Letters of Hope

Dear Friends, 

This is gardening season and, since our last “downsizing” move, we do not have a large garden as we are accustomed to having;  just a few tomatoes in tires, some runner beans along the fence, and flowers in containers. 

God was first to plant “a garden Eastward in Eden, and there He put the man whom He had formed…to dress it and keep it.  And out of the ground He made to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food…”  The Prophet Ezekiel called Eden “the Garden of God.”   The garden was God’s idea!  (Gen. 2:8, 15;  Ezek. 28:13)  

We think of the principle purpose of a garden as being for the production of food for the BODY.  Thomas Hill said, “The garden is a ground plot for the MIND.”  And I have found it a wonderful place for communion with God in SPIRIT.  Another important value of a garden is to TEACH – the principles of sowing and reaping, patience, perseverance, and many other Spiritual values.  It was in my garden thirty years ago that the inspiration came to me for this little prayer:- 

O, bless my little garden, Lord,
     I love its every row; 
O, bless me as I pull the weeds
     And watch the seedlings grow.

 And may the seeds that I plant there
     Be watered from above
With all Your cool, refreshing rains
     Sent down in faithful love.

 And may the sun in all its warmth
     Shine its life-giving rays;
I’ll not forget to thank You, Lord,
     For all Your wondrous ways.

 My garden is so rich in truth
     With lessons I may glean
For spirit, soul and body there,
     Drawing Life from the Unseen.

 So, bless my little garden, Lord,
     Its blossoms to its roots,
And may there be for all to share
     Abundance of rich fruits.

      Eulene H. Moores, 1978

Indeed, I have gleaned many lessons while working in my garden.  One that bears periodic repetition comes from the encroaching quack grass roots which present a perennial problem, since we are surrounded by aspen forest.  They run underground non-stop and out of sight, and they seem to think that we cultivate the soil for their benefit alone.  And, when digging out the thistles, if an inch of root is left, it will grow up with two heads instead of one!   They must be thoroughly eradicated! 

These always remind me of the Scriptural admonition to keep a sharp eye out for roots of bitterness.  A thistle or two allowed to go to seed can ruin a whole garden in short order.  Bitterness, resentment, unforgiveness and pride are some of the subtle weeds that like to invade our Life’s Garden, pilfer our peace and joy, and steal the nutrients our spirits need to grow in grace and be fruitful.   (Heb. 12:15 ) 

Our Master Gardener has a way of dealing with these obnoxious weeds as we bring them to Him with David’s prayer:  “Search me, O God, and know my heart;  try me, and know my thoughts, and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.”  He persistently roots out the offending weeds and thoroughly cultivates the soil of our hearts.  That is not always a pleasant process, but a very necessary one for our good – and the Divine Gardener’s pleasure.   (Ps. 139:23, 24) 

“Now the God of all HOPE fill you with all JOY and PEACE in the believing,
that you may abound in HOPE through the power of the Holy Spirit.”
(Romans 15:13)

In Agape, Eulene

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Dear Ones, 

One of the things I particularly enjoy about summer is the trees.  It is such a joy to watch them leaf out with renewed life in all the glory of spring!   The autumn colors are beautiful, too, but rather short-lived. 

Coming from the bald Saskatchewan prairie, I have always had a special affection for trees.  I think part of that came, too, from my maternal Grandfather who emigrated from England to homestead on the prairies around the turn of the 20th century.  

When a little girl, and we would go to Grandpa’s, I would watch intently for the clump of dark green hugging the horizon of the vast, arid, rolling prairie – like an oasis in the desert.  I always watched for it with childish eagerness.  It was not a natural oasis, but one that Grandpa had coaxed out of the dry and stony ground.  Years before, he had brought in wagonloads of young and tender saplings and planted them in long, straight rows like ranks of vigilant sentinels along the North and West portion of his homestead on which he had built his little frame and shingle house. 

Encouraging their survival had taken hours of back-breaking toil. The grateful full-grown poplars had rewarded him with much needed protection against the violent prairie dust-storms that swept across the hot and barren plains, and the bitter winter blizzards that piled the snow almost to their very tops and, but for them, would have buried the little house. 

I loved those trees, and spent many a pleasant hour playing in their shade. They were my private haven when the chores were done. Their beckoning grassy glades were my castle where lived princes and princesses, fairy queens, heroes and heroines. Those trees surrounded Uncle Tom’s Cabin;  they hid from my view Heidi’s Mountain;  they were the estate where Elsie Dinsmore lived;  they were Marcella’s back yard where she had tea parties for Raggedy Ann, and all of her dolls. 

Lying flat on my back I would gaze up at the tops of the trees, their fluttering green leaves framing a patch of azure blue sky, and idly wonder why I had been taught that green and blue don’t go together when God could make them match so beautifully.   With all my love of poetry,

I think that I shall never see
     a poem lovely as a tree; 
A tree whose hungry mouth is pressed
     against the earth’s sweet flowing breast;
A tree that looks at God all day,
     and lifts her leafy arms to pray;
A tree that may in summer wear
     a nest of robins in her hair;
Upon whose bosom snow has lain; 
     who intimately lives with rain.
Poems are made by fools like me,
     but only God can make a tree.   
             (Joyce Kilmer, 1886-1918) 

Our Lord Jesus identified Himself with the prophecy of Isaiah.  “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me because the Lord has anointed me to preach good tidings to the meek;  He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound;…to provide for them that grieve in Zion, to give unto them beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair, THAT (I love the “thats” in the Scriptures) they might be called TREES OF RIGHTEOUSNESS, THE PLANTING OF THE LORD, that HE might be glorified.”  (Isaiah 61:3) 

And then Jeremiah gives a similar promise:  “Blessed (happy) is the (wo)man who trusts in the Lord, and whose HOPE the Lord is.  (S)he shall be as a TREE planted by the waters, that spreads out her roots by the river, and shall not fear when heat comes, but her leaves are always green;  and shall not be anxious in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit.”  (Jer. 17:7,8) 

The blessed man of Psalm 1 is also likened to ” a TREE planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in its season, his leaves do not wither, and whatever he does prospers.” 

And one more reference that I love from David’s Psalms:  “The righteous shall flourish like the PALM TREE;  they shall grow like a CEDAR in Lebanon.  Those that be PLANTED IN THE HOUSE OF THE LORD shall flourish in the courts of our God.  They shall still bring forth fruit in old age;  they shall be full of sap and green…”  (Psalm 92:12-15) 

The sap is the vital aqueous fluid of the plant that transports the materials necessary for growth.  I believe it represents the Holy Spirit Who dwells within the Believer, and produces the Fruit of the Spirit which Galatians tells us is:-
Love – Joy – Peace – Longsuffering – Kindness – Goodness – Faithfulness – Meekness – Self-control. 

“…If these things be in you, and abound, they make you that you shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.”  (2 Peter 1:8) 

‘May God, the giver of hope, fill you with continual joy and peace because you trust in
Him-so that you may have abundant hope through the power of the Holy Spirit ‘
(Romans 15:13 – Weymouth)

 In Agape, Eulene

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Dear Friends, 

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort  . . . And I will be to you a Father, and you shall be to me sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.”  (2 Cor. 1:3; 6:18) 

This Sunday celebrates another Father’s Day.   Perhaps this hymn is the best way to express           

Our thanks, O God, for fathers who follow in Your way,
And who, with glad and trusting hearts, exalt You ev’ry day.

Our thanks, O God, for fathers who show, by word and deed,
Commitment to Your will and plan, and Your commandments heed.

Our thanks, O God, for fathers who meet You oft in prayer,
And who, for all life’s toil and care, find strength and wisdom there. 

How blessed are the children who in their fathers see
The tender Father-love of God, and find their way to Thee.   

First, I would like to pay tribute to my own father from whom I received a rich heritage.  A child’s father represents God to him, and I can say that my relationship with my Heavenly Father has been made richer by what my earthly father modeled to me.  In my memoirs (a fancy name for telling my story) I credit my Dad for encouraging in me characteristics such as integrity, loyalty, industriousness, generosity, and reverence.  And trust!  I firmly believe that, because my Dad proved his trustworthiness to me, I have found it easier than many to trust my Heavenly Father. 

I realize that not everyone enjoys such a blessing, but that is when our Heavenly Father comes to fill the empty spaces:  He has promised to be a “Father of the fatherless, and a defender of widows.”  And, “as a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those that fear Him.”  (Ps. 68:5; 103:13) 

Under the New Covenant, God has graciously “sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts” whereby we can come to Him as children and call Him our Dad.  That is not being irreverent, but it invokes an intimacy with God that He Himself greatly desires.  He loved us so much that He gave Himself to redeem us from sin and death, giving us His Divine eternal life and making us a part of His royal family.  He has promised to love us, and come and make His home in us.  He has made us fit to be partakers of the inheritance reserved for His children. (Gal. 4:6; Rom. 8:15;  John 14:23; Col. 1:12) 

As a loving and caring Father, He provides for His children.  “Look at the birds of the air;  they do not plant or harvest or store away in barns, and yet your Heavenly Father feeds them.  Are you not of much more value than they?”   Your Heavenly Father knows all of your needs, even before you ask Him. “If your natural father knows how to give good gifts to his children, how much more shall your Heavenly Father give good things to those who ask Him?”  “And my God shall supply every need of yours according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.”  (Matt. 6:8,32; 7:11; Phil. 4:19) 

As a faithful and wise Father, He also reproves and corrects us when necessary.  “For whom the Lord loves He disciplines;  even as a father the child in whom He delights.”   I have memories of my Dad taking me to the woodshed a couple of times!  He knew how to administer effective discipline that inspired in me love and respect for him.  “If we reverence our earthly fathers who chasten us, shall we not much rather be in subjection to the Father of spirits, and live?”  (Prov. 3:12; Heb. 12:9) 

Isaiah presents this picture:  “For now, O Lord, YOU are OUR FATHER;  we are the clay and You our potter;  and we all are the work of Your hand.”  Can you possibly begin to imagine what His finished perfected work will be like?   “IN HIS IMAGE” – “LIKE HIM“  He says!  (Isa. 64:8; Rom. 8:29; 1 John 3:2)  

“Now our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and GOD OUR FATHER Who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and GOOD HOPE through grace, comfort your hearts, and establish you in every good word and work.”  (2 Thess. 2:16,17) 

In Agape, Eulene

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Dear Friends, 

Until downsizing from our acreage home of 25 years, we always had a good-sized garden, enjoying our own home-grown vegetables and fruits.  Since moving to our present location, we no longer have a garden – with the exception of tomatoes which we grow in tires!  Yes – car tires!  It is an interesting innovation useful when space is limited. 

We very much prefer our own home-grown vine-ripened tomatoes as they always seem so much more tender and flavorful.  Over the years, my garden has taught me many spiritual lessons, and I find it is a wonderful place to commune with the Lord who, after all, created the very first garden, and commissioned the first man to “keep” it. 

There are some very special truths to be learned from growing tomatoes.  My “Guide to Gardening” confirms:- 

First, it is important that each plant should be set “deeply in the ground, burying most of the stem, as the stem will produce roots and anchor the plant firmly.”  Tall, lanky seedlings should even be planted on their sides, placing underground the entire stem up to the top leaves.  This is to establish a strong root system.  There are a couple of Scriptures that come to mind where Paul prayed “that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, to the end that you be ROOTED and GROUNDED IN LOVE.  and that you be “ROOTED and BUILT UP IN HIM, and ESTABLISHED in your faith…”  “…for it is good that the heart be ESTABLISHED by GRACE…”  “Wherefore I shall be ready always to put you in remembrance of these things, though you know them, and are ESTABLISHED in the truth…” (Eph. 3:17; Col. 2:7; Heb. 13:9; 2 Pet. 1:12) 

Deeper, deeper in the Love of Jesus, daily let me go;
Higher, higher in the school of wisdom, more of grace to know.

Deeper, deeper!  Blessed Holy Spirit, take me deeper still,
Till my life is wholly lost in Jesus and His perfect will.

Deeper, deeper!  though it cost hard trials, deeper let me go!
Rooted in the holy love of Jesus, let me fruitful grow.

Deeper, higher ev’ry day in Jesus, till all conflict past,
Finds me conqu’ror, and in His own image perfected at last.

Refrain:
O, deeper yet I pray;  and higher every day;
And wiser, blessed Lord, in Your precious Holy Word. 

 (Charles Price Jones, 1900)

Secondly, pruning is essential to produce quality fruit:-   “To keep plants from making too much leafy growth, prune them to a single main stem by breaking off side shoots as soon as they appear…these side ‘suckers’ growing between the main stem and the leaf stem.  Cut them out while they are small.”   That tells us that our Heavenly Vinedresser “cleanses and repeatedly PRUNES every branch that continues to bear fruit, to make it bear more and richer and more excellent fruit.”  (John 15:2 Amp.) 

Third, it is good to cut away any superfluous leaves.  Leaves are good, and most of them are necessary to the health and production of the plant, but when they become so prolific that they prevent the sunlight from reaching the fruit, they become purposeless.  This represents our need to prioritize those things that tend to crowd into our lives, impose on our time, and create stress.  Many ‘good’ things deprive us of the ‘best.’   And because our time and attention is so taken with those things that are, in reality, non-essentials, they shade us from the direct sunlight of the awareness of God’s Presence.  It is essential that “in all things Christ might have the preeminence.”  In these days when there is more than ever to encroach on our time and attention, we need to take stock and set in order those things of greatest import.  (Col. 1:18) 

A fourth note about tomatoes is their insatiable thirst for water:-  “They need at least an inch of water per week, so water them well, especially during dry spells.”   How our spirits need the “water of the Word” of God. (Eph. 5:26) 

One more thought:-  Tomato plants need support.  For the tall growing variety, a tall stake may be driven into the ground next to each plant.  The stem is tied loosely to the stake with a soft tie, perhaps several times as the plant grows.  For more bushy plants, a wire “tomato cage” may be used.  In any event, the plants need to be  “supported as they grow, to keep the tomatoes off the ground and exposed to the sun so they will ripen faster.”   This is where we, as members of Christ’s church, relate to one another.  We are exhorted to “…support the weak…”, to “comfort and edify one another,” to “pray one for another,” and to “bear one another’s burdens.”  (Acts 20:35; 1 Thess. 5:11; James 5:16; Gal. 6:2) 

May we all be enlightened and inspired by the example of the humble tomato plant. 

“Now the God of all HOPE fill you with all JOY and PEACE in the believing, that you may abound in HOPE through the power of the Holy Spirit.”  (Romans 15:13)     

In Agape, Eulene 

P.S.  Here is a lovely quote from John Bunyan:-  “Christians are like the flowers in a garden, that have each of them the dew of Heaven, which, being shaken with the wind, they let fall at each other’s roots, whereby they are jointly nourished, and become nourishers of each other.”

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