I love trees. Many times I am mesmerized by a beautiful tree. Or a not so beautiful tree. A seemingly perfect tree and a not so perfect weathered tree. Maybe it's my ADD or maybe it's that I so many times relate to trees. Crazy? Maybe. But true.
When I travel I take lots of pictures. A lot of those pictures are of trees. There are so many different kinds, sizes, shapes, ages, places they've been planted... By the LORD.
As I awoke this morning, I was dreaming and the last thing I remember was a big Oak tree standing beside a lake whose waters had receided revealing the red clay bottom... Kinda like Lake Hartwell is right now. The picture remains etched in my mind...
As I moved to the front porch and began to talk to God about what I saw and if He was trying to speak to me, I thought of Isaiah 61:3... Yes, one of my favorite verses. Actually if I were to choose a "life verse", this is it. But, I've always focused on the first part of the verse which talks about giving us a crown of beauty for ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning and the garment of praise instead of a spirit of heaviness. Now, that's some good stuff. That's the stuff I've survived on for quite a while. And for some reason this morning I feel the Holy Spirit saying, "keep going, keep reading, keep progressing keep moving forward. You gotta stop looking back." God help me right now...
See, I've been looking back way too long. I've been assessing the circumstances and actions and "ashes" if you will for far too long. And I'm tired. I'm tired of my so called life just being about "that". That thing that happened years ago. That stuff that changed me forever. That.
Don't misunderstand me and my heart. I am so thankful for my journey and as the old song says, "I wouldn't take nothing for my journey now", well, it's true. I am blessed. And God is good. Through it all.
But, I gotta quit letting that define me. That was then and this is now. So, today I look forward to the last part of the verse. And it's so good too...
All that other stuff He says He will do and does do in the beginning of verse 3 comes to a "so that". I love the "so that's" in His Word. It's like God says, 'Okay, so all this I'm doing is really awesome, but you gotta know, you gotta understand and realize it's ultimately SO THAT....' followed by many different things for our good and His glory as Ephesians 3:20 says.
"That they may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified."
Sometimes we gotta quit looking back and look at the here and now. Realize who we are in Christ Jesus now. What we are to do with life now. We are His righteousness. Here on this earth now. Not because we are perfect, but because that's the way He choose to do it! He choose to allow the blood of His Son, Jesus, to cover us wholly and completely so that He sees us as His righteous ones. He is the one who decided to call us oaks of righteousness and He's the one who choose to plant us and He did it all for His glory.
There's so much more here in that one verse. So much more to expand on and I'll leave that for another day... Another beautiful morning with Jesus and this little tablet in it's little pink case...
Today, let's just agree take a few moments to stop and look. Look around at where we are planted here and now. What can I say or do today to glorify the amazing Creator who choose to call me His righteousness; to plant me? Firmly.
And look forward... There's so much greater that lies ahead for us. It's not about what's behind us, but it's about the steps ahead. The walk that continues, the roots that continue to grow deep.
A planting of the LORD,
Lenee
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