Roses and Thorns

Roses and Thorns

We all have thorns in life.

Our hurts, sorrows, regrets, bitterness, bad habits, guilt,

people who hurt us or make us unhappy,

or people we haven't forgiven are our thorns.

As long as we do not let go,

we do not forgive,

we do not forget any dark area in our lives,

they remain as thorns in our hearts.

But if we let go,

forgive others,

and forgive ourselves,

our thorns can become roses.

There are no hopeless or permanent thorns.

So make thorns roses.

At the end of the day, will you be sleeping on a bed of thorns,

or on a bed of roses?

At the end of your life, will you be counting with God,

more roses than thorns?

It's your call.

It's your choice.

Fr. Jerry Orbos, SVD

From his book Defining Moments

"We came to this world with nothing and we will leave with nothing.

What matters is not the things we hold in our hands,

but the things we carry in our hearts."

Fr. Jerry Orbos, SVD

Flowers In God’s Garden

God designed a garden

So lovely flowers could blossom in it

They would grow in different shades

Emerge in many forms

And as God walks amid His hand-made garden

He finds delight

He is the object of their adoring

He also sees in the desert, the wilted ones, they break His heart

For they do not do, what they were made to do

All flowers were made to worship

In God’s garden.

With outstretched petals

Offering pure colors and sweet odors

This sweet adoration; the earth was destined to be covered

He finds pleasure

He is the object of their adoring

He also sees in the desert, the wilted ones, they break His heart

For they do not do, what they were made to do

All flowers were made to worship

In God’s garden.

Every flower with a special scent

Make up this odorous garden.

Every flower with a distinctive tint

Make up God’s multi-colored garden

Every flower with harmonious sound,

Make up a lively floral choir

He is the object of their adoring

He also sees in the desert, the wilted ones, they break His heart

For they do not do, what they were made to do

All flowers were made to worship

In God’s garden.

One flower, a beautiful blossom

All flowers, a glorious bouquet

One flower’s fragrance, pleasingly pleasant

All flowers together, imbue earth’s terrain

Their God is the object of their adoring

He also sees in the desert, the wilted ones, they break His heart

For they do not do, what they were made to do

All flowers were made to worship

In God’s garden.

Oh, Sweet Rose of Sharon

When the flowers play

In this field of compassion

The wilted ones are watching

When the flowers leap for joy

For they are no longer dismayed

The wilted ones are watching

Oh wilted ones

Enter into God’s garden

Where the cold of winter has passed

And it’s a bright new day

Where all your fears will vanish away

Oh wilted ones, enter into life,

Come and worship

In God’s garden.

@Written by Deborah Caruso

The Sunflower

The Sunflower

From Glory you were born,

I called forth the sun’s rays to shine upon your yellow smile

The morning dew to kiss the beauty of your soft petals

You began to grow higher to me

and I laughed with joy as I saw your strength

I longed for your day of destiny

For my hands to reach down from heaven and pick you

Choosing you among the roses, choosing you among the lilies,

Yes, I choose you from a cherished spot in the bed of earth

I breathe in faith blowing it out on you as a breeze that waves you in its wind

No longer can I wait to spread your seeds of hope across forgotten places

And allow them also to bloom gold with my Glory

Flowing from you is a light sweet fragrance that is carried on ribbons of peace

I gaze upon you on in a summer and see that the birds have stolen from your smile

The wind has bent you over where the rain can no longer find the face I love

My light is searching you out. Can you hear my voice?

I am calling you by name. My spirit rises and I speak firmly to the sun,

I speak with authority to the dew,

I say to them, “This is my cherished flower, shine on her with warmth,

Rain on her love, earth, nurture her stems with words of life,

I tell the birds not to touch this one.

My voice echoes in your roots,

You shake with resurrection

“Life to you I speak, Life to you, Arise and look to me, you will find me before you utter a sound”

I anoint you, and you began to dance in the sun

You dance with life,

Now you can call forth the rain, the dew, and the sun,

You can shine in the Glory and send your seeds to the forgotten places

Still I will hold you, for you move my heart so much with your yellow smile

I pour out the love of growth, strength and maturity in me out on all your gentle beauty

Do you see how I love you? Do you hear my voice now?

Grow high to me. Grow strong toward me

I will always choose you, even among the other flowers

I love your yellow, your shape, and your dreams

Sunflower, I know you by name, I see you for what you are meant to be

Grow high to me and you will find the heavens open to you

@written by Hanahreed

Source: http://matterofloveministries.com/thesunflower.aspx

You Are God’s Flower Garden

Did you ever notice how quickly a small flower bud opens up into a magnificent blossom? Every spring I am amazed to see how quickly the little buds pop out of branches, bushes, and the ground. And then I get excited as within days the buds burst open into leaves, blossoms, and flowers. Just a little nutrition from the soil, warmth from the sun, and spring rain, cause the unfolding of glorious beauty all around us.

Did you know that you are God’s flower garden? The living Word of God, spoken into your life, contains everything needed to unfold the glory of God into your life. Maybe you feel like you’ve been plowed under by the weight of problems and struggles for too long, but watch and see how that plowing is preparing you to become a beautiful garden.

God sees what you can’t see. He has been planting many seeds into your life, and you don’t always realize that they are there. These seeds may have come from others sharing spiritual truth with you, through reading the Bible, through circumstances that have drawn your attention to God, through words of encouragement, through Christian music, through sermons, and through the Holy Spirit teaching you.

All you need is to add spiritual nutrition through prayer and meditating on His Word. Soak up the warm Sonshine of Jesus’ love. And open your heart to let the water of the Holy Spirit flow into you and out through you. As you do, the seeds will grow and poke up through the good soil of your spirit. (If your spirit hasn’t been good soil, ask His forgiveness and ask Him to make you into good soil.)

Suddenly buds will pop out and bloom. You’ll find yourself singing His praises. As you worship in spirit and in truth, the glory of His Presence will manifest in your life. You will be His beautiful flower garden. The loveliness and fragrance will draw others to Jesus.

Source:

http://www.daily-devotionals.com/2010/07/you-are-gods-flower-garden/

FLOWER'S OF GOD'S GARDEN

We are the flowers of God's garden

with stems, roots and seeds

Our soil deep in the earth

is food for our needs

Now we've been planted

We are a beauty of God's gift

As he protects his garden

and sends rain to give us a lift

The sun shines down from high

opening up our bloom

Then God blankets us from destruction

in a world full of doom

Our thorns grow strong and prickly

as a hard cover of sin

But God begins to pick those thorns

to shed us of our sins

We once were just a seed

that sprouted up with time

We have now become God's flower

and faith in us you will find

Our seed has been planted

Our faith we must find

with hopes of a great future

in God we seek to find

Our root is our soul

planted deep into the earth

we search among the soil

to show others their worth

Our stem is our body

the temple of the Lord

as we sprout from the ground

God protects us from the swarm

As the thorns began to emerge

that's full of sin and pain

God picks them one by one

To bring us happiness again

As the bud begins to bloom

from the love that he has shared

For he has always been a part of us

to free us from despair

@Written by Carla Lee Davis