Song In The Night

Some time ago my husband and son were working late into the night to get one of the vehicles repaired. They had struggled for hours and were tired and frustrated, grimy, and greasy, and most of all uncomfortable, yet  they needed to get the job done. Suddenly, one of them stopped and listened for a few moments and began to chuckle.

Up in the trees somewhere across the road came the sound of birds' songs...one right after another came. When one song ended, the bird would sing another one. He did the Chickadee song, the Crow's song, the Warbler's song... He even mimicked the Frog's song and any other song that he heard during the daylight hours.

Evidently the mockingbird had been listening all day long to others sing so beautifully. Their songs became his song in the night.

My guys began to laugh at the little imitator. It wasn't long until they didn't feel quite so tired any more. Their spirits lifted and they were able to finish the job more quickly because some little bird sang to them in the darkest hours of the night.

The Bible gives an account of Paul and Silas singing at midnight in the prison...and things really happened that night!

Act 16:22-26
22.  And the multitude rose up together against them: and the magistrates rent off their clothes, and commanded to beat them. 

23.  And when they had laid many stripes upon them, they cast them into prison, charging the jailor to keep them safely:

24.  Who, having received such a charge, thrust them into the inner prison, and made their feet fast in the stocks. 

25.  And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them. 

26.  And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one's bands were loosed. 

You never know what your song in the night may mean to someone else. There are always people watching your life. If you can sing the song that Jesus gives you, it would surprise you how many lives you touch.

So, this is my challenge to you. Regardless of what song you sing, do it for the glory of God. Even the mockingbird copied the crow and the frog's songs...and they both were an encouragement in the night.

There is a song that says,"You can have a song in your heart at night.  After every mile, after every trial...."

Sing from your heart to the Master because He gave you the song.

Thanks for reading. I would love to read your comments. You may encourage someone by your thoughts. 

Donna

The Hands of Jesus

Yesterday in Jr. Church something happened that really touched me.
We were doing some activities with the children and had hidden some
plastic eggs that had little slips of paper inside with one or two words that 
described something about the Easter story. One little boy who has
some physical challenges had the word "Nail" in his egg. When he 
read the slip of paper, the director explained how the Roman soldiers
nailed Jesus' hands and feet to the cross. He looked up at her with
a stunned expression and said two words over and over. "Oh NO!"
He caught the significance of the word. 

These were the same hands that healed the blind, the deaf, the dumb and the lame. The same hands who touched the children and held them close to Himself as He blessed them. Those same hands broke bread and fed the five thousand men plus women and children. 

In Jesus short ministry thousands of people were touched by Him. Lives were changed by the touch of the               Master's Hands. 

Since He has gone back to Heaven, we as His followers, are to be His hands and feet. We are to go about doing good and touching lives because He lives in us. We are His body.

• It doesn't matter if we get splinters in our hands from something that we are called to do. He had nails pounded into His hands!

• It doesn't matter if the one that we are reaching out to bites the hand that feeds them. Jesus ministered to those who ultimately rejected Him.

• It does not matter if the hand that we touch is dirty and worn, but it matters to Jesus.  He touched the unclean lepers and others who had diseases. 

What matters the most is that we stand on the Judgement Day with clean hands and a pure heart. 

Showing Him our hands that served others even though at times it was risky.... We lovingly touch others with our hands because it is what the Master would have us to do. 

What do your hands look like? Are they soft and fleshy or are they scarred and worn from years of ministering to the sick and afflicted, lonely and sad, widows and orphans and those in need. Hands of service to the King are beautiful in His eyes! One day He will take a look at our hands and say, "Thou good and faithful servant, enter into the rest that I have prepared for you..." 

Thanks for reading,

Donna

A Rag Doll's Story

One day a family was traveling down a country road and, as is the case with most families, the siblings were bickering among themselves in the back seat. Just to be mean, the older brother tossed his little sister's rag doll out the window and smugly turned, stuck out his tongue, and folded his arms victoriously across his chest...and the back seat became deathly quiet.  His little sister stared in shock. How could he do that to her? She loved her doll. He glared at her daring her to say anything to their parents because if she did, he would take something else that she loved. 

She sat with tears running down her cheeks silently mourning the loss of something very special to her...and her parents were unaware of the loss that she suffered that day. 

In the meantime, the rag doll landed on the berm feeling hopeless and alone. She was someone who was once loved dearly by a little girl, now she was tossed away by her mean older brother. The rag doll lay there hoping that the family would come back to rescue her, but they didn't. She really was all alone!

Before long, a gentle rain began to fall and she was getting wet and dirty. A  big truck went by splattering her with mud. Now, she was wet and muddy! How bad would it get before she was rescued?  For days she laid there losing hope of ever getting rescued. Her dress was now in shambles; her stitching was beginning to rot; and her stuffing was sticking out in places. She was feeling so horrible, but could do nothing on her own. 

In the meantime, the little girl cried almost continuously for her doll, but she would not say anything to anyone about why she was crying. She refused to eat and became sick. Finally, one day she told her mother what happened. She hugged her little girl tightly and comforted her. 

When her Daddy got home, they all piled in the car and Daddy began searching with spotlights for the lost rag doll. Finally, they found her alongside of the roadway, muddy and ragged. That did not matter to the little girl. When her Daddy brought the rag doll to the car, the little girl opened her arms, wrapped the little doll in a nice warm towel and hugged her tightly to herself. The little rag doll felt the love that poured forth from the little girl. She knew that she had been loved all along. She should never have doubted the love of her friend or her Daddy.

As for the mean older brother, he got his punishment for what he had done...dishwasher duty for an entire week!

Some of us may feel like that rag doll, hopeless and alone alongside of the roadside, but unlike the little doll, we are never alone. Jesus is always with us. He knows exactly what brought us to the side of the road. He understands everything that we have been through and never has stopped loving us. He is searching for us wherever we may be. We are loved no matter what. It doesn't matter if we have mud splattered on us. He is waiting with open arms just like the little girl. Allow Him to pick you up and hold you close in His Everlasting arms.

Thanks for reading.
Donna
   

Are You All Iced Up?

Today when I look out my window, I see a thick layer of ice on the trees, power lines and everything else. If the sun would come out, the ice would glisten like millions of diamonds covering the earth. But today, the sun has not come out yet and it is a gloomy and gray day.

It is also dangerous outside.....

The sidewalk is covered in ice making walking outside dangerous. Oh, if the sun would come out, it would be so pretty, but dangerous none the less.

The beauty on the trees and bushes is not beauty for drivers on the roads. It is treachery! But how can something so beautiful be so treacherous? The answer because it is cold. It is false beauty. It is alluring and beautiful, but dangerous...just like what Satan offers to the world.

When I was much younger, I attended college in the south where wintertime was much nicer than the northern climate that I live in now.  I used to fly home for Christmas break. Almost every time before the plane would leave the runway  on my return flight to school, the pilot would come on the intercom and say that they had to "de-ice" the plane. It was an inconvenience to the schedules, but necessary because the plane would not fly properly if there was ice. Parts would freeze up and cause a disaster. The fuel would not flow properly and cause even more problems, so the de-icing process was necessary. 

Sometimes in our lives things can happen to cause our flame to go out and we become icy and cold with others around us. We tend to be disagreeable and hard to get along with because the warmth is missing from inside. 

When we allow God to send His Sonshine, He melts the heart of stone (ice).  His Son shines steadily on you as the warmth begins to spread throughout your body a little at a time. Gradually you are being changed from within. Attitudes begin to change. You begin to see people in a different light than before. It is not long until Springtime comes to your soul once again. 

Even though the sun has not come out today, the temperatures are rising and the water is dripping from the eaves. The warmth of the wind is melting the ice away.  Wintertime is about to flee and Springtime will be so welcomed once again.

Thanks for reading,

Donna

Who Lights Your Fire?

Recently I wrote an article for Jennifer Self for her blog "Cherish the Call". It was
on the subject of marriage and I likened it to a wood stove and how important it was to maintain the flame in your marriage. However, I would like to take a different look at the flame. This time I am writing about the flame of serving Jesus.

As I wrote in the article entitled, "Keep The Home Fires Burning" I said that there are some basic things that we need in order for us to maintain a healthy fire.

The most important ingredient for a fire to burn properly is oxygen. It is the Holy Spirit in our lives breathing His warnings, His comfort, and His guidance into our hearts. He is the One who stirs our hearts and places the desire to seek after God. 

Think back in your own life. Perhaps some of you were going on your merry way not even thinking about God, then something happened and it grabbed your attention. Sometimes people say things that God uses to talk to us about our need for Him. Those little sparks are fueled by the breath of the Holy Spirit in our conscience and He patiently draws us to God. 

There comes a point where we have to make a choice. We will either allow this flame to grow in our hearts and respond to the call of God or will we ignore it and allow the flame to go out leaving our heart's fire only a memory surrounded by ashes.

It doesn't have to be that way! We can allow the flame of Jesus' love to warm our hearts so that others all around us may be warmed by our lives. Our flame may be the means that the Holy Spirit uses to show others what a true Christian should live like. 

The good news is that if your flame has gone out and you are dealing with the ashes of life, cry out to God and He will send His Comforter to help you and bring you back to Himself. That is what the grace of God is for. He will restore our flame if we ask Him to.

Our challenge is to keep our hearts aflame with the Holy Spirit and not allow things that would quench the flame, like the sand of laziness, smothering of busyness, the water of anger, bitterness or bad attitudes. Instead, allow the oil of the Spirit to heal and comfort you.

Keep your flame bright so that others may see your good works and glorify the Father in Heaven. 

Thanks for reading,
Donna

Would You Allow Jesus to Wash Your Feet?

After that he poureth water into a basin, and began to wash the disciples' feet, and to wipe them with the towel wherewith he was girded. John 13:5 
                                                           

Jesus and His disciples had been traveling all day. His heart was heavy. He knew that His time was short and that there were so many things to teach them yet. The Last Supper with them had come and they were still disputing among themselves, still wanting to be more important to Jesus than the next guy. Oh! How patient our Savior was with them.
                                                                                 

He wanted them to discover the truth that in order for a person to be great in the Kingdom of God, they must learn to be willing to humble themselves to do the lowest of tasks.

He showed them that the King of the Jews was the servant of all...not just to one or two, but to all twelve...even the betrayer, Judas. 

Washing of the feet was customarily done by a servant when the guests entered the home. However, it seemed that none around Him really wanted to stoop so low to do the dirty task that should have been done before they ate. 

Remember earlier, Mary had been criticized by them for washing Jesus feet with her tears and wiping them with her hair. She understood more than they did. Even though her sister Martha did not recognize it at one point,  she had a servant's heart. She spent time at Jesus' feet, not necessarily at the table. It did not matter to  her. She did what others did not do.

The point here is that we, like Jesus, must be willing to humble ourselves and do the menial tasks as servants to all. If that means that we clean the church bathrooms, then so be it. If it means cleaning up or doing the myriad of tasks behind the scenes without recognition, then that is what we as Christians should do.

On the other side of the coin, we see that Jesus also served the betrayer, Judas; the denier, Peter; and a whole lot of cowards who fled when push came to shove. He knew what was going to happen that night. He was God. He knew men's thoughts and motives, yet He showed them through His example how to be a true servant of His.

We all have people in our lives who betray us, who hurt us, who turn their backs on us when we need them the most because it is more comfortable to do so. However, like Jesus, we need to humbly serve them in every way that we can and not miss opportunities to show them the light of Jesus that shines in our lives. 

Kindness has won over more enemies than defensive actions. 

Humility and Kindness.... from the true servant's heart.


Thanks for reading.
Donna

Was God Too Late?

I was reading in my devotions this morning about the faithfulness of God and
how He is never late to answer prayer. Sometimes it seems like He has
forgotten all about us, but HE never forgets. He is always on time.

To illustrate my point, let's take a look at a few people in the Bible. Jonah was swallowed by the big fish and spent  three days in its belly with seaweed wrapped around his neck and debris in his face, yet God didn't forsake him. He knew exactly where Jonah was. When he came to the place of surrender to God's will, Jonah found himself flying through the air and splatting on the beach of Ninevah. He was now ready to do what God wanted him to do.








Then, there is Joseph, the naive young dreamer, who did not know how to keep his own counsel. He took a long journey from household slave to trusted steward to a condemned prisoner, then to the prime minister's chair of Egypt! Each of these positions was in God's will and in God's time for Joseph's life. God wasn't late when Joseph was thrown in prison. The Scriptures say that he found favor in the eyes of the prison warden. In whatever position that Joseph found himself, he was exemplary in behavior and never lost his faith in the God he served.

And aren't we all familiar with the story of Daniel in the Lion's Den?  Daniel  faithfully prayed to the God of Heaven even though he knew of the risk of openly praying to God instead of to King Darius for those thirty days. God allowed Daniel to spend the night in the pits with the lions because He had a higher purpose in allowing what seemed like an awful ending to 
happen. In the end, God got the glory and lives were changed because Daniel endured that long night.




In each of these men's lives, God intervened and protected them from imminent
demise. He had a greater purpose in mind for them and He never failed to bring
His children through the difficulties that they faced.  Sometimes it seems that He
does not hear us. Never lose hope in whatever your situation may be.
God is never late. 

Thanks for reading,
Donna