AIR FERN!!!

 ‘Air Fern’ photo from PxHere.

I was reading a novel the other day and one of the characters said that she was lousy at keeping house plants, so a friend gave her an Air Fern that gets all the nourishment it needs from the air!!!  I thought what?  It’s true.  They don’t need any soil.  They do have roots, but they only function to anchor themselves to a branch or another plant and they are not parasitic.  You can put them in trays, hangers, terrariums, seashells, glass globes, vases or dishes in your home.  (See photo above).  The fern is indigenous to tropical and subtropical habitats in North and South America.  They thrive in these habitats because the ‘air’ is filled with moisture and nutrients which are absorbed through specialized cells on their leaves.  Remember though, the plants still do need some nurturing, especially in a house or an apartment that happens to have low humidity with very little water in the air.  Air Fern plant sellers tell you to spray the plant or even dip it in water every so often to ‘water’ it and they also offer a fertilizer for these plants that you add to your sprayer occasionally.

This plant made me think about where we get our nourishment! 

Christians are truly blessed!!!  We get our nourishment from a long and varied list of sources!

As my blog attests, we get it from the Bible, (our owner’s manual) and The Book of Nature!
As Galileo, a 15th century astronomer, physicist, and engineer wrote, ‘We conclude that God is known first through Nature, and then again more particularly, by doctrine: by Nature in His works, and by doctrine in His revealed word.’ (The Bible).  Jesus Himself said, ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’  Matthew 4:4. Those words are written down in the Bible, our main source of nourishment.

We have the promised Holy Spirit to teach us and remind us of what God says to us with His word and His voice.  ‘But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.’  
John 14:26.

We are God’s sheep and listen to His voice.  As Jesus said, ‘My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.’  John 10:27.

In 1985, I was given the opportunity to interview for a teaching job at Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, Oklahoma.  This was a big, big deal.  Do I and my family really want to move from Seattle to Tulsa?  NO WAY, but we wanted to do God’s will.  I was walking across the ORU campus thinking about this critical decision when God anointed me from my head to my toes with His love and warmth!   I stopped to listen to His voice.  He told me that He wanted me to teach at Oral Roberts University.  That He would give me a new beginning.  He would bless me and bless others through me.  Speaking of nourishment!!!!  We moved to Tulsa in God’s will.

I once heard the words, ‘Don’t step there!’  Three simple words.  I was listening.  I looked down to where I was going to step and there was a copperhead snake curled up in the leaves.

‘Christ (Jesus) Himself gave (us) the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.’  Ephesians 4:11-13.

I was an unofficial (Unpaid) Youth Pastor in my Presbyterian Church in the early seventies.  I took the youth group to the Shelbourne Hotel on the coast of Washington owned by a friend of mine. The owners were Christians and invited us to a prayer meeting in a house across the street.  When we got there, everybody was standing up and praying in the living room of the house! I was minding my own business when I noticed a man across the room coming toward me with his hands covering his eyes!  He came right to me with his eyes closed, laid his hands on my head and prophesied!!!  Remember the verse from Acts 2:17.  ‘In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams.’  

He said that I was ‘a repairer of the breach and a restorer of paths to dwell in.’
It is a quote from Isaiah 58:12. These were nurturing words! I put them in my heart and when I started teaching at ORU in 1985, I began to be exactly who I was prophesied to be and made paths for my students.  I introduced state of the art bronze casting, developed wood working, welding and ceramic studios.  I introduced Lateral Thinking to my design students, a life changing way of thinking!  The prophesy nurtured me to recognize who I was and inspired me to do great things to bless my students!

He gives us the church and the body of Christ where all the above ministries and gifts of the Spirit operate to nourish us and ‘equip His people for works of service.’

He gives us the ‘fruit of His Spirit, ‘love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.’  Galatians 5:22-23.

He gives us each other!  ‘As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.’  
Proverbs 27:17.

And, Jesus will continue to nourish us until He returns!  ‘Being confident of this, that He (Jesus) who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.’  Philippians 1:6.

And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.’  Philippians 1:9-11.

KEEP LISTENING TO THE VOICE OF GOD AND RECEIVE HIS NURTURING!