Wisdom & Understanding

Being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. Philippians 1:6 Most of us know the story “The Ugly Duckling” written by Hans Christian Anderson. It’s a story of an egg that some how gets in the nest of a duck. The egg was unusual looking but the motherly instincts of the duck caused her to nurture it along with her duck eggs. The same was true when it hatched, the “duckling” that came out of the strange egg looked very different from the other ducklings. The mother duck continued to love and nurture this “ugly duckling” until one day she had to send him away out of the barnyard because of all the torment, taunting and rejection that he was suffering at the hands of the other barnyard animals. To make a very long story short (or a little short, you know how I get carried away sometimes), the “duckling” suffered much rejection even in the outside world. Time past and it wasn’t until he was beginning to give up a...

Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Matthew 6:26 To quote my sister, “Birds love your backyard.” She said this on a recent visit as she looked out my second story window. I take that very seriously coming from her. After all her years of bird watching she has a “trained eye” in spotting all kinds of birds. Her backyard in Virginia is a Bird and butterfly sanctuary. She has birdfeeders all among the trees and beautiful flowers planted through out. Gorgeous! I on the other hand have a few trees and no flowers in my backyard. But I do see some kind of berry bush out there that a cardinal visits faithfully every winter. Don’t get me wrong, I like birds but I’m not an avid bird fan (especially since those “Cat birds” chased and attacked my then small son, dog and anyone that came into our backyard that summer!) My late husband had to resort to shooting a BB gun...

Sow for yourselves according to righteousness (uprightness and right standing with God); reap according to mercy and loving-kindness. Break up your (fallow) uncultivated ground, for it is time to seek the Lord, to inquire for and of Him, and to require His favor, till He comes and teaches you righteousness and rains His righteous gift of salvation upon you. Hosea 10:12 (Amplified Bible) On my way to work a couple of weeks ago, I noticed the farmland on either side of the road that I was traveling. The fields that were flat and void of any kind of crops all winter were now freshly plowed. The black rich soil had been turn upside down and it seemed every which way. The soil of these fields that had “rested” all winter, were now lumps and bumps of earth facing the rising sun…waiting. About 2 weeks have gone by and I am on my way to work again and this time as I notice, the fields are now covered with rows of rich, green plants. And the scriptures above came to mind. Breaking up “fallow...

There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. Romans 8:1 Years ago, a delightful couple began to attend the church at which I was a member at that time. They were from one of the Islands and both had dynamic, bubbly personalities. He was gifted as a musician and could play several instruments. His wife was very intelligent and did quite well in the business world. They were a real blessing to the church, not only to the areas of music and administration, but just for being wonderful people. This couple was in their early to mid thirties and up until that time had been unsuccessful in having a child of their own. They had gone the whole medical route and had almost settled in their hearts that maybe God wanted them to adopt, when she got pregnant! We were all so happy for them and rejoiced when their beautiful, healthy baby girl was born. What a testimony it was to God’s timing and faithfulness! About a year...

Behold, I will do a new thing, now it shall spring forth; shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. Isaiah 43:19 At Buckingham Palace it is with great ceremony when they change the guard. They march with complete focus and attention as they switch positions at the gate. I love the fancy uniforms and how you cannot distract them from the ceremony. They have been trained to receive and relieve the position of guard with dignity and decorum. When their “shift” is over they leave with as much pride and honor as the guard that’s coming on duty. Years ago when my back patio was not enclosed and there was a big tree near it in the yard (since cut down), I was sitting there one fall morning and a wind blew and the leaves on that tree came off with a rustling sound. The Lord “spoke” to my heart and said, “I am moving like the wind and many will flow with me just as the leaves flowed with the direction of the wind.” When I “heard” that in my heart...

Shout with joy to God, all the earth! Sing the glory of his name; make his praise glorious! Say to God, "How awesome are your deeds!So great is your power that your enemies cringe before you. All the earth bows down to you; they sing praise to you, they sing praise to your name." Selah! Come and see what God has done, how awesome his works in man's behalf! Psalms 66:1-5 On one of my trips to the West coast during the Christmas holidays to visit my son and his family, they took me on a trip up the coast to a town right on the beach. I’ll never forget how beautiful the scenery was. At some point as we traveled it was clearly the ocean on one side and the mountains on the other. We stopped at the rest stops and admired the beautiful views. During the trip we also visited the Hearst Castle and even saw the elephant seals come up on the beach, it was awesome! My son and his sweet wife had rented a beautiful home walking distance to the beach, in fact you could see the beach...

He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you but to do justly, and to love kindness and mercy, and to humble yourself and walk humbly with your God? Micah 6:8 You know what? There are some evil acting people in this old world. Some nasty acting people! And I must admit sometimes I’ve had it up to here (hand over my head) with these folks. As a Christian I know that I am to love unconditionally like it says in Corinthians 13, but I confess I don’t always hit it. I recently was around some people that were continually instigating and prodding me to say bad things about other people. (I did not) They on the other hand were constantly gossiping and running folks down just as easily as you talk about the weather. I know that I am in this world and am a realist, but I was beginning to feel “ugly” and “nasty” being in this atmosphere. It grieved me to see first hand just how evil and cruel the world can be. And of how I can be if I am not careful to foll...