Grow Well Where Others Will Not

When in the Middle East, eating dates comes into mind. Two interesting facts about dates:

(1) "The date palm is a very salt tolerant tree and will grow well in alkaline soils where other plants will not. They are sometimes irrigated with ocean water ... (2) Date palms are like giant solar collectors. They require at least 100 sunny days of 100 degrees for best fruit production. Over the 7 month growing season, which includes Summer, they store the intense energy of the desert in their fruit." (datepeople.net)

We can learn some lessons from dates. We can learn to "grow well where others will not" and we can "store intense energy".

Many of us are exposed to an environment where our Christianity is persecuted and mocked: places where corruption is a norm -- using words like "S.O.P (It's Standard Operating Procedure)" as a "gentle and justified way" to practice corruption; where cheating (especially amongst classmates) is considered being a true friend; where pre-marital sex is "okay" and those practicing chastity are ridiculed; where keeping your job means doing the illegal; and many more instances where many just succumb to the temptations of "practicality." In these situations, we are reminded by Mark 8:36: "What profit is there for one to gain the whole world and forfeit his life?". Let us decided to uphold our Christianity even when difficult; to bear fruit where we are planted by God by spreading His Gospel. Grow well where others will not.  How do we thrive in a "non-Christian" environment? We must absorb and store the intense energy of the Holy Spirit.  Through prayer and God's grace in the power of the of the Holy Spirit -- we can "collect energy" to be able to ward off temptations and have the strength to be true witnesses in word and in deed.

1. Describe your work/school environment. What are situations where you are "forced' to compromise your Christianity?

2. How can you improve your time of prayer to have the spiritual energy to battle these situations?

In Tune With God

I was asked to play the guitar for worship this morning.  I overlooked in testing if the strings were in tune and just went right into playing. I later noticed that the 2nd string was off key. It was impossible to adjust the strings in the middle of the song. In short, the songs went on while bearing with one string that was out of tune.

Just like in our Christian living.  We can go on following Christ, but many of us still have a part of our lives that is not attuned with the Lord.  We may go on serving Him while we have issues with purity or other sins that we find hard to surrender.  The result is a service that fails to reach its true potential. We can still do the usual things we do for the Lord, but the impact of a service derived from a life fully "in tune" with God is a far cry from a service born out of a compromised or "off key" Christian lifestyle.

The product of an off-key Christian lifestyle are:
Energy leak.  Our strength is being drained by this part of our lives that refuses to yield to God.  And when we are empty, we tend to "borrow strength" from hyping up or psyching up ourselves for the work ahead or a talk or sharing you have to give.  In the end we are tired, and will even seek strength in other vice-based "unwinding."
Loss of passion. We will tend to focus on our unworthiness more instead of a God who will love us and raise us up.
Eventual backsliding. When we feel drained, empty, and unworthy, the next is to withdraw.  The devil eventually wants us to get out of our commitment to Christ and will feed us "logical" excuses like, "Without my service, I can have more time for my family" or "The money I spend in the community can be better put in another investment."

 So, it starts with a compromised Christian living and ends up in Eventual Backsliding. So how do we combat this?  I have three suggestions:

1. Tune in to God daily. One day without prayer is enough for the devil to feed us with scheming thoughts. If we tune-in to God through faithful prayer, we will be strengthened and nourished.
2. Decide to Yield. Surrender to God that aspect of your life that compromises your Christianity. It is by the strength of the Spirit that we are to overcome.
3. Be accountable to somebody you trust. Have someone that will not hesitate to correct you and tune you back in harmony with the Lord.  People who refuse correction are most prone to compromise.  Humility will put our lives back in tune with God.

It takes time to tune a guitar and it is dependent on the sound of other strings to get that off-key string back in harmony. If you are a guitar player, you will only strum your guitar strings with gusto and passion when you know that each string is in tune.  Let us serve the Lord with maximum impact by living a life fully attuned to God. 

For the eyes of the LORD range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him (2 Chronicles 16:9).