Mountain View - Reach for the Fruit By Paula Friedrichsen
Writer Author Church On The Mountain
Christian Column
:
Christian Living
- Fiction No
God has good gifts to give his children. He has more of Himself and His presence to shower upon us, if we will reach for it. I believe He is waiting on us to expand our vision and truly believe that with God all things are possible. On the inside cover of my Bible I have written a phrase the Lord spoke to me years ago; “Conceive higher, believe higher, receive higher”. That phrase has motivated me for years to take the limits off what I think God can do in my life and to reach out for more of him.
Many years ago I was driving through our small town when I passed a neighbors house and noticed that his apple tree was overflowing with gorgeous, bright red apples. And even though I had passed this house numerous times on my way out to the highway, I hadn't noticed the tree before. But now it caught my eye and I became intent upon getting some of those apples. I made a quick call to my friend Cleo, drawing her into my obsession to conquer the apple tree, and we were off in our common goal. The man who lives in the house with the apple tree is single, and by his own admission could only eat so many apples. So with his blessing and a promise from us to provide him with applesauce and apple pies, we set out to pick apples.
The first time we picked we brought our daughters along and between the four of us we accumulated about four larges bags of fruit. The second time we went to pick apples the tree was a bit sparse (the rest of the neighborhood was catching on to our find) but we still managed to fill several bags. After making pies and apple sauce galore we decided that we needed just a few more of those amazing red apples and we went back for our last picking. This time we left our daughters at home knowing there would be nothing they could do to help. You see, between us and the rest of the neighborhood that tree had been picked almost clean. The rest of the apples were at the very top of the tree. And as is usually the case, the apples at the very top of the tree were actually bigger and redder then the ones that had been growing on the lower branches. We stood there, hands on hips, looking at the last of those pretty, pretty apples, just out of reach… That’s when we decided to climb the tree.
So there we are, two obsessed housewives precariously climbing the apple tree, stretching, reaching, for the best fruit. I can't even imagine what this looked like to the people driving by, but the really pathetic thing is—we didn't care. We were intent upon those apples! The apples were the prize and we were determined to get the prize!
God has so much more for us! But because He is a good Father and always has our best interest in mind, He knows we are better off if we have to reach and stretch to receive more from Him. He could just drop the blessings He desires to give us right in our laps, and thankfully sometimes that does happen. But most times He is waiting for us to come up higher, having our hearts and minds expanded so we will stop putting limits on what God can do in our lives!
In my example of the apple tree we had to reach, stretch and climb for the best fruit. Spiritually speaking, we do the very same thing by reaching out for more of God with all our hearts. Extending our reach…straining to have more of him….reaching for more healing, more redemption, more of His Presence. When we begin to expect more from our relationship with God, He readily pours out more of himself upon our lives. He rewards childlike faith and He “shows off” for the one willing to believe that He is audaciously good to His kids.
God loves you so much and desires to meet your needs. To those of us who need peace of mind, He will give deep and abiding peace that can never be shaken. To those of us who desperately need forgiveness, He will give the ultimate forgiveness found in the redemptive work of Christ on the cross. To those of us who need healing, He will give healing of mind and body. To those of us who cry out to be loved, He will fill that void in our hearts, having it settled forever that we are indeed loved by God Himself. We only need to reach out for more…
Paula Friedrichsen is a member of Church on the Mountain, a vibrant community of believers in Crowley Lake. We meet at 9:30 Sunday mornings. Call for more information: 935-4272 or www.ChurchOnTheMountain.org
Editor's Comment:
About the Writer Author
State:
California
Country:
United States
Email:
Paulafriedrichsen@live.com
Website:
www.churchonthemountain.org
Profile:
Click here!
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