CHILDREN ARE ARROWS
How did this young gentleman come to do this kind gesture?The thought was parent-installed; most likely daddy-installed.
Psalm 127 calls children “a gift”, “the fruit of the womb” & “arrows”.
Why are children like arrows?
They can be shot to go beyond their parents (the archers).
They can be aimed at the target of their parents values, priorities, worldview & faith.
Aim your arrows well.
I LOVE TOMATOES! AND THEY LOVE ME.
This looks like my kind of lunch!Fortunately, my grandfather Witherspoon coaxed me on by assuring me that the flavour was mostly in the seed parts which I wanted to avoid.
Since then I have eaten untold numbers of tomatoes!
And they have not only tasted great, they have also helped my health.
Tomatoes are a Functional Food. They go beyond nutrition to preventing chronic disease and to delivering several health benefits.
Yet only 200 years ago they were thought to be poisonous! (They got a bad rap from the family of vines of which they are a part!)
Tomatoes are a rich source of vitamins A & C; Folic Acid & Anti-Oxidants.
They can help ward off cancer, high blood pressure, heart disease and depression.
I had to taste and see that tomatoes are good!
The Psalmist David tells us:
“O taste and see that the Lord is good; how blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him”!
(Psalm 34:8)
Choose to take your refuge in your God. Taste and see. The benefits to you will be many!
Snakes!!
Of course Satan is not red. That’s a cartoon imagination. But Satan is real.He is a fallen angel with power but it’s power which is inferior to God’s.
Satan commands a lot of demons who do what they’re told.
Wayback Satan fell. (Ezekiel 28:11-19)
Currently Satan lies, accuses and murders.
(John 8:44)
In the future Satan will be sentenced to eternal life in prison! (Revelation 20:10)
Satan is highly organized. (Ephesians 6.10-13)
And he is lethal. (1 Peter 5:8)
Satan is a defeated enemy. (Revelation 1:12-18)
So, when mowing your grass (living your life here on earth), watch for the snakes but mostly stare at the One who defeated them!
I CAN’T BELIEVE I JUST DID THAT!
Sometimes risky faith in Jesus Christ leaves us in places of amazement and exhilaration.
That’s the look on our daughter Joanna’s face.
She has been in Spain this summer working at camp. And in this pic she has just been a part of a “running with the bulls” event.
(Did her traveler’s insurance cover that?)
“Running with the Bulls”. That had to require faith to “seize the moment”.
What is your Lord calling you to do that requires big faith in Him?
Do it! Be amazed. Be exhilarated.
“And Peter answered Him and said, Lord, ‘if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.’
And He said, ‘Come!’
And Peter got out of the boat, and walked on the water and came toward Jesus.’ “
(Matthew 14:28-29)
THE DOG DAYS OF SUMMER
The New Testament calls the Christian life a race. But it’s a race with pitstops.
Our Lord Jesus came apart to rest at certain points in his public ministry.
One reoccurring theme is rest/enjoyment.
2:24 – “…eat and drink and tell himself that his labor is good.
3:4 – “A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance.”
3:12 – “… rejoice and to do good in one’s lifetime”
3:22 – “… that man should be happy in his activities …”
5:19 – “… eat from them and to receive his reward and rejoice in his labor …”
9:9 – “Enjoy life with the woman whom you love all the days of your fleeting life …”
Don’t feel guilty when you have special air mattress moments! They’re from the Lord for your good.
COME HOME
“Now when he had spent everything, a severe famine occurred in that country, and he began to be in need. And he went and attached himself to one of the citizens of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine.(Luke 15:14-18)
It’s not too late. Come home.
BACK IN THE DAY USEFUL TODAY
I sewed every patch on the shorts. Close to 40 years ago.
When I outgrew the shorts I passed them on to my younger sister. When she outgrew them she surprised me one Christmas. She had them framed as my Christmas gift that year!
I now display the shorts in my office as they remind me of happy bygone days and they start conversations with visitors to my office.
Because of God’s touch, your past can be a launching pad to your ministry to others.
“But if we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; or if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which is effective in the patient enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer …”
(2 Corinthians 1:6)
God has helped you out of your past so you can be in someone else’s future. To the glory of God!
OUR RELUCTANT LIFE GUARD
Today Yankee went swimming with us at beautiful Cabbage Beach.
Yank got into the warm water but nowhere near as deep as Beth was swimming.
He so desperately wanted to swim out to her to keep her safe but he was way too scared.
So he did the next best thing (at least to him; a canine life guard!).
He incessantly offered his shrill bark.
I’m pretty sure in the bark language he was saying: “Hey, you … Master … Get in here where I can keep you safe!”
Jesus is our un-reluctant Life Guard. He waded into the very deep water to bring us to safety.
“For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich”. (2 Corinthians 8:9)
Thank your un-reluctant Life Guard / Saviour now.
SMALL SCREEN – SMALL LIFE
Beth and I were at the beach today. The young woman beside us never spoke to anyone; never went in the water; she snapped many selfie’s, masterfully using her neon-colored selfie-stick; and she rarely looked away from her smart phone.“… You shall love your neighbor as yourself”. (Matthew 22:39)
THE SHEPHERD
This shepherd is tenderly sheering the wool off of his sheep. And his sheep is not fighting him.“The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.”
Appreciate His care for you and don’t fight him!