The black-capped chickadee is an amazing little bird. They are cute, friendly, and have a sweet song, but they also have some amazing characteristics you might not know about.
Each year, the chickadee’s hippocampus sheds memories of the previous year and develops new patterns to remember the location of every seed it stashed away. It is estimated that they can remember 100,000 seeds. Scientists are studying this to learn how memory works.
A chickadee can go into a state of semi-hibernation. Their internal body temperature can drop nearly 50 degrees (F) allowing for far less energy usage. I extreme cold.
Chickadees remember faces that fill their feeders and more. Being naturally inquisitive, other species of birds watch them to see if an area is safe before moving in.
Such a little bird, made in such a complex, specialized way. How much more so does that apply to humanity, being made in the very image of God?
Every human being has intrinsic value. Every life is important to God. We need to remember that when we look down on or dismiss others because of their lifestyle, melanin levels, gender, socioeconomic status, or anything else.
We’re called to love and compassion. We’re called to share the gospel. We’re called to be in the world not of it.
Jesus died for them, just as He died for us while we were yet sinners and enemies of God.
Like other birds watching chickadees to see if things are safe, people are watching us to evaluate the claims of Christ. Is He safe?
May your life reflect the fruit of the Spirit and the love of Christ.
There are times in life when it feels like you can’t see what’s coming around the next bend. It can be unnerving or even immobilizing. It makes it hard to trust God.
We do our best to take control of whatever is coming, but the reality is that we aren’t in control of anything, except our choices, and there are usually a limited number of options. That can be a terrifying or liberating truth.
Knowing we aren’t in control often drives people to one of two places. There are control freaks who try to manage every detail, and the less control they have, the more they fight and suffer. Then there are the fatalists who think it’s going to happen anyway, so “why bother trying?
We need to trust the ultimate source of control is God himself, the creator and sustainer of the world. I find it freeing to know that while I can’t control every situation, the one who loves me controls my ultimate destination.
Faith in Him carries weight and freedom.
He lights the way. “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.”Psalm 119:105
He controls the past, present, and future. He promises never to leave us or forsake us. He gives every believer the Spirit. He loves us beyond measure.
We have the Word, the church, and the testimony of those who have gone before us to strengthen us when we are worried about the road ahead.
I was editing my children’s book series and researching woodstoves when I recalled something from years ago.
My parents moved to a farm not long after I left high school. Technically, it was more of a homestead: 160 acres, mostly cleared, a 1950’s mobile home with no indoor plumbing and heated entirely by an old wood stove in the living room. It was a dream come true for Dad; I’m sure Mom went because it was Dad’s dream.
I’d often travel up for a few days to give them a break and let them get away. One very cold winter evening, I arrived after they had already left. Not being experienced with wood stove hearths, I quickly got a fire going.
When it didn’t warm things up fast enough for me, the less-than-genius part of me stoked it even fuller. As soon as it burned down a little, I rammed it full again. Before long, it wasn’t warm; it was so hot that I was genuinely afraid the place was going to catch on fire.
I panicked. I filled a bucket with ice-cold water, opened the door, and threw it into the firebox. That dampened the fire but filled the house with smoke and steam. The stove made some awful groaning noises.
It was then that I realized the folly of throwing cold water on a near-glowing cast-iron woodstove. Fortunately, nothing broke, and while the fire risk was contained, I had to clean up, air out, and restart the process. All the while, I had the image of the stove cracking when I threw in the water, and the fire spreading everywhere.
I wasn’t yet a follower of Christ, yet God had his hand of protection over me. Perhaps I wasn’t in danger at all, that time, yet I know of many times His hand protected me.
I lift up my eyes to the mountains— where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.
He will not let your foot slip— he who watches over you will not slumber; indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.
The Lord watches over you— the Lord is your shade at your right hand; the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night.
I often wonder if we will see all the places His hand was on us, after we get to glory. I suspect the number of times will boggle our minds. Whether we ever know that or not, He is worthy of praise.
Yesterday morning, as I finished my coffee and writing Gleanings, I prepared to go to my aquafit class. Before I left, I threw a load of laundry on to wash.
A perfectly ordinary task, but it got me thinking. We are blessed with a machine that tends to the laundering, and another that tends to the drying. We don’t have to haul water to do it or carry our laundry down to a creek and wash it by hand, like this lady from Mexico in the 1930s.
I not only have enough clothes to launder, but also clothes to wear while the laundry is being done and while enough clothes accumulate to do a load.
I like clean clothing. I confess that at the end of the day, I’m not always fresh.
Clean clothes are a very pleasant luxury that we take for granted sometimes.
So are clean hearts. Before we come to Christ, we are dead in our sin. We have no concept of how repulsive our sin is to a God who is completely and perfectly holy. We get quite used to walking in our sin and even wallowing and rolling in it.
Now the Holy Spirit restrains people, even those who are not His. We have no concept of how depraved we could be if the restraints of the Spirit and the rules of society were to be removed,
That is a pretty astounding statement. Yet it is true.
Fortunately for us not only is God perfectly holy and righteous, He is also merciful and just. Sinners who receive the penalty due their sin, eternal torment. That is justice. Do the crime and you do the time, Perfectly reasonable and fair.
Yet he makes the offer of mercy. I am not going to get into the debate about the theology of election here, wherever you fall on the topic as a believer you understand some are saved and none of those by merit. That is mercy and grace. The penalty due us has been paid by Christ.
The Psalmist understood that our hearts and minds need laundering
Clean laundry is a luxury, and it stays clean only until I wear it again. Cleanhearts and minds covered in the blood of Christ remain clean forever. Our flesh may fall back into patterns of sin, but when we are His, He does not reject us. He cleanses us anew.
Until next time, I wish you clean clothing enough to wear and, more importantly, a fresh, clean heart from Christ and an appreciation for what He has done for you.
We live in Abbotsford, BC, in the Lower Mainland. That means rainy winters, and it’s raining this morning. A few people at church yesterday (including me) were complaining about how wet the weather had been. So, I set myself on a quest to find out how much rain we had so far this year. Okay, not really a quest per se; I went online and looked.
In January, we had 178mm (7 inches) of rain. That’s enough to fill 1.5 average Vancouver umbrellas. That’s a lot of moisture, but…
The average rainfall for Abbotsford in January is 200 mm, so it has actually been drier than average. I guess we had no real reason to complain. Then I remember where we used to live and converted the rain to snowfall, about 5 inches. That’s enough to bring the Lower Mainland to a full stop if it fell at once, and it’s hardly noticeable in many places.
Either way, there was no reason for complaining. It amazes me how often we can fall into complaining, even over first-world problems. There is something in the fallen human condition that seems determined to look at the world through darkened lenses and tell one another how bad things are.
It’s nothing new. The Israelites in the wilderness complained about hunger. The Lord visibly and miraculously provided their daily bread. They still found reason to complain and wanted to go back to slavery in Egypt. We are fickle people.
Compare that to the way the Bible tells us we ought to be.
Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 1 Thessalonians 5-18 ESV
“Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good. His love endures forever.” Psalm 136:1 ESV
“The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised” Job 1:21 ESV
We often forget or fail to notice the many things we have to be grateful for. Some people keep a gratitude journal, where, at the end of the day, they note all the blessings, large and small, for that day. Others post an image of something they are grateful for on their social media page daily.
There are many things to be grateful for. Even our street people have better living conditions than many people in the world. By and large, North Americans are still wealthier than the majority of people worldwide and across generations.
If we are believers, our sins are forgiven, and we are reconciled to God. We are the recipients of His love and mercy. He walks with us in all our trials. The Spirit can intercede for us and more.
It’s time to take some time and reflect on our blessings. As the old song says, “Count your blessings. Name them one by one. Count your many blessings and see what God has done.”
Instead of being people who complain, let’s remember how blessed we are, despite our circumstances, and praise God.
I like to watch water drip and form perfect little crowns as it impacts the surface beneath it. I’ve never quite managed to get the photo of that event I wanted, so this morning I’m using someone else’s shot to illustrate it (I couldn’t track down the photographer’s contact info, so I couldn’t give them credit).
What can I say? Some people say small things amuse small minds, but personally, I think we simply become blasé and ambivalent about much of what we see about us. We look and see, but we never truly see.
The physics involved in creating the drop aside, I think that it is quite a spectacular event every time it happens. We tend to overlook it because it is small and common, but every one of those marvelous crowns is unique and really something to behold. It happens so fast that it is very difficult to appreciate without the aid of a photograph, but it is majestic, nonetheless. None of the crowns worn by any king or queen has the same beauty as that of a simple raindrop or the drip of atap.
That’s kind of humbling in a way. God dresses the everyday raindrop in a crown of splendor that surpasses the crown jewels of any monarch that ever lived. We are surrounded by infinite beauty created by God that we simply never take the time to notice.
The crown of the raindrop, the puff of a dandelion, the curve of a mouse’s whiskers, and more escape our gaze, yet they surround us.
When I am trout fishing, the flash of a rainbow as a trout leaps out of the water should take my breath away, but I often miss it in the excitement.
Such things are not seen with our busy eyes. They require us to be still and truly look at our surroundings. When we do that, we can sample a taste of the glories of God.
These things are to be appreciated, but not worshipped; after all, we worship the creator, not the created. Yet they can draw us ever closer to Him.
We are called to pause and think on Him.
Commit your way to theLord; trust in him, and he will act. He will bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday.
“Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!”Psalm 46:10
I can hardly wait until glory, when we will be able to truly appreciate all He has created without the veil of sin on our eyes. When we can do that, I think we will be much more able to give Father the praise and glory due His name.
When was the last time you stopped and were still? I mean, truly still with no background music, no cell phone, just you and God and the wonders of His creation. When was the last time you paused to look at the wonders of His handiwork?
If you are like most of us, it has been too long. Take some time today and just look for the crown jewels our Lord has put in your path.
I see Mount Baker or parts of it almost every day. Located just to the southeast of us in Washington State, it dominates the southern horizon. It’s a sight I never grow tired of. Of course, if I’m out after dark, the mountain disappears, but by faith I know it’s still there.
The mountain can also disappear from my view depending on the weather. Clouds, rain, fog, or a combination of them can obscure the sight of a small part of it, or everything. The changing weather patterns mean the view can change from hour to hour, minute by minute, or even second by second.
If I turn away from the mountain, I go somewhere else, and if a hill or building blocks my way, I can’t see it anymore.
Of course it does, Kevin. That’s normal. The mountain hasn’t gone anywhere or disappeared; you just can’t see it at those times.
I know that, but I use the thought to make a point. Are there times when you feel that God has moved away, or you can’t “see” Him? That happens to most of us, at least at times.
God was there before anything in the material universe existed. He will be then when everything changes on the last day.
Before themountains were brought forth,or ever you had formed the earth and the world,from everlasting to everlasting you are God. Psalm 90:2
God said to Moses, “I am who I am.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel:‘I amhas sent me to you.’” Exodus 3:14
For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature,have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world,in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. Romans 1:20
So, if He is always there, why does He seem distant or absent? There are several possibilities.
You’ve turned away. Sometimes our own sin blinds us to God, and we turn from Him.
You’re looking but not seeing what’s in front of you. This happens to me when I’m trying to find something and fail. I ask Kathy for help, and she shows me where it was right there in front of my face.
God blesses you with a period of temporary blindness so that your faith is put to the test and grows. That’s a reason we don’t often think of.
Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. Hebrews 11:1
If you aren’t seeing God, first check your own life. What sin is blinding you? Take time to repent and confess. Then ask Him to reveal Himself again. Pray, read the word, and practice some spiritual disciplines to reconnect.
Trust Him, allow your faith to grow. He is at work in all things, all circumstances, and every life. He works all things for His glory and the good of those who love Him.
Just as Mount Baker is still there when the cloud lifts, you will find God still there when your vision and circumstances clear.
Remember, He promises to never leave or forsake you. You can trust His promises.
We’re almost a whole week into January, which means, statistically, 23% of people have already given up on their New Year’s resolution. By the end of the month, it will be 43%, and at year’s end, 92%. How are you doing on yours?
Some of those resolutions are reasonable; others are no more than castles carved in clouds or hopes strung across the clouds. They might have been pretty and well-intentioned, but in the end, they were unattainable dreams.
Most of us desire to be better people in some way, yet few have the discipline and drive to accomplish it. That’s why I’m glad Jesus understands our weakness.
He doesn’t expect us to get ourselves all cleaned up and find him. He doesn’t expect us to overcome all our sins and undo the damage under our own will and strength. Every other religion/faith is dependent on people doing all the work to get it together and find God.
I love how one writer describes the call of the gospel: “We are saved because God seeks and saves the lost. The Holy Spirit used the Gospel, shared by parents, friends, and loved ones with us, read in the pages of the Bible, and preached to us…”
He looks for us.
He accepts us where we are.
Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Matthew 11:28
The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit. Psalm 34:18
He does the cleaning.
For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. Romans 8:29
That doesn’t let us off the hook; we participate in the process. Yet, it does mean that our issues aren’t handled under our own strength.
Our salvation and sanctification are in the hands of a loving God, not the fumbling hands of weak, desperate sinners. For that, we can rejoice.
Be blessed,
Kevin
Gleanings From The Word – Experience an extraordinary God in ordinary life.
Someone once said that God must like ordinary things because He made so many of them. There is some truth in that statement.
It falls apart when we realize there are no “ordinary” things. Everything that exists in the material world is there because of the will of our omnipotent God.
We often look for God in the big things. While He does incredible miracles in the big stuff, you can frequently see His loving hand in the everyday things.
Recently, the key fob for my car died. I tried replacing the battery several times to no avail. I called the dealer and was quoted $950 + tax to replace it. Ouch, that’s a thousand bucks I didn’t budget for.
I tried local locksmiths. None of them could do a European fob, but I did get a recommendation for a mobile locksmith. I called the fellow and was quoted $550. Still ridiculously expensive, but my only option.
He arrived and took the fob apart. I had been replacing it with the wrong battery. Those round button-type batteries come in varying thicknesses, and the ones I used were too thin. Cost $80 for the service call plus a battery.
He could have just agreed the fob was dead, and I would have paid the $550 without question. God had sent a locksmith with integrity. Still costly for a simple mistake, but I gladly paid.
Big blessing in ordinary life. When I shared that story with our community group a couple of weeks ago, many people also shared stories of big blessings in ordinary life.
We might see a “big” miracle once or twice in our lifetime, but the small blessings come every day. Look for them. Celebrate them. Praise God for them.
Small blessings happen even in tough times. Watching for them can make us grateful.
Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever.Give thanks to the God of gods, for his steadfast love endures forever.Give thanks to the Lord of lords, for his steadfast love endures forever… Psalm 136:1-3
Give thanks even for the small blessing and praise His name.
Hallelu Yah (Praise God)
Be blessed,
Kevin
Gleanings From The Word – Experience an extraordinary God in ordinary life.
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Yesterday, I was too slow registering for my Aquafit class, and didn’t get in. The class size is limited and fills within a minute of the registration opening for the day.
With no class to attend, I opted for a walk along Stony Creek. It was not much past sunrise and cloudy, so I didn’t take many photos.
The salmon run is on, and one of the first things I saw was the carcasses of dead salmon lining the banks of the creek. I wondered if I was too late to see any live ones.
With careful watching, I did see a fair number of living salmon and some trout as well. They were hiding under root balls and undercut banks, gathering strength for the next part of the journey upstream. https://www.facebook.com/reel/857922200042646
I also managed to get a view of some salmon eggs. Once the eggs are laid and fertilized, the parents die, leaving their bodies to feed scavengers.
It got me thinking of life. We’re born, live our lives, and die. Of course, humans have an afterlife, something the Bible doesn’t talk about for animals. You can insert your own theology at that point.
Sometimes our journey from womb to tomb seems to stretch on forever. Other times, it races by in a blur. At times, we are oblivious to the passage of time, while at others we are acutely aware of every passing second.
We pass through our lives quickly, unable to fully process everything we have seen, heard, and done. Much of it we can’t even remember. Yet, our omnibenevolent (infinitely, all good) God sees and knows every detail. Nothing escapes Him. God has His hand on believers’ lives.
He knows us before we are born, and He cares about every moment of our lives.
For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them. Psalm 139:13-16
“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. Matthew 6:25-34
Believers never walk alone. He knows us and cares for us beyond measure. He is there before we enter the world, through our lives, and even after physical death takes us.
Wherever you are in the journey of life, if you have Jesus, know He will carry you through. We know that God has His hand on believers’ lives.
Take heart and praise His holy name.
Hallelu Yah (Praise God)
Be blessed,
Kevin
Gleanings From The Word – Experience an extraordinary God in ordinary life.
