Issue 1265 – New Life – October 4, 2023

Contained within this bulbous, star-shaped seed pod are wild  rose seeds. The parent flower has died back, and the resulting fruit, the rose hip, is beginning to dry on the bush.

As the seeds mature, the hip will turn red in colour, brightening up the fall and winter landscapes and providing food for birds, squirrels and even people.

Rose hips are great for making tea, jelly or wine. They are high in vitamin C, making them a nutritious emergency food.

Some seeds may survive to become new rose plants, often far from the parent plant, depending on where the forces of nature carry them.

It is the same thing that happens with the acorns from any of the many species of oak tree, the seeds from a chive flower and more.

That is a miracle that we often overlook. God designed that life cycle from death; we are so used to seeing it that we don’t stop and think about the source. The LORD is the source of all life and sovereign over it. He knows which seed, if any, of this rose hip will bear new. He knew that before there were ever any rose bushes.

Similarly, God knows which people dead in their sin will be reborn as believers, destined to dwell with Him forever. We don’t know. We can love our neighbours, share the gospel with them and pray for them, but only God knows which will be His.

That should give us great freedom to evangelize. The Father is responsible for the results; our job is to obey Him.

What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each. I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor. For we are God’s fellow workers. You are God’s field, God’s building. 

1 Corinthians 3:5-9

If we mess up in our sharing, it won’t keep someone from getting to know Christ. That takes the pressure off.

It raises the question of who should we love, pray for and evangelize? The short answer is everyone we encounter.

We don’t have to think of someone as a project we “have to” evangelize. People can see through it when we treat them as a project. When we love them and continue to do so, whether or not they ever consider Christ, they know our love is real.

We don’t have to beat everyone over the head with giant Bibles at every encounter. We do need to be sensitive to the Spirit’s prompting. Every person who ever accepted Christ had a unique journey to bring them to the point of being born again. There is no one-size-fits-all-all, “proven” method of sharing Jesus.

Some come through a life crisis, others out of a fear of hell. Still others are drawn by experiencing love and forgiveness. 

The Lord calls some believers to stand on street corners and call for repentance. Others give out tracts. Some go door to door. Some come after being invited to church. There are no wrong ways. Just because someone evangelizes in a way we don’t doesn’t make them wrong. They may well reach someone you could never get through to.

Be blessed

Hallelu Yah / Praise God 

Kevin

Gleanings From The Word

Experience an extraordinary God in ordinary life. 

Soli Deo Gloria (For the glory of God alone)

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Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture is from the English Standard Version (ESV). 

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