"The growth of all living green things wonderfully represents the process of receiving and relinquishing, gaining and losing, living and dying. The seed fall into the ground, dies as the new shoot springs up. There must be a splitting and a breaking in order for a bud to form. The bud 'lets go' when the flower forms. The calyx lets go of the flower. The petals must curl up and die in order for the fruit to form. The fruit falls, splits, relinquishes the seed. The seed falls to the ground... There is no ongoing spiritual life without the process of letting go. At the precise point we refuse, growth stops. If we hold tightly to anything given to us, unwilling to let it go when the time comes to let it go or unwilling to allow it to be used as the Giver means it to be used, we stunt the growth of the soul... It is easy to make a mistake here. 'If God gave it to me,' we say, 'it's mine. I can do what I want with it.' No. The truth is that it is ours to thank Him for and ours to offer back to Him, ours to relinquish, ours to lose, ours to let go of - if we want to find our true selves, if we want real Life, if our hearts are set on glory"...HANG WITH ME PEEPS..."Think of the self that God has given as an acorn. It is a marvelous little thing, a perfect shape, perfectly designed for its purpose, perfectly functional. Think of the grand glory of an oak tree. God's intention when He made the acorn was the the oak tree. His intention for us: " ...attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ." (see eph.4:11-13 and also mt.28:18-20) ...When you look at the oak tree, you don't feel that the 'loss' of the acorn is a very great loss. The more you perceive God's purpose in your life, the less terrible will the losses seem." ALMOST FINISHED...KEEP READING: " God's ultimate plan was (is) as far beyond our imaginings as the oak tree is from the acorn's imaginings. The acorn does what it was made to do, without pestering its Maker with questions about when and how and why. We who have been given an intelligence and a will and a whole range of wants that can be set against the divine Pattern for Good are asked to believe Him. We are given the chance to trust Him...'When will we find it? ' we ask. The answer is, 'Trust Me.' 'How will we find it?,... 'Trust Me! 'Why must I let myself be lost? ' The answer is , 'Look at the acorn and trust Me."
Passion and Purity
by: Elizabeth Elliot
So this is what my Heavenly Father has been teaching me lately. Feel free to shoot me an email if you have any questions/comments regarding this brief devotion. Thanks for letting me share! Jena
3 comments:
Oh I just loved this! Sometimes the shortest messages carry the biggest meaning. It's something James and I are struggling with as we move out into the world (well, him, not me haha), and being parents and all, that we are steady changing, which is a scary thing, but an exciting thing in God's eyes! He's got it all figured out even though we're still just wading through ...
Wow, the truth of the seed and the life giving love of the giver. I led Bradley and Brittany's Squadron's Moral leadership last week and used the acorn as an object lesson. I told the story that the life of the seed must be transformed to a new life and that there is amazing potential waiting to be released. We passed out acorns to the cadets and then after the lesson passed out acorns with the cores drilled out. This was a lesson that if the core values of life are removed, the potential for the future is lost. Wow, keep up the great work for the Father and pass the seeds onto the fertile ground.
Okay, she's a cute kid but I'm sick of looking at her. ;-)
What's new home-chili-mo-D? We need information!
Lovin' and missin' you -Amie
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