Month: March 2018

Our True Hope

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As a man was wading in the waves close to the beach he was suddenly caught by an undertow and dragged 100 yards out. As he came to the surface sputtering he shouted, “Help! I can’t swim! Somebody help!”  A local business man walking by heard his cries and immediately threw 50 yards of rope out towards the drowning man and shouted, “That’s all I can afford….you better swim for it!”  Going down for the second time the man yelled louder, “I can’t swim! Please help!”

A politician who happened to be at the beach that day angrily pushed the businessman aside. “That’s the problem today! Nobody cares about folks like him!” he growled. With a mighty heave the politician then threw out 200 yards of line to the man. “There now grab hold of that.” he shouted proudly. The man grabbed for the line but in dismay saw the politician drop the rope and begin walking away muttering, “Someone really needs to help that guy!” Now totally exhausted and in despair the drowning man began to sink for the third time. Just before the waves covered his head he looked up and saw Jesus walking to him on the waves. The Lord took him by the hand and with a smile whispered, “It is I, don’t be afraid!”

Where is your hope today? Is it in your past success? Is your hope in what others think about you or what money you have in the bank? The Bible tells us that our only true hope is in the Lord Jesus Christ. He hears our cries. He has paid the price to save us. He is coming out on the waves for you today!

But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, “Lord, save me!” And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” Matthew 14:30-31

50 Mums – 50 Kids

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In honor of our dear little friend Laura (now 6 months old) and all the children and families whom we remember on World Down Syndrome day (Odd Socks Day) March 21, 2018 I am posting this sweet video. A family, a city and a nation defines itself not by how much money it has in the banks or how impressed others are by their beauty or abilities but rather by how its most vulnerable members are valued and loved. Odd Socks Day is a fun way to remind others of this concept by wearing mismatched socks tomorrow. Anyone care to join me in offending the fashion police? Blessings!!

 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’ Matthew 25:40

 

Where is Jesus?

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 But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb, and as she wept she stooped to look into the tomb.  And she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet. They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” Having said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing, but she did not know that it was Jesus. John 20:11-14

When our children were small one of their favorite books was Richard Scarry’s  “Cars and Trucks and Things that Go” On every page of the story were all different kinds of vehicles traveling down busy city streets, highways and country lanes. But no matter what page we were on – we and our boys were always on the look out for a tiny gold colored character named Goldfarb (I was never sure if he was a worm or caterpillar). You never knew where Goldfarb might be. On one page he was hiding in the back of a dump truck and on the next he was sitting with the firemen in a big red fire truck. But no matter where he was we all laughed each time we found him.

While this was a pleasant pastime for us a parents, I have discovered that In a similar but much more serious way we need to look for Jesus along the highways and byways of our lives. In the story book every day looks like fun but real life things can be quite different. Some days Jesus is sleeping in our storm tossed boat and others it seems to us that He is days late in showing up to help. We may even find ourselves in the position of Mary as she wept at the tomb supposing that someone had taken Jesus away. Her sorrow was so overwhelming that when the living resurrected Jesus did come she didn’t recognize Him. She turned and thought, “Oh it’s only the gardener…but maybe he knows something about my Lord!”

Maybe God is showing up as a rather plain looking gardener to you today. Maybe there is soil on his knees from laboring with weeds and planting flowers. Maybe his hands are so cracked and worn from work that we fail to recognize the prints of the nails in His palms. As He walks up quietly behind us we don’t see the wounds on His feet that happened on His journey to find us. But the night is almost past and dawn is just beginning to peak over our horizon. Where is Jesus? He is right at our side ready to call our name. Whenever we are seeking Him with all our hearts His word assures us that He will come up our garden paths ready to be found!

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