Tag Archives: spirit of god

Farming 6

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This will be our last installment on farming for this go around.  As I was thinking again about driving the tractor the other day I keep going back to the finisher.  It is an effective piece of equipment.

The first section of the finisher are disks.  These cut up the leftover corn stalks or bean stalks.  This makes them smaller and easier for the planter to go through.  The next part are called shovels.  They break up the ground even more.  They are shaped like an arrow head and thus they really get things broken up.  Then the third part of the finisher are the rolling baskets.  They are a series of knives that are arranged horizontally in the shape of a circle.  As they rotate around they chop what the other two sections have broken up.  This leaves soil that is ready to be planted.

This brought my mind to the work of God the Holy Spirit.  He convicts the world of sin, righteousness and judgment.  Look at John 16:8, “and having come, He will convict the world concerning sin, and concerning righteousness, and concerning judgment;”.  His ministry is to convict us to break up the fallow ground we looked at in the first installment of these posts.  He will cut, rip and chop what needs to be gotten out of our lives to make the ground of our hearts good ground to receive the seed of the Word of God.

Here is where the rub comes in.  You and I must yield ourselves to the Holy Spirit as He works in our lives.  If we will become sensitive to His promptings then it will be much easier for sure.

 

Guardrails

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I have some very distinct memories of traveling Indiana back roads.  My family originated in western Indiana in some very small towns that if I named them you would not even know them.  Each year we would travel back to this area as a family.  It was so much fun.  I would love to take that trip today with my grandparents.  I would not wish them back from Heaven even for such a day though.

I remember many tight turns in roads were deep valleys lined the roads.  I can remember thinking to myself, “What do they do in the winter?”  I remember places where guardrails lined the roads to keep vehicles on the road and out of the ditch.  The guardrails were aids to navigation so to speak.  Probably not like we think of them; but, they were nonetheless.

In human history there is an ebb and flow to life.  There are ups and downs.  There are times we follow Christ closely and times we try to walk our own path.  The children of Israel were no different.  They seemed to do okay as long as a judge was in place; but, when they died it was a whole different story.  Look at Judges 2:19, “And it came to pass, when the judge was dead, that they returned, and corrupted themselves more than their fathers, in following other gods to serve them, and to bow down unto them; they ceased not from their own doings, nor from their stubborn way.”

God has given to us His “guardrails”.  He has given to us His Holy Spirit.  He has given to us a love letter in the Bible.  He has even given to us more mature believers to help us navigate the winding roads of life.  It is up to you and I to gain access to these helps and put them in place in our lives.

So, how are you doing?

The Eagle 3

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As we continue this thought about the eagle I thought about this verse.  Look at Deuteronomy 32:13, “He made him ride on the high places of the earth, that he might eat the increase of the fields; and he made him to suck honey out of the rock, and oil out of the flinty rock;”

An eagle only flies 20% of the time.  That means that 80% of the time they are gliding.  How do they accomplish this?  You see the eagle yields to the wind and allows it to carry them where they want to go .  It makes me think about trials.  We seem to fight against the trials in our lives; but, they are opportunities for us to learn and grow.  I know from experience.  I also know that this is the last thing I want to hear in the midst of a trial.  No matter, it is true.

The Holy Spirit of God has been described as a “Wind”.  Is that not interesting?  It is to me.  If I will yield myself to God and let the Holy Spirit work in my life things will go somewhat easier.  I don’t mean life will be easy my any stretch of the imagination.  If we can stretch out our wings so to speak then we can let the “Wind” of the Holy Spirit carry us above the storms of life and we can soar like eagles and quit clucking like chickens.

So, how are you doing?