A Banquet in the Trees

I stepped outside behind my house this morning and discovered the trees on the bluff were full of birds. They weren’t singing like they do in spring, instead a funny crackling sound could be heard as they were feasting. The snow covered ground had forced them to search for food up high.

A little later I was reading Luke 12 and came on these words “Consider the birds they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds! And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? If then you are not able to do as small a thing as that, why are you anxious about the rest?” esv

In this “bleak winter” consider all the ways God provides for your needs.

Jekyll or Mrs. Hyde?

Children seem to instinctively know how to turn us from Dr. Jekyll to Mr. Hyde in 5 seconds flat. One moment I’m calm and collected and the next I look like a raving lunatic. If this doesn’t happen to you, then best you not mention it. The rest of us don’t need to know how perfect you are.

We all want to lock our kids up now and then. But we also know that we wouldn’t trade them for anything or anyone. I wonder if they are convinced of that. I used to gripe everyday about my frustrations with my only daughter, when I realized that I was bad-mouthing a precious gift from God. What ingratitude! Why hadn’t I spent time thinking about all the things I was thankful for about her? Why was it so easy for me to focus on the faults and not the good things? I would never want someone to do that to me!

Have you ever thought about or made a list of all the things for which you are thankful to the Lord regarding your kids? This Thanksgiving, make a list for each child and, if you want, pass that on to your prayer partner. They can join you in giving thanks to the Lord.

So when you are up late with a sick child, taking care of an injured kid who wouldn’t be injured if he had listened to you in the first place, facing a stubborn will, looking at the state of your house that just an hour ago was all picked up, wishing you could get supper done or just be doing something else, bring out that list and remind yourself to be thankful. Maybe you might even communicate a few of those things to your kids more often. They are much harder to convince than you think.

"Hear me!"

When my daughter Sarah was very little and just learning to talk, she often got frustrated that I didn’t pay attention to her. She would grab my face between her two little hands, turn my face towards hers, and with the most demanding voice she could muster , squeak, “Hear me!”. Of course, she was just imitating the way I would grab her chin in my hand and say with gritting teeth, “Listen to me!”

Don’t you get exasperated with someone who just refuses to listen to you? You see the direction in which they’re going; you try to head them off, but they stubbornly want to do it their way. It’s hard to watch our children & friends do the opposite of what we advise them to do. It’s hard to not let it feel like personal rejection.

Samuel had to face this situation when the people of Israel wanted a king. The Lord says to Samuel “They have not rejected you. They have rejected me from being their king.” (1Sam. 8:7) NCV.

That kind of rejection hurts, but it’s important to recognize that we can’t take it personally.

In spite of Samuel’s warnings to the people, they insisted on having what they wanted.

Aren’t you tempted to want to throw up your hands and be done with such stubbornness? Wouldn’t you love to say, “Fine, you’ve made your mess, now go wallow in it”? Why should you waste anymore of your time?

Hear Samuel’s words to the people;

“I will surely not stop praying for you, because that would be sinning against the Lord. I will teach you what is good and right.” (1Sam. 12:23) NCV

Samuel’s example calls me to be faithful in prayer and to doing what is right, even when no one listens to me.

Is there someone in your life that continually rejects your counsel and who needs you to keep praying for them?

Carries our Diseases

"When Jesus went to Peter's house, he saw that Peter's mother-in-law was sick in bed with a fever. Jesus touched her hand, and the fever left her. Then she stood up and began to serve Jesus. That evening people brought to Jesus many who had demons. Jesus spoke and the demons left them, and he healed all the sick. He did these things to bring about what Isaiah the prophet had said: 'He took our sufferings on him and carried our diseases.'

Matthew 8:14-17 NCV

Have you ever been down with a fever? Your body feels miserable and so weak. A fever is caused by the body fighting off an infection by either a virus or a bacteria. In those days, a fever could mean death or a matter of time while the body's defenses fought it off. No one could do anything but wait. Even with today's antibiotics, it takes several hours for the fever to come down, and still more time to get our energy back.

So it was no small or shabby miracle when Jesus touched the mother-in-law's hand and the fever left. Still more amazing was that she got up and started serving right away.

Allot of healing went on that night. Matthew tells us that it was a fulfillment of Isaiah 53:4. I've never thought of this passage before in relation to physical diseases, maybe because the OT version says "surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows" ESV. But I like this image of a loving and caring Shepherd who even today can be strength and comfort in times of sickness.

Thank you Lord that you carry my diseases, now may I stand up and serve.

Rest for the Soul

"Come to me, all of you who are tired and have heavy loads, and I will give you rest. Accept my teachings and learn from me, because I am gentle and humble in spirit, and you will find rest for your lives. The burden that I ask you to accept is easy; the load I give you to carry is light." NCV

Jesus words recorded for us in Matthew 11:28-30

They are like a muscle relaxant for your soul. Drink them in!

Praying alone

"But He would withdraw to desolate places and pray." Luke 5:16 ESV

So I'm thinking if Jesus needed to be alone to talk to His Father....... kind of a "duh" thought to say that maybe we should make time as well. Slipping away to be alone is a very difficult thing for a mom to do, but may I be blunt in love? Let's make priorities, not excuses. Lately, I've been getting away to Mines of Spain for some lone time. How about you? Give us your suggestions.

What a beautiful example of obedience to Christ's command. How many of you pray-ers saw children that you had been praying for get baptized this summer?
Let's continue to pray for the salvation of the many children of our chapel.

The Lord's discipline

“Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline; be zealous therefore and repent.” Revelation 3:19 NASV

How do you feel about discipline? Generally, I don’t like it nor do I welcome it. It makes me uncomfortable and hurts my pride. But you know, when I ignore or resist it, my spiritual life becomes stunted and stagnate. Jesus spoke these words to the church of Laodicea. Remember them? They are that lukewarm bunch, neither hot nor cold, that provoked vomiting. As much as I dislike it, I find that discipline and correction is necessary to yank me out of that spiritual fog and laziness. It adds heat to my spiritual life, and best of all, it is an expression of the Lord’s love.

So, as uncomfortable and humbling it has been to me, nothing has brought more growth to my spiritual life than the repentance that comes from the Spirit’s conviction. If these are your options, which one do you prefer? Could we welcome the Lord’s discipline in our lives, in our children’s lives?