Hiding Behind the Gate

The

 garden isn’t quite what I want it be just yet, but there’s potential just beyond the gate. All it needs is nurturing, time, water, sunlight…that special touch from the Creator.

Much like the blessings of a garden not yet awake, there are many gifts locked away in all of us just waiting to bloom and bring glory to God… but it takes effort, doesn’t it? It takes a stepping away from ourselves to step out in faith. Sometimes, we just don’t feel like putting forth the work it takes to “bloom,” to BE more, to DO more than what life already demands. So our gifts and our talents and our blessings to others remain locked away behind that gate. Their colors never seen or appreciated.

God’s glory never given.

“Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone.”

1 Corinthians 12:4-6 (ESV)

I encourage you to step out today, my friend. God has designed you to bloom. Be firmly rooted in His presence, His Word and His power that they may be the support you need to grow and produce blessings abundant.

“All who are skilled among you are to come and make everything the Lord has commanded.” Exodus 35:10 (NIV)

You weren’t created to be unproductive and left to whither on the vine. Don't keep your potential locked away behind the gate - allow God to nurture His gifts in you and bloom today!

Wishing you 

Many Blessings,

Debbie

Regular Deadheading

It’s been such an emotional couple of days for the folks in the path of the deadly Oklahoma tornado. The images and the stories are almost too much to comprehend.

Reluctantly, I pulled myself away from the television this afternoon and with a heavy heart, I ventured out to the back garden to water and to collect my thoughts. I opened the gate giving thanks for the very luxury of doing so; of going out to check on my special space with hose in hand and not knowing the kind of fear some of the poor parents are suffering tonight as search and rescue crews switch focus to recovery efforts instead. I shook my head once again and whispered another prayer.

I reached for the clippers off my potting bench and snipped a few roses and zinnias with blooms now past their prime. Also among them are lavender, foxgloves, viburnum, more roses, vines and anything else that “spoke” to me at my favorite nursery (smiles). I’ve planted pretty much all I can plant in my little garden – now and throughout the summer, it will be a constant game of watering, weeding, waiting, clipping, watering, weeding, waiting, clipping, etc. But I don’t mind. Tending my garden is what keeps me sparking on all 8 cylinders (LOL). It’s where the Lord meets me. It’s where my own thoughts rise above the chaos of the day to somehow make sense. I garden with sea gulls overhead and a little fat lizard that’s taken up residence beneath my erysimum shrub. It’s where little finches and sparrows dart in and out through the lavatera while blue jays and robins drink from my fountain and splash in the bird bath.

Perspective is gained in the simplest of moments, don’t you think?

This deadheading – the cutting away of that which is spent and of no value to the garden sort of mirrors how I hope to live my life. A rose that has turned brown and lost its petals is no longer God glorifying. That’s why we clip it off to allow the new buds to form. As gardeners, we don’t want to see a plant continue to give energy to branches full of dead flowers – we clip them off to promote new God-glorifying growth.

He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. (John 15:2 NIV)

Do you have some deadheading to do in your life? Are there “things,” relationships, activities, choices or attitudes that are far from God glorifying?

Yes, there is much to learn in the garden.

Be blessed, my friend,

Debbie

Moved to Pray

It’s another situation,

Yet another conversation,

The need too great to handle alone,

And I’m moved to pray.

It’s one more soul,

Lost and desperately searching

But the struggle will always be,

And I’m moved to pray.

Another young life helpless,

Walking a tight rope between life and death,

Fighting for the very air I breathe so freely,

And I’m moved to pray.

Pray without ceasing ~ 1 Thess. 5:17

If I’m “moved” to pray, that insinuates that I’m not already doing so; that I’m someplace other than within hearing distance of my Jesus. It implies that I’ve moved out of range and that I need to return to what should come very naturally if we’re to reap the blessings God has in store for us all.

We’re to pray without ceasing, that life should be a continuing conversation with God, a constant giving of thanks and praise and falling at His feet.

Yes, life at the very feet of Him.

Life spent in His will.

Life with Him.

Life to the full.

Be blessed sweet friend,

Debbie

Coffee Break with Deb

Hello and thank you for stopping by!

Gosh, have your ever considered starting a conversation with, “Hi! Let me tell you what the Lord has done!”

Well, that’s what I’m doing today. I want to share what the Lord reminded me of recently.

About a week ago, I found myself really down and discouraged, feeling like everything I did led me straight to a dead end – nothing I was doing seemed to be working. And once again, I found myself in that familiar mindset, an inner turmoil that sends me grasping for solutions that will never work.

I let negative thoughts seep into my mind. I let myself “go back” to my old habits and my old way of thinking; that I was the one who had to fix the problem and emotionally pull myself out of the muck and mire.

But one afternoon, I grabbed a cup of coffee and my Bible and walked out to my favorite comfy spot on the patio. And there, with the soothing sounds of my fountain and my little doves and finches content in the dappled sunlight, the Lord met me.

I love that He knows where I’ve been and

where I’m going.

He knows that I made a decision on that warm summer night at the age of 17 to confess my sins and make Him Lord and Savior over my life, but then fell away from my faith for many years.

He knows that “confusion” best describes my childhood and He knows how I’ve broken free from the bonds of it…. but have endured deep pain as a result.

He knows all about my dreams, goals and aspirations because He created them.

And He knew, better than anyone else, the weight I carried on my shoulders that day on the patio as He led me to the perfect passage:

Remember those earlier days after you had

received the light, when you endured in a great conflict full of suffering. Sometimes you were publicly exposed to insult and persecution; at other times you stood side by side with those who were so treated. You suffered along with those in prison and joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property, because you knew that you yourselves had better and lasting possessions. So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded.

You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. For,

“In just a little while,
    he who is coming will come
    and will not delay.” And,

“But my righteous one will live by faith.
    And I take no pleasure
    in the one who shrinks back.”  But we do not belong to those who shrink back and are destroyed, but to those who have faith

and are saved.

(Hebrews 10:32-39)

These perfect and beautiful words were accompanied by an almost audible whisper to my heart: “What have I told you to do? Do what I have said.”

So, why do I over-complicate things? Why do I always muddy the waters when my gracious and merciful God lays it right out there in front of me? Too easily, I think I have to help a situation by diverting down the left or to the right when I just need to venture straight ahead and DO what He has told me to???

Uggh!

He is SO good and SO patient with me!

So, what I want to share is this: anything that distracts, diverts attention from or inhibits you from carrying out the dream God has given you is work of the enemy. Stay focused, my friend. Don’t muddy the waters of God’s plan by over-thinking or over-complicating it with human nature.

Simply do the will of the Father.

Be blessed,

Debbie

Life Outside the Pot

My garden is off to a pretty good start this season. I’m working hard to dress it up in time for my mother’s visit in a few weeks, and I’m having a blast creating my little haven.

I recently transplanted about 5 hydrangeas to the garden from containers on my patio and they’re all thanking me with beautiful, new foliage and flower buds. It’s amazing how plants will take off when you give them space to dig their roots deep in the soil.

But, why should I be amazed? Once anything or anyone is loosed from the confining walls of our will and given the chance to grow in the grace of God, will we not flourish?

It’s so easy for us to limit our thinking to “life inside the pot” when God intends for us to flourish in the garden –

don’t you agree?

We put plants in containers and expect beautiful, vibrant results, but they still rely on the human efforts of us/the gardeners to water, feed and tend to them while their root system and potential are limited to the pot.

I’ve lived most of my life “in a pot,” so to speak; constricted, controlled and held back by others and even by myself.

But, praise God for life outside the pot!!

I praise Him for the SON-light that warms my soul, for the clear running springs that never run dry – they nourish and fill me.

I’m blooming in the garden now from the inside out

with the joy of Him!

Just as a beautiful garden is meant to be shared, so should our faith! So should our joy! So should our love for the creator of all things wonderful. And so should our testimony! We’re to share our story; how He lifted us from a lifeless stage and set us free to bloom and bring glory to Him.

Step into the garden, my friend. You have the authority (I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you. – Luke 10:19) to step outside of the walls that constrict and limit your growth.

Step into the garden and bloom for Him!

Be blessed today and EVERYday,

Debbie

Through it ALL, He Reigns!

I happened to look out my back window this morning only to find my mini dachshund staring back at me. No, he hadn’t grown 4 feet to peer in through the window – he simply jumped on top of the picnic table to get a better view of things.

I walked away sipping my coffee and thinking how very smart Willy (my dog) is. From his view at ground level, (his little legs are only about 3 inches long), the top of that table must seem impossible to reach. But, he was determined. I love how he didn’t see the bench in between as a hindrance, but as a stepping stone to get to the top. Very clever J

I could probably learn a lot from Willy - looking at all the things in my life that hinder and impede progress as stepping stones or necessary rungs of the ladder.

But sometimes, the distance between those stepping stones is too great. When I’m standing on one, the next is too far out of reach and the answers stop coming. The path becomes unclear and discouragement settles in deep.

The bright sky turns to cloudy gray and a cruel wind blows in disappointment, negative thoughts and fear which clutter the air waves and block out the Lord’s voice. How hard He has to work to get through my thick head sometimes.

It’s so easy to default to despair and discouragement.

To fall down instead of up into the saving arms of Christ.

Yet His voice does not fall silent and His words do not cease simply because of my frame of mind. What I feel and what dictates my mood has no bearing on what the Lord has planned. His agenda will still play out. I will struggle and I will triumph. I will laugh with my whole heart and I will cry with my whole being. We all threaten to wave the white flag at some point in our lives, yet we’re given precious moments of rest to savor and through it all, He reigns.

Regardless.

He reigns!

Remember how the Lord your God led you all the way in the wilderness these forty years, to humble and test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands. He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your ancestors had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. (Deut. 8:2-3)

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We're Celebrating Spring with this GREAT Give-Away!

Hello! This is Debbie Dillon, Founder and Editor of Christian Women’s Voice Magazine.

   Here at CWV, we’re celebrating the glorious season of spring by sharing an awesome gift with you!

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