DAY 6 (and 7)

Jan 6:
Two very interesting things happened today, both of them in my head.



On two occasions (almost three, but it took longer the third time), I walked into a situation that could have pushed my cynical button (also called my whiner button, complainer button, things-sure-are-pretty crappy-around-here button -- you get the idea) and instead had an instant thought of an alternate explanation for the situation that made me feel . . . fine.



Sounds silly, I know. But it's a big deal for me. My older sister and I have long spiritual talks on the phone around once a month, and we were just talking about this awful tendency all three of us siblings sometimes have to expect the worst, see the worst, assume the worst in some situations. By the way -- for both of us heathens who grew up about as far from holy as two kids can get, I can't tell you what it feels like to have a sister who also loves God, who I can spend time talking to about God and our faith. Two of them, even. It's pretty fantastic. More on that another day. Anyhow, just suffice it to say that I can go to the negative pretty fast. So it actually was noticeable to me that I literally stopped several potential sulks just by seeing the situation from a different angle.



we talked about Psalm 1 in Life Group last Sunday, Keith R shared the original Scripture from Jeremiah, saying how much it spoke to him:



"But blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in him. 8 He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit." Jer 17:7-8 (NIV)



Keith is one of those men who always puts a positive spin on things, and I love him for it. He's trained his head to focus on the true and not the immediately visible. That's what this verse in Jeremiah suggests. The tree doesn't fear when heat comes. It has no worries in a year of drought.



That implies two things, and leads me to the fifth premise:



THINGS LOOK DIFFERENT FROM THE VINE. In other words, if you're getting all that comes from being in the vine, it has to influence the way you look at things, the way you think about things, and the way you react to things.

Day 7:
Now let's get the controversy out of the way right away. This does NOT mean that every time you react to something with anything less than Christ, it's a sure sign you're off the vine. But it might mean that, for the moment, you've cut yourself off of the connection. God in, good out. No good coming out? You're not letting God in. But you just as easily could. It's not as if you're not able.

In our theme Scripture, John 15, Jesus ends the entire thing talking about love. Makes sense. If love is what's pumping through the Vine, then love is what beams out from the leaves and branches. Jesus said the same thought when he declared, "Each tree is recognized by its own fruit" (Luke 6:33).

I believed for years that I just wasn't capable of bearing good fruit. Guess what that thought did: kept me from being fully connected to the Vine. Sort of like striking out every time because you don't think you're able to hit the ball. This is why faith is at the center of it all: I have to believe that God's power -- and love -- is stronger than my batting average. So, yesterday, it was cool to get a glimpse that I could -- without thinking about it -- simply respond to life from the sap that was feeding me. It is possible. Good to know. Funny -- it's pretty hard to shine love and forgiveness if you're convinced that none of it is coming to you. First task to seeing things from the vine is to see yourself from the vine. The Vine is pretty happy to have you there. For a long time, I thought the Vine tolerated having me there. Untrue. At least that's why Jesus kept talking about the value of the one lost sheep/coin/pearl. That's me. And you.

Well, those are the five premises. Time to dig in, grow some roots into them, and see what blooms. And all with a little grace for the times that we still -- I still -- pinch off the source.

I believed