Fireworks Display

     Fireworks have been used down through the ages to celebrate festivals and special events.  Their bursts of explosions are anticipated wonders during the  Fourth of July holidays as they make their announcements, whether with a loud sonic boom, a shrill whistling noise, or a just a small sizzling sound.  After that, comes a spectacular display of lights in various shapes, rotating circles, or a blast of stars in all colors illuminating across the sky turning the darkness into a brief blast of light.

     They say the first fireworks started in the 10^th century in China, but I am not so sure about that.  You see when God decided to divide the day from the night, He said, “Let there be lights in the firmaments of the heaven.”  I was not there that day, but I can just imagine the loud explosion of activity as the stars and the moon were set into place.  The sky must have lit up with a blast of sunbeams and a glow of stars that did not just immediately fill up the sky and then fall away and disappear like the fireworks we think of today.  The stars, the moon, and the sun are there, in place, for us to celebrate and enjoy every night and day throughout the year.

     There are all kinds of fireworks God has provided that radiates across the sky and the treetops.  He set the rainbow in the sky.  As the last raindrops cease and the sky turns to blue there silently appears an array of colors just as beautiful as any fireworks display we host today.  I do not believe anyone ever ignores the rainbow when they see it span across the sky.  We always shout and point, "Look, there, over there.  It's a rainbow!"   And it is placed there to celebrate a promise God gave us many, many generations ago.  

     Then there was a special pillar of cloud that God formed, just for the Israelites, to lead them by day, and a pillar of fire, he formed, to lead them by night.  Can you imagine the expectation of seeing that fluffy, pillory white cloud and then to have it change into a fiery furnace of color as darkness dropped across the land?   

     Yet another wonder happened when the heavens opened and the Spirit of the Lord descended like a dove.  That could not have been a silent moment when Jesus was baptized.  The heavens opened and there was a voice booming out.  The sound must have been louder than the announcements of a bottle rocket in a fireworks celebration.  I can hear it now, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”

     Louder still and much more impressive was the day there was darkness over all the land.  It was the ninth hour when Jesus, himself, cried out in a loud voice, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?”  This was when Jesus was taking all of our sins upon Himself and God saw, heard, and felt the despair.  The answer came with a loud sound.  It had to have been much louder than a fireworks show.  “The veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent. And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose,”  

     This Fourth of July let us not forget the celebration of lights that God has given us throughout the ages.  There will be yet another much more beautiful celebration to come.  It will come with a loud explosion, as well.  It will come in the twinkling of an eye.  “For the Lord, himself, shall descend from the heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air:”

     I can only imagine what a fireworks display this will be as those who have rejected God watch as God’s children blast into the air to join Him in the sky!  It will be a time of despair for some but a celebration, indeed, for the believer. 

      

The Slogan

     The slogan, “People aren’t always awful.  Sometimes, they’re maybe even just a little bit wonderful,” made me stop and think about just what I look for in a person and how do others see me? 

     Often if we look for the worse, that is just what we will receive, but if we interact in a positive way then we can often change or turn around a negative reaction.  In order to do this we must put aside our pride and place someone else, someone we actually may not like a whole lot, before our own feelings and needs.  We have to become the servant. 

     Jesus gave us a very good example to follow.  During the feast of the Passover, when He knew his final hour was come, He could have asked the disciples to wash His feet; He could have asked anything, at that time, of His disciples and they would have gladly done it.  Yet, “He riseth from supper, and laid aside his garments: and took a towel, and girded himself.  After that he poureth water into a basin, and began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel wherewith he was girdeth.”  Later Jesus said that He was giving an example, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord; neither he that is greater than he that sent him.” 

     As we reflect on how Jesus stooped to wash the feet of others, we need to reflect on how we serve and interact with others in our daily lives and remember, “People aren’t always awful.  Sometimes, they’re maybe even just a little bit wonderful.” 

It’s Father’s Day! - A day of remembrance for those of us who no longer have their dad to hug.  Yet nothing can take away the memories we cherish.  I, for one, am so thankful I have those memories but even more thankful that I have  a Heavenly Father who never leaves my side. 

 My Father

From the beginning,

You planned my life.

When I cried,

You smiled, held me close,

And never left my side.  

All along the way,

You did what a Father does the most;

Directing my course

Through the circumstances of my years.  

You did it with a guiding, fatherly force.

When I fell down, you picked me up.

You lifted my spirit and dried my tears.

When I rebelled, you loved me still.

When I struggled for independence,

   you let me try my own self-will.

From the beginning,

You waited for me to be in attendance;

All the while, providing a light to shine the way.

Never once did you ask for more

Than to be loved, in return, each day.

What more can a Father do?

Mine did so much more!

He gave me the keys to a heavenly door. 

Home-Grown Tomatoes and True Love

     Someone once said, "There are two things money can't buy, and that is true love and home-grown tomatoes." 

     As I sat here in my friendly shade and admire my home-grown tomatoes, I thought about that statement and decided there was a lot about it that was true.  Sure, you can buy someone else's home-grown tomatoes, but they are just not the same.  Those tomatoes had to be picked somewhat green and could not mellow out on the vine until they reached that delicate rich, red color and that wonderful just-right seasoned taste which you anxiously wait for every year.  If anyone has ever grown tomatoes you know that the very first one of the season is sliced immediately; your taste buds cannot wait another moment to pop that long awaited first tomato of the season into your mouth.  In fact, you deserve it.  You planted it; you staked it to keep it upright from the wind and the rain; you protected it, as much as you could, from the birds and other prey.  That tomato belongs to you, and no amount of money could take away the pride you acquired in growing your very own home-grown tomato.

     When it comes to true love, money certainly cannot buy that even though money does make the living more comfortable.   But, with true love, there is a deep inner feeling- a caring, a desire to see that person have the very best there is.  With that said, nothing can compare to the true love God has for His children.  He knew us before we were ever born -He planted us.  He is the One who protects us- He shields us when we turn to Him.  He is the One who gives us the light in our lives- It is God who provides true peace and comfort.  Once we place our trust in God, He e He He He never abandons us.   He is the One that pulls us from the mire of sin when we stray.  He is the One who gave His only Son - a Son willing to die on the cross, so that we could have eternal life.  Money cannot and will not ever buy that kind of love. 

     I hope at the end of the day as I take pride in my home-grown tomatoes that I will also be able to take pride in the fact that I set my eyes on the eternal riches and love of God rather than the riches of this world.

      

The Forgotten

     When Eve met Satan in the Garden of Eden, all the fruit they had been given to eat was not enough.  God was forgotten as they reached forth to take the only forbidden fruit.  Only after they had sinned did Adam and Eve feel ashamed.  Yet, because of that sin they were thrust from the Garden to sweat in their labor. 

     When Cain became jealous of his brother, God was forgotten.  Only after Cain killed his brother and God talked with him did he feel remorse.   Cain said, “My punishment is greater than I can bear.”

    When Lot and his wife were told to flee from Sodom and Gomorrah they were told not to look back.  Yet, Lot’s wife forgot the Lord’s instructions.  She looked back and turned into a pillar of salt.

     After the children of Israel were rescued from Egypt, they continued to forget God and what He was doing for them.  They forgot the miraculous opening of the Red Sea, and they forgot the manna rained down each day to provide needed food.  They continued to complaint.  They forgot the promises of God and were too fearful to enter the land flowing with “milk and honey.”  They forgot God and ended up wandering for forty years.

     America was given to us as a land of liberty and freedom!  The people have been a strong, prosperous nation.  But today, the people are forgetting God.  We are falling into a weak economy; drugs are becoming a leisurely past time; families are falling apart; other countries are sending missionaries to America for we are becoming a nation that is forgetting God; a nation that is forgetting to pray.   

     We must remember that God still calls just as He did to Adam and Eve, “Where art thou?”   He has never forgotten us. 

Shrink Away

     When I pulled a shirt from the closet to exchange my Sunday clothes to something cooler and more comfortable I discovered the top I was planning to wear had shrunk.  No longer was it the loose comfortable shirt I remembered.   I had two choices.  I could either toss it out or get used to the way it currently fit me.   Somehow, I was not willing to continue to wear that shirt which, for whatever reason, had become too small.  I wanted a new one- one that made me feel good wearing it. 

     Is that the way it is when we first become Christians?  We are called out of a life we are used to.  True, it was a life that did not provide fulfillment, but it was the only life we knew.  We had friends we would have to give up, because we simply did not share the same values.  They were the only friends we had, but we were no longer comfortable with their words and actions.  It was time for new relationships.  The decision was difficult; however, as we accepted the call to walk into a new life we soon found that the old ways gradually shrank.  We became willing to make a choice to discard or toss away our old life styles and became comfortable in our new apparel- a new walk that would give us more love, more peace, and a new hope.   

     Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh; Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.  Hebrews 10: 19-20;22

    

    

    

Life-Support

      My friendly shade provides a place away from the frustrations of jobs and other problems; it up-lifts my heart and spirit.  My gray skies turn to blue as the spirit of  calm refreshes and helps me through.

     As I think further about it, life-support can work two ways.  Either you can be the one working to plug someone into the life support system or the one needing life-support.

     There are people, near death, everywhere who are waiting to be put on life-support.  I am, of course, not talking about medical health but spiritual.  People need life-support within the community we live in.  We don’t need to travel to foreign countries to find them.  They are getting weaker everyday, because they have not been plugged into the proper life-support system. 

     Those in need of life-support may rub shoulders with us every day.  They may be placed into our lives just waiting for us to take up the cross and provide that much needed life-support. 

     Paul was in need of life-support as he traveled around persecuting Christians.   He was in need of life-support after he was blinded on the road to Damascus.  God had planned ahead and made provisions for him.  The Lord prepared Ananias to be an instrument of life-support.  Ananias, on the other hand, was afraid, but he did as he was told.  He obeyed  the command and nudge from God to go to Paul with his hand of life-support.  Paul’s heart, after that, was filled as he accepted the life-support offered, and his life was changed forever.  Paul, in turn, became the instrument of life-support.  He became willing to plug people into God.  With God in our lives our “gray skies turn to blue as He helps us through.” 

     It would be good to stay alert, accept the gentle nudge from God, and to become a faithful witness so that we may, also, be able to plug those we come in contact with into God- the best life-support known to man.