Hear The Bells Ringing
Dear Friends,
Today I heard the Easter Song and actually listened to it several times soaking in the beautiful melody! I could imagine the angels singing and bells ringing to tell the world that Jesus was risen. The garden must have been radiant in the light of the new day when the women found the stone rolled away! The scent of the blooming Jasmine and Honeysuckle vines was probably drifting in the soft breeze throughout the garden. The Lilies must have been perfuming the pathway as they hurried to tell the disciples that He had risen.
So much had happened during those past few days and so many emotional scenes had past before the eyes of these women who loved Him so much that they wanted to anoint Him with sweet spices. Verse 8 of Matthew 28 says that "they departed quickly with fear and great joy; and did run to bring his disciples word." He had told them that He would be killed and then rise the third day. In the rush to spread the good news they may have left the jar of spices. Jesus had already been anointed with very precious perfume when the woman came to Him in Bethany and broke her alabaster jar and poured it over His head. He had told them then that she had come to anoint Him for His burial.
Now they would remember His words that they didn't fully understand at the time He spoke them. He had given them the hope filled promise that they could have new life just as He had new life. We can go to the garden to find a loving, living Savior!
Just as new life rises up from the earth in the spring time, and fills the garden path with sweetness, we can have new life and have His aroma as we live each day. That aroma can reach into the darkest places and bring hope and freedom to those in need. In the Gospel of John, chapter 17, Jesus prays to the Father "...Then your love for me will be in them, and I will be in them."
Dew Drops and Morning Prayers
Dear Friends,
While we sleep, delicate dew drops quietly form on each tiny flower petal. Slowly the morning sun rises and each fragile strand of a spider web glistens. Tiny, drop shaped prisms make the rays dance through the windows.
God paints such a majestic picture for us with whispering strokes of His brush. The night dew clings like teardrops, then evaporates as the sun rises and warms the earth. The tears of sorrow that fell on a pillow are dry and the misty veil is lifted as the new day begins with prayer.
Each day is a gift from God, something to celebrate in praise and thanksgiving. The sleeping flower beds toss their colorful quilts in the breeze as they wake up to a beautiful day. As the sun moves higher in the sky, the flower buds unfurl colorful petals and their scent fills the air with blessings of a new day. God has been faithful while we slept. A new day has begun with the dew drops and sweet wren songs giving the day hope filled tender mercies of our God.
Lamentations 3:22-23
"The faithful love of the Lord never ends! His mercies never cease.
Great is His faithfulness; His mercies begin afresh each morning."
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."
The Sky Sings Praise
Dear Friends,
I took this picture last fall on the first night of a three week visit to Israel. Every night the sky was a brilliant riot of color. She (the sky) was singing praises to the Lord. The clouds glided in dance across the sky in their own worship to the King.
All of Creation is an expression of God's glory. The God who made the universe also made the blades of grass. Within the tiny blade of grass is a detailed construction project. How does the grass grow? Why is it green? How does it take up nourishment from the ground? How does it make seeds? God thought of all the details during the days of creation.
Even now during the winter we don't need to look far before we can see the majesty of God in nature. When the snow falls and covers the cold, brown winter earth with a glistening blanket we can see God's handiwork! Millions of intricately formed snowflakes make up the glittering landscape.
On the bare patches of ground under a tree you can find small,velvety moss growing. A rainbow is reflected onto the wall when the sunlight streams through the sun catcher hanging in the window. Blessings. Things to be thankful for.
He gives gifts of beauty, expressions of His love for us. Each sparkle of a snowflake is a song of praise!
Psalms 148:5
"Let every created thing give praise to the Lord, for He issued His command and they came into being."
Beauty In The Thorns
Dear Friends,
An olive grove was planted on a steep, rocky hillside in Samaria. The rocks and boulders were left where they were and the trees were planted in the midst of them. Over the years the trees grew and were at last ready for harvest. Sharp, thorny bushes had grown among the rocks and boulders and under all the trees.
The olives needed to be harvested. Fallen branches became strong staffs for the climb up the hill. Nets were placed on top of the thorny bushes under the trees with rocks to hold them in place. The olives were pulled from the branches and rained down on the heads of the harvesters.
The nets became torn and damaged from the rocks and thorns. Olives would roll down the slope of the hill on the nets then gathered into buckets. Ankles were torn by the thorns. Rocks caused falls into the thorns. These olives would be crushed into healing oil. Praise songs rose to heaven.
In the thorns were small round berries like drops of our Savior's blood. The small, sharp spears pierced His brow while the soldiers mocked. Cruel thorns from rocky ground became the crown of the King of Kings who remained silent while bearing the thorns.
The loss of blood, the loss of comfort, the loss of earthly pleasure can draw us into fellowship with Christ.
John 19: 2-3
"The soldiers wove a crown of thorns and put it on his head, and they put a purple robe on him. "Hail! king of the Jews!" they mocked, as they slapped him across the face."
Fragrance From The Garden
Dear Friends,
Years ago we had an old fashioned lilac bush in our yard and in the springtime when it bloomed the whole neighborhood was filled with the sweet fragrance of the lovely lavender colored blossoms.
When the woman came to Jesus and broke the alabaster box the aroma from the perfume filled the room. Every crack and crevice of the room was scented with the perfume and every person in the room noticed the sweet smell.
People experience sorrows and their situations can have an effect on lives outside of the immediate situation, sometimes with great impact.
The Abedini family is touching lives all around the world as a result of Saeed's imprisonment in Iran for his faith in Jesus. From inside the cold, dark prison walls Saeed has sent messages of encouragement and love. In a recent letter he told of the loneliness and struggles he faces and then went on to preach to us who are free. From inside those walls, in the midst of threats and pain and persecution his letter tells us of the "...life-giving fire of God's love."
His wife is being transformed like a butterfly emerging from her cocoon. She has told of the changes that God is bringing about in her life as she yields herself to Him. She was fearful of traveling and of speaking to crowds. Now she is a strong voice for Saeed and the persecuted church. She is finding joy in proclaiming the Good News that Jesus is the giver of life.
Like the fragrance of a beautiful lilac bush can't be contained behind a fence or within a walled courtyard, the message of the persecuted changes lives around the world. Believers join in prayer and intercession that Saeed will be released. Saeed's prayer is that the Word of God will saturate the world with "... the lava-like love of Christ."
Unite in prayer for Saeed and for the persecuted church. Pray for those who persecute, that their eyes will be opened to His life changing love.
Hebrews 13: 3
"Remember those in prison, as if you were there yourself. Remember also those being mistreated, as if you felt their pain in your own bodies."
