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this blog with a friend copy
paste and send this blog by email
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and suggest they do the same
They are changed daily.
If you would like to share
this blog with a friend copy
paste and send this blog by email
or keep this URL
http://oneadayyourspiritualvitamins.blogspot.com
IN YOUR FAVORITES
and suggest they do the same
They are changed daily.
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Call it the reward of persistent slowness.
Travel to Japan and study the ancient art, which they call “Bonsai.” This taking plants of the forest and stunting their growth until they become miniature duplicates of the real thing.
Giant pines, huge oaks, trees that would otherwise tower into the sky, are restrained until their growth is measured in inches.
It is a very tedious process that is implemented by thinning the roots, nipping the buds, and containing the growth within a given space.
And yes, in this world, for centuries now, man has practiced an ancient ritual, which can be called “Spiritual bonsai.”
Call it the reward of persistent slowness.
Travel to Japan and study the ancient art, which they call “Bonsai.” This taking plants of the forest and stunting their growth until they become miniature duplicates of the real thing.
Giant pines, huge oaks, trees that would otherwise tower into the sky, are restrained until their growth is measured in inches.
It is a very tedious process that is implemented by thinning the roots, nipping the buds, and containing the growth within a given space.
And yes, in this world, for centuries now, man has practiced an ancient ritual, which can be called “Spiritual bonsai.”
It is the
practice of taking man, made in the image of God, made to image God,
and stunting his spiritual growth until he becomes a miniature of what
he might otherwise have become.
It is a
very tedious process that is implemented by thinning the roots of
prayer, nipping the buds of faith and containing the growth within a
given space.
What comes from some such pruning is a miniature of what might have been.
How can each of us avoid this spiritual shrinkage? By accepting with gusto the fact that man was made to grow or as Fredrick Ruckert put it “
In every man there lives an image, of what he ought to be, (and) as long he is not that image, he ne’er at rest will be…”
John Newton. Not what he might have been but what he actually did become.
This vagabond, deserter from the British navy, soldier of fortune, slave trader, but finally one day when he became a spiritual giant and wrote, “Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now am found. Was blind, but now I see.”
It isn’t easy. The great preacher Dwight L. Moody explained, “I have more trouble with Dwight L. Moody than any other man I know.”
How can each of us avoid this spiritual shrinkage? By accepting with gusto the fact that man was made to grow or as Fredrick Ruckert put it “
In every man there lives an image, of what he ought to be, (and) as long he is not that image, he ne’er at rest will be…”
John Newton. Not what he might have been but what he actually did become.
This vagabond, deserter from the British navy, soldier of fortune, slave trader, but finally one day when he became a spiritual giant and wrote, “Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now am found. Was blind, but now I see.”
It isn’t easy. The great preacher Dwight L. Moody explained, “I have more trouble with Dwight L. Moody than any other man I know.”
It isn’t easy. To quote the Apostle Paul, “The good which I would do, I do not, but the evil which I would not do, that I do…”
And yes…we both know that the world is filled with John Newton’s and Dwight L Moody’s and those with the love of the Lord and his ways such as was found in that ancient biblical giant…those who decided to GO, GROW AND GLOW.
And yes…we both know that the world is filled with John Newton’s and Dwight L Moody’s and those with the love of the Lord and his ways such as was found in that ancient biblical giant…those who decided to GO, GROW AND GLOW.
Mother Theresa, Joan of Arc, Mary Lou Retton…
The Lord is not out to stunt our growth.
He’s got better things to do. He didn’t hang on a cross to save us from
our sins, so that he could then help us think up more ways to have more
sins to save us from.
Man was made to grow. If you are now not growing it’s both a stupidity and a sin.
Man was made to grow. If you are now not growing it’s both a stupidity and a sin.
A stupidity because you should know better.
A sin because you should do better.
And finally a foolishness because “You will not pass this way again.”
The poet, philosopher preacher Psalmist got it right when he penned some guidelines that began, “Be like a tree planted by the rivers of water.” (Psalm 103) and “Grow like a cedar of Lebanon.” (Psalm 92:12)
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A quote below from ONE A DAY blog entitled THE PLANS OF GOD ARE GOOD BECAUSE GOD IS GOOD
“Legend has it that this story was told by John, who as you know was named the Beloved Disciple.
It is about a little child whose dog has died.
What is important is not the source but how it emphasizes the gentle but powerful loving nature of our Lord.
“The small boy sat weeping for his dog lay dead beside him. “
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TO VISIT Neil's other blog WYRICK’S WRITING (A variety of serializations; a novel on Sunday and Tuesday and Thursday varying subjects) (3 times a week added to)
CLICK ON THE FOLLOWING URL
http://wyrickswritings.blogspot.com
****************************************
“Legend has it that this story was told by John, who as you know was named the Beloved Disciple.
It is about a little child whose dog has died.
What is important is not the source but how it emphasizes the gentle but powerful loving nature of our Lord.
“The small boy sat weeping for his dog lay dead beside him. “
****************************************
TO VISIT Neil's other blog WYRICK’S WRITING (A variety of serializations; a novel on Sunday and Tuesday and Thursday varying subjects) (3 times a week added to)
CLICK ON THE FOLLOWING URL
http://wyrickswritings.blogspot.com
****************************************
TO WATCH NEIL WYRICK IN HIS ONE MAN DRAMAS (Presented to millions all around the world)
(Ben Franiklin, Martin Luther, Charles Wesley and Abraham Lincoln (this
Lincoln film takes 11 seconds to download but is worth the wait)
CLICK ON THE FOLLOWING
http://www.speakerneil.com/
*************************************
V. Neil Wyrick’s ninth book THE SPIRITUAL ABRAHAM LINCOLN and is available at ...
Magnus Press for a great price plus Free Shipping plus other great books by this innovative press.
Click on the URL to go to their site.
http://www.magnuspress.com/OurProducts2.html ******************************************
CLICK ON THE FOLLOWING
http://www.speakerneil.com/
*************************************
V. Neil Wyrick’s ninth book THE SPIRITUAL ABRAHAM LINCOLN and is available at ...
Magnus Press for a great price plus Free Shipping plus other great books by this innovative press.
Click on the URL to go to their site.
http://www.magnuspress.com/OurProducts2.html ******************************************
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