positioning; lessons of heart soil and humility.

 [It's all about positioning]

the words He deposited into my heart this week.

for now is the time to position yourself to receive, dear one.

a simple and seemingly silly question.. how do you show you're ready to receive something?
the picture He's given me is this,
arms extended,
hands together-- open and empty.

humility and readiness.

because it can rain all day long,
but if we're not humble enough to reach out and receive,
and ready with open and empty hands when it comes--
we won't retain any of it.
the refreshment and sustenance will be only surface-level and short-lived.

and Beloved, He is calling us to more,
and He certainly has more that He desires to pour out.

but it is all about positioning.

namely-- the position of our hearts.

what's the condition of our heart soil?
is it not even compatible with growing life--like a path?
rocky and shallow?
full of thorns?
or is it good, fertile soil?

because seeds can be scattered your direction and sown day in and day out,
but if our hearts are not positioned--ready to receive--
those tiny sources full of life and fruit potential
will lay dormant.
if ever springing up and taking root,
only for a short season..
before those roots are choked out and those life-bearing buds scorched by the sun and withered. [Matthew 13:1-9]
because let's be honest,
distractions these day are quick to overtake and choke out,
and the reality of trials and circumstances beating down don't show partiality.

and it can seem overwhelming, even impossible (because it is.. on our own)..
to make our heart-soil ready, receptive, compatible with life..
but there's a call in Hosea to
break up the fallow ground of our hearts (read more from a post on this here).and even still.. it's like..
God, how?

and the words in James 4:6 broke through.
["God opposes the proud,
but gives grace to the humble."]


the only way we can receive anything,
even the grace that we need to change the position of our hearts, is through humility.

arms outstretched..
showing need, openness, desperation-- even vulnerability.

hands open..
no longer clenched-- whether out of fear, rejection, anger, bitterness, isolation..

hands empty..
free from distractions and works and everything self--
self-pity, self-hatred, self-preservation, self-righteousness, self-sufficiency.

I don't know about you,
but I am desperate for that grace that He gives.
desperate enough to do something about it.


because we're called to bear fruit,
and fruit that remains. (John 15)

and for being a culture and a generation and a church
that is saturated in teaching and studies,
with seeds scattered left and right,
we sure don't have a whole lot of fruit in our personal lives
or individual spheres of influence
to show for it.

because the only fruit that truly remains,
is the fruit that reproduces.
>>so maybe it's time to switch our focus and effort and time from saturating our soil with innumerable seeds of all shapes and sizes,
and instead examine our heart soil,
humble ourselves
and position ourselves,
so we can truly receive the Incorruptible Seed--
the only One who can reproduce His very life within us. <<

"...you have been born again not of perishable seed but of imperishable,
through the living and abiding Word of God." 1 Peter 1:23.