Aghhh, sorry it took me so long to
follow up on my last blog entry! There has been so much happening here! I feel
like I could write a blog a day for a month and still not explain all the
amazing things that God has been doing. So, for now, I will just follow up on
the weeds.
Last time I
wrote, I told you all about how God was bringing a lot of things up in the
lives of the students and that He told me that He was not finished. The truth
is, there are these weeds that are planted in the gardens of our
hearts and their roots run deep. Most of the weeds were put there by some kind of lie we bought into, something
traumatic that we experienced, or just from the hurts we experience throughout
our lives. The fruit of these weeds are usually some sort of sin or issue that we
just can’t seem to shake. And for some reason, we are so distracted by this bad
fruit that we never see the big weed that it’s growing off of. Regardless of how
they took root, God wants to pull these weeds up by their roots and replace
them with His truth. I don’t think that this is anything new to most of you, so
the fact that these roots are there is not what I am wanting to convey. What I
want to talk about is the difference between trimming the weeds and pulling
them up!
How many
times have we had an intimate encounter with the Lord that left us feeling
renewed and free, only to be drug down again by the same thing that we thought
we were freed from? (I know I have many times) You see, during these encounters, God begins
pulling the leaves and branches off of the weeds in order to work His way to
the roots (I think the reason He doesn’t just yank the whole weed out is
because He knows we couldn’t handle it). But usually we want Him to just stop
there. If we can’t see the weed anymore, then it must not exist. Besides it
will hurt way too much to let Him pull up those roots! But if we only allow the
Father to pull the tops off of the weeds, then they will just grow back larger
and stronger than ever. This is why those issues (that we thought we were free
from) come back and rear their ugly heads! We have to quit being satisfied with a routine
trimming of the weeds in our lives. The Father desires for us to ask Him to
remove the whole weed, root and all, from our hearts forever. God wants to grow
a new garden in our hearts. But in order for this new garden to become deeply
rooted, He must pull up the weeds in order to make room. And as the Spirit of
truth removes the weeds, freedom will come, restoration will come! It can’t
help but come, because where the Spirit of the Lord is there is freedom.
The Lord is not finished with us!
Ask Him what the weeds are in your life (He will reveal them to you if you
earnestly desire to know). Then give Him access to the garden of your heart. He
will not force His way into your garden, He wants you to invite Him in so that He
can set you free. He is a master gardener and He will take a garden that is
full of weeds and turn it into a garden overflowing with fruit; fruit of truth,
hope, joy, peace and love. 
BEAUTIFUL!!! And Amen to every word of it!! Let us not be satisfied with just a pruning, but a complete removal of any deep-rooted weeds. Jesus is the only one with the qualified tools to get the job done!! I love you Jesse! I sit here writing this with tears of joy and pride as it is so evident that you are being used in a tremendous way for the Kingdom. I miss you so much, but I know you are doing what you are passionate about and you are doing it with the covering and blessing of our Lord. Love, Mom
Jesse = A gift from God,firm.
Michael = who is like God
Thank you Jesse for sharing! Your writing is beautiful and so greatly illustrates God moving in the lives of you and your team members as well as teaching us who are blessed to read it great lessons. God bless! Anne-Marie
Jesse – Thank you for always sharing exactly what is on your heart and not talking around the subject! I am so proud of you and am thankful that the Lord continues to place you in positions of leadership where you can pour your knowledge and wisdom into others! Keep living in the Spirit and after the Spirit! I love you dude and am praying for you and your team daily!
Nicely said, brother. Anihilating grace to your weeds, and to mine as well.
Well said Jesse. This makes complete sense and I love watching the Lord uproot these weeds in our lives. As you said, it’s so key that He’s the one doing the uprooting. We don’t have to do it. One of the things that keeps sticking in my mind through all of our conversations about this is that all we have to do is give Him access. Thank you for sharing your heart and sharing the journey that God has you on. It’s a beautiful picture of grace and the Father couldn’t be more proud of you! God is preparing the garden and is using you in huge Kingdom ways. Thank you for the way you constantly serve and pour out!
Jesse,
As I was reading your blog yesterday evening, I was sincerely moved by the simplicity of this great truth.
I would like to share with, my dear friend, that you are on the right track!
Just today,I was in an office waiting on some things when I decided to pick up a small little book located on the table next to me. I randomly flipped it open.
I’d like to share with you what I turned to in the book…I immediatetly thought of you when I read it, so I jotted it down. God is so good!
The Flower of Love
” Within the garden of my heart, I planted a little seed. The packet read: The Flower of Love; of which each heart has need.
I sowed it very carefully, then breathed a little prayer, that it would grow till not a weed could find mooring there.”
-Loise Piskerton Frito.
Grace and peace to you from our Father of lights,
-Wes