Like A Tree

Devotion for the week...

On Good Friday we had a lot of rain, then in the evening it changed to freezing rain. Saturday morning it warmed up again, so that it was about 8℃ (46℉) when I went for a walk around 10:30. When I stepped out the door I was confused because it sounded like it was raining, but it wasn't. As I walked, I realized the sound was ice falling continuously off the trees. The trees were all completely coated in ice from the freezing rain, but the warmer temperature was causing the ice to melt enough to fall off in chunks, which would then knock off other chunks from lower branches as it fell. Listening to it had me smiling the whole walk!

Along the way, I saw this birch tree bent way over by the weight of the ice. It always amazes me that trees can bend like that. If I hold a piece of birch wood in my hands, there's no way I can bend it even a little; it feels solid and unyielding. Under strong winds or the weight of ice or snow, though, it can bend dramatically so it doesn't break.

For the rest of my walk, the words 'like trees planted by the water' kept running through my mind, so I had to look up the verse. Jeremiah wrote:

"But blessed are those who trust in the Lord

    and have made the Lord their hope and confidence.

They are like trees planted along a riverbank,

    with roots that reach deep into the water.

Such trees are not bothered by the heat

    or worried by long months of drought.

Their leaves stay green,

    and they never stop producing fruit" (Jeremiah 17:7-8).

The verse doesn't say anything about trees bending to survive under the weight of ice without breaking, probably because that wasn't part of Jeremiah's climate. It does reference trees that can withstand harsh conditions because they're deeply rooted in the life-giving water of the river. Whether the harsh conditions are heat and drought, or wind and freezing rain, trees have to be rooted in good soil in order to survive.

So who does Jeremiah say is like a tree planted by the river, able to survive those harsh conditions? It's not the wealthy, or the healthiest people, or the best looking ones. It's not the ones with the best jobs, or the closest families, or the most degrees. A lot of people put their trust in those things, but those things don't sustain us when trouble comes. Instead, Jeremiah says it is people who trust in the Lord, and who have put their hope and confidence in Him that can withstand hard times. 

When we put our trust in Him, our spiritual roots go down into good soil that can sustain us through long months of drought...or nights of freezing rain, depending on your climate.

TGIFF - These Three, the QAL Version

Welcome to this week's Thank Goodness It's Finished Friday! I have a finished These Three quilt top to share today 😊 This is my second These Three quilt, which I made during the Moments with Jesus QAL, which finished up on Saturday. You'll have to excuse the indoor pictures. I finished the quilt top after dark the evening before we headed out of town, so there was no chance to even try for outdoor ones.

I made this one with gorgeous Phosphor Electric fabrics, by Libs Elliott for Andover Fabrics. I love those bright colours!

My lines in my Corner Star blocks didn't turn out perfectly, but I decided they were close enough.

I love the applique blocks most. The quilt, and its name, are based on 1 Corinthians 13:13, which says, "And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love."

Want to see the difference the choice of stitching can make for applique? Here's the same flower shape with three different looks. For this version of These Three, I used a zig zag stitch in a matching Aurifil thread.

For my first These Three, I stitched around using my free motion foot, stitching around twice with matching thread.

I used the same flower shape for my Daisy Chain banner. For those flowers, I also stitched around with my free motion foot, and stitched around twice, but this time I used black thread. I also stitched right in to the flower center, to define the flower petals, rather than only going around the outside edge. Isn't it amazing how different the flowers look depending on thread and stitch choice?

Now I have two These Three quilt tops ready to be quilted. If only I knew how I want to quilt them!

That's my finish for the week 😊 What have you finished recently? Link it below, then be sure to visit some of the other links to celebrate their finishes, too.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

They Were Looking In The Wrong Place

Devotion for the week...

We've all had moments when we're looking for something.

We know exactly where we left it, exactly where it should be, except it's not there.

Well, early one morning Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the others with them (Luke 24:10) were having one of those moments.

Jesus had died and been buried in a tomb. The women had come to the tomb early on this morning to prepare his body for a proper burial, but when they looked into the tomb they found it empty. Then, "as they stood there puzzled, two men suddenly appeared to them, clothed in dazzling robes." (v. 4)

Can you picture the women standing around at the entrance to the tomb, 'puzzled'?

"Are you sure this is the right tomb?"

"I'm sure it is...at least, I think it is."

"Then where is his body?"

"This can't be the right tomb. Maybe it was that one over there."

Then the angels spoke. "Why are you looking among the dead for someone who is alive? He isn’t here! He is risen from the dead!" (vv. 5-6)

They were looking in the wrong place! Not the wrong tomb - the wrong place altogether. They thought Jesus' body would be in the tomb, because that was where it was put, and dead bodies don't move themselves from place to place. But Jesus' body wasn't in the tomb, among the dead, because He was no longer dead.

Many people are still looking in the wrong places. Some look to good behavior or good deeds to earn them a place in heaven. They hope that when the judgement day comes, God will declare them 'good enough' because they have donated enough money, served others enough, volunteered enough, loved well enough...Unfortunately, 'good enough' will never be good enough.

While talking about the day of judgement, and those who will not enter heaven, Jesus said, "And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous will go into eternal life" (Matthew 25:46).

Heaven is reserved for those who are righteous, which according to my dictionary means 'morally right.' I don't know about you, but no matter how good I try to be, I don't think my 'good enough' will equal God's 'morally right.' If you have ever told a lie or gossiped, you are not righteous, which means you are not good enough for heaven. Neither am I. By ourselves, by our own goodness, none of us would see heaven.

That's why I find this passage from Romans absolutely amazing: "But now God has shown us a way to be made right with him without keeping the requirements of the law, as was promised in the writings of Moses and the prophets long ago. We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are. For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. Yet God, in his grace, freely makes us right in his sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins." (Romans 3:21-24)

Did you see the amazing part? We have a way to be made right with God, given freely through faith in Jesus to everyone who believes.

It doesn't matter, Paul says, which sins you have committed. There is no difference - all of us have sinned in one way or another, so we all fall short. But through faith in Jesus, anyone can receive righteousness from God.

This is the heart of Easter. Jesus died and He was buried. But when the women went looking for His body, He wasn't there. They were looking in the wrong place. He was, and is, alive! And because He is alive, he offers each and every one of us His righteousness, if only we would believe.

That's the only place we need look for our salvation and the only way into an eternity in heaven with Him.