Dan Barrett
Very truly, I tell you, unless a
grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain;
but if it dies, it bears much fruit. John 12:24
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Have you been shaken to the earth
from your safe and comfortable wheat stalk?
Moses, in righteous anger, strove to
vindicate his fellow Israelite and committed murder.
Shaken.
David, in lustful wandering, took
another man’s
wife and covered it up in deceit and death.
Shaken.
The Samaritan woman, cloaked in
seclusion and shame, heard her darkest secrets revealed and identified.
Shaken.
Peter, in fear and confusion, denied
the Lord and fulfilled His prediction.
Shaken.
Saul, filled with zeal and
aggression, fell to the ground in darkness when confronted by The
Presence.
Shaken.
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These distinct individuals had a
comfortable and elevated place on their stalk of wheat, for the most part.
Other than the woman from Samaria, the other gentlemen were not only in good
standing but surely envied among their peers. If their stalk of wheat had a pecking order, each man would
have been near the top looking down from the heights and enjoying the perceived
stability.
Moses, David, Ms. Samaria, Peter,
Saul.
Real people that were shaken from
their stalk. Real people that knew God before being shaken. Five folks that, I
believe, received a more full and real understanding of God’s grace and
reality after their fall from the stalk.
Their lives changed and their futures transformed by God’s grace and
purpose.
Moses, shaken to provide the fruit of
deliverance to God’s
people.
David, shaken to express the fruit of
contrition and honest leadership to a nation.
Ms. Samaria, shaken to embrace the
fruit of devotion and belief in the Messiah.
Peter, shaken to know the fruit of
forgiveness and the demand for obedience.
Saul, shaken to live the fruit of
faithfulness as he spread the Gospel across the early world.
And thanks to these five wheat
kernels that fell from the stalk, God has transformed our understanding of The
Almighty’s
purpose and presence in our world.
These biblical stories reveal
significant shaking and transformative fruit. Our own shaking may be less severe, but our transformation
is intended to be no less fruitful.
I was shaken from the stalk on a
February morning, scribbling prayers and examining excuses in my own life. I
was shaken right into the loving and adoring hands of our Creator, to
experience the fruit of a life lived in faithful obedience. My eyes were
opened, and I can still notice the difference.
Will you share your experience of
being shaken from the stalk? If you’ve yet to experience this fall from the stalk, know there’s a set of
loving, adoring, and understanding hands ready for you. The Creator wants you
to bear much fruit.
-
dan barrett
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dan, his wife ginny and three kiddos
(genevieve, roman, & sabine) seek to bear Kingdom fruit in south austin and
are thankful to be involved in the First Austin family.
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