You Are Most Precious

Luke 12:6-7; Precious is all of God's creation. Most precious are you in His sight.

The Way To Our Father's House

John 14:1-6; Jesus is the way to our Father's house. Get to know him and not just about him.

Stop, Look, Listen

Praise ye the Lord. Praise, O ye servants of the Lord, praise the name of the Lord.

Blessed be the name of the Lord from this time forth and for evermore.

From the rising of the sun unto the going down of the same the Lord's name is to be praised. 

                                                                          (Psalm 113:1-3 KJV)

I was up early this morning to witness the beauty of Venus and the moon set against the dawning sky. Such beauty God has created! Too many miss it. They never get to witness God awesomeness in his creation. Some miss it because they are in cities where the lights of the sky overwhelm the lights that God has placed in the skies. Others miss the beauty of creation because they are just too busy. They are so busy pursuing their own desires that they fail to see the gifts that God has already given them. Maybe, they are just sitting in a darkened room playing on electronic games.

Years ago, I brought some teenage boys from a correctional facility for a hike around Bond Falls in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. They were a bit nervous about it. When I asked them what was wrong, they admitted that they were thinking that maybe I'd brought them out into the wilderness to lose them or to do them harm otherwise. They did think that maybe we were lost because they could not see the rarely used path before us. They were also very amazed. They had never seen a waterfalls in their lives. They had never been out in the woods. Now, that amazed me even as it reminded me how fortunate I was to be able to get out and explore these things.

But, it is not just the beauty of the creation found outside four walls that is often missed. We often miss the awesomeness of God's creative work in one another. Again; too busy with our own agendas to have time to stop and look and listen to one another. 

Stop, look, and listen to what all of God's creation would share with us. Stop, give thanks, and praise the Lord for all that he has given us.

God's Peace - Pr. J.

Don't Cut The Tree Of Life Out Of Your Life

And out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil. (Gen 2:9 KJV)

Last night I had a most disturbing dream. It was disturbing because I love the woods. I enjoy walking among the trees, lots of them. The pleasure I get from being among anything that reminds me of God's natural creation is great. In the dream, we had just purchased some very wooded property with a partner (not known to me in real life). Near the edge of this property there were two beautiful, huge fruit trees on it. I have never seen fruit trees that large. The lower branches were barely within my reach. The fruit on one of the trees was oval shaped and about a foot long. The fruit on the other tree was not quite so large. I had reached up and poked one of the foot long fruits. It was soft and juice poured out on my fingers. I tasted the juice. It didn't taste like anything. 

As I was standing there admiring the trees the co-owner came over and let me know that the fruit on that tree was poisonous. Feeling a bit stupid, I didn't tell him that I'd already tasted it and I wandered away to check out the rest of the property. It wasn't long before I heard heavy equipment and a power saw running.  I ran to make sure those two trees were still standing. It was too late. They were not. The co-owner of the property had cut them down. Where two grand trees once stood there was now only two huge stumps. I was (as I always am when Howard cuts down trees that I didn't want cut) very upset. 

I imagine the dream probably surfaced due to my sermon last night. It was about mankind being kicked out of Paradise over the two trees that God had planted in the middle of the garden. They had eaten of the tree that God had warned them not to eat of or they would die. 

We have all partaken of those things God warns us will destroy us. We are sinners. But, Christ has given us the antidote to the poison that we think we have to try. He is the remedy.  As I consider the dream this morning, I cannot help but wonder if it was a reminder to make sure that we do not cut the tree of life, who is Jesus the Christ, out of our lives. 

May God grant you the knowledge, the love, and a burning desire for the tree of life, Jesus the Christ that you might live in the garden of paradise with him for all eternity.

God's Peace - Pr. J

A Fertile Heart

In Stony Places

Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God.

Those by the way side are they that hear; then cometh the devil, and taketh away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved.

They on the rock are they, which, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, which for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away.

And that which fell among thorns are they, which, when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection.

But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.

                                                                                  (Luke 8:11-15 KJV)

I thoroughly enjoy the scenery at Pte. Abbeye. I love the sound of Lake Superior crashing against the rocks; the view of the Huron Islands in the distance; the walk through the woods to get to the point. The woods is lush and green. However, the point itself is rock upon rock. Amazingly you will see grass and flowers growing in the crevices. They are few and far between. They are pretty; yet, they are very fragile. They are highly vulnerable to the elements. The waves get a little to big and they will be washed away. The sun beating on the rocks may cause them to wither and die. 

It is very difficult for anything to grow in rocky places. It is just as difficult for the word of God to flourish in a cold and stony heart or mind as it is for flowers to grow in a bed of rocks. 

If your heart has grown cold and stony, do not despair. There is nothing too hard for the Lord. He can turn that stony heart into a heart that is warm and ready to be sown with the seed that will produce much fruit. This is the Lord's promise:  A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. (Ezek 36:26)

May God bless you with a fertile heart so that the seed which he plants may flourish.

God's Peace - Pr. J.

Prayers: Curses or Blessings

He went up from there to Bethel; and while he was going up on the way, some small boys came out of the city and jeered at him, saying, “Go away, baldhead! Go away, baldhead!”  When he turned around and saw them, he cursed them in the name of the Lord. Then two she-bears came out of the woods and mauled forty-two of the boys." 2 Kings 2:23-24 NRSV

Listening to people curse usually causes me to feel just a little ill. Hearing God's name used recklessly makes me a little more than anxious. I hear words come out of people's mouths and I wonder if they realize that God is listening. When we desire that someone be harmed and we think or speak it; they are not just harmless words. Every word, whether it is a blessing or a curse, is like a prayer before God.

The story of Elisha cursing the boys and the bears coming to retaliate against them for disrespecting and bullying God's prophet is one of my favorites. This story makes more than a few people uncomfortable to know that God would answer this prayer (curse) in such a devastating fashion. It causes me to wonder if Elisha had any clue that God would respond in such a dramatic fashion or did the curse simply slip from his lips in a moment of anger or fear?

God doesn't normally send bears to protect His prophets. But, there is no doubt that He is with all who serve Him and He listens to their pleas. Be careful then of what words slip through your teeth. It is up to you whether they be the words of a bully, a curse in God's name, or if they be the words of a blessing; God hears it all. Be careful who you curse. Be careful what you pray for.

God's Peace - Pr. J

Don't Get Lost; Follow In The Way!

“Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. And you know the way to where I am going.” Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."  (John 14:1-6 NIV)

Years ago, I took three teens from the correctional facility I was working at on a hike to see a waterfalls as a reward for the progress they were making. They were all from inner city Detroit and had never seen a waterfalls. They had never actually been hiking in a real woods, either. We took the well worn path with the tourists down to the bottom of the falls. But, instead of going back up the same way I decided to take the little footbridge across the river and climb the rocky hill through the woods on the other side to get back up to the parking area.  The young men started acting a little nervous. Finally, one of them asked me where the path was and how I could know the way through the woods. I guess, they had begun to think that maybe we were lost in the woods forever. I told them not to worry the path was there. Just because they couldn't see it, I could, as I'd been traveling this way since I was a little girl.

Thomas asked Jesus, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life."  Jesus is the way to our Father's house.  He is the path we are to follow. In order to follow that path, we must get to know Jesus. Yes, about him; but, we must also get to know him personally. When we've just begun to follow him in and into the kingdom there may be times that we get a little lost because we don't know the way as well as we could or should. But, as time goes on and we get to know him more and more each day, each year, there will come a time when we will know the way even if our eyes were blindfolded. Knowing the way so intimately comes with traveling the path day by day. It comes with walking with Jesus every minute of every hour. It comes by learning about him; by hearing about him at Worship or wherever we may be; by reading and studying about him alone or in Bible Study groups. Knowing him intimately comes by staying in communication with him; by speaking with him in prayer and by listening to him in the silence of our prayer spaces. We come to know the way to our Father's house intimately by seeking to follow in the way of Jesus. And, in order to follow him, we must know and trust him.

If we are not prepared to follow in the way, how can we profess to be Christians? How can we witness to others? Who would believe that we are Christians if we have no knowledge of the way in which we should be going? If we're busy leading others off on other paths they will certainly recognize that we are not truly followers of Jesus. If we know Jesus and not just about him; we will know the way. We will not get lost because we will follow in the way that he leads us.

Jesus said that he was the way and the truth and the life – no one could go to the Father except through him. So if he is the way then those of us who profess to be Christians ought to be following in the way that he would have us go.  May God grant us the wisdom to stay on the path.

God's Peace - Pr. J

Run The Race!

"Do you not know that in a race the runners all compete, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win it.  Athletes exercise self-control in all things; they do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable one."  1 Cor 9:23-25

Before the sun comes up, I often find myself thinking about running for exercise. I imagine myself running like the wind through the woods. This thinking about it doesn't burn me any calories. It does not lose me any weight. It doesn't do my body any good. When I rise, I go about morning devotions and then to work. I can usually find a few minutes to exercise in the living room a few times a week. But, I almost always put off the running 'till another day. I do not exercise a lot of self-control or discipline when it comes to physical exercise.

St. Paul compared the discipline runners employ to the discipline that we need to exercise in order to be spiritually healthy so that when we finish the race here on earth we will receive the imperishable prize that has been prepared for us. We do not want any one to procrastinate and say "I'll get to know this Jesus that you talk about, later. I'll have more time to follow him after I retire. I'll have more time to serve, tomorrow." For procrastinators, tomorrow rarely comes. Tomorrow may be too late. Today is the day to get to know Jesus and to live in his presence; in his Kingdom.

Jesus died for you. He died so that all people might live in the presence of God our Father for all eternity. What are you waiting for? The time is now. The Kingdom of God is at hand.

God's Peace - Pr. J  

Do You Want To Walk In The Jungle?

Do You Want To Walk In The Jungle

With Me?

Do you want to walk through the jungle with me? Those are the words to one of the songs on Up To Ten's website featuring Boowa and Kwala. It's a wonderful children's site with happy learning songs and games thanks to the characters Boowa and Kwala. When my eldest granddaughter was first learning to navigate a computer it was one of her and my favorite sites. It was a safe site; a wonderful place to learn.

Children need to learn how to navigate safely through the jungle of both the real physical world and the world wide web. Both can be dangerous places. It can be a jungle out there and personally, there are times when I think it would be safer to be navigating a jungle filled with alligators and creepy lizards, snakes, and bears. So I do offer to take young people in my family for walks in the woods now and then when I think it's time for them to get away from the other jungles for awhile.

The children of Israel wandered around in the wilderness for decades. They faced a lot of hardships and obstacles before they made it through to the promised land. But, God was with them along the way to guide them. He was the light that showed them the way.

We live in a pretty dark and shadowy world. We live in the shadows because the world refuses to stay in the light; to follow in the way, that God has provided to guide us to the promised land. The journey through the jungle would be a whole lot less intimidating if we would but remember that God is there with us and for us.

Thank you Lord, that even as we journey through the wilderness and the darkest of jungles; even as we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, you are with us.

God's Peace - Pr. J