THE NEW EWE

"What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost, until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!'"

Luke 15:4-6

July 17, 2024

LIFE IN THE FOLD

Whenever I travel somewhere I like to look for a souvenir that will remind me about something regarding that trip. I like handmade things from that area, if possible. At times, that is harder to find than you would think. You have to read the label at times to make sure it's not made in another country.

A few years ago, my sister and I traveled to California together. We stopped at a shop in New Mexico that sold handmade pottery and jewelry from local Native American tribes.

I found a smaller piece of pottery that was interesting, but I couldn't figure out what it was; so I asked. When I found out, I bought it.

It was a seed pot. Traditionally, seed pots were used by the Native Americans to store seeds for their next years crop. Seed pots were designed to protect the seeds from rodents and insects. A wide-mouth jar or bowl wouldn't work for that. So they created seed pots, which only had a tiny hole that would allow one seed to be dropped in at a time. When the time for spring planting came, the seed pots would be smashed so all the seeds collected during the winter months could be used.

The seed pots were made from clay and then designs would be hand painted on them.

There are so many thoughts that I have every time I look at my seed pot and there are so many spiritual applications.

In Jeremiah 18:1-5, the Lord told Jeremiah to go visit a potter's shop. Jeremiah obeyed and found the potter working at his wheel. But the jar he was working on didn't turn out as he had hoped, so he crushed it into a lump of clay again and started over. The Lord spoke to Jeremiah and told him, "Can I not do to you as this potter has done to his clay? As the clay is in the potter's hand, so are you in my hand."

There may be times when we feel like we have messed up our life and are a failure. It's during those times that Satan will whisper lies into our ear and try to convince us that God is angry with us or doesn't love us or has forgotten about us. Guilt and condemnation are two of the biggest weapons he uses to try and get us to feel so horrible about ourself and our mistakes and failures - perhaps even about things that are the fault of others that affected our lives. It's his strategy to try to draw us away from God and he will use whatever weapons he can find.

But God never throws us away! Perhaps bad choices or sin or mistakes, etc have caused us to not turn out as He would have like or had planned; and we may feel crushed. But God gathers us back into His hand, just as the potter does the clay, and begins to mold and shape us back into a useable vessel. But we have to be willing to be pliable in His hands. If we are fighting and resisting Him, He may have to crush us again, so that He can begin forming us into what He wants us to be.

The crushing can be painful, but the end result of allowing ourselves to be pliable in the Potter's (God's) hands, can turn out to beautiful. Yes, each and every one of us - you - can be made into a beautiful vessel that God shapes and forms. If you think that's not true, then you don't know the power of the Potter!

The maker of the seed pot would take the time to craft a beautiful vessel that was sturdy and pretty to look at - even though they knew that it would be broken open and destroyed when planting time came.

There are times throughout our life that we are all broken open by the One who created us. We go through hardships and struggles and life isn't always easy and fun. But there is a purpose for that happening. It's not because God is being mean to us or doesn't love us. It's because He knows that by the breaking, He can multiply what is inside of us for the purpose of His kingdom. He wants to plant the seeds that are inside, so that a harvest can be brought about. Harvest can't happen without the planting of seeds.

If I want homegrown vegetables or pretty flowers, I have to be willing to get down on my knees and get dirty and plant seeds. I have to be willing to pull weeds and water and tend what I planted. I can't think, "I sure would like to have a tomato," and keep going outside and looking around my yard for tomatoes, if I've never planted. The seeds have to be planted and tended for there to be a harvest.

In the same way, we have to sow seeds into the lives of others. We have to sow kindness, patience, prayer, love, joy, gentleness.... into others. We do that through how we choose to live our lives and the decisions that we make. When we suffer or endure difficulties and are broken open, it's what others see in us during those times that has an affect on them and can be a witness to the faithfulness of God. It's how we live our life daily and what others see in us.

Taking time to fill their seed pot, one seed at a time, had to have been tedious and labor intensive. But they knew that if they were careless and didn't take care of their seeds, then insects and vermin could destroy them - which would affect their harvest for the next year.

We have to be careful to take care of our soul and spirit and body that God has given us. If we are careless about what we put inside our mind and what we watch and the influences that we allow into our life, then it can be like the insects and vermin that can come in and eat away at the seeds that are needed for the next years planting. When time comes for planting, we find that there's nothing left. We haven't been careful with tending our spirit, by allowing the enemy to come in and cause destruction. When the time for being broken comes, we find that the seeds are almost all gone or have been destroyed by bad seeds that we allowed to come in and infect the good that was there. Then we begin blaming God and being angry at Him for allowing things to happen as they do. We allow bitterness and unforgiveness and anger to grow. We begin blaming others and being negative and critical.

The truth is, if we had taken care of the seed that we put inside of us, to begin with, then we wouldn't have to deal with many of the problems we find ourselves facing, at times. But sometimes it gets tedious and is hard work, and we just want to grab handfuls of seeds and pour them into ourself, thinking it's all good and we can handle it. When we do, we allow the bad to come in with the good.

Galatians 6:7b says, "You will always harvest what you plant."

Verse 9 tells us this: "Let's not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time, we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don't give up."

I'm sure that as they placed the seeds in the pot, they discarded any that were bad. If they allowed bad seeds in with the good, it could cause the seeds around it to rot during the months that they were together in the pot.

There is a saying that one bad apple spoils the whole bunch. If you have a bag of apples and one of them is rotted and bad and you don't get rid of it, then it can end up causing the apples around it to rot.

You may think it's not important who you allow to influence your life, but it does. That doesn't mean that you can't love or be kind to those who aren't good influences; but don't allow them to infect your life. On the other hand, make sure that you're not the bad apple!

To be able to plant the seeds, they had to be willing to break open the seed pot. They couldn't say, "Oh, but I worked so hard to make my vessel beautiful! I don't want it to be broken and destroyed!!" They had to be willing to give up what they had created, in order to benefit from what was stored inside.

Sometimes we can become so focused on how good our life is and how blessed we are that we don't want God to mess with it. We'd rather back away from God and try to keep things as they are, than to give Him the freedom to break open our "seed pots", so to speak, when necessary. We don't seem to realize that He is capable of making us into something much more useable and even more beautiful that our life is now.

In Mark chapter 14 we read a story about Jesus. Jesus was in a place called Bethany and was in a home eating. During the meal, a woman came in with a beautiful alabaster jar of expensive perfume. She broke open the jar and poured the perfume over His head.

Some of those sitting at the table were indignant. They begin asking, "Why waste such expensive perfume?" They scolded her harshly and told her that the perfume could have been sold for a year's wages and the money given to the poor. They didn't wait to see what Jesus' response was to her, before they began accusing her and becoming angry with what she had done.

Jesus responded by saying, "Leave her alone. Why criticize her for doing such a good thing to me? You will always have the poor among you and you can help them whenever you want. But you will not always have me with you. She has done what she could and has anointed my body for burial ahead of time."

Jesus saw the woman's heart and why she was doing what she did. He knew that His time to die was coming soon and that He would no longer be with them on earth. He recognized the woman's love and the greatness of the gift, but breaking open that expensive perfume and anointing Him with it.

He ended with these words, "I tell you the truth, wherever the Good News is preached throughout the world, this woman's deed will be remembered and discussed."

The woman's willingness to give up an expensive bottle of perfume and break it open, as a gift to show her love for Jesus, is something that He said would always be remembered. And it has been, for it was written in scripture for all to read and talk about.

When we allow ourselves to be broken and poured out for the sake of Jesus, we never know whose life may be influenced and the effect it will have on someone. It doesn't have to be something big or expensive! It may not even be in ways that many people recognize or see. But if we can be an encouragement or speak hope or lead someone to Jesus, then that's what our life should be about!

Let's be willing to allow God to be our potter and mold and shape us into useable vessels. When it's time to be broken, let's trust His wisdom and allow the seeds that are stored inside our lives to be poured out. Then use those seeds to plant good things into the lives of others and see what God can do!

JON'S PERSPECTIVE:

The same story is told in Matthew 13, Mark 4, and Luke 8. Jesus told the parable of the sower. He threw seeds around his field. Some seeds landed on the path, and were eaten by birds. Some seeds fell on rough ground where they didn't grow enough root to survive the first dry day. Some seeds fell near weeds which choked them out. And some fell in good soil where they grew and produced many more seeds to eat or sow next year.

Our garden did similar. We dug up the soil, and put seeds and already sprouted plants in the ground, so birds couldn't get to them. But we had worms get to our peaches and our squash. The seeds eaten by birds (or worms) are like sharing the Gospel ("good news of Jesus") with people who don't understand or don't want to understand.

Some were in dirt that was good, but probably got too much or too little water in their first few days, and never sprouted. We lost peas, beans, and okra right away. These seeds are like sharing the Gospel with someone who is excited, and wants to know Jesus, but gives up the first time they are tempted by sin or frustration.

A few carrots sprouted, but we had planted mint there last year. Between mint and grass, only a couple of carrots survived. We also lost a tomato plant because our cucumber plant took over, and blocked out all but a tiny bit of sunlight. These seeds are like sharing the Gospel with someone who accepts Jesus, but gets wrapped up in things like work, friends, or general busyness, that distract them from keeping the relationship. This can be sneaky. Mint, grass, and cucumbers aren't usually bad things. But they did choke out more valuable plants. Jobs and friends aren't bad, but if we give 100% of our time to things besides God, we lose that relationship.

It wasn't part of the parable, but we had several plants we bought live, but didn't get into the ground quickly enough. Many of them didn't make it. Those seeds are like opportunities to share the Gospel, but we don't.

Some of our plants have done great. We have more cucumbers than we can eat. And an eggplant or two each week. These seeds are like sharing the Gospel with those who accept Jesus, and keep up a relationship with Him, and share with others.

A friend at church mentioned how frustrating it is that he has witnessed and shared with a good friend who just won't accept that God is real. I've heard it said before that we sow the seeds, but have to rely on God to water them. Our friend has sown the seeds. But it isn't up to him when the rain will come and seeds start to grow.

ON THE MENEWE:

Cucumber Dip

Peel the cucumber. In a food processor or blender, pulse together the cucumber and green onions until roughly chopped.

Place the cream cheese into the food processor and pulse to combine well.

Fold in the remaining ingredients until well combined.

Chill before serving with crackers, chips or veggies.

**The amount of cucumber depends on how large the cucumber is and how strong you want the flavor to be. For a medium size cucumber, begin by using half. You can always add in more, if need be.

THIS, THAT AND THE OTHER:

1 Timothy 2:1-4: "I urge you, first of all, to pray for all people. Ask God to help them; intercede on their behalf, and give thanks for them. Pray this way for kings and all who are in authority so that we can live peaceful and quiet lives marked by godliness and dignity. This is good and pleases God our Savior, who wants everyone to be saved and to understand the truth."

It is vital that we pray for our nation, as never before. It is scriptural that we pray for our president and all who are in authority. At times it is easy to think that it won't work or even may think, "What's the use?" But it is God's will for us to pray for our governmental leaders -- in our communities, state, and nation. What's the purpose? So that we can live peaceful and quiet lives that are marked by godliness and dignity. Scripture says that this pleases God. It is His desire that everyone be saved and understand the truth. We may never be able to directly have contact with those in authority, but we can pray that God will send believers into their path and that the Holy Spirit will speak truth into their lives.

We are to pray for all people. Our family, friends, neighbors, co-workers, etc. The above scripture tells us how to pray for everyone. We ask God to help them, intercede for them, and give thanks for them!

THOUGHT TO PONDER:

Knowing when to walk away is wisdom.

Being able to is courage. - TobyMac

OUR HEARTFELT THANKS TO YOU:

We love you!

Loretta & Jon

http://www.graysheep.org