Thoughts on a Rainy Afternoon
“You can’t get a cup of tea big enough or a book long enough to suit me.”
- C.S. Lewis
I’m almost done with my book… and that makes me sad. Have you ever read a book that was so good that you never wanted it to end? I may just end up reading it all over again when I’m done.
I had a couple of hours to kill after an appointment so I brought my book and went to my favorite Coffee Shop downtown. I love it because almost everything they make is organic and very healthy. I got a Apple/Blueberry Crumble Muffin and a cup of organic coffee… it was yummy! I took a picture because I liked how my book matched my plate (I’m strange, I know…) It was such a nice warm atmosphere since it has been rainy and slushy the last few days.
I thought I would share a portion of a beautiful prayer penned by Leanne Payne:
“O Lord, long ago I trusted in You, and You saved me utterly.
You took me from the ash heap, a place of powerlessness and death
And made me fruitful.
You made me as a tree whose branches reach out in every direction,
Bearing Your rich fruits of all kinds and dripping healing waters, resins, and oils.
You caused my roots to grow down deep
To tap into hidden reserves of goodness, beauty, and life.
I put You on anew, O Lord
I cry out to You anew…” - Leanne Payne
It reminds me that only the Lord can transform us. No matter how hard we try… no matter how many self-improvement books we buy… no matter how hard we strive with our 12-step plans and to-do lists (I have had many of these over the years)… we cannot reach down into the rotten barrel of our own heart and produce good fruit. It just doesn’t work that way. We need to be grafted into The Vine. We need to be gazing on the beauty and holiness of the Lord in order to become like Him.
“Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart departs from the Lord. For he shall be like a shrub in the desert, and shall not see when good comes, but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land which is not inhabited.
Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, and whose hope is the Lord. For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters, which spreads out its roots by the river, and will not fear when heat comes; but its leaf will be green, and will not be anxious in the year of drought, nor will cease from yielding fruit.” - Jeremiah 17:5-8
“That He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height – to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.” - Ephesians 3:16-20
“Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.” – John 15:4
I don’t think you necessarily did this on purpose, but thanks for speaking to my quest to go from barreness to fruitfulness. A lot of what you have written fits write in with the longings of my heart right now and what God is trying to work in me. You are a kindred spirit. If I can figure out how to do it, I’ll make a link from my blog to your posting. We’ll see…
I want to live by you ~ please ~ but NOT in Minnesota, k?
That cracks me up! No more Minnesota, huh? I would love to live close to each other again! I miss you!