Quiet and trust are stakes that keep me above ground.
While men with axes shout “shut up and sit down ”
I keep my leaves still beneath the snow.
I do not move, breathe ,bear fruit or grow.
See My roots fear the depth ,my limbs feign the love …
I wait for YOU TO COME , oh burning breath from Above !
COME , JESUS melt rivers and streams across my trunk and limbs !
Come Lord Jesus and let me be an ever green in you again !!
tell me “Come Follow ” as you axe a different tone
And Speak to me a better word than I have every known ….
I am a tree ,as your psalm and song do say .
I stand with roots grounded and limbs that pray .
Oh come, oh come , Jesus and carry me out of this woods so cold!
Oh come Jesus and set me to love in your house of glory and gold!
““For thus saith the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel; In returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength: and ye would not.”
And therefore will the Lord wait, that he may be gracious unto you, and therefore will he be exalted, that he may have mercy upon you: for the Lord is a God of judgment: blessed are all they that wait for him.”
A TRUE STORY OF THE HEART OF BROTHER ROSO AND WATCHMEN OF PRAYER
“For as many as are the promises of God, in Christ they are [all answered] “Yes.” So through Him we say our “AMEN” to the GLORY of God.”
2 CORINTHIANS 1:20 AMP
Two of my favorite sounds in Our Father’s house are the sound of brother Roy saying “glory” and the sound of brother Chris saying “amen.” When these two sounds come together it seems as if nothing else needs to be said.
Now I know, there are many sounds in Daddy’s house that speak . Some heard and some not heard. Some are so loud they make stomping feet shake Essie’s china cabinets. Some are so strong they make knees wobble down to the dusty gray floor. Yet, others are so free and light that they simply float through the air brightening every face.
Mostly, every word from heaven flies from Daddy’s office until it lands to perform its work.(1) Like a hundred drifting ballons, words fill the air all the time ready to release a promised word. Hundreds of sounds, waiting everywhere. .But on Sunday they are especially fat and filled and ready to pop.
One “glory ” with one ” amen” seems to seal heavenly deals (2). Right there ,the brother praying and the brother receiving the prayer, hand shake agreement over every spoken promise with Our Father in Heaven. As these hands hold these promises , it is like watching kids hold a three chord strand of a helium balloon. A big holy air filled balloon from Daddy’s office. Sometimes I want to shout What if we all would say “glory” and “amen”? . What if we all let loose a “thy will be done” I bet ,like confetti, promises would burst from balloons from Our Fathers lap?.
I always ask and imagine things like this on Sunday . I use to not ask or imagine at all. I use to just want and hope. I use to want every sound to be real and hope it would come true. But long ago, Our father gave me a pastor, and he said to me ” Sis, if you would just BELIEVE every time you pray you will invite the Glory of God to meet the Amen of God! And you will see miracles” I kinda thought bout things different after that. I started asking and imagining a whole lot more things of God. .And that’s when “glory” and “amen” became my favorite sounds.
So, On Sunday, when brother Roy stood by Brother Chris, I stood near ready to hear a “glory and amen.” I was ready to ask and imagine big things.(3) Brother Roy was asking for prayer from brother Chris because he said the doctor told him he needed a “Watchmen” put in his heart. That , to me, sounded like a big thing to ask and imagine.
See,brother Roy had already told me that the doctor said he had a small extra piece in his heart that was causing him trouble. It was like a little culdesac in the road of vessels in his heart. As blood got caught in this culdesac , it could stir up the blood and make it clumpy blood . Just one little clump in the heart could kill a man. The doctor said he needed to take out that piece that was causing all the trouble so this wouldn’t happen.
“They need to take out that ‘troublemaker’ so that brother Roy’s heart would be all right”I told my stayin prayin sister.
But to take out the troublemaker they had to put in what the doctor folks called a” watchman. ” A Watchmen’ would catch any clot and keep it from hurting our brother Roy. So brother Roy agreed with what the doctor was going to do. And on Sunday, like our the ancient Brother James taught, he asked for prayer so that he would be healed(4)
Our brother Chris said “yes ” to Brother roy’s obedience to Our father in asking for prayer . And when Brother Chris said that he would pray , Brother Roy let out a Big “glory to God!!!”. That’s when everything cranked out heavenly helium. Baloons balloons ballons. Ballons of belief, filled with glory, tied by an amen, let loose through the air. .
But then very suddenly brother Chris stopped and asked “whats that thing they are putting in your heart Brother?”
” A watchman” brother Roy replied. ” Well ” brother Chris stepped back
Then looking at brother Roys chest he said “you already got a watchman and his name is Jesus.”
Then came the “AMEN” and every brother and sister said” amen amen!!!.” .
We all went to our rooms thinking about Our Fathers goodness and the sounds of Jesus. And we all went to our rooms thinking about that certain prayer for Brother Roy .I was believing like the other folks that my brother Roy was already healed . But, I also believed it might be a big deal getting that watchman in Brother Roy’s heart to prove that he was healed. Suddenly I had two minds about this thing. And it made me unsteady (5) .
“I don’t know bout that watchman already being there . . I don’t know that it is already there “ I said to my stayin prayin sister.
” any thing is possible with God ” she replied.” we will just watch and pray”
People who really BELIEVE are “already there” , I thought. Like praying sisters, they are ” are already there.” They actually know bout things long before the rest of us folks do. They just watch and pray. Watch and pray.
Our brother Chris had told us to fast and pray for three days .He kept saying that we needed “to get in our closets”. So I fasted. But it was real hard to stay in a closet to pray . I find closests crowded with brooms and boxes .And , there’s no windows to see what Our Father is saying on the outside. On top of all those problems, there is always someone knocking on the door to tell you something different than what you are hearing. Closets always confused me .But I sure wanted to get rid of my unsteady mind and pray about Brother Roy and the watchman.
“I’m praying for brother Roy and Joanne” my stayin prayin sister said to me.
“So how do you pray?” I asked
“I pray everywhere all the time. I let the Holy Spirit lead. Its like a dance sister . I let him lead so I will agree “his will be done on earth as it is in heaven” she said.(6)
“you pray everywhere?” I asked not paying much attention to the rest of her words
“yes?!!” she said a little irritated that I had not listened to the rest of her sentence.
” Well I gotta go” I said impatiently. I hung up and hurried outside to pray. My new closet was gonna be big enough now to hold the promise I was going to believe ! My closet was gonna be wherever I could run!! .
I wanted to be like brave folks I know in Daddy’s house who pray all the time. I wanted to not just fast but also pray like my stayin prayin sister .
But, lots of things distracted me in my outdoor closet: trees and skies and flowers and bunnies and children and song birds.
I tried to pray but started thinking alot. I was thinking bout my brothers and sisters who pray in closets all the time. They pray mostly when no ones watching .Kinda funny how Our Father calls them ” watchmen”. I think maybe these” Watchmen” aren’t really being watched while they are praying . I think they are watching for what they are praying for. They are watching for it to come alive. They are watching a promise become a real thing.
That is why it is exciting it is to talk to a real watchman cause they have seen a lot in heaven come down to earth. They have really seen alot happen between the “glory “and the “amen.” And they can see ’cause they sit real close to Jesus in their small closets. Its just two of them on a date one saying “glory “and the other “amen “and the Holy Ghost being the matchmaker. They don’t have to wait for Sunday to hear sounds and see ballons.
Outside lots of things got between my saying “glory “and “amen.” First, my heart was troubled by many things. And then , I couldn’t stop thinking bout watchmen. Both kinds of watchmen.: the ones who pray and the one sitting on the shelf waiting to go into Brother Roy’s heart. ” It must be a little thing sitting on a shelf waiting to going to brother Roy’s heart.” I thought. And when I started thinking about how little the watchman for the heart was I started thinking again about watchmen who pray. I started thinking that they’re just little people that sit and wait on the shelf unseen by us. Praying and watching. Little folks looking for things to happen big between the glory and the amen.I thought much more than I ever prayed in my outside closet those three days.
On Wednesday , brother Roy went to the hospital to meet up with the doctor . He told him what needed to be done to keep his heart safe from the troublemaker. When he was signing all of his consents for the doctor , I was thinking about how we consent to God alot when we pray. I was thinking bout how we pray consenting for Our Father to “deliver us from evil”;just like asking Him to keep the troublemaker away.
Brother Chris came again to see brother Roy before he went with the doctor. Brother Chris said “we are going to pray” and brother Roy said ” glory” and it all stirred up heavens office again .Then it all wrapped up with another glory and a great amen And off with the doctor brother Roy went.
A couple hours went by till I could see brother Roy. When I got to him , Sister Joanne and sister Cindy were sitting next to bed. The sisters said that the doctor went in Brother Roy’s heart to look for the troublemaker, “the appendage” he called it. And the doctors said that when they went in the” trouble maker ” well . . .” it was gone!!!.”
“gone , like it never was part of his heart” Joanne said
“don’t know what happened. . maybe . . .this or that” the doctor explained many reasons why it may not be there” Cindy said.
“But Brother Chris told them “cause hes already got a watchman and His name is Jesus” “Joanne rejoiced.
I shook sleeping Roy “say glory Brother Roy, say glory” I shouted
“glory” Brother Roy weakly spoke and faintly smiled squinting his eyes.”Jesus”
That small breath of air, a puff of holy helium, breathed a great ballon in the air. Right in the hospital a balloon of glory lifted high the name “jesus”. Jesus , Jesus , Jeus is what what lives between the glory and amen. . I remembered the soft whispers of Jesus in the room the Sunday before Roy came to the hospital . I remembered Pastor saying Jesus. I remembered the prayin stayin sister saying Jesus. It was Him between the glory and amen.
Jesus, the watchmen of all watchmen . The watchman who prayed outside when I ran from the closet. And the watchman who prayed with Roy and Joanne in their closet. And the watchman who prayed with my stayin prayin sister every day. And the watchman who prayed in the closet of my heart when I thought I had no closet to go to. The watchman The great watchman intereeding for everyone about everything, at the right hand of Our Father. Enthroned between the glory and the amen He watches and prays. And more than that, sitting in the heart of trouble hearted children like me , he says “there is no trouble maker in your heart, the watchmen lives here” .
Suddenly I was able to say to brother Roy “amen”. “glory and amen” “glory and amen”
“we will say it very loud on Sunday Brother Roy. ..maybe we will have a party” I said, imagining a room full of ballons.
“yes” Brother Roy smiled and returned to rest.
I walked away resting too. Resting in the Lord of the Amen and the King of the Glory.
Notes:
Jeremiah 1:12 Then the Lord said to me ” you have seen well, for I am watching over my word to perform it” and 2 Corinthians 1:20 For all the promises of God find their Yes in Him. that is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for His glory.
There are over 60 verses in Our Fathers word to us with Glory and Amen joined together. One of the oldest is from 1 Chronicles 16:35 -36 where David prayed “Save us O God of our salvation and gather and deliver us from among the nations , that we may give thanks to your holy name and GLORY in your praise from everlasting to everlasting.
Ephesians 3:19-20 Paul prays that we “may have the strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpass knowledge that we may be filled with all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly that all that we ASK OR THINK, (IMAGINE) according o the power at work within us.
James 5:14 Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of Jesus.
James 1:5-8 But let him ask in faith wit no doubting for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord: He is a double minded man unstable in all his ways
Staying Praying Sister: We do not manipulate Our Father. We are not begging Him we are agreeing with Him. We do not manipulate Our father we are the ones manipulated in prayer ,by our father . We are manipulated in love to agree with him
Dedicated to” Doodle” , a child of God who prays the Word. . And Dedicated to Pastor Chris who taught “ if we do not pray the Word of God we do not release the Power of God.”
“Doodle-bug, Doodle-bug tell me what I want to know” Mark Twain The adventures of Tom Sawyer 1876
Daddy don’t doodle! He doesn’t doodle with the words of His mouth or the works of His hands. I saw how he drew the 200 billion stars and the moon of one galaxy with His fingers. He is both perfect and precise. But, sometimes , as His child , I forget what He wants me to do with my words. Sometimes I forget He is ruler and Lord over the works of His hands , even my mouth . (psalm 8) And I, like a doodle bug spin and swirl in the dust from which I was made .
Long time ago, our Daddy gave “Rita Skeeter”http://wp.me/p3KvVr-a3 a big sister named Virginia. Nobody calls her ‘virginia” cause she was nick- named “doodle bug” by her mama. One day her mama saw her baby crawling backwards and it reminded her of doodle bugs she had seen crawling in the dirt.
As for me,I did not know much bout Doodle bugs until I met MIss Doodle. Since then, I learned a whole lot about doodle bugs and doodling. Doodle also knows alot about these critters . Funny how, when you are named something, you are the expert on that thing.
Doodle bugs are a certain type of nerve-winged insect. Though they have wings, they don’t fly much. Mainly, they stay on the ground walking backwards. With their wings they leave scribbled cursive trails in the sand.
When some kids saw these critters spinning and swirling, they said the bugs were “doodling” . That day they nick named the bugs “doodle bugs” . Daddy’s creatures are best described by what they do. But, scientists like big names for critters and so they called them “myrmeleontidae”. But even the scientists later nick named them “antlions”.
Big names are something fun for kids who like big words. Not everybody likes big words. I only like big words that describe Daddy cause He is sooo big . But Daddy even uses little words to describe Himself.
Daddy knows He is big but really doesn’t want anybody stumbling and stuttering over His name. I saw this one day when He was talking to Moses. That old man was stuttering over what to call Daddy . Moses said “what do you want everybody to call you?” Daddy stared him down to the ground and said ‘boy “Just call me I AM”. (1)
Sure enough, when the old man Moses started saying Daddy’s words about Himself, a whole lot of things started happening. A serpent became a staff, plagues came and were lifted, seas parted, people were set free, kingdoms crumbled, and all the people saw great things Daddy was doing. All with just a few words. Words that were Daddy’s words. So the day when old man Moses wrote Daddy’s rules on a rock, he didn’t mess around. He got straight to “Holy” in 10 sentences.
Doodle doesn’t mess around much anymore with Daddy’s words either. Rita Skeeter says “she aint going backwards” no more. If Doodle even thinks of spinning round, her sister Rita Skeeter helps her remember to go forward. And Doodle likes going forward. Doodle likes forward so much that one day she was going forward and fell. When she fell the enemy hurt her. He had her hurt so bad that she was lying in the hospital bed when I found her.
I found her stuck in a hospital bed with her feet up. She sure enough looked like sprayed bug turned on its back , wiggling its legs in the air. One leg was all wrapped hard in plaster. Like a bright white cacoon, it looked like it was bout to birth a butterfly. Looking at her squirming on her back in the bed made me wanna call Daddy and ask Him to fix her, flip her over, and let that catepillar cast bust wide open. Really I just wanted Him to fix the mess I saw.
I know Daddy tells us all the time to go to Him and ask Him to fix things . He calls this” prayer”. I think it gets a special word cause this is an asking with a guarantee. We aren’t guaranteed answers from asking other folks for stuff. Not even doctors and scientists. But prayer, asking Daddy, that’s a guarantee for an answer!! I know for sure cause my brother Jesus told me.
But when I saw Doodle, like a sprayed roach, stuck in the bed, I wanted other folks to help. It was strange how I knew bout Daddy giving everything and yet wanted to bring a bunch of other folks into the delivery of the promise.
“Doodle Im gonna pray for you” I said ready to run to Daddy and ask Him to flip her over and let her run.
She nodded expectantly and took my hand.
“Oh Daddy ” I began ” I’m lifting up my sister Doodle to you to get healed. . .” I raised our hands in the air . ” . so by your hand, help folks get her ready for surgery. . . .”. I continued with many words asking that Daddy, the Lord of all creation, would use the hand of the doc and precisely set her bone. And that the operating room be just right and that all the germs scatter. . . .and the nurses be kind .” Many words seemed to scribble in the air as I invited all kinds of people and events to work together in the operation on Doodles leg.
I kept drawing a picture with my words of how things might look if everything worked out in my mind. Though I was praying with many words, in a secret place deep in me, I felt I was walking backwards . I was saying things about what I thought could happen instead of what Daddy had already done. I didn’t know how to stop . It seemed as if so much had to be done to get Doodle back on the ground moving forward.
Suddenly, Doodle seemed far a way and not settled . I prayed longer saying the same kind of things about doctors and rooms and germs and bones over and over. The restlessness remained. So I prayed more. . . . for right medicines, and temperatures and food.
Doodle squirmed and cleared her throat. I ignored her impatience by praying that she would
“rest”. I wanted to pray more till it was all well. The more I spoke the more It felt as if nothing was spoken. The air swirled with stale air.
Suddenly, I heard Doodle say “AMEN” as if to end this unending prayer . Doodle repeated her “Amen” It became louder and impatient.
“Amen”
It was not a “so be it” Amen ” but a but a “good bye” amen.
It rudely repeated until I surrendered and said “Amen”
I dropped my hand from Doodle’s hand. looked at Doodle. She stared at me. “well youre real sweet praying for me” she said as she continued to stare at me without a smile.
” But tell me ” she paused ” Tell me this. . . why didnt you just ask Jesus to heal my leg now?” .(2)
Suddenly Doodle looked so different. Suddenly Doodle didn’t look like the friendly aimless bug she was named. She looked purposeful and certain. She looked like she had a thing Daddy calls “faith”.
She also looked like what the scientists nick named “Ant lions” . Bugs that are purposeful in their design as they consume their prey. They do not carelessly stroke the sand but, rather ,take their enemy down into burrowed holes to destroy them. Watch these bugs in their purpose. http://m.youtube.com/watch?v+CWKFAyfBDHE
I looked at Doodle and saw the “antlion” . I looked at her with my eyes and ran to Daddy with my heart. “What do you want me to do? I dont know how to pray as I should for this sister? ” (3) I said silently to Daddy.
“He can heal that leg right now , you know” Doodle sternly looked to her cast and then to me.
My eyes moved to the cacoon on her leg. Suddenly, it looked like a tomb. It looked like a tomb awaiting a call. . . awaiting . . .
I put both of my hands on the cast “yes, Doodle, Yes and AMEN.” I said waiting . Waiting for Daddy’s helper.
Slowly words came. ” BY HIS STRIPES. . by HIS STRIPES . . By Jesus’ wounds and Stripes HE Says you are presently Healed Doodle ! . You are presently Healed in the name and by the power of Jesus. This we thank you for Daddy ! AMEM!!!” (4)
“AMEN, AMEN , AMEN ” Doodle said with joy .
I looked at Doodle joyful, restful and settled.
“So be it ! It is finished!!” I said bringing my hand from the cast to her hand.
” Amen , amen sweet sister, you can stop praying now. daddy has heard you”. Doodle smiled.
Based on 2 Timothy Chapter 3
Understand this that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. . . .some will have the appearance of God but deny its power. Avoid being as such!!. . . continue in what you have learned and firmly believe. . . for All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction and for training IN RIGHTEOUSNESS that the person of God may be complete equipped for EVERY GOOD WORK IN JESUS.
Doodling prayers talk lightly about what is known about God and make requests based on earthly natural ways . They spin uncertainty and powerless circles in the air. Faith Full prayers take what is known about God In His WORD and reach upward to the heavens pulling down the Supernatural work of God. They strike the enemies of God and put everything contrary to God’s will beneath the dirt. These prayers strike with the foot of Jesus.
Exodus 3:14 And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you. http://bible.com/1/exo.3.14.kj
John 14:13 And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son . http://bible.com/1/jhn.14.13.kjv
Romans 8:26 Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities; for we know not what we should pray for as we ought : but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered http://bible.com/1/rom.8.26.kjv
1 Peter 2:24 Who his own self bore our sins in his own body on the tree, that we being dead to sin should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.http://bible.com/1/1pe.2.24.kjv
My daddy has many mighty sons. Daddy sometimes calls these boys “mighty men of Valor” (1)
They carry treasures given from Daddy differently than their sisters carry treasures. They also tell about their treasures in a different way . Sisters carry many words and sparkly things to describe presents from Daddy. They put all these great treasures from Daddy in their purses and talk about them in their diaries. Sisters pack purses as if they can never get ENOUGH. But brothers , brothers carry all their treasures from Daddy in their boots or in their pockets. What mighty men of valor carry is always ENOUGH. It might be a little “rough on the edges ” and muddy but it is always Enough
And , unlike their sisters , brothers use mighty sounds rather than words to show off Daddy’s gifts.They grunt and moan, wrestle and stomp, kick and sigh, yelp and holler to tell about all Daddy’s goodness. A lot of these boys are seen In Daddy’s book, You can just about hear Brother Paul grunt and moan when he talks about “not boxing the air” and “running the race” and getting ” beatings imprisonment and sleepless nights.”(2) I think even Brother David’s wife would say he was a hootin and hollering kind of boy. (3)
And boys, like these, hold mighty tight to their treasures. A sister can punch wrestle and even call a boy “ugly” and that brother won’t be shaken. He just won’t let go of a thing from Daddy until he and Daddy have agreement on the matter. He is keeping that treasure deep in his pocket till he agrees with Daddy to show it off.
My brother Steve is a Daddy’s boy. He grunts , he moans , he holds tight to treasures. He’s a steady, solid .stubborn, son of a great King. . . I know this because I saw what he did with a certain treasure from Daddy.
My brother Steve was sick one day. A bunch of folks in white coats ,from outside ,told him that he was sick and they took pictures of the “thing” making him sick. They called it cancer and sent him home. A few days later my brother came to Daddy’s house and asked for prayer.
On that morning, we all gathered real close around Steve putting our hands on his head, on his belly, on his chest, on his shoulder , anywhere Daddy said to touch.(4) Right then , I was thinking that the “thing” might be scared right out of my brother by all our heavy hands. But, instead, it looked as if my brother was scared of us. He put his hand over his chest like he was protecting something and his face went long and serious. I found out later that he wasn’t scared at all: he was just hiding something from us. He had something deep in his shirt pocket. It was really small and even with all our feelin on him no one found it.
Every Sunday,after that, I wondered about my brother and what he might have had in his pocket that day. Even though none of us felt it, we all kinda knew it was Enough for Steve. He always came to church with that look that we get when we are hiding something good . It’s a head tilting, eyebrow raising, closed lip smiling look. It was real obvious one Sunday when brother Chris started telling us about a tiny treasure Daddy gives to each of us.
Brother Chris called it “Faith” and he told us how our Great Brother Jesus described it. He said it is small but it is full of heaven and, if you plant it , it gets so big birds want to make nests in it (5). And,it is so powerful that it can move anything you can think of out of your way.(6) Even mountains. Right when Pastor said this, I saw my brother Steve grin, tilt his head and raise his eyebrow. I knew right then what he was hiding.
Suddenly, I thought. “he got himself a mustard seed!! Well that rascal probably buried it in his back yard without telliin a soul!”
Brother Chris says every kid of the King has mustard seeds and that we have “Enough ” faith in these tiny seeds .(6) Some folks know they have Enough faith and readily plant a seed to watch it grow. But folks, like me, sometimes go and dig holes, ready to plant, but get so distracted by the ugly dirt we forget to put the seed down. When we do that, Brother Chris says, we are looking at the problem (the dirt) and not the provision and promise (the seed and treasure Daddy gives). Brother Chris fusses at me sometimes saying “you got faith. Do something with it sister.” Sometimes,I just stare at it . Sometimes it looks too small to plant. It doesn’t look like Enough to make something big.
Brother Steve’s daughter Christy is not like me. I saw her plant a seed one day at a revival in the dirt of a stranger sitting next to her .It was Enough for her to plant that thing without hesitation into the heart of the girl sitting next to her . immediately, when that girl received the seed, she sprouted up like a big bunch of 9ft tall mustards ready for pickin.(7) And sure enough, The Lord picked her that day and she shouted “Jesus is Lord”!! I tell you, if birds were ready to nest ,they might have nested right there in Christy’s mouth that was wide open with awe as she watched that stranger believe.
Now, I looked for brother Steve for a few Sundays after I knew about his hidden treasure. But Christy said he went driving across country to visit friends. I started thinking how he wasn’t worried about that seed. He must have just planted that thing and thought that was Enough. He left all the watering, fertilizing and weeding to daddy or the Helper. Guess he thought he would come back home and everything would be all grown. He was darn sure of what he hoped for and certain of what he could not see.(8)
When brother Steve finally came through the church door in November, the sun followed him in. it was the hottest November day in Greenville and Bother Steve had a smile that was stealing all the sunlight. On that day, both eye brows were up , his grin crawled from ear to ear and his head tilted to the sky.
“Well, well look who the possum drug in” I said.
“What do you mean possum ? ” my brother asked
“Well possums hide stuff in their pockets. ” Quickly, I reached for his shirt pocket.
His hand pounced on my hand to brush it away., I felt a fullness in his pocket.
“What’s in there boy? You gotta tell me!! ” I demanded
” I’ll tell you bout it when its time” he said as he walked away with his hand over his pocket.
When all the children were seated in Daddy’s house, brother Steve brought his daughter with him to front. Everything on his face turned toward the sky. He was so bent in a smile , he could barely talk. So his daughter pulled the treasure out of his pocket. And right there she read from a mustard leaf these words “‘the previously noted focus of tracer uptake in the distal esophagus has resolved . There is normal tracer uptake in the thorax” .
And we all shouted: “Thank you Daddy that “thing ” is gone!!!”. Steve’s free, Steve’s alive. ” “Ain’t nothing taking him but Jesus” we said.
At that moment when all the kids were clapping and praising, I understood that Daddy took that ugly thing away the day brother Steve planted that tiny seed. Still, i wondered if Brother Steve thought what he got that day was bigger than a mustard seed and that’s why he was so sure of himself. I wondered if he had a bigger seed than the one Daddy gave me.
So I asked him, “brother , did you have ‘big’ faith?”
He looked at me like he didn’t know what I was asking.
“kid I just had faith. i wasn’t gonna die. Ain’t that enough.”
“Yep.” for the first time I believed , yes, the seed is “enough”. It’s enough because it is packed with all the power of heaven. It is the kingdom of God.(9)
REFERENCES
1 .1 chronicles 11:10, Nehamiah 11:14 2 chronicles 14:8 (“their brothers mighty men valor”) valor is defined as bravery, courage, “pluck” or boldness in the face of opposition
7. Pliny the Elder (23-79 AD) a very old Christian brother describes the variety of mustard seed that Jesus spoke about as “pugent in taste and fiery in effect, extremely beneficial for health. . . . once sown, it is scarcely possible to get the place free of it.” In other words this seed has power and it germinates to remain. Such is our faith.
8. Hebrews 11:1 “Now faith is the assurance (the confirmation, the title deed) of the things (we) hope for, being the proof of things (we) do not see and the conviction of their reality (faith perceiving as real fact what is not revealed to the senses) Amplified Version
9. Mark 4:26 And Jesus said to me on that day, daughter, the kingdom of Daddy is as this man who cast a seed upon the ground and while he traveled , slept and rose, it grew and he knew not how. It is right to marvel in this. It is right to now cast the seed He gives you.
Perhaps, through our lives together as a church, the greatest appreciation we can give to God and Pastor is hearts that ponder and submit to the power of this verse. I ask you to enter into God’s word and see how He might have you pray as we journey through our next year with Him. As we pray,there are two certain results of our obedience: Satan will be irritated and interrupted in his scheming and God will be glorified as His Kingdom is manifest. We have nothing to lose and very much to gain.
“And now Lord, with our hearts bare in humble gratitude before you, encourage our pastor with our appreciation towards him and our thankfulness to You for him. And arise, O Holy Spirit, have our Pastor enter Your rest and let him be always clothed with Jesus’s very precious salvation. And let us, your servants and saints, continually rejoice in your goodness toward him and us! We pray, Lord God, turn your face brightly to your anointed one, Pastor Chris , drenching him with your ever fresh oil. And from this great abundance of your love, give him exceedingly and abundantly all the wisdom and discernment and love that he asks of you. Then from these very precious gifts, produce words to boldly proclaim the mystery of the gospel with increasing tenacity and zeal. This we ask , that Jesus may shine brightly through Greenville as your very light: casting all darkness to the depth of hell and bringing forth your kingdom. Amen.”
We join heaven’s chorus and Jesus intercession, as we celebrate Pastor’s Appreciation praying without ceasing.
