Author: admin

I’m a little anxious for Spring, anyone else?  I find myself inclining my ear a little more in the mornings, waiting for the songs of Spring to start.  There’s been a note or two, an aria here and there, but I’m still waiting for the full blown opera.  You too?

Look what I found.  I’m on a run of bird nests, aren’t I?  Bird nests make me think Spring.  In the whiteness of Winter, it’s the color of hope, the color of the sun (Son).  I envision hairless babies tucked in nests with their heads craned, mouths agape, eagerly awaiting a wormbit.

I saw this nest the other day while brushing my teeth.  I think of odd things while brushing my teeth, anyone else?  As I was brushing, I was looking out my bathroom window and spotted this gem.  I studied it a bit and I was marveled at the construction.  Birds really are very smart.  Look at that nest, look where it’s placed, look where that bird lives – in the crook of the tree, right where the three branches join together, right at that limbs strongest point.  Do you see that?  That nest is nestled.  Think about it.  If that nest were only supported by two branches, it would topple left or right and obviously, it wouldn’t be there if there was only one branch.  But, the nest is secured and anchored by the three branches. Because of the three branches, a mother bird can put all her eggs securely in one nest-basket, and so can we.

God’s secret plan has now been revealed to us; it is a plan centered on Christ, designed long ago according to his good pleasure.  And this is his plan: At the right time he will bring everything together under the authority of Christ—everything in heaven and on earth.  Furthermore, because we are united with Christ, we have received an inheritance from God, for he chose us from the beginning, and all things happen just as he decided long ago.

God’s purpose was that we Jews who were the first to trust in Christ would bring praise and glory to God.  And now you Gentiles have also heard the truth, the Good News that God saves you. And when you believed in Christ, he identified you as his own by giving you the Holy Spirit, whom he promised long ago.  The Spirit is God’s guarantee that he will give us everything he promised and that he has purchased us to be his own people. This is just one more reason for us to praise our glorious God.

Ephesians 1:9-14

You see, as followers of the Word, we cannot say that we believe in God, but not Jesus.  We cannot say that we believe in Jesus, but not God.  We cannot say we believe in either God or Jesus, but not believe in the Holy Spirit.  Do you see the packaging?  The Trinity cannot be separated. 

The three branches are joined together, they are Triune, three in one, that Trinity is unity– that unity is Trinity.  God designed it.  Jesus delivered it.  The Spirit develops it.  All Three working together to hold us together.  God in three persons, Blessed Trinity!  Isn’t that an awesome place to build a nest?  Isn’t that a great place to be nestled?

PERSIST

John 8:12-19

Acts Chapter 7

2 Corinthians Chapter 3

PURSUE

May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.  Amen.

While picking up trash last week, Tony came across this sweet little nest.  I’ve never seen so tiny a nest.  In fact, I wouldn’t have seen it at all if Tony hadn’t pointed it out to me and yet it was in plain sight.  The picture doesn’t do it justice, but it is perfectly knit together with straw and grass.  Add in a few small leaves and it’s a perfectly decorated house.  This nest is only about a foot off the ground and it is located in what looks to me like some kind of sticker bush, not even a real tree.  The thing I marveled at was the size.  It was only about 2-3 inches in diameter.  No kidding.  I couldn’t figure out how a mother bird could fit in it let alone a mother bird, a few eggs, and some chicks. But, somehow they must have.  This bird family would not have been accused of having a McNest.

As I looked at the nest, the thought came to mind that God can use even the teeniest tiniest things to bring forth, to produce life.  It reminds me of the mustard seed lesson.  You know, faith as big as a mustard seed?  Isn’t that what’s expected of Jesus’s followers, of us?  Faith, even faith as small as a mustard seed?

And when they had come to the multitude, a man came to Him, kneeling down to Him and saying, “Lord, have mercy on my son, for he is an epileptic and suffers severely; for he often falls into the fire and often into the water. So I brought him to Your disciples, but they could not cure him.”

Then Jesus answered and said, “O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you? Bring him here to Me.” And Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of him; and the child was cured from that very hour.

Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not cast it out?”

So Jesus said to them, “Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you. However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.”  Matthew 17:14-21 – KJV

Faith as small as a mustard seed can result in the miraculous moving of mountains.  We’re familiar with these verses, aren’t we?  It’s good to be reminded though?  Faith as small as that bird’s nest produces life, everlasting life.  You see, a mustard seed is small but it is living, active, growing.  Look at what happens to the very smallest of seeds – when tended, it can grow up to 20 feet big.  That’s pretty incredible.  Do we have 20 foot faith?

The disciples had come across a particularly difficult problem.  They wanted to know why they couldn’t cast out the demon.  Jesus tells them in verse 21 —  “…this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting.”  He was telling them the kind of faith that they needed was faith that could only come from God, by communicating with God, by spending time with Him.  A tiny seed of faith, with prayer and fasting, grows into 20 foot faith, the kind of faith that moves mountains.  Not the self reliant faith we sometimes have.  You know, the faith in ourselves versus the faith in God.  I can…I can…I can…The disciples had the belief, they knew who Jesus was, they knew of his work, they followed Jesus, they went to church, they sang the hymns, they served, they taught others, yet Jesus called them faithless.  We’ve been in that spot before too, haven’t we?

This lesson always made me question the amount of my faith.  You know, do I have enough?  Should I have more?  Do I have mustard seed, speck of dust, or pinhead sized faith?  But, I’ve come to the conclusion that maybe I should be less worried about the amount of my faith as the sincerity, the genuineness, and authenticity of my faith.  If I focus more on the sincerity of my faith, God will produce just the right amount.  He will provide exactly what I need, exactly what you need.

Jesus called his twelve disciples together and gave them authority to cast out evil spirits and to heal every kind of disease and illness.  Matthew 10:1

Go and announce to them that the Kingdom of Heaven is near. Heal the sick, raise the dead, cure those with leprosy, and cast out demons. Give as freely as you have received!

Matthew 10:7-8

Jesus had previously given the disciples the authority they needed in this situation.  But, they had a bit of the same problem I have sometimes, when they were faced with a particularly difficult situation, their weak faith waivered.  It’s easy to have faith in the little stuff, isn’t it, but how about the big stuff?  Sometimes those mountains seem simply insurmountable, don’t they?  But, how is our weak faith made strong?  Only through the power of Jesus.

Did you notice that these passages start and end with prayer?  The father came and knelt before Jesus – Jesus tells the disciples, stay on your knees.  A very good reminder.

PERSIST

Psalm 104

1 Peter 1

PURSUE

Did you notice that these passages start and end with prayer?  The father came and knelt before Jesus – Jesus tells the disciples, stay on your knees.  A very good reminder.

On Saturday before the big snow, Tony, the Worst-Best, and I, went to pick up trash along Poor House.  It had been bothering me for a while.  When I walk the Worst-Best along the perimeter of the front field, I’m a little bewildered at the amount of trash that’s laying in the ravine and that’s blown out into the field.  Every time I head out I say I’m going to take a bag and clean up that trash and every time we’re down the road before I remember.

It’s interesting to me what collects along the side of the road.  How does it get here?  Carpet and upholstery samples (someone out our way is remodeling), insulation, shingles, tons of ba da ba ba ba lids and straws (I’m leaning slightly toward California on the ban), plastic bags, cardboard boxes, pieces of tire, metal strips, foam mailers, umpteen glass bottles and cans (beer to bai – people are really staying hydrated), a piece of a shoe, and countless other sundry trash.  It took about 45 minutes to fill the wagon to overflowing.   We stopped because we were full not because we ran out of trash.

Some trash was clearly visible, it was laying right on top of the ground in plain view.  Other pieces of trash you could barely see but when you started to pull on it you hit the mother lode, thus the wagon. And still other pieces of trash you didn’t know were there at all until you stepped on them because they were not out in the open to see, they were hidden beneath the grass, or leaves, or beneath field debris.  As I’m looking for trash and picking it up, it dawned on me that that’s something I should be doing on a daily basis in my heart.  Searching for the trash.  You know, clean out the debris.  Ouch — I know.

I can stand in the middle of Poor House and look out into the fields and on the surface, it can look stunningly beautiful.  But, if the wind’s a blowing, I might see something fly by.  If I look just beyond the surface, if I walk the land, if I move the grass and leaves, there’s a ton of trash.  Trash needs to be tossed whether it’s on our land or in our hearts.

Wash yourselves and be clean!

Let me no longer see your evil deeds.

Give up your wicked ways.

Learn to do good.

Seek justice.

Help the oppressed.

Defend the orphan.

Fight for the rights of widows.

Isaiah 1:16-17

The Lord plainly tells us to wash ourselves and be clean.  What does that mean?  It means to get rid of the trash in our lives.  Walk through the field and piece-by-piece pick it up.  Repent and practice righteousness.  How do we do that?  Well, we can’t practice righteousness without first practicing repentance.  We have to take care of the obvious first, the things we can see.  You know, those plastic bags that fly around in plain sight that we sometimes have trouble grabbing.  Is there something you have trouble grabbing?  For me, it’s my words.  Once they come out, I have a super hard time chasing them down.  It’s one of my wicked ways and I don’t say that flippantly.  It’s true.  My words hurt.

Second, we start to handle the trash caught up in the underbrush.  You know, the stuff you can see but others may not.  Then we take care of the stuff that thee nor we can see, the trash that lays beneath the surface, that which we cover up so we don’t have to pick it up.  Got any of that?  Me too.

Here’s the thing, if we collect and confess our trash, if we repent, if we come before Jesus and seek His forgiveness, we don’t have to lug around the wagon.  What does He say?

Come now, let us argue this out,

No matter how deep the stain of your sins, I can remove it.

I can make you as clean as freshly fallen snow.

Even if you are stained as red as crimson, I can make you as white as wool.

If you will only obey me and let me help you…

Isaiah 6:18-19

The Gospel of Isaiah — the salvation of Jehovah!  The Good News in the Old Testament!  Yes!  Isn’t that beautiful?  God says come.  God says let’s talk about this,  let’s reason this out together.  He says I will cleanse you from your sin.  He says bring me your trash, – above and below the surface – and He will cleanse it.  No matter how deep the stains of our sins, He can remove them.  The deepest, darkest, most permanent stains can be removed by Jesus.  He not only removes the stains, blots them out as if they didn’t ever occur, erases them from His memory, He changes the stain to a brilliant, sparkling, pure white.  We can pick up the trash (confess our sins), we can scrub the stains left behind by that trash, but a stain is a stain.  Only God can make our hearts completely clean.  Fresh.  New.  Only God can cleanse us.

The Lord says come, no matter what trash is gathered in your wagon, or if your wagon is filled to overflowing.  He says if you will only obey me and let me help you, He will provide what we need.  I don’t think He could make it any more clear to us, could He?  That’s the Good News!  God said, if you obey me, I can help you with your wagon.

PERSIST

Psalm 51

Isaiah 1

PURSUE

We pray, Lord Jesus, that you create in us today clean hearts.  Renew a right spirit within us.  Restore our joy.  Amen.

I made a statement at work a couple of weeks ago that I spent more time on my knees in 2020 then I think I have my entire life combined.  True, but sad, but convicting.  Thirteen days in, 2021 doesn’t look to be any different. In fact, my knee time in 2021 could quite possibly surpass my knee time in 2020, and it should.

Each passing year, despite the circumstances of the world, the happenings in our country, the motion of our own little tiny universes, our knee time should increase.  As we grow in our relationship with Jesus and persist in living in His presence, our communication with Him should increase exponentially.  Frankly, He should at some point be near all consuming.  In fact, I(we) should have the consciousness of His Presence even when I(we) don’t hear His voice.  Chew on that thought a minute. We don’t need to hear His voice to know He is present, to sense His presence, to experience His presence, to be in His presence.  We need only persist.

One day Jesus told His disciples a story to illustrate their need for constant prayer and to show them that they must never give up.  Luke 18:1

How much clearer could it be?  The need for constant prayer is so important that Jesus gave them a modern day (their modern day, not so different than ours) example so they could understand. Read it in Luke 18, it’s a beautiful illustration of persistence and faith in prayer.  We know, of course, that we are to persist in all our prayers, but the way in which it is used here in these verses is prayer for deliverance, rescue, salvation, in times of trial.  It means simply, as 1 Thessalonians tells us  “Keep on praying.”  It doesn’t mean we have to pray harder or pray longer, it means we keep our requests before God continually, confident that He will answer.

Some of you may have read the other day in Jesus Calling:

When you bring Me prayer requests, lay out your concerns before Me.  Speak to Me candidly; pour out your heart.  Then thank Me for the answer that I have set into motion long before you can discern the results.  When your requests come to mind again, continue to thank Me for the answers that are on the way.  If you keep on stating your concerns to Me, you will live in a state of tension.  When you thank me for how I am answering your prayers, your mind-set becomes much more positive.  Thankful prayers keep your focus on My Presence and My promises. Sarah Young

Let’s renew our minds, praying for deliverance from the times of trial – physical, mental and mostly spiritual — knowing that Jesus will surely answer, because He said He would, and in this day and age, as in days and ages past, His Word is the only thing we can count on as true.

Devote yourselves to prayer with an alert mind and a thankful heart.

Colossians 4:2

So with persistence we devote ourselves to prayer, and enter into the sweet presence continually, with a thankful heart, a heart of praise.  We know that praise always precedes the miracle, and answered prayers are miracles – salvation, healing, comforting – miracles because they can only be answered by God.  For that we are thankful.

Sweet hour of prayer
Sweet hour of prayer
That calls me from a world of care
And bids me at my Father’s throne
Make all my wants and wishes known
In seasons of distress and grief
My soul has often found relief
And oft escaped the tempter’s snare
By Thy return, sweet hour of prayer

Sweet hour of prayer
Sweet hour of prayer
The joys I feel, the bliss I share
Of those whose anxious spirits burn
With strong desires for Thy return
With such I hasten to the place
Where God my Savior shows His face
And gladly take my station there
And wait for Thee, sweet hour of prayer

Sweet hour of prayer
Sweet hour of prayer
And wait for Thee
Sweet hour of prayer

What a slow-fast year this has been.  It’s so hard to believe that Christmas is just two days away.  Wow, what a year?!?  Christmas is looking a little different for us this year, isn’t it? For many of us, our Christmas preparations look very different than in years past.  In order to be safe, much of our shopping has been done on line.  We’re not in stores touching, feeling, squeezing trying to find just the right gift.  Especially not without Christmas scented hand sanitizer and a Christmas mask on. This may be the year, because of logistics, we’re lucky there are gifts under the tree, if there’s a tree.  This year we hesitate to bake and deliver Christmas cheer.  There aren’t the usual festivities that accompany the season – Christmas parties, Christmas programs, singing choirs of angels.  Celebrations with friends and families just look different this year. But, there will be celebrations.

I know I’m not the only one lamenting the changes around our Christmas celebrations this year.  But, as I bemoan the events of 2020 and all the changes, the differences this year has brought, I’m reminded of something that never changes…Jesus was born…Jesus died…Jesus rose from the dead…Jesus will come again.  That’s the Truth we must hold on to. 

That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day.  For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever!  So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.

2 Corinthians 4:16-18

We have learned this year that some things we thought were really important just aren’t.  Life has been put in perspective for us in many ways.  Just as we believers know that 2020 would have been a whole lot more difficult without Jesus, we also know that Christmas is pointless without Jesus.  Without Jesus, Christmas is just like every other holiday that we pack into our neat plastic storage containers, secure the lids, and put in the basement or attic.  Those containers are completely lifeless, completely contained, until next Christmas.  Without Jesus, Christmas has no significance.  It is just another day that has no hope of a future.

For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.

Luke 2:10

We need a Savior, and on Christmas Day that’s what we celebrate.  Let’s remember what the day is really all about —  the birth of our Savior, the Light of the World, the Hope of All Nations, Christ the Lord! When we’re missing the traditions of Christmas’s past and celebrating in different places with different faces seated around our tables on Christmas Day, let’s keep in mind that it’s more important who is seated at the Lord’s table, than our own.  His table is set for all eternity.

Here on Mount Zion the LORD Almighty will prepare a banquet for all the nations of the world—a banquet of the richest food and the finest wine. Here he will suddenly remove the cloud of sorrow that has been hanging over all the nations. The Sovereign LORD will destroy death forever! He will wipe away the tears from everyone’s eyes and take away the disgrace his people have suffered throughout the world. The LORD himself has spoken.

When it happens, everyone will say, “He is our God! We have put our trust in him, and he has rescued us. He is the LORD! We have put our trust in him, and now we are happy and joyful because he has saved us.”

Isaiah 25:6-9

Christ has come! Christ has died! Christ will come again! Something we definitely can count on in uncertain times. He is the real Reason for all Seasons.

Feathers are not unfamiliar sights around our house.  With four chickens, feathers are always a flyin.  Birds’ feathers are like our hair and I can’t help but think that God knows the number of feathers on their backs – or like some of us, the lack of feathers…

You’re not going to believe this, but this here feather has been stuck in that same place in our yard for about five weeks.  It’s become a talking point at our house.  Each morning we get up go to the window and say “It’s still there.”  As I’ve mentioned before my chicks molt at the oddest time of year, they lose all their feathers and get new feathers, and it’s usually in late fall, early winter.  They’re nearly bald for anywhere from 8-16 weeks and that’s a really long time when it’s cold outside.  Just as we’ve noted before God’s ways are not our ways, so molt they must.

What makes this odd is that this feather is completely out in the open, no protection or shelter, and the wind blows at our house all the time – gale force – well, maybe not quite gale force, but a steady 10 with a gust or two all of the time.  We’d welcome a “Quiet down!” from the Lord every once in a while.  Anyway, you get my drift.

As I was heading back from the barn the other day, I did a feather check and I marveled that it was still standing, it was holding steady, even in unsteady conditions.  You see, a 10 mph breeze is nothing for the chickens, the cat, the dog, the horses, and certainly not for us, but for a feather that weighs .000289 ounces (yep), even a breath could waft it into the next county, yet it stands firm.  It may sway in the breeze, but it always goes back to center position, reaching toward the Heavens.  This feather never looses its balance.  This feather is strongly embedded, tethered, anchored to the ground where it fell.  No amount of weather has been able to push it over or away.  It made me wonder if I’m that strongly tethered?  Do I sway with the world?  When a big gust comes along will you find me in the next county?  Can I withstand all kinds of weather and not lose my balance?   Does my anchor hold?

For example, there was God’s promise to Abraham. Since there was no one greater to swear by, God took an oath in his own name, saying:

“I will certainly bless you, and I will multiply your descendants beyond number.” Then Abraham waited patiently, and he received what God had promised.  Now when people take an oath, they call on someone greater than themselves to hold them to it. And without any question that oath is binding. God also bound himself with an oath, so that those who received the promise could be perfectly sure that he would never change his mind. So God has given both his promise and his oath. These two things are unchangeable because it is impossible for God to lie. Therefore, we who have fled to him for refuge can have great confidence as we hold to the hope that lies before us. This hope is a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls. It leads us through the curtain into God’s inner sanctuary. Jesus has already gone in there for us. He has become our eternal High Priest in the order of Melchizedek.  Hebrews 6:13-19

Hope, the anchor for our souls.  Hope in the knowledge that God keeps His promises.  In fact, He didn’t just promise, He also took an oath, in His own name.  We have His promise and His oath! 

If our anchor is tethered to the shifting sands of this world, it simply has no hope of holding.

Why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ but not do what I say? I will show you what he is like who comes to Me and hears My words and acts on them: He is like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid his foundation on the rock. When the flood came, the torrent crashed against that house but could not shake it, because it was well built.

But the one who hears My words and does not act on them is like a man who built his house on ground without a foundation. The torrent crashed against that house, and immediately it fell—and great was its destruction!”

Luke 6:46-49

In the trials of this life, the gale (or should I say Gail) force winds, we must be securely anchored to our Great High Priest.  The One who constantly intercedes on our behalf, if we have placed our hope in Him.

Where are you tethered?  What secures you?  What type of foundation are you anchored in? The Rock or in the sand?

As you know (I’ve grumbled enough about it), I’ve had some technology issues for the past two weeks.  When I post my blog each Wednesday, I have to login to what is called my “Dashboard.”  It’s really the hub of where everything is done on a blog.  Where you type, where you format, where you post, where you upload, it’s critical to posting on the website, you can’t do it without access to it,  so not being able to login was kind of a big deal, as you saw.

Over the course of the two weeks, I tried everything I knew.  I did know that my login and password were correct, but for some reason, it just locked me out.  I entered it about a thousand times thinking I must be one key off.  The curious thing about not being able to get in is that my login and password auto populate, I never type them in.  Anyway, that was my problem, or part of my problem.

I can generally operate apps but I don’t know how to make apps work, if that makes sense.  I tried everything I knew to do, but I just could not fix the problem.

After two weeks of stubbornly fighting and fussing, I did what any ordinary person would have done from the get go – I asked for help.  Yep.  I logged right on to my host website and made a new friend, his name is Orwin, I call him Dr. Orwin because he healed my login issue.  We live chatted at 4:30 a.m. on a Wednesday morning.  And much to my dismay and jubilation, Dr.  Orwin promptly fixed my login problem.  What took about half an hour, actually less because of the delay in live chatting, I had agonized over for two weeks.  Ugh!

Is there no medicine in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why is there no healing for the wounds of my people?  Jeremiah 8:22

So, after two weeks of unnecessary pain, frustration and delay, I went to the physician (Dr. Orwin) and I applied the medicine (new login information).  Applying the balm actually resolved the problem quite quickly, but that only happened after I humbled myself and went to the one that could actually fix the problem.

I am so like the Israelites in many ways.  I am stubborn.  I would rather complain than take steps to be healed.  I don’t want to change my way of doing things. I feel sorry for myself.  I get super frustrated.  All because I will not humble myself to the Master Physician.  Gilead was known for its healing medicine, its balm, but the people refused the medicine.  They were stubborn, they complained, they didn’t turn from their ways (sin), they felt sorry for themselves, they frustrated themselves.

Jesus answered them, “Healthy people don’t need a doctor—sick people do.  I have come to call sinners to turn from their sins, not to spend my time with those who think they are already good enough.”  Luke 5:31

Just like my technology issue could only be healed by Dr. Orwin, my spiritual issues (sin) can only be healed by the Master Physician, yours too.  Here’s the thing – healing can only take place if we stop trying to fix ourselves, if we stop thinking we’re in control, we’re all powerful, if we stop delaying, if we stop thinking we can do it on our own, if we humble ourselves, if we stop trying every other remedy.  He provides the medicine, the balm, to heal our brokenness, our hurt, our pain, our frustrations, our anxieties.  But the medicine only works if we actually take it, if we apply it.

He never sinned, nor ever deceived anyone. He did not retaliate when he was insulted, nor threaten revenge when he suffered. He left his case in the hands of God, who always judges fairly. He personally carried our sins in his body on the cross so that we can be dead to sin and live for what is right.

By his wounds you are healed. Once you were like sheep who wandered away. But now you have turned to your Shepherd, the Guardian of your souls. 1 Peter 2:22-25

He who knew no sin came to take away our sin.  The only one that can heal us came to heal us.  His wounds were the remedy, the healing for all our broken spirits.  But, healing can only come if we take in the medicine, if we accept the balm, the healing remedy from the Master Physician.