xxx THE CLINGING VINE August 15, 2015
Lately we have had a problem with rats eating the leftover chicken food at night! How do we know? Did we see them? No! Yet each morning there would be no food left in the chicken bowl, only a few rat droppings. Even the feed bins had evidence of their presence and attempt to enter. Hmmm! What to do?
We thought perhaps they may be coming from the Ark motor home so we set some cheese rat traps inside ; but no…It wasn’t until we noticed our little brown dog “Buster” barking up a certain tree each evening! Boy if dogs could climb there wouldn’t be a squirrel or a rat within a mile of this place! Some rodents can ever be grateful to their maker that dogs are earthbound creatures. Buster just doesn’t understand why he can’ climb a tree!
Buster’s baking continued for several nights until one evening while closing the chickens in the coup I looked up into the tree! There to my surprise, silhouetted by the porch light, were half a dozen mid- sized rats (teenagers) going back and forth across the branches of two neighboring trees…scurrying here and there as if they owned the place! Now we know what Buster was barking at each evening. Seldom are loyal dogs ever imagining anything. Remember that! If a dog is barking it is usually at something or someone.
Guess where these invaders were coming from! The next door neighbor’s yard! And how were they managing their foray? By climbing the vines that connected the two trees… those clinging vines!
So, in the dark, I set out to cut down those vines. Not such a good idea. The neighbor’s dogs barking and the strange noises I made sounded like someone coming over their fence. So I did what I could, but had to put off the real job until tomorrow. So the next day, in 104 degree temperature (heat index at 110-112. Come to think of it perhaps those varmints were coming over the fence to get a drink of water as it was so hot and dry) I picked up my super hot aluminum ladder, and began the task of relieving this tree of all this excess baggage of clinging vines.
I never knew how intertwined vines can be. It was almost like the parable of the wheat and tares in the Bible at Matthew 13. The servants could not pull up the tares without harming the wheat. These vines had become one with the tree! They had ascended to the very top of the tree and beyond giving a proud sign which said, “We have conquered this tree, it is ours! Poor tree! Supporting it’s own destruction! How can this be? And yet, as I pondered this predicament it came to me clearly; that tree is like us, our heart and minds. And those vines are like entangling, destructive thoughts seeking to take hold somewhere so eventually they can take over! They come in so innocently at first, just looking for a place to take hold, but really wanting to take over. You can see them, almost like slender and sleek fingers reaching out for something to cling to. Slowly, and silently they do their damage.
Unless the husbandman is alert and aware he can lose an entire backyard to these intruders. If you don’t believe me, perhaps you have never seen an abandoned house. We had lived in such a place, and a year after we moved you could not even get in the front door! The vines had sealed it off. Even the windows had vines growing from inside and out. The clinging vines had conquered!
No, my friend, the clinging vine is no friend. Unless it is planted purposely against a wall or fence for covering. But a vine out of control can wreak havoc.
Lessons Learned from the Clinging Vine:
#1- They come in unannounced, ever so quietly and gentle! (much like the story of Camel’s Nose)
#2- Vines can be very deceptive. Some may appear pretty and inviting. Very tempting.
#3- They can provide passage to unwanted critters. (like rats and the like)
#4-They can grow very fast! A little rain and sunshine and they outgrow your tree.
#5- You can cut them back, but they too will be back! You must root them up and out, and it is easier to do this when they are young and tender.
So, after denuding our dear shade tree from all those clinging vines we find we really don’t have much of a shade tree after all, it was mostly vines. Oh well, at least we can start over with a nice pruned tree free of pesky parasites! What’s a parasite? The dictionary defines parasite as …” one that earns his welcome by flattery; a hanger on or a fawning flatterer”
Lessons for me:
I am like that tree. Whatever I allow to invade my mind and take root in my heart will become a part of me. I must be careful what I entertain in my thought life. As we are warned in Mark 4:24, “take heed what you hear.” And in Luke 8:18, “take heed how you hear.” We gotta watch what we watch, and take heed how we hear! And set no wicked thing before my eyes…It shall not cleave to me,” Psalm 101:3 We don’t want to be entangled with unfruitful thoughts such as jealousy, hatred, rebellion, pride and the like!
Oh, another thing; clinging vines don’t bear fruit that is edible. So all that nourishment, sunlight, air and space is wasted on themselves. Those clinging vines only live for themselves at another’s expense. Don’t you be its victim! Keep your mind and heart with all diligence and guard the garden of your heart.
Jesus refers to himself as the vine and we the branches. But that is a fruit bearing vine of luscious grapes, not some strange vine of some degenerate plant. (see Jeremiah 2:21)
Beware the Clinging Vine
Beware the clinging vine,
don't let it get a start.
Beware the clinging vine,
Guard your mind and your heart.
Keep the garden of your heart diligently,
Beware the bad seeds sown by the enemy.
Be filled with the Spirit, full of new wine.
Tap into the flow of the righteous vine.
(If we let these little vines, take hold within our mind, Little rats begin to climb, and steal from us all the time)
Some Scriptures on vines…
The vine of blessing: Genesis 49:11; John 15:1, 4, 5; Zechariah 8:12; Micah 4:4
The vine of the earth and of the curse: Deuteronomy 32:32 …”their vine is of the vine of Sodom..”
2Kings 4:39: Someone gathered gourds from a wild vine and cast it into the dinner pot and poisoned it all.
Jeremiah 2:21: God says to Israel His chosen, “Yet I had planted thee a noble vine, wholly a right seed: how then art thou turned into the degenerate plant of a strange vine unto me?”
It was a transformation for the worse. As in the parable of the wheat and tares found in Matthew 13. “Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? From whence then hath it tares?” The answer: “An enemy hath done this.”
Hosea 10:1: “Israel is an empty vine, he bringeth forth fruit unto himself: their heart is divided.”
Jesus said,” I am the vine, ye are the branches; “He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.”
Stay plugged in to Him. How? “…if ye abide in me, and my words abide in you…”
Thought is seed to deed, so “commit your works to the Lord and your thoughts shall be established” Proverbs 16:3
THINK ON THESE THINGS…whatsoever is ... true, honest, just, pure, lovely and good report Philippians 4:8
Lately we have had a problem with rats eating the leftover chicken food at night! How do we know? Did we see them? No! Yet each morning there would be no food left in the chicken bowl, only a few rat droppings. Even the feed bins had evidence of their presence and attempt to enter. Hmmm! What to do?
We thought perhaps they may be coming from the Ark motor home so we set some cheese rat traps inside ; but no…It wasn’t until we noticed our little brown dog “Buster” barking up a certain tree each evening! Boy if dogs could climb there wouldn’t be a squirrel or a rat within a mile of this place! Some rodents can ever be grateful to their maker that dogs are earthbound creatures. Buster just doesn’t understand why he can’ climb a tree!
Buster’s baking continued for several nights until one evening while closing the chickens in the coup I looked up into the tree! There to my surprise, silhouetted by the porch light, were half a dozen mid- sized rats (teenagers) going back and forth across the branches of two neighboring trees…scurrying here and there as if they owned the place! Now we know what Buster was barking at each evening. Seldom are loyal dogs ever imagining anything. Remember that! If a dog is barking it is usually at something or someone.
Guess where these invaders were coming from! The next door neighbor’s yard! And how were they managing their foray? By climbing the vines that connected the two trees… those clinging vines!
So, in the dark, I set out to cut down those vines. Not such a good idea. The neighbor’s dogs barking and the strange noises I made sounded like someone coming over their fence. So I did what I could, but had to put off the real job until tomorrow. So the next day, in 104 degree temperature (heat index at 110-112. Come to think of it perhaps those varmints were coming over the fence to get a drink of water as it was so hot and dry) I picked up my super hot aluminum ladder, and began the task of relieving this tree of all this excess baggage of clinging vines.
I never knew how intertwined vines can be. It was almost like the parable of the wheat and tares in the Bible at Matthew 13. The servants could not pull up the tares without harming the wheat. These vines had become one with the tree! They had ascended to the very top of the tree and beyond giving a proud sign which said, “We have conquered this tree, it is ours! Poor tree! Supporting it’s own destruction! How can this be? And yet, as I pondered this predicament it came to me clearly; that tree is like us, our heart and minds. And those vines are like entangling, destructive thoughts seeking to take hold somewhere so eventually they can take over! They come in so innocently at first, just looking for a place to take hold, but really wanting to take over. You can see them, almost like slender and sleek fingers reaching out for something to cling to. Slowly, and silently they do their damage.
Unless the husbandman is alert and aware he can lose an entire backyard to these intruders. If you don’t believe me, perhaps you have never seen an abandoned house. We had lived in such a place, and a year after we moved you could not even get in the front door! The vines had sealed it off. Even the windows had vines growing from inside and out. The clinging vines had conquered!
No, my friend, the clinging vine is no friend. Unless it is planted purposely against a wall or fence for covering. But a vine out of control can wreak havoc.
Lessons Learned from the Clinging Vine:
#1- They come in unannounced, ever so quietly and gentle! (much like the story of Camel’s Nose)
#2- Vines can be very deceptive. Some may appear pretty and inviting. Very tempting.
#3- They can provide passage to unwanted critters. (like rats and the like)
#4-They can grow very fast! A little rain and sunshine and they outgrow your tree.
#5- You can cut them back, but they too will be back! You must root them up and out, and it is easier to do this when they are young and tender.
So, after denuding our dear shade tree from all those clinging vines we find we really don’t have much of a shade tree after all, it was mostly vines. Oh well, at least we can start over with a nice pruned tree free of pesky parasites! What’s a parasite? The dictionary defines parasite as …” one that earns his welcome by flattery; a hanger on or a fawning flatterer”
Lessons for me:
I am like that tree. Whatever I allow to invade my mind and take root in my heart will become a part of me. I must be careful what I entertain in my thought life. As we are warned in Mark 4:24, “take heed what you hear.” And in Luke 8:18, “take heed how you hear.” We gotta watch what we watch, and take heed how we hear! And set no wicked thing before my eyes…It shall not cleave to me,” Psalm 101:3 We don’t want to be entangled with unfruitful thoughts such as jealousy, hatred, rebellion, pride and the like!
Oh, another thing; clinging vines don’t bear fruit that is edible. So all that nourishment, sunlight, air and space is wasted on themselves. Those clinging vines only live for themselves at another’s expense. Don’t you be its victim! Keep your mind and heart with all diligence and guard the garden of your heart.
Jesus refers to himself as the vine and we the branches. But that is a fruit bearing vine of luscious grapes, not some strange vine of some degenerate plant. (see Jeremiah 2:21)
Beware the Clinging Vine
Beware the clinging vine,
don't let it get a start.
Beware the clinging vine,
Guard your mind and your heart.
Keep the garden of your heart diligently,
Beware the bad seeds sown by the enemy.
Be filled with the Spirit, full of new wine.
Tap into the flow of the righteous vine.
(If we let these little vines, take hold within our mind, Little rats begin to climb, and steal from us all the time)
Some Scriptures on vines…
The vine of blessing: Genesis 49:11; John 15:1, 4, 5; Zechariah 8:12; Micah 4:4
The vine of the earth and of the curse: Deuteronomy 32:32 …”their vine is of the vine of Sodom..”
2Kings 4:39: Someone gathered gourds from a wild vine and cast it into the dinner pot and poisoned it all.
Jeremiah 2:21: God says to Israel His chosen, “Yet I had planted thee a noble vine, wholly a right seed: how then art thou turned into the degenerate plant of a strange vine unto me?”
It was a transformation for the worse. As in the parable of the wheat and tares found in Matthew 13. “Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? From whence then hath it tares?” The answer: “An enemy hath done this.”
Hosea 10:1: “Israel is an empty vine, he bringeth forth fruit unto himself: their heart is divided.”
Jesus said,” I am the vine, ye are the branches; “He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.”
Stay plugged in to Him. How? “…if ye abide in me, and my words abide in you…”
Thought is seed to deed, so “commit your works to the Lord and your thoughts shall be established” Proverbs 16:3
THINK ON THESE THINGS…whatsoever is ... true, honest, just, pure, lovely and good report Philippians 4:8