Standing At The Base Of The Cross

     There was a song we sang at church when I was growing up, and the refrain went like this, "At the cross, at the cross where I first saw the light, and the burden of my heart rolled away, it was there by faith I received my sight, and now I am happy all the day!"
     As I sat in "A Friendly Shade," and thought about that memorable song, I couldn't help but be drawn to the base of that cross.     

I stood on a firm foundation
  at the base of the cross.
I didn’t, yet, understand this great plan of salvation.
The earth shook and darkness covered the lands
  while blood fell from His nailed pierced hands.

Fear came upon the people standing there;
Some cried, but others did not care.
This was just a man they wanted crucified.
Upon His head was placed a crown of thorns,
  followed by laughter and the people’s scorn.

I watched as the blood dripped from his wounds
  and saw Him struggle to take a breathe.
Standing there in awe, I heard Him cry out in death,
“My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?”
I thought, "Here is a man dying to set me free."

The dark veil lifted, and I was left standing in the light;

It was no longer dark as night.
I had felt the ground shake
  from the mightly quake.
Yet I knew I was standing on solid ground.
It was so profound!
I surely was not worthy of all of this.

I watched as friends lifted Him down from the cross
  and mourned their loss.
He had died “Kings of the Jews,”
  but He arose Saviour of all!  

He Is Risen! He Is Risen!
He has set me free from the chains of prison.
My burdens are lifted away,
  now I am happy all the day.
                     Mary Crisp Jameson

Forty Years Of Wear

     It was supposed to have been a rainy day, and my alternative for a project was  the dreaded task of cleaning out my closet.  Thank goodness it did not rain, and I was not faced with that overwhelming job.
      Who really wants to make a decision on what to discard from an over-packed closet?  I have to admit that I actually have clothes in my closet which are perfectly good but many years old.  My daughter would say, “Mom, these are obsolete.  Get rid of them.”  My thoughts are, “but I may need them.”
     When I stopped to think about how old some of the clothes in my closet actually are, I could not help but remember Deuteronomy 29:5 “Yet the Lord says, “During the forty years that I led you through the wilderness, your clothes did not wear out, nor did the sandals on your feet.”  That was a true blessing to the Israelites.   However, I cringe to think that my clothes would not wear out in forty year.  Image it! Who wants to wear the same thing for forty years?  We are certainly blessed to have choices. 
     However, most of us would be glad if the roof on our homes lasted forty years  or if our automobiles and lawnmowers did the same.  Come to think of it, we would all be financially better off if we were satisfied with the clothes we had; if we wore them longer; and if we were not constantly updating with the current trends that keep us buying more and which lead to neglecting the ones which are already hanging there in perfectly good shape “taking up space.”  We do this because we become bored with the same old thing.  We make the fashion designers wealthy while we and our families become poorer. 
     Maybe it is time to stop and think!  Maybe it is time to be thankful for what we have instead of buying more and more.  Wouldn’t our financial pocketbooks be better off?  Wouldn’t we be more thankful if we took a moment to just say, “Thank you God for what I already have?”
    Looking back, I remember that my Mom didn’t have many clothes in her closet.  What she had was a well-worn Bible.  She never appeared bored with life or the clothes in her closet.  When I picture my mom, I see love, peace, and contentment.  I see her filling her time with doing for others.  I see a spacious closet with a somewhat outdated wardrobe, but most of all I see her reading her devotionals and her Bible.  Her Bible was well-worn like her clothes, and neither were dusty or just “taking up space.”

    

       

Guys In Camo

     It would have been every guy in camo’s dream come true!  Nothing would have created a more adrenalin rush than to see this covering of birds flying in from every direction and landing just a hair-trigger away.   
     A true guy in camo will hunt anytime and anywhere.  It does not matter if it is raining, snowing, sleeting, or scalding hot.  They will tread thickets, briars, swamps, creeks or any thing that gets between them and their prey.   They will brave snakes, mosquitoes, and other wild varmin.  They do it because they have an expectancy for the big trophy; they do it to provide meat for the table; they do it for the camaraderie; and they do it for the serenity that God’s natural habitat provides. 
     Most guys in camo are not patient in everyday life events.  Yet, they can be very patient if they need to wait hours for the animal or bird they are hunting to come their way.  Most guys in camo cannot hear the alarm when it comes to getting up to head to their daily week-day job.  Yet, the alarm need only make a tiny sound in the early morning before daylight breaks and the guy in camo is up, dressed, and out the door with his first cup of coffee. 
     Most spouses would say the guy in camo is foolish.  It is a big waste of time.
     In the book, The Circle Maker, the author, Mark Batterson, talks about feeling and looking foolish. He wrote that foolishness is a feeling that Moses was very familiar with.  Moses must have felt foolish and looked foolish when he held up his staff to save the people. However, it no longer looked foolish when the Red Sea parted and the Israelites were able to escape. Most people called Noah foolish when he was building the ark, but, as they soon found out when the floods came, Noah had not been foolish by obeying God.  When Moses told the complaining people that God would cover the land with quail, he probably felt foolish, and the people thought the same.  How was God going to send enough quail to a desert land to feed six hundred thousand men?  Yet that is exactly what God did.  In the The Circle Maker we find that "faith is the willingness to look foolish." 
     Yes, it would have been a “Guy In Camo” dream come true to see all those quails dropping from the sky, but for the Israelites it was a source of meat they had not tasted in a very long time. 

“Now a wind went out from the Lord and drove quail in from the sea. It scattered them up to two cubits deep all around the camp, as far as a day’s walk in any direction.”  Numbers 11:31

 

     For those who enjoy short true life hunting stories check out my book GUYS In CAMO  kindle edition on Amazon.  It is loaded in coon, squirrel,deer, and quail hunting episodes.   

http://www.amazon.com/Guys-In-Camo-Mary-Crisp-ebook/dp/B005CB8O1E/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1394989360&sr=8-1&keywords=guys+in+camo

 

Sin Fascinates And Then Assassinates

A sign at a nearby church read, “Sin fascinates. Then it assassinates.”

     As I look back over the events in the lives of the people in the Bible and the choices I have made in my own life I realize that when we know what is right but choose to do the opposite in our lives we pay the price. 

     I imagine when Adam and Eve looked at the fruit of the tree in the midst of the Garden of Eden they saw a ripe, mouth-watering fruit; one that, if eaten, would be so much better than all those other selections which had been given to them.  They were told not to eat of it, but they chose it anyway.  When they took of that fruit, they allowed “sin to fascinate.” In the end, "it assassinated."  The Garden of Eden was not only closed to them forever, but henceforth, man was required to labor.
    When David feasted upon Bathsheba and desired to have her for his own, he had her husband killed.  David knew his lust for another man’s wife was wrong, but he devised a plan to have her anyway.  Because of this, God was angry with David, and their first child died.   “Sin fascinated.  Then it assassinated.” 
     Judas, one of Jesus’ own disciples, betrayed Jesus for thirty pieces of gold.  That money enticed Judas; it worked on his self-greed.  He must have thought it would buy him wealth.  In the end he could not live with his guilt, and he went out and hanged himself.  “Sin fascinated.  Then it assassinated.”     
      How many times in our lives have we looked at what appears to be “greener pastures” and made choices that did not follow along with what we knew to be the right thing to do?  How many times have we taken the easy route rather than work on the right thing to do?  How many times have we let instant gratification overcome the fear of the certainty we knew could result?  In the end, did we find that “sin fascinated, and then it assassinated?”   What price have we paid for our decisions? 
     The price could be anything: The loss of a family, the loss of respect, the burden of unnecessary  bills, addictions, job loss, physical injury, guilt, loss of financial success; just to name a few, all because we failed to weigh the outcome. 
     Yet God gives us hope.  For those of us who have "paid the price" because we chose sin, and it caused a great loss in our lives, we may have to live with the results, but we can persevere, although it does not come easy.  To make a correction we can no longer take the easy road.  We must learn from our experience, and not allow sin to continue to assassinate our lives. 
     I am so glad I have a God who loves me enough to allow "assassination" to happen in my life in order to keep me on the right track.  I am so glad I have a God who was willing to pay the price for my human weakness; a God who will forgive me even when others won't; One who will give me hope; One who will help me overcome  my failures; One who chose to pay the price for my salvation. 

Romans 5:3-5 And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also; knowing that tribulation worketh patience; and patience, experience; and experience, hope: And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us. 

Bluebirds

     I enjoy watching the bluebirds feed their young and have had the opportunity to watch a rare and long-awaited moment when the newborns leave their nest.  For those who wait and watch long enough, you know that it only takes one flight and, in just a few short minutes, they are gone. 

     The baby birds depend upon their parents to cover them with the warmth of their feathers as they snuggle in their nest.  They rely upon  them to stay busy gathering worms throughout the raising season in order to provide them with food and nourishment. 
     Some of the newborns fly out of their nest with strong wills and rapidly disappear among the tree tops.  Some take a little coaxing and fly weakly to the ground only to be encouraged to spread their wings and take flight.
     Most of us find refuge and protection, much the same way,  in the comfort of our homes as we grow into adulthood.  Our parents cuddle, love, feed, and protect us.     Families are bonded together because of that love
     God tells us that He will do the same.  When our souls dwell in God we are secure.  “He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty,…He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler….  Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day: …Because thou hast made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation… For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.”  Psalms 91:1,4,5,9,11
     My parents are no longer around to protect me and advise me, but I take comfort in the fact that I was adopted into God’s arms of protection and His family when I accepted His plan of salvation.  I take comfort in the security of knowing He has placed His angels in charge over me.  If I should spread my wings in my own strong self-will, I will still have a God who will continue to love and protect me if I will only call upon Him. “He shall call upon me, and I will answer him:  I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him. With long life will I satisfy him, and shew him my salvation.”  Psalms 91:15-16.