Burning Off Our Souls

Scripture:  To the Israelites the glory of the Lord looked like a consuming fire on top of the mountain.  Exodus 24:17

I had a natural truth pierce my heart this week while in conversation with my sister.  I was reminded about a Discovery Channel show I watched on forest fires.  Did you know that unless a pine cones reaches a certain temperature it will not germinate?  That is right, without a forest fire to clean undergrowth in a forest and enough heat to germinate pinecones, new trees will not grow.

Well that was brought to mind as my sister described a pain she was experienced with sciatica.  She described it as a pain explosion in her hip that burned.  When she said that, I began to recall the pine cone.  I said to her that perhaps God needs to burn something within her to release a new growth!

That fresh reminder from God soaked into my bones all week as I felt the burn within my own heart from what I have been experiencing in my trials recently. We are all at some stage of forest fire in our lives.  Perhaps something is smoldering, or maybe the flames are licking closer than that for you right now.  Maybe you are standing over a completely charred life and asking how you can recover from a devastating thing like this?  No matter where are standing in the midst of the fire, you have to know that God’s divine plan sees new growth on the horizon.  He is clearing out the forest floor within you, so that new pines will burst forth.

One last thought in respect to the tallest and strongest pine trees in the forest.  They are all charred around the base.  If the fire does not consume them, their trunks are strengthened and they become the tallest trees in the forest!!!  O my goodness, someone needed to hear that today!  Stand strong in the midst of your fire.  Even if you get burned up, he will sprout new life, but if you sustain the fire, you will be strengthen and grow even stronger!  God has plans for you!

In the forest with you,

Leslie Stephens
McMinnville, TN

Prayer:  Almighty God, you care for the forest, how much more do you care for us, your children?  Have mercy on us and burn away the things that encumber us and keep us from fulfilling your perfect will for our lives.  Strengthen our faith and give us peace.  Amen.

Prayer Tip:  Use nature to allow God to speak to you.  When sitting quietly in God’s creation ask for a revelation.  God is peaking through his creation!

To read more astonishing details about forest fire visit this link!

Overgrown Faith

Scripture:  I gain understanding from your precepts; therefore I hate every wrong path.  Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.  Psalm 119:104-105

I was traveling along TN Highway 68 between Crossville and Sweetwater on my way to a baby shower when I noticed a railroad track that came up close to the road.  In some spots it was well kept, but it would suddenly be overgrown and covered with kudzu and various forms of lush Tennessee brush.  After this pattern of tracks and brush I inferred that the track was abandoned.  There are many states in which people have actually turned old abandoned railroads into trails (see http://www.railstotrails.org/index.html).  However this particular rural area had areas that were preserved and other areas that were lost to the earth.

I began wondering if that is how it is with our faith rails.  Do we neglect our faith in seasons of ease and prosperity only to allow it to get overgrown and unexercised?  I mean it is easy to fail off the faith wagon when things are going well and we are caring for ourselves just fine.  It happens to me without much thought.  I fall off the bible study train or the prayer habit is interrupted by something noisier.  The next thing I know I can’t see my track of faith.  It is covered with the kudzu of fear and anxiety.

I quickly searched inwardly at my faith tracks to see how they looked to God!  A passerby might see the tracks of my faith here and there in the areas I had kept well-groomed like church attendance, but what about fasting or intercession?  I was horrified to see how quickly those tracks had gotten overgrown!  O I am full of excuses: school, mothering demands, “church work”!  I shivered at the thought of what my faith track might look like if seen from overhead of my life like God can view it.

It is so easy to care for our faith in the areas that make us feel good and bring about positive experiences.  However there is much more to faith than “feel good experiences”.  I pray that this message causes you to search your faith track for overgrown areas.  Where have you neglected to clear a path for God to travel in your life?

Leslie Stephens

McMinnville, TN

Prayer Tip:  Ask God to speak to you every day.  Then look for Him in the everyday spots of your life.  He will speak.  Are you listening?