Thursday, February 23, 2017

"The Perfect Picture"

I love this picture! Well, to be honest, its not so much the picture I love as it is the truth it holds dear to my heart! I see a picture like this one ... where ... a little tiny, seemingly insignificant plant is making its way through difficult life situations and I am reminded of that dear to my heart truth. You know, the one that we so often lose sight of. This little tiny plant is not only surviving but growing and flourishing despite the hardships it is forced to endure because of that one basic truth. It grows towards the light!   

Check out 2 Samuel 14:14 "... Yet God does not take away a life; but He devises the means, so that His banished ones are not expelled from Him." He has a plan! He has a way devised! Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes to the father except through me." John 14:6 And in John 8:12 He says, "I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life." Jesus is the Way! Jesus is the Light we need to look to. Life doesn't have to come to a halt when things get hard. It is just like with this little tiny plant, there is a way to see the light at the end of the tunnel in your situation.

With Him there is always a way through to the Light!  "Seek ye first the kingdom of God," "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, strength." "Set your mind on things above!" These are all great ways to remember to grow towards the Light. The truth that I was telling you about, that one that is so dear to my heart isn't just that its important to survive the situation but to continue to grow and flourish despite the situation.

A picture like this ... speaks to my heart. It speaks a message that is so much more than that of  just surviving. It is the perfect picture because it offers up a message of hope! It is all about hope and the possibilities that lay ahead despite the hardship that lay behind. Hope. Hope that we don't have to stay a struggling little seedling but that someday, if we grow towards the Light we too "...may be called trees of righteousness, The planting of the Lord, that He might be glorified." Isaiah 61:3

God Bless!!!




Thursday, February 9, 2017

The Tenth Coin

Can you picture this?

A woman hurries around the house trying to get ready to leave. She's already late. Very, very late. Her oldest children are screaming over a toy. She estimates thirty seconds until her boys come to blows. Her toddler has just learned how to undress herself, and now she runs around the house laughing victoriously as she tears off each article of clothing - including her dirty diaper.

Finally, with only a dash of depleted desperation, she's ready to go.

But wait...

An internal alarm blares in her head. She realizes she's missing something. She can't put her finger on it... Oh, no! Grabbing her purse, she pushing miscellaneous items around, fingers the pockets, and finally dumps all the contents onto her kitchen counter.

Frantically she counts.

"One...Two...Three...Four...Five...Six...Where are the others?" She mumbles under her breath.

She spies Seven under an old receipt.

Grabbing Seven she sees that Eight and Nine have fallen onto the floor. She scoops them up.

Where is Ten? Where is Ten?

If Eight and Nine fell onto the floor, then she theorizes Ten might have as well. She grabs a broom. She would sweep the entire house, look in every jar, and under every toy and dirty sock until she found it.

And then she and her kids would celebrate with ice cream.

Does this sound vaguely familiar? Perhaps you've lived this scene. (I imagine most anyone with children have experienced a variation of this particular day.) However, it's also inspired by The Parable of the Lost Coin.

"Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and seek diligently until she finds it? And when she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.' Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents." Luke 15:8-10



God is so amazing. So loving. So diligent. So merciful. So loyal. So forgiving.

He will search for you. Always.

That is an undeniable truth.

But I felt Him whispering to my heart, adding another layer.

He searches for us. But do I search for Him?

I know I don't usually notice a missing penny. It's just a penny. However, in a sea of people God notices me. Truthfully, He notices my missing penny, my missing shoe (I hope it's happy, wherever it is...), and my missing book (Yeah, I'm going to want that back...).

But do I always notice when I'm missing Him? Time? His Word? His Truths?

The Tenth Coin. It works both ways.

May there be more days where I search frantically until I find it. Him.

Hugs!

~V. Joy Palmer