Sheaths

The rain and the cooler weather are just wonderful!!! I have really enjoyed being outside and working on things, especially now that it isn’t 100+ degrees.

The cooler weather does make for falling leaves (is this our version of fall?!??!) and so, out I went today to do a little clearing out. Lots of the sheaths are falling off the bamboo and piling up. In several places it is even difficult to see that there really is a path. 

It’s like that, isn’t it? You’re just going along your day and poof there’s this stuff in the way! Sometimes we stop and question the situation, or ask God about it and that is great. But, being the humans we are, sometimes we let that stuff stop us altogether or we plow right over it. We don’t ask, we don’t seek, we don’t…well, we just don’t. Now really, that ‘stuff’ could be anything ~ a job or a person, a seemingly benign word spoken toward us, really I guess that is why we call it stuff, ‘cuz it is.

In the case of the labyrinth, these sheaths are a feather’s weight, but still big in size. It would take nothing to move them, once you knew you should. (note to yourself: move sheaths) 

So, here’s the deal for me, God will provide the people to pour wise counsel into our lives.  He will give guidance thru His Word and He will prompt our hearts in a myriad of ways. I guess all this “thinking” is partly due to the scripture I read this morning in my devotional…

Jesus: ¹⁸ Do you mean you don’t understand this one either? Whatever goes into people from outside can’t defile them ¹⁹ because it doesn’t go into their hearts. Outside things go through their guts and back out, thus making all foods pure. ²⁰ No, it’s what comes from within that corrupts. ^21-22 It’s what grows out of the hearts of people that leads to corruption: evil thoughts, immoral sex, theft, murder, adultery, greed, wicked acts, treachery, sensuality, jealousy, slander, pride, and foolishness. ²³ All of these come from within, and these are the sins that truly corrupt a person.

Mark 7:18-23 ~ The Voice Version

So, yes, there are an absolute ton of things in this, but here’s what hit me on the head this morning…right after the blatantly obvious, ‘yes, I don’t get it again!’

We create our own sheaths. Personally, I don’t need anyone else to take credit for the stuff in my path. Quite capable on my own, thank you very much. And that is part of what Jesus is saying here, don’t ya think? We so often want a rule to control something, or to follow ~ we need another person, or circumstance to blame ~ we live at the feet of deflection.

Jesus gave us, created us, with our own measuring stick-o-stuff ~ our own heart’s overflow. THAT is our first signal that perhaps we’re not following a prompting, or truly hearing (then applying) wise counsel, or seeking Him in His word. More often than not, I have found that God has not moved the sheaths out of the way because the ‘work’ of moving them is the very work that needs to occur in my heart. Had I sat, or stomped right over it, I would have missed the lesson/the growth that God intended for me.

I really encourage you to read all of Mark 7, because it is wonderful!!! But for this point, skip down a bit to Mark 7:26-29…

²⁶ The woman was not a Jew, but a Syrophoenician (a Greek) by birth. All the same, she came to Jesus and begged Him to cast the unclean spirit out of her daughter.

Jesus (shaking His head): ²⁷ I must feed the children first. It would do no good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.

Syrophoenician Woman: ²⁸ Yes, Lord, but even the dogs under the table may eat of the children’s crumbs.

Jesus (smiling and nodding): ²⁹ This is a wise saying. Go back home. Your daughter is free of the spirit that troubled her.

 There are a whole bunch of lessons in those verses, but for me today this spoke loud and clear! This woman did not let her circumstance, her ‘place’ in the world or even her need keep her from seeking Jesus. My goodness, as far as she was concerned, she wasn’t even welcomed by Jesus, BUT she knew He would hear her heart. We need to be more like this woman...not so "careful" of limiting our approach to our Saviour, simply because we think we know His response to our request, or we think that it isn’t important enough or maybe we just forget that we need to bring everything/every moment before Him….the truth is, His response is always welcoming, of Love embracing our path and helping us learn from whatever He has put there, so that we too may see that it is as Jesus has told us...  

And when she returned to her house, she discovered that it was as Jesus had told her. Her daughter lay on her bed, in her right mind, whole and healthy.

Mark 7:30 ~ The Voice Version

Re-Aligning Pathways

You have the fountain of life that quenches our thirst.
    Your light has opened our eyes and awakened our souls.

Psalm 36:9 ~ 
The Voice Version

Our brain is made up of pathways – thoughts that are physically connected to one another. Not just random opinions, but how we arrive at them, our emotional reactions to people and places, smells and sounds….every “way” we come to conclusions are set in these pathways of thought. That’s not exactly a scientific description, but you get where I’m going, right? Our thoughts get settled in a routine, a repetition that is not always God directed, but human directed…and because they are all nicely wrapped up in our skull, we most often times do not realize it!

We can change these pathways, need to change some (a lot of them?), it is the ‘how’ of this change that stumps us. It can seem overwhelming...perhaps cluttered, with no discernible place to start, but there are all kinds of ways to seek and find the right changes in our thoughts. 

One of the aspects of the labyrinth is to serve as that tool in our prayer life. There is a focus of prayer, a change in step from busy-ness  to quiet-ness ~ a change in path. Our thoughts can be worked on in the same way and with intention, with purposefulness, we can step in closer to the full Light of His Life in order to open our eyes and souls to His vision for our steps.

In the coming year, this is my goal…to change, to re-direct my pathways, to align with God’s pathway more and more. As an example, when I have the thought, “I can’t do this.”, just move the period over a bit and add “without You, Jesus.”

One of Scripture’s designs is to help us in our thought punctuation ~ to move those periods over and open up to Jesus’ desire in the moment. The answer to “I can’t” is found in Philippians 4:13

I can do all this through Him who gives me strength.

When you think about it, no pun intended, Scripture is all about aligning our thoughts, our lives with Him. 

We are to always be a work in progress….He’s not through with us, yet! So, the very ‘thought’ that somehow my thoughts are always set right, or finished just can’t be. We are so easily misled, re-directed, distracted into believing that ‘we got this’, but Jesus’ message to us is that He’s got this…

He’s got us forever and always.

( Jesus )This is what my Father wants: that anyone who sees the Son and trusts who He is and what He does and then aligns with Him will enter real life, eternal life.

John 6:39 ~ The Message

New Arrivals

It is Christmas time! Things are hustling and bustling, packages are arriving and who knows who may show up at the doorstep with a Christmas greeting, or two!

Well, we have a few new arrivals in the labyrinth, too! Let’s start with this little guy. We didn’t plant this…we’re assuming a bird ‘deposited’ it, if ya know what I mean. This palm will work beautifully here! It is in the middle of the path, but we will do a little wiggling of that and no problemo! 

 And this….I’ll wait right here while you soak this in a minute. Isn’t it loverly?!?! It is a gift for the labyrinth, from a dear friend who has been praying along with me since this all began. What a gift God has given her to share and I am sooooo blessed to get to see this ev-er-y-day. AND you will be blessed when you see this in person, too.

All over the cross there are scripture references and do-dads to serve as prayer prompts and other reminders of God’s gift to us of prayer.   

As I stood looking at this the other day I was reminded (again, thankfully!) of the need for our pause button. I was so caught up in the details and wanting to soak it all in, I totally lost track of time!

We all talk about how crazy-busy we are, but I think I hit on something…maybe it is just me, so don’t panic! If my pause button is on my list-of-things-to-do, then is there really a pause? It can so easily become another to-do. I certainly don’t mean to put down the Christmas season. It can be a joyous time, a time of celebration and…dare I say, a time for pause. God’s desire for us to sit with Him and pause is where our new growth comes. It is in the pauses we can ponder, allow our souls a little time to stretch and grasp at more fully formed Truths. We are refreshed and equipped and well, His work in us is endless!

And they went rejoicing. Because God helped the Levites, strengthening them as they carried the Chest of the Covenant of God, they paused to worship…

 (The Message Version)

I Chronicles 15:26

So many stories in scripture and in our lives are like this one. God leading, God strengthening, God moving mountains…it is what He does after all. 

The strength in any situation is His.

The graceful giving or kindness towards another, all come from His prompting.

The joy in a child's smile, the tenderness of a grandmother's kiss are the reflection of His joy within.

 …every good and perfect gift really does come from above.

My prayer for all of us this Christmas is that as we receive His blessings, we too would pause to worship the Giver of New Growth, our sweet Jesus. That in the pauses we may look beyond the gifts of this season to see the greatest Gift of all, our Giver. He comes to every heart’s door with the gift of His presence…to walk with us in every moment. He is the best gift we’ve ever been given and the most wonderful gift we have to give.

May the Joy, Peace and Love of Christ be yours this season and always!!!