Never too late to turn around and come Home

        This rather sorry photo of one lone cardinal might not have look like much to you, but to me, well, let me tell you about it...

         Cardinals, as I've shared many times, are my favorite bird.  What magnificent and beautiful creatures!  And as I've also shared repeatedly, whenever I see a cardinal, I always view him or her as a little love reminder from God. In response, I always whisper back, "I love You, too, Lord."  Silly, perhaps, but it sure has encouraged me over the years to have tiny, tangible reminders of a mighty, sovereign Creator and Sustainer who, stunningly, also knows my every thought...and loves me anyway.  You, too.  Oh mercy, how can we not be overwhelmed with gratitude? 
          Due to my inordinate love of cardinals, we always keep our bird feeder filled with the best brand of bird food we can find--and a type that supposedly attracts cardinals. Don't get me wrong--we appreciate and enjoy all the birds, but still, it's really all about those cardinals.
          There's a little fly in the ointment, however, and that would be the squirrels. Sure they're cute, but those squirrels somehow manage to evade the special device attached to the bird feeder pole that's supposed to keep them away.  Those squirrels daily, heck hourly, hang all over that bird feeder and eat gobs of the cardinals' food.  No wonder our budget has a special line item for bird seed--we go through industrial size bags at an alarming rate because we're also feeding hordes of hungry squirrels. 
          Well, smarty pants here finally got sick and tired of the squirrels trying to hog all the food, and I bought a fancy, smancy, guaranteed squirrel-proof feeder.  Oh yeah, take that you cute, bushy-tailed oversized rodents!  Problem solved. 
        Those squirrels couldn't figure out how to get to the food, and they just stared at the feeder with a look of consternation (and maybe a bit of angst) on their little rodent faces.  I didn't feel one bit guilty...okay, that's a lie.  I did feel a tiny bit bad.  But still, victory over the squirrel dilemma.  Score one for the cardinals...
          ...until I noticed something. The squirrels weren't eating, but neither were the cardinals! WHAT?!  The lovely green bird feeder was filled to the brim with their usual fancy food.  It was a sight to behold--shiny and new, clean and impressive.  Only problem was, the cardinals refused to eat from it.  The little teeny birds liked it fine, but alas, not the cardinals. 
          The lady at the store told me to wait.  Never my strong suit. But after all, the squirrels were no longer bothering us and surely this new fangled feeder would be the ticket, so we waited.  And waited...and waited...and waited.  Day after day, we watched and waited, hoping the cardinals would recognize the error of their ways and return to their newfangled feeder. 
         Nada.  Not a cardinal. They'd fly up to it...and then fly away.  I couldn't tell if the look on their faces was disdain, disappointment, or downright despair.  But we'd spent all that money on the fancy new feeder...the lady said it would work...so we'd just keep plowing ahead and assuming something would change. 
          And then one morning it hit me--this isn't working. Why on earth are we continuing ahead on this fruitless, unhappy course?  It's time to repent!  To turn around and go back the other way.
        Clearly the direction we were headed was no good.  So if we wanted the cardinals to come back, we needed to stop, turn around and go in the other direction--meaning, go back, pull that old, icky-looking, non-squirrel proof, unimpressive bird feeder out of the back of the garage and put it back up.
         Guess how long it took the cardinals to return?  Well, glad you asked--because I hadn't even gotten back up to the porch after hanging the old feeder back up before that lovely daddy cardinal (featured in my very crummy photograph) flew right up and started eating.  And yes, guess who else quickly returned?  Our buddies, the squirrel posse.  I'm sure they've packed on five pounds apiece in the past few days off of our fancy bird food.  But that's okay.
          In fact, it's more than okay.  Because squirrels gotta live too, right?  And if a few pesky squirrels are the price we have to pay to get those magnificent crimson cardinals, then fine and dandy.  Bring on the squirrels...because the cardinals fly in right behind them. 
          You can hashtag that JOY all day long in my book!  Even more so now, because those cardinals and that battered old bird feeder will be a daily reminder to me that it's never too late to repent.  It's never too soon or too late to turn around and run to the arms of your Heavenly Father.  He loves you just as much on your worst day as on your best one.  He's ready, willing and eagerly waiting to forgive you and envelop you in His love and grace--all you have to do is turn around and run to Him. Run to your Abba, your Daddy.
            As a wonderful song, "One Step Away" by Casting Crowns puts it, "It doesn't matter how far you've gone. Mercy says you don't have to keep running down the road you're on. Love's never met a lost cause. Your shame, lay it down. Leave your ghosts in the past ‘cause you know that you can't go back. But you can turn around. You've never been more than one step away from surrender. One step away from coming home, coming home. One step from arms wide open. His love has never let you go. You're not alone. You're one step away."
          Don't let pride...or inertia...or laziness...or stubbornness...or hopelessness prevent you from repenting. You don't have to keep running down that dead-end road to despair.  Instead of running away, stop; turn around, and start running toward your Heavenly Father.  Toward Home.  Toward forgiveness and grace. Toward healing and wholeness. Toward redemption and restoration. 
         "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." (I John 1:9)  That promise is just as true today as it was two thousand years ago.  It's just as true for the most hardened criminal, as it for you and for me. He's simply waiting for you to turn around and take that first step towards Home.
         Thank You, Father, for the blood-red glory of the cardinals and for reminding me through them, that it's never too late to turn around and run to You.  Thank You for Your grace and forgiveness bought for us by the blood of Your beloved Son, Jesus. By Your grace and for Your glory, help us today to take that first step toward You...because there's no place like Home.
          To God be the glory.
         

Thankful for friends!

        Today, I'm thankful for the beautiful treasure of friendship and am reminded afresh that we must never take this priceless gift from God for granted. 
        Last night a group of  us had the opportunity to celebrate six decades (and counting!) of life of one of our very dear friends, Joan.  What an evening--laughing and talking together, hearing wonderful (and hilarious) stories about Joan, sharing how much her friendship means to all of us, not to mention savoring delicious food together--it doesn't get much better than that!  Joan is, to put it simply, a remarkable friend--and so much of friendship consists of continually showing up.  Of being there.  Of being willing to be vulnerable.  Of laughing and crying together so that our joys are multiplied and our sorrows are divided.  Friendship maximizes the happiness to be celebrated and diminishes the pain of sorrow and disappointment. 
        C.S. Lewis once wrote, "Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art, like the universe itself… It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things which give value to survival."  Oh my, the incalculable value that friendship adds to our lives!  Thank You, Father, for this sweetest of treasures. 
        God's Word puts it this way: "My command is this: Love one another as I have loved you.  Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one's life for one's friends." (John 15:12-13) That's the mark of believers--how well we love one another.  We were never intended to be lone ranger Christians but to live and love in community. 
        "And let us consider how to stir up one another in love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near." (Heb.10:24-25) 
        Oh my, how we all need this!  Aren't you thankful for friends who have stirred up the sometimes weary, weak embers of love in your heart?  Aren't you thankful for friends who encourage you not to give up or give in but to keep running the race of faith?  Aren't you thankful for the joy of encouraging others in the midst of the challenging or confusing parts of their race?  Aren't you thankful that we have one another to pick each other up when one or the other of us is flagging?  Aren't you thankful for the priceless gift of a friend constantly pointing you back to Christ?  In the midst of our selfie-obsessed, FOMO, look out for number one world, aren't you thankful for the priceless gift of friends who constantly point you back to Christ?  And aren't you thankful for the simple but life-changing by-product that accompanies friendship--laughter? 
          So today, let's choose to remember and savor God's gift of friendship.  Don't allow busyness or laziness or distractedness or pettiness or unforgiveness cause you to neglect this priceless treasure.  Instead, ask the Lord to help you to make it a priority to daily appreciate, nurture, and encourage your friends.  Make the phone call. Write the note.  Plan the outing.  Celebrate the small victories. Grieve the losses. Forgive...laugh...pray...share...and point one another to the Savior who is our perfect and eternal and forever faithful Friend.
           Thank You, thank You, Father, for our friends.
           To God be the glory.

Start talking to your tears!

        I recently read a devotion from John Piper that really resonated with me.  After recounting his thoughts with a few friends, I'm sharing it here as well since it might prove encouraging to some other folks. 
       I've always loved the verse Piper discusses--"Those who sow in tears shall reap with shouts of joy! He who goes out weeping, bearing the seed for sowing, shall come home with shouts of joy, bringing his sheaves with him." (Psalm 126:5–6)
        Here's what Piper wrote-- 

"There is nothing sad about sowing seed. It takes no more work than reaping. The days can be beautiful. There can be great hope of harvest.
Yet the psalm speaks of sowing “in tears.” It says that someone “goes out weeping, bearing the seed for sowing.” So, why are they weeping?
I think the reason is not that sowing is sad, or that sowing is hard. I think the reason has nothing to do with sowing. Sowing is simply the work that has to be done, even when there are things in life that make us cry.
The crops won’t wait while we finish our grief or solve all our problems. If we are going to eat next winter, we must get out in the field and sow the seed, whether we are crying or not.
If you do that, the promise of the psalm is that you will 'reap with shouts of joy.' You will 'come home with shouts of joy, bringing [your] sheaves with [you].'  Not because the tears of sowing produce the joy of reaping, but because the sheer sowing produces the reaping, and you need to remember this even when your tears tempt you to give up sowing.
So, here’s the lesson: When there are simple, straightforward jobs to be done, and you are full of sadness, and tears are flowing easily, go ahead and do the jobs with tears. Be realistic. Say to your tears, 'Tears, I feel you. You make me want to quit life. But there is a field to be sown (dishes to be washed, car to be fixed, sermon to be written).'
Then say, on the basis of God’s word, 'Tears, I know that you will not stay forever. The very fact that I just do my work (tears and all) will in the end bring a harvest of blessing. So, go ahead and flow if you must. But I believe — though I do not yet see it or feel it fully — I believe that the simple work of my sowing will bring sheaves of harvest. And my tears will be turned to joy.'"

          AMEN and AMEN!  I loved that--talk to your tears! 
          It's like I've shared repeatedly--don't listen to yourself; preach to yourself.  Talk to those tears. Proclaim the truth of the gospel to your weary, burdened heart, and then--whether you feel like it or not--simply begin doing the next right thing God has put before you.  It might be as simple as making a phone call or making your bed, but sometimes in life we have to choose to "sow in tears" while trusting that God will someday, somehow enable us to reap a harvest of blessing in the future if we "do not give up." (Gal.6:9) 
          Today, let's choose to talk to our tears, telling them "'Flow if you must,' but the Lord has work for me to do.  And I trust that if I will get busy obeying and doing this next right thing, my God will send future blessing on my present faithfulness.  'And my tears will be turned to joy.'" 
          Because never forget--the Lord who has called you is faithful, and He. Will. Do. It.
(I Thess.5:24)
          To God be the glory.

A determined dogwood

        Just watched Tiger Woods win the Masters...and I must say, if Webb Simpson couldn't win it (always the one we're pulling for!), then Tiger's who we were all cheering for hard at our house.  What a comeback!  What a reminder that so much of life is about refusing to give up, even when the way gets hard and discouraging.  Even when we suffer setbacks.  Because nobody, nobody, nobody gets through this life without plenty of setbacks and storms.  But often it's those very setbacks and storms that ultimately propel us forward to the higher, better place God has for us. 
         "And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up." (Gal.6:9)
         What a golden verse.
         Our family is reminded of this basic but oh so powerful principle--simply refusing to quit even when the going gets tough--when we gaze at our little dogwood tree peaking out between the boxwoods--

         Now you might not be that impressed with this little fellow, but believe me, he's a fighter.  For you see, we planted this dogwood about five years ago.  And he started out mighty tiny and unimpressive.  We're talking about a foot and a half high.  Why on earth we decided to nestle him amongst these big old boxwoods, I have no idea.
          We dutifully watered the little shaver all during the hot summer months.  But by his first birthday in the fall, well, let's just say he looked rather sad and forlorn.  We saw virtually no growth whatsoever, but we kept watering and hoping....year after year.  Still, never a bloom, not many leaves, nothing promising about this guy.   
           Finally by about the year three, we determined our poor little dogwood had given up the ghost.  That spring, we saw no leaves, no nothing. But for some stubborn reason (or maybe it was just sheer laziness), we cut him way back and left his pitiful, skinny little trunk sticking up out of the ground.  After all, why bother digging him up when he was hidden by the boxwoods. 
         And then, low and behold, that spring, against all odds, we saw some branches beginning to poke up just barely past those beefy boxwoods.  What on earth?  Was it some kind of mutant weed?  It couldn't possibly be our poor, desiccated dogwood, could it?  There were still no buds, no flowers, of course, but good heavens, there were a few leaves.  And he'd grown high enough to peak out the teensiest bit above the bushes. Who would have thought?!  We'd done nothing--and I mean nothing--to help him recover.  Yet he didn't just recover; this hardy, refusing-to-give-up dogwood actually began to grow and even, dare I say it, thrive! 
       But this spring, oh my, we were astounded to see not just massive growth, but BLOOMS!  Lots and lots of them!  Beautiful pink blossoms, all in the lovely shape of the cross--the shape of death leading to resurrection life. 
       Who would have thought?  Well, who would have thought that the most horrendous event in the history of the universe--the crucifixion of the perfect Son of God--would lead to the most wondrous event in human history--the forgiveness of sins and the salvation of lost mankind? God, that's Who. 
       Thank You, Jesus, for refusing to give up even when we betrayed You, denied You, abused You, tortured You, crucified You, rejected You, ignored You, disobeyed You, failed You.  Thank You for finishing the work of our salvation, even though at unimaginable, inconceivable cost to Yourself.  Thank You for refusing to quit ever, even now, on us, Your often disobedient, clueless children. 
        So today, I don't know what storms you might be enduring, what setbacks you've suffered, or what hardships you're fighting against, but don't give up.  Don't quit.  If Jesus is Your Savior, you have the unconquerable, infinite, omnipotent One within you and for you, and He has promised that He will finish in you that which He started.  (Phil.1:6 "And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.") He is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine (Eph.3:20), so Do. Not. Quit. Who knows the harvest of righteousness and glorious good that God has for you if you will simply refuse to give up. 
        It's always too soon to quit.  Always.  Not with Jesus.  Not ever.  Just ask our determined little dogwood. 
        To God be the glory.

Wisteria...and abiding

         One of my favorite little surprises this time of year is the sudden annual appearance of the wisteria blooms that line my walk with Mr. Bingley along Lassiter Mill Road.  Or more specifically on one section of the road across from Root Elementary.  It's worth braving the steady hum and rush of traffic along the route to meander past those fragrant showy blossoms and inhale their intoxicating perfume.  If you're zooming past in your car, slow down and look over when you get to the bridge--although they're starting to fade now, you can still see them.
        I took several lovely pictures of them the other day, but for the life of me, I cannot get them to download on this blog.  Oh mercy, technology truly drives me insane!  I started to give up and go do something else entirely (something easier and more mindless like eating a snack or scrolling through emails) but then thought better of it.  Nope, time to buckle down and write.  Time to reestablish a habit that I've been woefully neglecting while working on Bible study lectures. 
        So sorry, no pretty pictures, but here's my silly little unadorned musing...
        Wisteria, it turns out, is a vine.  Actually, the seeds in the pods can be poisonous and cause severe stomach distress if consumed (just in case you were enticed by that delectable purple color). And I guess you might characterize it as a parasite since it has to have something else to cling to in order to grow.  People don't often specifically and purposely plant wisteria.  Rather, wisteria seems to have more of a mind of it's own and simply starts to grow...and cling...and twist around and around it's host. 
        You have now learned the vast extent of my botanical knowledge about wisteria.  But I couldn't help but think of that line from Livingston Taylor's song from many years ago: "There are flowers in my garden. Pretty ones all in a row. But my favorite are the weeds.  They don't know where to grow...but they know enough to grow."
        That's the Lassiter Mill wisteria if you ask me.  That wisteria may not know where to grow, but it knows enough to grow. 
       Nobody planted it; nobody fertilizes it; nobody prunes it; nobody waters it--except the Perfect Gardener.  He knows just what that wisteria needs to grow and prosper so that it can gently perfume and adorn a bustling corridor of a busy city.  And so that wisteria clings to the branches around it, draws from the soil that the Gardener provided and soaks up the sun He created...and it thrives.
       And I'm thinking, maybe that's just the tiniest picture of what it means to abide.  "Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me." (John 15:4) 
      To abide in Christ.  To cling to Him, to draw from and soak in His life-giving Word.  To moment by moment depend upon Him.  To go where He bids us to go and to stay when He bids us to stay.  To simply do the next right thing in love that He sends our way.  And all the while to abide with Him and in Him. To "Abide in My love" (John 15:9) 
       If you're anything like me, you have so many weaknesses, so many foibles and frailties.  But surely we can simply cling to and abide in Him and His love.  Like that wisteria, we can daily seek to draw nourishment and strength from His Word.  He's the One who will provide all we need to grow and thrive...but we have to daily, hourly, choose to abide.  Abide in the One who is all, who has all, who is perfect forgiveness, love, faithfulness, wisdom, power, peace, joy, strength, grace. 
       When we have such a glorious, all-sufficient, all-loving One in whom to abide, why on earth would we choose to go it alone?  All I know is a wisteria that's not clinging and abiding will wither and die. But when that vine does what the Gardener intended and clings, draws, soaks, abides, that wisteria thrives and blooms...and perfumes...and brings glory to Almighty God.  Might we do the same.  He is able...and He is infinitely worthy.
       To God be the glory.
         
       

A simple thank You

            A poem by Mary Oliver--

      Pay Attention.
      Be astonished.
      Tell about it.

        Thankful for these words today.  Because if ever there's a season when we need to wake up, pay attention, be astonished, and share our wonder and our thankfulness to our Almighty Creator, it is spring.  Beauty explodes all around us. Are we too busy to notice? Or too familiar with the turn of the seasons to be stunned by the riotous rebirth of color and scent?  Or too preoccupied to thank the Giver of all good gifts?
        I couldn't help but think of a line from The Color Purple.  (I'll rephrase it just a tad to avoid using one ugly word.)  "I think it irritates [not the word originally used!] God if you walk by the color purple in a field somewhere and don't notice it." 
        Okay, okay I know God doesn't grow irritated, but surely He intends for His children to pay attention, to be astonished and to rejoice in and thank Him for His magnificent handiwork.  We surely don't want to sleepwalk through spring...or any day for that matter.  So--

  Thank You, Lord, for the fragrance of the hyacinths and for the remarkable shade of purple.  Even the name "purple" makes you want to smile.  What a wildly creative Lord!  Aren't you thankful He made colors?  And--

        Thank You for sweet Mr. Bingley lounging in the warm, spring sun. 
        Thank You for the sound of the owl this morning, the brilliant red of the cardinal on the greenway, the burgeoning green all around us, they symmetry of the geese flying overhead.  Thank You for the budding pinks and whites of the dogwood in every yard.  Thank You for the warmth of the sun and the scent of cut grass and flowers all around us.
          Thank You for the priceless gift of our family and friends.  Thank You for life.  And thank You most of all for Jesus, our Savior.   
          Lord, help us to pay attention to all You are constantly doing all around us and in us.  Might we never lose our sense of wonder and astonishment at Your goodness and grace. And so, Father, thank You. A very simple, very inadequate, but heartfelt, thank You. 
          To God be the glory.

What are you eating?

                       A little food for weekend thought--
     
        "Very few persons realize the effect of thought upon the condition of the soul--that is in fact its food, the substance from which it evolves its strength and health and beauty, or upon which it may become weak and unhealthy and deformed.  The things we think about are the things we feed upon.  If we think low and corrupt thoughts, we bring diseases upon our soul just as surely as we bring diseases upon our body by eating corrupt and improper food...On the other hand, if we think of Christ, we feed on Christ.  We eat His flesh and blood experientially by filling our souls with believing thoughts of Him...If we take the words of God, His revealed truth, into our lips and eat it, that is, if we will dwell upon His words and say them over and over to ourselves and thoroughly take in and assimilate their meaning in a commonsense way, we shall find that our soul life is fed and nourished by them and is made strong and vigorous in consequence."  (Hannah Whitall Smith)
        Paul put it this way: "Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things." (Phil.4:8)
        Our thoughts are so critical, aren't they?  What we think will determine how we act, what we say, and who we are.  It's that simple, that elementary...and yet, how often do we ignore that most basic of truths? 
        If I'm overwhelmed with worry and anxiety, you can be sure that nagging fears and worrisome concerns are on some kind of auto-loop in my brain.  If I'm critical, negative, and nagging (oh what a joy for others to be around!) then you can take it to the bank--I'm fixating on the ugly, pessimistic, and mean.  And when I give in to discouragement and hopelessness, well then, I'm clearly NOT focusing on the "true...honorable...just...pure...lovely."
         Yes, yes, yes, we know all this--but don't we need to be reminded?  As Paul David Tripp always says, we're spiritual amnesiacs. I know I sure am.  That's why God so often tells us in His Word to remember. Remember His faithfulness.  Remember His goodness.  Remember His presence.  Remember His power.  
         But we can't remember that which we don't have in our brains in the first place.  So, duh, we have to refuel daily with the right brain food--God's Word. Each day we choose what we're going to put into this most valuable and critical gift that God has given us: our brains.  What we fill our minds with and then think about throughout the day will impact us and others far, far more than what kind of physical food we put into our bodies. Yet how many of us spend a great deal more time and attention on the physical food we eat rather than on mental/spiritual food we consume? (As someone who really loves food...guilty!) 
         Can I ask you--as I've asked myself--what kind of priority do you place on getting into God’s Word?  Do you input His life-giving, wisdom-infusing, joy-filling Word into your mind first thing in the morning?  Or do you first fill your mind with the junk food of social media or the news or even just your worry list?  What we fill our minds with will directly determine our attitudes and our behavior…and that’s particularly true regarding what we put into our minds FIRST thing. 
So tomorrow, if you wake up and decide you want to be anxious and fearful, then watch the news rather than read God’s Word.  If you think it’d be nice to be discontented, irritable and maybe envious of others that day, then scroll thru social media rather than read God’s Word.  If you think it’d be great to feel stressed and pressed all day, then first thing in the morning, ponder your impossibly lengthy to do list and maybe cram a few more items on it, rather than first opening God’s Word and gaining His wisdom, strength and insight for the day. 
You get the picture. We make the choice every single morning, beginning the moment we open our eyes.  What will we choose FIRST thing?  The world or the Word.  The phone or the throne.  Worry or worship.  Let’s choose life.  Let’s choose God’s Word that has the power to build us up, to transform us, to teach us, to equip us, to empower for all we will face each day, by His grace and for His glory.  Let's fill our minds with God's superfood of all superfoods--His supernatural Word--so that He can enable us to think rightly, wisely, godly, and joyfully.
         Chowing down on blueberries, kale and chocolate (of course!) might be good for the body, but consuming the Word is gloriously great for the mind, soul, and spirit!  You are what you eat...so choose wisely. 
         To God be the glory.