Thought So!

Eyes Forward!

Have you ever tried to get a child's attention in the middle of a busy, noisy room (or even in a quiet, empty room)?  You call their name.  You try "Look at me...look at my face...eyes forward...". You wave your hand to see if their peripheral radar picks you up.  Finally, you cup their chin and turn their head in your direction.  Even then, their little eyeballs swivel away for one more glimpse--their face toward you, their thoughts on something else.

Marilyn, look at Me.

"But Lord, I have family here now..."

Marilyn, look at My face.

"But Lord, I'm in the middle of solving a really difficult problem..."

Fix your thoughts on me, Marilyn.

"But Lord, just let me finish this project..."

What will it take for us to consider Him, to give Him our complete attention, to stop everything and diligently observe that He is superior to all else?

Hebrews 3:1  "Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus:"

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"Colorless Green Ideas Sleep Furiously"

Try saying that to someone in the grocery line.  Suddenly, you'll have plenty of elbow room.

Have you ever played the word game where you make up grammatically correct but absolutely meaningless sentences like this one (alas, I cannot take credit for it)?  Obviously, these word-strings are not intended for every-day conversations. 

But sometimes our loquaciousness can be just as meaningless, stuffed into embarrassing silences and enveloping tense situations (words up having breakfast before brain is out of bed).  Sometimes our words come charging out, elbows flailing--lining up into sentences on which we would never act (words in the car and halfway down the street while action is still looking for the keys).

The Lord promises us true Words-- no deception or trickery, no nonsense or malapropisms, no space-fillers or thoughtless verbiage; and everything He says is grammatically correct.

  "The words of the Lord are pure words:  as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times."  Psalm 12:6 (but read the whole Psalm)

How fewer words would we speak if our speech were tried like that?

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Field Stories  - misisonary stories for Sunday School, VBS, Christian School...

God, Please don't come before camp!

Christmas is over.  There are no more sleeps to count.  Your goose has been cooked, eaten, and saved for left-overs.  Presents have been torn open, wrapping thrown away (remember, they tell us it can't be recycled), and you have, no doubt, started your save, return, and re-gift piles.

Celebrators of this first Advent only (loving this present-filled world) may be depressed and deflated...left with bills and a bottle of Tums. (2 Tim. 4:10)

But, those of us looking ahead to the second Advent still count our sleeps with hope (unless you are a child really wanting to go to camp but are fearful that the Lord will pre-empt your plans). 

Do you desire/long for the Savior and welcome His coming in the clouds?  Do you love His appearing?  This is a test of our faith-- but if we keep our focus there even in the midst of this world's "stuff", the Lord is safely keeping our reward until He sees us.

Salvation, seeing our Savior,  being rewarded for longing for His coming -- our Lord knows how to give us good gifts! 

"Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable gift."   2 Cor. 9:15

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Field Stories  - misisonary stories for Sunday School, VBS, Christian School...

 

So, He Got Up

Did you ever wonder if Joseph began to dread going to sleep at night?  With my Bible open, spanning Matthew 1:17 to 2:23, I can see the phrase, "a dream" mentioned 5 times-- four of those pertaining to Joseph.  Did he ever ponder, as he closed his eyes, if this would be a night of disturbed sleep?

All of Joseph's recorded utterances could be placed on the head of a pin, which would be zero.  (In how many Christmas plays have you actually heard a speaking Joseph?).  The rest of the participants at the time of Christ's birth--Mary, shepherds, angels, wise men, even Simeon later on--all had something to say.  Joseph's silence keeps us focused on the heavenly Father. 

No account is made of Joseph, thrashing around on his mat after a dream, grumbling about moving yet again.  Though what father today would relish hopping up, shaking his slumbering wife and saying, "OK, honey, we're outta here!  Grab the rocker, crib, baby monitor, stroller, swing-o-matic, jolly jumper, baby bathtub, food grinder, earplugs, 10 tons of toys, 20 tons of clothes, 30 tons of disposable diapers, and meet me at the minivan in 40 minutes--oh, and don't forget the baby!"?  Yet having a simpler life-style, say... needing only to back a donkey out of a stall and throw a few things on its back did not, I am sure, diminish the angst of the moment.

What we do read about Joseph is his faithfulness:          

-"Then Joseph being raised from sleep did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him..." (Matt. 1:24)

-"And when he arose, he took...and departed..." (2:14)

-"And he arose,and took...and came..." (2:21)

-"Being warned of God in a dream, he turned aside..." (2:22)

Like any earthly father should desire to do, he simply followed his Lord's instructions, and took care of his family. 

So, he got up....

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Field Stories  - misisonary stories for Sunday School, VBS, Christian School...

Having a Louse-y Christmas?

What better way to see Christmas sights than by walking briskly through the neighborhood on a Saturday afternoon.  Lights hugged eaves… wreaths clung to doors… trees glittered and glowed in the windows… a mom de-liced her daughter’s hair…

Wait--what was that again? 

I gaped unobtrusively at the vignette just to be sure:  standing near the window for best light, slicing through hair with a chopstick, head bent close to the roots…yes, I had seen and done the same thing myself.

So there, in the middle of that all-dressed-up-for-Christmas street was a minute reminder of sin's results, tugging my thoughts back to why the Lord came to this earth in the first place.

"And she shall bring forth a Son, and thou shalt call His name Jesus, for He shall save His people from their sins."   Matthew 1:21

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Field Stories  - misisonary stories for Sunday School, VBS, Christian School...

Peace In Earth?

"Peace on Earth"--Each bulb helped spell out the letters of the sign as it clung to the wrought-iron fence.  Though I had seen it scads of times, it was more vivid in the darkness as I drove by, and I thought about it for a moment.  A peaceful-- though unlikely-- spot for the sign, since the fence enclosed a cemetery (the main entrance to the town), making the words wryly redundant. 

Thankfully, we don’t need to wait till we're dead to have peace. We may, though, often feel close to our expiration date by the time the frenetic, man-made part of this season is over and we can relax.

What an amazing gift!  The peace that comes from accepting Christ as our Savior, proclaimed in that uncommercialized moment by angels to shepherds, allows us to say with Job,

“For I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that He shall stand at the latter day upon the earth. And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God:  Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another;”   Job19:25-27a

“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.”  Luke 2:14

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Hard Lessons

"But God has taught us by afflictions, what we would not learn by mercies-- that our hearts are His exclusive property, and whatever rival intrudes, He will tear it away."

Ann Judson (wife of Adoniram, after death of baby Roger) from My Heart in His Hands, by Sharon James

"But though He cause grief, yet will He have compassion according to the multitude of His mercies.  For He doth not afflict willingly nor grieve the children of men."   Lamentations 3:32,33

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But What About Me?

No matter what kind of stress or trial we are going through, the Lord always brings  someone along... whom we can encourage.  (Have you seen them
yet?  They should be here any minute.)

Galatians 6:2  “Bear ye one another’s burdens (heavy, crushing loads), and so fulfill the law of Christ (principle of love).”

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Field Stories  - misisonary stories for Sunday School, VBS, Christian School...

I Can See You...

Do you have trouble remembering where you've been?  Are you a mom who needs a clearer idea of what your kids are up to?  Here's something you can't live without: a pair of glasses for the eyes in the back of your head--they're called "Retro-specs".

Right; one more thing to misplace, wash, and replace...don't think they'll ever catch on.

But, what about our spiritual "eyes"?  Have you ever been so focused on something in front-- tragedy...blessing...distraction-- and haven't noticed Satan in your blind spot (just waiting for you to take your eyes off the rear-view mirror)?  What amazing care the Lord took of His people at the Red Sea.  He's still doing that for His children today!

Ex 14:19  "And the angel of God, which went before the camp of Israel, removed and went behind them; and the pillar of the cloud went from before their face, and stood behind them:"

Psalms 139:5  "Thou hast beset me behind and before, and laid thine hand upon me."

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But I Don't Want to Be a Clay Jar!

We are made of a most common, everyday, unremarkable, breakable substance-- clay. And yet, what an amazing thought that Christ chose us to carry His Gospel, the Gospel of the glory of Christ--this "light of the knowledge of the glory of God", and that we can show the world that this power is from God Himself.

What kind of vessel would you have chosen to carry this light, God's glory?  Something much more substantial, and definitely more elegant, perhaps? 

What an invaluable treasure we have to carry!  We may not always be happy with our "clay jar", but who would want to miss out on being chosen as a light-bearer?  God knew just Who He needed to do the job.

2Cor. 4:6,7  "For God, Who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.  But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us."

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