Raptors Amongst Us!
You thrill me, Lord, with all you have done for me!
….I sing for joy because of what you have done. Psalm 92:4 NLT
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This morning I saw something that I have never seen…in the wild at least! At least, I’m pretty sure it’s what I saw. On my pre-dawn journey to pick up my middle school and high school kids, a light-colored form flew not too far away in front of my bus. It wasn’t really big, but big enough to catch my attention.
It flew so that would make it a bird.
It was in the dark of night so obviously, it must be nocturnal. (Duh!)
So, the only nocturnal birds that I know of are owls! I’ve heard them on occasion but have only seen one that had died when hit by a car some years ago. (It was a little Northern Saw-whet Owl. They are only 7 to 8 inches in length with a wingspan of 16 to 19 inches.) But the owl I saw was much bigger.
Due to the light color of its underbelly, I’m pretty sure what I saw was a Barn Owl.
They are 14 to 20 inches tall with a wingspan of 40 to 45 inches – so not too big and not too small. There are several interesting facts about Barn Owls.
- They are considered medium-sized raptors, nocturnal birds of prey like other owls. Raptors have strong grasping talons for killing prey, and a hooked upper beak for tearing meat.
- They can eat more than their own weight of mice and rats in one evening.
- They often swallow their food whole – bits of fur and bone are then regurgitated (coughed up) as an owl pellet.
- They never hoot, they screech.
- They have very long legs, toes, and talons to help them to catch prey hidden under long grass.
- Their large eyes are very sensitive – they can quickly spot a mouse moving in a very gloomy barn.
But the one fact that I want to hone in on is that their ear openings are at slightly different levels on the head and set at different angles. They are covered by a flexible ruff made up of short, dense feathers, which frame the face, turning it into a dish-like amplifier for sound.
Don’t you think that would be something worth emulating? In far too many instances our mouths are more active than our ears. You would think with two ears and only one mouth that we would listen twice as much as speak, but unfortunately, that is rarely the case.
What if in our interactions with others we focused less on speaking and more on listening? I often like to interject what and who I know into conversations but if I concentrated on using my whole face to listen – really listen – to them, what would I “hear”? Of course, our ears hear. But our eyes should watch for facial expressions and posture that can communicate a great deal about a person. If we truly strove to be intentional in our interactions, what all could we pick up on? Too often we brush past obvious audible and visible signs of someone’s need.
Lord Jesus, may we take the words of James 1:19 to heart,
Understand this, my beloved brothers and sisters. Let everyone be quick to hear [be a careful, thoughtful listener], slow to speak [a speaker of carefully chosen words and], slow to anger [patient, reflective, forgiving]… AMP
Jan 5th, 2022, Wed, 8:28 pm
Death No Longer Has the Final Word!
Father, a lot is going on right now. I would pray that you would watch over us, keep us safe, bring us through exactly to the place You want us to be. Amen.
Acts 2:22-41 (<<click here to read the passage)
Death. We don’t like talking about it. We don’t like planning for it – even though we know that it is inevitable. Christians like to throw in a statement regarding Jesus’ ultimate return, hoping that we can sidestep death and stride right into God’s presence. That day will surely come but we best be prepared for what will surely come.
This past December I officiated the services of three wonderful women. The first was a dear friend that I had worked with for several years at my third “church” – Kohl’s. By just about everyone’s account, she was far too young to have succumbed to death. She was a young 57.
The other two ladies were members of one of the first congregations that I pastored in the United Methodist Church. I thought of them as old then but that was 20 years ago! One was 92 and the other missed her 100th birthday by a mere 21 days! They were quite a bit older, but did that make their passing any easier on those who loved them? No…there were tears shed at all three partings. The deaths of all three were felt deeply by many.
And they are most certainly not alone. We have all lost family and other loved ones in recent memory. And, really, just because they are recent doesn’t matter a whole lot. Those we have lost in years past can still bring tears to our eyes – mothers, fathers, grandparents, and the list goes on and on.
In my 20 years of pastoral ministry, I’ve been a part of 58 services where people have had to say their final goodbyes to those near and dear to their hearts. But I can’t hold a candle to my dad who just retired from the ministry three years ago at the “young” age of 81. The funeral and graveside services at which he officiated numbered well into the hundreds.
So why this morbid topic? After all, I did say we don’t like talking about it.
After the infilling of the Holy Spirit of those 120 gathered in the upper room, Peter stepped out to address the crowd of astonished onlookers. We find a portion of his sermon in verses 23-24. He declared,
“…this Man [Jesus], when handed over [to the Roman authorities] according to the predetermined decision and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross and put to death by the hands of lawless and godless men. But God raised Him up, releasing Him and bringing an end to the agony of death, since it was impossible for Him to be held in death’s power.” AMP
What got my attention was that last sentence, which I emboldened.
So many of the services that have been held throughout the millennia remembering those who have gone before us have been filled with agony. Each passing individual it seems has been impossibly wrapped in death’s clutches and we’ve been powerless to overcome it.
But that is where we are wrong!
Death’s power has been defeated! The agony of death has been brought to end! Yes, we still have to deal with it. But in the scheme of time, it is but a breath. Only the shell of those who die in the Lord has been destroyed. Only their souls have left us, and we will see them again when we are united in the glorified bodies we will inhabit for all of eternity! Death no longer has the final word. God took care of that! Eternal praise to Him!
Jan 4th, 2022, Tues, 5:51 pm
Heads or Tails – Choice Not Chance
Back at the norm today, Father. I’m grateful that all of my routes went smoothly and really the whole day went without a hitch! Some might call that good luck, but I give You the credit for every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above; it comes down from the Father of lights [the Creator and Sustainer of the heavens]… James 1:7a AMP
Acts 2:14-21 (<<click here to read the passage)
Throughout biblical history, humankind has always had a choice. In a way, it’s like a coin. We either choose heads or tails. But in this instance, there is absolutely no chance involved. We have been given the free will to decide for ourselves what we want – we either choose heads or we choose tails. We cannot pin the blame on anyone else for our poor choices and no one else can take the credit for our wise choices. The end result is entirely decided by us and only us.
Thinking along those lines got me pondering about grace and mercy. These two concepts are cornerstones of our faith. If God did not extend them to us, we would be hopelessly lost with no possibility of salvation.
I poked around and found an excellent article entitled, What Is the Difference Between Grace and Mercy?, on the Christianity.com website (click the title to read it).
Here is a super easy-to-understand layout of what the concepts of grace and mercy mean. (They paraphrased it from Willmington’s Guide to the Bible).
Mercy and grace…can be differentiated as follows: mercy is the act of withholding deserved punishment, while grace is the act of endowing unmerited favor. In His mercy, God does not give us punishment we deserve, (eternal death) namely hell; while in His grace, God gives us the gift we do not deserve, (eternal life) namely heaven.
Our eternal destiny is totally, entirely, wholly, completely, up to us.
Today’s passage follows these parameters. Peter here is quoting the Old Testament Prophet Joel (Joel 2:28-32). Acts 2:17-18 ties into what happens when we choose to accept God’s grace and mercy, whereas Acts 2:19-20 ties into choosing not to accept His grace and mercy.
Completeness in Him or separation from Him. It is our choice.
You would think it would be a no-brainer, but humanity often doesn’t see it that way. Salvation or condemnation, again the choice is ours. Yet the final reward for those who choose grace and mercy is found in verse 21,
But everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. NLT
What will our choice be? Heads…or tails? And just as important in eternal impact, is the question, will you be a beacon of hope to help others make their choice, too?
Jan 3rd, 2022, Mon, 6:58 pm
Wishes Do Come True
Ah, to sit and write once more. My respite has been appreciated but there has definitely been a part of me eager to return. Father may my mind quickly home in on the word You have to go forth. Amen.
Acts 2:14-21 (<<click here to read the passage)
How often in any given week do we wish? “Oh, I wish the day would end!” “I wish they would get their due! They are nasty to everyone that crosses their path!” “Man, I wish I had a million dollars!”
Of course, many of us are familiar with Jiminy Cricket’s song in Pinocchio, When You Wish Upon a Star.
I’ve heard the phrase, too, “don’t wish your life away”. To do so is to always be thinking about the future so that you don’t do or enjoy things now.
But I want to make it clear that wishing is not necessarily a bad thing. For example, in the book of Numbers, Moses had “had it up to here” with all the responsibility he had in dealing with the rebellious and troublesome Israelites. So, God acted to bring him some relief. He filled the elders of Israel with “some of the Spirit” that was upon Moses. It’s a pretty cool story found in Numbers 11:1-30 (click the reference if you’d like to read it.)
But the verse I want to point out is from the 29th verse. In the New Living Translation Moses exclaims to his young aid, Joshua,
“Are you jealous for my sake? I wish that all the Lord’s people were prophets and that the Lord would put his Spirit upon them all!”
In today’s passage, God made Moses’ wish come true! So almost 1600 years after Moses made his wish, God fulfilled it!
Even when Moses made his exclamation to Joshua way back when God already knew what the future held. Moses introduced the nation of Israel to God’s Law and in and through Jesus, God’s only begotten Son, God fulfilled the entirety of that Law…something humanity was never able to do! For thousands of years, we stumbled and fumbled but were not successful in abiding by it.
Even with Jesus’ great feat, God wasn’t done! He took it one step further enabling us to fulfill the Law, as well…but not on our own – that just wasn’t possible. We are weak and fallible. BUT…add the Holy Spirit to the equation and we can accomplish the impossible. It was just a gift for the 120 gathered in the upper room of today’s passage! The Holy Spirit is given to us, as well! “…everyone who calls on the name of the Lord” earnestly seeking His healing and forgiveness “will be saved.” vs 21
AND, we are enabled and empowered to serve our Lord with all of our heart, soul, mind, strength…and love our neighbors as ourselves because of it! (Deuteronomy 6:4–5, Mark 12:30)
Trust in Him and He will see you through to accomplish His will today!
Jan 2nd, 2022, Sun, 7:58 pm
I Struggle
Today has been difficult, Father. There are many contributing factors, but this overall time of my life has been difficult. But in all honesty, most of those factors point back to me. Others on multiple fronts have made their contributions but I have to own my contributions and how I have taken their contributions and, in some cases, twisted them to my mindset.
I am human just like everyone else. I hurt. I cry. I mess us. Perfection is far from my grasp. Only because of Your grace and mercy, Father, do I carry on and continue to strive for the holiness that You call me to.
A few years back, a dear, dear friend of mine gave me a book of Puritan prayers. It is entitled, The Valley of Vision: A Collection of Puritan Prayers and Devotions. I have not looked at it for some time but as I looked back through some of my older posts, the Lord led me to a prayer that once more speaks to me. What it has to say is not pretty, but far too often it has been true in my life.
It’s hard to put it out there but I struggle. We all struggle…some of us are just better at covering it up. But cling to this fact, we are not alone. It is encouraging to know, too, that we can be “more than conquerors through him who loved us.” (Romans 8:31-39)
I’ve read through this prayer, and I’ve prayed through it, too. It is well worth sharing…
YET I SIN
Eternal Father,
Thou art good beyond all thought,
But I am vile, wretched, miserable, blind;
My lips are ready to confess,
…..but my heart is slow to feel,
…..and my ways reluctant to amend.
I bring my soul to thee;
…..break it, wound it, bend it, mould it.
Unmask to me sin’s deformity,
…..that I may hate it, abhor it, flee from it.
My faculties have been a weapon of revolt against thee;
…..as a rebel I have misused my strength,
…..and served the foul adversary of thy kingdom.
Give me grace to bewail my insensate* folly,
Grant me to know that the way of transgressors is hard,
……………that evil paths are wretched paths,
……………that to depart from thee is to lose all good.
I have seen the purity and beauty of thy perfect law,
……….the happiness of those in whose heart it reigns,
……….the calm dignity of the walk to which it calls,
………….yet I daily violate and contemn** its precepts.
Thy loving Spirit strives within me,
……………brings me Scripture warnings,
……………speaks in startling providences,
……………allures by secret whispers,
………………yet I choose devices and desires to my own hurt,
…………………impiously resent, grieve,
…………………….and provoke him to abandon me.
All these sins I mourn, lament, and for them cry pardon.
Work in me more profound and abiding repentance;
Give me the fullness of a godly grief that trembles and fears,
…..yet ever trusts and loves,
…..which is ever powerful, and ever confident;
Grant that through the tears of repentance I may see more clearly
…..the brightness and glories of the saving cross.
Amen…so be it.
A couple of words I had to look up
*insensate: without sense, understanding, or judgment; foolish.
**contemn: to treat or regard with disdain, scorn, or contempt.
Dec 21st, 2021, Tues, 7:13 pm