{"id":4568,"date":"2012-01-27T13:46:32","date_gmt":"2012-01-27T13:46:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/?p=4568"},"modified":"2012-01-27T14:15:19","modified_gmt":"2012-01-27T14:15:19","slug":"growth-requires-light","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/?p=4568","title":{"rendered":"Growth Requires Light……."},"content":{"rendered":"

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For the past thirty years I’ve been waging a war with the dirt in my yard, trying to get it to yield grass! \u00a0I’ve spent a small fortune to get my yard to be lush and green! \u00a0From time to time I’ve gotten a great crop of weeds and moss, but no significant grass! \u00a0 A couple of years ago I broke down and brought in a real expert, he has done wonders. \u00a0He had two suggestions, we had to keep the fledgling grass watered, so I had \u00a0an automatic irrigation system installed. \u00a0His other suggestions was to cut down most of the trees on my lot. \u00a0I couldn’t do it, I love the shade, the changing colors of the leaves, and the fact that some of my trees are over a hundred years old. \u00a0So I now have more grass than I ever had, but not the golf course fairways I would like. \u00a0Grass just will not thrive richly without a constant source of light.<\/p>\n

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Our lives as Christians requires the same. \u00a0We must have the Light of the World shining into our spirits if we are to grow and thrive. \u00a0For grass to really last, it has to not only grow up, it has to have deep roots that can pull the life giving moisture up from the soil. \u00a0If we are to grow stronger and healthier in our Walk with the Lord, we have to have life giving water, and the growth that comes from our Heavenly Father’s “Son” Jesus. \u00a0A daily relationship with Him, through the Word, Prayer and waiting for His voice in our spirit will lead to deep roots in Him and long term growth. \u00a0We need to grow constantly because anything that is not getting stronger is withering.<\/p>\n

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This is not philosophy or a cute illustration, the very substance of your life is held in this vital relationship. \u00a0I’ve often had people say that they are not ready for that kind of commitment to Christ, they can make on their own while they think about it! \u00a0That would be fine except for one sticking point, we can’t make it on our own. \u00a0Some people may seem to be doing great, everything may “seem” to be o.k. but that illusion never lasts. \u00a0Eventually we are asked to have more in our lives than we possess to make it through. \u00a0At that point we realize we never were in control. \u00a0God loves you so much that He will reluctantly arrange for you to see just how much you need Him in your \u00a0life, if that’s what it takes. \u00a0Don’t make that necessary!<\/p>\n

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I’m a bottom line kind of guy so here goes; \u00a0God loves you. \u00a0He loves you so much that He gave His only Son, to die for your sins. \u00a0He wants to have a deep and life changing relationship with you. \u00a0 The offer is on the table, the next step is yours. \u00a0As a freind let me assure you, I’ve never met a single person that has given their heart to Him,that hasn’t lamented, “I only wish I hadn’t waited so long!”<\/p>\n

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His Light Scripture : \u00a0 \u00a0John 8:12<\/span><\/p>\n


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\u00a0Jesus spoke to the people once more and said, \u201cI am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won\u2019t have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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Praying for the ultimate light to come into your life……<\/p>\n

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the pilgrim<\/p>\n

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*Photo Note; No not my yard, I could only wish, this is the beautiful Palouse Region of Washington State, Winter Wheat in June, Nikon F100 film camera, 50-135 Nikkor \u00a0f3.5 zoom lens, \u00a0Velvia film.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  For the past thirty years I’ve been waging a war with the dirt in my yard, trying to get it to yield grass! \u00a0I’ve spent a small fortune to get my yard to be lush and green! \u00a0From time to time I’ve gotten a great crop of weeds and moss, but no significant grass! […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4568","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-chronicles"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4568","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4568"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4568\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4576,"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4568\/revisions\/4576"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4568"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4568"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/billfortney.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4568"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}