I\u2019m not much of a gardener.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But every year, when the chill of winter starts to fade, without fail I tell myself that this<\/em> is the year that will change. I make my husband drive me to different gardening and home goods stores for pots, soil, seeds, and plants. And then I get to work. Nevermind the process of learning anything about gardening, choosing the right spot in our yard, or reading up on how to actually<\/em> care for and protect our plants. I\u2019ll just figure it out as I go! My vigor for cultivating the soil usually lasts a week or two. So last year, I did things a little differently and bought a strawberry plant that already<\/em> had fruit starting to grow. <\/p>\n\n\n\n I set the plant in a pretty pot on the patio and waited. I\u2019d watch it out the window as the strawberries grew and finally started to turn red. One morning I looked out and thought to myself, \u201cThose might be ready to pick tomorrow!\u201d So the next day, I walk out, ready to harvest. And the strawberries are gone<\/em>. GASP.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Later on, the camera footage from our back door revealed an assortment of animals who had also seemingly been waiting for my strawberries to ripen. The ones who actually enjoyed the fruit? Squirrels, birds, and even a deer. Not set on higher ground and in an unprotected place, those strawberries and I never had a chance. Where they were planted mattered\u2014a lesson I learned too late.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cTherefore, everyone who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock.\u201d <\/em> My gardening troubles remind me so much of how God has given us access to everything we need to live a holy life that pleases Him. He gave us instructions in His Word on how we should live (Matthew 22:37\u201339). He sent His Son as an example for us to follow (1 Peter 2:21\u201323). He gave us His Holy Spirit as a guide that is always with us. But we have to apply what we’ve learned. In new years and new seasons, it can be so easy to turn anywhere and everywhere else in our lives for direction, instruction, and hope. But the only One who can truly show us how to live is our Creator.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I\u2019m so grateful that when we’re rooted in God\u2019s wisdom and direction, we can build our lives on a stable foundation. The house on the rock does not collapse, no matter what comes up against it because the foundation is solid and secure (Matthew 7:25). Our God is the guardian of our souls, the One who knows what we truly need. He knows every part of us, every secret, and every insecurity that we hide. There’s no safer, more fulfilling way to live than being led by the Shepherd. Jesus, help us to remember that no other foundation but you will ever be secure.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I\u2019m not much of a gardener. But every year, when the chill of winter starts to fade, without fail I tell myself that this is the year that will change. I make my husband drive me to different gardening and home goods stores for pots, soil, seeds, and plants. And then I get to work. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":74,"featured_media":71564,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[292],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-71947","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-advent2024"],"acf":{"hero_background_image":false,"related_plans":[71574],"weekly_truth":false,"grace_day":false,"share_text":"She Reads Truth","devotional_text":"WE REJOICE IN JESUS'S INSTRUCTION<\/b> I\u2019m not much of a gardener.<\/p> But every year, when the chill of winter starts to fade, without fail I tell myself that this<\/i> is the year that will change. I make my husband drive me to different gardening and home goods stores for pots, soil, seeds, and plants. And then I get to work. Nevermind the process of learning anything about gardening, choosing the right spot in our yard, or reading up on how to actually<\/i> care for and protect our plants. I\u2019ll just figure it out as I go! My vigor for cultivating the soil usually lasts a week or two. So last year, I did things a little differently and bought a strawberry plant that already<\/i> had fruit starting to grow.<\/p> I set the plant in a pretty pot on the patio and waited. I\u2019d watch it out the window as the strawberries grew and finally started to turn red. One morning I looked out and thought to myself, \u201cThose might be ready to pick tomorrow!\u201d So the next day, I walk out, ready to harvest. And the strawberries are gone.<\/i> GASP.<\/p> Later on, the camera footage from our back door revealed an assortment of animals who had also seemingly been waiting for my strawberries to ripen. The ones who actually enjoyed the fruit? Squirrels, birds, and even a deer. Not set on higher ground and in an unprotected place, those strawberries and I never had a chance. Where they were planted mattered\u2014a lesson I learned too late.<\/p> \u201cTherefore, everyone who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock.\u201d\u00a0<\/em> My gardening troubles remind me so much of how God has given us access to everything we need to live a holy life that pleases Him. He gave us instructions in His Word on how we should live (Matthew 22:37\u201339). He sent His Son as an example for us to follow (1 Peter 2:21\u201323). He gave us His Holy Spirit as a guide that is always with us. But we have to apply what we've learned. In new years and new seasons, it can be so easy to turn anywhere and everywhere else in our lives for direction, instruction, and hope. But the only One who can truly show us how to live is our Creator.<\/p> I\u2019m so grateful that when we're rooted in God\u2019s wisdom and direction, we can build our lives on a stable foundation. The house on the rock does not collapse, no matter what comes up against it because the foundation is solid and secure (Matthew 7:25). Our God is the guardian of our souls, the One who knows what we truly need. He knows every part of us, every secret, and every insecurity that we hide. There's no safer, more fulfilling way to live than being led by the Shepherd. Jesus, help us to remember that no other foundation but you will ever be secure.<\/p>","share_image_height":"640","day_number":"32","scripture":"Matthew 7:13-29, Matthew 22:34-40, 1 Peter 2:21-25","available":true,"ad_banner_name":"","ad_banner_image":false,"ad_banner_url":"","songs":"","key_verse":"","key_verse_reference":"","background_image":false,"background_color":"#FBF7F3","scripture_references":false,"share_image":false,"author_name":"","author_bio":"","guest_social_media":false,"show_ad":true,"ad_override":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71947","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/74"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=71947"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71947\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/71564"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=71947"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=71947"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=71947"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\u2014Matthew 7:24<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n
\r\nby Abby Flynn<\/i>
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\u2014Matthew 7:24<\/em><\/p>
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