WHO'S TENDING YOUR GARDEN?

 

 

 

Coach Dave Daubenmire
August 16, 2007
NewsWithViews.com

Do you remember the old TV game show from the 60�s �You Don�t Say.� It had a tag-line that went like this. �It�s not what you say that counts; it�s what you don�t say.� Well pardon me if I steal that line and edit it a bit. I would say that it is �not what you see that counts, It�s what you don�t see.�

Helen Keller is reported to have said �There is nothing as tragic as men with sight who have no vision.�

Paul said it this way. �While we do not look at the things which are seen but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary but the things that are not seen are eternal.� 2 Corinthians 4:18

When will those of us who call ourselves Christians begin to see with spiritual eyes? What are spiritual eyes? It is the ability to see the spiritual consequences of what is taking place in the natural world. That is why Paul told us not to �look at the things that can be seen.� Things that can be seen with the natural eye are temporary, subject to change. Things that can be seen with the natural eye are eternal, and never changing. Paul didn�t say �don�t see those things�. He said don�t �look� or focus solely on what your natural eye can see. There is something big going on behind the scenes, if you have the �eyes� to see it.

Unfortunately, American-Christians are so spiritually blind. We look ONLY at what we can see. Jesus warned us, �Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand. And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive: For this people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.�

In some Christian-circles we are taught to �see your blessing.� We are exhorted to �see our miracle.� Why is it the �name it, claim it crowd� understands the concept of �spirit eyes� in regards to financial matters, but don�t understand the concept in regards to everything else around them?

Boy this is a hard one to explain. I need the Holy Spirit to help you and me.

�But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.� I Cor. 2-14

If Christians have the ability to see things non-Christians (natural men) cannot see, why is it we are still so blind?

We are all aware of the spiritual law of sowing and reaping. In everyday terms it means that whatever you plant, you will harvest. If you plant beans, you get beans. If you plant corn, you get corn. If you plant truth, you get truth. It is an immutable law. The law of sowing and reaping is not like the law against speeding. You can break the speeding laws and get away with it. The spiritual laws cannot be broken. YOU WILL REAP WHAT YOU SOW.

I love Ohio this time of year. As I travel around I always marvel at the miles and miles of corn fields that line the highways. It seems only yesterday that those same fields contained the stubble from last year�s crop. Today the tassels in the field wave nearly eight feet in the air. How did that happen?

It seems that as I was going about my daily business, unawares to me, some farmer was tending his field. I have no idea whether he was a Christian or not, but he sure understand the law of sowing and reaping. Soon his barns will be full of the crop he has reaped. He planted corn, corn he will pick. He planted and nurtured it. It is an immutable law.

You know, the amazing thing is I never really noticed the crops growing. Oh I drove by them everyday but I never took the time to look at the growth process. I was too busy looking at other things. But the whole time I was driving by, the crop was growing. The sowing and reaping process contains three parts; seed time, growing time, and harvest time. The growth season is the longest. Not until the crop is fully developed can we fully judge the fruit. Trust me, you plant something, it will grow. Especially if you water it.

Do you truly understand the law of sowing and reaping? Do you understand something is growing even though we can�t see the process? Remember, it is not what you see that counts�..

Hosea 8:7 �For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind: it hath no stalk; the bud shall yield no meal: if so be it yield, the strangers shall swallow it up.�

We�re losing our kids. Only when we admit it will we be able to do something about it. Why are we losing them? It is because of what we are planting into them. Remember, the law of sowing and reaping is immutable.

Christians must open their spiritual eyes. We must see things differently from the world.

Our children are our soil. They produce the harvest of our lives. They will give life to whatever is planted into them. But I don�t have to own the field to plant something in it. My seed will grow in my neighbor�s yard. Fertile soil can grow evil crops. Why is it so much of Christianity is producing Satan�s crops? It�s what you don�t see that counts.

What we are allowing others to plant into our children?

A seed is planted to grow. Growth is its nature. There is no difference in the growth process between a grain of corn and a marijuana seed. Both, if pruned and nurtured, will produce fruit. The nurturing process is more important than the planting.

You see, it is a battle between two seeds. The one that grows will be the one that is nurtured.

So here is the picture. We plant Godly seeds in our children at a young age and then at the age of five we give them over to another gardener to nurture them. In our homes they are taught that God created them, but in their transplanted garden they are taught they came from apes. God is nurtured one day a week in Sunday school; evolution is nurtured and pruned seven hours a day five days a week in the other garden. We can�t see the growth, but the plant is taking root. Which seed will grow?

In our homes we teach one-man, one-woman, for life. The other gardener teaches �its love that makes a family.� Which seed will grow?

In our homes we teach them God determines right from wrong. The other gardener teaches right is relative and up to the individual. Which seed will grow?

In our homes we teach our children to hate sin. The other gardener teaches them to �tolerate� sin and �accept� diversity. Which seed will bear fruit?

The answer lies not in what seed is planted, but which seed is nurtured. We have been nurturing the Devil�s crops.

Listen to the voice of experience. Don�t be surprised if you wake up in twelve years and you don�t recognize the fruit in your home. What you nurture will grow, what you neglect will die.

Get your kids out of the public schools. They may have nice buildings, a good band, athletic program, great test scores, and be �fun� for your kids. But they are feeding your children poison. Don�t nutritionists constantly warn us �you are what you eat?�

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Jude 1:4 �For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.�

It�s not what you see that counts; it�s what you don�t see.

Who�s tending your garden?

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Do you think like a Christian or a humanist? Did the Founders really separate Church and State? Is Judicial tyranny ruining America? Check out these great teachings by the Coach.

 

� 2007 Dave Daubenmire - All Rights Reserved