The Cursed Fig Tree

   I've always been confused by the Biblical story in which Jesus curses a fig tree. Last month I read it in Matthew but after reading it again today in Mark I decided it was time for some investigation. (The story is found in Matthew 21:18-22 and Mark 11:12-14; 11:20-24.)
   Now, this story seems slightly disturbing in the sense that Jesus killed someone else's fig tree because it didn't have any fruit out of season. Thankfully, that statement is false. The fig tree was probably growing on the side of the road which was not uncommon in that time, just as it was not uncommon to go get fruit from a tree growing on the side of the road. I've drawn this conclusion because Peter, who often rebuked Jesus, didn't do so. You would think that if Jesus went a killed someone else's fig tree, Peter would feel the need to speak up. As for the no fruit out of season, my discovery is below.
   After reading several commentaries that popped up on google, I noticed that they all mentioned that the fig tree had leaves and in Palestine, the figs show up before the leaves. I'm not sure if this is true because, despite my efforts, I couldn't manage to find any reports on Palestinian figs that weren't christian based. Plus, my study Bible said leaves and fruit appear about the same time. Because of this, I didn't feel overly confident about the relationship between figs and fig leaves. Thankfully I ended up running across something that made much more sense anyway. And it was written by a fig farmer! (You can find what he wrote here if you'd like but I will summarize below.)
   There is such thing as a early fig, as in months early. It's called a berba. Most likely that is what Jesus went to look for. (After all, Peter didn't stop Him from looking for figs out of season!:)) But when Jesus went to check it wasn't just that He didn't see any ripe figs, He didn't see any fruit at all, ripe or unripe. Figs are supposed to have 1 to 2 fruits behind each leaf and the fruit should have at least been starting to grow! But it wasn't. This shows that the fig tree wasn't lacking fruit out of season, it was lacking fruit period. An unproductive fig tree on the side of the road doesn't help anyone anyway. 
   So now that we have the disturbing part of this story taken care of, lets move onto why. The main reason is the lesson Jesus taught from the story. He had no doubt whatsoever that the fig tree would die and wasn't the least surprised to that it withered. He used this as a teaching moment to show the disciples that when you believe in your heart that what you've said will come to pass through God, it will. 
   In my study Bible I read something else that I liked a lot. It basically said that because the tree had so many leaves it gave you the impression it would bear lots of fruit but it really had none. This could symbolize the hypocrisy of those who seem to be bearing lots of fruit but are, in fact, bearing none.
   And now my conclusion on Jesus cursing the fig tree draws to a close.
   

The First Step

   Sometimes I feel like many people look at Christianity in the wrong way. In their mind the first step is trying to be Christ-like. They read their Bibles, go to church, and try to be good because that is what we are supposed to do. That is true, God wants us to do those things I feel that He might say, "I long for them to explore my Word, experience fellowship with other believers, and continue trying to overcome sin because they love me and know that I love them." Big difference! Below I've broken apart the "God sentence." (I call it that because I believe that's what I've heard God saying to me.)
   I long for them to: God has a deep, unchanging longing for us to act on our faith and will prompt us to do so but by no means will He ever force us, it is our choice.
   Explore my Word: God doesn't want us to mindlessly read His word, He wants us to explore it. When you explore something you look carefully at everything. You take notes about miniscule details, you're excited about it, and most importantly, you have goal. God wants us to read with a real purpose, if that is to grow closer to Him, to help a friend or yourself with something, to become more knowledgeable about certain parts, He just wants there to be a reason.
   Experience fellowship with other believers: Not everyone experiences God through fellowship in the same way. If you zone out through the sermon and rush away with no time to talk afterwards, maybe big church isn't for you. A small sunday school class may be more suitable. The important thing is that we interact with other believers and learn from one another.
   Continue trying to overcome sin: God wants us to realize that it will be a continual struggle and the sin won't just disappear. Fighting sin is a lot like two beginners playing chess, you try to strategize but all you can really do is make some moves, constantly consult the expert, and do everything you can to protect your king.
   Because they love me and know that I love them: The underlying reason for wanting to be like Jesus must be love for it to be worth anything. He loves us so we love Him. We love Him so we want to make Him happy.
   In this case, the first step is to understand enough of God's love for us to love Him back.

Nothing Else

   A couple days ago, my iron sister said something that really struck me. Of course I've known that we won't be able to take anything into heaven but I'd only thought of it in the context of money, trinkets, ect. She used it in the context of an annotated Bible or that cross necklace you always wear. It was the first time I'd ever heard it put that way and it really made me think. 
   First off, lately God has been urging me to memorize more scripture. The fact that all I'm bringing to heaven is myself made me think about my Biblical knowledge. I can definitely tell bible stories and paraphrase verses but I there are few I'd be able to give exact wording or an address for. If I knew His word more fully, not only will it help me on earth but it would be, in a sense, preparation for heaven. (Not that you need to prepare, but you get the point.)
   Secondly, because God knows your heart, all the earthly accomplishments that weren't done for God won't be worth a thing. I went through a phase in elementary school where when I read my Bible I would use 5 different color highlighters so to others it looked like I read my Bible more often. Ironically, now that I actually read my Bible more, I don't care if other people know or not. :)
   Anyway, I thought it was very interesting to experience that truth in that context and hope y'all do too! 

Vanity

   Vanity is a word that is used often in the Bible. In fact, it is used fairly often in my head as well. I've always thought of being vain as caring about how you physically look. However, as I read through the Bible, it is often used in a context where it didn't seem to fit. Because of that, I looked the word up in the dictionary and found that my limited definition didn't come close to encompassing the fullness of the word.
   The actual definition of vanity is "something lacking real value, something that passes away." While this is true for looks, it really includes all worldly things. You could look at your new phone, your bedspread, or the views of a political party and think it's all vanity because these things will change, new and improved versions will always be coming out.
   I thought this was pretty neat because I have a really bad connotation for the word vain or vanity. If I can equate these words to 'worldly' it will help grow my dislike for the thought of worldly things. If I don't like the thought of them it will help strengthen my resolve to try and eliminate them from my life!
   One last thought: God's love is the one thing that isn't vanity. His love has always been and will always be unfathomable and perfect. So much so that it isn't even possible for it to be improved. The only reason it continues to seem new to us is because as we love more, we see more of its fullness.

God, please bless...

   When children are young their bedtime prayers often sound somewhat like this, "Dear God, Please bless mommy. Please bless daddy. Please bless my brother. Please bless my friends. Please bless my grandma. Amen." As we get older our prayers often evolve into one of two things(or both), 1) a true spiritual connection with God where He does a lot of the talking even if it is through our own words or 2) "Dear God, Please bless my mom in this specific way."
   As I thought about the contrast between option 1 and option 2 I decided I do both depending on how I'm emotionally feeling at the moment. When I am truly loving God and other through God, I effortlessly pray option 1. Love is such a strong emotion I have no choice but to pray with feeling. But, when I'm feeling bored, like prayer and reading the Bible is a routine or ritual necessary for me to follow, I pray option 2. 
   Obviously, option 1 is the way to go but my thoughts didn't stop there. I then thought about option 2 vs. the child's prayer. After a fair amount of consideration I think that the child's prayer is an example of the trust and innocence children posses. No child questions God's knowledge of how to "bless daddy." They don't consider telling Him how, which essentially is option 2. 
   When we pray for God to bless our grandma we trust that God will bless her in the best possible way, better than we know who. When we pray the God blesses grandma by providing the money for medicine through the wealthy friend she has so that she can go to a specific hospital and receive treatment that will heal her painlessly in one month, we are assuming that our plan is how God can best bless grandma. Unfortunately for us "option 2 prayers," this is seldom true.
   God is the giver of good gifts (Matthew 7:11). If He chooses to bless someone in a way that doesn't fit our criteria, that simply means we aren't looking at the big picture. When we just ask God to bless someone or something we can rest assured in the fact that He does see the big picture and will provide the best possible, long term blessing/s. 
   So, as of now, my conclusion on subject is that if we are praying for others we should make our prayers as generic as possible and leave the details up to God.

p.s. My Iron Sister once wrote about Ecclesiastes commented that the author recorded "sporadic realizations." I really like that because I feel like that is how my writing my seem to the reader. Hopefully y'all like Ecclesiastes! :)

Countering Your Life's Lies

   I recently returned for Sky Ranch Christian Camps after having an amazing, God filled week in Quest! I learned so much through my counselors throughout the week from different Bible Studies and conversations. At the very beginning of the week, one of these Bible Studies was about truth vs. lies. After listening I felt compelled to make a list of the lies I subconsciously believe and let affect my daily life. Throughout the week I tried to come up with truths to counter the lies.
   One of these lies was that I'm not a fun person to be around and no one can learn from me because I don't talk much. Despite making it seem like I should talk more, my belief in this lie made me more awkward and even less likely to talk to people I don't know at all or well. Throughout the week I couldn't figure out what to counter this with because it seemed so true in so many different settings but at the end of the week God showed me why He'd kept me waiting.
    Everyone in my cabin wrote their name on a sheet of paper and we passed them in a circle so that everyone could write a little note to each person. One of my notes was this:

 (It is super edited so you can read it)

   When I read this I realized that He had left that question in my head to show me that if I wait for His timing He would give me an unforgettable and encouraging answer that far surpasses anything else I could have received. Not only is this obviously God's reassurance, it is proof from a peer that what He is telling me others think is true! Thank you Jesus! :)

moral of the story: never stop waiting for Jesus or tell Him to hurry, if you do, you can't fully appreciate the answer when it appears. (plus He never stops waiting for you!:))

Baptized with the Holy Spirit

   Lately I've been curious about what it means to be baptized in the Holy Spirit and have decided that I think being baptized with the Holy Spirit isn't actually connected to being baptized with water. In the dictionary there are separate definitions for the for the word 'baptize.' One says that it is the Christian ritual of immersion, sprinkling, or pouring water on someone. The second says it is a spiritual cleansing. In Matthew 3:11 John baptized with water but says Jesus will later baptize with the Holy Spirit. Because of these things I think that being baptized with water is definition 1 and being baptized with the Holy Spirit is definition 2. They are two separate things, an outward sign and an inward change.
   So, my belief is that being baptized with the holy spirit stands alone, without need for water. In this case, is being baptized with the Holy Spirit anything more than an inward change? I think so.
   I think that being baptized with the Holy Spirit means to be filled with the Holy Spirit. Acts 2 tells us how the Holy Spirit descended on the the 12 disciples/apostles with rushing wind and fire and enabled them to speak in other tongues and filled them. I would say that this is what it means to be filled with the Holy Spirit but I think I'm filled with the Holy Spirit and haven't encounter any flaming tongues, literal or metaphorical. So, I think that while being baptized means to be filled with the Holy Spirit, it isn't necessarily in such as way. 
   When you're baptized with the Holy Spirit it fills you and supplies you with all you need to do God's work. At that point I think the apostles needed visible and obvious evidence of God's fulfilled promise of a helper as well as the ability to communicate. When we are baptized with the Holy Spirit it fills us as well, and not just in a different way but in the way we personally need.

p.s. I'm sorry this post is particularly choppy but I'm not a super great writer yet and often can't get things to flow on paper the way they connect in my head. :(