Tag: Holy Spirit

Hidden by Weeds

I did a little long-overdue weeding of my cucumber patch and look what I found – a cucumber hidden by the weeds, over ripe and rotting on the ground.

My first thought was anger at myself for having missed it when it was green. If I had kept the weeds at bay, if I had been more diligent in training the cucumbers to the climbing cage, if, if, if. We’ve all done that, or, at least, I hope I’m not the only one who does that. But who knows why I missed it. It doesn’t change the fact that I did. Coulda, woulda, shoulda, didn’t.

It’s got me thinking about other kinds of fruit that could be hidden under other kinds of weeds.

I’m in the middle of a rather large purchase of lake front property right now, and it has me anxious. I know, do not be anxious about tomorrow, but I really want this to happen and am missing my husband. I am riddled with concern that I am messing it up or forgetting something vitally important or making a huge mistake or biting off more than I can possibly chew. I am letting the weeds grow up.

As for what fell among the thorns, these are the ones who hear; but as they go along their way, they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature. Luke 8:14.

Or it rots unseen.

When I am anxious, I tend to be short with people, easily agitated, impatient. Love and gentleness may be present in my life, but it is hidden when I am anxious. And if I don’t tend to these weeds now and let that fruit be seen, the opportunity to do so may be lost.

Because that cucumber when ripe would have been a blessing. I love cucumber sandwiches. I love to munch on crispy slices, plain or with a little basil. Cucumbers are a wonderful addition to corn salad or tossed salad. But the moment for that cucumber to be a blessing has passed. It was lost because I let it be hidden under the weeds.

Now and for the next few months I will be dealing with a host of new people, attorneys and landscapers, builders, surveyors, and the corps of engineers to make this lake property a reality. I will have many opportunities to bear the Spirit’s fruit and further the kingdom, or hide that fruit under the weeds of anxiety, the cares and pleasure of life. And if that fruit is hidden now, it may never have the opportunity to bless the person for whom God is growing it.

Perhaps this rotting cucumber is calling me to weed now and avoid the coulda, woulda, shoulda of missed opportunity.

Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7.

I pick the rotting cucumber and add it and the pulled weeds to the compost pile. God can turn even our failures into blessing. And I head inside to spend some time weeding my soul as I have weeded the garden.

Love in Christ, Betsy

Figs

School has started and summer draws to a close. My garden is winding down as well. The leaves on the cucumber plants have begun to wither and there are no more blossoms on the peppers. Soon it will be time to harvest the basil and freeze pesto for the winter. But my figs – they are telling a different story.

I have eaten ripe figs in early August, so I know that these figs may be ripening late, but what a gift! This is year three for my fig tree, the year they are due to bear fruit, and my little tree is loaded with green buds. As I slowly dismantle my garden, I know these buds will grow larger and turn purple, soft, and delicious.

The promise of fruit, the waiting as the plant grows, the excitement as the fruit appears, this anticipation is one of the great joys of gardening.

So often, our food needs are met immediately. We go to the store, get what we want, and eat it. Is it winter? That is no problem. Someone has shipped fruit and vegetables from a warmer clime or grown them in a hothouse. You can get almost any produce even on the coldest days. No waiting, no anticipation.

A garden reminds us that God did not create a world where our wants were met immediately. He created a world of seasons, of fluctuations in temperature and rainfall, of planting and waiting.

Be patient, therefore, beloved, until the coming of the Lord. The farmer waits for the precious crop from the earth, being patient with it until it receives the early and the late rains. James 5:7.

It’s hard to be patient. It’s difficult to wait. How long, O Lord?

As children, we must wait to grow up, until we are large enough, smart enough, old enough, until we are mentally and physically capable. As adults we must wait (hopefully) for the right spouse, the right job, the right place to live. We wait to have children and then wait for them to mature. We wait for wrong doers to be brought to justice and good people to get a reprieve from their troubles. We wait for God to change the people around us and, if we are honest, to change us as well. We wait for figs to ripen.

While waiting, we continue in our daily tasks of tending. We water and weed the garden. We struggle at the challenges of the day. We help those around us. We aid those who are hurting and love our neighbors. We pray and meditate on scripture. We listen for God’s call to us and follow Him.

He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? Micah 6:8.

And as we go about our tasks, the fig ripens. The child grows up, we find a soulmate, we find purpose in a vocation, wrongs are righted, and prayers are answered. We may even realize that we have been changed by the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

The day will come when these figs are ready to harvest. The day will come when we are ready to face the Lord. The day will come when God puts all his enemies under his foot. Until that time, persevere in your daily tasks, pray without ceasing, savor the joy of anticipation, learn the peace of patience, wait for the fig to ripen.

Because those figs would not taste good today, but in the future, they will be delicious!

Love in Christ, Betsy

Not a Bell Pepper

At the garden store this past spring, I bought two red bell peppers and one yellow bell pepper. This gorgeous pepper is not a bell pepper.

This has happened to me before. The plants look similar and are often returned by shoppers to an incorrect shelf. One year, the pepper we bought by mistake was so hot that we had to wash our hands after touching it. I think this is a Marconi, which is a sweet pepper, just not bell shaped. Of course, I won’t really know until I dare to taste it.

I am sure the plant had a little marker stuck in the soil to identify it. I even put those in the ground next to the plant. Only now, months later, it is not there. I can’t even blame the wrong plant on mislabeling. I may just have been too casual in identifying it. I may have assumed that since it was with the bell peppers, it was indeed a bell pepper. My bad.

You will know them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thorns, or figs from thistles? Matthew 7:16

That is not a bell pepper. Being close to plants growing the desired fruit does not make it those plants, any more than the weeds growing in my garden are peppers.

Going to church on Sundays does not make you a believer. If you are a believer, that is certainly where you want to be, who you want to associate with, how you connect with the larger body of Christ. If you are a bell pepper, you want to grow in the garden with the rest of the peppers.

But our presence is not the final word. God wants more from us than just proximity. He wants more than just the appearance of right living. He wants a man after his own heart (1 Samuel 13:14), a contrite heart (Psalm 51:17), someone who will love him (Matthew 23:37).

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might. Deuteronomy 6:5.

And if we do this, good fruit will follow. Because a good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. (Matthew 7:18).

I hope this is not bad fruit growing in my garden. I hope it’s just not what I was expecting. The truth will be in the taste, but I will let it grow for now.

It’s not unlike God to surprise us sometimes. I think He enjoys leaving us little surprise gifts, much like any parent wants to surprise their child with a treat. Or maybe He is encouraging me to be more alert when picking plants. Maybe He is showing me a pepper I will like better than the bells. Maybe He is teaching me that good fruit can look different from what I expect.

The plant is healthy. The plant is producing. The fruit looks like good, albeit unexpected, fruit. It may be a gift. I don’t want to pull it and discard the gift. I certainly don’t want to be found fighting against God because it was not what I expected (Acts 5:39).

When harvest time comes, when the pepper is ready to pick, the truth will be known. For now, I’ll pull only the weeds. I know they are not bearing any good fruit. I will let the pepper grow and see what God has in store.

Love in Christ, Betsy

Savor the Tomato

There are moments when life just feels a little overwhelming, when it feels hard even though I know it’s not. There are moments when I doubt what I am doing and why; when I wonder if I am just a happy hamster running around and getting nowhere.

But then, like a pot of gold at the rainbow’s end, I have ripe tomatoes. The birds did not get them; the squirrels did not get them; the blight did not get them. Red, ripe tomatoes grown in my back yard. They are almost too precious to cut into and eat, but I do. Uneaten, they will rot on the counter and that would be too great a waste.

I eat the smaller ones like an apple. They are tangy and juicy and taste like summer. The smell reminds me of my grandparents and my husband. I sense a connection with a long line of ancestors who grew their own food. This is how food should be. A reward for effort and diligence, a gift that grows through God’s miracle of seed and transformation, connecting me with the earth in a way that the ones on sale at Kroger can’t.

I slice and eat the large tomato on white bread with mayo and salt. I only eat white bread with tomatoes and cucumbers in an effort not to overpower their flavors with the flavor of the bread. There is something of childhood in the soft squares of white bread, a simplicity lost in the multigrain, nutty, textured bread I usually favor.

It’s a lot of emotions for lunch.

God said, “See, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit; you shall have them for food.” God saw everything he had made, and indeed, it was very good. Genesis 1:29,31.

Too often I go through the motions. I do what needs to be done without much thought. I lose myself in a book or a movie. I eat the food in front of me and talk to the people around me and remember very little of it. This simple meal of homegrown tomatoes reminds me to be fully present in every moment as I am in this one.

This food, these people, these tasks have meaning and purpose. Their stories are the culmination of generations of stories. Our interactions are woven into a tapestry that will ripple through future generations. Don’t breeze through it; don’t let it pass without giving it your attention. Somehow, the simple act of savoring this one tomato sandwich has slowed time for me, infused this moment with meaning, and shown me a purpose in my actions. I work in the garden so that I can savor this sandwich. I write this so perhaps you can savor this moment as well.

We are all so beautifully connected and interrelated, with each other, with those who came before us and those that will come after us, with the earth and everything on it. This moment may only be a drop of rain in a torrential storm, but without the individual drops there would be no rain at all.

I give thanks to God for this moment, this tomato, this opportunity to share His wonders with you. It is indeed very good.

Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and do not forget all his benefits. Psalm 103:1-2

Love in Christ, Betsy

Leap of Faith

Oh, these enthusiastic cucumbers! Provided with easy access to climbing trellises, they instead reach for the fence and once secure there, leap into space, fully expecting to find something there.

I am a little frustrated that they aren’t as obedient as the tomatoes that grow peacefully withing their prescribed area. But, for the most part, I admire them. Just because the trellis is there doesn’t mean it limits their growth. They are secure enough to try new things, branch out (literally) into new territory, take a leap of faith. The structure is there if they need it, but who knows what new avenues may be available?

Perhaps they know at some level that if their wanderings get too out of hand or become dangerous to themselves or other plants, I, as the gardener, will corral them back into the garden space.

Perhaps we can have the faith of a cucumber as well.

The structure of the church is a good thing. It keeps us grounded in Biblical tradition and the wisdom learned by those who went before us. But that structure is a trellis and not a cage. Listen to your spiritual leaders but take everything to God in prayer. The Holy Spirit lives in believers and is there to remind us of scripture and lead us to truth. Anyone who reads the Bible regularly in a spirit of prayer knows that God reveals different things at different times through the same words.

Indeed, the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing until it divides soul from spirit, joints from marrow; it is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. Hebrews 4:12.

The word of God may encourage us to make a leap of faith. It could be that what we have heard said is no longer the standard; Jesus may be giving us a new and better one. (Matthew 5:21-48). We may love our spiritual leaders and appreciate the structure they provide for our growth, but Jesus encourages us to do more than recite their beliefs. He calls us to listen to Him, to God, to Jesus, to the Holy Spirit. He wants us to put our faith, not in the wisdom of those around us, but in Him and Him alone.

I have said these things to you while I am still with you. But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you. John 14:25-26.

I have faith that The Holy Spirit will correct my thinking if my wanderings go too far or become dangerous to my faith or the faith of others. God wants me to grow and bear fruit. He has put this desire in me, to reach, to grow, to take the leap of faith, to move forward even when the support is not obvious. Perhaps he has put that urge in you as well.

Do not fear, for I am with you, do not be afraid, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my victorious right hand. Isaiah 41:10.

Is there something you have always been told that may need rethinking today? Ask God’s Holy Spirit to open your heart to the scriptures and take a leap of faith.

Love in Christ, Betsy

Garlic Varieties

I planted a different kind of garlic this year than I have in the past. These are hard neck garlic instead of soft neck. I didn’t understand the difference until I grew them. After all, garlic doesn’t have a neck, right?

They could be called hard stalk and soft stalk, because these plants look quite different from my previous plants. This garlic is growing tall on stems that are as hard as bamboo, with fat white buds that are opening to fluffy purplish flowers. My others waved like tall grass, bending in the slightest breeze.

But as different as this plant looks to my eyes, both plants are still garlic. What makes them garlic is not the stem strength or the presence (or absence) of a flower. What makes them garlic is what is growing out of sight underground.

I know this because I planted them.

Could God be showing me something here?

How quick I am to judge those whose expressions of faith look different from mine. How quick others are to judge me. Do you raise your hands and jump about? Do you sit silently in your pew with your hands in your lap? Do you only listen to Christian radio? Do you watch church online or on the television? Do you preach the narrow path (Matthew 7:13-14) or that Jesus came for sinners (Mark 2:17)?

Unlike me, God knows what He planted. He knows the important part of our faith may be hidden in the dark underground, in the secret moments of our lives. Outwardly our faith may look quite different, but God sees the heart.

Perhaps it is not how we express our faith that is important in the end, but that our faith is growing deep withing us.

But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for the Lord does not see as mortals see; they look on the outward appearances, but the Lord looks on the heart.” 1 Samuel 16:7.

As mortals, we look at appearances. In the seventies, a question went around – “If you were arrested for being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you?” Do you attend church? Is your Bible dust-free? Do you help the needy? Do you know praise music lyrics? We want that external evidence. We fret a little when our external evidence doesn’t look like other people’s. We fret when their faith doesn’t look like ours.

I’m not fretting over my garlic. I know what is growing in secret. The external evidence, as different as it may be, still indicates that something is growing. Hard neck, soft neck, flower or no flower, garlic is growing.

So that your alms may be done in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you. … But whenever you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you…. So that your fasting may be seen not by others but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you. Matthew 6:4, 6:6, 6:18.

I urge you today to rejoice in the variety of ways God allows us to express our faith, to share His love for us with each other, and praise Him. He knows what He planted. Let us help it grow, knowing that it grows in secret.

Love in Christ, Betsy

Community

I have sugar snaps! The delicate white flowers have birthed tiny green beans which I will soon pick and eat. The temptation is to pick them immediately, but I need to wait. The fruit will be ready soon. My mouth waters in anticipation.

These sweet peas thrive when planted close to each other. When their tendrils can’t reach the supports, they cling to their neighbors who can reach the metal rungs. Together, they reach upward and capture the sunlight. I have had occasions when a single plant has grown apart from the others and it doesn’t fare as well. Maybe it has to do with pollination, but I don’t know. Pollination is not an area of gardening that I understand or consider much. I only know that my sugar snaps love to be in community.

And let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day approaching. Hebrews 10:24-25.

And even as I am grateful for this fruit grown in community, I am thankful for the community around me that encourages the growth of fruit in me and provokes me to love and good deeds. I am thankful for an environment where I can openly discuss my faith, where the biggest risk I face is rolled eyes.

For years now, I have been praying for Christians persecuted for their faith. This past week I have been praying for people in the Maldives, an island nation where Christianity is forbidden. For the ones who come to faith in Christ, they will lose their jobs, their homes, and their families. They are imprisoned and often killed. In the Bible Belt, we talk about Jesus over beers on a Friday night and in our casual conversations at the grocery store. There are Bible studies and prayer gathering just about every day of the week.

What must it feel like to be the only person you know who believes that Jesus was God-made-man who came to save us from death and sin and reconcile us to the Father? Would I doubt my sanity? My belief would almost have to have come from a personal revelation since there are no Bibles or pastors or Christian homes and schools. Without the community to provoke me would I still feel the need to love those who persecute me? Would I still be able to grow and bear fruit?

There are plants that grow in sulfur-soaked waters at the bottom of the ocean. There are plants that grow in hot and waterless wastelands. There is faith that is born not because the environment is friendly, but because God is real and active in the world.

We can’t go to these places to encourage these lone believers, but we can pray that God will protect them and care for them and give them hope and love. As an aside, faithful men and women are always trying to infiltrate these areas of open hostility and share the love of God, not just with their persecuted brethren but with those who persecute as well. For more information, contact Voice of the Martyrs at www.persecution.com.

Remember those who are in prison, as though you were in prison with them; those who are being tortured as though you yourselves were being tortured. Hebrews 13:3.

Occasionally, I sense God talking to me, guiding me through His Spirit. I sometimes doubt my sanity when it happens. Voices in my head and all that. But God is real and active in the world. He can speak to people with such power that they are willing to give up everything, their homes, their families, their jobs, even their lives, to follow Jesus. What would I give up to follow Him?

Today, I thank the Lord that I, like my sugar snaps, live in a community which encourages my growth, pulls me ever upward, and provokes me to produce fruit. If the fruit is not evident today, it will be soon. My mouth waters in anticipation.

Love in Christ, Betsy

Bugs

I planted the bulk of my summer garden this past week. Tomatoes and peppers and basil and oregano. Did someone say pasta sauce?

I had thought I would talk about the gift of plants brought to this healthy state by others with more time and expertise. I’m taking a class on how the church arrived at what is now considered orthodox belief. It makes me grateful that hundreds of theologians could spend hundreds of years in prayer and contemplation to help us make sense of the incarnation of Christ.

But the bugs distract me.

Little bees and larger wasps, ants and worms and slugs, flat stink bugs, and little orange ladybugs. The garden is full of them. The yard is full of them. The earth is full of them. I am told most of them, maybe even all of them, have a critical purpose in keeping our ecosystem alive and well, so I am fine to coexist with them, from a distance. I don’t want to touch them. I doubt they want me to touch them either.

Each of these little creatures has unique characteristics which enable them to do the tasks assigned to them. They are just living their little lives and in doing so keep the world balanced. Like the sea slugs that create beautiful shells they never see, built not for beauty but for protection, these bugs probably have no idea how vital their daily activities are.

A good garden needs worms. A healthy forest needs caterpillars that eat leaves and slugs that digest bark. Without those nasty flies, animals that die in the woods would litter the ground. But these creatures are just living their life, eating, bearing young, dying.

Their lives are short and seemingly insignificant. Who of us has not killed an ant or a cockroach? And yet, if there were no ants and no cockroaches, what would the world look like? We have learned what can happen when the bees and butterflies aren’t around to pollinate. I hesitate to think where we would be without those bugs that eat nasty stuff.

And God created them all and called it good.

I imagine that in the eyes of an immortal God, our lives might be short and seemingly insignificant. After all, He can create stars and oceans and mountains with a word. But God created us in such a way that each and everyone of us is important to the balance of the world, and to Him.

Never underestimate what God can do through one faithful person. Moses’s friends kept his arms lifted until the enemy was destroyed. (Exodus 17:8-13). Balaam refused to curse the Israelites as the king ordered (Numbers 22). Boaz was just overseeing the harvest of his crop when he met Ruth (Ruth 2). Mary shared her crazy story with the disciples (Luke 24:10).

What little thing is God encouraging you to do today? It may seem like nothing, like a worm making its way through the dirt, a caterpillar eating a leave, or a bee finding its favorite flower. You may be helping keep the world balanced. You may be planting a mustard seed. You may be getting rid of some nasty stuff. You have a purpose and the world needs you to fulfill that purpose.

Maybe these little bugs and our little lives are every bit as important as theology crafted aver hundreds of years. Maybe they are more important in the eyes of God.

Ask God how He wants you to spend your day today. You may admire a flower, change a diaper, or help a friend and thereby play a vital role in the universe.

God saw everything that he had made, and indeed it was very good. Genesis 1:31.

Love in Christ, Betsy

A Kink in the Hose

The morning is quiet. Only the birds greet my presence in the yard, and their conversations most likely are not about me. A gentle breeze barely moves the leaves on my greening trees and hedges. A layer of clouds mutes the rising sun, but I do not expect rain. It hasn’t rained for days, and warmer-than-average temperatures have led me to the garden while it is still early.

My plants need water.

So, while the birds are still louder than the sound of cars on the nearby road, I take down the hose and water.

As I drag the hose along the garden, watering the garlic, the non-emergent beets, the raspberry and fig, the flow of water slows until finally, right as I am at my sugar snaps, the water stops completely.

I do not panic or fret. The world is not out of water. The city has not cut off my water supply. An angry God has not thwarted my plans. I look back along my garden and see where the hose has folded over on itself, kinked. The knot is not allowing the ever-present water to flow.

I shake the hose because sometimes the problem is fixed that easily. But the kink is too tight, the tangle too pressed for such an easy fix. I need to put down my nozzle and seek out the problem. I walk to the knot and gently unkink the hose, laying it in a line along the yard, allowing the water to flow freely once again.

Only then do I return to the spray nozzle, lift the hose, and send the life-giving water to the sugar snaps.

So, when you are offering your gift at the altar. If you remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother or sister. And then come and offer your gift. Matthew 5:23-24

Get the kink out and then the water will flow.

I often don’t think of prayer that way. Sometimes, I talk; He does what He wants. Perhaps I should think of prayer in the same way I think about watering my garden. Life-giving water is available. It can flow through me to encourage the world, or it can be bottled up and clogged by my selfish thoughts and actions. I can twist myself into knots, I can let relationships remain broken, I can hold onto resentments. I can refuse to make amends when I have offended someone. I can block the flow of water.

So often, when the water ceases to flow, when I no longer sense the presence of God, I begin to panic and fret. God may not be real. God is angry with me and has turned away from me. God is refusing to supply His life-giving presence.

Perhaps I need to set down my spray nozzle, leave my offering on the altar, seek out the problem, and rectify it. Am I letting a particular sin knot my life? Does my brother or sister have something against me? Has a habit or thought twisted my relationship with God?

You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, in order to spend what you get on your pleasures. James 4:3

God wants to free us from the kinks that knot our lives. Abundant life awaits when the water flows freely, abundant growth, abundant fruit. So, if the water is not flowing today, I will take a moment and ask God to remind me what my brother has against me, to show me the knot in my life. With God’s help, I will unkink the hose and let the water flow freely once again.

Love in Christ, Betsy

The Importance of Water

It rained! Praise the Lord! And the rain stopped for Easter! God is so good!

Silly, letting weather affect my mood so, but I am grateful for the rain – and for the sun.

March was incredibly dry for Middle Tennessee. In a month when heavy rain often causes my creeks to overflow, this year, the third month brought little rain. I found myself carrying pitchers of water for my new trees and watering the garden like it was June.

Plants must have water.

As tempting as it is to fill my mornings with other things, if I don’t include time for watering my plants, they will suffer limited growth and limited fruit. It may take 5, 10, or 20 minutes, but I need to carve out the time to do this. Because not watering my plants may lead to no growth and no fruit.

I am grateful when the rain falls from the sky and relieves me of the obligation to water the garden. Rain is so much more beautiful and natural. But letting the environment, or the weather, determine the success of my garden is not wise. Letting the environment and my daily life determine my relationship with God is not wise either.

For my own growth and well-being, to have any chance of bearing the Spirit’s fruit, I need to spend time in prayer. When prayer doesn’t spring naturally from the rain or sunshine of daily life, I need to make the time to spend time with God. I need to carve out 5, 10, 20 minutes to be alone with God and water my soul with prayer and scripture.

There was a time when I rejected the idea of such a structured prayer time. Prayer shouldn’t be an obligation. I should come to the Lord when praise or despair leads me to Him. My prayer should spring spontaneously from my heart. Wasn’t that the problem with the Pharisees? They had made faith an obligation rather than a heartfelt choice.

But the garden has taught me that as beautiful as spontaneous rain falling from the heavens is, sometimes I need to get out my hose and water.

Sometimes the sunny dry weather we all enjoy can limit growth in my garden. The plants need water and I need prayer. If this does not happen spontaneously, I need to make it happen. Otherwise, I may become stagnate and begin to wilt. Otherwise, I may fail to grow, fail to bear His fruit. All for lack of water, all for lack of prayer.

The Lord will guide you continually, and satisfy your needs in parched places, and make your bones strong; and you will be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters never fail. Isaiah 58:11.

I encourage you to water your soul today. If God is not forcing you to your knees in praise or despair, take 5, 10, or 20 minutes to get there on your own.

And the God who sees you and hears your prayers will reward you with His presence, His love, and His fruit.

Praise the Lord. He is risen. He is risen indeed.

Love in Christ, Betsy