Sixty years ago archaeologists discovered a 2000-year-old jar in an ancient city in Israel. The jar contained palm seeds, and when they planted one in 2005, it grew a healthy palm which produced dates (source)!
Pretty incredible.
In my devotion Why Genuine Believers Are Like Palm Trees, I explained that Psalm 92 compares faithful Christians to resilient, fruitful palms.
In this devotion I'd like to focus specifically on this promise (vv. 14-15):
“They will still bear fruit in old age, they will stay fresh and green, proclaiming, ‘The Lord is upright; he is my Rock, and there is no wickedness in him.’”
Bearing fruit is a major principle in Scripture (John 15).
In 2010, after years of moving for career and ministry purposes, my husband and I thought we'd settle near our children in our final earthly home. After all, we were both in our 60s.
We enjoyed that situation for five years before God called us to volunteer with a ministry in another state. There were sacrifices, but we were blessed that God could still use us to bear fruit at that stage of our lives.*
Every time God has moved us, it's been an adventure we'd never have wanted to miss...a challenge, a growing experience, and an opportunity to bear fruit.
God has given my husband and me a life of constant change, but Christians can bear fruit in all of life's circumstances as long as they refuse to “retire” from living out God's principles and purposes (Ephesians 2:10).
Whatever our age or stage of life, we need to look for ways to bear fruit for the Lord...leaving “seeds” of faith that produce fruit long after our time on earth is over.
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*And we've made two moves for ministry since then!
For more on this subject, see Embracing Our Vine and Let's Cling Tightly to Our Life-giving Vine.
BLN
I REALLY needed to read this one, dear friend. :) Thank you for the encouragement! Sometimes the enemy can make us feel so washed up and like our days of being effective in God's Kingdom are over for good...especially as our health deteriorates as we get older. My little family and I are in a place of crisis/decision right now, and it is SO hard sometimes to really know the mind of God. Would appreciate your prayers as we come to mind...it just really encouraged me to see that you all did this and were successful in your move. You are a blessing to me! God bless you, in return. :)
ReplyDeleteHi Cheryl,
DeleteIt's always an encouragement to know that something I write blesses someone. I will write your request in my journal today. May God give you creative and purposeful work at this (and every) stage of your lives!
God bless you,
Gail
Oh how awesome. It'll be exciting to see how He continues to lead you through the years via your blog :)
ReplyDeleteKaye Swain
SandwichINK.com
Twenty plus moves? Wow. Powerful wisdom here. Thank you so much for sharing in the GRAND Social.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful story. Thank you for sharing! Love you! :)
ReplyDeleteOmg yes I need this.I pray i stay healthy i don't want to have a diagnosis of Alzheimer's as my Daughter needs me I help her with her babies.please head is keep me and my husband healthy.
ReplyDeleteLovely Gail. Aside from this post's spiritual encouragement, from a practical earthly viewpoint, at least with 20+ moves, you wouldn't be carrying any excess 'junk' + wouldn't need the occasional cleanouts that many of us need to do after living in the 1 house for many yrs. :)
ReplyDeleteIt really does help, Bev. There's an old saying I first heard when we were in the military: "3 Moves is as good as 1 Fire"! Moving does help you get rid of things but it still requires occasional cleanouts. :)
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