Nature's Beauty - God's Gift to YOU!

I am amazed by God. The beauty that was available today as the sun shined and the trees began to show their buds was something to behold. After so many months of winter, it was just a treat to have such a wonderful day today.

I have found life that way at times. Just when the winter of your life seems like it is going to overwhelm you, spring shows up just in time. Jesus knows exactly what we need and

He knows just when we need it. The power of God demonstrated in the awesome wonder of His creation is something that leaves me speechless. He does that just for me! He lets me see the beauty and the power of the rushing river, the majesty of the snow-covered mountains, the peaceful lapping of water along the lakeshore and He even declares His beauty in the middle of the valley when we cannot see our own way.

I trust that you can see the beauty of the Lord and His majesty in all things today. Truly, He loves you like no one else - you are His beloved, the apple of His eye and just to show you how much He loves you - take a look outside and behold the beauty that He made for you!!!

"I would feel more optimistic about a bright future for man if he spent less time proving that he can outwit Nature and more time tasting her sweetness and respecting her seniority."
E. B. White (1899 - 1985)

Of Mice and Men...

Todays devotion comes from a dear saint of Spirit of Grace Church. Thank you Verna for reminding us of a wonderful Savior!!

MICE AND MEN
By Verna Anderson

It was already a crazy day and it was only 8 am. I was running around, making a shopping list for last minute items prior to the preschool Christmas party.

Then, I remembered that I needed to wrap the little truck that Noah picked out to give to another boy in the class. All the wrapping paper was still in the garage in a huge box that remained unopened after our summer move. The box sat just outside the mudroom door, needing to have the packing tape cut so that I could get to the contents. As I stood next to the box, realizing that I had no way to cut the tape, I could hear some rustling over by the deep freezer.

The sound was easily recognizable to me because I knew Keith had been catching mice out there, probably hungry little ones who had found our buckets of corn that we had planned to use to feed squirrels. Yes, I knew that was a mouse, caught in the trap, struggling to get free. I said to myself, that’s fine but just stay over there. I’m not a fan of mice. They are cute but I always think of the times people have had them crawling in their clothing—sends shivers up my back.

I went back into the house to get the paring knife to cut the packing tape. As usual, I got distracted. It happens often. Children need dressing. Lists need one more item added. Those things got me sidetracked and a bit of time passed before I noticed the still unwrapped truck. Must get that knife and dig out the paper and get that done. Once again I went into the garage, this time ready to open the box holding the wrapping paper.

Much to my surprise, the little mouse had made the long trek from the freezer to the mudroom step. The poor little guy stuck by only his front paw. He was working frantically to pull free. Yuck, was my first thought. Keith would kill him and toss him in the garbage but I hate killing things. As I looked down at him, my gaze met his beady brown eyes, his fur was silky smooth and he was actually quite cute, as mice go. In and instant, I decided that I could not kill him. I would set him free but how? I definitely did not want to pick up the trap for fear that he would flip around and crawl on me.

I went back into the house, this time to get a tongs. Then, back out into the garage to pick up the trap with the tongs, walk to the end of the driveway and free our little intruder. He struggled the whole time. How would you feel if you were trapped in a vice and a giant picked up the vice, dangling you in the air? Must have been terrifying. When I set the trap down, he tried again to run away, pulling the trap with him. I caught the trap with the tongs and released him, jumping back to keep away, still thinking of a mouse running up my pant leg. He ran onto the snow and for a moment seemed to head toward the garage. The thought came to mind that he would return to the garage, which would mean his rescue was a total waste of time. Thankfully, he turned and headed toward the flowerbed. The last I saw him, he was hiding in a deep footprint in the snow, catching his breath and contemplating his next move.

My day went on from there, kids to school and party time and even a bit of shopping. I forgot about that mouse until my husband asked why the trap was on the mudroom step. I didn’t tell him I had let the mouse go. He would have thought I was crazy.

I thought of that mouse again this morning and realized that his story was similar to so many of us. We spend our days just living life; not realizing we need a Savior. Then, we get into a spot we should not be and sin traps us. If we are lucky, it does not kill us. We struggle to get free. The fight is hard. The trap is tight on us. We drag the weight of our sin all around our world. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, a giant comes and picks us up. Who is this giant? We fight some more because we are afraid of this giant. We don’t know him. Will he kill us? What are his intentions? Thankfully, that giant is a loving God who reaches down and sets us free from our sin. He watches us carefully to see what we will do with our freedom. Will we return to sin or will we set out on a new course? If we are wise, we will take the new path and always remember what he has done for us. We will desire to stay free and out of sin.

Where are you today? Are you wandering around in search of something? Have you strayed into sin, getting caught in its trap? If so, a giant God is waiting patiently for you to look up from your trap, into his loving eyes and accept his gift of freedom.

But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8

Loving Obedience

Read Deuteronomy 5:23-33

Thankfully, I have had only one speeding ticket in years. This one was about twelve years ago and it was because I was going twenty-nine in a twenty-five school zone. Can you believe that? Speed was such a concern for one mother in Colorado that she would go and sit in her car in front of an elementary school every weekday afternoon and point a hair dryer out her window at passing vehicles. Many drivers mistook the hand-held dryer for a radar gun and slowed down. Mission accomplished! The speed limit is posted in the school zone but it often takes the threat of punishment to make drivers obey the law.
Now, think about how you discipline or disciplined your child. Often, it is the threat of punishment that keeps us straight. I have been labeled a “goody-goody” when I was growing up. I was. I was that way, not because my sense of right and wrong was perfect. I wasn’t that way because I loved God so much that I never wanted to disappoint Him. I was that way because my dad has big hands and an even bigger belt. I was not one that needed several reminders of the pain inflicted to my hind parts in discipline. My cousin Dan – not so much – he was a little stubborn. Me, I was a wimp. I avoided punishment at all cost!!
Now, think about you and God. That's a sobering picture of us all, even in our relationship with God. Instead of an inner willingness to follow God, it may take the force of difficult circumstances to turn us toward Him. But that's not how our heavenly Father wants it to be. The Lord has always longed for His people to obey Him from their hearts. When the Israelites were poised to enter the Promised Land, Moses reviewed the Ten Commandments and then told them God's response to their intention to keep His law: "Oh, that they had such a heart in them that they would fear Me and always keep all My commandments, that it might be well with them and with their children forever!" (Deuteronomy 5:29).
God doesn't want us to obey Him just because we're afraid of punishment. He will honor obedience at whatever level, but He really longs for loving obedience that comes from our hearts. How about it? Are you trying to serve God just because you are afraid of His punishment because, like my dad’s love, He will chasten us from time to time, or do you obey because you love? Take a moment right now and measure your love for Him. As the old song says, “I keep falling in love with Him, over and over again.”

“The greatest blessing of our democracy is freedom. But in the last analysis, our only freedom is the freedom to discipline ourselves.”
- Bernard Baruch

True Joy

Read Philippians 4:4

If you know me, I am not the most emotional person. Sentimental, yes. Emotional, not very. People that are constantly bouncing off walls irritate me as well as people always in the doldrums of life. Would you find a happy medium and just stay there!! No, really, I do not get very excited about too many things, but I am a happy person. I do have an abundance of joy. I just show it with a smile, not a jump and a dance.
I read a story of an eighty year old lady that had kept a joyful spirit throughout her life. During World War II, in spite of dangers and separations, she and her husband were still able to laugh together at home. She recalls a summer when their laughter was overheard by a cynical neighbor. "What on earth do you two find to laugh about?" she grumbled.
Author Colleen Townsend Evans has an idea about why some can maintain joy, while others can't. "This kind of tough joy can irritate those who might want it very much but, not knowing how it comes, choose to scoff instead." Evans continues, "Joy is okay, the world seems to say, if we have some excuse for it. Like when your favorite team wins or you get a raise in pay. If we have no obvious reason for our joy, we're likely to be judged."
For all of us, joy is a decision that we must make to possess. Everyone has cares in life. I heard one preacher say it this way, “If you have a mailbox, you have cares.” Isn’t that true? The Bible doesn't say joy is a fruit of circumstance; it clearly states that joy is a fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22). To live a joy-filled life, we must "walk in the Spirit" (v.25). Then we can rejoice in spite of our circumstances. Paul was in prison when he said, "Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice!"
Unfortunately we have made the Christmas season a time of stress, headaches, traffic jams and worry. What we spend today, we will have to pay for months. Guilt for not being able to supply a good Christmas to families drives many into depression and condemnation. In fact, a while ago in Kansas City, the two “all the time” Christmas music stations were trying to get people to help to give some things to those families that do not have.
I am thankful that the joy of the Lord is not predicated on my situation, but that His joy is evidenced in my life in the midst of my situation. Your choice to rejoice may irritate some, but it will encourage others and glorify God. In fact, see how many people ask you how it happens that you can smile and rejoice in the middle of chaos, and you can share with them, “Joy comes from the Lord who lives within us, not from what's happening around us.”

“Let my name stand among those who are willing to bear ridicule and reproach for the truth's sake, and so earn some right to rejoice when the victory is won.”
- Louisa May Alcott

Who Do You Look Like?

Read Galatians 5:1-6

It is interesting when a child is born. One of the first comments from anyone is that the baby looks just like so and so. One day, they might look like mom, dad, aunt or uncle. I remember (as of December 2, 15 years ago) just after my niece was born we were walking her in a stroller. Someone that should have known came up to us and asked my wife and I if we were walking our son. We told him that no, not only was it not our son, but it was my sisters GIRL. It just so happened that my niece looked a little like me when she was born. My oldest son favored me at first and now he is almost a picture of what my wife was at that age. My youngest son is an exact replica of his grandfather (Oh, NO!).
One of my favorite passages of scripture is Philippians 2:5-11. I find the underlying themes of all of biblical doctrines are the fact that we desire to be like Christ. The British novelist J.R.R. Tolkien wrote, "Sheep get to be like their Shepherd, it is said, but slowly." The renewal of the inner person, becoming Christ-like, is not accomplished in a moment but a lifetime.
Augustine (354-430) observed that this process is like healing from a near-fatal wound. "It's one thing," he said, "to remove the spear, but quite another to heal the wound by long and careful treatment." This healing occurs gradually as our old ways of thinking and living are erased, and we become more like our Savior as we are renewed day by day (2 Corinthians 4:16). This renewal takes place not by self-effort alone but by faith. It involves reading, meditating on, and obeying God's Word. We must also fix our minds on the character of Christ and ask God to make us like Him.
Then we must wait, confident that God is working in us to accomplish His purposes. Every day has its mishaps and memories of something we should have done or not done, but we must not be impatient. Though incomplete, we are in process. Sin may frustrate us for a day, but God is at work—and on ahead lies perfection, which is "the hope of righteousness" (Galatians 5:5).
I don’t know about you, but there are days when I really wonder if I am being very much like Christ. The only consolation is that He understands and will, every day, take some time to mold and form me again. I also can live with the hope that one day I shall be like Him for I shall see Him as He is (1 John 3:2). Even so, Lord Jesus, come quickly.

“To become Christ-like is the only thing in the whole world worth caring for, the thing before which every ambition of man is folly and all lower achievement vain.”
- Henry Drummond

The Solid Rock

Read Matthew 7:15-27

The house that I grew up in started as a cabin and gradually my grandfather, uncle and dad added to it. I remember there was an opening as you went downstairs that led to a dirt foundation over the kitchen. If you spilled something in the kitchen it would roll downhill. Thankfully, dad waited until I had moved away to dig out the foundation and replace it with a strong foundation. I love that house and it is still in the family today. Now, my sister and brother-in-law will see that it stays standing.
According to an article in The Wall Street Journal, some people in the US are building houses stronger than ever before. Hurricanes, floods, and tornadoes have caused billions of dollars in property damage in states across the nation. So, at the urging of businesses, government, and hard-pressed insurance companies, some builders are constructing fortress-like homes with windows that can withstand 130 mile-per-hour winds, roof nails so strong they can only be cut off, and framing material that can weather the tremendous forces faced by a supersonic jet. In Bolingbrook, Illinois, a community damaged by a tornado in the 1990s, a company is constructing such a “fortified” house in hopes that the idea will catch on.
We who know the Lord Jesus realize that when it comes to building our spiritual foundation, it must be strong and secure. In today’s Scripture, Christ made it clear what that foundation must be when He referred to “these sayings of Mine” (Matt. 7:24), which included His teaching in the Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 5–7). When we receive by faith Christ’s words and His work on our behalf, our spiritual lives are “founded on the Rock,” Christ Jesus. No matter what you accomplish in this life, eventually your foundation will be tested and when that test comes, what will you have built your life upon? I challenge you today that in order to survive the storms of life, be anchored to the Rock of Ages.

Cast Your Worries

Read Philippians 4:6-7

Let’s find out today how we go about worrying about nothing.
The key to finding peace in anxious times is to - pray about everything. In other words, instead of worrying about it, pray about it. That is how we release our worries, relieve our stress and put our trust in God. Turn your anxious thoughts into prayer requests. In so doing, you turn your eyes off the problem and on to God, who is the problem solver. Remember, “When we work, we work; but when we pray, God works.” When you pray about it you are taking your problems out of your hands and placing them in God’s hands.
I heard about a guy who worried all the time. He worried about his checkbook, his investments, his wife, his mortgage payments - he worried about the fact that he worried so much. Finally, one of his friends hit him with a question and said, “Man, why do you worry so much – you’re always so agitated?” “Not anymore,” the man replied. “How’s that?”, the friend inquired. The fellow explained, “I hired somebody to worry for me - I put an ad in the newspaper and offered $10,000 a week to somebody qualified to make me worry-free by doing all my worrying for me.” The friend laughed, “And how do you think you’ll pay him?” The man shot back, “Hey, that’s his worry!”
Don’t you wish it were that easy? Actually it is and we don’t have to hire anyone. We have a God that wants to handle our problems for us. I Peter 5:6-7 says, “Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.” Giving God your worry, anxieties and cares is an act of humility. You are saying, “Lord, I can’t handle it, but you can.” A corollary verse can be found in Psalm 55:22. It says, “Cast your burden on the LORD, and He shall sustain you.” Cast your burden on the Lord literally means to throw them down or slam them down on God. The way you do that is in prayer. In other words, whenever a worry filled, anxious thought comes to mind, instead of sitting and stewing on it, pray about it. Through prayer you can slam down your worries.
Try this exercise. Take several pieces of paper crumpled up with these words written on them; “family problems,” “health problems,” and “financial problems”. Let me show you what that looks like. An anxious thought comes, “My teenager has been acting rebellious.” “Well Father, you gave me that child and I have committed him to you. I took him to Sunday school, I pray for him daily, and I trust him into your hands. I’m not going to worry about it, he’s your responsibility.” (Crumple the paper and slam it down). “Yes, there have been layoffs at the plant but you’re the God that supplies all of my family’s needs according to your riches in glory. I’m going to continue to be the best employee I can be, pray for for my boss and company, and trust you. Even if I do get laid off, you’ll provide for me, maybe through another job. But I refuse to worry about it; I give it over to you.” (Throw the next paper). “The doctor’s report wasn’t good but it’s not my responsible to worry about. I’m going to take good care of myself, follow the doctor’s instructions, and claim the Bible’s promises of divine healing. Lord, I trust you with my health, in Jesus name, Amen.” (Repeat).
That seems to sound easy, and in principle it is. Now, pick one of those pieces of paper back up. Do you notice how quickly it came back? That’s because it’s your paper. Once you cast them on the Lord, don’t ask for them back by setting your mind on them again. If you do, He’ll give them back to you, because they’re your problems. So once you cast them on him, let Him handle them and don’t take them back. There are too many that spend the time casting them through prayer into the lap of the Lord but are yet determined to take them back and worry over them again. Once you place it in His hand, leave it there and the way to do that will come tomorrow.

“Any concern too small to be turned into a prayer is too small to be made into a burden.”
- Corrie Ten Boom