But when I returned I saw something really pretty that spoke volumes to me.
My husband called it a Buttercup
A buttercup alone surrounded by weeds and hardened ground; opened wide and soaking up the sun. Shining bright in the midst of its circumstances.
I looked at it, in all its glory, surrounded by all of the weeds that needs to be tilled up (We’ve been working in the back yard and hadn’t started on the front yard yet), and all I could think is
“Where did that pretty yellow flower come from?”
Then all of a sudden many thoughts flooded my mind…
Rising above your circumstances
Shining bright inspite of
Not defined by your surroundings
Still I rise (courtesy of Maya Angelou)
Finding life in a dead place
I can keep going on, but it was the voice of the Holy Spirit that caused me to write here, and this is what I heard..
Philip’s brother Nathaniel was referring to being told that the Messiah had been found.
And where did they think he was from?
They thought he was from Nazareth because that is where he grew up.
They did not know the story of Jesus birth. They did not know how he was divinely born from a virgin. They did not know that his place of birth was Bethlehem of Judah.
All they knew of him is that he grew up in Nazareth.
Why was that such an issue, to be from Nazareth?
I did some digging and found some amazing research done by others on this very matter that I want to share with you now. .
With this first snippet, after reading it, I was left feeling “Do not despise small beginnings”. This is what I read.
God himself grew up in a forgotten town in Galilee. He came down from Jerusalem, and went down in self-humbling, and down into the tomb, and then took Nazareth up with him in his triumph. And how many of us today, in adolescent immaturity, harbor a kind of mild contempt for our Nazareths, suspecting in our unchastened arrogance that we have ascended to heights greater than our modest origins? But oh what might God be doing in our Nazareths, and how might he be redeeming the days, and decades, that feel to us like such a waste?
You have got to read the full article, if you are so led, it’s really good.
I grew up in Chicago Illinois. Ive been gone from the city for awhile, but while I was growing up there They had areas that would definitely fit the description Nazareth in reference to its poor condition.
Those areas were called projects, and those who dwelled there were considered very poor in status. But that was really so far from truth.
Looking back, I don’t think I personally knew anyone who grew up in the projects. But as I consider it now I believe in all of my heart that there was some amazing people full of wisdom knowledge and understanding, full of the Spirit of GOD, that lived there.
Why do I say that?
Because as I grow up, the more I mature, the more I recognize that the amount of money one has is not what makes a person rich.
What makes a person rich is the depth of their personal relationship with GOD. And that relationship is not dictated by where one grows up, but by how much time one spends communing with the LORD.
But for the sake of the world’s view, when people arise from such lowly conditons, it’s such a big deal because it gives hope to the rest of us that we can make it out of our own meager situations.
Chicago had the skilled basketball player, Michael Jordan, who grew up in the city’s projects and made it out. It was such a big thing back then because just like with Jesus coming out of Nazareth, it was also said of those who lived in the “projects”…
“Could anything good come out of the projects?”
The answer is a resounding yes.
You know it’s really a big deal that has my heart overwhelmed with awe and appreciation for all that I am being reminded of especially as it relates to King Jesus.
He was a King.
Born of royal blood.
But instead of growing up in the palace with all of the creature comforts. He chose to connect with who was to be His subjects and not identify himself.
(For those who “knew” him [“I know who you are – Holy One of GOD (Mark 1:24; Luke 4:34)] he silenced them; and when he did miracles, he told the people to not tell what happened – though they didn’t always listen.)
The King was amongst the people and they didn’t know it.
Do you realize how huge this was and is.
The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world.
He was in the world,
and though the world was made through him,
the world did not recognize him.
He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him.
Yet to all who did receive him,
to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God
—children born not of natural descent,
nor of human decision
or a husband’s will,
but born of God.
The Word became flesh
and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory,
the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father,
And it causes me to examine my sight – my vision, my perception, my understanding, and my expectations.
The KING, who loves his people so much, took on the form of his people so that he would connect with us.
He could have lived extravagantly for it all belonged to him, but he chose to not do that. He chose to become connected to obscurity.
I literally had to go look the word obscurity up just to try to wrap my mind around what Jesus did.
This is too great for me. I struggle to continue writing as my spirit swells within me and I’m not sure if I want to cry or just bust out in a praise break because of what I am seeing and understanding and finding it difficult to write because I don’t type fast enough for all I am hearing and perceiving so I feel the need to be still in HIS Presence.
I am now reminded of the song Worth
Isn’t it funny how I got all of this out of looking at that one lone yellow flower standing up strong in the midst of weeds.
In that one instance, where my attention was captured, my spirit was reminded of my value and I was moved to share all of this with you to remind you of yours.
Your surroundings doesn’t dictate your value.
You are whom King Jesus said and believes you are.
You are, we are, so valuable that HE was willing to die to save us. He felt that we was worth it.
Glory.
I need to bask in this just a little longer just like that little flower was wide open, basking in the sun.
The weeds around it didn’t dictate its ability to stand out and shine.
Inspite of its circumstances and surroundings it gave all its strength to basking in the light of the sun.
And it reminds me to do the same by causing me to Come and See.
Between a Father and HIS daughter 