Flight Paths

When I was young, my father placed great emphasis on knowing the God of the Old Testament. He said if I would know the God of the New Testament I must learn of Him through His Old Testament history and His prophets. Jehovah God of old is the same God of today.

There is another way of expressing this desire to know God and that is through our achieving purity of thought, word and deed, as Jesus said, “Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God.” The Greek word optanomai translated “see” is an earnest but more continued inspection than just a casual look (Strongs). It is this pure heart that sees God that I want to address.

The word pure is exactly what we think it means: Gk katharos - clean, clear, pure, without impurities, not defiled. And figuratively, free from moral guilt, free from sin (Strongs, Vines). Amazingly, it has been pointed out that the philosophers of the Greeks (Socrates, Aristotle) didn’t address this area of virtue! (Arthur Carr’s commentary on Matthew). But when we look throughout the Scriptures, we are strongly impressed by the need for purity. God’s direction even in the Hebrew laws for physical purity also included living a pure life, with a pure love for God Lev 11:47 to make a distinction between the unclean and the clean, and between the edible creature and the creature which is not to be eaten. Ex 25:17 "You shall make a mercy seat of pure gold, two and a half cubits long and one and a half cubits wide. De 6:5 "You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. De 7:9 "Know therefore that the LORD your God, He is God, the faithful God, who keeps His covenant and His lovingkindness to a thousandth generation with those who love Him and keep His commandments."

Now, consider the following verses in the New Testament: 1Ti 1:5 But the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. Tit 1:15 To the pure all things are pure: but to them that are defiled and unbelieving nothing is pure; but both their mind and their conscience are defiled.

If we are to create a pure heart so that we can see God–now and throughout eternity–we must consider how this can be achieved. Hebrews 10:22 tells us we must first “draw near (to God) with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.” There are three actions required in this verse–a sincere heart, assurance of faith, and hearts sprinkled clean through baptism. Two are our responsibility, the third is by the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Notice now the connection between a pure heart and clean hands. Ps 24:3 “Who may ascend into the hill of the LORD? And who may stand in His holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, Who has not lifted up his soul to falsehood And has not sworn deceitfully.” This reminds me of when Abraham deceived Abimelech who exclaimed, "Did he not himself say to me, 'She is my sister'? And she herself said, 'He is my brother.' In the integrity of my heart and the innocence of my hands I have done this” Ge 20:5-6. Honesty in word and the motives of our heart will affect what we think, say and do.

James draws from that Old Testament passage: Jas 4:8 Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse (katharos) your hands, you sinners; and purify (hagnizo) your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Be miserable and mourn and weep; let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you.

James tells us if we want to be near God, we must cleanse our hands, purify our hearts and not be double-minded in our efforts. Integrity can only be achieved if we are committed in one direction (single-minded) with total humility. Notice also that James includes the other Greek word for purity, hagnizo. This word comes from the family of words for holy or holiness, purity.

Peter also uses another word heilikrines – judged by sunlight, i.e. tested as genuine (figuratively):--pure, sincere. (Strongs). 2Pe 3:1 “This is now, beloved, the second letter I am writing to you in which I am stirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder.” The idea of sincere and pure go hand in glove.

Did you pick up on the inclusion of a good conscience in 1 Tim 1:5? It all ties together. Our thoughts and actions toward God must be sincere, seeking His truth, living by that truth–a good conscience and therefore a pure heart. Let us be pure in truth, pure in motive, pure in thought, and pure in action toward what is good and wholesome, exercising self-control and speaking truth toward God and our fellow man.

“Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God.” We CAN know/see God by sharing His qualities of goodness, living in all good conscience with a pure heart

Joanne Beckley

When I did my internship as a music teacher in the public schools, I looked up one day to find my professor walking into the music room behind the fifth grade class scheduled for that half hour.  My heart sank.  I did have a lesson prepared, but it was not a wow-zer.  It taught a valid musical concept, one I could easily build on in future lessons—the first of what educators call a “unit.”  I had prepared a lesson plan with appropriate behavioral objectives.  It met all expectations and requirements.  But to me, it seemed so—well, ordinary.

 I taught that lesson twice in a row with no problems.  The students caught on quickly and I met the objectives with no difficulty.  After the second group left I approached the tall, slim, dignified looking lady, expecting her to meet me with, at best, a mediocre assessment.

 “Good job,” she said, and when my jaw dropped she added, “Listen:  they can’t all be showstoppers.  You taught an important lesson and you taught it well.  They learned exactly what you set out to teach them and they enjoyed it.”

 I learned something that day, something I keep reminding myself as I approach the computer day after day, struggling sometimes to find something to write.  Just do your best.  Turn in a good effort, be faithful to the Word God has entrusted you with, and let Him take care of the rest.

 Sometimes I hear from people telling me that what I wrote was exactly what they needed that day.  A few times it was a piece I almost deleted because I was so dissatisfied with it.  The same thing has happened to Keith.  When you preach two sermons a week, every week, you occasionally produce one just because you needed one to fill the time one Sunday morning, not because you were particularly enthralled with the subject.  Many times people have complimented those very sermons.  At least one of them led directly to a conversion.

 Many times we feel unnoticed and totally useless to the Lord.  We think we are doing nothing for God because nothing we do matters.  Nonsense.  More people are watching you than you know.  You need to learn the same lesson I did. 

Every day can't be a showstopper.  Some days are so ordinary as to make you wonder why you exist.  You get up, you go to work, you come home and spend time with the family.  You pay your bills on time and help the neighbor with his ornery lawn mower, perhaps even mowing his yard for him.  You study your Bible, and then you hit the sack and get up and go again the next morning, an ordinary--you think--honest, hard-working Joe.

Or you get up and down all night with the baby and barely know you are sending your older ones off to school because you are so tired.  But then you still do the grocery shopping and prepare the meals and launder the clothes.  You wash dishes and scrub floors and dust the countertops and shelves, change the sheets, then throw together an extra casserole for a sick neighbor, help the kids with their Bible lesson and then their homework, and fall into bed exhausted.

Or you sit at home alone because you are too old and sick and frail to get out any longer, so you watch a little TV, read your Bible, call a few folks on the sick list (besides yourself), write a few get well and sympathy cards, then go to bed and start all over again tomorrow.

And all of you wonder, what good is that to anyone?  Well, you never know, especially when you count God into the mix.  He can work wonders with the weak, the frightened, and the average.  He can take the smallest seed you plant and make a huge tree out of it.  Don’t you remember a parable along those lines?  In God’s hands, nothing you do is just filling up time.

So get up every morning and do what you are supposed to do in the way you are supposed to do it.  Someone out there needs to see you do that, and if you do, God will take care of the rest.

I planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase. So then neither is he that plants anything, neither he that waters; but God that gives the increase. Now he that plants and he that waters are one: but each shall receive his own reward according to his own labor. For we are God's fellow-workers...  1Cor 3:6-9.

Dene Ward

I recently came across an article titled “How to Avoid the Natural Reactions that Affect Good Decision Making.”  It is too long to go over here, but it did make me realize that natural reactions can be controlled.  How?  The author, who was not interested in spiritual matters at all, listed several ways, but they all boiled down to this—control yourself and do not let those “natural” reactions rule you.  The Sermon on the Mount is full of exactly those kinds of statements.

 Rejoice and be glad [when others revile you and persecute you] for so persecuted they the prophets before you.

 But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles.

 But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.

 And that’s only a few from Matthew 5.  This is not easy, but I think the key is this:  God doesn’t expect us to control our natural reactions—he expects us to change what comes naturally to us.  And He expects us to do it during the most difficult times of our lives.  His people have been doing it for thousands of years.

 Jesus went to Peter’s house one evening and found his mother-in-law lying sick with a fever.  What did she do the moment she was healed?  And he came and took her by the hand and lifted her up, and the fever left her, and she began to serve them, Mark 1:30.  How many of us would have taken the next few days off to recuperate, expecting a little more sympathy too?

 The apostles were arrested and put in prison, then brought out and beaten.  What did they do? Then they left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name, Acts 5:41.  Rejoicing at being beaten?  That certainly wouldn’t be my natural reaction.

 Stephen was stoned for what he preached and what did he do as he lay dying?  And as they were stoning Stephen, he called out, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” And falling to his knees he cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep, Acts 7:59-60.  Impossible, you think, to forgive your murderers, but not for Stephen, a man “full of grace” Acts 6:8.

 Aquila and Priscilla were run out of Rome, forced to leave their home because of persecution.  What did they do?  They set up shop in Corinth and offered Paul a place to stay for as long as he needed (Acts 18:1-3).  Me? I probably would have pleaded a need for time to get organized and put my life back together before I put my home in the upheaval of a long term guest.

 Paul and Silas were beaten and thrown into prison.  What was their reaction? About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, Acts 16:24.  They were aware that “others were listening to them.”  I’m not sure I would have been aware of anything but my own aches and pains, and completely unconcerned about what others were going through.

 And what did David do immediately after his child died?  Then David arose from the earth and washed and anointed himself and changed his clothes. And he went into the house of the LORD and worshiped, 2 Sam 12:20.  At this most horrible time for any parent, David worshipped.  Is it really surprising?  Job did the same thing, and he had lost all his children.  Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell on the ground and worshiped, Job 1:20. 

 It seems that the natural reaction for a true child of God who undergoes any sort of trial is to turn to his Father, to serve, to worship, to pray, to sing, even to forgive.  I am usually more interested in my own welfare than anyone else’s.  I tend to forget anything spiritual and concentrate on my own physical or emotional pain as if it were the most important thing there is.  Is that what a Christian should do?  These people tell me otherwise, and I could have found many more examples. 

 Truly I have a long way to go, but this maybe I can remember:  If I have become a new creature, then what is “natural” about me, including my reactions, should have changed too.

Now the natural man receives not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him; and he cannot know them, because they are spiritually judged. But he that is spiritual judges all things, and he himself is judged of no man, 1 Cor 2:14,15. 

Dene Ward

 Contrary to popular opinion, it does get cold in Florida once in a while.  How cold?  Depends upon where you are.  In North Florida, where we lived for 43 years, temperatures dropped into the teens at least once a year.  One year we hit single digits, but that is not common.  I do remember a winter where we were below freezing every night for two weeks and the highs were in the forties.  I remember freezes when I was a child that led to the southern shift of the Citrus Line—the line above which citrus could not grow.  This is why the plants we grew in North Florida were not the same plants we grow here in Tampa.

 The first winter we were back in Tampa we did not have a freeze.  That same winter Lucas, who preaches in the panhandle about 30 miles this side of Pensacola, had 6 inches of snow, but we merely fell to the forties.  This past winter we had a couple of freezes.  We never even thought about the hibiscus.  I was so used to plants that weathered cold weather that it slipped my mind entirely.  That next morning I was horrified.  All the leaves were completely dead, leaving bare, brown branches.  My favorite bush was dead!

 We looked up IFAS, the University of Florida's Agriculture page.  Wait at least four weeks, it said, before you cut it back.  If you cut it too early and another freeze occurs, the plant will suffer even more.  What looks like dead plant can actually protect what might be left in the case of another freeze.  You must wait several days or even weeks.  That is what we have done.  Meanwhile, we did have one more freeze, but we kept to the plan and waited.

 What happened?  Green growth all over the shrub is what happened.  Tiny leaf buds are sprouting on roughly 65% of every limb.  Every day the leaves grow larger and before another week I believe the growth will be visible from the street.  We will once again have a beautiful tri-colored bush.

 Being a parent is hard.  You can work yourself to the bone, not just on physical care, but on spiritual teaching as well, only to see your precious child slip away into the world.  Somehow others influence him more than you did, at least you presume so.  Why else would he have left what you not only taught him, but lived in front of him?

 Of course, the first answer is that he has his own free will.  Part of realizing the falsity of predestination is also accepting that each person is responsible for his own decisions in life.  And sometimes even the best of us makes a truly stupid decision.  But I firmly believe that all is not lost. 

 Don't give up.  Wait.  Maybe a hard freeze has hit his soul and he has some damage, even some dieback.  Wait.  Carefully consider anything you say and do.  You are supposed to water cold-damaged plants because their roots may be too damaged to function properly, and because cold weather is nearly always accompanied by low humidity.  Water, but do not fertilize, they say.  Maybe what that translates to is be there for him, but don't push too hard.  You yourself know that his return must be his decision, not yours.

 But dieback does not mean totally dead.  With care, the plant can begin to come back from the damage.  The old leaves and limbs must eventually be pruned, but no lower than the new growth.  The roots of the plant are still there and sooner or later they will take over and send up a new, perhaps even more beautiful, plant.

 What is our old saying?  "Where there's life, there's hope."  Don't give up on your precious child.  Maybe, just maybe, the roots of your strong teaching during his childhood will once again blossom.  But understand this:  if you are still in that teaching phase, you must teach as if his life depends upon it—because that just might be true.

These words that I am giving you today are to be in your heart.Repeat them to your children. Talk about them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.Bind them as a sign on your hand and let them be a symbol on your forehead. Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gatesDeut6:6-9.

Dene Ward

Have you ever apologized to anyone?  Let me rephrase that.  Have you ever apologized in the Biblical way?  You mean there is a difference?  I think there is a huge one.

 The first two definitions of “apology” in my Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary are 1} a formal justification; a defense; and 2) an excuse.  The original word is Greek, apologia.  Paul used it in Acts 22:1 and 25:16 when he made his “defense” at his trials.  Understand this, in no way was he admitting wrong, and none of us would have expected him to.  He was in trouble for preaching the gospel.  He was defending himself, giving “a formal justification.”  That is not the kind of apology I am talking about either.

Yet that is exactly the way most of us apologize—we defend ourselves.  We say, “I’m sorry you got hurt,” placing the fault on the other person, instead of “I’m sorry I hurt you.”  We say, “If I did anything wrong, I’m sorry,” as if to call in question the one we are “apologizing” to.  We give excuses for why we did what we did to make sure everyone knows “it wasn’t my fault.”  We do everything we can to avoid admitting wrong.

 Webster finally gives this as his last definition:  “An admission of error accompanied by regret.”  More to our point, this is the definition Jesus gives:  if he sin against you seven times in the day, and seven times turn again to you, saying, I repent; you shall forgive him.  Luke 17:4.  If he “turn again to you saying, I repent.”  No defense, no excuses, no justification, just “I was wrong.”  Have you ever apologized that way?

 I daresay most of us have not.  Yet that is exactly the way we are to apologize to God too.  Have you? Or do we, in our prayers, justify ourselves with phrases about being “only human,” or about “how hard it is, Lord,” or even “how mean he was to me first—you know he provoked me, Lord.”  What God expects from us is change for the better, Vine’s definition of the word.  That necessarily involves admission of guilt.  If not, why would we need to change?  And that is the same word Jesus used in Luke 17: 4.  “I repent,” plain and simple.

 So I ask you again, have you ever truly apologized in the Biblical sense, what Jesus called “repentance?”  The next time you begin with, “I’m sorry,” just stop after that second word.  Don’t allow yourself excuses or justification.  Just apologize.  You cannot correct error in your life without admitting it first, and once it’s been admitted, if you truly are a child of God, the responsibility to change cannot help but affect you.

God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble, James 4:6, 1 Peter 5:5.

Dene Ward

…Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's” Matt 22:21.

 I suppose nothing rankles so much as giving your hard-earned money to a government whose policies you disagree with, who often use that money for things you disapprove of as a Christian.  Guess what?  We are not the first to feel that way, and our government doesn’t come close to the one that governed the people Jesus and the apostles plainly said to pay.  Our government does not yet imprison us for our faith, nor does it throw us to the lions, crucify us, or burn us alive in an arena paid for by tax dollars.

 Paul makes it crystal clear when he says, For because of this you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing. Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed…Rom 13:6,7.  Some of those very people wound up paying for their own executions, so I doubt we have much excuse in not paying our taxes.

 This is what we miss when we start all the complaining.  In the very same passage Paul says, Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God…Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God's wrath but also for the sake of conscience, vv 1,5. 

 You would think that God’s wrath would have been reserved for that government that persecuted His people, but no, in this case, His wrath is on those who do not pay because He ordained that government.  Not to obey that earthly authority is to disobey His heavenly authority.  Paul even adds at the end of verse 7, [Pay]respect to whom respect is owed and honor to whom honor is owed.  That does not mean only those who deserve that respect and honor as individuals, it means those who are in a position of authority.  That position deserves the respect and honor no matter who fills it, because God put him there. 

 Peter says much the same thing:  Be subject for the Lord's sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme, or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good, 1 Pet 2:13,14.  We obey “for the Lord’s sake.”  So what would that make any civil disobedience on our part?  A slap in the face of God, that’s what.

 This is a lot more important than we like to think.  Subjection is the mark of a Christian.  Every one of us is subject to everyone else, and we all are in subjection in other areas of life.  Peter says that is why our subjection to the government is so important. For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people. Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God. Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor, vv15-17.  When we act in any other way, when we disobey the laws of the land, when we cheat on our taxes, we are causing the world to laugh at the very notion of our subjection as servants to God, invalidating our faith as surely as if we had stood up and denied the Lord in front of them.

 Yes, it’s that time of year.  Maybe instead of complaining, we should thank God that we have a government that, though it certainly isn’t honoring God, isn’t murdering His children.  At least not yet.

…You shall not speak evil of a ruler of your people,Acts 23:5.

Dene Ward

One evening as we sat with our grandsons in the family room of their home, two year old Judah found three small bins, about the size of the largest coffee cans these days, and summarily emptied them one by one.  Small figurines, farm animals, blocks and other toys covered the family room floor.  He stood there looking around with obvious satisfaction, lifted his hands in the air and, with a big grin on his face, proclaimed, “I made a mess!”

 Then, surprising us both, he began to pick up each and every tiny toy and place them in the back of his dump truck, the big one he can sit on and push with his feet, until every toy was off the floor.

 “What a good boy!” I exclaimed.  Naively, as it turned out because he immediately knelt before the truck and began tossing the toys over his shoulders with both hands until once again they were scattered everywhere.  Again he looked on his work with satisfaction, then began picking them up and starting over. This must have occurred five or six times before it began to bore him, but for a while there, “Making a Mess” was the game of the hour and he was quite good at it.

 Do you know any mess makers in the church?  You know, the ones who ask questions in class that are deliberately designed to foil the teacher’s carefully laid out lesson and confuse the newcomers; the ones who enjoy starting a discussion they know will end in arguments; the ones who delight in pulling people aside, especially teachers and preachers, and “setting them straight” about some detail that doesn’t even matter; the ones who pride themselves on taking the opposing view, not because it is the right one, but because they enjoy a stir.  They might as well stand in the middle of the room with my two year old grandson and proclaim, “I made a mess.”

 What does Paul say about them?  They “quarrel about words to no profit.”  They participate in “irreverent babble.”  They engage in “foolish and ignorant controversies.”  They have “an unhealthy craving for controversy”—indeed they can hardly control themselves when they see certain subjects coming up.  That lack of self-control comes because they are “depraved in mind.”  In short, these people thrive on making messes.  They live to cause trouble.  They even brag about their tendency to do these things. 

 And why is it so bad?  Their actions “subvert souls.”  They “lead people to more and more ungodliness.”  Their foolishness “eats like a gangrene.”  It “genders strife.”  It serves only to “produce envy, dissension, slander, suspicion…and constant friction.”  It troubles the new Christians and “unsettles minds.”

 At least my two year old grandson’s activity did not hurt anyone.  It was entirely appropriate for a child his age.  What excuse does a middle-aged mess-maker have?  He might as well go play with the babies.

But avoid foolish controversies, genealogies, dissensions, and quarrels about the law, for they are unprofitable and worthless. As for a person who stirs up division, after warning him once and then twice, have nothing more to do with him, knowing that such a person is warped and sinful; he is self-condemned.  Titus 3:9-11

(Passages quoted in the body of the article:  1 Tim 6:4,5; 2 Tim 2:14,16,23; Acts 15:25.)

Dene Ward

Today's post is by guest writer Lucas Ward.

Finally, I was asked about hanging crosses on the wall to ward off evil.  The New Testament doesn't say anything about the use of crosses or other Christian emblems, e.g., the fish symbol many put on the back of their cars.  Believing they have power to ward off evil veers one uncomfortably close to the charms and magic that was discussed and condemned in our last article, but what about wearing a cross on a necklace as a reminder of your faith?  It is not called for in the NT, but neither is it condemned.  It is not spoken of at all, and so we need to be careful about making up and enforcing rules that God doesn't.  There are some principles from the OT (Rom. 15:4) that provide warnings against what such emblems might become.

Numbers 21:4-9 tells the story of the Israelites yet again murmuring against God, and God sending in venomous snakes to punish them.  When the people prayed for relief, God told Moses to build a bronze serpent and place it upon a pole so that anyone who had been bitten could see the bronze serpent and be healed by looking upon it.  The bronze serpent was then kept, evidently as a memorial of God's mercy to His people.  Over the years, however, the people perverted that memorial into an idol to be worshiped.  Hezekiah eventually destroyed the serpent as he cleansed Judah of idols:  "And he broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made, for until those days the people of Israel had made offerings to it." (2 Kings 18:4)

After Gideon defeated the Midianites and freed the Children of Israel from their oppression, the people offered to make him king.  Gideon's response:  "I will not rule over you, and my son will not rule over you; the LORD will rule over you.”  (Jdg. 8:23)  This is a great show of faith and humility.  Gideon did, however, ask for a portion of the spoil taken from the Midianites, with which he built a golden ephod, apparently as a memorial of the victory God had given His people.  Very quickly, however, this became problematic:  "And Gideon made an ephod of it and put it in his city, in Ophrah. And all Israel whored after it there, and it became a snare to Gideon and to his family." (Jdg. 8:27)  To whore after something is regular OT speak for committing idolatry as a person breaks the purity of his relationship with God to chase other gods.  So, again, we see a good emblem and memorial of God's mercy and power becoming an idol in the eyes of the people.

This is where we need to be cautious regarding Christian emblems.  There is no problem if they are merely reminders of your faith and/or a way to proclaim your faith to others.  If we begin to pray to them, as if to God, or if we pray through them, as if they were more trusted avenues to God, then they become idols.  They are things we put between God and ourselves.  Do you prefer to hold on to or look at the cross when praying?  Do you kiss the cross to show devotion to God?  Then I must warn you that you are on your way to the snare Gideon's family fell into.  We cannot allow these emblems in any way to represent God.  Images which represent God or gods are idols.  Idolatry is a sin. 

Rev. 21:8  "But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.” 

Lucas Ward

I have well over a dozen amaryllises in a bed begun after a piano student gave me one for Christmas one year.  The deep solid red is probably the most common, but I have that and everything from pale pink and bright apricot, to stripes of white on red, pink, and apricot; pink throats on a pristine white, or white throats on deep orange or red as well.  They are gorgeous, but sometimes they don’t bloom, and that leaves me disappointed, usually with half the bulbs every year.  So I decided to find out what keeps amaryllises from blooming to see if I could remedy the problem.  Here is what I discovered and what I extrapolated.

 Amaryllises will not bloom in full shade.  They may not need full sun, especially in this sub-tropical environment, but they need enough light to draw that big thick stem up out of the bulb and through the soil and mulch.

 The New Testament tells us we need the Light, too.  John says that as long as we walk in the light, we won’t stumble (1 John 2:9-11).  It variously calls us sons of light and children of light; it says we are “of the day not the night.”  And because we have that Light and live in it, we then become “the light of the world.”  Certainly a Christian who does not live in the light will never bloom.

 Amaryllises need sufficient nutrients.  Just as a larger animal needs more food, this large flower needs good soil, and ample food and water.  Many of my amaryllis bulbs were as big as softballs when they came out of the package, and many of the blooms are broader across than some of Keith’s garden cantaloupes.  Especially in this poor sandy soil, we must be sure to supply the proper nutrition if we want anything to come out of it.

 We need nutrition too.  Peter tells us to “long for the pure spiritual milk that by it we may grow up into salvation” 1 Pet 2:2.  How can we do that if we neglect all the feeding opportunities our shepherds have offered us?  How can we do it when we shun the healthy spiritual food and feast on the junk in this life?  I have seen many brothers and sisters go hog wild with the organic, all-natural, non-GMO craze when taking care of their physical bodies, yet starve their spirits with skimpy servings and junk food.  No wonder their blooms are so scarce and puny.

 This might be surprising, but not allowing them to rest will also keep amaryllises from blooming.  You can force blooms at certain times of the year, but then you must prune both the stem and leaves and water them prodigiously until they go dormant.  Then leave them alone! 

 God did not rest on the seventh day because He was tired.  He rested because He was finished, but in that rest he also ordained a day of rest for His people.  Do you understand what that means?  In that ancient time, the common people lived hand to mouth and they worked sunup till sundown seven days a week just to survive.  But not God’s people.  As long as they observed their commanded Sabbath, He made sure they had plenty.  God knows what you need and sometimes you need to rest.  It may no longer be a religious observance, but it is certainly a matter of health.  And rest doesn’t mean going on a vacation that leaves you more worn out than rested.  It means a day with no schedule, no stressful situations, nothing hanging over your head that “just has to be done.”  Spend some time with your family—just one full day a week, any day—rest your body and your mind, and talk of the blessings God has given you all, especially the time you have to be together because He has taken such good care of you.

 And this last one really surprised me.  If you take your amaryllis bulbs out of the ground and store them in the refrigerator, you should not store them with apples.  Apples will make an amaryllis bulb sterile, or so I have been told.  Apples?  Apples are good things, right?  But even things that look good can make a plant sterile and unproductive it turns out. 

 Haven’t you seen the same thing happen to Christians?  They become so involved in things of this world, good things, that there is no time left for producing the fruit God wants from us.  Or they hang around with people who are not their spiritual brothers and sisters to the point that what matters most to those people becomes what matters most to them.  Other people, people who do not understand that we are to encourage one another and build one another up spiritually, who care nothing for the spiritual warfare we are involved in, who would, in fact, think you are nuts to even talk about such a thing, can hinder your productivity for the Lord.

 So take a look at your amaryllises today if you have them.  Think about the things that affect those gorgeous blooms.  See if any of them are affecting you too.

And let our people learn to devote themselves to good works, so as to help cases of urgent need, and not be unfruitful, Titus 3:14.

Dene Ward

Fret not yourself because of evildoers…Psa 37:1.

 Psalm 37 is one of several psalms that takes up this perennial problem among God’s people.  We become outraged when we see the wicked prosper and the righteous suffer, when we see a government ordained by God try to push Him out of our lives, when we see it run over the faithful in favor of any and all who claim He doesn’t exist.  Especially in today’s political environment, how many times do you find yourself caught up in arguments that leave you steamed and incensed, a fire burning in you to undo the wrong and fix the problem at any cost?  You see, that’s what “fret” means. 

 At first glance I pictured someone pacing the floor and wringing their hands.  “Fret” sounds so trivial.  The Hebrew word is anything but. 

 …And Cain was very wroth and his countenance fell, Gen 4:5.

 …And let not your anger burn…Gen 44:18.

 And my wrath shall wax hot…Ex 22:24.

   …And his anger was kindled...Num 11:1.

   …And all that are incensed against him…Isa 45:24.

 All these words are the same word translated “fret” in Psalm 37.  It is not a mild word, but it accurately describes the way so many of my brothers and sisters work themselves up into something they want to call righteous indignation over the way the world works.  Stop, the psalmist says by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.  In fact, he says it three times in the first 8 verses of this psalm. 

 And why?  Because it robs God of the things we should be doing and the kind of people we ought to be.  It turns us into the very people we are complaining about.  The psalmist goes on to tell us exactly how to stop all this fretting.

 First of all, consider where the wicked will wind up in the near future.  They shall soon fade like the grass, v 2, and In just a little while the wicked shall be no more, v 10.  It may not seem “soon” to us.  It may seem more like “a long while,” but don’t we trust our Father to do what He says He will?  Fretting over these things is nothing more than a lack of faith in God to handle things, and denial of His control over this world. 

 In fact, the psalmist tells us to concentrate on God.  Trust in the Lord (v 3), delight yourself in the Lord (v4), commit your way to the Lord (v5), be still and wait for the Lord (v7).  I defy anyone to do those things and still be able to “fret” about the wickedness in the world.

 Then he tells us to use all that energy we’ve been expending to “do good” (v 3).  As long as we are busy with negative thoughts and actions, we will never do anything positive. 

 Then he gives us this little bit of wisdom:  Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath! Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil (v8).  Anger and wrath are sure paths to sin if you are not very, very careful.  It has been so since Cain and Abel.  As we saw in Gen 4:5 above,  Cain “fretted,” that is, he became “wroth,” and God told him that as long as he was in that mood “sin couches at the door.”  Satan has you right where he wants you when you let things of this world upset you so much that you become “hot” over them. 

 Zorn says, “Do not let what happens [with the wicked] interfere with your own faithfulness to God nor to your commitment to what is right.”  Christians do not mind the things of this world.  They set their hopes on the next world, on the eternal existence they have waiting for them.  What difference will all this injustice we keep fretting over make then?  You might as well believe you can take your wealth with you; you might as well believe in a physical thousand year kingdom on this earth; you might as well believe that your fretting will matter when you first feel the fires of Hell.

Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting…” John 18:36

…for the wrath of man works not the righteousness of God. James 1:20

Dene Ward