Flying High/And it's not Cocaine

Flying High

But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.
                                                                              ...Isaiah 53:5


It was almost magic, as if the children’s dreams were towering the sky, right along with their theatrical presentation of floating designs.  The winds rush the kites up and onward, while embracing the colorful creative shapes.

Flying Kites has always been a favorite pass time of children all over the world.  Brazilian children especially come up with innovative ways to make a kite from paper bags to newspapers, to anything lightweight in nature.  The richest child to the poorest could own the sky for a few hours of pleasure while flying kites. The heavens note not the status of those who fly kites.

In the small town of Pouso Alegre, M.G. Brazil, we had taken our six-year-old to fly her kite as promised.  We found property where we could do just that, right outside of town.  Bill did everything to keep April's kite in the sky, but it desperately needed a tail.  Nothing was found to serve that purpose so we began to walk back to the car.  Disappointment was felt by all----Bill, April, one year old Bobby and me.
Then I remembered," Hey, I have nylons on!  That might work!" 

Just having a couple of pairs brought from the states, it was very hard to let go; to sacrifice for the soul purpose of flying a kite.  It was definitely a hard decision to make for a moment, but only a moment, after seeing April's face light up.  Taking my USA nylons off in the middle of the field and knotting them up took courage.  Bill helped April toss the kite to the wind and take off running.  Up it went, but this time it stayed.  We all watched with delight as it towered overhead.  Bobby was ecstatic with the sight of this colorful activity in the sky.  It was worth the letting go of the hosiery for the joy it brought our 7 year old.

We call these acts sacrifices, when in reality they are what should be expected everyday, the giving of ourselves.  I was caught in a moment that day, a rare form, of me thinking of someone else.  What we think are sacrifices, are really self-less acts of memory making, to show someone we care.  Most of us do not know what true sacrifice really is.

Self-less acts can make a big difference and maybe even help turn someone's life around.  Make a memory, not for the whole world to see, but for your heart to feel alive.  What self-less act will you do for someone today?  Talk about flying high!

Real sacrifice is what Christ did.  If you don't know Jesus, call on His name and your heart will be so light after burdens have been lifted, that you will feel like soaring right along with the kites.  He alone can lift away your burden of sin.

Exquisite Flaws by Carol Levergood

Exquisite Flaws

It is of the Lords mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: Great is thy faithfulness.

…Lamentation 3:22-23 KJV

Picking up a stunning piece of pottery I wondered why everyone passed the beauty up to go on to another item at the yard sale. I knew the piece was an antique and was almost stumbling over everyone to be able to examine closer. Picking the pottery up I realized at the bottom of the exquisite piece there was a chip but not seen unless observantly looking for flaws.  Snatching it up was without delay not taking my hands off the newly unearthed treasure.

 It wasn’t the value of the pottery, but the work involved that intrigued me, it was striking in appearance.  The item would have remained on the table proving that most found it not worth much with a chip on the base.  This piece of clay could have been thrown in the kiln, broken to pieces for art projects, or thrown away.  Didn’t look like much of a future for this art piece before I came along.

Buying the vase was my first thought to add to my collection of my tiny flawed Rembrandts that a professional collector would not even consider purchasing.  But I regarded them as Rembrandts because art is to reveal something about the author or owner.  The artist has something to reveal to the onlooker.

In this pottery I saw myself and the many imperfections or defects whatever you choose to call them.  But these flaws of my life tell a story and sometimes not such a pretty story.  I could only be bought by the only one who is without error.  Only Jesus could save me from destruction.

My hopes are to allow God to change that part of me not so attractive as I give my life completely to Him.  Those flaws have been forgiven, not overlooked.  The Master of my life sees past the blemishes and sees what I was meant to be.  He sees me without the flaws. Wow! He knows what I am made of; He was there at my making.  He knows what I can hold, because He will not give me too much of anything I am not meant bear.  He still finds me useful for His service.

Here I am Father!  Use me; fill me with your Son Jesus and in the power of the Holy Spirit until my vase runneth over.  Then no one will even notice the imperfections; they will only see the work done in me through you, Father.  Yes I am flawed, but I don’t always remember, because my Master treats me like a beautiful piece of art and ready to dawn His table at the Marriage Feast.    Our value is great, but only because of the price paid for it to be rescued.

Shattered Pieces

Shattered Pieces

Therefore this iniquity shall be to you as a breach ready to fall, swelling out in a high wall, whose breaking cometh suddenly at an instant.  Isaiah 30:13

Shattered windows. That’s what we witnessed many times as we drove between the cities of  Pouso Alegre  and Campinas, Brazil.  We could surmise what had happened.  Cars headed down a sharp hill, hit a valley, then climbed back up again and the tremendous changes in air pressure caused their windshields to burst.  Halfway through our two-hour trip and our front windshield shattered.

”There’s no reason to buy lunch now,” my husband said, “We’ve already had our fill of fresh meat today through the busted window.”  We did pick some strange things from our teeth.

Had we pressed our hands against the windshield, or rolled down a window to ease the pressure inside the car we may have saved the glass from breaking, but we didn’t know we were entering a high-pressure area.  We were so distracted by the beautiful scenery or by talking with one another that we sometimes forgot to watch for upcoming pressure areas.

The pressures of life can also be great, like periods of highs and lows, especially like these trying times around us.  The pressure is on. Bills need to be paid and money is sparse but that doesn’t mean ignoring the preparation.  Finances can be tricky—never knowing when our planned pathway will drop or curve.  The pressure will change but God encourages us to be prepared for whatever lies ahead.

Walking on Water

Walking On Water

And he said, Come.  And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked

on the water, to go to Jesus.  But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me.  

                                                         

                                                                                 --Matthew 14:29-30

Cheboygan, Michigan’s’ Lake Mullet sparkled with an appearance of glitter over the skirt of the body of water.  Crisp early June mornings are my favorite times on the lake.  The quiet spring hours seem almost noisy with crickets, Katie-dids, and frogs harmonizing in natures’ Hallelujah chorus.  It took my breath away at times, watching the baby mallard ducks swim in a row frantically trying to keep up with Momma Mallard.

The light waves brush against the shore where footprints of yesterdays’ activities were slowly being washed away.  Evidence of play still remained with little rock piles around, treasures of an innocent child.  Our children and I skipped rocks with their Dad trying to out do the other in the amount of skips over the top of the water.

 Skipping stones is the biggest challenge of the day on this wonderful vacation.  But in the attempt to skip the stones, the children throw pretty wild; the ducks run for cover and fish find refuge far away from the shore.  Robert is sure his sister is trying to wipe him off the face of the earth, and vice versa.  When one of us is successful in skipping the stones at least five times, accomplishment is felt.

Peter felt accomplishment only after feeling what it was to fail, denying Jesus, three times.  Peter at this time now feels the accomplishment of walking on the water, which is impossible without Jesus.  Peter starts to plummet to the bottom of the lake, when he began to take his eyes off his Savior.  He then fixed his eyes on Jesus accepting the intimidating storm around him, and rose up to face the Savior, the one who controls the storms.

Peter forgot the storms even belong to Jesus.  While the disciples were frightened, they still didn’t realize God kept them from the full fury of the storm.  Gods’ full fury will be felt one day on this old world, so fix your eyes on Jesus.  “Peter began to sink,” this is not “Peter sank.”

There is hope for you who feel you are going under.  Keep your eyes on the Master and like the stones, you will skip more gracefully across the rough waters.  The rough waters will seem more like the passing of a speedboat, then a tidal wave.       

Have Cake, Will Crumble

Have Cake, Will Crumble

He that worketh deceit shall not dwell within my house: he that telleth lies shall not tarry in my sight.

                                                                                                …Psalm 101:7

            I killed a piece of chocolate cake today; thought it was a fly.  The unusually large spot appeared to me that it wasn’t a normal speck in the design of the counter-top. When I walked into the kitchen I was sure this blemished area was a fly or cricket. 

            When I fiercely smacked the intruder for it not to get away, the substance crumbled, I thought in fear of me.  Cake usually crumbles, but I didn’t see until I put my glasses on what I had captured.  The ferocious morsel was permanently detained in triumph, keeping all from danger of being devoured. 

            The only true devouring would have taken place was when I’d noticed it was a morsel of cake; I don’t usually let cake crumbs get away that easy.

            OK I told the story with a bit of drama but without my glasses things look so strange at a foot or two away.  Feeling foolish I cleaned up the crumbs and half giggled at my attempt, thinking I need to wear my glasses all the time now. 

            I was humorously deceived by a tidbit of dessert, but in the belief there was a trespasser I took it very serious. David takes wicked intruders serious.  God also wants us to be serious about liars and deceivers that come into our lives.   In this Psalm, David declares there will not dwell workers of deceit in his house, and he that telleth lies shall not tarry in his sight.

            I wish not for flies and bugs in my house, but also do not want liars and deceitful people in either.  Once in a while I may misjudge what I thought was a creepy-crawly thing, but spiritually I will work like David to keep ungodly intruders out.  I will however need God’s help and guidance to filter through those who deceivers that tend to fool me.  God is a better judge than I am at knowing true followers of Christ, or false prophets and teachers, though Satan can’t fool God Almighty.

            Watch out deceitful one!  Don’t try to linger in my sight or you might just get smacked, but this time I’m wearing my eyeglasses of wisdom from God, and you can’t escape.  No more chocolate cake smashed on the counter.  As David (vs.3), I will walk within my house with a perfect heart, or tuned in with God where His eyesight is perfect.

            Ps. Is that chocolate on your face?

Father,

Give me wisdom to see afar off those that try to deceive and make one thing look like another.  Help me not to fall for Satan’s tactics to pull me in by appearing to be something he is not.  Thank you for being my filter, because I don’t always trust my own judgment; my sight is not always so good, but I will trust yours.  In Jesus name I pray

Banana Split Decisions/Pancake Love

Pancake Love

The Lord hath appeared of old unto me, saying I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with loving kindness have I drawn thee.

                                                                                                …Jeremiah 31:3

            Two of our grandsons are with me during the day while on summer break.  A tall order of pancakes is requested from Micah and Jordan for breakfast.  One day 13 year old Micah makes them with me close by, learning to flip those cakes pretty good.  The next day the “almost eight” year old Jordan helps me with the batter depending on my help.  Just as we are ready to pour the batter on the sizzling skillet he says, “I think Grandpa really likes you a lot because of your pancakes.” 

            As a writer I wait for moments like this of pure innocence and sweet thoughts. This child feeling very grown up while hands are in the batter, expresses what is on his mind.  I sure love how the two boys feel about grandma’s pancakes; they think they are the best around.  Of course I too thought everything tasted better at my Granny’s house.

            I wonder if they would feel the same if I burned them one day or two?  They’d be forgiving once maybe.  What if I mistakenly forgot one of the ingredients and they come out more like hard plastic Frisbees? Would they still feel the same about them? No, and it might even change their thoughts about me. 

            “Grandma sure can’t make pancakes,” might be said in low grumbling. 

            “Mom can we stop for breakfast before going to Grandmas?” might be the next idea in their heads. 

            Our love for each other can change depending on circumstances.  Right now all these little things I do for Jordan makes his love stronger for me, but I might disappoint him and he might feel different one day, pancakes or not.  We are a fickle, capricious bunch in this human race and change from hot to cold as easily as night turns to day.

            God’s love is everlasting as Jeremiah points out when talking about the restoration of Israel.  As Gentiles, Christ loves us the same with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee.  Nations all around knew Jehovah was the True God and feared Him.  Many followed but when the Jews rejected Jesus as their Messiah, God opened the door for all who believed, come to Him.  He loves with an unconditional, an absolute and total love unlike our artificial, pancake type love.

            Why then do we love God like Jordan does when the pancakes are made the way he likes them?  Then Grandma is the greatest.  God, we will love you as long as you keep those cakes coming, they’re not burned, and as long as the flavor is what we expect.  If your goodness changes, we don’t know if we can feel the same way about you anymore.

            Sound typical?  We treat our Heavenly Father this way all the time.  God’s love is everlasting, even when things aren’t the way we would have ordered them.  He still loves us with an everlasting love, not a “pancake kind of love.”

Father,

Please show me how to love you with a pure heart that you so deserve from me and let it not be a “pancake kind of love.”

Are you confused?/Undeniable Stripes

Undeniable Stripes

But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.

                                                                                              --Isaiah 53:5

Watching a program on African wildlife, I became more and more aware of the God given protection of the zebra.  The stripes seem to confuse the predators when they are together in a herd.  Separately though they are almost defenseless from the wild animals roaming the savage land.  The document showed torn flesh and injured legs caused by the brutal attacks.  When together in a herd, the stripes blended together causing confusion.  Hard to define was where one zebra began and the other ended.

            The herd of zebras brought to mind the church body being attacked by our greatest predator, Satan.  The church body staying together will confuse even him.  Satan does not like it when we band together in one accord.  Branching off and splitting up causes us to be weak and easy for attack.

            Stripes confused the enemies of the zebra.  Imagine how the stripes Jesus bore on His body must have confused those who witnessed the miracles and healing power of Jesus.  Most of all it boosted Satan’s false sense of pride.  He proudly began to claim the victory his and thought he was the great conqueror over God’s eternal plan!  Then came the resurrection of our Savior. 

            Has Satan confused your mind about the stripes that Christ bore?  Has he tried to blend lies with the truth to where you cannot seem to define what is what?   John 14:6 the Word reads, Jesus is the Truth.  Remember sin sick soul, we are healed by His stripes. 

            As believers we know Him by His stripes.  There should be no confusion!