Tapestry Threads Make A Garden
Dear Friends,
The wrens were done with the little rustic house that I had hung for them last spring. The tiny birds that fill the garden with their melodies flew to warmer climates to escape the winter harshness. I opened the back door on the tiny house to clean it up for them to make it ready for a new nest in the spring. I found a tapestry inside the house. Packed tight inside was an assortment of twigs, leaves, grass, dry flower petals, bits of paper, hair and fur, tinsel and yarn and threads. Tiny baby wren feathers were at the top of the nest.
I see a cocoon that is now empty, clinging to a dry branch. A tiny hole at the end where the butterfly had emerged. The process of transformation was complete.
He takes His paintbrush and paints the clouds, then blows His wind making the clouds transform into dragons then into horses and finally ribbons flying across the sky.
He is the One who is the Great Master Weaver.
I'm so thankful for the way that he made us unique.
I recently came across something from ancient Chinese history call the Terra-Cotta Army that was discovered by accident in 1974. It is an army of several thousand life-size figures of soldiers, horses and chariots that were buried with an emperor. The faces of the soldiers are all unique, and took three decades to make by over 700,000 laborers of that day. A river of mercury flows through the underground tomb which is the reason that it remains mostly unexcavated today. Emperor Qin wanted to be remembered as triumphant and glorious. He was also wicked and would have his workers killed if he suspected that they would reveal the location of the work.
I'm thankful for my Savior, the One who shed His blood for me, the God of all creation!
Psalms 139:14
"Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous, how well I know it."
At The City Gate
Dear Friends,
The Beautiful Gate at the entrance to the Temple was possibly the most heavily traveled place in the city. People were streaming into the gateway with their burdens weighing heavily on their backs and in their hearts. All of the people have something in common....... a desire to meet with God in prayer.
Others were exiting through the same gate with their hearts lighter and their burdens lifted.
In Acts chapter three we read about a man who was brought to this Beautiful gate every day but he remained outside. He was unable to enter because he was a prisoner of lameness. The lame man had a life-long need to be carried about and tended to. He was dependent on others for his most basic needs. He sat at the gate every day. He was obviously loved because they tended to him and granted his request to be brought to the Beautiful Gate. This was the place of anticipation, the place of drawing close to God. Peter and John were entering into the gateway and they noticed the lame man.
Jesus had been crucified and was risen but His name held the power to heal. God moved when the name of Jesus was spoken. The compassion of Jesus poured from the mouth of Peter giving the gift of wellness to the lame man. The man went leaping about, praising God!
The Gate of Prayer is like the Beautiful gate. At times our burdens can cause lameness. At times we need others to carry us to this place in prayer. I want to encourage you to seek after compassion and pray for others. Be a friend to someone in need, bring them to the Beautiful Gate.
Acts 3:6-8
"Then Peter said, Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk. And he took him by the right hand, and lifted him up: and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength. And he leaping up stood, and walked, and entered with them into the temple, walking, and leaping, and praising God."
