Blackberry Lilies: Fruit For the Winter
Dear Friends,
A couple of years ago the elderly man across the street gave me a couple of dried stems of Blackberry Lilies. The shiny black seeds are in clusters and look like big blackberries! I brought them in the house and put them in a vase along with some dry ornamental grasses and stems from the silver dollar plant.
In the spring I cleaned up the garden. Then I planted some of the seeds in a couple of places. The plants grew sword shaped leaves that look similar to iris leaves. Delicate-branched stems with six petaled orange blooms that are speckled with crimson give them a lily-like appearance.
After the flowers finish blooming the interesting seed pods form. The branches get blown by the wind and the snow falls around them. The stems with the black berry-like seeds are a contrast against the new snow.
The thing about these flowers that I love is how the beauty continues and changes from season to season. God gives us so many examples of how His goodness and provision are constant, always there but changing.
The birds flock around the garden enjoying the seeds that dropped from the stems. My vase of dried seed pods and grasses is on the table. All of this came from a dried branch of seeds from a neighbor. Now I can share some of my blackberry lily seeds with a friend. The beauty continues.
Ecclesiastes 3:11
"God has made everything beautiful in His time..."
A New Day Dawns
Dear Friends,
I was awake early in the morning while the house was quiet. I looked out the front window. Everything was still dark except where the sun was coming up beyond the trees. Brilliant fiery orange light against the blackness of the still dark sky was making the trees into silhouettes against the sunrise! My eyes filled with tears.
I am thankful for Jesus who hears and answers our prayers. He is the message of hope in the darkness. A new day is always filled with fresh beginnings. Being 'born again' gives us a clean fresh start much like when the sun rises. God is always ready to forgive and heal.
Jesus said in John 8:12, "I am the light of the world: he that follows me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life." In chapter 9 Jesus saw a blind man. He said, "But while I am here in the world, I am the light of the world." He then made mud and put it on the eyes of the blind man. Jesus told him to wash in the pool of Siloam. When the man washed he was healed.
More beautiful than the physical healing was the opening of the man's eyes to the truth of who Jesus was. He had been a blind beggar. Now he could see that Jesus was the Savior. He was so changed that his neighbors didn't recognize him.
Jesus came to set the captives free, to break the chains that keep us from experiencing all that He has planned for us. He is the light shining through all darkness.
2 Corinthians 4:6
"For God, who said, "Let there be light in the darkness," has made this light shine in our hearts so we could know the glory of God that is seen in the face of Jesus Christ."
Ravens, Lilies and the Window of Our Minds
Dear Friends,
My devotions and meditations this morning led to thoughts on God's infinite goodness. He has an eternally giving heart blessing us with forgiveness and endless love. When we draw near to Him He is always there. He has never left our side.
Psalm 145:8-9 reads "The Lord is merciful and compassionate, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. The Lord is good to everyone. He showers compassion on all His creation."
We read in Job 42:5 when he had been at his lowest point "I had only heard about You before, but now I have seen You with my own eyes." Job then repented for he had been listening to negative words from friends. After he repented it says that he prayed for his friends and the Lord restored his fortunes.
Job 42:17 reads, "Then he died, an old man who had lived a long full life."
We all have the freedom to choose to run to God, and the freedom to think on good things, even in the midst of trials. Our emotions are many times controlled by our minds and what we dwell on.
A gratitude journal can be a tool to draw our thoughts toward good things. Looking around us and focusing on positive things will help to open the "window of our mind" to the Light.
Psalm 147:8-9
"He covers the heavens with clouds, provides rain for the earth, and makes the grass grow in mountain pastures. He gives food to the wild animals and feeds the young ravens when they cry."
Luke 12:24
"Look at the ravens. ....you are far more valuable to Him than any birds."
Born Of The Fire
Dear Friends,
The light and warmth of a fire can be comforting during chilly weather. The logs that are burning are surrounded by a boundary of stones. Sit near this fire with me, a mug with a hot drink is on the log next to you. Imagine holding a stick with marshmallows near the fire until the marshmallows are toasty brown on the outside and yummy, sticky on the inside. Sit near and stay warm and safe and listen to the fire crackle.
Fire can be a friend or a foe or a mixture of both depending on the circumstances. A forest fire is often destructive but can also be viewed as necessary in nature. Fire changes a log to ash which contains life giving nutrients necessary for plant growth. Trees that survive fire become stronger to be able to face future fires. The plants that survive receive more light because of the plants that were destroyed. The extreme heat of a forest fire opens the cones of a sand pine so that the forest is reseeded. These are the trees "born of the fire".
When we have faith that has withstood fire or difficulties we can grow in our faith like the trees "born of the fire". The searing heat and the flames that could cause harm can be used by God for our good. There are so many lessons in the world God created for us. My prayer is that we can see these lessons to be able to be a light to those around us.
1 Peter 1: 6-7
"So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you must endure many trials for a little while. These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold -- though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world."
