Editors Note

Hi! I'm Rick Avery. I have a deep love for the scriptures and for my savior, who gave them to us that we might have time to read and think. These are troubled times. I have turned to the Bible to see what it tells me. These sets of articles are intended to help see what God has already told us. Your added insite is always appriciated.

This week I have added "Dress and Keep it". Part of my time with the Lord is in my garden. Man's journey here started in a garden, and his way home was made possible in a garden. I believe gardens can be sacred, and full of answers to happiness. But the gate is opened only when we dress and keep our plot of land.

I will add a new article every Wednesday, so check on it weekly.

Dress and Keep it

In the Old Testament, God is giving Adam instruction on what to do while in the Garden of Eden. As they strolled through the new home, our Father talked to Adam as a man talks to another man. Among His list of things to do is this:

     Gen 2

     15 And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.

It is a small verse and seemingly of little import, so much so that I have gazed over it quickly a hundred times or more. But one day, in my back yard, I was trimming my peach tree, and I began thinking of all the comparisons there can be in my caring for a garden and Heavenly Father caring for me. That is when this verse came into my remembrance. I went into the house and wrote this next poem:

Peaches

 As I remove unwanted growth
In the coolness of the sun
An errant branch, misguided
Is stilled by sharpened edge

Friend peach, now stirred by morning light
Awakes God given gift
The message spreads, uniting
As shared by grass and hedge

But in my love for sweetened fruit
At end of summers heat
I leave the best, providing
A chance to grow in size

Each snip detracts from natures form
Each cut brings in more light
The leaves will grow, inviting
Life's gift, where blossom lies

When young, my dad taught me this trade
I'd not quite understood
The power of less, deciding
Which goes, and which may stay

With untrained hands, mistakes were made
The tree had paid the price
A hasty cut, denying
A worthy branch its day

My life is like the noble peach
I tend to spread too wide
By reaching out, not thinking
The price I'd have to pay

Then Maker, with eternal goals
Cuts back my overgrowth
Reshapes my life, unlinking
Traits veering from His way

Unlike my own, His aim is true
The pain allows more light
Each simple choice, not shrinking
To choose His path, so wise

And in His love for those He's reared
Through myriad of eons
He gives them hope, by drinking
His living cup, the prize

He calls me "friend", my spirit soars
My potential understood
The Comforter now speaking
To be "as one", the pledge

For having shed ungodly traits
In the image of the Son
The prodigal, to be king
Is formed by sharpened edge

In Peaches, I tell how the Lord has to take things from me, cut me back, shape me, in order to train me to be more like Him. So many hardships and difficult times happen in life, and we have a tendency to feel like it is unfair. Why do the wicked run free, with what would seem to be a grand lifestyle? But they are much like the untrimmed peach, laden with wild, undersized fruit, branches breaking from the strain. At the time the pruning is done, it hurts, but when the harvest comes, the tree is better formed to be of worth to itself and to the Lord.

Similarly, the rose bushes in my yard can be very symbolic of life on this earth. It holds great beauty, and is fascinating to watch day after day. Here is a view on the life of a rose.....

Like the Rose

Next time you're thinking I propose
Ponder the life span of a rose
Beginning form is wrapped so tight
The brightest day injects no light
It grows in size at its own rate
To see its beauty eye must wait
It follows rays absorbing powers
All through the days enlightened hours

And when the dark comes stealing light
It rests itself all through the night
Then when the time comes, ne'er before
It opens up each tiny door
And one by one the greenery
Peels back to bless God's scenery
Each petal enters on life's stage
Like reading scripture, page by page

One displays heaven's work anew
But soon upstaged by petal two
And each in turn is opened wide
Revealing sister, yet inside
And on and on until full bloom
Unknowingly, has cast its doom
For kissed by bee and butterfly
In giving life, it soon must die

For one by one, each petal falls
And lands unseen near garden walls
Then sun that once gave flower day
Beat down on remnants, dry, decay
And eye that first saw God's perfection
Now must wait on resurrection
Each petal lying at my feet
Someday its maker it will meet

Life for all starts pure and true
And each tomorrow must pursue
But time doth take life day by day
Until there's nothing left to say
Except in day I did my best
And every night I took my rest
Pray when that final day is through
Done is all assigned to you

Like the rose, we each have our time to show how well we can do. And as time goes by, we slowly lose the chances to prove ourselves. We did not come to this life without goals. The rose's goals are simple, but it executes them flawlessly. Our goals are more involved, and more important. But we must be like the rose, attending to each day's tasks as that day comes. There will come a time when our last petal has fallen, and we will simply drop by the garden wall. But all that we have done in the process will go with us. To be happy, we must make the most of those days, those events, and those moments that make up a life.

There was Great Calm

Jesus and His disciples sailed for the eastern shore of the Sea of Galilee, this after a long day of teaching the multitude the gospel. The sun had set, and the Lord slept soundly as the ship progressed to the distant shore. Then "there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship." Matthew describes the scene on the vessel:

Matt. 8:24-27 (KJV)

  24 And, behold, there arose a great tempest in the sea, insomuch that the ship was covered with the waves: but he was asleep.

  25 And his disciples came to him, and awoke him, saying, Lord, save us: we perish.

  26 And he saith unto them, Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith? Then he arose, and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm.

  27 But the men marveled, saying, What manner of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him!

 Most of the sermons I have heard about this incident talk of faith and the great power of the priesthood. But to me, the interesting thing about this is that the winds and the waves obeyed the Lord.

This poem tries to depict the feeling on the ship, and the amazing events that transpired:

Fear can be a power stronger then will
Storms come in an hour threatening to kill
Causing hearts to fail, stealing power of mind
The darkness and the hail leaving victims blind

Strength behind a wave threatening a deep tomb
Impossible to save from a mountain of doom
It towers above the stern, smothers all alive
No where left to turn, no one will survive

Groping for a friend, a final glimmer of hope
He’s weary to the end, pillow a wet rope
His power is strong, but all is nearly lost
Opened eyes look calm though all around are tossed

He tells them not to fear for faith will see them through
The wind and sea both hear; rebuked, the stars shine true
The comforter draws near echoing their joy
The sea now calm and clear, no anger to annoy

What kind of man is He; to speculate, absurd
Command the wind and sea as if all nature heard?
And yet the proof was there, all fear now far away
As if worry and care saved for another day

To Son of God, authority was given from above
Obey the first priority, to teach with godly love
But how to teach the wind to cease or tell the clouds to part
Just a waist of breath unless they have a listening heart

To teach us this was eminent to learn of godly power
One can rebuke the elements, stand firm, never cower
But great faith is required and righteousness complete
This can only be obtained, taught at the Master’s feet

To obey, one must hear the command and give heed to it. That takes a level of intelligence, however limited it may be. There are instances throughout the scriptures referring to the fact that things we would refer to as inanimate objects or at best unintelligent creatures, apparently do have some intelligence. They are certainly more obedient then we are!

Luke 19

40 And he answered and said unto them, I tell you that, if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out.

In this verse, the disciples of Jesus were proclaiming Him to be the King spoken of in the Old Testament, who had long been awaited. The Pharisees demanded that the Master rebuke them, for it seemed blasphemous from their point of view. But Jesus said that even the stones knew He was the King of Israel, and if the disciples did not proclaim it, the stones on the roadside would.

Matt 17

27 Notwithstanding, lest we should offend them, go thou to the sea, and cast an hook, and take up the fish that first cometh up; and when thou hast opened his mouth, thou shalt find a piece of money: that take, and give unto them for me and thee.

Matthew records that when the Lord was asked to pay His taxes, He told Peter to catch a fish, which he was very good at. Now we all know that coins are lost at the bottom of the sea all the time, and so somehow the Lord directed a fish to find one of these long lost coins, put it in its mouth, and then go swallow Peter's hook. That is a pretty good trick, and it is amazing that the fish got it right. But it all worked out, and Peter paid the tax.

John 2

9 When the ruler of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and knew not whence it was: (but the servants which drew the water knew;) the governor of the feast called the bridegroom,

10 And saith unto him, Every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine; and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse: but thou hast kept the good wine until now.

Jesus never touched the wine in the record. He apparently commanded the molecules in the water to reconfigure into the form of wine, and very good wine at that. This would indicate that the most basic elements in water are willing to obey the will of the Son of God. If you have this skill, you can change dirt into gold. They are both made of electrons, protons and neutrons, but organized into a different pattern. 

Num. 22

28 And the Lord opened the mouth of the ass, and she said unto Balaam, What have I done unto thee, that thou hast smitten me these three times?

Here the Bible records an animal talking to a man. This, I believe is to prove that all of God's creatures have a level of intelligence that we must never ignore. And had they the gift of speech, which apparently is not hard to grant, we would learn much. Some day we will face these creations of God, and hopefully they will have good to tell of us. They are witnesses to our every action, and they will not always be silenced.

Matt. 17

20 If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you

Josh. 10

 13 And the sun stood still, and the moon stayed, until the people had avenged themselves upon their enemies. Is not this written in the book of Jasher? So the sun stood still in the midst of heaven, and hasted not to go down about a whole day.

The Lord explains that with sufficient faith, a mountain will obey your command. And at the command of the Lord, the earth stopped its rotation for about a day, and then it obviously started turning again. Apparently the very earth itself has a listening ear, and can obey the request of the Lord or one of His believers, if they have faith in Him.

These examples all show that we are not the only intelligences on this earth. We are surrounded by intelligence. Many eyes that see and ears that hear record our every action. It is not so silly to talk to your garden, for your words of encouragement do not fall on deaf ears. And if you can be really rude to your weeds, maybe, just maybe, they will go away.