Oh Deer! What Can the Matter Be?

I am wondering what this deer is saying!

She may have been warning others to stay away...  (aren't her facial markings interesting?)

Or perhaps she wanted to let them know that she'd found some tasty tiny baby grapes and grapevines

Actually, she was alone, having a grapevine feast all by herself outside our kitchen window this evening.  She's been coming around the house frequently this week...and as I look at that bulging tummy, I'm thinking she is eating for more than just herself... what do you think? Time will tell.

I'll be watching to see what "develops"...

I thought you'd enjoy this enDEERing moment!! 

Jesus said in  John 15:

1.  "I AM the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser.

2.  Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away, and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, 

that it may bear more fruit...

5.  I am the vine, you are the branches. 

He who abides in Me, and I in him,

bears much fruit;

for without Me you can do nothing.

8.  By this My Father is glorified,

that you bear much fruit,

so you will be My disciples."

Click HERE for another "EnDEERing moment"

And here is another...

And HERE is another favorite...

The Secret Garden Chronicles-No Turning Back

1. The other day as I sat in the Secret Garden, it seemed as though several different messages were running around in my head at once.  It was becoming difficult for me to zero in on exactly what the Lord was trying to show me so that it could be shared with you.  
2. 
   
3. I was troubled about a friend who appeared to be turning back to a life he had left behind...a life that was leading him further and further away from God and a godly life, and my heart was burdened for this very fragile and vulnerable soul.  And as I sat there tossing these thoughts and scripture verses back and forth in my mind, I asked the Lord to help me put it all into perspective and into a cohesive message that would make sense.  I prayed, "Lord, help me to be faithful to report all that YOU instruct me to do, not just for this one person, but for anyone who may be struggling."

And then I looked across the garden toward the woods, and I noticed a tree there in the corner of our lot all bound up with vines, 

and it reminded me of a person bound in sin, unable to breathe or stretch out his/her limbs to embrace the beauty of the new life the Lord wanted to give him/her.

 And I wanted to go set this tree free from it's bondage, but my fear is that it will just be a matter of time before the vines grow back around it again and hold it captive.  Unless the vines are completely torn out and dug up by the roots and destroyed, they will soon take over once again.

Unless a person totally escapes from the sins that bind them, it won't be long until they turn back to folly,  There is only one way that I know of to be set totally free from the bondage of sin.  And that is to let Jesus totally dig it up and out of our hearts and destroy it completely at the roots, and to be washed clean by His precious blood that was shed for each of us on Calvary.  To allow Christ to set us free requires us to repent...turn away from...renounce...the sin that so easily besets us.  To surrender ourselves freely to God and let Him set us free.

1. And then there can be no turning back!  One of the verses that kept repeating in my mind was when Jesus told His disciples, "Remember Lot's wife!"  (Luke 17:32)  If you recall the story of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah in Genesis 19, you will remember that the Angel of the Lord told Lot and his family  in Genesis 19:17:
2. 
   
3. "Escape for your life! 
4. Do not look behind you nor stay anywhere in the plain.  
5. Escape to the mountains, lest you be destroyed."

But as they were escaping, "the Lord rained brimstone and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah, from the Lord out of the heavens." (Genesis 19:24),  and in verse 26 it tells us:

"But his (Lot's) wife looked back behind him, 

and she became a pillar of salt."

The  other verses that kept leaping out at me from God's Word are found in Ephesians 5:6-17...these are words of exhortation to believers...those who have already been loosed from their bondage to sin and have accepted Christ's gift of forgiveness and salvation.  Listen to these words:

6. "Let no one deceive you with empty words..."

7. "....Do not be partakers with them..."

8.  "Walk as children of Light..."

11.  "Have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them."

12.  "For it is shameful to even speak of those things which are done by them in secret."

14.  "Awake, you who sleep,

Arise from the dead,

And Christ will give you light."

15.  "See then that you walk circumspectly, 

not as fools but as wise,

16.  "Redeeming the time, because the days are evil."

17.  "Therefore do not be unwise, 

but understand what the will of the Lord is."

1. So, my prayer today is not only for my friend who is struggling with unwise choices in his life, but for anyone who may be teetering on the brink of turning back to the life left behind...the lure of the world can be very enchanting...drawing you away from the straight and narrow path that leads to life and heaven.  "Remember Lot's wife!"  Don't look back!  Keep your eyes focused straight ahead on Jesus and the new life He offers you...the freedom from sin and bondage.  Let Him dig up and destroy the roots of sin that seek to entrap you.  

Here's a little song I remember singing way back in my youth, back when I first decided to follow Jesus...and it is a good idea to remember this song and be resolved to continue on this path that leads to heaven..."No turning back, no turning back."

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2. I have decided to follow Jesus;
   I have decided to follow Jesus;
   I have decided to follow Jesus;
   No turning back, no turning back.
3. Though I may wander, I still will follow;
   Though I may wander, I still will follow;
   Though I may wander, I still will follow;
   No turning back, no turning back.
4. The world behind me, the cross before me;
   The world behind me, the cross before me;
   The world behind me, the cross before me;
   No turning back, no turning back.
5. Though none go with me, still I will follow;
   Though none go with me, still I will follow;
   Though none go with me, still I will follow;
   No turning back, no turning back.
6. Will you decide now to follow Jesus?
   Will you decide now to follow Jesus?
   Will you decide now to follow Jesus?
   No turning back, no turning back.

Amen.

I Am The Vine

"I Am the true vine,

and My Father is the vinedresser."

"I am the vine,

you are the branches.

He who abides in Me,

and I in him,

bears much fruit;

For without ME you can do nothing.

If anyone does not abide in Me,

he is cast out as a branch and is withered;

and they gather them and throw them into the fire,

and they are burned.

If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you,

you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.

By this My Father is glorified,

that you bear much fruit;

so you will be My disciples.

John 15:1, 4-8, NKJV

Photos from the wild grapevines in my yard.

Linking up with: Breathing In Grace, Friday-Foto-Friends

Thorns among the Vines/THE FRUIT OF MY LABOR Updated again...

April 9, 2012...I had to update this again...please scroll down to the bottom to see the latest "fruit of my labor"...Thank you Jesus!!


I WROTE THIS ORIGINAL POST A COUPLE OF WEEKS AGO AFTER SPENDING THE AFTERNOON PRUNING THE VOLUMINOUS VINES GROWING OVER OUR PRIVACY FENCE.  THIS WEEK I HAVE BEEN REWARDED WITH THE FRUIT OF MY LABORS:  THESE MAGNIFICENT WISTERIA BLOSSOMS ARE BURSTING FORTH WITH SUCH FRAGRANCE AND BEAUTY BEYOND MY IMAGINATION! THANK YOU, LORD!!!!!!  I CAN'T TAKE THE CREDIT...ALL I DID WAS SET THEM FREE FROM THE BRIERS... HEY, ISN'T THAT WHAT JESUS DID FOR US?  HE SET US FREE FROM THE BRIERS AND ENTANGLEMENTS OF THIS LIFE THAT HAD A STRANGLEHOLD ON OUR HEARTS AND MINDS AND SOULS...AND NOW, WE TOO CAN BLOSSOM WITH SUCH BEAUTY AND FRAGRANCE BEYOND OUR GREATEST IMAGINATIONS!

"Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place.  For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing."  II Corinthians 2:14-15

ORIGINAL POST:

"I went by the field of the lazy man, and by the vineyard of the man devoid of understanding; and there it was, all overgrown with thorns; Its surface was covered with nettles; Its stone wall was broken down.  When I saw it, I considered it well; I looked on it and received instruction..."  Proverbs 24: 30-32

Well, today I tackled a "thorny problem".  It was such a glorious day...picture perfect weather...sunny skies, temperatures in the mid 60's, which, after yesterday's high 80's (yes, it is February in Florida), the refreshingly cool day was a God-send. So, I said to myself (and to anyone else who would listen) So I said to MYSELF, (because no one else WOULD listen)..."Today is much too beautiful to sit inside and watch a race on TV...a person would have to be crazy to stay inside on a day like this..."   And because it was such a marvelous day, I decided to do several things I have been wanting to do ever since moving into our new house in the forest. 

1. I washed our sheets and hung them on the clothesline! (Should that be "hanged" or "hung"?)
2. I washed some towels and underwear and hung them on the line also (after I took in the freshly dried, sweet smelling clean sheets and put them right back on my bed to enjoy tonight).
3. I opened windows everywhere in the house and let the fresh air in and the stuffy air out. (Who said mid 60's are too cool to open the windows? Bah humbug! Put on a sweater if you are cold!)
4. And then I decided to tackle the overgrown honeysuckle and/or wisteria vines on our privacy fence.

I have been wanting to prune these vines ever since we bought this house...and to get them cleaned out before they start to bloom and attract all manner of honeybees and bumblebees!  They appeared to not have been pruned in a long time, and I knew if I didn't get started on them soon, they would be even more overgrown and difficult to manage.  So I headed out there with my brand new pruning shears and thick work gloves, and started cutting and pulling out the dead vines.  I soon discovered why several sections of the vines were looking dead even though there appeared to be green leaves growing on them.  The green leaves did not belong to the honeysuckle and wisteria vines at all...they belonged to a thorny vine that was working its way through the healthy plants and choking them out, leaving dry, brittle dead stalks in its wake. 

As I struggled to cut through these thorny vines and pull them out I couldn't help but think about the parable Jesus taught His disciples about the "Sower and the Soils" in Matthew 13:3-23...and particularly verse 7, which says:

"And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up and choked them."

Jesus later explained this parable to the disciples as the seed that is the Word of God that is sown among good soil (hearts and minds willing to hear and learn) and the Word of God that falls upon the wayside on stony or thorny ground, are hearts that are not receptive to God because of the "cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches" that comes and chokes the word so that the person becomes unfruitful. (Matthew 13:22)

Those thorny vines choking out the good vines became a very clear picture of what Jesus was talking about, in the literal, agricultural sense.  It also made me realize that I sometimes allow thorny vines to creep in and choke out my healthy growth...thorny vines of anxiety, insecurity, selfishness, preoccupation with things that really aren't that important... and I needed to add to my checklist for today to take some time out to prepare my heart for reading and hearing God's Word...(and writing the things that the Lord lays on my heart to write...)  So here I am, Lord.

"For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven, and do not return there, but water the earth, and make it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater, So shall My Word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, but it shall accomplish what I please, and it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it. 

For you shall go out with joy, and be led out with peace; the mountains and the hills shall break forth into singing before you, And all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. 

Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress tree, and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree; and it shall be to the Lord for a name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off."  Isaiah 55:10-13

Lord, I pray that instead of the thorns around my heart and mind, You will cause new healthy growth to appear, and that it will indeed be an everlasting sign that will not be cut off.   I pray that Your Word, which You have shown me here today from Your mouth, will indeed not return to You void, but that it shall accomplish all that You please, and that it shall prosper in the thing for which YOU sent it.  Amen.

"And all the trees of the woods shall clap their hands"  Isaiah 55:12...Even this beautiful magnolia tree which
happens to be in my backyard will clap its hands!   (See below for a later update...)

"For you shall go out with joy, and be led out with peace."  Isaiah 55:12

AMEN! Thank you Lord!!

April 9, 2012...The Magnolia Tree is starting to bloom...

April 9, 2012:  Our fence is now loaded with Confederate Jasmine and
Honeysuckle in full bloom!  The hummingbirds and butterflies are in
nectar heaven!!! Thank you Lord!!



Can you smell this honeysuckle?  It is divine...



God is so good.