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“God blesses those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.”
(Matt. 5:4 NLT)

I went to a funeral the other day. A very precious friend’s husband died.

As I sat there listening to the trembling voices, soaked in tears, and the preacher’s words of tribute, I cried along with the family and friends.

Separation from a loved one brings grief, but the Lord brings His comfort. The Lord said, “He has sent Me to comfort the brokenhearted.” (Is. 61:1 TLB)

When a loved on is no longer with us, the afterglow of his or her presence lingers on in our hearts and in all the hearts of his/her loved ones on earth long after that one has left our sight. The beauty of such a person never dies, for he or she leaves behind so much of themselves. Our hearts are always illuminated by the memories of their smile, their laughter, their kind words, the touch of their hand, and, if they are a Christian, their love for God.

When we lose a loved one who loved the Lord, we may also look at it this way: Of the roses that climb the garden wall, some will blossom on the other side, being hidden from our view, but the vine keeps them all joined together.

And so it is with the wall of death. It merely hides the other side; it does not divide. Our loved ones who have gone on to be with Jesus may be hidden from our view, but they have just blossomed on the other side. And, if we, who remain here, are also in Christ, then we are all united together, because the Vine keeps us together.

Mourning encompasses more than the heartache of losing a loved one. We mourn when a loved one goes astray in his/her marriage and divorce results, distressing the children. Or when s/he makes wrong decisions and ends up in jail or addicted to some substance.

We mourn for our own mistakes and regrets, for fallen heroes, for abused children, for children kidnapped and forced into sex trafficking, or for those caught in a natural or some other disaster.

There is “a time to weep,” as Ecclesiastes 3:4 NKJV tells us. But what did our opening verse say? “God blesses those who mourn, for they will be comforted.” In all our mourning, the Lord blesses us with His comfort.

David knew the Lord’s comfort and we are blessed with David’s thoughts and writings in the book of Psalms. David wrote, “My comfort in my suffering is this: Your promise preserves my life” (Ps. 119:50 NIV), “May Your unfailing love be my comfort” (Ps. 119:76 NIV), and “Let Your compassion come to me that I may live” (Ps. 119:77 NIV).

In His care for us, God sent Jesus “to comfort all who mourn” (Is. 61:2b NIV), “to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.” (Is. 61:3 NIV).

David wrote, “He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.” (Ps. 147:3 NKJV)

Trust in those words.

It is God’s promise to you.

Those that mourn shall be comforted…with the Lord’s presence.

If mourning is a part of your life right now, I pray the Lord blesses you with His presence and His comfort.

Suckers! No, not the kind you lick or those people that are easily duped or cheated.

These are tree suckers. What is a tree sucker?

Gardeners explain that a sucker is an effort by a tree to grow more branches out of its trunk or roots, especially if it is under stress. However, suckers are not good for the tree, or any other plant that develops them. Therefore, it is necessary to control the suckers for the health of the tree.

Controlling suckers…

Gardeners advise that it is better to try to prevent a tree sucker than to have to deal with its removal. Suckers threaten the tree’s health.

Some trees have shallow roots and others develop roots near the surface due to difficult growing conditions. This makes them more prone to suckering.

While suckers grow on non-grafted trees, they also will grow when two trees are spliced or grafted together. Gardening experts say that the top of the tree is happy, but the lower half of the tree is under some stress and is trying to reproduce itself.

Experts give some tips to help with sucker control…

Keep plants in good health. Many times, tree roots start to grow suckers when under stress, which can be caused by drought, over-watering, disease, or pests.

Remove quickly. A tree sucker will sap the energy and life away from the healthier and more desirable branches on top, so quick removal is necessary.

Prune regularly. Pruning plants encourages more growth but not all growth is good. One gardening site said, “Suckers (branches growing from the base of the tree)…are never going to bear fruit.”

Let’s apply this personally, to our spiritual lives.

So, what causes the suckers in your life? What things drain the best of God’s Life out of you? What sucks the love, adoration, and worship of the Lord out of you?

* riches?
* power?
* friends?
* your job?
* addictions?
* your family?
* unrepented sin?
* doubt or worry?
* anger or hatred?
* poor self-image?
* unforgiveness or bitterness?
* depression or negative thinking?
* too many things listed on your calendar?

Are any of these suckers ruining your spiritual health, choking out the potential growth from the nutrients and nourishment of the Word of God? Do you notice that there are suckers in your life, or do they go unnoticed until you are in a spiritually unhealthy state?

Let’s apply the tips we learned for sucker control…

Keep spirits in good health. Many times, life suckers grow when under stress, like when we go through trials that leave us spiritually parched, diseased, or when “pests” attack us.

Remove the life sucker quickly. Before a life sucker has the chance to sap the strength and energy away from the health of our spirits, we need to spend time in prayer, asking the Lord to show us those areas that are draining us of His presence.

Prune your spirit regularly. We need to give ourselves regular checkups and prune away those extraneous life suckers. There will never be any spiritual fruit in our lives if suckers are allowed to remain.

Jesus said, “I am the Vine; you are the branches. Whoever lives in Me and I in him bears much (abundant) fruit. However, apart from Me [cut off from vital union with Me] you can do nothing.” (John 15:5 Amp)

When we allow the sucker branches of circumstances, busy schedules, jobs, self-interests, people, worries, doubts, or unforgiveness to deplete us of our relationship with the Lord and cut off our vital union with Him, how will our spirits be nourished? Paul said, “Let your roots grow down into Him and draw up nourishment from Him,” (Colossians 2:7a TLB).

What sucks the Life out of you?

Jesus said, “I am the Vine; you are the branches…However, apart from Me [cut off from vital union with Me] you can do nothing” (John 15:5 AMP).

If you couldn’t find him, you looked in the garden. If he wasn’t there digging in the dirt, then my father was in his greenhouse sticking lifeless limbs and plants into his special soil mixture. In its own time, each plant came back to life in my father’s greenhouse.

Paul said, “Let your roots grow down into Him and draw up nourishment from Him,” (Colossians 2:7a TLB). When we allow the sucker branches of circumstances to sap our strength, the weeds of worries to weaken our faith roots, and the vermin of busy schedules to eat away at our relationship with the Lord, how much nourishment do our spiritual roots draw up?

One who does not keep his roots firmly planted in the special soil of God’s Presence and His Word will remain a Lifeless branch, separated from the Vine. Only when each soul-branch is “nourished in the words of faith and of the good doctrine” (1 Tim. 4:6 NKJV) will it come back to Life in the Father’s house. Then, “Those who are planted in the house of the LORD shall flourish in the courts of our God.” (Ps. 92:13 NKJV).

PRAYER: Father, as our roots of faith grow deep within Your Son, “like a tree planted by the waters, which spreads out its roots,” (Jer. 17:8a NKJV), we draw up the spiritual nourishment necessary to bring eternal life into all we say and do. Help us to stay firmly planted in Your truths, that our roots may be holy. Amen.

We live in an older neighborhood. It’s your average-middle-class-built-in-the-’70s-typical-ranch-at-the-end-of-a-quiet-cul-de-sac kind of house.

The houses sit fairly close together, so our backdoor window and kitchen window overlook our driveway and the neighbor’s side and back yards. Standing as a wall of separation along the edge of the driveway is the neighbor’s chain-link fence, where the previous owner loved to plant things. The fruits of her labor protrude over the fence, concealing the chain-links in a wall of green foliage.

The other morning, as I waited for my second cup of coffee to reheat in the microwave, I looked out the backdoor window to enjoy the view of my side of the garden. The brightness of spring had pounced out from behind winter’s shadows and awakened the neighbor’s sleeping rosebush with streams of sunlight beaming down along the fence.

As I stared at this now fifteen foot tall “bush,” the profuseness of its cheery rosebuds, thrusting themselves into the sunshine, looked like little, pink heads with pixy faces, straining to absorb every ounce of warmth and light from the sun that was possible.

As the little, pixy heads had blossomed on our side of the fence, their beauty was obscured from the neighbor’s view. I thought, “Lord, the neighbors aren’t enjoying these beauties as much as we are.”

Then, the Lord impressed me with the thought that this is a picture of death with its wall of separation. Though obscured from our view, those who have left this earthly life have, in reality, blossomed on life’s other side.

If Jesus said that those who believe in Him have everlasting life and that He was the vine, then those of us, as believers in Christ, who continue in our earthly existence remain united with those in heaven. Though physically separated, we continue to be linked together through the eternal life of the Vine.

A smile then spread across my face, as the Lord whispered to my spirit, “The beauties of life on your side of heaven may fade and disappear, but they gain a new quality as they blossom on My side of heaven’s fence. Just as the outburst of beauty of My roses comes from leaning into the sun, so, too, the beauty of My children comes from leaning into My Son. Whether on earth or here with Me, their beauty explodes in profuseness when they lean into their Source of warmth, peace, love, and joy.”

Filled with that peace, love, and joy from my companionship with my Source, I took my coffee, walked into the family room, and leaned into the warmth of the Son.

Prayer: “Father, I thank You that, because of Your love for us all, You sent Jesus to be our connecting Vine to eternal life. As we are each a part of the Vine as a branch, we are connected to that eternal life, and death has no separation from You.”