Home Is Where Your Heart Is

We arrived safely. This is now our new home for the week:

"For where your treasure is,

there your heart will be also."

Luke 12:34 (NIV)

When your treasure is God, that is where your heart is. Therefore, when serving the Lord, your home can be anywhere, and you will be content.

Present God's Word In Its Fullness

Last night, three of my sons and I packed our things in two vehicles. This morning, we are off to BC for a week! My oldest son, Daniel, will be leaving tomorrow, Sunday morning, to join us. There, we will be busy leading children's worship and staging daily dramas as part of a summer Vacation Bible School. The weather is hot, the vehicles are crowded with instruments, and our heads our filled with songs and scripts, but we're all excited to finally be on our way to minister for the Lord. We're leaving the prairies of Alberta and heading for the mountains of BC.

The best part of VBS is at the end of the week when children come to accept Jesus as their Lord and Saviour. It makes everything all worth while! This is what I appreciate most about Vacation Bible School — it reaches out to the unsaved children in the community. It isn't a church camp designed to entertain children from church-going families with little or no mention of God's Word. Everything in this week-long VBS is centered around God's Word: the music, the dramas, the crafts, the prizes, the sports, and even the food are all employed to teach Scripture, so that the children will come to a greater understanding of who God is.

We feel, as a family, that the opportunities God gives us to minister to children should be used to teach His Word, whether it be through song, dramas, or speech. As Christians and servants of God, we are commissioned by Him to present His Word in its fullness.

"I have become its servant by the commission God gave me

to present to you the Word of God in its fullness."

Colossians 1:25 (NIV)

Without the Word of God, none of us can truly know our Creator. With the Word of God, we can become His!

As Surefooted As A Deer

Several years ago, Matthew used to be able to do front flips on the ground. Since Matthew is feeling healthier than he has in years, (now being gluten-free), a few nights ago, he asked if we could walk to the playground so he could try to do a front flip again. Tim and I were slightly doubtful, so we brought a camera along to film it. To our shock, and Matthew's surprise, he succeeded. Here is the video.

Knowing Matthew I am certain he prayed beforehand, especially with two spectators watching, and one of them holding a camera in hand. Matthew proved this Psalm in the Bible true; these are Matthew's favourite verses.

"God arms me with strength,

and He makes my way perfect.

He makes me as surefooted as a deer,

enabling me to stand on mountain heights.

He trains my hands for battle;

He strengthens my arm to draw a bronze bow.

You  have given me your shield of victory.

Your right hand supports me;

your help has made me great.

You have made a wide path for my feet

to keep them from slipping.

Psalm 18:32 (NLT)

It's Too Hot!

We've been having very warm temperatures lately and my cat Osha doesn't like the heat. Instead of taking his day-time naps curled up into a ball with his head upside-down as he usual does, he just stretches out on his bed and looks dazed. It's too hot for him!

The Bible says that when we have unconfessed and hidden sin in our lives, we will feel like Osha in the picture. Our strength will be sapped as in the heat of summer. But if we confess our sin to God and repent, He will forgive our sin. When God forgives our sin, the guilt of that sin no longer has to weigh heavy on us, and our emotional and physical health can then return to well-being.

"When I kept silent, my bones wasted away

through my groaning all day long.

For day and night your hand was heavy on me;

my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer.

Then I acknowledged my sin to you

and did not cover up my iniquity.

I said, 'I will confess my transgressions to the Lord.'

And your forgave the guilt of my sin."

Psalm 32:3-5 (NIV)

Don't ignore or cover up your sins, and don't allow the guilt to waste your bones, weigh you down, and sap your energy. Confess your sins to the Lord so He can forgive you and set you free to live life with strength and vitality, no longer burdened by the negative effects of guilt.

Do You Know How God Controls The Clouds?

"Do you know how God controls the clouds

and makes His lightning flash?"

Job 37:15 (NIV)

Last night I woke up to silent flashes of bright lights in my room every few seconds. When my mind was fully functioning, I realized that the flashes were frequent lightning strikes. Oddly, the only thunder sound was a slight, background rumble, certainly not the typical "boom!" that people in the prairies are used to hearing. However, even without the loud frightening sound effects, the storm was the most spectacular lightning storm I have ever seen!

Here are some pictures of the lightning that my son Tim managed to capture on camera.

Whenever I hear the thunder and see the lightning, I instantly think of God. After all, it is He who unleashes His lightning beneath the heavens and sends it to the earth.

"He unleashes His lightning beneath the whole heaven

and sends it to the ends of the earth."

Job 37:3 (NIV)

Sometimes I wonder if God sends His thunder and lightning, especially at night when we are asleep, as a wake-up-call to His majestic existence and power. And I also wonder how many people who hear and see His thunder and lightning secretly tremble inside because they have not acknowledged Him as their Heavenly Father.

The Nurturing Nature Of Our God

The male and female American Coots finally brought their chicks out of the bulrushes, so I was able to see them and take a picture of them. The chicks' beaks are orange whereas the parents' beaks are white. My sons and I stood awhile and watched the parents feed their babies.

Here is a video of the American Coot parents caring for their young:

All living creatures, small and large, have been created by God with a digestive system in order to eat the food available in their natural habitats and be sustained. God in His infinite wisdom has provided the proper food for each one of these creatures and they are satisfied.

"When You give it to them,

they gather it up;

when You open Your hand,

they are satisfied with good things."

Psalm 104:28 (NIV)

How nurturing is our God!

The Word Of God Will Satisfy Like The Richest Of Foods

Last night as I went for a walk with my sons Tim and Matthew, I spotted a Red-necked Grebe and his family.

This is the male Red-necked Grebe swimming on the surface of the water.

All of a sudden, he dives swiftly under the water.

He finds a crustacean and brings it to the surface, but does not eat it.

The female Red-necked Grebe and their two chicks are safely protected by a mat of vegetation that floats near the shore of the island. The young Red-necked Grebes have striped faces. They are waiting to be fed by their father.

One of the chicks eagerly swims out to meet his/her father and take the crustacean from his beak. The other one holds back.

I believe this Red-necked Grebe family is an illustration of how we are to eagerly crave the Word of God. Our Heavenly Father is like that father Grebe, coming to us with food in his mouth. We are to be like that chick, eagerly desiring to devour it — so much so that we are willing to risk swimming away from safety to meet him and eat of it. God longs to feed us daily with His Word and we are to ardently crave it.

"My soul will be satisfied as with the richest of foods;

with singing lips my mouth will praise you."

Psalm 63:5 (NIV)

When we allow God to feed us with His Word, we will never be disappointed, but always satisfied. Once we eat, our lips will break forth in praises to Him.