Sunday GRACE

 Good Sunday Morning! (It is actually after NOON now, but I started out trying to write this morning, but ran out of time!  That time change messes me up every time!  Hopefully everyone set their clocks ahead last night and you made it to church on time!  We did, but my body time clock is all messed up and it takes a while to adjust.  It's 12:09 DLS time, but my body tells me it is still 11:09 a.m.   (and after several interruptions, it is now 3:06 pm before this is published!)

Anywho...We had a good service at church today. Only one dear soul walked in at the closing, having forgotten to set her clocks...but she was heartily welcomed as soon as the pastor gave the benediction! She was laughing, and we were all just glad to see her, no matter what time she arrived!

Our choir sang a beautiful song this morning, entitled "Grace". I hope you will enjoy listening to it, and reading along with the words. They are so meaningful. I am giving you two options for listening...this first video is from the internet, and it is so beautifully done, with the lyrics on the screen as as it is being sung.

Grace, by Carolyn Hamlin

"Lord, as I seek your guidance for the day,

I find my thoughts unyielding; confusion crowds my way;

But then when I bow to you, the challenges you guide me through.

Your promises are ever new, I claim them for today.

 

Your will cannot lead me where your grace will not keep me.

Your hand will protect me, I rest in your care.

Your eyes will watch over me, your love will forgive me,

And when I am faltering, I still will find you there.

 

Each new day’s design is charted by your hand,

and graciously revealed as I seek your Master plan.

Keep my footsteps faithful when from you I go.

Return me to the joy that your blessings can bestow.

 

Your will cannot lead me where your grace will not keep me.

Your hand will protect me, I rest in your care.

Your eyes will watch over me, your love will forgive me,

And when I am faltering, I still will find you there.

 

Your eyes will watch over me, your love will forgive me,

And when I am faltering, I still will find you there."

This second video is from our church choir, followed by our Pastor's sermon from James 4:13-5:12, which was excellent.  I wanted to include both videos, because the first one has the lyrics so you can fully appreciate the song as you hear it. Also, our choir was missing several members when we practiced and recorded the song this past week,  including me. I was not feeling well that evening, so I missed choir rehearsal. But even without several members, our choir still did a lovely job of singing it. I hope you will enjoy the words as well as the melody.

I recently learned a wonderful acrostic from our Pastor for remembering the true meaning of the word GRACE:

God's

 Riches

 At

 Christ's

 Expense

Christ paid for our salvation with His own blood, and gave us eternal life as a free gift. That is GRACE. We cannot earn it nor did we deserve it. It is totally a gift from God. It is up to us to accept it, however. You know, no gift, no matter how wonderful, will do us any good if we don't accept it.  Something to think about!

Now, on another note, I think our Bluebird family has flown the coop, or birdhouse, that is.  This is what we discovered early this morning:

It looks like the nest is being pulled out of the hole, and there are no birds in sight.

I asked Mr. and Mrs. Canada Goose if they had seen or heard anything unusual,

but they just turned their heads and ignored me and kept eating their breakfast, acting as if nothing was different at all. 

Yesterday morning Mr. Bluebird sat in the tree nearby and let me take his picture:

Isn't he beautiful? 

 I am thinking he was sitting there to watch the nest, and didn't even seem to mind that I was right nearby. Maybe because he knew the babies were getting ready to come out and he couldn't take his eyes off the nest.

But I must admit to being a bit disappointed. I had hoped to get to see the babies before they left.

But when I got home from church today, this is how the nest looked...

No sign of any activity around it. Could the babies have flown that soon? Or do the parents move them to somewhere else to teach them to fly? I need to do some reading about the activities of Bluebirds, I guess.  I hope a predator didn't invade the nest and make them move away prematurely.  I have a lot to learn, I guess. I'm kind of thinking something happened, because it seems like we should have seen the babies before they left. Hmmm...

Some thoughts come to mind from the book of

  I Peter 5:5-9

"5 Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for

“God resists the proud,

But gives grace to the humble.”

6 Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, 

7 casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.

8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. 

9 Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world."

Perhaps Mr. Bluebird was watching for any predators that might be lurking about...I know he chased off some Blue Jays several times. I don't know, but I hope Mr. and Mrs. Bluebird are safe somewhere and that they will be steadfast in their "faith" and keep persevering.    

I believe we should take heart...God notices and takes care of the "sparrows" (and bluebirds) of life, and if so, He will also take care of us.   

Luke 12:6-7

6 “Are not five sparrows sold for two copper coins? And not one of them is forgotten before God. 

7 But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows."

Back to refrain in the song, "Grace":

"Your will cannot lead me where your grace will not keep me.

Your hand will protect me, I rest in your care.

Your eyes will watch over me, your love will forgive me,

And when I am faltering, I still will find you there."

That is a beautiful thought to close this post. Let's leave it right there.

Amen.

The Serpent in the Garden

"Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made.."  Genesis 3:1a.

I've just had one of those sad lessons from nature tonight.  Recently I posted a blog entitled "After the Rain~ New Signs of Growth" and included a picture of a mother cardinal sitting on her nest.   I have been watching her progress from a little distance, not wanting to disrupt the natural course of events.  Tonight I couldn't help but notice that the baby bird had definitely hatched, as he was sitting up in the nest calling for his mother to come feed him.  I was able to get a couple of pictures of him with my telephoto lens, watching out of the corner of my eye for the mother bird to come swooping down on me and chase me away.  When I heard the father chirp chirp chirping nearby, I quietly stepped away and went on about my business. 

Baby Cardinal in the nest, chirping for it's mama.

He was so fuzzy and cute!

If you look closely you can see the Blue Gray Gnatcatcher, a
female Cardinal, and a red flash of a male Cardinal in the tree.

A few minutes later I came back out into the yard because the birds were making such a racket...mama and daddy Cardinal and aunts and uncles too...they were all fussing and squawking and flying all around the nest, hopping up and down and generally having quite the fit over this baby bird, or so I thought.  I stayed back out of the way, not wanting to interfere and cause them to become more upset.  I figured that either the baby had fallen out of the nest, or another bird may have come to attempt to steal it away.  It seemed as though the whole bird nation was getting in on the action...little warblers, the Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher, hummingbirds, and a whole family of Cardinals were all crying out and flying around very frantically.

Not wanting to make matters worse, I stepped back inside and kept watching from our sun porch.  I noticed one of the male Cardinals flying around by the fence and hopping up and down and still calling frantically.  The other birds seems to have disappeared back into the foliage, and just this one brave father kept trying to keep up the fight...but what was he fighting about?  Why was he so excited? 

And then I saw it...something very sinister and creepy was winding its way along the bottom of the fence and around the base of the trees. The frantic father bird kept flying toward him and screaming with his loudest voice. It was as if he was crying, "What is this you have done? What have you done with my child? Please release my baby!"  As I looked more closely I couldn't help but see that the belly of that cursed snake was bulging in the middle...it was already too late.  The damage had been done. The serpent had inflicted another strike against God's creation.  The baby bird was gone, and the nest was bereft of it's charge.  As the snake slithered away I fought back the urge to destroy him. I wondered if there was any way the baby bird could still be alive in the belly of that snake, but even if he was, he wouldn't be able to survive even if released. It was too late.  I thought about what God said to the serpent in the garden:

"Because you have done this, you are cursed more than all cattle, and more than every beast of the field; On your belly you shall go, and you shall eat dust all the days of your life.  And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel."            Genesis 3:14-15

Witnessing this event in nature left me feeling sad and defeated.  Why hadn't I noticed the snake in the garden when I was out there taking pictures of the happy little baby bird innocently calling for his mama from the nest?  I was so focused on the baby that I never saw the danger that apparently was lurking nearby even while I was so close. 

Isn't that just like human nature?  So often we are so focused on our happy little life and doing what we want to do that we are unaware of the tempter sneaking his way through the garden of our life, seeking whom he may devour and destroy. I Peter 5:5-9 says:

"God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.

Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God,

that He may exalt you in due time,

Casting all your care upon HIM, for He cares for you.

Be sober, be vigilant;

Because your adversary the devil walks about

like a roaring lion,

seeking whom he may devour.

Resist him, steadfast in the faith,

knowing that the same sufferings are experienced

by your brotherhood in the world."

The good news is that when Christ died on the cross, that old serpent, Satan, was dealt a death blow.  Satan thought that by sending Christ to the cross, he, Satan, would finally be able to rule and reign on the earth. What he didn't count on was that Christ did not stay in the tomb...He conquered death and all its foes when He arose victoriously from the grave three days later.  Christ is alive today, and is ever interceding on behalf of His beloved creation.  Satan will get his final just desserts in the end...read Revelation 20:10...when he is cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where he will be tormented day and night forever and ever...

All this because a baby bird got eaten by a snake in my garden?  Well, that is just a microcosm of what the serpent Satan has been trying to do to humanity ever since he was expelled from Eden. But we can rejoice, because we know the bigger picture...and the end of the story.  If this life is all there is, we are of all people most miserable. 

"If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable..."       

I Corinthians 15:19...

"But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep..."

I Corinthians 15:20

After witnessing this tonight, I came inside and read on my facebook page that another parent had lost a teen-age child in a tragic accident today...and again my heart ached for this time a real person and a real family, and a young soul taken away too soon.  Satan may think he won another victory...but he's wrong.  I don't know if this young man was saved or not, but I am praying he was...and claiming true victory in Jesus for this family.  Because Christ lives, they WILL see their child again. Satan did not win. He will NOT win. He is alread a defeated foe.

Mama and Papa Cardinal may never see their little baby birdie again, but we have this hope in Christ for our future.  We will overcome this life and live victoriously forever in Heaven, where no serpents can sneak in and destroy ever again.  PRAISE GOD!!!!!