The Rose

Bible Reading: Song of Solomon 2

Key Verse: Verse 1 - “I am the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valleys.”

Key Words: Rose of Sharon 

Did you know that there are seven types of roses that grow in the region of the Holy Land?  But none are more popular than the Rose of Sharon.  Sharon is a region of the country that goes from Joppa to Mount Carmel.  It is known as “The Beautiful Region” for many reasons, but one of the reasons is the Rose of Sharon.

It is symbolic of peace and tranquility.  The world is looking for and longing for peace, but the peace this world has to offer is evasive.  It reminds me of the following.

A retired couple was alarmed by the threat of war and nuclear weapons so they undertook a serious study of all the inhabited places on the globe.  Their goal was to determine the place in the world least likely to suffer the ravages of war or nuclear destruction.  Their goal was to find a place of ultimate security.  So this couple studied and traveled, traveled and studied.  Finally, they found the place.  They made their plans.  They sold their home.  They packed their possessions.  And they moved.  Christmas of 1981 they sent their pastor a card from their new home.  Three months later the pastor was praying for their safety.  You see, their new home, the Falkland Islands, was invaded by Argentine troops on April 2, 1982.

Now you can try as you want and try as you will, but the only way you will have peace is the inner peace that comes through knowing Jesus Christ as your personal Savior.  So the next time you see a rose, remember peace – the peace only God can give. 

                                                                                     Dr. Mike Rouse

What to do:

✞When you see or hear of a rose, remember inner peace.  The inner peace that comes only from God.

Ash Tree

Bible Reading:  Isaiah 44:1-20

Key Verse: Verse 14 - “He heweth him down cedars, and taketh the cypress and the oak, which he strengtheneth for himself among the trees of the forest: he planteth an ash, and the rain doth nourish it.”

Key Words: he planteth an ash 

Most scholars agree that the ash tree is in the family of pine trees.  I find it interesting that the carpenter took the cypress and oak trees for building and replaced it with a pine tree, not as strong or as protective as either the cypress or the oak – in other words, a cheap replacement.  Like I said, I find it interesting that the pine tree replaced the cypress and the oak until you find in verse seventeen that those who cut down the cypress and oak were using the wood to build false gods.  As you read the text, it is easy to see that these are cheap, deceitful, wicked people.

Now you cannot make God, God made you.  How can you worship something that you make?  How powerful, protective, or productive can a god be that we have to make with our hands?

I read the following excerpts (using old product slogans) from what some children said that God is like.           

GOD is like Coke...He’s the real thing.

            GOD is like Pan Am...He makes the going great.

            GOD is like General Electric...He lights your path.

            GOD is like Bayer Aspirin...He works wonders.

GOD is like Hallmark Cards...He cares enough to send the very best.

GOD is like Tide...He gets the stains out that others leave behind.

GOD is like VO5 Hair Spray...He holds through all kinds of weather.

GOD is like Dial Soap...Aren’t you glad you know Him?

Don’t you wish everyone did?

            GOD is like Sears...He has everything.

            GOD is like Alka Seltzer...Try Him, you will like Him.

GOD is like Scotch Tape...You cannot see Him, but you know He’s there.

Now, let me ask you...what is God like to you?

                                                                                Dr. Mike Rouse 

What to do:

✞Next time you see or hear of the pine tree, remember that there is no replacement for the true and living God.

The Hedge

Bible Reading: Ezekiel 22:23-31

Key Verse: Verse 30 - “And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none.”

Key Words: that should make up the hedge 

A hedge in Bible lands was and is used as a wall of separation.  The hedge separates orchards and gardens, and is used as a wall of protection.  From our text it is obvious that God was looking for a man to fill the gap, stand up for righteousness; but not a single man could be found.

I believe the principle is clear.  Not only are the Marines looking for a few good men, so is God—men of righteousness who will separate themselves from the world and stand up for righteousness.  The opportunity for us to mentor those young men is great.  We should very well take advantage of this opportunity.

The Olympic games seem reserved for youth.  And even then, “youth” is defined as “under 25.”  When youthful Melvin Stewart, 23, won the Gold Medal in the men’s 200-meter butterfly he shared some keen insight on age.  In 1988, Stewart finished a disappointing fifth at the games in Seoul.  His family was there with a gentleman named George Baxter.  Mr. B, as Stewart calls him, paid for his boarding school when he flunked out of school.  “He gave me a chance to turn things around.  I owe my education to him.  He was, and is, my mentor.”  Stewart continued, “That day in Seoul, Mr. B took me aside and said, ‘This is a blessing in disguise.  Use this to fuel the fire toward the next Olympics.’” 

After emerging victorious in Barcelona, Melvin Stewart threw his victory flowers to Mr. B and, “I told him, ‘I love you.’  I am going to give him my gold medal, too.  Mr. B is seventy-six years old and I do not do many things without talking to him first.  He’s incredible!  And he’s been married to the same woman for fifty-three years.  It is too bad, but older people are a great resource that too many young people do not rely on today.”  Melvin Stewart appears to be a gold medalist outside of the pool as well.

Are you allowing God to use you to stand in the gap and impact others for God’s glory?

                                                                                        Dr. Mike Rouse 

What to do:  

✞The next time you see or hear of a hedge, remember God is looking for you to stand in the gap for His glory. 

The Flowers

Bible Reading: I Peter 1

Key Verse: Verse 24 “For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away:”

Key Words: and the flower thereof falleth away 

The Middle East has a number of flowers, some of which are the anemone; it is a perennial plant growing mostly by the sea and waterways.  They also have in abundance poppies and tulips, just to name a few.  But no matter what the flowers may be, it is inevitable that the flowers will eventually fade away.

So it is in our lives, we only have a short time to be productive and then we “fade away.”  So what we do with our time of “blooming” is important.

When Mickey Mantle was sixty-one, he was approached by an autograph-seeking middle-aged man and his little boy.  The man had tears in his eyes when he said, “Son, it took me thirty years to get here to shake this man’s hand.  This is the greatest baseball player who ever lived.” 

The little boy looked at Mantle then turned back to his dad and said, “Daddy, that is an old man.” 

The heroes of yesterday have aged, and their mortality reminds us that age and change occur more rapidly than we think or desire. You have only a short period of time to “bloom,” so use your time wisely 

                                                                                Dr. Mike Rouse 

What to do:

✞When you see, hear, or even smell a flower, remember our time is short, so use your time wisely. 

The Cockle

Bible Reading:  Job 31

Key Verse: Verse 40 - “Let thistles grow instead of wheat, and cockle instead of barley. The words of Job are ended.”

Key Words: cockle 

You may not have heard of the cockle.  It is only mentioned once in the Word of God.  It is not a very large plant; it only grows to approximately eighteen inches high.

The cockle is also known as the stench plant.  When the cockle is crushed, it puts off a rank odor.  It taints the milk and the meat of grazing animals.

The cockle is a lot like bitterness.  It causes a big stink and defiles many.

One of the most powerful pictures of the embittered heart is seen in Herman Melville’s character, Captain Ahab, in Moby Dick.  In a violent confrontation at sea, the great white whale dubbed Moby Dick had sliced off Ahab’s leg.  Ahab had been carried to his bunk in the bowels of the ship; and there he lay, clinging to life, leg absent, during the return voyage.

“…for long months of days and weeks, Ahab and anguish lay stretched together in one hammock, rounding in mid winter that dreary, howling Patagonian Cape; then it was that his torn body and gashed soul bled into one another; and so interfusing, made him mad.”

Ahab was eventually fitted with a peg leg, but there was no prosthesis for the soul.  Obsessed with hate, Ahab set his face to search out and destroy Moby Dick, whatever the cost.  He fitted a ship, hired a crew, and mounted a voyage of vengeance, which led to his death, the destruction of his ship the “Pequod,” and the loss of all his men except Ishmael, who lived to tell the tale.

Do not let bitterness destroy you; and do not be like the cockle plant, causing a stink wherever you go. 

                                                                                                 Dr. Mike Rouse

What to do: 

✞Ask God to keep you from becoming bitter.  The only alternative is to stink up the place when you are.

The Chestnut Tree

Bible Reading:  Genesis 30:25-43

Key Verse: Verse 37 - “And Jacob took him rods of green poplar, and of the hazel and chestnut tree; and pilled white strakes in them, and made the white appear which was in the rods.”

Key Words: chestnut tree 

The chestnut tree is a tree of imposing appearance, often reaching to heights of over one hundred feet.  Its diameter can reach six to ten feet at the base.

If you scratch the bark of the chestnut tree, it automatically turns white, which is symbolic of cleanliness.  The wood from the chestnut tree was used to make drinking troughs.

Cleanliness is important in the life of the believer.

Did you know that scientists have discovered that every snowflake has a tiny piece of dust at its core?  Yes, every snowflake has a dirty heart.  In the spiritual realm, the blood of Christ is applied to the heart of an unbeliever and it cleanses him from all sin.  Not a speck of defilement remains, for God removes every stain and washes each believer whiter than snow.

Did you know that in 1842, the first bathtub was denounced as a “luxurious and democratic vanity?”  Boston made it unlawful to bathe, except on a doctor’s prescription.  In 1843, Philadelphia made bathing illegal between the dates of November 1^st and March 15^th (cold winter months). 

How tragic that many Christians have adopted a similar schedule for their spiritual cleansing!  It seems as though many would rather have the stench of the world for a season than the sweet-smelling fragrance of cleanliness. 

                                                                                             Dr. Mike Rouse

What to do:

✞When you see or hear of the chestnut tree, remember the importance of being clean spiritually.

The Cedar Tree

Bible Reading:  Psalm 104

Key Verse: Verse 16 – “The trees of the LORD are full of sap; the cedars of Lebanon, which he hath planted;”           

Key Words: the cedars of Lebanon 

There are three things we know in regard to the cedars of Lebanon.

First, the cedars are quite dense in that region of the country. 

Second, they produce a good fragrance.  People in general love to smell the cedars of Lebanon.

Third, the wood of the cedar was believed to be the wood used in the purification services.

There is a story that I love to tell in regard to purity.  The story goes something like this.

In the forests of northern Europe and Asia lives a little animal called the ermine.  He is mostly known by his snow-white fur—and there is nothing more beautiful in the fur markets of the world.  In some countries the state robes of judges are lined with it, the white being symbolic of purity and honor.  The ermine has a peculiar pride in his white fur coat.  Against all hazards he protects his fur against anything that would spoil it.

It is said that the fur hunters take cruel advantage of the ermine’s care to keep his coat clean.  They do not set a snare to catch him at some unwary moment, but instead find his home, a cleft in the rock or the hollow of a decaying tree, and daub the entrance and interior with filth.  Then their dogs start the chase.  Frightened, the ermine flees toward his home, his only place of refuge.  He finds it daubed with uncleanness, and he will not spoil his pure white coat.  Rather than go into the unclean place, he faces the yelping dogs and preserves the purity of his fur at the price of his life.  It is better that he be stained by blood than spoiled by uncleanness.

Purity for the believer is not just important – it is imperative. 

                                                                                        Dr. Mike Rouse 

What to do: 

✞Keep yourselves pure from all the impurities in this world.

                    ✞When you see or hear of the cedar tree, remember the importance of purity.