Flocking Together

O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens... When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?  Psalm 8:1,3 & 4

I never cease to be amazed at the evidences of God’s handiwork in the natural world.  Sometimes I step outdoors just to feel a bit closer to my Heavenly Father.  My heart is lifted in songs of praise when I see the detail and variety within His creation.  Maybe that’s why the Psalms are so special to Christians.  David, too, was inspired as a shepherd boy by the wonders of God surrounding him in the outdoors. 

The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.  Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge.  There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard.  Psalm 19:1-3

As the birds return from their winter havens, I’m filled with questions concerning their ways.  Why do birds travel in flocks?  Is it to find the best feeding grounds?  Is it for the protection of traveling in numbers?  Is it because there will always be others watching for danger?  Is it the companionship of others of like kind?  Is it to be part of a whole that has the same needs and seeks the same goals?  It’s probably all of these and even more reasons beside.  Matthew 6:26 says that God cares about them and sees that they are fed. 

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?  Matthew 6:26

Sad to say, we may be adding another widow to the church family soon.  Her mate of many years is in the final stages of lung cancer.  We’ve seen this tragic drama played out too many times in our little congregation.  It’s a time when the Body of Christ can be most comforting.  In fact, in 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 we see that God Himself has that very thing in mind:

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, Who comforts us in all our affliction so that we will be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.

“…so that we will be able to comfort…”  This is how God’s Family is supposed to function.  The security of knowing others surround us who know what we need.  Like a flock of birds, moving and feeding together – watching out for one another.  Just like God planned it!

Love as always,  Elaine (thankful for the Flock!)

Meant to Soar

At this time of year, I’m very interested in bird migration.  March came in like a lion, devastating the South while driving migrating geese north ahead of schedule.  It must be a comfort for them to find last year’s cornfields devoid of snow cover.  What a welcome rest stop on their arduous journey to the Arctic!  I never tire of watching hundreds, maybe even thousands, of geese banking and preparing to land nearby.  The Snow Geese are particularly beautiful as they scatter and regroup.  They wheel in the sky catching the sun on their blinding whiteness like silver glitter blown in the wind!  The black tips of their wings are only visible as they stall and bank in for a landing.

Sad to say, as gorgeous as they are in flight, they are just that plain while gathered on the ground.  They become ordinary barnyard geese grubbing in the wet mud.  Not very impressive at all!  It occurs that we as Christians are very much like them.  Our grubbing about in the daily routines of life doesn’t define who we really are.  We are meant to be lights on a hill, drawing others to Christ as Jesus explained in Matthew 5:14-16:

You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lamp stand, and it gives light to all who are in the house.  Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.

It’s so easy to become mired down by our chores and time constraints.  If we don’t make room or time for God and His Word, we’re nothing but ordinary barnyard geese.  When that happens the world cannot not see the shining triumph of life lived in Christ.  A life that is lifted above this temporal earth, focused on eternity!

Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.   Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth.   Colossians 3:1-2

Love as always,  Elaine (eyes on the sky!)

Treasure in the Snow

And now for the exciting snow update.  Today we awoke to our first snowstorm of the season!  Pretty puny at five inches but it’s still snow to be cleared.

During winter storms I’m always concerned about our birds (and so is Farah!)  Because we’ve had a mild winter we haven’t many winter customers to our feeder out back but I become very attached to the few that come.  A flock of goldfinches and several Amer. tree sparrows regularly stop by to refuel.  Blue jays throw the seed on the ground and the dark-eyed juncos gratefully clean it up.  This morning our trees were crowded with disgruntled mourning doves.  I’m glad I thought to fill the feeder yesterday or they might have brought their picket signs!  They are more dependent on feeders when snow covers the ground.  But those brave juncos, trusting there is seed under it all, come and dig through until they found the treasure they crave!  Their past experience told them there would be food -- no matter how bleak the prospects appeared.

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?  Matthew 6:26

We should all be like those trusting little birds.  In the midst of life's storms, we can always find the treasure we seek in God's Word.  It's been there for us in the past and, no matter how blurred and confused our present may be, His wisdom will continue to comfort and guide us!  Remember how Jesus answered Satan's temptation to turn the stones into bread while He was fasting in the wilderness in Luke 4:4?

But He answered him, saying, 'It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.'

We’ll be well fed, too, by feeding daily on His precious Word!

Love as always,  Elaine (where’s that shovel?)

Into the Wind

What a blustery day we’re having!  It seems more like March than February.  The trash bin would be doing back flips if it still had a lid but that blew off last year!  We lost our electric power for about an hour this morning.  The house cooled off quickly because of the wind, so I was especially grateful when power was restored!  The birds are lying low until this passes but I find the occasional blue skies cheering.  While having my prayer time today, I observed a lone crow flying into the wind.  He must have had an important mission to endure such a buffeting.

As Christians, we, too, have an important mission.  Unfortunately, there are times when we must endure a buffeting from dark forces at work around us.  Even the Apostle Paul understood how difficult the Christian walk could be and wrote of our need for preparation in I Cor. 9:25-27;

Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last for ever.  Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air.  No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.

Rich recently attended a breakfast hosted by a local funeral director.  Each year, Mark invites the “clergy” from the area as a thank you for past business.  Indeed, all of us have made many visits to his funeral home in Camden – too many, it seems!  It is a good chance for R. to meet various religious leaders from the community.  Unfortunately, one is also exposed to many foolish, non-scriptural assertions in such a mixed group.  All the boasting of personal “spirit-filled” experiences made Richard eager to slip away as soon as it seemed courteous to do so, thanking his host for the breakfast.  In the meantime, Mark is further convinced in his belief that religion is “the opiate of the common people”!  And who can blame him when he is exposed to such imaginings?

As a follower of Christ, one can feel very alone in a world gone mad with pride over the traditions of men!  The Christian bookstores are filled with books promoting the latest fancies of men who are revered as religious leaders.  Yes, my friends, the winds of error are blowing strong across our land.  As God’s People, we must be prepared through prayer and diligent study to struggle against the prevailing winds;

Ephesians 4:13-14: …until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.  Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming.

Stay close to The Master and He’ll give you the strength to keep flying into the wind!

Love in Christ,  Elaine

Gardener by Creation

Genesis 2:4-5:  This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created. When the LORD God made the earth and the heavens— and no shrub of the field had yet appeared on the earth and no plant of the field had yet sprung up, for the LORD God had not sent rain on the earth and there was no man to work the ground

In God’s original plan Adam, the first man, would be a gardener in Eden.  Apparently man was as necessary as rain to the propagation of plant life.  The very first time I dug in the dirt and planted a seed, I knew I was a gardener by heart.  In time I came to learn that God made man a gardener at the beginning of creation probably because God Himself was a Gardener:

Genesis 2:8-9:  Now the LORD God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden; and there he put the man he had formed.  And the LORD God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.  

Winter has arrived with its gray skies and treacherous traveling.  But, as a gardener by creation, I am content to stay indoors planning my gardens for the new year.  I am not discouraged watching the snow cover the ground and freeze one day and melt away again the next because I see my gardens as a work in progress.  Yes, it looks like a bunch of dead sticks out there but I can imagine the lush green of summer as God works His wonders with my “plants of the field”.  God is more than able to coax life and color out of the brown mud of spring.  Spring bulbs hiding beneath winter’s chill are already preparing for their big spring event!

Genesis 2:15  The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.

 

I get a real sense of accomplishment thinking back to past gardening projects – even the ones that didn’t work out so well.  I pray for the strength to see this new gardening season through to the end.  Then God will cover my gardens with a blanket of snow once more to await the warmth of spring.

Love as always,  Elaine (sorting seed packets)

The Gift of Meekness

Twenty-two degrees below zero this morning!  This winter has been a real roller coaster ride, weather-wise.  The whole country reels under extreme changes in the jet stream.  Sunny days give way to frigid nights and rainy afternoons have us breaking open frozen doors the next morning.

Our bird feeder has gotten frozen so often that I just go out with a ladle and spoon seed onto the shelf.  I always feel sorry for the birds during such extreme weather changes.  What must they think sleeping snugly in the pine trees, waking up nearly buried alive?  It's hard to keep the bird feeder clear of blowing snow or freezing rain so they can get to the seed.  The ground feeders haven't a chance of finding seed buried in deep drifts or frozen solid to the ground.  In such weather I discover all of them politely taking turns at a tiny open patch on the feeder ledge.  In better weather there's much bickering and pushing and the ground feeders don't even attempt to invade the higher "ground".  They must sense that survival depends on cooperation under such conditions.  Or maybe that's just the way God made them!

It makes me think about how much we are like that.  We can be bickering and fussing over the pettiest of details under ordinary circumstances but it's a different story when a crisis arises.  Bad times often bring out the best in us. 

That must be what God meant when He inspired Paul to write to the Galations at 6:2: 

"Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ." 

Unlike the birds which behave by instinct, we can choose how we respond to adverse condition.  Often times it is the quiet, smiling widow or the tired, sleep deprived mother who lead the way yielding to others in need.  Don’t forget Jesus’ promise in Matt. 5:5;

“Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.”

As in the natural world, we are all affected by what happens to those around us – especially in the Church.  "No man is an island unto himself.  Even if the weather is fair and sunny, let's renew our efforts to have the same attitude as Christ...

Philippians 2:3-7, "Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.  Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.  Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,  but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness."

Love as always,  Elaine

From Old to New

Here it is the end of December and we are just getting our first winter storm of the season!  We were taken by surprise when torrential rains glazed everything in ice overnight.  Birds suffer in such sudden changes – the empty bird feeder is frozen shut so I do my best to scatter seed ahead of the snow accumulation.  I am reminded of the futility of making plans at this time of year.

Perhaps, like many of us, you are assessing the waning year and making resolutions for the New Year ahead?  Magazines feature extended articles on getting organized.  Sporting goods stores tempt us with exercise equipment that promises to have you in “the best shape of your life”.  We tend to get drawn in to the, ”This is the year I would like to…” attitude of the world.  Instead we need to remember God’s warnings in James 4:13-16:

Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.”  Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow.  What is your life?  You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.  Instead, you ought to say, "If it is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that."  As it is, you boast and brag.  All such boasting is evil.

There is one kind of resolution we could make for the New Year that might be pleasing to God.  That is the goal of gaining the “higher ground” of knowing and following Christ better this year than last.  If we can mark spiritually progress for ourselves in 2011, we can be encouraged to move forward and upward in 2012!

“But if anyone obeys his word, God's love is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in him.  Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did.”                   1 John 2:5-6

“Study and be eager and do your utmost to present yourself to God approved (tested by trial), a workman who has no cause to be ashamed, correctly analyzing and accurately dividing [rightly handling and skillfully teaching] the Word of Truth.”  2 Timothy 2:15, Amp.

Love as always,  Elaine (hitting The Book)