Warm today, but the wind passing through the shade of the elm tree makes it seem bearable. 

Dinner will be home grown today, beef from Rose, fresh garden vegetables from Carla and melons also from her garden.

Everything tastes so much better than the store’s products that must be able to withstand being transported and shifted from one area to another. 

Nothing but the product with full knowledge of how it was raised is nice indeed.

Mathew 20:29-34 And as they departed from Jericho, a great multitude followed him.

³⁰ And, behold, two blind men sitting by the way side, when they heard that Jesus passed by, cried out, saying, Have mercy on us, O Lord, thou son of David.

³¹ And the multitude rebuked them, because they should hold their peace: but they cried the more, saying, Have mercy on us, O Lord, thou son of David.

³² And Jesus stood still, and called them, and said, What will ye that I shall do unto you?

³³ They say unto him, Lord, that our eyes may be opened.

³⁴ So Jesus had compassion on them, and touched their eyes: and immediately their eyes received sight, and they followed him.

As I read this this morning, I thought of how we all too often have our own agenda and want God to follow it.

They were on the road to Jerusalem and the crowd expected Him to hurry along and take charge of everything as they envisioned the Messiah should.  This was serious business.  Why should He spend time with blind beggars (who, in their thoughts had committed a sin or their parents had so that they deserved their blindness) why show compassion to them?

We don’t have the time or patience to wait for Him as He works in the lives of others.  We want immediate results and when we don’t get it we become frustrated wondering why and too often give up.

How many times have I expected Him to do something, only to watch Him do something else?  It wasn’t what ‘I’ thought should be done; He could be going onto greater work, why waste time with such trivial matters?

This is a story similar to the Good Samaritan.  Jesus takes the time to help those that need it, regardless of a calendar or clock or someone else’s expectation.

We can get so hung up on our own agenda we forget that it isn’t our agenda God is concerned about, it is His.

We need to focus on God and follow His Holy Spirit’s leading.  We need to have our eyes opened up, by Him, so that we see what needs to be seen in order to serve Him.

But as I was contemplating this another thought came to mind, involving another blind man. 

Mark 8:23-25 And he took the blind man by the hand, and led him out of the town; and when he had spit on his eyes, and put his hands upon him, he asked him if he saw ought.

²⁴ And he looked up, and said, I see men as trees, walking.

²⁵ After that he put his hands again upon his eyes, and made him look up: and he was restored, and saw every man clearly.

Are we blinded by the world?  Do we see, yet not understand what we are seeing?  Have we asked God to guide and show us His will, only to find that for whatever reason we cannot see Him clearly?

If so we may need that second touch, the asking of God to open our eyes fully to see the needs of those we have contact with and how He wants us to help them.

We get so busy that we don’t see what is there; we don’t take the time to survey our surroundings.  All we see is the need to continue with our agenda for the day and make sure we don’t mess up the calendar or time schedule.

And we overlook the very reason for our existence, the very reason He left us on earth to tell others about Him.

We need to keep ourselves readily available to God.  It is so easy to take our eyes off Him and look around at the world and our own agenda.

We need to see from our heart that has been cleansed by God so that we see as He sees and we can truly be led His Spirit.

Psalm 129:23-24 Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts:

²⁴ And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

And in the end, we won’t have to keep wondering if we are in His will, if we are indeed at peace with God.

Isaiah 26:3 Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.

Later, Art :-)