“The RoseBouquet”

Jesus told the Pharisees, and others listening, short story. In it a landowner set up a vineyard, and the necessary watchtower and wine press. Then he rented it out to some farmers and went on a business trip. At harvest time he sent his own servants to collect his percentage of the grapes and wine. However the tenant farmers had got possessive of the place and so they stoned one, mistreated that one, and killed another. Generally they disdained all the owner’s servants.

The owner sent other servants, and they were treated the same way. He decided to send his son. Surely the tenants would respect his son. But they gleefully killed the son too, thinking to take over the whole inheritance.

Here Jesus paused to involve His listeners. He asked, “When the owner of this vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?”

They answered quickly that he would bring those wretches to a wretched end! He’ll get other tenants who will give him his share at harvest time.

At that Jesus referred them to their Scriptures and quoted Psalm 118:22,23. “The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone; the Lord has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes.” His punchline: “Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit.”

The chief priests and Pharisees knew they were the guilty tenants in God’s vineyard. They had mistreated God’s prophets, and at this point they began to plot to kill Jesus, God’s Son. They were only held back yet because they feared what the people would think.

PRAYER: Oh God, may I never be guilty of disregarding, or even mis-treating Your servants and messengers. Help me to always give You Your due in all that I do in Your vineyard, and to remember that it is Yours, not mine. It is so easy to become possessive of what’s Yours!

+++++Jesus is my King+++++Jesus is my King+++++

Blessings on you Today!
Ruth Marlene Friesen

P.S. How can you be sure you would like an e-book before you pay for it? In a store you’d stand and read a couple of chapters first, right? Sit down, take your time; READ eight chapters of Ruthe’s Secret Roses for free!

Jesus gave His listeners,including the scribes and Pharisees who had just tried to trip him up, a problem-solving riddle, and they eagerly took part. He asked what they thought of this situation.

A man had two sons and asked the first to go work in his vineyard. He refused. Later he changed his mind and went to work after all. The man also approached his second son, asking him to go work in the same vineyard. That son promised to go, but never got around to it. He never showed up there.

“Which of these two did what his father wanted?” Jesus asked His listeners .Right away they all knew. It was the first son who repented of his wrong decision and righted it.

Jesus explained further; it was the tax collectors and prostitutes (thought to be the worst sinners of that day), who would enter the kingdom of Heaven ahead of them - because they had repented. John the Baptist had come to show the way of righteousness, but the religious leaders had not believed him. It was those tax collectors and prostitutes who did and changed their minds about obeying God. He added, “Even after you saw that, you did not repent and believe John.”

We need to stop here and ask ourselves; do we believe and obey what we clearly know God asks of us? No matter what changes that will make in our lives to do so?

Or do we speak generally of believing God, and serving Him, but never get around to actually doing it?

PRAYER: Oh Lord, it’s time for self-examination. How willing have I been to jump up and obey when I hear Your command, or call to service? Or have I just made glib comments about being Your child, and doing Your will, while continuing to do what I want?

I have not always measured up to the willingness I’ve expressed to do Your will, O God. Help me to do Your will wholeheartedly.

+++++Jesus is my King+++++Jesus is my King+++++

Blessings on you Today!
Ruth Marlene Friesen

P.S. Do you eat novels like chocolates? Here’s one with both weight and excellent flavour! For a satisfying treat, read Ruthe’s Secret Roses

Did I mention that spring has crept in over the last few weeks? The streets are nearly dry, but on our yard there’s still some drifts old, dirty snow, that are not melted yet.

I’m glad, in fact, that spring hasn’t rushed in over-night, and turned up the heat from the sun because then a lot of us in Hague are going to have flooding in our basements. The water table was so high in fall already, and this extra moisture going down into the soil is only going to make it higher. However, with the low temperatures, just above freezing by two or three degrees, and the breezes, means that the snow is evaporating upward a lot, and that’s less water going down.

Well, that was until yesterday when the rain started - which turned into snow. This morning we have thick fluffy and very wet snowflakes coming down. Everything is white again. Walking in four to six inches of it this morning I realized that this is good snowman-making stuff. But it will turn to water when the sun comes out.

Thinking about all this makes me glad that Dad went to the trouble last September of digging a deeper hole in the potato pit in the cold storage room in the basement, and installing a sump pump. It is in place ,and that means if the water starts seeping in from there, the pump will suck it up and send it via that black hose to the sewer drain in the basement floor in the utility area. I don’t have to do a thing, just let that sump pump do what it was made to do.

On Sunday I showed a couple from our church through the house and I think they were happy to learn about that sump pump as well.

This makes two young families who are waiting to see this house go for sale. They want to be notified so they can put in their bid. But that’s all held up until I have a confirmed new home.

Sunday morning I went to the pulpit in church, and shared with my church family my financial “need” so I can buy that house. I told them the story I told you here last week of that little green house, and how I now see its potential as my new home, but that I’m looking to the Lord to provide the funds.

i think it caught a lot of people off guard, but I got some kind feedback afterwards, and in the evening one couple asked to come see this house. (They thought they had a deal for a house in Hague last week, and the people sold to someone else). While they were here, one of the deacons called to ask some questions and he assured me that they would come up with some way to help me. So this week I’m resting in that comforting thought. God is at work. It will all come together for me!

(A well-meaning person made a suggestion yesterday that is the last thing I want to do, and it sent me for a tailspin emotionally. My faith is getting a stretch here!)

I realize that Easter is coming which will probably delay any ideas of a fundraiser. On the other hand, about 300-400 -people heard my story and some were from as far away as Nipawin and Pamburn, so my name and story is on a lot of tongues this week! The grapevine is busy!

But I see too, that the Lord’s way of supplying is through people. It will not be one lump sum, but many little gifts that cover the need.

I’m still treading water - so to speak - business-wise. I try to get my blogs out, answer email, and give my evenings to clients’ sites. One mission is really eager to see their site ready so it can be announced in their next newsletter to supporters. I hope I can get it that far tonight.

Other than that, I’m trying to give some hours each day and all day Saturday, to sorting and packing up the items in each room, and then trying to hide the boxes so the rooms will look decent for prospective buyers. I’m averaging one room a week. It’s that hiding stuff that’s getting trickier now.

ZooLoot Chocolate Factory will sell you a $2 bar and give you $400! Want to see how it works?

Where do you go when you feel emotionally distraught? When you need someone to identify with you and assure you that they got through this kind of experience, and you will too?

It often happens that the ones we most thought we could depend on, turn away, or are the very ones who wound us. Now what? To curl up and have a good cry does relieve some pressure, but it can also be a slippery slope into a deep blue funk and depression. There’s got to be somewhere one can get help, like right now.

I’m happy to tell you there is such a place!

It’s in the Christian Holy Bible, a collection of 66 inspired books. The book called, Psalms, is smack in the middle, with 150 short chapters for the most part. These Psalms are like a song book written mostly by David, the shepherd boy, who later became the King of Judah and Israel.

David was an emotional person who knew how to express himself very vividly to God. He was not hesitant to tell God when he was depressed to the point of tears, or frightened because enemies surrounded him. Nor did he hesitate to ask God to vindicate him, when he’d been wronged. On the other hand, when David (and some of the other song writers in the temple) wanted to worship and praise God, he was very versatile with his choice of words too.

I have found, as have many others through the centuries, that when I’m feeling emotional and not sure how to pray, the best place to go is the Psalms. By the time I’ve read two or three I’ve usually found exactly the words to express what I’m going through. It validates my feelings and shows me how to talk to God about those things bothering me. This applies to all ranges of emotion, from sighing with longing, or when tears are coming down in sheets - to when I’m beside myself with excitement and joy.

Even when I seem to have no particular mood, reading a few Psalms soon helps me identify with one. I recommend it!

You might be puzzled as to where to begin; you like some regular reading pattern instead of reading at random. That is a very good attitude. Reading in the Psalms and Proverbs regularly saturates our mind with the material, and then when we have a crisis, we know where to zero in.

May I suggest a habit that Billy Graham is said to use. Treat the Psalms and Proverbs as your daily spiritual vitamins. Read the Psalm that corresponds with today’s date on the calendar. Today is the 28th of the month, so I start with the 28th Psalm, then count 30 Psalms forward and read the 58th, and the 88th, and the 118th, and the 148th. That gives you five Psalms a day, and surely one of those is likely to sound like your own feelings.

(By the way, the 119th Psalm is 176 verses, the longest chapter in the Bible, and about God’s Word. For that reason it is suggested that we skip it when we count the usual fives, and save that long chapter for the 31day of the month).

You should see my current Bible. It’s about 25 years old, and has lots of verses shaded in various colours and with dates and notes in the margins to remind me of certain events in my life, when a particular passage became the horn by which I hung on to the Lord, and poured out my heart to Him, using those very words.

Beside Psalm 10:14 I’ve written Apr/22/79.

In the inner margin beside verses 16-18 in the same Psalm I have in bold, “Please Do!”

At the top of Psalm 16 I have this note; “vs.2,3,5-7 outline for a public testimony speech.” Those verses are underlined and marked with bold purple brackets.

In Psalm 18, by verses 18-19, I have “Please! May/21/79″ beside these words, “…but the LORD was my support. He brought me out into a spacious place; he rescued me because he delighted in me.”

Above Psalm 20, I wrote, “A Blessing to Give someone…”

There are many others of course. These days I’m going back a lot to Psalms 25 and 27, particularly the last two verses of Psalm 27. “I am confident of this: I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD.”

Even when your best Christian friends misunderstand or turn away, you do have a resource, a spring of living words, to turn to where you can be assured of understanding and loving promises of help. Doesn’t matter whether you are sighing today or singing, you can meet with Someone there who loves you!

Have you ever seen or heard kids play that? It’s a trading of secrets, but often ends up unfairly.

Jesus played fair. The chief priests and elders wanted to catch Him off guard with a question; “By whose authority are You doing these things?” Jesus said He would answer that if they answered His question first, “Where did John’s baptism come from?”

This passage describes the dilemma the priests and elders found themselves in. They had a whispered consultation together where they admitted they were trapped. If they said John’s baptism was from God, Jesus would ask why they hadn’t believed him. If they said it was merely from men, - well, then the general populace would get after them, for they had held John in great regard.

They voted among themselves to answer, “We don’t know.”

To that Jesus replied, “Then I won’t tell you by what authority I do these things.” He remained the one in charge of the situation.

Just think; they would have had an honest answer from Jesus, if they’d been humble enough to admit the truth about John’s baptism and that they had rejected it.

(Sigh). But one sin leads to another to cover up the first. It is usually that way, isn’t it? Even in our own lives. Are you not getting answers when you pray? Maybe it’s time to admit that you’ve closed your mind to His truth in another area of your life.

PRAYER: Lord, I think we’ve just put our finger on why sometimes we don’t get answers from You, when we are asking questions. It is because we don’t want to admit the truth, and the changes that should bring into our lives, and - or, we are afraid of what the general public will think. I confess my share of this. Forgive me please, and help me to be honest enough to admit my wrongs, and not to fear what others will think. It is more important to face the truth and to change my ways to line up with Your authoritative Word.

+++++Jesus is my King+++++Jesus is my King+++++

Blessings on you Today!
Ruth Marlene Friesen

P.S. You’ve heard of power naps at work, right? You rise refreshed, bright and alert. Take a break to refresh your spirit with a good inspirational story.

Read this passage and then step back and look at it objectively. I just did, and saw something I’ve never noticed before. Jesus is giving teaching here on how to deal with the uncooperative, and with obstacles. I see one clear principle, but many applications.

First, Jesus was hurrying back to Jerusalem with His disciples in the early morning, having spent the night in Bethany. He was hungry and stopped at a fig tree, only to find it had no fruit. Just leaves. Fig trees bear fruit first, then the leaves come out. It was past time to bear fruit.

He simply said to it, “May you never bear fruit again!” It promptly began to wither.

When the disciples expressed astonishment, Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, ‘Go throw yourself into the sea,’ and it will be done. If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.”

The principle then? If you pray in faith, you can bind up the uncooperative in nature, and you can dispatch out of your way, the things that hinder you.

Does that surprise you? We need to discern carefully what parts of our lives need to be jettisoned for ineffectiveness, and what parts need to be removed to progress in God’s will.

PRAYER: Oh Lord, I discover here that You give me the authority to remove problems from my life. I’ve thought I was stuck with many of them. Help me determine what are the barren fig trees in my life, and the mountains standing in the way of doing Your will. It would be easy to start throwing my will around, commanding things, and problems, and maybe even people out of my way. Protect me from such wrong use of this power. Open my eyes to see Your truth about everything, and to have Your heart of love and wisdom even while I exert the authority You have delegated to me. Amen.

+++++Jesus is my King+++++Jesus is my King+++++

Blessings on you Today!
Ruth Marlene Friesen

P.S. You don’t really have time to read on the couch, but if you’re like me, you do read snatches on the run, and somehow make time to read a GOOD book completely.

So how can you be sure this Ruthe in the book is not some kook? Read the eight sample chapters.

Here we see how Jesus used the temple. It was a place for Him to heal the blind and lame. The children shouted Hosannas and praises to Him, and He accepted that. Jesus did not rebuke them as the chief priests and the teachers of the law expected Him to do.

In fact, when they scolded Jesus for this, He replied with a line from Scripture, “From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise.” (Psalms 8:2). He expected them to know that.

So it must follow that if our bodies are truly temples of God’s Spirit, there ought to be worship happening in and through our bodies. Whether by singing or loud exclamations of thanksgiving and praising God for who He is and what He does, there should be sounds of worship ringing from our bodies, His temples.

Are you asking yourself too; is that really happening in me? I’m not musical, and can’t read notes properly, but there have been times I’ve hummed a worship chorus when by myself. Still, compared to the amount of time I spend thinking and praying, my singing is about non-existent.

The passage Jesus quoted doesn’t say we have to be singing, but rather that even out of the lips of children God has ordained perfect praise. Ordained means to set apart for. Maybe you and I need to use our lips for the purpose to which they have been ordained too.

PRAYER: Oh Lord God, if You have set apart my lips to praise You, then surely I should willingly get involved, and use my lips to praise and worship You.

It doesn’t seem so hard to think highly of You, but to verbally and musically express my adoration and praise of You - well, I see I have things to learn. I could do much better!

I pray that You’ll teach me to do this more and more. Guide me to become more expressive of my devotion and adoration of You, dear Lord God, and precious Lord Jesus Christ.

+++++Jesus is my King+++++Jesus is my King+++++

Blessings on you Today!
Ruth Marlene Friesen

P.S. Wish you could have a heart-to-heart talk with God?

Ruthe does. All the time, where ever she goes, she’s having a running conversation with the one she calls Lord, or my Best Friend. You’ve got to meet Ruthe! AND her Secret Roses.

This turns out to be just two verses; somehow I remembered it being a longer passage. Yet a lot happens in this short description.

Jesus entered the temple and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned their money tables and the stalls of those selling doves. He said, “It is written, ‘My house will be called a house of prayer, but you are making it a den of robbers.‘”

Do you find yourself right away visualizing this into a modern setting, like in a church? What would be a comparable situation?

People coming to worship could just as easily have changed money into the temple currency before they came in, or the temple could have converted the required giving into other funds, and taken care of the exchange when they went to deposit their funds. They were offering a service in a way and place so as to make money.

People could also have caught all the doves they needed for sacrifice out on the street with their bare hands. Doves are as plentiful and tame as houseflies. Again, the ecclesiastical crowd was merchandising in things for the sake of their own rules and income, and they were doing it right in God’s House of Prayer.

Maybe not all do it, but modern practices creep into churches, and people are charged for simple yet necessary things. The local church is fund raising in a rather secular way instead of counting on God’s people to give as part of their worship.

But what of seeing this on a more personal level? Our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit if we have trusted Christ for salvation and sanctification. It should also be a “house of prayer.” Do we use it for other money-making ventures instead?

PRAYER: Lord God, Your temple, whether the one in Jerusalem, or our Christian meeting place, or our own human body, is meant to be a place of prayer and devotion to You. At least that’s what I learn here. Help me to drive out commercializations, and to return my body - Your temple - to a “house of prayer” state.

+++++Jesus is my King+++++Jesus is my King+++++

Blessings on you Today!
Ruth Marlene Friesen

P.S. You will love Ruthe’s Secret Roses if you like;
* walking and talking intimately with God
* stories of compassion and dramatic conversion
* have a bleeding, caring heart of your own
* are a caregiving older sister
* love designing clothes and make-overs
* love giving gifts and surprises
* are a mentor or counseling kind of friend.