies go to her house? She could easily have reported them. Even the king knew they visited her and dispatched messengers who told her to bring them out for arrest. No, she knew a lot about men, and these two were different. So she hid them on her roof and lied about them leaving the city. Later under the cover of darkness she gave them a rope so they could escape down her wall. She was an audacious woman with a simple request.

7/14/2015 0 Comments

You Will Recognize Them

Jeb spread a false rumor about another leader in the church. His pastor after confirming the report was untrue, confronted him about the report and asked him to recant. Jeb refused and shortly thereafter, left the church. Unfortunately, in a bizarre twist of events, Jeb’s departure ended up in the elders expelling their pastor and church founder. The body of Christ lost a talented leader and in hearing this true story I was reminded of Jesus’ warning to his disciples.

3/10/2014 0 Comments

In the Plain of Remain

On Tuesday I flew into my headquarters to get ready for a key week. The next day with three of my leaders we would interview four candidates to choose our next deputy commander. My current deputy is superb—not just a great officer, but a man who will be a lifetime friend. Unfortunately, I’ve also had the challenge of working with executives who were inept or toxic. So knowing how vital it is to find the right leader, I did not get much sleep. When I woke up on Wednesday morning I felt led to get down on my knees and pray by my bed for wisdom from God and His divine help in making our selection. Immediately I felt His peace.

7/7/2008 0 Comments

Branches of the Vine

Meditation
John 15:5-I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in Me and I in him produces much fruit, because you can do nothing without Me.

12/7/2006 0 Comments

Filled

Imagine you were stranded in a desert for a week eventually exhausting all supplies. Around the wadi comes a camel-striding stranger who sees your plight and says, “Here, let me help you.” He then pulls out a canteen and hands it to you. Grateful, you place the container on your lips and wait for life-renewing water. But the canteen is empty. “What kind of cruel joke is this!” you ask. The stranger smiles and says, “Ah, it is not the liquid but the thought of liquid that is sufficient.”

12/31/2005

Symbolism

Anticipation runs high. New Year's Eve at the symbolic center of New York City has become more than just a celebration - it's a global tradition. The world holds its breath...and cheers as the clocks strike twelve. As the famous New Year's Eve Ball descends from the flagpole atop One Times Square, 750,000 people in Times Square, millions nationwide and over a billion watching throughout the world are united in bidding a collective farewell to the departing year, and expressing our joy and hope for the year ahead.[1]

8/18/2001 0 Comments

Fruit Trees

In my backyard are several fruit trees. Each one is shielded to some degree from the traversing sun by fir, cedar and maple that are older and tower above them. What is fascinating is how the apple, cherry, plum and apricot contort their branches in the best direction possible to capture maximum sunlight.

7/14/2000 0 Comments

Test

Have our brains turned to tofu? The fastest growing jungle in our world is not the triple-canopied tropical variety but rather the explosion of information that sprouts through every conceivable device. Consider the vast amount of data delivered via the internet, television, radio, and printed material and it is astounding that we are not mentally buried. How do we determine the difference between pyrite and gold?

5/13/2000 0 Comments

Conversion

Meditation
Acts 9:4-6--Falling to the ground, he heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?”
“Who are You, Lord?” he said.“I am Jesus, the One you are persecuting,” He replied. “But get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”

3/21/2000 0 Comments

Fruit Bearing

Here’s a nightmare! If we don’t spiritually invest in the generations that follow us who will rise up willing to carry the torch of Christ? A self-centered spiritual body is an embarrassment to the throne of the One who so loved THE WORLD—past, present and future!

12/7/1999 0 Comments

Repentance

When crocodiles cry, their tears are not like our tears at all. A crocodile’s glandular excretions act to expel excess salt from its eyes. When a man is remorseful but not repentant he acts like a crocodile. He sheds tears but they are not from a true sense of shame over wrongdoing, but rather to put off the one aware of the sin. Remorse is that sensation we experience when we are caught. Repentance is the revulsion we taste for the evil in our lives.

10/21/1999 0 Comments

Inspiration

My two sons and I enjoy watching Star Trek Voyager. We regularly follow the space adventures and mini-plots that revolve around the homesick Voyager crew desperately trying to reach the Alpha Quadrant. As I sat down to view a new episode I felt a direct nudging by the Holy Spirit to go and pray.

Photo used under Creative Commons from Rachel Maxey Miles