~ Surrendered ~

Merriam-Webster defines 'surrender' this way:

To yield to the power of another
Agreeing to give up battling another
To give oneself up to the power or influence of another

Unknown photographer

Surrender is a verb, an action we have to deliberately choose.  We, therefore, must make an active choice to yield, agree, give up battling and give ourselves over to the influence and wisdom of our Father God.  

Have you thought about this aspect of surrender to put everything into His hands? In your work day, in your home, in your garden or in your leisure time? 

Cosmos Photo by RoseNaomi 2020

Learning how to surrender to God can be very challenging especially if we love to be right, try harder to succeed, do things our way, get our own way, and fight for what we think we should do or have for ourselves.  

While I fully agree that we are told to 'study and show ourselves approved', 2 Timothy 2:15, and there is wisdom in learning and doing, that shouldn’t be the first or only method we employ.

Our primary step should be seeking God to learn how to further surrender ourselves to Him. We can make that first step by opening our hearts and the Bible to learn to trust Him more and first. Do you agree? 

"Trust in Yahweh with all your heart, and do not lean upon your own understanding; be mindful of Him in all your ways, and He will make your paths straight. Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear Yahweh and turn away from evil." Proverbs 3:5-7

As I close, I am reminded of the classic 6-verse hymn penned by Frances  R. Havergal, in 1874. Maybe you recall and will sing through this verse with me ...

"Take my will, and make it Thine;
  It shall be no longer mine.
  Take my heart; it is Thine own;
  It shall be Thy royal throne,
  It shall be Thy royal throne."

This entire hymn is a beautiful prayer that God would both draw us closer in true surrender to Himself and use us by His power to bring others to Him. God calls us to a life of influence for His glory and both our and our neighbours' good! I believe that our joy-filled response should and must only be, “I surrender All to Thee.” Let's do this!

As always, I truly appreciate your comments and the time you take the time to read my Joy Journal Jottings!

--

Take real good care, keep growing, and sing out His praises!  
RoseNaomi

~ A Voice In His Garden Ministries ~
Growing Mind, Body, Soul & Spirit
~ Praise People Plants Possibilities ~
Blogspot: https://avoiceinhisgardenministries.blogspot.com/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@AVoiceInHisGardenMinistries
Email: rosenaomiobrey@gmail.com 

~ Gardens, Snowfall & Spring ~

Artist unknown

My Grandpa O'Brey, who was my inspiration for all things green and growing, believed any snow that fell after the first day of Spring, otherwise known as the Spring Equinox, was very valuable to us. Well with Spring arriving tomorrow, Grandpa's wisdom has been top-of-mind and I would like to share with you the reason why I agree with him! 

In the past, if you have found yourself feeling disheartened thinking about the possibility of any snow falling after Monday, March 20th, 2023 at 6:24 PM ( the time when Spring officially begins ) I invite you to read on. 💕

Nitrogen, an essential element for all growth, human, animal, and plant, is present in huge quantities in the air. Nitrogen is part of the chlorophyll molecule, which gives plants their green colour and is involved in creating food for plants through photosynthesis.

When it snows at the onset of Spring, and the snow melts, it releases the Nitrogen captured from the atmosphere, slowly into the soil, which the plant roots can access for nourishment, right as the plants are coming out of dormancy. 

Doesn't that help explain why our Spring foliage has that fantastic green colour? 

What a wonderful gift we are given in late-winter/early-spring snowfalls! They are extremely low-maintenance and stress-free deposits into our 'garden banks' that will result in tremendous gains a little later this spring!

Does this make you smile despite the possibility of some snow yet to fall in the forecast? I sure hope so! Spring still arrives tomorrow so let's focus on all the green and growing possibilities instead!! :-)

I thought that this scripture nicely sums up the love of God toward all of His creation as it speaks of the value of both nitrogen fixes for our plant growth and the Word of God for our spiritual growth:

“For as the rain and the snow comes down from heaven and does not return there, but waters the earth and makes it bring forth and bud and gives seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so will my word be that goes forth out of my mouth; it will not return to me void, but it will accomplish what I please, and it will prosper in the thing I sent it to do." Isaiah 55:10-11

Spring blessings to each of you, my friends!
--

Take real good care, keep growing, and sing out His praises!  
RoseNaomi

~ A Voice In His Garden Ministries ~
Growing Mind, Body, Soul & Spirit
~ Praise People Plants Possibilities ~
Blogspot: https://avoiceinhisgardenministries.blogspot.com/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@AVoiceInHisGardenMinistries
Email: rosenaomiobrey@gmail.com 

"I will sing praise to ADONAI, my God, as long as I live." Psalm 104:33a

~ God Cares for the Brokenhearted ~

As I sit this morning to put thoughts to paper or rather type to screen, I realize this is a heavy journal entry I am making. At least it begins heavy, but read with me, please as the joy is in the journey!

I believe all the trials, tribulations and trauma that beset some of us, like the joys, times of jubilation and song, are what makes each of us unique (in God's sight) even if no one else, including us, feels that way about us sometimes. 

My wounds or any other person's wounds cannot magically disappear, but knowing I am perfectly loved and kept makes the pain much less and yes, bearable and life much more than just manageable. Only our awesome God can give me healing for my whole being mind, body, heart and soul. 

Without a doubt, I know my health is maintained by my great love for my heavenly Father and by fully accepting the sweet care and love He has for me now and forever. This truth combined with the jewels of faithful friends and even strangers has been a real strength for me on my journey! Wonderful blessings that help me grow as I walk forward!

Eventually, 'In His Time', all wounds of all kinds will be healed by the Creator of time. Yet, until that hour strikes I/we must rest in and trust that this life is not all there is. 

How do I/we gain this healthy, heavenly perspective? I find that direction/encouragement in the apostle Paul's writing, as he calls us to lift up our eyes: “Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ Jesus. He anointed us, set His seal of ownership on us, and put His Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come” (2 Corinthians 1:21-22).

Timothy Keller puts it this way: “Everything sad is going to come untrue and it will somehow be greater for having once been broken and lost.” That gives me a reason to smile!

I hope you will proclaim and rejoice with me in that great hope for an eternity where, “There will be no more death nor mourning nor crying nor pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” (Revelation 21:3-4).

Hugs & blessings, dear friends!

--

Take good care, keep growing, and sing out His praises!  
RoseNaomi

~ A Voice In His Garden Ministries ~
Growing Mind, Body, Soul & Spirit
~ Praise People Plants Possibilities ~
Blogspot: https://avoiceinhisgardenministries.blogspot.com/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@AVoiceInHisGardenMinistries
Email: rosenaomiobrey@gmail.com 

 

~ Grafted Into The Tree Of Life ~

With permission, I share with you, this wonderful and unusual capture of a 'Heart in a Tree'. This tree is growing alongside the Shirley Langer Recreational Trail - the new eastern extension of the Bayshore Trail in Belleville. Thank you, Jeanette Arsenault, for this gorgeous shot and the information about its location! 💖

The natural heart shape formed by two curved limb divisions in the tree branches made the following scripture stand out strongly for me: 

"For if you were cut from what is by nature a wild olive tree, and were grafted contrary to nature into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these, the natural branches, be grafted back into their own olive tree?" Romans 11:24

Grafting tree branches into cultivated trees is not the natural way to grow trees. Likewise, it was not "natural" for God to do this act in order to offer salvation to the Gentiles, but that is precisely what He has done. 

I believe you will agree that Jeanette's picture is not of an olive tree nor are the branches grafted on it to make that impressive heart shape. Yet the message I see depicted and held in the tree limbs brings still another way for me/us to focus on God's intense and true love for the Jewish people along with all people in the world/those grafted in when we follow Christ. For we are all God's children through Christ's death and resurrection.

Walk with me, please, my friends, back in time, over 2000 years back and into the garden of Gethsemane. To that very same garden and to the place where Jesus did come the night before his crucifixion. Into an olive garden whose name in Hebrew is called Gat Shemanim, meaning literally an 'oil press'.  

In this olive Garden while contemplating His death on the Cross that Jesus set his will to that of His Father for the final sacrifice, his shed blood, which would provide the forgiveness of sins even for those who would be grafted in.

Can you imagine that vivid picture of Jesus' suffering from the weight of the sins of the world/ours like the olives when they are pressed down ... "And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat became like drops of blood falling down on the ground" (Luke 22:44) ... flowing from him like olive oil as it was squeezed out and flowed into the pit of an olive press.


Into a place to be crushed, a place to be transformed that is where Jesus came. 

As I close today, my mind goes to the lyrics for "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands". I sure do love the words of this traditional African-American spiritual!

I know that many of you, including Jeanette, will sing along with me and especially the 6th  and 7th verses as they pertain to this Joy Journal blog post! 

1. He's got the whole world in his hands.
He's got the whole world in his hands.
He's got the whole world in his hands.
He's got the whole world in his hands.

(Singing each verse 3xs ending with 'He's got the whole world in His hands')

2. He's got the wind and the rain in His hands...

He's got the whole world in His hands.


3. He's got the little tiny baby in His hands. . . .

He's got the whole world in His hands.

4. He's got you and me, brother, in His hands. . . .

He's got the whole world in His hands.

5. He's got you and me, sister, in His hands. . . .

He's got the whole world in His hands.

6. 'He's got the trees and the forests in His hands ...

He's got the whole world in His hands.


7. He's got everybody here in His hands. . . .

He's got the whole world in His hands.

"In His hand is the life of every living thing, and the breath of every human being."
 Job 12:10

--

Take good care my friends, keep growing, and sing out His praises!  
RoseNaomi

~ A Voice In His Garden Ministries ~
Growing Mind, Body, Soul & Spirit
~ Praise People Plants Possibilities ~
Blogspot: https://avoiceinhisgardenministries.blogspot.com/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@AVoiceInHisGardenMinistries
Email: rosenaomiobrey@gmail.com 

~ Appreciating Singleness - A Gift & Calling from God ~

Friend, have you ever felt/thought/said, 'It's not easy being on my own', or 'How long will it be before I am married'? I know there have been occasions when I have asked these and other questions. Singleness can be tough, difficult, lonely and even scary, I have found in each of the single seasons I have lived through.

No doubt you have considered the various reasons for single seasons of life. Maybe it is by a choice made to stay single, the death of a spouse, divorce, or perhaps it is fear. Maybe medical or financial difficulties. Whatever the reason, here we are 'single'!

It can be easy to waste or mourn this 'singleness' season of our life. But I find it very comforting to remember that our singleness is not an affliction, disease or punishment, nor is it a negative state of being. While the Bible tells us that marriage is good, it also says that so is the state of singleness.

When you consider it fully, every person has been given/called to singleness at least for some portion of their life.

Single seasons of our lives can offer different ministry opportunities that married life with all its responsibilities and abilities of life cannot ...

"I want you to be free from anxieties. He who is unmarried is anxious about the things of the Lord, how he can please the Lord, but he who is married is anxious about the things of the world, how he can please his wife, and is divided. So also, the woman who is unmarried and the virgin are anxious for the things of the Lord, so that she can be holy both in body and in spirit, but she who is married is anxious about the things of the world, how she can please her husband. And this I say for your own profit, not to impose a restraint on you, but to promote that which is proper, and so you can be devoted to the Lord without distraction." 1 Cor. 7:32-35

That sounds like a reason for celebration rather than sadness to me!

Lately, I find myself seeking more often for reassurance from God - for Him to show/tell me His plans and purposes for my life again. And within the Bible, there is a treasure trove of nuggets to be found, but one scripture that is my go-to verse is Jeremiah 33:3,

"Call to me and I will answer you, and will show you great and hidden things that you do not know." And when I do call out and spend time really in conversation with Him I get strengthened by the wisdom I gain!

As I searched for an exemplary role model in my quest for this season I am in, I was immediately drawn to Jesus Christ, his life, his ministry and the connections he made/had as a single person (all of his life).

Jesus gained his strength from the Holy Spirit empowering him. We can too. He knew that to love and be in a growing relationship with His Father and his neighbours would ease loneliness and increase his joy and peace. We can benefit this way as well. There are many other similarities I could point to, but those were the most prominent for me.

So, let us set our focus on viewing our singleness as a gift, a calling from the Lord, rather than a burden! For this season, however long or short it is to be, let us find joy while we are here! May we seek ways to use this time as an opportunity to build stronger and more contented relationships/community with God and His family, the Church.

Let us reset our focus, then. Let us be single-minded in allowing our wise and loving heavenly Father to have His way, will and time in the hours and days yet before us as Christian singles.

May we continue on our journey with joy, not focused on whether, when or whom we should marry, but with an aim to receive the growth, beauty and peace that only our God can give us as we grow with Him and through Him and toward our neighbours!

As we thank God for the gift of singleness that we have been given (for a season), may we keep our eyes and hearts firmly fixed on Heaven for we know nothing we gain here will last forever (Mark 12:25).

He is waiting ... on us! Let us call to Him!

--

Take good care, keep growing, and sing out His praises!  
Rose Naomi

~ A Voice In His Garden Ministries ~
Growing Mind, Body, Soul & Spirit 
Blogspot: https://avoiceinhisgardenministries.blogspot.com/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@AVoiceInHisGardenMinistries
Email: rosenaomiobrey@gmail.com 

"I will sing praise to ADONAI, my God, as long as I live." Psalm 104:33a