Random Ramblings from the Resident Raptor
Insight from the Journey across the Sky
Plant your seed in the morning, and don’t let your hands rest until evening. You don’t know whether this field or that field will be profitable or whether both of them will {turn out} equally well. Eccl 11:6 (GW)
John came, and gave baptism in the waste land, preaching baptism as a sign of forgiveness of sin for those whose hearts were changed. Mark 1:4 (BBE)
And in those days John the Baptist came preaching in the waste land of Judaea, Saying, Let your hearts be turned from sin; for the kingdom of heaven is near. Matt 3:1-2 (BBE)
There was a mailman, John Hand, who rode his mail truck through Los Altos Hills of California on his 50 mile route each day. The route was plain, all brown and virtually no color. One day he began to throw wild flower seeds out of the window as he drove. Today, if you travel his route in the Los Altos Hills you’ll find beautiful patches of flowers throughout, blossoming in many colors.
Johnny Chapman 
was born in Leominster, Massachusetts, on September 26, 1774. He grew up to be a successful man who owned many nurseries in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Illinois, and Indiana, yet Johnny lived a simple life. Johnny was a skilled nurseryman who grew trees and supplied seeds to the pioneers in the mid-western USA. In addition he gave away and sold many trees. His real name was John Chapman, but people called him Johnny Appleseed because of his love for growing apple trees.
Johnny died at the age of 70; and is buried in Fort Wayne, Indiana. He had spent 50 years growing apple trees and traveling to spread his precious trees around his country. Legend has it that as he traveled around he wore his cooking pot on his head as a hat.
John the Baptizer was in the desert telling people about a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. All Judea and all the people of Jerusalem went to him. As they confessed their sins, he baptized them in the Jordan River. John was dressed in clothes made from camel’s hair. He wore a leather belt around his waist and ate locusts and wild honey.Mark 1:4-6 (GW)
John Hand, Johnny Appleseed and John the Baptist all spread beauty wherever they went. You can trace John Hands movements by the beautiful flowers which grow along his mail route. The results of many years of traveling the same route daily and tossing out seeds of beauty on an otherwise plain and barren route. Those seeds now bring much beauty to others who follow John Hand’s route through the desert.
Johnny Chapman loved apple trees. He loved them so much that he felt every body should have at least one. His mission and passion was to spread the good news of apple trees to whomever he met. If someone could not afford to buy an apple tree Johnny would give them one. Today there are many apple trees throughout Pennsylvania, Ohio, Kentucky, Illinois and Indiana because of Johnny Chapman’s passion.
John the Baptist came to spread the gospel of repentance through Jesus Christ. He spread the seeds of revival that still spring forth today. Dressed in sackcloth and eating locust and wild honey John the Baptist, like Johnny Chapman, lived a simple life, yet his message had an impact that would spread through generations.
In our daily lives are we spreading the GOOD SEEDS of God’s kingdom everywhere we go? Do we see the barrenness of our surroundings and simply look the other way or are we attempting to make a difference one seed at a time? It does not take much. Just a handful of seeds spread along our normal daily routes can make a lasting difference in our surroundings.
We all travel different roads. God has given us wonderful opportunities to change and bring added beauty to our landscapes. In our families, at our jobs, in the world around us, opportunities to color those landscapes! It’s far easier for us to complain and resign ourselves to settling for those landscapes, than it is to be the catalysts of change. From this point on, let’s resolve to stop complaining about the lifelessness around us and do something about it! God has given us the power and anointing to change those landscapes!
Spread some seeds today, that will produce lasting results tomorrow.
But those who are waiting for the Lord will have new strength; they will get wings like eagles: running, they will not be tired, and walking, they will have no weariness. Isaiah 40:31
(BBE)
Along for the journey
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