The Little Bamboo

  ”And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose” Romans 8:28

I recalled this story in a message that was preached in Spanish by Bishop Juan Fortino from Miami. I will do my best to share it with you in English.

There was a gardener who had a beautiful garden and in this garden he had many different flowers, trees, some fruits and vegetables and in one little corner he had one tiny little bamboo growing. The bamboo loved his gardener more than any of the other plants and trees in the garden. He loved him because the gardener use to take extra time to talk to him everyday. One day while the gardener was watering him the bamboo asked the gardener what his purpose in the garden was? The bamboo said I know the flowers are here because they give a beautiful fragrance to the garden. And I know the trees are here because they give shade to the garden, and I know the fruits and vegetables are here because they give you food. But what am I here? Why do you pay so much attention to me? The gardener said, “I have a very special purpose for you that you cannot see yet.” Although the little bamboo did not know what his specific purpose was, he was still very excited because he now knew he had a purpose. Time went by and the little bamboo grew into this great, mighty bamboo, he was taller than any of the trees in the garden. One day while enjoying the cool morning he noticed the gardener coming his way but this time he did not have his usual bucket of water he only had a large knife in his hand. As the gardener approached the bamboo he asked the bamboo, are you ready to be used for your purpose?” The bamboo was very excited and he replied,”Yes” I am ready to be used for my purpose. So the gardener begin to cut the bamboo down with the large knife and the bamboo screamed and said, Master what are you doing? That hurts so much! The gardener said, if I am going to use you I need to cut you down. The bamboo said, If you must cut be down so I can be used then have your way master. After the gardener cut the bamboo down he took him to the side of his house and laid him on a lng bench. The bamboo said, what are you going to do to me now master? The gardener said, if I want to use you I must split you open and rip your heart out and all your insides. The bamboo screamed, no master that will hurt to much! The gardener told the bamboo if I don’t then I cannot use you. The bamboo said, if you must split me open so that you can use me then do what you must master. The gardener split open the bamboo and the bamboo screamed out with pain but before he knew it the  gardener was done. The gardener left the bamboo to dry out for a couple of weeks on the side of his house and the bamboo was growing in anxiety wondering when and how the gardener was going to use him. At this time he noticed that the gardener did not pay as much attention to him as he used to. He noticed that the gardener spent most of his time taking buckets of water to the trees and the plants that were in the garden. The once little bamboo was wondering if it would have been better for him to stay in the cool of the garden then to want to be used by the master. Afte a couple of weeks the gardener returned to the bamboo and he began to put the bamboo back together. The bamboo was just so happy to be touched by the gardener that he had completely forgotten that the gardener had a special purpose for him. When the gardener was done putting the bamboo back together he picked him up and took him to the side of the stream where he used to get the buckets of water to fill the garden. The bamboo asked the gardener, master what are you going to do with me now? The gardener said, I am going to use you as a pipe from the stream to my garden. The bamboo replied, master you are going to use me to water the garden? You mean I will bring water to all the plants and trees in the garden now? Yes the gardener replied, I will now use you to bring life to my garden, without you they will not have water. The bamboo was overjoyed and could not believe the gardener would give him such a wonderful purpose. The bamboo now understood why the gardener had to what he did to use him. Many times we do not know why we are going through the thing we are going through but we can be sure that God is working His purpose out in us. Sometimes God has to cut us down, rip everything out of us, let us dry out then put us back together to use us. Remember no matter what you are going through God is going to get the glory out of your life.

“And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose” Romans 8:28

God Bless,

Another Generation

“…After them another generation rose up who did not know the Lord or the works He had done for Israel.” Judges 2:10

FORGETTING THEIR GOD 

It is amazing at how quickly after the death of Joshua that the people of Israel had forgotten about the Lord, how quickly they turned away from their faith and took after the pagan religions of the nations around them. What could cause such a great nation a holy people to turn so quickly from the ways of the Lord. The bible teaches us that as long as Joshua lived the people served the Lord and continued to worship Him and offer sacrifices. But when Joshua and the Elders died the new generation no longer knew the Lord, they no longer understood the law nor served the God of their fathers, “they did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord”. How could a generation so easily lose touch with their faith, so easily turn from the God of their forefathers, so easily follow the ways of the pagan nations.

A GENERATIONS FAILURE

The generation the entered into the promise land with Joshua was the generation of faith. It is important to understand that many that entered into the promise land were born in the time of Israels wilderness wanderings. They were eyewitnesses of God’s glory and power. They knew Moses and had witnessed many miracles in the desert, they had personally experienced the divine provision of God. They knew the law, they understood the priesthood and the sacrifices, they in the desert had learn to worship and serve God. They had direct revelation of the divine! This generation served God with all their hearts and they rendered unto God the reverence and the worship that was due unto him – but in all of this they still had a great failure. This is what the  book of Deuteronomy teaches the Hebrew nation concerning God and His law, “You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. Then it shall come about when the LORD your God brings you into the land which He swore to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to give you, great and splendid cities which you did not build, and houses full of all good things which you did not fill, and hewn cisterns which you did not dig, vineyards and olive trees which you did not plant, and you eat and are satisfied, then watch yourself, that you do not forget the LORD who brought you from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery” (Dt 6:7-12 NASB). The command was to teach diligenty the next generation so that they would not forget. This was the great failure of Joshua’s generation their failure to teach their children about God, about His laws, about the beauty of their faith. This generation failed to bring their children into a love relationship with God, not a relationship of just biblical rules and regulations but a relationship that abounded with Holy love for God. This generation after Joshua did not remember the Lord, they did not remember that God had brought out their forefathers form Egypt, they did not understand the bondage their forefathers had been in and they had no sense or understanding of the great deliverance God had done for their forefathers. It was simply a generation that forgot!

ANOTHER GENERATION’S FAILURE

Their is another great failure that must be noted. Not only did Joshua’s generation fail but the generations after Joshua failed. They failed in the aspect that whatever was taught about God was rejected in favor for the pagan religions that surrounded them. This generation wanted to be free, free from the faith of their fathers, free to experiment and try new religions and philosophies, they failed to realize that the more they wrapped themselves with the ideas of paganism and liberalism the more they became bound to the system of the world. This generation was inexcusable, they could not blame their sins and idolatry on their forefathers because the bible teaches us that in times of distress God would raise up men and women Judges who would remind them and teach them about God, they themselves would see the provision and power of God, this is what the Word of God says, ”Then the LORD raised up judges who delivered them from the hands of those who plundered them. Yet they did not listen to their judges, for they played the harlot after other gods and bowed themselves down to them. They turned aside quickly from the way in which their fathers had walked in obeying the commandments of the LORD; they did not do as their fathers. When the LORD raised up judges for them, the LORD was with the judge and delivered them from the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge; for the LORD was moved to pity by their groaning because of those who oppressed and afflicted them. But it came about when the judge died, that they would turn back and act more corruptly than their fathers, in following other gods to serve them and bow down to them; they did not abandon their practices or their stubborn ways” (Judges 2:16-19 NASB). Inexcusable was this generation and thats how God is He will hold each and everyone of us accountable to His Word. Whether mother or father, daughter or son each one of us is accountable to God on an individual basis their is none that will have an excuse before God both rich and poor, small and great will have to give account to the same God. The Apostle Paul said it more profoundly than all I think because he said, “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.”

BREAK THE CYCLE

One of the deepest spiritual truths that the book of Judges reveals is this sinful cycle that man lives in. One of the phrases that you will continually run into when reading the book of Judges is “And the children of Israel again did evil the sight of the Lord” they were in continual cycle:

1. They would find themselves oppressed and in need of God

2. They would call on God

3. God would hear, raise a Judge and deliver them

4. The Judge would die and they would return to their wicked ways

This was sinful cycle that the Israelites were constantly in. They only called on God when they had need and they would serve Him for a short while but would always return to their wicked way (how this must hurt God). This is the same cycle we see in many believer today, the same cycle we see in much of the young generation. I think of 911 and other times of great tragedy do you remember how full the churches were, do you remember even presidents and great leaders praying and crying out to God. I remember brothers and sisters young and old seeking God for protection, deliverance and guidance but after a short while those that were so moved returned to their old ways. How easily we forget, how easily we let go; when will we break the cycle? The cycle will be broken when we become like Ezra and Nehemiah when men and women have a burden for the Word when men and women both young and old seek God daily and do not just call on Him in time of tragedy. The cycle will break when our hearts burn with a Holy love for God. When we become like the two men on the road to Emmaus, “Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked to us by the way, and while he opened to the Scriptures?” Will our hearts ever come to that place where we don’t need tragedy and great deliverance for us to be moved in His kingdom. Will we ever just be in that place where our hearts burn because He speaks to us. This cycle, this tragedy of our generations growing up without faith in God will end when our hearts begin to burn in us, when we we are consumed by a holy passion for God. When excuses are laid to the side and we get to that place where our hearts will burn for His presence, His anointing, His glory in our lives. Before we give the next generation our Godly standards and before they can embrace the spirtiual precepts of God Word we must be sure that their hearts first burn for God. Rules and regulations will not keep them; but a burning in the heart for Him, for His word, for His holiness this will keep them, this will keep us.

God Bless,

© 2007 Apostolic Messenger Minister Daniel Bracamonte