Cherokee Legend...

 Do you know the legend of the Cherokee Indian youths' rite of Passage?

His father takes him into the forest, blindfolds him an leaves him alone. He is required to sit on a stump the whole night and not remove the blindfold until the rays of the morning sun shine through it. He cannot cry out for help to anyone. Once he survives the night, he is a MAN.

He cannot tell the other boys of this experience, because each lad must come into manhood on his own.

The boy is naturally terrified. He can hear all kinds of noises. Wild beasts must surely be all around him . Maybe even some human might do him harm.  The wind blew the grass and earth, and shook his stump, but he sat stoically, never removing the blindfold. It would be the only way he could become a man!  Finally, after a horrific night the sun appeared and he removed his blindfold.

It was then that he discovered his father sitting on the stump next to him.  He had been at watch the entire night, protecting his son from harm.

We, too, are never alone. Even when we don't know it, God is watching over us, sitting on the stump beside us.  When trouble comes, all we have to do is reach out to Him.

Psalms 30:5........Weeping may endure for a night, But joy comes in the morning.

God, when hard times come, don't let me lose my faith and remove the blindfold before the "Joy Comes In The Morning".

(I sure wish I could say that I wrote this but it is a story passed on to me by Dick Green, and since he reads my blog, I don't dare take credit.....Just kidding Dick.  Thanks for sharing the story....Dale)

 

THE SONG

Galatians 6:7 “Be not deceived; God is not mocked...”


If you sat at the breakfast table with Jo Anne and me each morning, you would enjoy a concert of what seems to be dozens of happy birds each trying to out sing the other. We hear the songs of Robins, Chickadees, Bluejays, Sparrows and other song birds, and it is a wonderful way to start the day.

But there is a mystery about these morning melodies. The mystery unfolds when you go outside to see the birds. They aren't there! It's true, you can hear their songs but search as you may you will only find one bird.

Image via Wikipedia

You guessed it!

 It's a Mockingbird.

 How sad that such a beautiful bird with such a wonderful voice doesn't have a song of his own.

 Whose song are you singing today?

 Like the Mockingbird, we can imitate the things of God. We can sound like God. We can know all of the "Christian" songs, and recite all of the "Christian" verbiage,  but our appearance betrays us. It's who we are and not what we say that makes us genuine.

If we talk the talk, we had better walk the walk. The world will not be fooled, and GOD WILL NOT BE MOCKED!

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“Lord, put your song on my lips today and touch my heart that it might be my very own.”

WHO IS THIS IS THIS FAMOUS PERSONALITY?

John 1:10 “He was in the world, and the world was made by Him, and the world knew Him not.”

Recently Jo Anne and I stopped in the little town of Capitan. Capitan is nestled in the beautiful mountains of southern New Mexico and is the birthplace of a very famous American hero.

Image by monkeyjenn via Flickr

While visiting a museum that was dedicated to his life, we were told that in a national survey, Americans were shown pictures of famous people, and with the exception of Santa Clause, their local celebrity was the most recognized face in our nation.

This famous American is none other than Smokey the Bear.

I sure hope there was not a picture of Christ in the survey. I would hate o think He came in third to Santa Clause and Smokey the Bear.

Do you think that after 2000 years the world still might not know Him?

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“Lord, if the world doesn't see you in anything else today, help them to see you in me.”

WAS JESUS HOMELESS?

1.Matthew 8:20
Jesus replied, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head."

Was Jesus Homeless?  

I really began to think about this question after seeing this thought provoking painting by Deb Hoeffner. I emailed Ms. Hoeffner and she graciously gave me permission to use this picture in my blog. Deb is a very talented artist and illustrator. You can see her work at www.debhoeffner.com .

For the moment I'm just going to let this question “Tip toe through the tulips” of you mind. Maybe if it kicks up enough gray matter you will want to google, “Was Jesus homeless” and read some of the interesting comments on the subject.

But I'm reminded of a small boy who was standing on the side walk watching his house burn. A gentleman standing beside him put his arm around the boy and said, “Son, I'm sorry your home is burning down.” The boy immediately looked up at the man and without any hesitation, replied, “Mister, my home ain't burning down. That's just my house that's on fire”.

Do you have a house or do you have a home? I recently saw a bumper sticker on the back of a motor home that read, “Home is where you park it”. I guess the “it” referred to the motor home but I think it would been more accurate to just say “Home is where you park”. Or to say it another way, home is where you really want to be.

A place where you are comfortable.
A place where you can just be you.
A place where there is tolerance.
A place where there is understanding.
A place where you can be vulnerable.
A place where there is caring.
A place where there is intimacy.
A place where you don't always have to pick up your clothes.  (I'm a man)

It all boils down to this;
 

Home is a place where you share your love!   

Home is where the heart is! 

Byron in his writings echoed this when he said, “He entered his house – his home no more. For without hearts there is no home”.   And Jesus tells us in Matthew 6:21 “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” There can be no greater treasure than a Godly home.

So, let's face it, home has very little to do with where we live, and everything to do with how we live.

When I asked Jo Anne if she thought Jesus was homeless, she said, “If you won't let him live in your heart, I guess he is”. What a great answer! I'm not sure Jesus ever had a house. That is for you to decide, But I can tell you this. Since home is where you share your love, Jesus is at home in any heart that will open their door and let Him in.  That's always been His real home and is the same today.

If you feel like you have a house, but you don't fell like you have a home, maybe you should open your hearts door and ask Jesus to come and share His love through you. “As for me and my house we will serve the Lord”. That is what it takes to have a real home.

There are many people who can't afford a house but everyone can have a home!

HIS ARMS

Deuteronomy 33:27a......”The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms;”

When I was in high school, I had a friend that was my hero, and many years later I still look up to him.
His name is Robert Parker. He had solid Christian convictions, made straight “A”s, and was a great athlete, He was outstanding in track and specialized in running the mile.

When Robert ran, the most impressive thing about the race was always the finish. As he made the last turn and came down the final stretch, his father was always standing at the finish line to catch his exhausted son in his outstretched arms.

Now I don't know about you, but I get excited when I look forward in this race I'm running and know that when I make the last turn and head for the finish line, my Heavenly Father will be standing with outstretched arms to catch my tired, depleted body and say, “Well done, my good and faithful servant.
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“Lord, today help me to lay aside every weight and help me to run with patience the race you have set before me.” (Hebrews 12:1)

SHOWERS OF BLESSING

Ezekiel 34:26 ….I will make them and the places all around My hill a blessing; and I will cause showers to come down in their season; there shall be showers of blessing.

For years Jo Anne and I spent our winters in the desert areas of Arizona. To many the desert may seem like nothing more than endless acres of scorched, lifeless sand. But have you ever seen it in March and April after it has been drenched by heavy spring rains?

What a surprise! What seemed to be dry and dead was simply dormant and asleep.

 As the showers soak deep into the sand, seeds that have been buried, sometimes for years, spring to life. The world of beige and tan becomes a canvas upon which God paints the vivid yellows, reds, greens and purple of the beautiful wild flowers that were there all the time.

Today your life may be ablaze with the beauty of what God is doing through you. I hope so. But on the other hand you may be going through a desert drought and may feel that the showers of blessings are long overdue.

DON'T LOSE HEART. THERE IS A CLOUD ON THE HORIZON!

The dormant seeds of blessing will be watered and new life will spring forth. God is not dead!

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Psalms 72:6 says that He will come down as showers that water the earth.

 THIS IS GOD'S PROMISE.. STAND ON IT!!

I CAN'T DO IT BY MYSELF

Image via Wikipedia

Let me tell you about one of the most frighting things that ever happened to me. I was a student pilot practicing take offs and landings. It was a cool crisp morning and the plane had just touched down when my instructor suddenly said, “Stop here I'm getting out. I think you can do it by yourself.”

I began to panic and argue, but he said, “No no, I have set over here long enough. Sooner or later you have to fly this thing all by your self and today is the day. Pull over, I'm getting out!” He did get out, and standing on the edge of the runway, gave me a wave and said, “Good luck, I'll see you when you hit the ground.”   I thought he used a poor choice of words, and I was scared to death.

I suddenly faced the reality that up to this time I always had the assurance of knowing that any time I made a mistake or exercised poor judgment, my instructor was beside me to make corrections and give me guidance, and I had no fear of crashing and burning as long as he was there.

Now, I don't know about you but I have had some pretty scary moments in my life. Times when I knew I couldn't make it by myself, and I am so glad that God was not like my instructor. Not once has He ever said, “Stop your life. I'm getting out!”

In Joshua 1:5 the Lord says,”...I will never leave you or forsake you”. And in Matthew 28:20 Jesus tell the disciples, “...lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.”

How good it is to know that He will never leave us and that, “In the worst of times, we have the best of God”.

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 What ever you do, don't take off with out Him!