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We sometimes get down and discouraged because of the trials of life and
because we can't physically see past them, we think that life is too
unbearable. What we must realize is that we have a God who is omniscient
and omnipresent and has promised that in His sight All Is Well. The Lord
has commanded us to be of good cheer because He has overcome the world for
us. We are to rest in the Lord's promise and know that God is with us at
all times and nothing by any means will be able to harm us. Be encouraged
to enjoy each day that you are alive and in your living give praise to God
for being with you and for meeting your every need. (Psalm 20:6-9)
I hope today's message encourages your heart to rest in the Lord and know
that He loves you greatly and wishes for your Joy to be full.
BURNISHED GOLD
“You'd better not stay too long,” I whispered through the partly open
window to the lone robin still visiting our backyard birdbath. It was
late October, and most of the robins were gone.
I like to think that the robin understood me but that he determinedly
ignored my soft suggestion. I knew he loved the backyard with its shady
trees and bushes, the birdbath, and the feeders. He also enjoyed the
thick, shaggy spruce out front where he roosted at night.
“Some birds get too old to migrate,” said my husband, coming into the
dining room as he followed my vision out of the double windows.
“I don't think he's too old,” I replied. “He just likes our yard and
doesn't want to leave.”
I was remembering the information in my bird book that showed southern
Illinois in a strip of country where some bird species are doing less
migrating.
“Perhaps he will stay here for the winter,” I suggested thoughtfully.
And indeed, I believe our plucky yard guest did stay. Our weather was not
severe except in January and February, and I kept bread bits, popcorn
kernels, cereals, and crumbs under the skirt of the spreading spruce. The
spruce--a habitat for wild rabbits, birds, and the occasional squirrel--
offered cozy shelter from the winter snows, and I'm sure the small
creatures were grateful for the handouts.
Come Spring, the plucky robin was grazing our front yard for worms. I
recognized his uniquely placed white feather. His once smooth orange
breast was faded in small patches as if the cold and frost had mottled his
colors.
Looking out the front door screen, I said, “God loves speckled and spotted
creatures too.”
The robin looked up--then took off in a small rhapsody of flight, over the
bushes lining our porch and then soared back through the porch itself out
to the branches of the sprawling spruce.
It was as if he were saying, “Whoopee!--God loves me, and I am so happy here.”
Throughout the summer, I have seen the “speckled” robin pacing the dappled
lawn, harvesting worms, and delightedly splashing his wings in the
birdbath. He seems to be socializing with the other birds and enjoying the
breezes. The mottled breast does not matter to him. He is content. This
is his place, his home.
I have recently been reading a book in which the author stresses God's
boundless love for man. Even with the dramatic example of the Crucifixion,
God's ability to love each of us so completely has sometimes been hard for
me to grasp. The concept of God's personal love for each of us seems
almost beyond comprehension.
Now, I think of the plucky robin...and of my love for all the little
creatures of the earth. It is only a rough, somewhat suggestive analogy,
but my appreciation of all the small creatures just because they are God's
creation is a little like His love for all of us. We are His beloved
creatures, His created beings. He loves us unconditionally as we are. Yet
He gently leads us to be all that we can be, each one unique and special in
His sight.
And like the robin happily at home in our yard, sometimes we get too
comfortable on this lovely earth. We do not want to leave to go to our
next place of being. Yet God still waits for us to come happily home to
Him. The joy and loveliness of the place He has prepared for each of us
is beyond our imagining.
The flaws and shortcomings, the speckles of sin, and the mottling from our
determined and often wayward will fade in the light of His enduring love.
At last, we are in the Presence of God, content in our heavenly home, and
it is all the joy and belonging we will ever need.
By Mary Ellen Grisham
Read and meditate on these scriptures:
Psalm 9:1-2 “I will praise Thee, O LORD, with my whole heart; I will shew
forth all Thy marvellous works. I will be glad and rejoice in Thee: I will
sing praise to Thy name, O Thou most High.”
Psalm 103:1-5 “Bless the LORD, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless
His Holy name. Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits:
Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases; Who
redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with lovingkindness
and tender mercies; Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy
youth is renewed like the eagle’s.”
Psalm 20:6-9 “Now know I that the LORD saveth His anointed; He will hear
him from His Holy Heaven with the saving strength of His right hand. Some
trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember the name of
the LORD our God. They are brought down and fallen: but we are risen, and
stand upright. Save, LORD: let the king hear us when we call.”
Isaiah 26:3-4 “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed
on Thee: because he trusteth in Thee. Trust ye in the LORD for ever: for
in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength.”
All of these scriptures can be found in the King James Version Bible.
Today’s Selected Poem: TEN RULES FOR A HAPPY DAY
Click here to read --- http://www.Godswork.org/inpoem133.htm
Today’s Selected Testimony: FATHER KNOWS BEST
Click here to read --- http://www.Godswork.org/testimony109.htm
In Christ’s Service,
Dwayne Savaya
Gods Work Ministry |
