We Are Called to be a Hothouse for Heaven

I pray  this passage from the Valley of Vision along with the writer;

Sanctify and prosper my domestic devotion, 

instruction, discipline, example, 

that my house may be a nursery for heaven, 

my church the garden of the Lord, 

enriched with trees of righteousness of 

thy planting, for thy glory;

I want that for my house Lord!  That my home would be a nursery or hothouse for heaven!  That my church would be the garden of the Lord where He rests and delights in the good fruit being produced there.

But the writer makes a keen observation as what precedes this is of utmost importance.  We must be devoted to the call that God has placed on our lives as mothers, daughters and sisters.  We need to be sanctified in the area of our devotion to our work but more importantly to the Word of God.

How can we instruct, discipline others. or expect to be an example to our families if we are not in the Word, being continually renewed in our hearts and minds?

A nursery takes careful care of the plants that they are propagating.  Often times we are so set on doing our own thing we lose sight of the high call to disciple our own children.

We are to be ambassadors for Christ to those that He has placed in our sphere of influence, whether that is our children, our husbands or our brothers and sisters in Christ.

Ambassadors are high ranking official messangers or agents who are representing a sovereign state.

... And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him. 

For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, 

no longer counting peoples sin against them.  

And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation.  

So we are Christ's ambassadors; 

God is making His appeal through us.  

We speak for Christ when we plead, 

"Come back to God!"  

For God made Christ, who never sinned, 

to be the offering for our sin, 

so that we could be made right with God through Christ.  

2 Corinthians 5:18-21 NLT 

We have been given this high call of reconciling people to God.  We are to proclaim the wonderful message of reconciliation, allowing God to make His appeal to others through us.  As we continually cry out in our lives, "Come back to God!"  We proclaim the good news of the kingdom each and every day.  

This must be our continual anthem as we go through our days, starting in our home.  We must take serious the high call on our lives to declare the message of reconciliation to our families.  That means we must no longer count peoples sin against them.  We must show the radical forgiveness of the kingdom to our families.  

We want our families to be enriched with trees of righteousness that God has planted for His glory.  

Isaiah 61:1-3 is a call for ambassadors

The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, 

because the LORD has anointed me 

to bring good news to the poor; 

he has sent me to bind up the broken-hearted, 

to proclaim liberty to the captives, 

and the opening of the prison to those 

who are bound; 

to proclaim the year of the LORD's favor, 

and the day of vengeance of our God; 

to comfort all who mourn;  

to grant to those who mourn in Zion- 

to give them a beautiful headdress 

instead of ashes, 

the oil of gladness instead of mourning, 

the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit; 

that they may be called oaks of righteousness, 

the planting of the LORD, that he may be glorified.

Let us not forget that it is by His Spirit being upon us and anointing us that we are even able to accomplish this task.  That God would plant oaks of righteousness in our families for His glory!

James 3:18 gives us insight as in producing a harvest of righteousness 

And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.  

So Father, thank you for planting the seeds of righteousness in us through Christ.  Help us to make peace in our sphere of influence whether we are navigating through toddler squabbles, encouraging older kids in their relationships or getting a grip on our own defiled hearts, seeing that we create chaos and disorder in our homes through what we say or do.  

We need a fresh vision of the Prince of Peace! Open eyes of our understanding we pray!

 We want to raise trees of righteousness for your glory, where people can come and rest in our branches enjoying the shade of heaven.  

We recognize that you have planted people in the hothouse of our lives and it is You that lives inside  of us and we move forward in Your anointing to accomplish this high call of God.  

Help us to rise to the high call of Christ today in every action and reaction!