Grass Sings

GRASS SINGS

I took this close-up picture of lush grass during a wander through the woods in Scotland.  It reminds me of a song about the resurrection of Jesus by Sandi Patti that has the phrase, "Did the grass sing?  Did the earth rejoice to feel you again?" 

If you think about it, the earth is in a sort of limbo as it spins in its orbit during this space of time between its perfect creation and when it will again be perfected after Christ returns.  Scripture tells how creation eagerly awaits the day of its deliverance and even now, "the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs..." Romans 8:22. 

Not only does the earth groan, but it also teaches.  Job 12:7-9 says, "But now ask the beasts, and they will teach you; and the birds of the air, and they will tell you; or speak to the earth, and it will teach you....Who among all these does not know that the  hand of the Lord has done this..."

While we know that nature does not have the same sort of choices and abilities that we humans are endowed with, animals do have feelings and instincts, and even plants apparently have some degree of feeling since scripture tells us that they both "groan" and "teach."  So, when the singer asks if the grass perhaps sang with joy when the Lord was resurrected, would that be so strange?

I love the song by Nicole Nordeman, called, "My Offering."  It begins with a verse about grass and its desire to glorify God, just as she desires to glorify God.

If You made me like the grass that is green
Growing tall and covering the hills above me.
And maybe I would pray for sunshine and a little rain
To fall now and then to make me lovely.

I could be a place where sheep could graze
Or barefoot feet could play.
And I would grow and grow and hope You'd bend down low
To hear me sing my offering.

Open up the Heavens, open up the skies
'Cause all of Your creation wants to testify.
And I have a song so let the earth sing along
'Cause I just want to praise You.

Pastor Rob Bell has said, "We live between the trees in a world drenched in God."  Living between the Tree of Life and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, both of which were in the Garden of Eden, and the tree of the Cross of Christ, which continues to offer salvation -- we live in a world where God offers love and grace to all of His beautiful creation.  In spite of the ugliness resulting from sin, there is still beauty and hope, and someday, there will be complete redemption.

I join with the trees which scripture says, "clap their hands" in praise to our Almighty Creator God.  All praise to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Rags & Royal Robes

      Rags & Royal Robes

This is an interesting picture I took in Madrid, Spain.  We were walking around the popular Plaza Mayor when I saw this person (not sure if its male or female) near one of the entrances, sitting like a statue covered in mud.  I thought it to be a clever "costume" and dropped a coin in the slot for donations.

My greatest interest in this figure is how it reminds me of the verse in Isaiah 64;6:  "All our righteousness is as filthy rags."  I'd say this person is covered from head to toe in filthy rags.  The picture represents our natural condition before God -- covered in sin, with no hope of cleansing ourselves.  In fact, the verse specifically mentions any good we might have done as being little more than filthy rags in the sight of God. 

Even though the person pictured above can go home, shower, put on clean clothes, and expect to be outwardly clean and presentable, inwardly he, like us, can never cleanse himself of the sin we are born in.  There is only one way we can be made truly clean.

"If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" 1 John 1:9.  What a wonderful promise from God!  What we have no hope of ever being able to cleanse, He has made a way for total cleansing.  No more filthy rags in our closets -- only robes of purest white.

My granddaughter Marisa twirls around in a beautiful white costume, looking clean and lovely from head to toe, reminding us of how God clothes us in His pure, clean righteousness - from head to toe. In Jesus Calling, Sarah Young writes, "Wear My robe of righteousness with ease. I custom-made it for you, to cover you from head to toe. The price I paid for this covering was astronomical - My own blood. You could never purchase such a royal garment, no matter how hard you worked."

What a blessing to be cleansed by Almighty God Himself!  Wear His garment of righteousness and salvation with thanksgiving and joy.  He has given it to you to wear for eternity.

"I delight greatly in the Lord; my soul rejoices in my God. For He has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of righteousness" Isaiah 61:10.

Bird of Prey

A hawk discovered our backyard is a good place to drop in for a handy meal.  This pile of feathers is evidence of some violent moments on our nice green lawn.  Sadly, there have been five piles of feathers over the last month. The doves that frequent our bird feeder have become easy pickings for these sharp-taloned birds of prey. 

We'd been told that hawks grab their victim and pluck off all the feathers before flying away to partake of their meal.  Sad for the doves, they are slow birds that often eat on the ground under the feeder.  At the beginning of the summer, there were many doves in our backyard.  Not so many now.

One evening, we saw the hawk in action.  He'd caught a bird (perhaps a dove, it was hard to tell) and was busy plucking its feathers.  A group of Blue Jays were squawking in nearby bushes, even going so far as to swoop down at the hawk to get him to leave.  He calmly stood his ground and continued his grisly business, until I walked near enough to scare him away.  And yes, he carried his prize off with him. 

Doves are one of the nicest birds we've seen.  They don't run other birds away and they wait their turn.  Even though they do not seem very agile, they keep trying to get on a perch until they manage to balance and scoop up some tasty seed.  I like the doves and it saddens me to see that so many have been killed.  Alas, such is the way of the world in which we live.

Many times, I make the comment, "It's a jungle out there!"  And, indeed, it is - in more ways than the obvious.  The obvious is all the terrible things that happen around the world - terrorist attacks, murders, poverty, child abuse, horrible accidents -- we've seen it all and it scares and saddens us.  Then, there are things like the Zika virus we've been hearing about lately, disease and infection.  To say it's a jungle out there is no exaggeration. 

To make matters worse, there is a slithery serpent by the name of Satan who uses jungle tactics against us every day.  He and his slimy servants are out to get us and we frequently don't even see them coming.  The jungle is a dangerous place.

I don't know about you, but I sure would like to know a safe place to keep me from the clutches of birds of prey who swoop in and grab unwary peaceful doves who are minding their own business (like you and me), and to protect me from slimy demons who work in the shadows.

Thankfully, there is such a place.  The Lord Jesus Christ promises to be our safest place.  Here's what David said about the Lord, "The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?" Psalm 27:1.  Whew!  Aren't you glad there is a safe place in this jungle terrain?  I sure am!

"He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, 'He is my refuge and my fortress; My God, in Him I will trust'....He shall cover you with His feathers, and under His wings you shall take refuge." Psalm 91:1-2 & 4.

Our Anchor

Our Anchor

Anchors always remind me how Jesus should be the anchor of our soul.  I took the picture of this anchor where it sits inside the stone wall of the San Anton Fortress in beautiful A Coruna, Spain.  There's an old hymn, written in 1882, by Priscilla Jane Owens, that asks the question, "Will your anchor hold in the storms of life...When the strong tides lift and the cables strain, will your anchor drift or firm remain?"

What is your life anchored to?  We all have something that centers us.  For some, it's their job, for others, family or the church.  It could even be their own inner strength they consider to be the anchor.  While all of these things are good to have in our lives, none of them are strong enough to be an anchor in every circumstance.

The chorus of the old hymn tells us where to find the only anchor we can truly count on.  "We have an anchor that keeps the soul, steadfast and sure while the billows roll, fastened to the rock which cannot move, grounded firm and deep in the Savior's love!"

In Hebrews 6, the writer is speaking of how we can have hope, because we can trust God's promises; that we can take hold of the hope that is offered to us and be greatly encouraged.  Verse 19 days, "We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure."

I love the way the writer Sarah Young talks about being anchored and staying centered on God, in her devotional book, "Jesus Calling." She writes:  "Your mind will wander from Me, but the question is how far you allow it to wander.  An anchor on a short rope lets a boat drift only slightly before the taut line tugs the boat back toward the center....As you become increasingly attuned to My Presence, the length of rope on your soul's Anchor is shortened.  You wander only a short distance before feeling that inner tug - telling you to return to your true Center in Me."

We've seen a picture of an anchor, a song about an anchor, a Bible verse and devotional featuring an anchor.  All of these anchor-related pieces, all point to our true center - the Lord Jesus Christ.  I'm so thankful to be anchored in the love of Jesus forever.