Watching for the Morning Candace D

Life Springing Forth From Death

August 24th, 2010
 
 
“Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.”
John 12:24
 
This evening, after a picnic supper in the yard, I headed to the garden to pick peppers to give away but was stopped by a most beautiful, powerful picture. After gasping with excitement, I ran inside to grab my camera. I snapped several photos of this richly symbolic treasure. “What was it”?, you may ask. Well, it was a pumpkin from my garden that had been sitting next to the little storage building my dad had built with his own hands before I was born. It had been there a long time, when finally it began to decompose. With the high humidity and super hot temperatures, only the shell remained…bleached nearly white. I had seen it several times upon passing, never bothering to remove and discard it, thinking it would take care of itself. Well when I passed it today, I saw these thick, hearty, LIVING, deep green leaves shooting forth from the dried up shell of the once fresh pumpkin! God used this breath taking sight to speak so many things straight to my heart!
 
I instantly thought of my Jesus, who was broken, abused, struck down, used up, and literally poured out all for His Bride…the JOY that was set before Him! Out of His broken body and horrific death on the cross, came countless new births…new life, souls bound for eternal life, a Bride fresh, green and strong!
 
I also thought of how faithful God is to bring beauty from ashes. I was reminded of the priceless restoration He gave our family during the 6 months that my dad was literally wasting away…eternal treasures that made it bearable to say “good-bye” to him for now. I think of how his soul was growing so quickly and beautifully and getting so fat and healthy though his little body grew sicker and weaker.
 
I thought of the precious mothers I know who have laid aside their old ideas of “life” and convenience. They’ve put aside their own selfly desires. Some have literally laid their lives on the altar just to say YES to all the precious babies God wants to give them! They have died to themselves and chosen to see the bigger picture…the one God sees…of raising up an army of living, breathing, eternal souls to shake the gates of Hell! Fully surrendered to Jesus, they have brought forth many lives to work in this last days harvest. They are truly His handmaidens.
 
I couldn’t help but think of the amazing single sisters and brothers I know who have not jumped on the band-wagon of the world’s way to marriage, i.e.: casually dating countless people. No, they have dared to walk a different, higher, more difficult road of obedience. They are so convinced that God’s best is THE BEST they wouldn’t dream of dating someone else’s future spouse. They have set their course to follow the Master in obedience and wait on His perfect time no matter how long it may take. They have exalted His plan higher than their own. They have taken seriously the purity that Christ says is theirs through Him. They, like a pioneer in the wilderness with few people and little support but an abundance of the Holy Spirit’s Wind and Presence, have blazed a trail for the ones who come after them to walk on. A higher standard of waiting when it seems foolish to everyone around them. They truly walk by faith and not by sight!
 
And then, I thought of us individuals, which truly should be all of us who say we are a follower of Jesus. :) I thought of the daily dying Christ requires of us in order to grow. The taking up of our cross, denying ourselves and following Him. Somehow, my breath was stolen as I realized afresh just how amazingly beautiful “death” is to God. It could be defined as, “temporary pain that brings forth multiplied life”.
We were never meant to live for ourselves. We were made to die…that He may live in and through us!
Several beautiful faces popped into my head as I thought of utterly abandoned lives…”recklessly” abandoned for Jesus, if you will. Lives poured out and poured out until the human walking around is a mere shell full of the power of the Holy Spirit which continues to POUR OUT and touch lives endlessly. You know the ones I speak of. Those who go without sleep and food just to win one more soul or disciple one more young lamb in Jesus. Those who “waste” their lives for something greater than themselves. The Mommies who daily give their womb to God and enthrone Him as Lord there just as much as He is Lord over everything else. The parents who dare to teach their children at home, sheltering their young ones from the world’s evil. Missionaries who give up nice homes or vehicles to live as Jesus lived…no place to lay their heads with never-ending smiles glowing from their sun-aged brow. Some live in a far away country. Some pour out their very lives in their own neighborhood or even their own home. Those who never stop giving and never stop “dying” because they know that life is so much more than the tiny bit of time we get to live on earth! How stunning these souls are to me! I salute each one in the Name of Jesus and I say, I want to follow your example, for you have followed Christ’s!
It was so clear when seeing this gorgeous sight today why God calls us to “die”! It’s not to make us suffer! It is so that much more life can spring forth out of and around us! Had the pumpkin remained in the spot it was and just sat there “looking pretty”, not one of the seeds inside would’ve been useful or been able to sprout and grow! I want to “WASTE” my entire life on Jesus! I want to find delight in THROWING IT AWAY for a Name so holy and worthy and perfect as His!!! Yahweh! Yeshua! How BEAUTIFUL You are! How worth it all You are, Lord!
I want my small, feeble attempts to be purified and expanded by the power of the Holy Spirit. And when people look at me, may they only see a willing, “dying” shell with all kinds of life and fruit growing around the places He’s touched through me!
Of course we know what comes after death. God never asks us to “die” without planning a resurrection! As we give our all to Jesus, He restores our soul. He anoints our head with oil. He invites us to His banqueting table where He dines with us! He holds His banner of Love over us! He leads us beside quiet waters. He rejoices over us with singing! And…as we delight in Him, keeping our eyes fixed on the Author and Finisher of our faith….He gives us those pure, holy desires of our hearts and it delights His heart to do so.
Dying to the flesh is a painful, but beautiful thing. So I urge you dear friend, even as I urge myself, when you feel the pangs of it as God stretches and molds you and changes you to a new degree of glory…do not despair. Be sure of this, seeds of new life are being planted all around you! New life is about to begin! You will get to bask in it, but not for long as He will soon call you to “die” even more! You may not even get to see all of the life that God brings forth through you until Heaven, but just know this: One look at His face…one teardrop on His nail-scarred feet…one glance at those souls that made it because you obeyed His call…and you’ll know full well; IT WAS WORTH IT ALL!
 
Give into the dying of the flesh that He may fully live in you! Let us not just be a piece of clay lying lifeless in His hand. Let us let Him live His very LIFE through us!
 
For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. Philippians 1:21
 
Those who love their life in this world will lose it. Those who care nothing for their life in this world will keep it for eternity. John 12:25

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