Pruning

Welcome back to Unseen. This has been a wonderful and terrible few weeks. Read on for what God showed me about pruning, both in my garden and my life.

Just a Trim!

Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past.

19See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?

I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland (Isaiah 43:18-19)

Here in West Texas, February can mean any season. This past week we have had snow, 70 degree weather, and lots of rain. My poor plants are so confused. I decided it was time to prune them. They had green leaves but weren’t looking healthy. I trimmed them back and they looked so sad and pitiful. I told God that I was going to have to just prune them in faith. Sure enough after a couple of days they were full of green shoots. I was so excited! I was visiting with a gardener and he said that pruning them gets rid of dead growth and lets the plants get more nutrients. God’s creation is amazing.

While I enjoy the pruning process with plants, I hate it in my life. In the past I thought it was punishment. If I lost something or someone that was important to me I would immediately start thinking what I needed to repent from. I understand now that sometimes the things and people I lost were not healthy for me.  I have come to terms with that. Recently, though, I have come to realize that there are other things that God is trimming from my life. For example, recently I have been actively letting go of hurts because I realized that forgiving someone does not necessarily get rid of the pain. I am also letting go of needing to have all the answers. As a result, I have gotten rid of some spiritual dead growth and am seeing growth in areas of my life.

The prophet Isaiah tells us God’s feelings about holding on to dead growth. In Isaiah 43:18-19 we read “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past.

19See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?

I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.” When we are being pruned it can feel scary and we may want to turn back to what is familiar and comfortable. God wants us to lean into the new thing he is doing.

In Psalms 1, we read that the man who walks in uprightness will be like a tree planted by the water. John 15 describes Jesus as the vine and us as the branches. ⁵

“I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. ⁶ If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. ⁷ If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you^[b] will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. ⁸ By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.

Jesus describes how growth is achieved b y abiding in Him as our source of spiritual nutrients.

Ephesians 4 gives us examples of what we should prune from our lives and what we should seek instead.

 ³¹ Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, ^[i]clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. ³² And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.

Take heart if you are being pruned. God will not trim you away to nothing. Watch for new growth in our life if you are brave enough to let go of the things God is calling you to.

Guest spot.

Welcome back to unseen today.Thank you to Samantha LaPierre for her help this week. I have some exciting new things happening in my life and My writing projects have stacked up. She graciously agreed to bless you this week. Read on to see what she has learned about  new beginnings.

 This is my second time as a guest blogger. I have spent the past several weeks contemplating writing more frequently and looking into different calls for submissions but just haven’t found anything that calls out to me. It is like I know I need to write, I love to write, it heals me and frees me in so many ways, and yet...I just haven’t been able to find the words or a prompt that inspires me. 

However, when Susan messaged me today about this I was given this little nudge in my Spirit to give it an earnest try. I have spent the past few months in a really weird place in my life. People from all different facets of my life have brought me their stories, their secrets, and their troubles. People that I have not seen in years have reconnected. I have had several different people come stay a day or two because they had no where else to go. I have asked myself why the sudden onslaught of visitors? I often go weeks and only speak to people whom I work with, or my family, they are practical, need based talks. “ Hey mom don’t forget the milk.” or “ How was your day?” or “ Can I please have some money for a movie” or “ Can you work for me on Saturday?” Then something happened and almost everyday I find myself talking about deep things, tender things, things that are difficult and sometimes hard to hear or say. 

I had been trying to understand why the sudden change when I had to stop dead in my tracks and redirect my focus onto the what. What do I have in common with the people I'm talking to? What do these people unknowingly have in common with each other? What is God trying to show me about myself? What would God have me show them? 

When someone comes to my door, it's more often than not by what seems like a coincidence, or by chance, or because they don’t know where else to go. It's not because I am sought out intentionally for my wisdom or insight. It's also not because I seem to have my life together. Because if I am totally honest, I absolutely do not. I don’t have the answers for myself, let alone anyone else. I struggle with anxiety, and depression. I am also currently at odds with my addiction. I have surrendered all of and taken all of this a million times, the fact that most of these obstacles have been  unseen by most of the people in my life makes me feel alone and somewhat fraudulent. When people start talking I identify with them. In identifying with them I am given the gift of being an observer, because it is not actually me, I can see for them what I cannot see for myself. 

The biggest source of suffering I see in all of this, is our inability to let the past be the past. To let our history be laid to rest. If I want to be someone other than who I was, I must not refer to the old standard by which I lived. If I want to be a new creation, I can’t build it on the bones of the old one, or I’ll just be an updated version of the old person. 

The Word gives us several references to all things becoming new. In Isaiah 42:9 its says: “Behold, the former things have come to pass, and new things I declare; before they spring forth I tell you of them.” 

lIt's not hard for me in my life to see where I was told of what would happen if I continued on a certain path. Everyone tried to warn me when i was clearly headed for disaster, but I didn’t listen. When things transpired exactly as they had forseen, I felt pretty stupid. But what does God say about the things to come? What does His word promise? Life, and more abundantly at that, we are told we are sons and daughters, that there is a hope and a future for us, and that if we love Him and  listen to the call and live according to that purpose, then all, All things will work for our good. He promises that we will be born again of Spirit, and that never will we be alone.

So I was never alone, even when I was walking in rebellion. I am not alone now. I also know that it's really hard for me to let that old person go. To release back to God what I can no longer use of myself. 

2 Corinthians 5:17 tells me very clearly “ Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation, old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new”

When I am abiding in Him, everything that I was before is gone, I am new. The past and its multitude of regrets and failures has no hold on me and the decisions I make. It can not stir up any trouble for me when I am willingly and intently under His wing.

My problem, and that of many I have spoken to, is that we wander off from that safe place, we get distracted, or complacent, and we choose to step out of alignment with him and back into the flesh of our old selves. It's easy for me to find reasons to be angry, I become critical, and detached. I am detached from the new creation, so I then align myself with anger, depression, emptiness, fear. I remember all the times I was let down and all the times I have let others down, and before I know, I have forgotten about the New Creation. I have let go of what I already know to be true, because that person can only be alive when I am with Jesus, that creation is His and His alone. 

I see this to be true with others as well. They will have these new lives and all of a sudden they don’t. Everything goes back to being a struggle, the light they had begins to fade, their lives suffer. Instead of returning back to Him, they try to fix it alone only to be met with more obstacles and problems. I see it often, and have experienced it personally as well. The solutions to all of the junk in our lives is so simple and yet we make it so hard. 

I have to let that old Sam be dead. I can’t for my future’s sake keep bringing her back to life. The old things have passed away and they have already been forgiven. God does hold on to them, so why should I? Not only are my sins now and forever wiped clean, but my past has been disarmed, and neutralized. I don't have to think the way I used to think or do the things I used to do, and if I am self aware, and can identify those patterns and behaviors resurfacing, I am aware that I have stepped out of alignment. This awareness also means I can make the choice to move back towards Him and His complete and perfect will. 

The new Sam wants to help others step back to His perfect love and safety, I want to be there as well. I will never be anywhere near perfect adherence to His Will for my life. I can say that every single day I am given some new piece of understanding. I am still growing, and there is a comfort in that for me. I hope you can find something that speaks to you in all this as well.

Poison Berry

Poison Berry

Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another. Ephesians 4:32.

We were having a great holiday dinner. Things were winding down at the dinner table. We were catching up with family member we hadn't seen and the younger generation was enjoying "cousin time". We were packed in like sardines at the table in the small kitchen.  My mother-in-law went to the utility room to get the pies. She came back carrying them and said, "we have pumpkin, sour cream and raisin, cream cheese and boysenberry." My son misunderstood and exclaimed "Poison berry pie?!" If anyone is telling stories about my children, this is one of the first to be repeated
I was thinking about this tonight after talking to my family and eating my pie. (Not poison berry). I was also thinking about the hurts and resentments that I have been healed from, this year in particular. I have discovered that unforgiveness will choke you. I have discovered that if you make excuses for people's behavior and bury you feelings you don't experience healing. I have also discovered that just because you forgive someone it doesn't mean the hurt is gone. These things become poison berries in pour hearts ad spirits. We need to get rid of them before the thorns choke us and the fruit turns rancid. We can't do this alone. We have to rely on God's power and not our own.
Ephesians 4:31-32 tells us "Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger and slander and every form of malice. Be kind o one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ has forgiven you."
We can't afford to withhold forgiveness when we have received it so freely.

Second we need to forgive because we are not perfect and have wronged others. Matthew 7:3-5 describes a person who sees a fault in his brother.
“Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?  How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye."  How wonderful it would be if we could practice this in our churches and families.
Hebrews 12:15 warns us , "Pursue peace with all men, and the sanctification without which no one will see the Lord. See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springing up causes trouble, and by it many be defiled." 

So what about the hurt left over after we forgive? It can cause us to put up our hackles to protect ourselves. We may isolate or revert to passive aggressive behavior or just plain old aggressive behavior. The answer is simple but not easy. first Peter 5:7 says "Cast your cares on Him for he cares for you." God will take the hurt and guilt and leave us free to love. 

As a Christmas gift to yourself and those you love, dig up the "Poison Berries" in your life. It will make for a happier and more peaceful  holiday.

Call for Backup

Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. 1 Corinthians 12:27

We had a real treat last night. A bluegrass band came to lead worship. There were 2 guitars, 2 banjo's a violin, a double bass and a mandolin. Their music was fantastic and there was a lot of toe tapping and hand clapping. One thing that struck me was that at different points in the music, different instruments would be highlighted. Between verses, for instance, the banjo or the violin would have a solo while the other instruments played backup. On the last song, several of us got to go up and sing Oh Happy Day with the group. It was so much fun.
In the middle of having fun, God taught me a lesson. In our lives there are times when one person's talents are showcased. and other times when everyone works together to achieve a goal.Someone may seem to be receiving more blessings than I am or more honor. Each person has seasons in their lives designed by God. A friend or family member may be in a good season when you are in a difficult one. Success, or lack of it, does not have anything to do with whether we are walking in God's favor.
Here's the thing. I know all of that but there are times and situations when I suddenly revert to a junior High mentality.I feel overlooked and unappreciated. I get really frustrated with myself at these times.
Apparently I am not the only one who has dealt with this issue. Paul dedicates all of 1 Corinthians 12 to explaining to the church in Corinth about How to live as a body.

21 The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” 22 On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 23 and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, 24 while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the parts that lacked it, 25 so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. 26 If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.

27 Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. 28 And God has placed in the church first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, of helping, of guidance, and of different kinds of tongues. 29 Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? 30 Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues[d]? Do all interpret? 31 Now eagerly desire the greater gifts.

Whether it is your turn to play lead or backup, do it with grace and gratitude, knowing that we are part of a body for a reason.

Water! Water!

When we live Unseen, we sometimes feel exhausted emotionally and spiritually. Read on to see what I learned about where we can get our needs met.

If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water John 4:10

My husbands grandparents were farmers in the Texas Panhandle during the dustbowl.   The depression had caused a drastic drop in the wheat prices and farmers leveled their fields to harvest as much as they could. This destroyed some of the native grasses that held the soil in place. At the same time there was a severe drought and the soil was dry and dusty. The winds would pick up the topsoil and carry it for miles. My mother-in-law described great black clouds rolling across the prairie. The dust got into the houses, and covered the floors. It got into the clean laundry and into the food, and even found its way into the cupboards. I learned that this was one reason people put their glasses upside down in the cupboards. Because the crops and gardens would not grow, many farmers were terribly poor and many lost their farms.. People were dying because of dehydration, malnutrition and starvation. My friend’s mother had 6 children and was eating very little to save all she could for them. She was diagnosed with scurvy and doctors advised her to found people who would be willing to raise her children because she was not expected to live.  While different measures made the situation better the dust bowl did not end until the rains finally came.

While the stories and pictures that remain show us the devastation that can come from a drought, we may not realize the damage that can be done to our hearts and spirit from a spiritual drought. Jesus says in Luke that He is the living water. If we are not connecting to that life giving water, we may be suffering from spiritual dehydration.

Water helps us use the nutrition we get from our food. It helps us eliminate waste. It nourishes the plants we use for food. We need all these things in our spiritual life. We feed on His word, but without his power and his spirit what we read cannot come alive. When I was in my teens, I had memorized pages of scriptures. I recited them every morning. Hiding the word in my heart was good. However when my mother got sick I had a crisis of faith. I realized that unless I let those scriptures come alive in me, they would not help me. I could recite “God is close to the broken hearted”twice a day, but until I accepted it and let it work in me it was not able to do me any good. In Jeremiah 2:13, we read this.

“My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water.

Water is essential for growth. Psalms 1 says this

 Blessed is the one
    who does not walk in step with the wicked
or stand in the way that sinners take
    or sit in the company of mockers,
² but whose delight is in the law of the Lord,
    and who meditates on his law day and night.
³ That person is like a tree planted by streams of water,
    which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither—
    whatever they do prospers.

Many of us would love to have this living water but don’t know how to access it. When Jesus was talking to the Samaritan woman at the well, he saw her thirst and need for things of God. John 4:10 says, Jesus told her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.” He makes the same offer to us today. He is ready to give us all that we need but we have to be willing to receive it.

The drought in our spirits can be broken.

Spend time this week in God’s word and with God’s people. Drink deep of the living water that Jesus offers.

Uncharted Waters

Uncharted Waters

When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. Isaiah 43:2

Set the way back machine to elementary school and recite this poem with me.

In fourteen Hundred and ninety two,
Columbus sailed the ocean blue.
He had three ships and sailed from Spain.
 He sailed through sunshine wind and rain.

OK that’s enough of it. Columbus Day snuck up on me this year, but it got me to thinking. Columbus set out on his famous voyage with ninety sailors trying to find a new route to the West. He had trouble finding support for his journey. Three other countries refused to finance his voyage before he got help from Ferdinand and Isabella. The route he took was literally uncharted waters, so he navigated using the stars. He lost one of his ships along the way and his sailors were close to mutiny. At one time I owned a copy of his ship’s log, and it described the storms and the lack of supplies.  In spite of all these obstacles he was successful.
While it is true that Columbus life and journeys were full of controversy, that is not our point here. Many of us are going through uncharted waters with God right now. In my life, he is taking my ministry to places I never imagined it. He is also taking me back through some of the storms in my life so I can forgive people and get some healing. I am learning to walk out of fear and advocate for my family and for myself. You may be in different waters, such as new life in recovery or a new place in your family or work. You may be in some stormy waters with you health or the health of someone you love. You might be new in the faith or you may have found that there are people who are not supportive. Maybe in the process you have lost some things or people that were important to you. One advantage we have over Columbus is that while he navigated by the stars, our course is set and directed by God, the maker of the stars. He sent Jesus, not just as a sacrifice, but also as a scout to go before us and understand our experience.
Like many people, one of my life verses is Jeremiah 29:11, which reads, “I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.” A change, even a good one, is scary and uncomfortable. God is in control, though, and He is still on the throne. Whatever new adventure you are on, God is with you.
In Mark Chapter 4, we read this story of Jesus and the disciples
Jesus Calms the Storm
…37Soon a violent windstorm came up, and the waves were breaking over the boat, so that it was being swamped. 38But Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on the cushion. So they woke Him and said, “Teacher, don’t You care that we are perishing?” 39Then Jesus got up and rebuked the wind and the sea. “Silence!” He commanded. “Be still!” And the wind died down, and it was perfectly calm.…”
The disciples were perfectly safe in the storm because Jesus was with them. He is just as much with us today as he was with them. One of the names of Jesus is Emmanuel, which means, “God is with us.” How wonderful that God used this name for Jesus to remind us of the reality.
When Jesus spoke to his disciples in what is sometimes called the Great Commission, he makes this promise. “Lo, I am with you always, even till the end of the age.” Matthew 28:11.
So many verses speak to God’s promise and presence In our lives. I encourage you to spend time looking for other verses and in supporting and loving other people who are also in the storm. Take Jesus at his word. “Peace. Be Still.”

Guest Spot

Welcome our newest guest blogger, Samantha Lapierre. She is a new FaithWorks graduate and has decided to use her talent for God. Both her message and her willingness came at a good time for me. This was a hard week for me and I was glad Samantha was willing and able to take up the slack.  Read on for a  message sure to touch many of us.

On a good day I like to think of myself as a relatively logical person, a practical person.

I like to think my emotions are mostly in check and that I possess some emotional intelligence. But then, the clouds roll in, the sky grows dark.

My smile won't quite reach my eyes. I feel like a fraud, because for all the positive words and good advice I give to others, I am unable to give myself any.

I am again walking in the dark with White Knuckles, increasing anxiety, and thoughts I do not want anyone else to know. 

And I wonder,

Why?!

Why do I want to be alone?

Why do I want to run back to my old ways, like a dog returning to it's vomit.

How is it that I am both grossly aware of all of this and unable to change it?

Then I stop, I take a deep breath and remember what I already know. I remember all of the other times I had been lost in the dark. I remember God's promises.

In doing this, I know that there is a deeper meaning, and there are gifts for me left in these dark places. I have been given these things to carry back into the light.

Isaiah 45:3 says;

I will give you the treasures of darkness, and hidden riches of secret places that you may know that I, the Lord, who called you by your name, Am the God of Israel.

This scripture tells me that there is value in the dark; that our pain can be priceless.

So I googled it. There where numerous sites that all state similar points. How pain makes us enjoy the good times even more. How pain leads to critical information and self-knowledge, how processing emotional pain can reduce fear, lead to a greater capacity for love, compassion and connection, or like my grandma used to say, pain makes you stronger.

These things are all true, yet I wanted to examine what the ultimate search engine says about are suffering. I found quite a bit about it in the Word. 

Jesus had a heart for the for those of us lost in the dark. He broke bread with Beggars and thieves. He sought out men and women called them by other names and brought them into the light into the truth.

When we view our wanderings and our suffering through the Cross, what we see changes. If I look at my life carnally it might kind of suck real bad. I've been molested, raped, a teenage mother, High School Dropout, a drug addict, I lost my sister to Suicide, been to prison... Multiple times. Now I'm off to drugs, but my family is at odds with one another, I'm still broke, no car, my fiance may be headed back to prison. I now have not only my elderly mother to help care for, but my fiance's family as well. It's a lot. I mean A LOT.  However, I do not view my life from that lens anymore. 

What I see now, is a merciful loving father who has delivered me out of the throes of a 10-year IV drug addiction, and from that, he put me in a safe place (prison) until I could heal from all the things what I went through when I was younger and vulnerable and defenseless. Which really meant I had to surrender. He loved me until I could love myself, he waited patiently while I learned to let go of all of the guilt, shame, and self condemnation. He put people in my life everywhere I went, from the very beginning, that have poured into me. People who have believed in me and carried me when I couldn't carry myself. When I examine my treasures I am overwhelmed.

Before I came to know Christ, I lived inside the fear of not having enough. The law of scarcity ruled. The Treasure of that particular Darkness is that now I know that I am part of the Kingdom of Heaven. What do I need to fear? When I allow the knowledge of this to dictate how I live my life, I can live My Kingdom Life, With open Hands and an open heart. That is living in surrender that allows the Holy Spirit to take the Throne of my heart. I see a connection between Isaiah 45: 3 and the Beatitudes. In poverty we find the richness of His Spirit.  We find that we are the sons and the daughters of the most high King. We find that when the darkest nights of loss and mourning strike we can take them to the Cross, where His love can engulf us and fill us with peace that we don't understand, that is beyond our understanding.  

I want to encourage you. I have noticed that many of my closest friends and even myself have all been going through some really heavy stuff. I know that we carry a lot. Sometimes, it's difficult to comprehend how it is we just lay it all down and let go. No one would hurt and struggle if they knew how to be free. I believe that is why God created us to be in community. To help one another search for our prized jewels while we wander around in the dark. So shout out. Reach out. God will never leave you alone. We are His body. And we are reaching for you.