Heaven and Nature Sing

They do, you know – heaven and nature sing – nature tells of God’s power and his majesty, and heaven sings a ballad of God’s love for man.

When you hear a song, do you ever wonder why it was written?   I expect that the composer had something he wanted you to know or to feel – something he himself felt.

But - if we are going to feel it, it must speak to our hearts. 

Like for instance I have a favorite - a wonderful little song, called I’m drinking from my saucer ‘cause my cup has overflowed – it speaks of gratitude.  It touches my heart and helps me feel the gratitude that the author must have felt. 

Then in a richer vein, we listen to the majestic Messiah, by Handel.  It raises our eyes to the Glory that is God and we feel awe and reverence.

It speaks to our heart.

When God created the world, He put music into his creation: the song of the birds, the pounding roar of the waves, the whistle of the wind, the drum of the thunder, the bugling of the elk, the howl of the coyote, the purring of the kitten, and the song of the whales and the dolphin.  All creation sings of the creator.

Some music takes the composer a long time to complete.  The song we’ll be talking about today took forever.  It was started long ago and was never played until Jesus came to earth. 

One extraordinary night over 2000 years ago, the hosts of heaven rejoiced. 

They were getting ready to witness a special performance of a song, born in the heart of God, even before the world began.   

A virgin whose name was Mary, was privileged to hear the opening strains of the music when an angel told her that the Messiah was to be born, and that she would be the vessel used by God to bring His Son to earth.  The song that had been written eons ago would at last be sung.

God’s song, written for love of mankind, was named “forgiveness.”

But there’s more to come.  God knew the singers and He wrote the song.

And then on that wonderful opening night, the Baby - the King, the one who would be called, Immanuel, was born, not in a palace, but in a stable – a lowly stable. 

And when the curtain was raised, I believe God may have shouted, “It has begun!”  I picture showers of starlight dancing across the evening sky; each tiny bit of light singing “Glory, Glory, Glory to God in the Highest.”  Perhaps there were invisible angels, singing the song, flying in formation, accompanying the King to earth. 

The magnificent light show was seen by the shepherds, tending their sheep on the hills of Bethlehem.  They saw the angels – majestic heavenly beings - appearing in Bethlehem’s black sky.  Angel voices spoke the song.  They told the shepherds,

 “For unto you is born this day in the city of David, a savior which is Christ the Lord.”

With power and glory they sang God’s song - music falling down from heaven with the stars.  Immanuel is born, God is with us.  “Forgiveness is coming to mankind.”

Out on the hills of Bethlehem the shepherds watch the night. 

Light from a feeble campfire glows

on faces bearing earthly woes

and waiting for the light.

Then from the quiet

A chord resounds

and thunders ’cross the sky

A chord that sings of hope for man. 

A chord revealing heaven’s plan –

It’s music from on high.

The song was born –

Forgiveness came,

to sleep upon the hay.

Man need no longer be alone. The Son of God would make his home on earth with us that day.

The song –

the word of Life was sent

to rescue us from Sin

Heaven and nature joined the choir

Singing Glory, Glory ever higher

Salvation would begin.

And Jesus is the Song. 

Jesus is the Word. 

Jesus is forgiveness. 

Jesus is Immanuel – God is with us!

Yes, the song was born, He lived with mankind.  He suffered for us.  And He lives in our hearts today.  May you know the joy and peace that comes from the heart of God.

Do You Remember Christmas?

Do you remember Christmas? I do.  

My memories of childhood Christmas programs have lasted over the years.  They all blend together because they were very much the same year after year and I’m so grateful for that.  Repetition implants those memories in your mind.  This is a picture of the church I attended as a child and this poem is the picture I have in my mind of Christmas programs past and present.  I hope you’ll enjoy it. 

A little child, one Christmas Eve, climbed up the church house stairs

expecting sounds of singing and people saying prayers.

But when the door was opened, her heart jumped at the sight.

She stood there silent in the night.

Her eyes were diamonds dancing bright in wonderment and awe.

Stained glass windows glow with light from candles burning there.

The sights and sounds were rich and rare.

Pine bough fragrance filled the air, and this is what she saw.

Shepherds tending quiet sheep

spoke in whispers soft and deep.

Angel choirs began to sing

Hallelujahs to the king.

And nearby on a bed of hay

a precious tiny baby lay.

That night she learned of Jesus, in scene and verse and song.

She learned of God’s stupendous love that righted all the wrong.

She learned that Jesus came to this dark earth to save all men

as angels told the shepherds they’d find Him in Bethlehem.

She learned about the wise men from the east, who came so far

and how our God protected them while following the star.

The things she saw that Christmas Eve were only just the start

because those Christmas memories keep Jesus in her heart.

The time and place span miles and years, but the message is the same. 

And that magic night so long ago, with candles lighting row on row  

helps the memories remain.

 But when the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.  Gal 4:4-5

A Quiet Resting Place

This old world is often noisy and confusing 
and I search to find a quiet resting place.

Then sometimes 
in my pain 
or in my sorrow

I seek a way to touch my father’s face.

In the stillness of the night I hear him calling.

In the softness of the morn he’s still the same.

In the solitary place I find him waiting

for my heart to call upon his name.

When I come into the lonely place of meeting

then, in His words, God’s love and grace I see.

When I say, “please make your will be done in my life,”

comfort floats from God’s great heart to me.

He’s there in our lonely places.  

He’s there in our busy places.  

He’s there in our solitary places.  

He’s there, if we seek Him.

Aging

You’re on a road that you’ve never traveled before.  The twists and turns are unexpected.  Rocks appear in front of your toes and you stumble, not always falling, but uncomfortably off balance.

Our younger years were a little more predictable with changes that everyone talked about.  We all seemed to be weathering those changes fairly smoothly, but old age is something that isn’t generally discussed seriously.  Jokes are made, hints are given, and we prefer to ignore the road we’re on. 

The teen years seem to have the most in common with our present situation – bodies changing, emotions a little on edge, new responsibilities that we’re not sure we can handle, and the feeling that people don’t realize you have the ability to run your own life.  Of course when you are a teenager, you don’t have the wisdom of age, but your feelings of being put down and dismissed are the same.

There is one other difference that seems to be prevalent.  Teens do band together and talk about their problems; it seems that we “oldies” don’t.

Our reasons make a lot of sense because we’ve heard the following comments from our peers.

“It wouldn’t be wise to talk about our limitations because the kids will try to take away our freedom to live our own lives if they know that things are getting a little harder for us to cope with.” 

“Because we’re having a little physical trouble, they tend to think that it extends to our brains.”

“If I mention my aches or pains, I’m referred to as a bit crotchety.”

“When we talk about forgetting something, the immediate response is, ‘Oh it must be the beginning of Alzheimer’s.’”  Of course it is okay for a young mother to forget her keys! 

There is, of course, the pride issue.  We just don’t want to appear old, even when we look in the mirror in the morning.  It’s hard to admit that our bodies are deteriorating at a quickened pace and that we don’t have the strength or balance we used to have. 

Like the teenagers, we may also feel insecure sometimes, wondering about the future and our ability to handle what tomorrow will throw at us. 

But along that road - the road we haven’t traveled before - is beauty.  There are so many spectacular vistas unseen on previous roads.  It may be that we have more time to notice – more daily time, not necessarily days or years.  Or it may be that, over the years we have learned appreciation.

Many of the places and events we see shine with the goodness of strangers met along the way.  They sparkle with the early dawn, since sleep doesn’t always last until morning.  They glow with the warmth that memories bring – memories of friendships long ago, of family gatherings past, and of our children and grandchildren’s funny antics.   Most of all the vistas shine with the closeness of God in our lives, in our minds and our hearts.

There is also the picture of creativity that shows we never get too old to appreciate and make beauty, whether it is a painting, a poem, a dream, or a 3 layer chocolate cake.  This applies to anything a person can create, for instance, a garden, a straight row of split logs or a warm and welcoming home.  Creativity is a vista seen along our new road.

In some of our hearts the desire to learn becomes brighter.  We want to read good books, sharpen our skills or learn a new skill.  Those things smooth the roughness on the road we travel and keep us mentally alert.

As we age there seems to be an urge to help others.  Maybe it’s because we aren’t needed as much in our children’s lives, or maybe it’s because we take the time to see other's needs.  

We find that, although we don’t always have people dependent on us, we come to deeply understand our own dependence on God.

Talking to Him has become a way of life.  Every time we turn around we’re praying about something, and seeing God answer that prayer. There are so many times that we’ve prayed and God has answered, particularly on this road.  Is it because of the turmoil in our world today there are more problems to pray about?  Do we spend more time in prayer because we’ve learned that God really does listen and answer?  Is it because we’ve found that we are not in control and He is?  Or is it because we know Him better than we used to?

So the road is untried.  We’re walking that road, sometimes in loneliness, of our own making, or possibly because we’re forced to.  But there is really no need to walk this road alone.  God has said “I will be with you.”  And He will.

God says that if we follow Him, He will also light the path on this road we’re traveling. 

John 8:12 When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” 

God doesn’t look at age – He’s ageless.

God doesn’t see you as slow – time doesn’t matter to Him.

God doesn’t worry about tomorrow – He holds it in His hand.

God is always there – So it doesn’t matter where we are.

I thank Him for a long life – long enough to grow old and to keep learning to trust Him.

Rainbows

Whenever I see a rainbow I can’t help but think about Noah and the flood.  God used the rainbow as a sign of the promise that He would never again destroy the world with a flood.

Rainbows, as you know, are spectacular. 

Three conditions must be met in order for you to see a rainbow. First, it must be raining. Second, the sun must be shining. Third, the observer must be between the sun and the rain.  So if the sun is on one side of you and it’s raining on the other side, you can see the rainbow.

Sunlight is made up of different colors...red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet and when that sunlight passes through raindrops, the raindrops act like tiny prisms, and the light spreads out into a band of colors that are reflected back to us as a rainbow.

Let’s think of this in light of our relationship with God.

First – there must be rain.

In order to see the beauty of the rainbow – there must be rain.  Isn’t that the way with most good things?  We can’t seem to appreciate the beautiful, unless we've been through a storm.  If our lives are running smoothly, we don’t appreciate the good.

Isn’t that the way with you?  It is with me.  We just walk along the path of life, day to day and don’t really stop to think of our blessings – until it rains.

The second condition is that the sun must be shining.

In order to see much of anything, we have to have the sun – or light.  But this condition is talking specifically about the sun, not just any light.  Let’s look at this from the standpoint of the SON (S O N,) the Son of God.  Of course He’s always there, He’s always shining, but maybe we really need the rain or the darkness to truly be aware of His light.  The Son of God is the light that shines on the raindrops – the trials in our lives - and creates the beauty of the rainbow.  The colors are the colors of the Son, enhanced by the rain that falls into our lives.

Thirdly, We must be between the sun and the rain.  

When we stand in the rain without being aware of the sun, we don’t see the rainbow.  When we walk in the sun without looking up at the sky and the rain, we don’t see the rainbow.  We have to know God’s promises in order to see them, in order to see the rainbow.  

One of God’s promises. that’s special to me comes from Jesus.  John 14:21 tells us,  

“. . . The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.”  How comforting that is.  We will be loved by Jesus and the Father.  And Jesus will show himself to us.

What a great promise!  What a great rainbow.

Other than during the period of the flood, there are only a few times that the Bible speaks of a rainbow.  

We read in Ezekiel 1:28 - Ezekiel had a vision of God - and this is what he said, “Like the appearance of a rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the radiance around him. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. When I saw it, I fell facedown, and I heard the voice of one speaking.” 

The radiance around God was like a rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day.  It so awed Ezekiel that he fell on his face in worship.  What a rainbow that must have been.

Then in Revelation 4:2-3 John is talking about his vision of heaven and he said, “. . . At once I was in the Spirit, and there before me was a throne in heaven with someone sitting on it.  And the one who sat there had the appearance of jasper and carnelian. A rainbow, resembling an emerald, encircled the throne.”

After the flood, every time the rainbow is mentioned, it is mentioned in the context of God and his sovereign power. The rainbow around God's throne is a symbol of His faithfulness that even in judgment; God will always remember His covenant and protect His own. The rainbow is a sign of God's faithfulness to His people.

I wrote this little poem to help us remember -

When you’re walking through a storm and the rain is coming down

When your feet are weary trudging through the puddles on the ground

When you don’t know where to turn and the joy’s no longer found

Look up and see the rainbow.  Look up!  You’ll be spellbound!

God paints the sky with colors,

so we’ll know this promise true.

He’ll walk beside us through the storms as only He can do. 

He puts the rainbow in the sky

His promise shining there on high -

the promises that multiply, and show His care for you.

God is such an artist, isn’t He?  He gives us the magnificent rainbow stretching across the heaven, filled with all the colors of the sun to help us remember that we can trust Him to keep His promises.

And His promises?  To love you!  To be with you and show Himself to you!  To care for you, and provide for your needs!  And eternal life for those who believe in Him! 

Rainbows – aren’t they an amazing picture from and amazing God?

Have a Little Faith

How many times have you been told – you need to just have a little faith?  

The world looks at faith as blind acceptance of something that doesn’t make sense.  That is definitely not the meaning of faith, but the unbelieving world has to maintain this stereotype in order to dismiss people of faith – people who believe in God and His Son, Jesus. 

Faith is, in general, the persuasion in our minds that something - a certain statement or something we believe in, is true.

Faith’s primary ingredient is trust.  A thing is true, it’s worthy of trust because of the evidence that it rests on.

Faith is the result of knowing that evidence.  But faith also includes in it - acceptance.  We have to accept the evidence in order for us to trust.

Of course before we accept evidence of anything, we have to know that the source of that evidence is true – infallible.  And we have to accept it.

Where do we find evidence that we can trust God?  Is God reliable?  

There are many good resources demonstrating the reliability of the Bible, in which we find just how trustworthy God is.  You may want to read some of them.  My favorite is Josh McDowell's "Evidence That Demands a Verdict."

If we study the Bible carefully, we will find a continuous record of the events of the children of God. We will find prophecies that have been fulfilled – prophecies about the Nation of Israel and prophecies about Christ.

We will find many writings in the Bible that help us to understand God’s nature and His love for us – to give us evidence for our trust.

But another way we can learn to trust (have faith) in Him is through experience. Our experience is evidence with a big "E."

  

I remember when our children were young.  We frequently visited the swimming pool in the neighborhood.  Our son, Curt would stand at the edge of the pool and when his daddy said, “jump in – I’ll catch you.”  He jumped!  Why?  Because he had faith - not faith in the water – that water was deep and cold.  Not faith that he could swim - Curt couldn’t swim.  He was a little afraid, but he trusted his dad.  He had the faith to jump because he trusted the reliability of his father.  He had learned that, if his dad said he’d do something – he did. It was because of the constancy of the relationship.  

Now, if Ron had told another child to jump, he would have caught that child as well, but another child would likely not jump.  Why?  Because he wouldn’t know that he could trust that man.  That doesn’t change the reliability of the one doing the catching.  It just changes the trust in the mind of that other child.

The Bible tells us about the reliability of God – of the one doing the catching.

If you’ve walked with Him for many years, I'm sure you will have found Him trustworthy.  

I believe there have been times that God has been there for you, times when He’s provided just the right kind of help you needed, times when He caught you up when you fell and when He held you up out of the HOT water you’d gotten yourself in to.

 

But sometimes we still get a little quiver in our stomach when He asks us to jump off the side of the pool, when He asks us to trust Him in the events of our lives, don’t we? 

Do you remember in Mark 9 - there was a man whose son was possessed by evil spirits.  The man asked Jesus to heal him, if He could.  Jesus said anything is possible for the one who believes.  The man said – Lord, I believe.  Help me overcome my unbelief. 

You know what happened don’t you?  Jesus cast those spirits out of the boy.  The father wanted to believe, and asked Jesus to help him believe and that was good enough.

So, when you are overwhelmed and wonder how you can possibly trust God to help you in your troubles, ask Him to help you trust – to help you have faith.  Do you feel that God won’t answer if you’re a little unsure?  

The Bible says that you just need mustard seed faith. 

Matthew 17:20 tells us
“. . . . Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move.” 

I remember when all I had was a tiny bit of mustard seed sized faith during a terrible time in my life – but it was enough to hang on to.  How about you?

Psalm 91 says,  

"I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge, my fortress, my God in whom I trust.  He will cover you with his feathers and under his wings you will find refuge.   His faithfulness will be your shield." 

The Bible promises that God will be our shelter, our refuge and fortress.  Isn’t that a beautiful picture of him covering you with His feathers?

Psalm 9:10 tells us,
"Those who know your name trust in you, for you, Lord, have never forsaken those who seek you."

Trust in Him.  He will not forsake you!  

The Weight of the Snow

A February storm swept through our mountains yesterday and deposited clumps of heavy snow on the branches of the Ponderosa pines surrounding the house.  The branches, weighed down with their burdens, were bent, almost touching the ground. 

But this morning a new world greeted me through the living room windows.  The sky is the brightest blue I have ever seen.  The sun is kissing the earth with its warmth and making blue shadows on the snow blanket.  The trees, still bent and burdened, are beginning to feel the warmth of the sun.  As each branch is touched with the sun’s rays, it begins to shed the burden that has threatened to break it in two.

It’s a beautiful sight to watch each of those branches release its burden to the sun and unbend its body, becoming straight and alive again.

 

This morning’s unburdening is gentle.  One by one the trees awake from the nightmare of yesterday and with the help of the sun, the snow slips to the ground.

There are times when the wind blows after a storm and the unburdening is not so gentle.  The wind whips through the trees and shakes the branches to release their snow cargo.  This too, is healthy.  As the trees deposit the snow under their branches, they also deposit the dead pine needles that have been helping to hold that snow in place. 

Have you ever thought that our lives are like those of the trees.  When storms come and deposit burdens of worry and frustration on us, we’re bent.  Sometimes those burdens are so heavy that we feel we can’t move.  Sometimes we feel that we will break in two like the branches.  Once in a while we do break, whether it’s our heart that breaks or whether the life we’d planned breaks apart.  But along with the trials, there are days that we have sunshine to warm us and allow the burdens to melt and slide away.

I love being able to see God work in the world around me.  Since my imagination works overtime, it’s easy for me to make the connection between what I see with my eyes, and what I believe God is telling me through those events.

God’s love is warming my heart when I’ve gone through a storm and picked up a burden that weighs me down.  I see Him melting that cold heart of mine in order to allow the burdens to slip into His hands – His nail scarred hands.

There are also times when I require a strong wind to shake the dead stuff that’s keeping me from releasing those burdens and cleaning up the branches of my life. 

God is a God of love, who will do whatever it takes to help us see Him in our trials – but only if we ask Him to.  If we just want an easy life – if we don’t want to grow – if we're not willing to bend with the trials, we'll  probably never really appreciate the warmth of the sunshine or the cleansing winds that God puts into our lives.

Isn't it amazing what a snow storm will teach us?

Heaven is our Home

But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.  1 Corinthians 2:9 (NIV)

Remember the hymn, "There is a place of quiet rest, near to the heart of God."  Maybe that place could be called Heaven.

Heaven IS a place.   According to the Bible, heaven is an actual place – not an idea, or a feeling.  It is the place where God is and His presence is made known.

In Matthew 6:9 we find Jesus telling his disciples how to pray.  He begins the prayer with “Our Father who art in Heaven” – sounds like a place to me.

In 1 Kings 8:46 Solomon is pleading with God for the Children of Israel, He prays, and asks God, "then from heaven, your dwelling place, hear their prayer and their plea, and uphold their cause. And forgive your people."  

We also find that it is God who has prepared Heaven for us. 

Jesus speaks of heaven as the kingdom which has been prepared for us from before the creation of the world. Again, then, we see it is a literal place where God is intent on blessing us.

Matthew 25 tells us “Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world”

And in Hebrews 11:16 we read, “Instead, they were longing for a better country—a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.”

We learn that Heaven will be our home

Jesus prepared a room for us in God’s home.  Remember when Jesus told his disciples. “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me.  My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you?  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.”  John 14:1-3

This is really interesting, especially if we look at it from the culture that Jesus was a part of.  In those days, in Jewish culture, families lived in a sort of compound together and when a young man became engaged he would add a room on to his family house – his father’s house.  He worked on it until it was ready and then would go and get his bride and bring her back to her “new” home.  Jesus was looking at believers as His bride.  When Jesus ascended into heaven, He was going to prepare a home for us – His bride.  

Another aspect of heaven is that it will be a celebration – there will be a great banquet – a dinner – a feast.

Consider your memories, when you were young, do you remember how you prepared, when company was coming to dinner?  If we were celebrating something special – Easter, a birthday, a baptism, it was even more memorable. Mom had the house looking extra beautiful.  We all had to work hard.  Cleaned house, set up tables, ironed tablecloth, set out good china, took silverware out of special box, cooked all day.  How about you?  

God has prepared a banquet for us!  He’s done all of the work.  All we have to do is accept the invitation and put on the right clothes. 

I remember again that everyone in my family had to dress up for that special dinner, didn’t you?  Do you remember your mother telling you that you had to wash your face or, in my case, put on shoes? 

In the Bible there is a parable about the person who tries to come to a banquet of the King without the correct clothes.  It was an interesting analogy to me.  We are clothed in the blood of Jesus.  Jesus died and washed our robes.  He took the stain of sin away.  We can’t come to the feast in heaven unless our lives are washed clean by His blood, unless we are His disciples.  

Galatians 3:27 “ for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.

“I say to you that many will come from the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.”

Isn’t that beautiful?  Many will come and take their places at the feast in the kingdom of heaven.  That includes people from every nation. 

There's a picture in our dining room.  It’s there to help us remember that God has invited us to dinner.  He has invited us to come home and eat with Him.  The artist really put a lot of thought into this picture and although it’s just one person’s imagination of what our heavenly feast will be like, it’s meaningful. The table goes on and on for miles, signifying that many are invited.  He also shows that only the best is good enough for this dinner – He depicts elegant gold plates and silverware. 

But the seats around the table are empty – the heavenly feast is waiting until the trumpet blows and all of God’s people come home.

And if all this isn’t exciting enough – do you know that the guest of honor will be Jesus – the one who died to make it all possible.  Jesus will eat and drink with us.  At the last supper He said, "I tell you, I will not drink from this fruit of the vine from now on, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.”

Heaven is a place – a place God has prepared for us – and a place where we’ll celebrate with Jesus at a huge banquet table. And best of all, Heaven is our home.

Prayer Changes things

Pray – talk to your Father.

Pray - and work for the good.

Pray – You’ll find that it profits.

Pray – You’ll be understood.

If we talk to our maker we’ll find comfort there,

and strength and resilience, as those burdens we bear.

When corruption engulfs us, and the evils wage war,

the Father who hears us will even the score.

Work and pray for God’s people.

God will work by your side.

He will build up your muscles and lengthen your stride.

He will multiply effort.

He will magnify strength.

He’ll make greater your forces, and enable restraint.

If we pray, we will act.  If we trust our Father to help us, we won’t be afraid to act.  Prayer changes things – not through the words we say, but through our connection with the only one who can change things. 

Thank you Father.

God's Fire and Gentleness

Do you know much about Elijah – God’s prophet?  He was the one who would show Israel God’s displeasure about their idol worship.  Elijah told the king of Israel at that time, Ahab, that there would be a drought until God decided to end it.  Elijah ran away from Ahab then and God provided for him. 

After three years God called Elijah to go to Ahab and show him God’s power.  He planned to help the Children of Israel return to the worship of the one true God.

God’s instructions were that Ahab was to bring the prophets of Baal and Ashtheroth to Mount Carmel. This is where it gets exciting.  Elijah had the Israelites get two bulls and let Baal’s prophets choose the one they wanted, cut it into pieces and put it on an alter with wood, ready for a sacrifice.  But he said not to set fire to it. Elijah would do the same to the other bull.

He told the prophets of Baal to call upon their god to produce the fire. Elijah said he would call upon his God to do the same thing.  And the god that answered would prove he was the true God.

The prophets of Baal called out to him. But there was no response.  This went on all day.  They cut themselves, danced and cried out – but no response.

Then Elijah repaired the altar of the Lord, and dug a trench around it, cut the bull into pieces and laid it on the wood. Then he had the people fill four large jars with water and pour it on the bull and on the wood three different times. 

Elijah stepped forward and prayed: “Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, let it be known today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and have done all these things at your command.   Answer me, Lord, answer me, so these people will know that you, Lord, are God, and that you are turning their hearts back again.”

Then the fire of the Lord fell and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones and the soil, and also licked up the water in the trench.  Can you just picture that? 

The true God had spoken. 

Elijah climbed to the top of the mountain and prayed.  When Elijah’s servant saw a cloud as small as a man’s hand rising from the sea, Elijah sent him to tell Ahab to hitch up his chariot and go down before the rain stopped him. 

The Bible says, “Meanwhile, the sky grew black with clouds, the wind rose, a heavy rain started falling and Ahab rode off to Jezreel.  The power of the Lord came on Elijah and, tucking his cloak into his belt, he ran ahead of Ahab all the way to Jezreel.” 

Quite a guy huh? 

Well, he was good at running - and when Jezebel found that Elijah had had all her prophets killed, she threatened to kill him.  He was afraid and ran for his life again.

Do you wonder how many times God had to prove His strength and power and His care before Elijah stopped running?

God told Elijah that he would provide, and He did.  God told Elijah that He would cause a drought, and He did.  God told Elijah that He would send the rain, and He did - but Elijah still ran away from Jezebel.

Are we any different from this man?   Elijah was afraid of Ahab and spent a good deal of time worrying about whether Ahab and Jezebel would hunt him down and kill him even after God showed His care for Elijah and his power. 

How many times have we basked in God’s care and provision and still worried about tomorrow?  Is that any different?

 

When we think about God’s power and His care for His people, don’t you think we should give up worrying? 

Matthew 6:25-34
“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?...

1 Peter 5: 6-7 

Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: Casting all your care upon him; for He careth for you.

I love that last part – ”casting all your care upon him; for He careth for you.”

I know that it’s not always easy to give Him all of our cares, but when we look back on our lives and see the times He has provided for us, the times that His power has conquered the evil in our lives, and the times He has carried us, we will be able to stop worrying about what is around the corner of this day because He cares for you!

His arms are strong enough.

They can hold you up when you weaken.

They will carry you when your strength is gone.

But He’s so gentle that you may not even know when it’s His strength that takes over.  You’ll just feel the burden less as life goes on.

You’ll be able to smile a little when you greet tomorrow’s dawn.   

As we go along this path of life, we may learn to recognize His strength in our trials.  We may learn to recognize His touch and see His footprints as He carries us.  Sometimes it’s just an “I wonder if that was God?” moment, or sometimes we know with all of our heart that it was His touch.

He carried Elijah; He proved His strength and power.

He’ll carry us.

It's a New Year

Another Christmas has come and gone

Let us talk of what we’ve seen. 

The angels sang of Jesus birth

announcing peace to all the earth.

The shepherd bowed then at the sight.

They found the child that wondrous night.

He came to earth as Mary’s son, the promised, long awaited one.

We hear of Jesus wondrous birth 

and sing of glorious peace on earth.

We praise the baby in the hay, and pause to celebrate the day 

and then we pack it all away

 

The trees and lights and treasures fair, 

we put the crèche with Jesus there.

For one more year we put away the trappings of that special day.

But

If we take God from His manger bed and see the holy life He led

and watch the Son of God and see Him die upon that cursed tree.

Christmas might be just the start

of Jesus living in your heart.

This is the last poem in the book, "These My Christmas Dreams." It’s the very last page – it’s the end.  Have you come to the end of Christmas?  Should Christmas have an end?  As we put our decorations away, as you get things back to normal, try to think of what normal should really be.

Should we leave the decorations out all year?  I’m tempted to do that. 

Should we try to duplicate that Christmas feeling?  Sometimes we can have the joy of Christmas at other times of the year. 

Should Christ have a more prominent place in our day-to-day lives?  Will He?

Today I sat by the wood stove and thought about the visits with our family – We have a lot of fun with silly gifts like the kazoos we gave all the grandkids, and the package of 4 mousetraps that Ron received in his stocking.  But the best gifts were the love and acceptance from friends and family. 

But now the house was quiet and I had time to think deeply.

I thought about the gift that God has given us – all of us.  A savior was born 2000 years ago.  God’s gift of salvation came wrapped as a tiny baby.  I wondered just how I would use what I’d been given this Christmas.  What would this life of mine involve now – or better yet, who that life would involve now. 

There’s another Christmas gift that God promised us. John 10:10 says, "I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly." 

Abundant Life - what does that gift look like?  The dictionary defines abundant as:  marked by great plenty, ample, or bounteous. 

Jesus’ Christmas gift to us is abundant Life.  Would that be “a great deal of  money, many years on earth, lots of friends, excellent eyesight, or perfect health?” 

I think we’ll find that it’s really none of those things.  

You probably know about Joni Erickson Tada, who was injured when she was 17 in a swimming accident that left her a quadriplegic for life.  She had asked Jesus how she could have a closer walk with Him and He showed her.  She surrendered her will to God, and for the past 30 years, Joni has had a world-wide ministry helping other quadriplegics, and she’s ministered to those of us with sound bodies as well.  I love listening to her sing.  I love listening to her upbeat way of looking at life.  God has blessed her ministry and her life – with abundance.

I have some friends who have lived a long life.  They are in their 90s and above.  Is that an abundant life – plenty of years?  It is a certainly abundant in time, but compared to eternity – maybe not.

What about money?  Do you think that those with a bounty of things and money automatically have an abundant life?  Some people spend way to much time thinking about how rich other folks are and envying them.  All I have to do is think about my warm bed and dry place to live and food to eat – and I definitely see abundance – but is that what Jesus meant?

Let’s look at another person – we sing the song, "Blessed Assurance" written by Fannie Crosby.  The music was written by Phoebe Knapp.  Fannie was blind and very poor.  Phoebe was rich but they were apparently good friends.

Fanny was visiting her friend Phoebe, who played a new melody she had just composed. "What do you think the tune says?" she asked.

"Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine", answered Fanny Crosby – and it was.

Phoebe’s life was abundant, not because of her wealth, but because she used her talent to minister to all of us with that beautiful music.

Fannie’s life was abundant, even though she had neither wealth nor sight.

One of the verses in this song says, “Perfect submission, perfect delight, visions of rapture now burst on my sight.” She who had no sight could yet see the visions of rapture in her imagination.  And she gave us the words.

What makes an abundant life, then? Is it Jesus himself? He came to bring us abundant life, but sometimes we think in terms of the material or the physical, but it’s our spiritual life that becomes abundant with Jesus running things.  Our spiritual life, our prayer life, our minds and hearts belong to God if we believe on Him.  They are the most important parts of living.

I pray that this year I will use well His gift of abundant life. 

Tomorrow, when I start to “undecorate” my house, I will not be putting Jesus away for another year.  He will not be living in a box in the attic; he will be living in my heart.

I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

(Galatians 2:20)