Influence and you.
- Christine DiGiacomo
- 1 day ago
- 3 min read
My garden, especially the flowers, regularly gives me simple theological lessons. While I love birds in general, hummingbirds are far and away my favorites, so I dote on them. That sweet little girl in the picture above comes first thing in the morning and just before dark each day, and sits on that branch on my front porch.
The plant pictured below is Bee Balm, which I have in an upraised bed on my back porch. I planted a tiny little shoot as spring was dawning, and as it has grown, I have used it in bouquets with my roses, and found it quite lovely. But then I noticed something--the foliage was so full it kept the water from getting to the roots. So then I watered the soil, of course, and the plant did what it was meant to do: it produced magnificent fuchsia colored flowers, that my birds love! We get a fair amount of rain in North Carolina, so I assumed the plants were getting enough water. Wrong.
The illustration for you, for me, for our relationship with God -
we often stop short in our experience of God
We are content with 'crumbs from the table' when God longs to give us so much more.
Our culture has a greatly diminished view of God--He is made out to be weak, impotent and rather irrelevant. And let's face it, though we who have relationship with him would never say such things, many of us act as though it is true!
We show how little we trust God by how little we entrust to him--
like our time and attention,
especially in the arenas of prayer and Bible meditation,
which cause us to flourish in our lives.
-->We just looked at our Identity, through the eyes and mind of our Creator: [the link to read or listen: https://conta.cc/4y7VaF7] We did so because James raised the value of humility - of right thinking about ourselves. But, though you and I were made in God's image, many of us have remade God into our image!1
As some know, I love to pray David's words from the psalms back to God! Is it any wonder? Look at his big view of God:
For the Lord is a great God,
and a great King above all gods.
In his hand are the depths of the earth;
the heights of the mountains are his also.
The sea is his, for he made it,
and his hands formed the dry land.2
He determines the number of the stars;
he gives to all of them their names.3
I know very little about stars or planets or galaxies, (though while in college I worked for the president of the Astronomical Society of San Francisco), but I know this--when I look up at the night sky and the vast array of stars, I am in awe and truly amazed. Wait, did David say that God determined their number, and even gave them names?? hmmm...
Not wanting to stop short in our personal experience of God, I have a bold question for you: Who is the most influential person in your life? Some of you said, 'Jesus!' because you were told that is always a safe answer, but I wonder. I think You are the most influential person in your life. You are the only one who can choose your thoughts and priorities; you are the one who decides who or what will get your attention, and more importantly, Who and What influences you. You alone can make certain that the soil of your life is well watered with the truths of and about God, lest you are like the flowerless bee balm I was growing. And again I say, no one wakes up and says, 'Today, I will live a mediocre life.' Said no one. ever.
'Wonder if God's there? Ask him to show Himself to you, and then look for Him.
Ask God to speak to you, and then give him some quiet in which to speak - look at the skies... how vast, how limitless - what do they communicate to you about God?
Do not settle for making mud pies in a slum, when you are being offered a holiday at sea.4
O man, this is good. 'Bless God,' Brooke Ligertwood:
I hope you will share this with someone -
I love being on the journey with you,
Christine
1 - Genesis 1.26
2 - Psalm 95.3-5
3 - Psalm 147.4
4 - C.S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory
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