Toxic Beauty!
Well, it has truly been a while since I was on here to write anything!
I could say it was because I was too busy. And I guess in a way I was. Life has a way of getting in the way. One of the things that got in the way was something that I truly love to do. Work in my garden.
Now if any of you who are on Facebook that read my little blogs or stories know all about my garden. I post pictures of it all the time. I post pictures of my Roses, Hibiscus, my Lantana, Jasmine, Stock my Gardenias. All of which I have a bounty full. I love my flowers, my little garden brings me such tranquility. It is a place that I go and can just get alone with God. But, of all the flowers in my little garden I have one that I was so happy to get and have. It is called a Moonflower.
I had heard and watched a few things about the Moonflower and I just had to have one in my garden. One of the things was that they only bloomed at night. That to me was a pretty cool little feature. Another thing was that they were blooms as big as your hand. The best thing of all though was that they were to have a most enticing aroma. I wanted one so I could plant it outside my window and open that window and be able to smell that lovely smell. I also wanted to have Morning Glories. They bloom in the morning and are supposed to go hand in hand with the Moonflowers.
I searched and searched for the seeds so I could have this beauty. Alas and alack, I got my hands on some.
Now, the seeds I got did not look like the seeds I had seen online. But I thought, maybe they come in different varieties. The package said Moonflower and the picture looked like a Moonflower. Walks like a duck - quacks like a duck - it must be a duck right?
As soon as I could I planted the seeds. I planted a few of them with high hopes. One! One little plant started to grow. The rest were duds. I babied that plant. And sure enough it started to grow. It didn't grow super tall but I had planted it a little late. I also didn't plant it by my bedroom. Even though the package and all info said they do great in the sun I had been "sun burned" before by flowers that said the same thing. So, I planted them where they would get morning sun and afternoon shade. So I thought that is why they didn't grow so tall. But they did grow enough to produce these glorious white flowers that were as big as my hand. But even though they did produce flowers, the flowers were just, well, bland. There was no vibrant aroma that filled the space. They were just pretty.
So, I thought, well, maybe they are the flowers that really do thrive in the full sun. They needed a change of scenery. So they got a new home. Right in the front yard close to my bedroom. I really know nothing about gardening so my thought process was if they do good in the afternoon heat maybe that is what they will need to produce that luscious smell I was wanting.
I transplanted it and the last of the leaves fell off and I was left with a stick. But I do know enough to know that if you keep watering it you might get a miracle. I was just about to give up and try it over again with some of the seeds that I had left over when what to my wondering eyes should appear but a leaf! Then another and then another and so on. It wasn't too long before I had a full sized plant. Then just as I was about to give up on it ever blooming I noticed a bloom and then another and then another.
Sure enough one or two of them would bloom and again the blooms were as big as my hand. I took picture after picture and posted them. I was so proud of how beautiful they were. But to my sadness they still had no aroma. It was like beauty with no substance. Shallow.
They did bloom at night but the flowers would still be open in the morning but they would die off by the afternoon. I knew that they were toxic to my dogs so I made sure to get them off the plant before they could fall off and my little pups could get them. But then something strange happened. Where the bloom had been there was a strange kind of formation growing. So back to google for more information. It said the flowers would produce seed pods and if you did not want them growing everywhere then you need to get rid of the seed pod. Okay, I had a few seed pods on my Moonflower. I contemplated taking them off but then I thought I would harvest them so that I could let someone else have the pleasure of trying to grow these beauties.
I was sitting there one night and noticed that the plant was leaning to one side. I wanted it to grow straight so I got a stick and was going straighten it up. I reached in to set it up and accidentally touched one of those spiky seed pods. It did not take me long to see it. Those darn things hurt.
I decided to see what I was going to have to do harvest the seeds. Google is your friend sometimes.
I am here to tell you that I was shocked when I looked up how to harvest the Moonflower seeds and realized that the seed pods I had in my yard and the seed pods I was looking at on Google were not the same. Imagine my horror when I realized that what I was growing was, well it was a Moonflower, kinda, sorta. You see the plant that I was actually growing can be called a Moonflower because, well, it blooms at night and the flower looks almost identical to a true Moonflower. But the real name of the plant that I was growing is called Datura or Jimson Weed, or Devil's Weed or Devil's Trumpet.
A true Moonflower is called Ipomoea Alba. It is not the same thing.
Although the Moonflower can be toxic and make animals sick if they eat the blossoms, the Datura, Devil's Trumpet is completely toxic. Everything about it. Even to humans. It can even be deadly!
It has to go!!!! I can not afford to have something that deadly in my yard.
After finding this out I got to thinking about it.
Toxic Beauty!
That is what Satan offers. Toxic Beauty.
He offered it to Eve in the Garden and ever since we have been paying the price for that Toxic Beauty. That enticing lie. And he continues to do the same thing still.
He offers lies for truth , but he paints them up and dresses them up in enticing ways so that we don't see the trap until it is too l:ate. We are easily led astray by the shiny and destructive things in life.
He tells us that we are only accountable to our own selves. We don't have to heed the Word of God! He leads us down a primrose path and we follow. We would rather hear and see, taste and cling to the toxic beauty that he offers us through the world until it has us entangled in sin and our own destruction. He uses the Word of God to twist the truth.
We are told that God is love. A loving God allows us to be who we want to be. We can choose our own identity. Just like the toxic beauty of the Datura, we believe those lies.
We are told, even by some in the church, people who call themselves Christians, that God just wants us to be happy. I am sure that I do not find that in my Bible. That is a twisted truth, a toxic lie.
We are led to believe that it is okay to be and do whatever pleases us, because surely a God that made us would want us to be able to know the joys that this world has to offer.
He has twisted the truth of God's Word so much that he has only left the sparkly shiny stuff and not the substance.
Yes, it is true, that God does love us. His Word tell us that God so loved the world that He gave His only Son to die for us while we were yet sinners. Not while we were saints! His Word also says that there will be a judgement for ALL of us who do not have our sins covered by the precious blood that was shed for us by the beautiful Rose of Sharon, Jesus himself.
Jesus is the real thing. The real deal. There is no other like Him!
Several places in the Bible we are warned that we should not be deceived.
Ephesians 5:6, Jeremiah 29:8, 1 Corinthians 6:9-10, 1 Corinthians 15:33 and Galatians 6:7.
It warns, it screams at us!
DO NOT BE DECEIVED!
Take the blinders off. Seek the truth. And as much as I sought the truth about the Moonflower on Google, you will not find the truth about God and His love for you there. You will find it in His Word. The Bible!
The Bible tells us to seek Him while He may be found.
Don't you think it is time to rid yourself of all the toxic beauty in your life and replace it with the truth?
Time is running out!
May your eyes be opened to see the lies that Satan has been showering you with and the truth will set you free!
