Unfold or Unravel? This always makes me think of a song that stays near and dear to many of our hearts. I can just hear Barbara Streisand singing now,
Alfie,
What’s it all about
Alfie
Is it just for the moment we live
What’s it all about
When you sort it out
Alfie
Are we meant to take more than we give
Or are we meant to be kind
And if only fools are kind
Alfie
Then I guess
It is wise to be cruel
And if life belongs
Only to the strong
Alfie
What will you lend on
An old golden rule
As sure as I believe
There’s a heaven above
Alfie
I know there’s something much more
Something even non-believers
Can believe in
I believe in love
Alfie
Without true love you just exist
Alfie
Until you find the love you’ve missed
You’re nothing
Alfie….
When you walk let your heart lead the way
And you’ll find love any day
Alfie…
Alfie…
Alfie…
When we feel lonely or depressed do we unravel at the seams? Or do we unfold like a Rose in the arms of love?
We are all looking for love, acceptance, relationships and hope. Yet, at times it seems we only feel hate, un-acceptance, relationship-less, and despair. We begin to unravel at the seams. We may not even be conscious of a bud just waiting to unfold at the door of our hearts.
Genesis 1:10 reveals that God didn’t think it was good for man to be alone. So we yearn for relationships. Love buds out of our relationships, acceptance nurtures our relationships and obedience to God give great Hope in the good and the bad times.
We too often find ourselves in a paradox of life. Disobedience to God sneaks in and obedience goes and the heart leaks for peace. Unbelief, rebellion, and stubbornness is the fruit from this act. Adam and Eve were driven from the Garden of Eden because of it. We lose what we desire and yearn for and before we realize it, we feel hopeless and despair. We begin to unravel as if a cat took the yarn from our basket.
I am a lover of beautiful full bloom roses. Many times I am given a dozen rose buds. After my initial excitement of oohs and aahs I go to work thinking how can I cause the buds to unfold to full blown Roses, stay beautiful and when the time comes drop their petals in lively form.
I find in relationships that I can let them unravel if I ignore them or I can unfold them like a rose if I nurture them. I am the maker of my despair and the manufacturer of my bliss by my application of the Golden Rule. And if I nurture the Golden Rule with love maybe I will get even more than I give. The writer of Alfie calls it “The Old Golden Rule”, but I call it “His mercies are new every morning.”
Most importantly, no one can fulfill all our needs except the One called Jesus. My husband has a way of telling me where to go! When I look to him for too many answers to life’s quetions he direct me to the ROCK! And, we must go to the Rock of our salvation, for love, for acceptance, for hope, and He will and does give us answers in all our relationships, yes, all our relationships Jesus is our ROCK!
thedailylily.com 
Thanks Sara, for pointed inspiration concerning love and the heart.
This teaching reminds me of a dream I had recently where I had chosen some glorious, huge golden fruits….not sure what they were but they were very large and golden-hued. I brought them home, put them in a harvest-type basket and placed the basket by the door. It seem like just a short time elapsed and I was preparing to make a special recipe and remembered the fruit by the door. When I went to take the fruit from the basket it was still glorious to look at but when I picked it up, it was very soft and mushy, mushy. Beautiful, but rotten from within.
Your teaching that said that we may not even be aware in our dejection that there is a “bud just waiting to unfold at the DOOR of our HEARTS.” That set my thinking in this way concerning the dream.
The basket of fruit was “at the door” in a harvest basket. It’s almost as if the fruit had been harvested but NOT used in a TIMELY fashion and it rotted from within. If something BUDS, BLOSSOMS AND BLOOMS and no one does anything with those BLOOMS they wither and wilt and droop. If the fruits of the harvest are picked and ready to be given for consumption and no one does anything with them or if they are not preserved, preserves made, then they spoil and are no good but to be thrown away. In the dream, even though just a short period of time had elapsed, it seems I was too late in attending to the beautiful fruit that I had so carefully gathered, perhaps set by the door to distribute to the poor & needy or some gift to another.
So, (per your teaching) if the bud is at the door of my heart and I neglect to tend to it in a timely fashion then the bud droops and wilts. And this reminds me of the Scripture in REV, 3: 20, where Jesus says,”Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If any man hear My voice and open the door, I will come in with him and sup with him and be with him” (KJV) If the BUD of Love stands at my door and knocks and comes in to sup, will all I have to offer HIM be rotten fruit?
I would relish insights from my fellow Christians concerning this dream.
Dream symbols: To see or eat rotting/bitter fruit, suggests your missed opportunities for
growth.
Doors also represent opportunies gained or missed.
Seemly in your dream you had all that was and is needed for new opportunies and growth but your timing was off in your doing. I have always found that when I feel, know or want to do something for the Lord or the right thing and I put that off in lieu of my own wants, needs or desirs then I have missed the opportunities for growth.
“The bud is at the door”…we must follow through to enjoy. The dream being timely with this blog hopefully is warning that the bud is at the door and it is not too late to eperience the growth and opportunities.
Thanks for these insights into dream sequence meanings. The Lord corrects those whom HE loves and warns us of impending problems if we will listen and learn. Thanks again.
Sara, I love how you phrased that…”the heart leaks for peace.” It’s like a slow drip, drip, drip of the faucet of our hearts as peace escapes and fear, doubt, suspicion rush in to fill up the spaces left by peace’s departure. How can we plug up the leaks and holes in our hearts and bring peace back? June Evans teaches, “Peace doesn’t just come. In relationships, offense happens. Peace doesn’t.” We have to seek it. We have to pursue it. We have to go after it. We have to cast down imaginations and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God and bring into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ Jesus.(2Cor 10:5)
Romans 14:19 says, “Let us therefore follow after the things that make for peace and things wherewith one may edify another”. Ephesians 4:1-3 states emphatically, ” Walk worthy of the calling of Christ on your life with all lowliness and meekness, forbearing one another in LOVE ENDEAVORING to keep the unity of the SPIRIT in the BOND OF PEACE.” There is ENDEAVOR and STRIVING included here. We must work at peace and seek it to keep it from LEAKING FROM OUR HEARTS.
yes, this sounds like we need to unfold and not unravel. And, this is daily and in every situation.
MG..I thought Id look up more on “The things that make for peace”…..Romans 8:6 says”For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritualy minded is life and peace….Isaiah 26:3..says”Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee, because he trusteth in thee…Philippians 4:6-7..Be anxious for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God..And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
…dj
Sara when I read this all I about over and over was a line from a song you wrote that said it was …”the glory of the Lord…that makes my heart to bud…”. In your song,”The Glory of the King” it seemed to me that the Lord was the Source that turned your negatives to positives, not another person.
If our hearts can bud and unfold in His love than that is a rock to stand on because I Cor 13: 8 says “Love never fails” and we know from I John 4:8 that “God is love”, so God won’t fail us. And doing the Golden Rule won’t fail either. It prevents unraveling. When I re-read your teaching/radio broadcast tape “The Golden Rule” you said, “If you want the Golden Rule to work toward you you must live the Golden Rule”. That rule is from Luke 6:31 and in vs 38 it tells us that if we give it will be given to us…”for with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.” I think that answers Barbara Streisand’s question in her song ‘are we meant to take more than we give.?’ No. And she’s right that until we find the Love we’ve missed we really are nothing…just a ‘clanging cymbal (I Cor 13:1).
“the glory of the Lord that makes our heart to bud means to me …being intensely dynamic in all areas of our life. What a rose of glory.
The Golden Rule “Treat others as you want to be treated.” calls for a lot of work and imagination on our parts. We are saying we want to be treated exactly the way we have acted in this situation. Now this means I have to stand in the situation of the other person and think and act.
Do you think we do this very often? You are right and the radio teacher is right, you want the same measure back as you have given. Good job of bringing this together and we need to do this for our peace. We sure don’t want a leaky heart….
If we are not finding ourselves doing this very often than maybe we should keep a tool handy on our desks to remind us what you mentioned your mother always made certain her children had….a ruler that had the Golden Rule written on it.
Sara, What you worte about the golden rule reminds me of a song a wrote recently that we will be singing for our Christmas/Winter Holiday Program at school in December. Our school has been applying a program for the children and all to follow called the “BIG 3” ! Respect Yourself Respect Others Respect Property. Here are some lyrics to the song:
RESPECT…by MG HENRY
LET YOUR LIGHT SHINE WITH A LIGHT
SHINING LIKE A STAR AND BURNING BRIGHT
TREATING YOUR FELLOW MAN WITH GREAT RESPECT
THIS IS ALL YOU GOTTA’ DO
TREATIN’ OTHERS LIKE YOU WISH THEY TREATED YOU
AND IN RETURN RESPECT IS WHAT YOU’LL GET
HERE IS THE SIGN OF INTEGRTIY
PLAYING IT COOL BY THE RULE
BEING AWARE, SHOWING YOU DARE
TO SHOW THE WORLD THAT YOU CARE, YOU SEE
HERE IS THE SIGN OF INTEGRITY BEING A STAR FOR YOUR SCHOOL
HERE IS THE KEY: RESPONSIBILITY! DOING WHAT’S RIGHT IN YOUR HEART, YOU SEE….DON’T YOU SEE?
LET YOUR LIGHT SHINE WITH A LIGHT
SHINING LIKE A STAR AND BURNING BRIGHT
TREATING YOUR FELLOW MAN WITH GREAT RESPECT
THIS IS ALL YOU GOTTA’ DO
TREATIN’ OTHERS LIKE YOU WISH THEY TREATED YOU
AND IN RETURN RESPECT IS WHAT YOU’LL GET!
sounds like Matthew 5:13-16 and Matthew 7:12 all rolled into ONE.
I’m sure this will be a great show.
As I was contemplating Sara’s phrase, “heart leaks”, this morning I remembered a Scripture in Ezekiel that I read last night where the LORD was lamenting about the infidelity of HIS people and how He longed and yearned for an intimate relationship with them . But because of their rebellion and idolatrous ways (and ours) He had to DEAL with them. But HE told Ezekiel longingly and with great passion that one day He would put a soft, fleshy heart within His people by THE HOLY SPIRIT and they would be tender and loving toward HIM and He toward them.
And I thought about how when our hearts become hardened like when the sower goes out to sow seed and it falls on hard hearts, it can hardly produce a crop. I thought the Lord quickened to me that when our hearts are hardened they become brittle and crack. And those cracks are the what causes our hearts to “LEAK PEACE” as Sara spoke about.
Thus, the hard heart cracks and leaks but the soft heart is maleable and can absorb the peace that it so diligently pursues.
Sara I thought on what you said about “I have to stand in the situation of the other person and think and act.”…talking about wanting to be treated the way we treat others….you said it calls for a lot of work and imagination…it does! especially if you read this from Matthew 25:31-46…verse 40 says…”Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me”…now that should make us really use our imagination!…dj
EXCELLENT OBSERVATION, DJ! We sure do need the creativity of the Holy Spirit to show us how to “DO” unto CHRIST (others) so that, as Joe Stowell said, “Christ will feel loved by us”.
Debi you are right, we are not to take more than we give…because that will get us into greed and thats not part of the Golden Rule…it the opposite of what God tells us…He says Give ….in Luke 6:29 Jesus says”To him ho strikes you on the one cheek, offer the other also. And from him who takes away your cloak, do not withhold your tunic either. Give to everyone who asks of you. and from him who takes ways your goods do not ask them back.If you lend to those from whom you hope to receive back, what crdit is that to you?…But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing in return: and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Highest. For He is kind to the unthankful and evil…Therefore be merciful. just as your Father also is merciful…Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom….and this is where you finished “for with the same measure that you use, it will be measure back to you.”….dj
This sounds like Bill Gates and famly as well as Our Nation. Bill is one of many that give to other nations and peoples for the cause of HIV and other issues. Our Nation is great for giving and God has made us or allowed us to ber a great Nation.
Also I think of our gifts collectively being poured out upon many across the universe through our taxes, skills, military, etc.
We are told to pray for our Leaders these scriptures give me a litle more insight of why and how to be more effective in prayer.
This reminds of Acts 20:35…”And remember the words of the Lord jesus, that He said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’
We are so blessed as a nation to be able to give in our gifts, our prayers and our love.
As I read this study..I could not help but think of the whole chapter of Ephsians 2:1-22…I would type the whole thing out but its quite long…but here are a few verses that stood out to me about relationships..the Golden Rule and His mercies…Verse l and 2.”And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of the world, according to the price of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience”..Then in verse 4..”But God who is rich in mercy, because of His great love..made us alive together with Christ..raised us up together,,made us sit together in heavenly places in/with Christ”..Then in verse 14 For He himself is our peace, who had made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of division between us, having abolished in His flesh the enmity,=((1)the state of being an enemy(2)hostilty ..(the american century dictionary)…”so as to create in Himself on new man from the two, thus making peace….and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity… and He came and preached peace to you …..Verse 21 in whom the whole building, being joined together, grows..(blooms, blossoms)into a holy temple in the Lord, ….. ( “out side of Him there is no relationship..He is the Relationship)..Rock of Ages cleft for me let me hide myself in them…Unfold in the Arms of Love..What a lovely blog Sara…dj
We can run to the Rock of Ages rather than unravel. Psalm 62:2 says: “He only is my rock and my salvation”, vs 6-7:”He is my defense…in God is my salvation and glory, the rock of my strength and my refuge is in God.”
all these promises just by reading Ephesians. WOW this looks like the kind of relationship, marriage, partnership and work of action that we would all yearn for but is it just poetic or real to us?
This chapter in Ephesians looks like a rebuke to bring awareness to our missing out on the good life? I love the last part of the chapter when the writer let’s us know if we want to have a home, family and not be a stranger to all we need to rally around the family rules.
You asked “will I get all these promises just by reading Ephesians…well…I dont think you will just by reading them..If you click on the Home Heading and read What I read about Awareness…youll probably get the same thing I got…just knowing about something or reading something and not doing what it takes to achieve or get or accomplish…you dont get nothing…It may be yours but if you dont use it access it or apply it after being aware…nothings going to work…I agree Ephesians chap 2 it does look like a rebuke to bring about awareness…..dj
I could only think of words that Needles using on me often. “You got that right!”
“The best remedy for those who are afraid, lonely or unhappy is to go outside, somewhere where they can be quiet, alone with the heavens, nature and God. Because only then does one feel that all is as it should be and that God wishes to see people happy, amidst the simple beauty of nature.”
Š²Šā Anne Frank
Ps 148 brings to our remembrance how all Creation praises the Lord. It sure looks like a big church and lots of friends out under the skies in all nature.
Also Genesis 24:63 gives us another beautiful illustration of meditating in the fields under the skies in the evening; while Isaac waiting to see his hopeful bride-to-be come riding up on her donkey.
Dear God, may we all rest in You, Your strength and Your Power.
This reminds me of Gods word in Phillippians 4:8…Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are honest, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things…..vs9. Those things which ye have both learned, and received, and hear, and seen in me, do, and the God of peace shall be with you….Anne Frank and you Sara sure do paint lovely pictures of Gods Word in words…dj
This quote reminded me of something my grandmother once told me. She said that during a very difficult time in my mother’s life when she was afraid, lonely and unhappy, my grandmother would daily take her for slow walks in the garden, teaching her to observe all the beauty of nature and to thank God for it as she observed each plant and creation. Gradually, healing came to my mother as she meditated, recounted and thanked God daily for His beauty. It was not surprising that her favorite hymn was “All Things Bright and Beautiful” by Cecil F Alexander which says …”All things bright and beautiful, all creatures great and small, all things wise and wonderful, The Lord God made them all.” The last verse goes on to say…”He gave us eyes to see them and lips that we might tell How great is God almighty who has made all things well.”
This morning I was reading from Philippians 4 (The Message), and it seemed to be along the same line of scriptures referenced above which are so beautiful and uplifting. Paul says, “…you’ll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious – the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse. … Do that, and God, who makes everything work together, will work you into his most excellent harmonies.
As I read this quote I recalled a quote that I read in a book by Sara entitled “DRESSING FOR HIS GLORY”. She is quoting Dr. Karl Menninger, the famous psychiatrist & clinician’s response to a question concerning a nervous breakdown. Dr. Menninger replied, astonishinly, that if one felt that kind of meltdown coming:
“Lock up your house, go across the railway tracks, find someone in need and DO SOMETHING to help that person.” In Sara’s book, “THROWING YOUR LIGHT FORWARD”, an excellent guide to friendship, fellowship and relationships, she states, “Fellowship in the Body of Christ is a privelege.” And even more intense, “Fellowship in the Body of Christ is HOLY.” WOW! That IS INTENSE!!If one would regard each friendship, NO MATTER AT WHICH LEVEL, and the fellowship of believers as a holy-unto-the-Lord kind of relationship, how much more meaningfulfor the Kingdom would those relationships be!
In the Gospel of Luke, a lawyer was sharp-shooting Jesus concerning the 2nd part of the commandment to love God, love your neighbor. He smugly retorted, “And just who is my neighbor?” Jesus was way ahead of him. Not only did HE tell the parable of the man beaten by robbers on the Jericho Road and left for dead, but HE made the super-hero of the story a disdained Samaritan. In retelling this Gospel story, J. Stowell, in his book on relationships and friendships says, “Christ was defining neighbor in a way that extended across religious, ethnic and class lines. Our NEIGHBOR is any victim of life….regardless.” And even more compelling…
Stowell further states, “Jesus Christ knows we love Him by watching what we do with our lives. And HOW WE TREAT PEOPLE IS THE FIRST PLACE HE LOOKS”
“I am the maker of my despair and the manufacturer of my bliss by my application of the Golden Rule.”
Our word application here brings to my mind the thought of awareness with action.
I looked up application and it said in the American Century Dictionary..application=#2 act of applying..#5 diligence…so I looked up apply..apply= a verb, to put on or spread on ( its action)…this is what I came up with..so we can after being diligent to make it(spread on the depair or put on the bliss)…I’d rather be “Putting on the Bliss”…:).dj
Sara’s teaching on Believers offering to the lost and forlorn not only words of the Scriptures but relating to them that there is a WAY! “Give them the WAY, tell them the WAY”, she kept saying. I wrote a song a while back that had that as the theme and I would like to share it with you.
THE WAY HOME mghenry (c)
If you’d believe in ME as I believe in you
If you would trust in Me and My FATHER, too
If you’d come out of the dark to a life that’s new
There is A WAY HOME FOR YOU
You’re like a little lamb that’s gone astray
It’s getting darker now and you have lost your way
If you would just hear MY voice, you would hear ME say
There is a WAY HOME for you
And it is MY WAY.
I reach out to you from a bloody cross
To you who cry; to you the lost
My life for yours is what it cost
To make a WAY HOME for you
Now Love has risen from the dead
To give you life as I have said
It was MY FATHER’S PRECIOUS BLOOD I SHED
He made a WAY HOME for you..
WE made a WAY HOME for you..
And IT IS MY WAY!
Yes,,,,Jesus is the THE TRUTH …THE LIFE… THE DOOR… THE ONLY WAY.
I love your song. It is great to pray for others and ourselves and place the name right inside the heart of the Father. I know it is very lovely with the music; I’m sure you have composed with the song.
Luke 15:11 gives us a beautiful account of just how one son came home. There is a way home for all. There is great Hope in our Faith and we should just love to show and tell about it.