“A sound mind.” For some of us that doesn’t seem remotely possible. Over the years we personally have reason to believe this is not real. As mentally ill people we seem to think that we can’t be this way. … Continue reading ![]()
Of A Sound Mind, [Healthy & Sane]
↧
↧
Brokenness, Depression and Brennan Manning
I’ve put together a collection of quotes by my favorite author, Brennan Manning. I have found that when he writes, he penetrates. What he writes goes deep into the soul of this ex-junkie, loser, and mentally ill person—he tells me … Continue reading ![]()
↧
Putting It Simply
“But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, 42 but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.” Luke 10:41-42, ESV I tend to over-think things a lot. Everything … Continue reading ![]()
↧
Like Well-Watered Gardens: Isaiah 58
“Feed the hungry, and help those in trouble. Then your light will shine out from the darkness, and the darkness around you will be as bright as noon. 11 The Lord will guide you continually, giving you water when you … Continue reading ![]()
↧
On Being Loved
9 “The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is?” Jeremiah 17:9 7 For the sinful nature is always hostile to God. It never did obey God’s laws, and it never will. 8 That’s … Continue reading ![]()
↧
↧
Thanksgiving Starts in Our Hearts
“Let us thank God heartily as often as we pray that we have His Spirit in us to teach us to pray. Thanksgiving will draw our hearts out to God and keep us engaged with Him; it will take our … Continue reading
↧
Forgive, and Forgiven
“Man has two great spiritual needs. One is for forgiveness. The other is for goodness.” –Billy Graham “God pardons like a mother, who kisses the offense into everlasting forgiveness.” –Henry Ward Beecher “If you take care of yourself and walk … Continue reading
↧
When Rags Became Grace
“Ebedmelech from Ethiopia was an official at the palace, and he heard what they had done to me. So he went to speak with King Zedekiah, who was holding court at Benjamin Gate. 9Ebedmelech said, “Your Majesty, Jeremiah is a … Continue reading
↧
Food Bank Epiphanies
The last two months I’ve been the recipient of some reasonably heavy lessons of understanding. I was just standing in line at the food pantry. I’m learning more here than in my Biblical Doctrine class my first year at Bible college. Amazing! But again, maybe not. My 10 Commandments of the Food Pantry Jesus has a … Continue reading "Food Bank Epiphanies"
↧
↧
“Fine, I’ll Do It Broken” Link
Fine, I’ll Do It Broken “Fine, I’ll Do It Broken If you want a woman torn apart inside, weeping at the drop of a pin, confused in her own identity, disqualified in every sense of a leader…you got it! A great link to a special teaching by Cheryl Meakins. This will bless you. Fine, I’ll … Continue reading "“Fine, I’ll Do It Broken” Link"
↧
Can a Mother Forget? [Love]
“Yet Jerusalem says, “The Lord has deserted us; the Lord has forgotten us.” Never! Can a mother forget her nursing child? Can she feel no love for the child she has borne? But even if that were possible, I would not forget you! 16 See, I have written your name on the palms of my hands. … Continue reading "Can a Mother Forget? [Love]"
↧
A Sound Mind
“A sound mind.” For some of us that doesn’t seem remotely possible. We’ve come to believe this is only true for others, maybe, but not me. As mentally ill people we seem to think that we shouldn’t be this way. Given enough time our illness becomes fused to our spirit and soul. We buy the lie […]
↧
When Rags Became Grace
“Ebedmelech from Ethiopia was an official at the palace, and he heard what they had done to me. So he … More
↧
↧
“Fine, I’ll Do It Broken” Link
Fine, I’ll Do It Broken
“Fine, I’ll Do It Broken
If you want a woman torn apart inside, weeping at the drop of a pin, confused in her own identity, disqualified in every sense of a leader…you got it!
A great link to a special teaching by Cheryl Meakins. This will bless you.
Related articles
- The Stickiness of Shame, Psalm 34:5 (psalmslife.com)
- Were not broken just bent. (leelyput.wordpress.com)
- Broken is Freedom (fakhrah.wordpress.com)
- Fine, I’ll Do It Broken (woundedhealerwarrior.com)
↧
To Give Beyond Giving
“Calling his followers to him, Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, this poor widow gave more than all those rich people.”
Mark 12:43, NCV
Heaven uses scales that earth knows nothing about. Jesus calls out to His disciples, and they gather up close. Life has a way of teaching us incredible things. Circumstances usually make the best instructors. These disciples did not need a didactic lecture. They needed an authentic example of how of giving was processed through the economy of heaven.
The widow’s desperate poverty becomes the prime matrix of giving to the Father. Her deposit was miniscule, hardly even enough for Jesus to even acknowledge. Two pennies– laughable at best. Many would give thousands more that day. The widow gave everything she had. The big ticket guys gave a very small precentage from their bank account.
The money box was a place of worship.
Jesus acknowledged what this very poor widow did. Some stood close to money box, and they would evaluate the giving of each one. The text tells us that many came “with large sums of money.” But Jesus declared the “widow’s mite” to be supreme. Her pathetic gift was of a utmost value.
Upside down. The view of heaven has turned everything on it’s head.
Our first impression is almost always wrong. This poor widow has been exalted to a place of example. She now takes the spotlight as the model for us. Jesus makes her his Director of the Treasury for the KoG. Two pathetic pennies! And she becomes an astonishing pattern for us.
↧
Jesus is My Apple Tree
“Like the finest apple tree in the orchard
is my lover among other young men.
I sit in his delightful shade
and taste his delicious fruit.”
Song of Solomon 2:3, NLT
Jesus is my apple tree. He keeps my dying soul alive.
He is the subject of many different metaphors. We know him as a shepherd, a door, and bread. There are many other ‘pictures’ in Scripture, that speak of his ministry and life. There is one that strikes me today, that of Jesus Christ as a life-giving tree– an apple tree. Song of Solomon 2:3 and Revelation 22:1 are the ‘roots’ of this wondrous thought.
“On each side of the river grew a tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, with a fresh crop each month. The leaves were used for medicine to heal the nations.”
Rev. 22:2
To think of Jesus as ‘the tree of life’ or an apple tree is both an honor to Him and a strength for us. We can swirl metaphors around all day and never exhaust their truths. Jesus (a.k.a. “the apple tree”) is seen imparting life and healing through his fruit. He is the source of everything good and grand in our lives. Eating his fruit is not only significant but encouraged. (Like most things in God’s Kingdom.)
The young maiden in Song of Solomon has given us her take on Jesus— her shepherd, lover, and king. She sees him as the finest in the forest. He provides shade to her, as she eats the fruit of his branches.
Oh, what a worthy picture of Jesus our savior. We can look at this all day. As we come to him we can see the One who is gifting each of us his blessings. We do well to consider him this way. The first few lines set the tone for us.
“The tree of life my soul hath seen,
Laden with fruit and always green:
The tree of life my soul hath seen,
Laden with fruit and always green:
The trees of nature fruitless be
Compared with Christ the apple tree.”
The song, based on an anonymous poem, first appeared in a New England hymn collection by a New Hampshire preacher in 1784, so it has a history. Many people sing this as a Christmas carol, although there is nothing in the words that refer to Christmas. Go through each stanza. See if it fits you. Perhaps it will cause you to see Jesus in a new way. Here is the poem in its entirety:
Jesus Christ, the Apple Tree
The tree of life my soul hath seen,
Laden with fruit and always green:
The tree of life my soul hath seen,
Laden with fruit and always green:
The trees of nature fruitless be
Compared with Christ the apple tree.
His beauty doth all things excel:
By faith I know, but ne’er can tell,
His beauty doth all things excel:
By faith I know, but ne’er can tell,
The glory which I now can see
In Jesus Christ the apple tree.
For happiness I long have sought,
And pleasure dearly I have bought:
For happiness I long have sought,
And pleasure dearly I have bought:
I missed of all; but now I see
‘Tis found in Christ the apple tree.
This fruit doth make my soul to thrive,
It keeps my dying faith alive;
This fruit doth make my soul to thrive,
It keeps my dying faith alive;
Which makes my soul in haste to be
With Jesus Christ the apple tree.
“Consider Jesus. Know Jesus. Learn what kind of Person it is you say you trust and love and worship. Soak in the shadow of Jesus. Saturate your soul with the ways of Jesus. Watch Him. Listen to Him. Stand in awe of Him. Let Him overwhelm you with the way He is.”
John Piper
↧
More Pages to Explore .....
