Watching the Invisible

The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit. John 3:8 (NIV)

Little goldfinches seemed to tumble across our drive like leaves tossed in the wind. One landed on the handle of an old plow. The yellow plumage glistened in the sunlight like gold coins. Its crown and wings were ornate with the black of onyx. Where had the finches come from? Where were they going? I marveled at their beauty as they fluttered off to other places.

Jesus told Nicodemus "You must be born again." Nicodemus didn't understand the Spirit. It was something he couldn't see or touch. Jesus used the analogy of the wind. Nicodemus could hear the wind and see what the wind did but could not see the wind itself. He couldn't know where it came from or where it was going but he could know the wind was there. 

I couldn't see where my little goldfinches came from. They seemed to blow in on the wind. I didn't know where they were going. I just saw their beauty and wonder of the moment. 

When we open up our hearts and allow the Holy Spirit to work in our lives we may not understand the work but we will know the beauty of a close relationship with God. 

What is the Holy Spirit speaking to your heart today?

Hey Kids:

What got your attention this week and made you stop and wonder in amazement?

Our children are incubating eggs. Several hatched out Thursday and Friday. A few are due to hatch tomorrow. 

The children are young and don't yet understand how chickens grow inside of shells. Maybe that's you too. 

As we were watching the new hatchlings we noticed an egg move.  We weren't sure so we watched more intently. 

Sure enough, the egg was moving. 

An egg that looked like any other egg was moving! 

We all look just like any other person but when God's Holy Spirit moves in our hearts others take notice. 

Can others see God's Spirit working in you? 

Ask the Lord how He can use you and watch what He will do.

But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall. Malachi 4:2 

Winter was so drab and depressing. The cold rain kept me and my students inside most of the time. But this week with spring break, pretty weather and a garden that needed to be resurrected, I began to notice the healing of winter as it turned into spring.

A bluebird seeking a home for his new mate landed on the birdhouse. The blue of his wings was so vibrant. The red on his breast so prominent, it reminded me of the story of Jesus and the woman who was desperate for healing. 

Jesus walked along the dusty road. A crowd followed Him, pressing in to hear His words. The tallit he wore with its blue fringes spread like wings with each step. Many people recognized this Man as having "healing in His wings." He had healed many. Some He even raised from the dead. The blue was significant as indicating the royal priesthood.  A woman whose faith told her that if she could only touch the hem of his garment she would be healed of a disease that had held her captive for twelve years. She pressed through the crowd to touch His wings, the fringes of His garment. She was unclean. If anyone suspected she could be pointed out and shunned from the group. 

Jesus felt the healing, the virtue go from Him as she touched his garment. He already knew who touched Him and what she needed but He wanted her to know and confess Him before the people (Matthew 9: 18-26; Luke 8:40-48). 

The bluebird reminds me of even more. The red that covers his breast reminds me that it is the blood of Jesus that cleanses us from all sin, heals our brokenness and restores life. The woman who reached out tllo Jesus knew He was more than just a famous priest, she knew by faith He was the long-awaited Messiah, the one who could restore her life and give her life eternal.

Have you reached out to Jesus? Press through the crowd without worry of what they will think. Reach out for our Royal Priest who gives us life eternal. 

Hey Kids:

Our yards and parks are coming alive with birds and flowers and insects. God created them for a reason. One of those reasons is to show us His great love. 

What are you noticing in your area that demonstrates God's love?

Here are a few hints:

• Are the dogwoods blooming? Examine a flower and draw or write what you observe.
• Are butterflies pollinating the flowers in your garden? How does a caterpillar become a new creature? Draw a  or write about a caterpillar lifecycle.
• Have you found any rocks with interesting shapes? Does its shape remind you of a verse or a story? Draw or write about your rock. 

Sharing God's love is sometimes as simple as observing His creation with your neighbor.

How will you share God's love this week?

Blessings, 

Gail

The Light in the Darkness

This year, I'd like to offer a few stories. Maybe a deeper look at Bible stories or modern stories that present a Biblical truth.

Today is a Bible story from Acts 20:7-12. I'd like to take you deeper into the story to see the sights and sounds, "the just like us" human side of the story, because the Bible is just as much about us as it is about the people who lived those stories. Enjoy.

Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.

Matthew 5:14

Children chattered and played as they walked with their parents carrying baskets of food and their lamps. Tonight was the last night to hear and visit with Paul before he sailed to Assos. There was a large house, three stories high, where they had agreed to gather. Neighbors watched as the little troop grew larger the closer they came to the house.

The ladies in the house welcomed the guests, taking the baskets and spreading the food along tables for everyone to share. A little food, a little fellowship, a little preaching, because of the buzz of the house no one noticed how late the hour had become.

Neighbors noticed the lamps twinkling into light in a third story room. “What’s going on there?” Their own lamps were going out one by one as they laid down for the night.

Eutychus, a young man, sat propped in a window to catch the night breeze and make room for the older folks to sit. As Paul preached toward midnight, Eutychus’ eyes began to droop and his head to nod. Several times, he’d caught himself from falling onto the old man seated in front of him. He’d rearranged himself hoping to wake up. He wanted to hear and he didn’t want to begin to snore. Suddenly his arms flailed and he toppled out the window to the street below.

People screamed. Lights poured into the streets. Eutychus was dead! The commotion awakened the neighbors. Paul pushed his way through the crowd, then gathered the young man in his arms. “His life is in him,” he declared as Eutychus’ eyes fluttered open.

“Hallelujah! Praise God! Thank you, Jesus!”came the exclamations from the crowd as they lifted their hands and faces heavenward.

Thank you Jesus? Who is this Jesus? , the neighbors whispered along the street. They watched as the people filed back into the house, talking, praising.

Inside the people prayed, ate, listened, and asked questions until dawn when the town began to stir again. Eutychus, the young man was helped home as the people dispersed. Neighbors watched and eyed the window where last night he had fallen.

Lamps through the night, a dead man raised alive, people praising Jesus. “We’ve never seen anything like this before.”

To think, it seemed to have started with lights shining in the dark.

Hey Kids:
What's your favorite Bible story?

I love to take a story and imagine the sights and sounds and smells that may
not be described.

Try taking your favorite story and make a list using your five senses.
In the story above:
I could hear children talking and playing.

I could smell the food spread for the visitors and the oil and smoke from the lamps.

I could see the lights, the neighbors, the people coming in,
and Eutychus propped in a window.

I could feel the breathless thud of Eutychus fall,
because I have fallen from just a short distance and the breath knocked out of me.

I wanted to taste the food because I know potluck meals are always delicious.

So what's your story. I love to have a chance to read it.

Blessings for your writing,

Gail