The Guard Donkey

An Unlikely Guard 

I find it interesting that God used a donkey to instruct a disobedient prophet.  In today’s time donkeys are often used to guard livestock.  What I find interesting is that they dislike dogs, coyotes and foxes but will also chase bears, strange livestock, and other intruders.  Donkeys also have exceptional hearing, a keen nose and excellent vision.  Because of their excellent vision they are able to see great distances and therefore protect livestock.  Donkeys have extremely hard, small hooves and are amazingly accurate in where they place them.  They have strong necks, jaws and teeth and when they move away from predators it leads the predator to believe they are retreating but really they are encouraging the predator to attack them from behind.  To the predators dismay a well place kick can send them flying.  Donkeys are often used to protect sheep and cattle and if raised with them will be extremely protective.

In Balaam’s case his donkey was smart.  Apparently smarter than Balaam in many ways.  God sent an angel to warn Balaam and also allowed the donkey to see the angel but not Balaam.  God was trying to warn Balaam that his path was a reckless one before God.  The other interesting thing is that God told Balaam that if the donkey had not turned away each time the angel stood in front of him that he would have killed Balaam but spared the donkey. 

I don’t know about you but sometimes I am hard headed and don’t listen and often don’t even try to hear God speaking to me.  I wonder if I would have been just like Balaam trying to go my own way and not paying any attention to what God wants me to do.  I think I do that sometimes to my own detriment.  God would surely have my attention if a donkey talked to me but if you read further, instead of Balaam thinking that it was a miracle that the donkey was talking to him Balaam talks back to the donkey.  Then the donkey said to Balaam “Am I not your own donkey, which you have always ridden, to this day? Have I been in the habit of doing this to you?   “No,” he said.  Numbers 22:30

It took the Lord opening Balaam’s eyes for him to see the angel and know that it was the Lord speaking to him. 

I think if a donkey spoke to me or any other animal for that matter, especially one speaking in Hebrew, God would have my attention.

Prayer for the Day:  Father, I am guilty of not listening when you try to speak to me.  I often think I am in control when I am not.  I pray that if you ever try to speak to me through a donkey or any other animal, that I would be wise enough to shut up and listen. 


Scripture: Balaam got up in the morning, saddled his donkey and went with the Moabite officials.  But God was very angry when he went, and the angel of the Lord stood in the road to oppose him.  Balaam was riding on his donkey and his two servants were with him.  When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord standing in the road with a drawn sword in his hand, it turned off the road into a field.  Balaam beat it to get it back on the road.  Then the angel of the Lord stood in a narrow path through the vineyards, with walls on both sides.  When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord, it pressed close to the wall, crushing Balaam's foot against it.  So he beat the donkey again.  Then the angel of the Lord moved on ahead and stood in a narrow place where there was no room to turn, either to the right or to the left.  When the donkey saw the angel of the Lord, it lay down under Balaam, and he was angry and beat it with his staff.  Then the Lord opened the donkey's mouth, and it said to Balaam, "What have I done to you to make you beat me these three times?"  Balaam answered the donkey, "You have made a fool of me!  If only I had a sword in my hand, I would kill you right now."  Numbers 22:21-29  

Kudzu & Carp

Sin will invade our lives if we let it.

 
  

Have you noticed how we try to use something that is supposed to fix a problem and it sort of backfires on us.  Such is the case of Kudzu and Carp.  If you don’t know what Kudzu is, it is an invasive vine that was originally used to stop erosion in the United States.  It was introduced into the United States in 1876 at the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition.  The problem with it is it can grow up to a foot per day and can climb trees, power poles, houses and just about anything that isn’t moving.  It also will destroy forests because it prevents trees from getting sunlight.

Then there is the Asian carp.  These fish were imported into the United States to control algae growth in lakes.  They can grow from three to seven feet long depending on the species, and weigh in at 60 to 150 pounds.  They also are jumpers.  They can jump 10 feet vertically and up to 20 feet horizontally and most of the jumping occurs when they are startled by fishing boats on lakes and often land in boats or hit passengers in the boats.  They also multiply very quickly which makes them a very invasive fish. 

Now I am sure you are wondering why I am talking about Kudzu and Carp in my devotional.  Well to answer that question, we often try to fix things in our lives just as we do in the environment and not always in a good way.  We use alcohol, drugs, money or any number of things to control or eliminate the pain in our lives.  And before we know it, whatever we use to try to fix our lives takes over and consumes us.  Satan is willing to use whatever it takes to keep our focus on anything but God and His will for our lives.  It is a constant battle that we must fight everyday and we need God’s strength to survive it.

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, I am guilty of letting sin invade my life just like kudzu and carp invades our land and lakes.  I need your strength to help me overcome Satan's lies and invasion in my life.  Please help me to keep my eyes on you and not allow the sin in this world to distract me from my purpose here on earth. 


Scripture: One day the angels came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came with them.  The LORD said to Satan, “Where have you come from?” Satan answered the LORD, “From roaming through the earth and going back and forth in it.” Then the LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil.”  “Does Job fear God for nothing?” Satan replied.  “Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has? You have blessed the work of his hands, so that his flocks and herds are spread throughout the land. But now stretch out your hand and strike everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face.” Job 1:6-11

Be Transparent

Your life is something opaque, not transparent, as long as you look at it in an ordinary human way.  But if you hold it up against the light of God's goodness, it shines and turns transparent, radiant and bright.  And then you ask yourself in amazement:  Is this really my own life I see before me?  ~Albert Schweitzer

Do you ever pay attention to the fine print in commercials?   I recently was watching a local one and my husband brought it to my attention.  He asked if I had ever read the fine print at the bottom.

Of course I said no, because the way the comercial is presented you literally have two seconds (we timed it), to read the fine (translate tiny) print before it is gone from the screen.  Well, our household lives somewhat in the technology age of DVR's so my husband, who by the way is the only one in our household who can work the TV remote, rewound it and stopped it to let me read the fine print.  

The big visible numbers on the screen showed that you could buy a car for under $100 but the fine print stated that after 6 months of paying the low amount, the payment amount would increase to the regular price until the end of the note.  

We live in a world that is not transparent.  If you ever listen to some of the commercials done by speed readers, they spend the last 10 seconds of the commercials telling you the parts that you won't like about whatever it is you are buying and they're speaking fast enough that you can't understand it all in the first place.  

The one thing that I can count on in this life to be transparent is God.  I don't have to ever wonder if he is the real thing, or if he loves me and I don't have to look for the fine print.  If you notice the Bible is written in the same size letters.  There is no hidden agenda, no fine print that will cheat you out of your salvation.  It's all there for anyone who cares to read it.  I also know that he can see everything about me, my thoughts, where my heart is, everything.  So really I am transparent to him as well.  What that means is that he can see the ugly parts as well as the good.  I want to be as transparent in my everyday life as God is with me. 

  
Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, thank You for reminding me that You can see my every thought, You know my heart, and You know when I am trying to hide from You.  I pray that You will help me to be as transparent as Jesus was because you see it all anyway.  I just think I am hiding but I am fooling myself.  Thank you for loving me enough to show me what it takes to live in eternity with You forever by being transparent.   

Scripture: Whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them.  This is why I speak to them in parables: “Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand.  In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah: "You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving. Matthew 13:12-14

God Shows Up

When you least expect it, God shows up.

If you are like me, the more you come to know Christ the more you see him in your everyday life.  Sometimes the issue we have is not looking for him everywhere and at all times. 

Several years ago I was struggling with an issue in my life and at the time I felt really alone.  It was lunch time and I walked over to the hospital to pick up a prescription and get lunch.  At the hospital where I worked there is an Interfaith Prayer Garden.  It is a circular area that is surrounded by fountains, trees, benches and the sound of birds.  The day was beautiful but my heart was heavy.  I decided to eat my lunch at one of the benches inside the garden.  I randomly selected a bench and went to sit down when I noticed a plaque attached to the back of the bench.  The plaque read “I can do everything through him who gives me strength.” Philippians 4:13 

Isn’t this how God speaks to us when we least expect it.  In this single verse I found peace.  Sometimes when we don’t even realize we are searching for something from him he gives it to us.  The thing is you have to always be looking for him because sometimes he comes in a whisper.  Sometimes he won’t speak to us loud or with great fanfare.   I think too many times we expect that because God is who he is, he will always come to us in some large display so that all can see he is there.  I find that my most intimate moments with God are quiet and peaceful and that is when he speaks to me the loudest.

  
Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, thank you for the times you speak to me in a whisper.  I pray that I will always be on the lookout for your presence in everything I do.  Help me not to miss the times you speak to me and open my ears so I will listen and keep my attention focused on you. 

Scripture: The Lord said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.”  Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind.  After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake.  After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire.  And after the fire came a gentle whisper.  When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave.  Then a voice said to him, What are you doing here, Elijah?”  1 Kings 19:11-13

Tell Your Story

Don't judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds that you plant.  ~Robert Louis Stevenson
 

If you have lived any time at all on this earth, you have a story to tell.  You have so much to share whether it be suffering and laughter, loneliness and sorrow, happiness or forgiveness.  Have you perfected your story?  What you will tell someone else if they ask you why you believe the way you do?  

Several years ago, I am sad to say, I would not have told my story to anyone.  I didn't think my story was worth telling and I honestly didn't think anyone would want to hear it.  Isn't that how Satan works in our lives?  He convinces us that what we have to say isn't worthy and that nothing we can say will plant a seed in someone else's heart that will help them to come to know Christ. 

I am thankful to be able to say that I no longer have that fear.  I have shared my story with so many people and what I found was that people were thirsty.  Thirsty for God knowledge.  What we have to keep in mind is that the only way some people will reach heaven is by the seeds each of us plants.  But we have to start gardening now and there is no time to waste.  There are hungry souls waiting to be fed and you just may be the person to plant the right seed.  Can you imagine getting to heaven and talking to one of the people whose soul you helped save?  Besides seeing God face to face, I can't imagine anything I would like to see more.

     
Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, you give each of us a story to tell.  Our purpose here on earth is to bring souls to heaven.  I pray that you will help others understand that they have an amazing story to tell and sometimes the suffering they may go through is teaching them to help others.  Father, you have an amazing way of teaching us sometimes through hardship and sometimes through laughter.  Thank you for showing us the way home.   

Scripture:  Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.  Let the redeemed of the Lord tell their story—those he redeemed from the hand of the foe, those he gathered from the lands, from east and west, from north and south. Psalm 107:1-3

Steering Wheel or Spare Tire

“Is prayer your steering wheel or your spare tire?”
― Corrie ten Boom

When I was in my early twenties my Dad decided that I needed to learn how to change a tire.   We lived in Dallas and Dad wanted to make sure that if I ever had a flat tire, that I could change it on my own without help.  Dad was always good at teaching lessons through wisdom.  We parked my car behind the garage and he told me that it would be good to rotate my tires at the same time.  Now I was thinking that this would take about thirty minutes tops.  Well if you have ever rotated your own tires, it takes quite a bit longer and spending a Saturday rotating my tires wasn’t really my idea of a great time but I understood the purpose of this lesson. 

So we start the process of trying to remove the lug nuts from the first tire.  I am not a large person and I could not budge the first one even when I stood on the tire tool.   (This is the whole reason to do this lesson.  To make sure you can even get the tire off is a good thing.)  So Dad decides I need a “cheater.”  If you don’t know what a cheater is the best way to describe it is “finding something to use as leverage.”  By the way this definition is not in the dictionary so I am not sure where it came from or if I even spelled it right. 

My Dad is very resourceful, so he designed me a cheater out of PVC pipe that I could leave in my trunk for emergencies.   I could slide the pipe onto the end of the tire tool and it gave me enough leverage to loosen the lug nuts.  I spent that Saturday rotating my tires while my Dad sat in a lawn chair observing and giving pointers. 

Not long after that lesson I did have a flat tire on LBJ Freeway and I had someone pull up behind me but not close enough to help me.  I remember how scared I was because I don’t think the guy was there to help me because he just sat there and watched to see what I would do.   Fortunately for me, another car pulled up and a young man got out and helped me change the tire.  He said he saw the other man sitting behind me watching and he decided to stop as he had a young wife and he would want someone to stop and help her.  God sends angels when you least expect it. 

Anyway the moral of this story is that I want prayer to be my steering wheel, not my spare tire.  I want my prayer life to be about using it to steer my life, not just when things get really bad, or when I want something.  I want prayer to be the first thing I think about and utilize in my everyday life.  The more I use prayer as my steering wheel, the more I see God at work in my everyday life.  If I only use it when there is disaster or trial then it is always going to be in the trunk which is not going to help me much in this life.  The steering wheel is what points me in the right direction.  The spare tire is only there to keep me going if something happens.  And believe me something is going to happen and I want God to be in the front seat not in the trunk.

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, my spare tire is there for emergencies only.  I want You to be up front driving and to do that I have to always remember that prayer is my way of reaching you and placing you behind my steering wheel.  Help me to pray in every situation and with thanksgiving.  You are an amazing God and I know that when I present my requests to You, You listen, You care and You are near me.     

Scripture: Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  Philippians 4:6

The Roadrunner

I don't think jogging is healthy, especially morning jogging.  If morning joggers knew how tempting they looked to morning motorists, they would stay home and do sit-ups.  ~Rita Rudner

 

Did you ever watch the cartoon "The Roadrunner"?  You had Wile Coyote who chased the roadrunner continuously.  Every time the coyote saw the Roadrunner, a bubble would pop up over his head showing him as his next meal.  Wile Coyote had a relentless need to catch the Roadrunner.  The problem was the roadrunner was faster and smarter.  Unfortunately the coyote was always trying to use some gizmo or gadget to catch the roadrunner and somehow it always backfired on him.  

It always makes me think of our lives on earth.  Instead of running this race of life as God would want, we are chasing everything here on earth with a relentless pursuit of things.  When one thing fails to capture our attention for long, we take off after another.  It is like an endless cycle of searching, failing, starting again and on and on it goes.  If we run the race that God has set before us, we will get the crown that will last forever.  I want to be in that race, not the one that the coyote runs that is filled with danger and failure.   

   
Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, I am guilty of running this race on earth like the coyote, who chased the wrong things and failed over and over again.  I want to run the race to heaven where I will gain a lasting crown in eternity.  Help me to focus on You and run this race of life with persistence and help me to not be distracted by the everyday things that move me away from You. 

Scripture:  I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.  Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. 1 Corinthians 9:24-25

Life's A Puzzle

 

Sometimes our puzzle is missing a piece.
 

     

Have you ever put together a puzzle?  One of the things I find interesting is that I always start the puzzle with the outside.  Once you have the frame, you can then begin to start piecing together the inside.  Have you ever put together a puzzle and come up with a piece missing.  Somehow that one piece got lost and now you feel like all that work to get the thing together was a waste because it isn’t complete. 

Our journey with Christ is very similar.  Our life is not complete without God in it and the thing is, He is the most important piece of the puzzle and sometimes that piece is missing.  Our whole life is like putting together a puzzle on an empty table.  I dress up and go to church and I say the right things and look like I’m living the way God wants me to but on the inside I am missing something.  So the frame of my puzzle is together but the inside is empty. Then I determine that I have not forgiven someone, or I treat someone harshly, or I gossip about someone, I don’t tithe, I don’t help others in need, I don’t love my neighbor as myself.  So gradually I start working on each piece one at a time.  As I work on each piece (my journey with Christ) my puzzle starts coming together.  But it is still not complete.  God is the center piece.  He is the most important part of the whole puzzle and without Him we will always be frustrated looking for that last missing piece. 

  
Prayer for the Day:  Father, I thank you daily for the grace and mercy you show me when I am putting my puzzle (me) together.  If I allow you to guide my steps and let you into my heart, I know one day my puzzle will be complete as long as the center piece is You.  Please help me with the missing pieces of my puzzle.     

Scripture:  But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control.  Against such things there is no law.  Galatians 5:22-23

The Simple Days

The best things in life are nearest:  Breath in your nostrils, light in your eyes, flowers at your feet, duties at your hand, the path of right just before you.  Then do not grasp at the stars, but do life's plain, common work as it comes, certain that daily duties and daily bread are the sweetest things in life.  ~Robert Louis Stevenson

 

Do you miss the simple things in life?  Some of us are old enough to remember them and wise enough to want them back.  This evening on my way home I was thinking about life and how simple it used to be.  We didn't lock our doors at night.  We could play until after dark and still make it home without our parents worrying about what happened to us.  You could walk to your friends house a mile down the road and no one thought twice about it and you rode your bicycle everywhere.  The whole family ate dinner together and you didn't even turn on the TV or eat on a TV tray.

Evenings in the summer were spent playing hide-and-seek in the dark, walking in the woods behind the house, floating in the creek on an innertube, chasing fireflies and putting them in a jar.  You played with your brothers and sisters because you didn't live close enough to anyone else.  You learned to share, you didn't watch TV much because you only got 3 channels and they weren't HD or transmitted by satellite or dish. You got up on Saturdays and helped mow the yard and haul firewood and you didn't know what a video game was so it didn't bother you when your Mom told you to go outside and play.   

You rode the bus to school or walked and didn't worry about if your kids got there.  You didn't have a bus monitor because you didn't need one.  Do you remember the statement "If you get in trouble at school it will be twice as bad when you get home."  So guess what?  You didn't go to the principals office, kids didn't shoot each other, and 7 year olds didn't get caught with a gun in their backpack.  

When I listen to the news each morning or evening, I long for heaven where there will be no sorrow, no pain, and especially no tears.     

  
Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, this world we live in is in trouble.  Our children are in crises and I pray for each of them.  I pray that you would protect them and I pray for parents as well.  That they will take the time out for their children and teach them the way they should go by spending time with them.   

Scripture:  Acknowledge and take to heart this day that the Lord is God in heaven above and on the earth below. There is no other.  Keep his decrees and commands, which I am giving you today, so that it may go well with you and your children after you and that you may live long in the land the Lord your God gives you for all time. Deuteronomy 4:39-41

Gladys Knight & the Pips

I love to think of nature as an unlimited broadcasting station, through which God speaks to us every hour, if we will only tune in. ~George Washington Carver

I will conclude my saga on the doves today.  My husband went to watch the baseball game with friends and I had errands to run after work so I declined to go with him.  When I arrived home I went to check on our birds.  

When I spoke with my husband earlier, he told me that we now had two baby birds back and also the mother.  I decided to name them for the duration until they move on to greener pastures and since I always liked Gladys Knight's music they are now Gladys Knight and the Pips.  

Well Gladys and the Pips had a problem.  The nest was destroyed.  There were only a few twigs left.  When I left yesterday morning part of the nest had fallen away and the baby was half hanging out of it with Gladys trying to hold him in by sitting on him.  Jerry's theory is that it is a natural progression for the mother to destroy the nest and kick the kids to the curb.  In other words, it's time to move out and get your own place. 

I am a softy at heart so I decided to build them a condo.  Just a temporary living space until they find something better. In other words I enabled them.  So I gathered up sticks, leaves, branches and other miscellaneous materials for my project.  I sat on the patio and built them a condo nest. 

By the time my husband came home I had gone inside to await Gladys and the Pips return to their new digs.  Jerry walked in laughing.  He said he looked over at the tree and thought a squirrel had moved in because there was no way Gladys could build a nest that big in an hour.  He knows me so well.  He immediately determined that his wife, (that would be me), had built the nest. 

Well I am sad to report that Gladys and the Pips have not returned.  I think they may be a little intimidated by the extravagant construction, or maybe they're disgusted with my construction abilities or lack thereof.  I for one am even more impressed with God's creation, because I don't know any other way that a bird with two legs and a beak can build a nest without string, duct tape and fingers. 
  

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, I am guilty of tuning out the very things that you provide for me to clearly see you.  Please help me to keep my focus on you and see you in everything around me.  I know I am stronger because of the beauty I see around me every day.  Thank you for Your tender mercies and the blessings that are everywhere I look if I will only tune in. 

Scripture:   The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.  For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened.  Romans 1:18-21

The Dove

There is nothing in which the birds differ more from man than the way in which they can build and yet leave a landscape as it was before. ~Robert Lynd

God touched me yesterday.  We have doves all around our house and in the early morning you can hear them cooing.  When I walk into my kitchen I can here them from the vent over my stove. 

We have a quince tree next to our patio and several weeks ago my husband and I were doing yard work and I was trimming a few dead branches off of the tree when we noticed a mother dove sitting on a nest in the branches of the tree.  We have a covered patio so we will often sit out on the patio in the evening. 

We were able to watch the mother bird build her nest.  My husband thinks she is a first time mother because she built a rather small nest but we thought God created her so she must know what she is doing.  So then a few weeks ago we saw the eggs.  Three to be exact.  So we watched her every evening as she sat through several bad rain storms.  Well last week we noticed three new babies.  Well as you can imagine baby birds start out tiny but they grow quickly.    

So we also watched as the babies got bigger the nest got smaller. Yesterday my husband went to check the nest and there was one baby and the mother in the nest so he checked around under the tree to see if any fell out because their accommodations had taken a beating with all the storms.  Well one baby had fallen out and was lying under the tree.  Jerry came into the house to tell me there was a baby dove on the ground. 

Well this wouldn't have bothered me so much if I didn't have a Shiba Inu (that's a Japanese dog) who by the way loves to hunt fowl.  Especially babies who fall out of the nest.  And he doesn't miss a thing that goes on in our yard.  So we locked the dog in the house and then I went to check on the bird.  When I walked near the tree the mother bird and one of the other babies flew out.  But this little guy on the ground couldn't fly yet. 

I have always heard that if you touch a baby bird the mother won't take him back.  Well I wasn't going to let this one be my dogs next meal.  So I went over and gently picked him up but when I went to put him back in the nest, it was pretty much falling apart.  Well, I have absolutely no skills at building nests.  So I kind of straightened the nest back up and then sat him back in it. 

So Jerry and I sat on the patio keeping an eye on our dove baby to see if it's mother would come back for him.  In a little while she flew in and landed on the storage building behind our house and she sat perched up there watching us and watching her baby.  We decided to go back inside and keep checking on the nest.  A short while later she was back but there wasn't much room for the two of them so she was sitting on top of him. 

As we sat watching this I thought about what an amazing God we have. He created this dove and it knows what it needs to do to survive.  It can learn to fly, build a nest and lay eggs.  It can raise its young in a week and send them out on their own. How amazing is that? All we have to do is look at nature and we will see God's hand at work.  

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, You created so many amazing things on this earth that we take for granted.  Your handiwork is all around us every day and often we overlook it for other pursuits.  Help me to slow down and appreciate what you created.  I praise you for what you created and for helping me to see it as something that only You could do. 

Scripture: After forty days Noah opened a window had made in the ark and sent our a raven, and it kept flying back and forth until the water had dried up from the earth.  Then he sent out a dove  to see if the water had receded from the surface of the ground.  But the dove could find nowhere to perch because there was water all over the surface of the earth; so it returned to Noah in the ark.  He reached out his hand and took the dove and brought it back to himself in the ark.  He waited seven more days and again sent out the dove from the ark.  When the dove returned to him in the evening, there in its beak was a freshly plucked olive leaf!  Then Noah knew that the water had receded from the earth.  He waited seven more days and sent the dove out again, but this time it did not return to him. Genesis 8:6-12

Hidden Masterpiece

There's nothing like self-improvement to get your friends to like you for who you were. ~Robert Brault

Alexandros of Antioch took a block of marble and chiseled away from it everything that was not his masterpiece, the Venus de Milo. If you will chisel away one fault from your character every day, you may discover -
a) that you're actually a statue of Margaret Thatcher.
b) that you're still just a block of marble.
c) that there are pigeon droppings on your shoes.
d) that you, too, are a hidden masterpiece.
~Robert Brault 

You are a masterpiece.  The definition of masterpiece is a person's greatest piece of work.  Do you realize that you are God's masterpiece?  There is only one you out of all the millions of people in the world and you are the only one just like you.  When I think about that it overwhelms me.  We each were created with a specific purpose in mind and no one else on earth is like us.  

What are the things in your character and mine that don't belong?  Are we that block of marble with no shape?  Are there pieces that need to be chipped away to unearth the masterpiece God intended us to be?  Part of the problem with unearthing the masterpiece is that we will chip away parts that others really like about us because who we are now is the us we want the world to see, not what God created us to be. 

I want to be everything God created me to be.  Sometimes that means others will not like the new me and they will want the return of the old me.  I don't want to be just a block of marble with pigeon droppings on my shoes.  I want to reveal that hidden masterpiece.    


Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, I am Your handiwork and I want to be a Rembrandt or Picasso in Your eyes.  I understand that it will mean I must chip away at the things in my life that are keeping me from being the masterpiece your created me to be.  Help me Father to unearth this hidden treasure.   

Scripture:  Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”  So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. Genesis 1:26-28

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God, not by works, so that no one can boast. ¹⁰ For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.  Ephesians 2:9-11

God's Love

The dying Jesus is the evidence of God's anger toward sin; but the living Jesus is the proof of God's love and forgiveness. ~Lorenz Eifert 

I awoke this morning thinking about God's love.  There is no other like it.  For many years I searched for an earthly love to fill an emptiness inside me.  You know the one I am talking about.  The emptiness that doesn't ever seem to be filled.  I searched for this love in human likeness.  The problem is human's are sinners and imperfect in their love to each other.  We fail and hurt each other and the confusing thing is we think this is the only love there is on this side of heaven so when one person fails us we move on to the next still searching for that ellusive love.

One day I finally realized what I was missing.  It wasn't something that my parents, siblings, boyfriend, husband or any other human on earth could provide.  God's love is the only thing that will fill your empty heart.  The thing is, once you realize this you become more forgiving of those around you who fall short.  A by-product of this love is that it overflows.  God's love is so great and so vast and so wide that it never ceases.  This love is available to each of us in abundance.

So this is what I pray for each of you.  That you come to know that God's love is never ending, never changing, available always and free.  No one can take it away from you and you don't have to spend a fortune to get it.  The truly amazing thing about God's love is that he continues to give it to us even when we don't deserve it.  God gives us the freedom to choose His love.  If you have never felt unconditional love before what are you waiting for?  He is there waiting with open arms.
 

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, many of us are searching for love in all the wrong places.  You are the source of love that is never ending.  I praise You for loving me even when I am at my most unloveable.  Thank You for loving me even when I sin.

Scripture:   Your love, LORD, reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness to the skies.  Your righteousness is like the highest mountains, your justice like the great deep.  You, LORD, preserve both people and animals.  How priceless is your unfailing love, O God!  People take refuge in the shadow of your wings. They feast on the abundance of your house; you give them drink from your river of delights.  For with you is the fountain of life; in your light we see light. Psalm 36:5-9

Running of the Bulls and Chasing the Cheese

If you run the bulls and chase the cheese there is a short circuit somewhere.  Brenda Edwards 

I was watching the news this morning and there was a story about the Running of the Bulls.  If you ever owned a bull you would never run with the bull.  We had cows and bulls when I was growing up.  I honestly can say I never considered running down a narrow street in front of a bull while people on the sidelines poked and prodded him.  I have done insane things in my time but that is not one of them.  I decided to see what started this rather insane tradition.  

Spanish tradition says the true origin began during the 14th century.  While transporting cattle in order to sell at the market, men would attempt to speed the process by hurrying their cattle using tactics of fear and excitement.  After years of this practice this turned into a competition as young adults attempted to race in front of the bulls and make it safely to their pens without being overtaken.  I am thinking this is the purpose of a trailer. 

Another rather unusual event is Chasing the Cheese.  In this event you stand at the top of a steep hill and a 7 pound roll of cheese is rolled down the hill and people chase it.  The best part about this event is if you catch the cheese you get to keep it.  Wow!  I can't wait to do that and get the opportunity at the same time to break an arm, leg or neck.  Why don't we have more competitions like this? 

I am thinking that God blessed me with a brain and expects me use it to gain wisdom and understanding, not to run before bulls and chase cheese.   If we spent half the amount of time learning God's wisdom think of what we could accomplish in our time here on earth. 

Prayer for the Day: Father, You promise me that if I turn my ear to wisdom and apply my heart to undertanding and cry aloud for understanding that I will fear you and find the knowledge of God.  I want Your wisdom.  Please keep my eyes on you so I don't become distracted by the crazy things of this world.

Scripture:   My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you, turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding--indeed, if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding, and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, then you will undertand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God.  For the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.  He holds success in store for the upright, he is a shield to those whose walk is blameless, for he guards the course of the juust and protects the way of his faithful ones.   Proverbs 2:1-8

Choices

Decisions become easier when your will to please God outweighs your will to please the world. ~Anso Coetzerife

Every day we are faced with choices.  We choose to get up each morning, the route we will take to work, the food we will eat for lunch or dinner, the people we will spend time with each day and sometimes doing nothing is our choice.  

The most important choice we will ever make in this life is to choose to follow Christ.  God makes it easy for us to do but many of us fight it every step of the way because we think the things of this world will make us happy.  I praise God that I don't have to go through what Christ did for my salvation.  I am not required to be nailed to a cross with a crown of thorns around my head and hung from a cross until the last breath leaves my body. 

If you ever start to think that God doesn't love you, remember the opportunity he provides for us to choose life after death.  It will be the most important choice of your life and the best decision you will ever make.   

Prayer for the Day: Father, You give me the ability to choose to follow You.  Thank you for providing a way for me to live with you forever in eternity.  Help me to not be distracted by the world and the things it can provide because it is not everlasting but temporary.  I praise Your Holy Name and the Son who died on the cross for my sins in order to give me life.  

Scripture:   For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name.  I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge —that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.  Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. Ephesians 3:14-21

Forgiveness

Life becomes easier when you learn to accept an apology you never got. ~Robert Brault

I struggle with forgiveness and I know I am not alone in this.  Someone says something to you that cuts your heart and you wonder if you will ever be free of the burden that comes with unforgiveness.  It is a burden that becomes heavier each time you think of it and it can bury your soul. 

The sad part of unforgiveness is that the very people you love the most are the ones who can hurt you the deepest and it is worse when you know what is said to you is not true.  Our automatic human response is to retaliate.  One of the things that I think about when I have someone I need to forgive is how will I feel for that person when I stand before God.  Will I want God's punishment for that person and also am I willing to accept God's punishment for my unforgiveness when I stand before Him.  When I put it in this perspective it reminds me yet again of God's forgiveness to me for my sins.  

There are a list of things that we have to give up when we truly forgive someone.  We give up the right to be right.  We have to decide to not retaliate and to let it go.  The need for revenge must be set aside.  We have to choose to let it go and remember that if we hold onto unforgiveness towards our brothers and sisters in Christ, then this is how God will treat us unless we forgive our brother or sister from our heart.

Prayer for the Day: Father, I am so guilty of not forgiving others who have hurt me.   I am a sinner but I often forget that I am and my heart becomes filled with the need to respond in kind.  I want to be able to forgive as Jesus did in his short time on earth.  Please help me to love others  with the kind of love Jesus showed through His example.   

Scripture:   Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?” Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times. “Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants.  As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand bags of gold was brought to him.  Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt. “At this the servant fell on his knees before him. ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’ The servant’s master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go. “But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred silver coins. He grabbed him and began to choke him. ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ he demanded. “His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay it back.’ “But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt.  When the other servants saw what had happened, they were outraged and went and told their master everything that had happened. “Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’  In anger his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.“This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.”