Survival Guides Were Meant for Sharing

November 28, 2022November 27, 2022 / The WheatandTares

*I do not own or have rights to this pic.
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You weren’t made to stay in the valley.

You weren’t made to remain stuck in the mire.

We all feel pain.

We all have heartache.

We all experience tragedy.

The brokenness of life was never meant to be a trophy we wear nor a badge we frame for the wall.

The hardship didn’t come for you to create a fortress around and hail the crisis as king.

We all feel the rain.

We all have tornadic seasons.

We all experience death, sorrow and grief.

You weren’t made to linger in the basin of despair.

You weren’t made to hover in canyon of defeat.

Look up. Cry for help. Claw your way out.

Write your survival guide and pass it along to the next to-be survivor.

Your destiny is waiting, and your little ones are watching.

Thus says the Lord to His anointed,
To Cyrus, whose right hand I have held—
To subdue nations before him
And loose the armor of kings,
To open before him the double doors,
So that the gates will not be shut:
‘I will go before you and make the crooked places straight;
I will break in pieces the gates of bronze
And cut the bars of iron.
I will give you the treasures of darkness
And hidden riches of secret places,
That you may know that I, the Lord,
Who call you by your name,
Am the God of Israel.
For Jacob My servant’s sake,
And Israel My elect,
I have even called you by your name;
I have named you, though you have not known Me.
Isaiah 45:1-4

But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.
1 Peter 2:9-10

Wandering Alone In the Marshland

November 12, 2022November 12, 2022 / The WheatandTares / 2 Comments

Where are you going?

Where your feet are trodding, it is dry and arid.

There is no water. There is no adventure.

Where are you headed?

Where your heart is committed, it is muck and mire.

There is no purity. There is no experience.

Where are you embarking?

Where your soul is invested, it is null and void.

There is no sanity. There is no encounter.

There is no release and no peace.

Come out from the marshlands and find hope.

But its swamps and marshes will not be healed; they will be given over to salt.
Ezekiel 47:11

And you shall be holy to Me, for I the Lord am holy, and have separated you from the peoples, that you should be Mine.
Leviticus 20:26

But you are a chosen generation, a Royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;
1 Peter 2:9

Let the Lion Roar

November 9, 2022 / The WheatandTares

Each one of us has a purpose here.

Each one has a place.

You may not believe it, but maybe you simply need to receive it.

You may not have found it yet, but maybe you just need to look around.

It may be a burden of responsibility that makes your knees quake.

It may be a cross of strength that causes your heart to shake.

Today it may not seem heroic, and it may not feel significant.

But find your niche and settle into your target.

Take your aim and discover your point.

Stand tall. Be stable and become tenacious.

Find your roar and call out to the generations.

Someone is awaiting your achievement.

Someone is longing for your legacy to find theirs.

All your children shall be taught by the Lord, and great shall be the peace of your children.
Isaiah 54:13

The wicked flee when no one pursues,
But the righteous are bold as a lion.
Proverbs 28:1

Be Amazed!

October 27, 2022October 31, 2022 / The WheatandTares / 1 Comment

What great instructions!

What great encouragement!

Be alert. Be amazed. Share it with someone.

Too often, I think this is our problem in this modern day.

We are too distracted, too oblivious, too blind.

We can’t see past our own nose, much less have vision for things going on around us.

We are too pessimistic, too analytical, too cynical.

We are too doubtful, too resentful, too fearful.

We can’t grasp humility and gratitude because we are too self-reliant, never realizing we’re broken and lost.

We are too self-centered, too greedy, too covetous.

We are too selfish, too insatiable, too ambitious.

We can’t embrace compassion and generosity because we are too self consumed, never realizing we’re empty and fragmented.

If we could just open our eyes to see.

If we could just open our ears to hear.

If we could but open our hearts to love, to receive, to give,

We would stand in awe of what would come.

Eye has not seen, nor ear heard,
Nor have entered into the heart of man
The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.
1 Corinthians 2:9

10/23/22

Grief

February 12, 2022February 12, 2022 / The WheatandTares / 2 Comments

Grief sucks.

That is all.

… … … … …

No. That is not all.

Here’s an open message to whomever needs it:

Don’t just leave your relationships hanging through this life.

Show up.

Be present.

Be engaged in their lives.

If they’re the jerk, then have the ability to speak truth when needed.

If they’re toxic, then have the guts to remove yourself when needed before you follow suit.

If you’re the unimaginable fool, then have the courage to admit it and make it right.

And for goodness sake, if it’s truly mental issues that keep you from them (or them from you), then get help for all involved, and do it now.

The distance isn’t worth it.

The void isn’t fair.

The heart wrenched cries are undeserving.

The questions when you’re (they’re) gone are too complicated to add to this process of grief.

The pain that is left in the wake of this kind of ignorance, in the dawn of sorrow, can be beyond capability.

And if you’re the one experiencing the anguish of brokenness:

Don’t allow that heartache to consume you to the point of disengagement.

Keep breathing.

Keep putting one foot in front of the other.

Get up in the morning.

Even if you must crawl.

I know it’s hard. I know it’s beyond hard.

And I know no grief is the same.

No one can tell you the “perfect way” to grieve; it is a different theater of actors for all.

But you can grieve right…

Grieve in truth.

Grieve in love.

Grieve in reality.

And grieve with HOPE.

Hope is the only reason to even walk through the pain.

Hope will carry you though this life and allow your heart to beat and your lungs to exhale even when you’d rather fall into the grave.

Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him.
1 Thessalonians 4:13-14

Yes, my soul, find rest in God; my hope comes from him. Truly he is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will not be shaken. My salvation and my honor depend on God; he is my mighty rock, my refuge. Trust in him at all times, you people; pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge.
Psalm 62:5-8

Reduced to a Box

January 24, 2022May 9, 2022 / The WheatandTares / 2 Comments

His life was one of a restless heart

Never staying long to bury the roots

He’d come in with the wind and leave in a whim

Like a bull’s entrance into the gate

And a butterfly’s flight back out the door

His smile was one of mischief and charm

Never intending to leave a scar

He’d laugh easily and bring delight to the room

Like an otter’s dip for a swim

And a squirrel’s scurry through the forest limbs

Yet, his absence was one of deep canyons and chasms

Never able to bridge the loss of time and space

He’d search to find solace in the bottle once again

Like rabbit seeking shade in the shelter of the croc

And a cat finding the comfort of a strange prickly friend

His life was one of reconciled grace

Never destined beyond that one purpose

He’d discover that love and then enter in

Like a starfish tumbling inside the wave

And a bird of prey diving for its mark

His legacy is one of complicated honor

Never being understood or truly embraced

He’d not be reduced to a box full of memories

Like a bear hibernating behind the winter snow

And a turtle buried beneath the frostline mud

Penned – MG – 1/20/22

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 6:23

…but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name.
John 20:31

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
John 3:16

What is Your Prison?

January 21, 2022January 20, 2022 / The WheatandTares / 2 Comments

Is it pain? That gut wrenching pain that keeps you up at night…

Is it anxiety? The anxious, breath stealing, clammy-palm, lightheaded kind that overwhelms in a nanosecond…

Is it fear? The kind that breaks you out in a cold sweat in the midnight hours, yet no one is there…

Maybe it’s ambition… the driven force that is like a wrecking ball on a chain…

Maybe it’s arrogance… that blinding air which suffocates the most innocent of life…

Maybe it’s vengeance… the fierce, unrelenting thirst for justice that can never be quenched…

Or could it be suspicion? The overwhelming doubt that holds onto the gate, never seeing the broken latch…

Could it possibly be oblivious joy? The happy go lucky laughter that overrides the wounds or visible scars…

Everyone has a prison that is waiting

It can be a prison of lost hope or broken dreams

It can be a prison of lost love or shattered trust

There are bars that threaten to invade and slam shut around your very soul.

But the doors can swing wide.

The prisoners can go free.

You just have to accept the key.

Penned – MG – 1/19/22

The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me,
Because the Lord has anointed Me
To preach good tidings to the poor;
He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to the captives,
And the opening of the prison to those who are bound;
To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord,
And the day of vengeance of our God;
To comfort all who mourn,
To console those who mourn in Zion,
To give them beauty for ashes,
The oil of joy for mourning,
The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness;
That they may be called trees of righteousness,
The planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.
Isaiah 61:1-3

The Quest for Christmas

December 27, 2021December 27, 2021 / The WheatandTares

Sometimes, it’s almost mind-boggling to think how, throughout the year before, we long for Christmas to get here. We dream of it, talk about it, plan for it and prepare so many things to perfectly progress for the precise moment it will arrive, and then, the day itself seems to pass almost as quickly as it arrives.

Yet, for those of us who claim to be Christians, it does make me wonder, do we do the same for the coming of our eternal King?

For He IS coming, and we will be with Him for so much longer than Christmas Day will ever have been.

Are we getting ready?

And are we urging others to be ready?

Just as we’ve asked, “Do you have your tree up?” Maybe we should also ask, “ Do you have your heart ready?”

Maybe just as we’ve asked, “Do you have all your presents bought?” We should also ask, “Did you know, your soul has already been purchased with a price?”

Just as we inquire, “Are your family members coming?” Maybe we follow that with, “Are they headed toward heaven as well?”

Because if we are ready for all the Christmases we could ever live through, but we miss the one event that only happens once in a lifetime, we will regret it forever.

If we have all the presents in the world bought and perfectly wrapped, yet we miss the very present that has been provided to us for free, then in comparison, all the rest is just trash.

And if we enjoy company with our family and friends during the season, but we fail to show them the way to Christ, all those seasons will fade for the eternity in which we will miss them.

Let us not lose a moment.

Let us not miss an opportunity.

Let us never ignore the Hope.

Our time is too short, and their lives are too precious to lose…and so are ours.

Whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.
James 4:14

Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God.
2 Corinthians 5:20

Merry Christmas to You and Yours!

December 25, 2021 / The WheatandTares / 6 Comments

I’ve been a little slack in my writing again. Life just seems to get busy, and the days begin to slip by too quickly. I’m working on that…again. Lol.

But I didn’t want the day to end without posting to say,

Merry Christmas to you all!!

I hope it’s been a wonderful day of celebration and joy for you and yours.

But if it’s not, just sit back and take a moment to breathe it all in.

Because even if you’re all alone, and all hades has broken loose in your life, you can rest assured that there is still HOPE!

If you still have a beating heart, no matter where you are, no matter what has happened, what will happen, or what you have said or done, or experienced, there is still HOPE!!

All you have to do is believe.