Bird on the Wing
Thank You, Father, for this day! It has been full and sweet! Your leading is always spot on. I haven’t received a great deal of feedback in regards to our new sermon series on Joshua but I truly feel it is a powerful word and You will use it for our benefit if we will act upon Your leading! “May your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.” (Matthew 6:10b) Amen.
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Lord, You have laid upon my heart a song from my youth, inspired by a sight I beheld while on my morning route Friday. It took me a little digging to find it but I was successful (with Your help, I am sure!) but I am not exactly sure how to proceed. I yield my heart and mind to You. Speak, Your servant listens.
First, what I saw. I see lots of wildlife in the early morning hours. Friday morning I saw a bird on the road and as my 4-ton monstrosity came roaring down the road it took to flight. Within short order, my mind flashed back to the summer of 1978.
Between my freshman and sophomore year of high school, I had the privilege of participating in a denominational world-wide youth gathering in Estes Park, Colorado. One of the musicians at the gathering was Michael Pitts and one of the songs from the album I bought as a remembrance was entitled, Bird on the Wing.
As that bird took off, the opening lines of the song came to mind.
Fly like a bird on the wing
Fly to Him you bird upon the wing
Interestingly enough, I didn’t just see one bird that morning but several and not only that, I haven’t been able to get the song out of my head all weekend!
Since my blog’s inception in 2015, there have been over 30,000 views from 124 countries across the globe! I cannot even begin to guess who has read my posts and where they are in their lives – especially when it comes to their relationship with Christ. So, here are the lyrics to this song. Who knows who will be touched but someone out there in this whole wide world needs to see them! It was written and sung by Michael Pitts, from his self-titled album Michael, 1976
Bird on the Wing
Fly like a bird on the wing
Fly to Him you bird upon the wing
There’s a reason for the longing you’re feeling inside
There’s a Savior asking for your love His arms are open wide
He has made a full provision just to welcome you back home
He’s prepared a mansion over there for His own
Fly like a bird on the wing
Come back to His arms forever more
Fly like a bird on the wing
Can’t you hear Him calling
He reaches for the falling
Fly to Him you bird upon the wing
I can see it in your eyes that you have found the Master’s love
All the angels are rejoicing, there are blessings from above
You have found new life in Jesus to be all you could hope for
And now you have that something worth living for
Fly like a bird on the wing
Come back to His arms forever more
Fly like a bird on the wing
Can’t you hear Him calling
He reaches for the falling
Fly to Him you bird upon the wing
May 5th, 2019, Sun, 7:10 pm
A Dewy Drippy Spider’s Web
I am so grateful for Your stalwart presence, Father. The ride may get bumpy but it doesn’t phase you in the least. You stay the course and keep me going – encouraging, loving, joyful!
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This morning on my route I noticed spider webs – lots and lots of spider webs! I’m sure they have been there for at least a little while but I had not noticed them. But today from the driver’s seat of the bus there they were hundreds of them! Along the unkempt sides of the road, beside newly plowed fields, I couldn’t help but notice them as they boldly stood out for all to see…if they would but look.
So why today and not yesterday? We had a heavy fog this morning. The condensation was thick. Even with last night’s rain, everything was saturated with condensation – the windshield of my truck, the grass – every surface was drenched with dew. And the beautiful creations of hundreds of spiders were no exception!
Christians…we are everywhere. But do others notice? Do we stick out or do we just blend in with the scenery? Even amongst the highways and byways of life, the beauty of Christ in our lives should show…but…
We find references to water throughout the Bible, relating to what God will do for us, to us, through us! I think we need some water, don’t you? We need some refreshing holy hydration! In a dry and weary land, we can be the ones who stick out because we are not parched. We are not drained dry by this life we lead whose sole purpose is to leave us a spent empty hull with nothing left to offer. We are to be full of life and not just for the here and now but life everlasting. And a promise that Jesus gives us, recorded in John 10:10b, is,
I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance [to the full, till it overflows]. AMP
Lord Jesus, drench me with dew from above. Make me, as the spider’s web on a dewy, drippy morning, shine and glisten and sparkle for all the world to see. May I be a beacon for the dry and weary world! Give me Your life “in abundance…till it overflows”! Amen.
May 2nd, 2019, Thurs, 10:31 am
Grace Extended
I’m sure it is my humanity to think such things, but why do You love me so, Father? I am weak. I stumble. I fall. I fail. I hurt You. Yet, again and again, You extend grace…and forgiveness…and mercy – so undeserved but extended freely and fully. I fall at Your feet to accept what is generously given.
Mark 8:22-26 (<<click to read the passage)
Do you think that sometimes it just takes more to get through to some people? God is in no way inhibited – He can do anything, anytime and at anywhere He chooses. But us? Oh, yeah, it definitely happens to us.
Think about it for a moment. Jesus had just disembarked from a boat where the “duh” factor was pretty high amongst His followers. My Life Application Study Bible states that maybe the reason this blind man had to be touched twice before he could see was “to demonstrate that spiritual truth is not always perceived clearly at first.”
And as we look closely at Jesus’ interaction with His disciples – and very honestly at his interaction with us – it quite often takes many, many touches from our Savior before things finally start to sink in. The disciples really didn’t get it until Jesus had risen from the dead and confronted them head-on with the reality of His resurrection. They saw Him. They touched Him. They ate with Him, watching Him eat as well. They were sure a thick-headed crew!
And I am sorry to say, I am, too…. Aren’t we all?
Reread my opening crying out to God. I was speaking for myself there but is it true for you, too? I would surmise that it is true for all of us. Oh, we all like to wear masks that say we have it all together and that we’re good when it comes to our relationship with God. And there are many times when that is the case. But not always…and I, for one, am grateful our loving Savior never gives up on us. Thank you, Lord Jesus!
May 1st, 2019, Wed, 7:42 pm
Eyes and Ears…Use Them!
It has been a challenge to get myself to sit down this morning, Father. I am sorry but I am here and I know You are as well. Help my attention to be focused on You and what You have for me today. Amen.
Mark 8:14-21 (<<click to read the passage)
“Seat on seat. Back on back. Hands in lap. Feet on the floor.” I think this, or some variant of it, is on the lips of every school bus driver… every… single… day…
No matter how many times it rolls off my tongue, I am forced to repeat myself over and over again. I think I can relate a little to Jesus’ frustration when He says,
“Don’t you know or understand even yet? Are your hearts too hard to take it in? ‘You have eyes—can’t you see? You have ears—can’t you hear?’ Don’t you remember anything at all?” v17b-18
Jesus was quoting a portion of Jeremiah’s prophecy (Jeremiah 5:21) for the people of his era had the same problem that the disciples had and that my bus kids have! We don’t listen! We have been given all the proper equipment – ears and eyes – but sometimes we are not good at using them properly.
I have said many times this can be a deliberate action on our part but it can also be that we are just distracted from what we need to be doing. I have had belligerent kids on my bus who will look me straight in the eye and deliberately disobey my very clear and direct command. But other times they are just caught up in things around them that they are not consciously being disobedient, it is just that it’s not in their mind at the time to do the right and proper thing!
Each of us has things that are our “distractions”. Some of them are not necessarily bad things – kids on my bus sometimes are just wanting to talk to a friend. But when they lean out into the aisle or over the back of their seat, they are no longer safe.
One of my biggest struggles is food… That may sound odd but my mouth likes food – my body not so much. Obviously, food is a necessity for life. But too much of anything is not good for us. Prior to my driving school bus, while I was still working in a retail environment, I had lost almost 30 pounds! I felt better and was keeping my newly diagnosed blood sugar relatively under control. Then came Christmas and family and…FOOD! And everything I had accomplished began to come undone… To date, I’ve gained about half of it back and my blood sugar is not crazy high but it is much higher than it should be. I try to control it but too often it seems to be controlling me! I have prayed about it but I really need to give it over to the Lord and buckle down with His help and get a handle on it all.
As I said we all deal with “distractions” but Lord Jesus, I need to use my eyes and see what I am doing to my health. I need to use my ears and listen when You are encouraging me in the ways I should go. Help me to know and understand Your will for me as it relates to my body. May I remember and not have to constantly be reprimanded by the Driver of my life. May I listen and obey. Amen.
Apr 30th, 2019, Tues, 10:53 am
French Horn What-ifs
Trying to sleep last night was a little rough, but Father I am grateful for You getting me safely through everything this morning. I am eager to see what You lay on my heart this morning!
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So, Saturday at the Columbus Symphony Orchestra was impacting enough that I want to share a few more thoughts.
I have mentioned before that in high school and for a year in college that I played the French Horn. It is a beautiful instrument both physically and in the music that can be coerced out of it in the skilled hands of a musician. Well, when I went to college my goal was to become a Minister of Music and I felt that in order to do so, I need to be a fairly decent pianist. So that is what I pursued. Now part of the problem was, I had had very little formal training and really, I wasn’t even at a collegiate level when I started my degree.
Long story short, I diligently pursued an applied area of piano for my degree but in the end, I was unable to pull off the required piano recital of memorized classical music. So, even after four years of effort and study – completing all other academic requirements – I have just a 2-year Associates Degree to show for it.
So, what would have happened if I had stuck with the French Horn? At least in my mind, I was pretty decent at playing it. What if I had just taken enough piano lessons to become a bit more proficient? How would my life be different? Those are things I will never know.
I would have gotten my Bachelors for sure. I believe I would still have fallen in love with Karen (who by the way is a wonderful pianist and continues to be a great asset to my ministry!) And we would have still gotten married, but would a different degree had changed anything? Maybe. Instead of completing an Adult Course of Study program to become an ordained elder in the Church of the Nazarene, would I have pursued grad school or seminary? One thing for sure that would probably have changed was how I completed the requirements to serve in the United Methodist Church. Again, I went the way of an Adult Course of Study Program but otherwise, I would have taken seminary level courses.
My time listening to the orchestra stirred those thoughts up once more. But the Lord works in mysterious ways, as they say. Here is the closing passage of Scripture from my sermon this past Sunday.
Not that I have already obtained it [this goal of being Christlike] or have already been made perfect, but I actively press on so that I may take hold of that [perfection] for which Christ Jesus took hold of me and made me His own. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider that I have made it my own yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the [heavenly] prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Philippians 3:12-14 AMP (emphasis mine)
Lord Jesus, only You know what might have been. I cannot live my life in the midst of what-ifs but must live in the here and now where we are journeying together. I am blessed beyond measure and do not wish to be anywhere but in the center of Your will. May my heart’s desire be to reach forward to what lies ahead. Amen.
Apr 29th, 2019, Mon, 9:23 am