Signs of Fall

Matthew 16:3  And in the morning, 'It will be stormy today, for the sky is red and threatening.' You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times.

I am often reminded, particularly in the fall of the year, of God’s relationship with His children.  To many it seem like He speaks in the weirdest fashion, but to me it is exciting. 

As the Lord speaks to us it may be revealed in His creation.  God has been speaking the same message each year since creation and I have found that it is the farmers hear his voice so well.

This week the goldenrod are coming out in full bloom.  For many people that may just means allergy season again.  To the farmers it means that they must get the rest of their vegetables picked and get ready for the winter.  You see, what they have learned is that when the goldenrod reaches full bloom, the first killing freeze will come very soon.

If we pay more attention to the Lord’s messages through nature then perhaps the farmer can be the “prophet”, so to speak, and let us know what kind of a winter we will have for our area. And all he needs to do is take a look at the woolly worm. 

Yes a worm.

You see for decades, when people would make note of the color of the worms in October they could predict the type of winter they can experience that year.  Trust me, I’ve learned that these weather predictions of such creatures in nature can be more reliable that some of our best scientific equipment.

If you ever have the time to talk to an old farmer, just ask him about the signs the Lord places before him from planting to harvest.  There will not be one thing that is magical, mystic, or mythical in what they have learned.  Those signs can range from the thickness and height of a squirrel’s nest, thickness of a blade of corn, planting times for maximum harvest and numerous items being the way in which the Lord reminds us that He is taking care of His children.

I’ve heard people make fun of what they call, “a simple farmer”, but in getting close to country farmers again, it is refreshing to see that many of them have a better understanding of the love relationship that the Lord has for everyone.

What’s the difference?  Probably it is because they physically take the time to see what the Lord has to say. 

What about us?  Many of us stay so busy that we never look at the nature all around us for what the Lord may be telling us.

Shouldn’t our relationship with the Lord depend on more than what we read or more than the times we have our eyes closed in prayer?  Maybe it should also be spent slowing down and looking for the natural signs that give us a message to pass on to others. 

Seeing what the Lord is telling us in nature can help us see the “big” signs He has for our lives.

The funny thing is that it may start with a woolly worm.

Who Said That?

Matthew 3:16-17   After his baptism, as Jesus came up out of the water, the heavens were opened and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and settling on him. And a voice from heaven said, "This is my beloved Son, and I am fully pleased with him."

            In our private moments with the Lord, have you ever asked the Lord a question and then paused for the answer?  Maybe we have said something profound or a little embarrassing and expected the Lord’s voice to come booming down from heaven to give us approval or dismay.

            We have often thought that when we get to heaven, we’ll have a laundry list of questions to ask Him.  It could be about pain and suffering, or poverty, or war, or hate, or many things that come to mind right now.  But don’t you wish He would just answer them now?

            Today’s verses give us the very beginning of the relationship that has been present since the beginning of time.   It’s the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. 

Did you realize that we are made in His Image?  You have a physical body just like Jesus, God’s Son had, we have an intellect or thinking capability like God the Father, and a soul that nudges us to what is right or wrong which is our connection to the Holy Spirit.

            At this one location all three are revealed at the same time. Each member of the Trinity has a distinctive primary role (or work):  The Father originates, chooses, and calls us.      The Son reveals the Father and redeems us by means of His own death on the cross.      The Spirit witnesses to Christ, awakens our dead souls, gives us new life, and delivers us to heaven.

But the personal distinctions are not something added onto God's essential being. His being encompasses them all.

 Jesus was faithful to his Father’s wishes, the movement of the Holy Spirit like a dove, and the Father speaking His words of approval.  Therefore at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry what better way to show the people that the Messiah had really come than to speak His approval?

Can we hear the Lord’s voice speak to us?  Are you tuned in or are you saying, “Who Said That?”

I'm Fine

What is your response when a stranger walks up to you and says, "How are Your today?"    Most everyone I know says, "I'm Fine."  Yet your may have had something tragic happen to you just minutes before, but we have been trained to not let people, particularly strangers,  know what is really happening to your life.

Once I thought I'd see how people react when you don't say the usual, "I'm Fine" quote.   I'd respond to their question with, "I'm doing terrible".   At least ten strangers said, "That's good."  If I would response, "I'm doing terrible, how are you?" I'd get "I'm fine" right back.  Only one person out of a dozzen people I asked even stopped to say "I'm sorry, is there  anything I can do?"

We are trained from children to be transparent anywhere and with anyone whether at home, at school, on the street, or at work. 

I learned to wear the work mask by watching a friend.  He was going through some rough times in his life and during a lunch break one of our co-workers asked how he was doing.  To this the man opened up his heart and became transparent and vulnerable to release the troubles he was having.  Two weeks later a position opened up in the company and both men applied in for the position.  During the interview process the man who was given information regarding the other man's issues, brought it out in the interview to demonstrate how the man with the issues could not handle the pressure of the new position.

The one man used the transparency of feelings against the second man in order to get ahead.    When approached the one man said that if he can use any leverage to get the position he would do it.  So we learned to never open up to anyone in the workplace because it would at some point be used against us. 

In today's society we hide so well our feelings and in turn we bottle up emotions until they explode into violent anger, withdrawal from events, isolationism, and a breakdown in the family.   I encourage  you to develop at least one or two close friendships outside of work, or family.  Agree to be accountability partners.    When I did that I had to build a trust and began by sharing small stuff and then see if I was hurt by the friend.  Over time, I related more transparency and became open with them to the point of feeling free to call and say, "I'm struggling today" and knowing it would be OK.

Do you have anyone who you can be transparent with?  I urge this friend to be male to male or female to female relationship.  Too often I see men opening up to women  or women opening up to a man only to lead to an affair and further damage to many relationships.  Some of the worse situations from this behavior is with pastors or ministers.  What starts out as counseling becomes infatuation and then a sexual relationship.  Then a career is lost, the church is hurt, and famailies break up.

So stop saying, "I'm Fine" when you are not and get in a small group that you can trust.  The first step will be yours.  Yes, you can get hurt again, but do not give up because your life depends on others.

Just make the first move.

Cutting the Herd

Have you ever watched shows on the Animal Planet, History, or other networks that gives you a view of how animals in nature survive and grow?  I admit that I turned off the show when this took place because I knew the outcome.

A pride of lions was out hunting in Africa.  They came upon some gazelles feeding in the grass meadow.    They slowly moved towards the herd in a stealth like fashion until one of the lions leaped into action.  The gazelles began the run as a herd together in close proximity.  Two lions had flanked to the side before the attack and entered toward the herd from the side.  The gazelles split up and the lions immediately went after the one of two who broke from the herd.  Soon the chase was over as the one gazelle was taken down.  He was then eaten alive from the hip forward by the pride.

My thought was how awful and heartless was it to get their food in that manner.

For us we are much better in a group than doing life on our own.  So many of us never get a group outside our immediate family to do life together.  Yet the encouragement and celebrations during times in our lives can make us stronger and in a position to help those who are going through stuff in their lives.

I appreciate my church small group and their concern, encouragement and support during the rough times.  I know that through my experiences, I will someday be in a position to help someone who is walking down the same trail.  It is then that I can encourage them to hold on and be connected to a group of people.

Lions will not attack a herd that stands together but desire to cut one of the weakest out and devour them.  My thought is for you to find a group of people who you can do life with.  Learn to be transparent in your praise and prayers.  It is then that you will find the strength to defeat any foe.

Job Moments

When you see a chart for any series of data, you will see spikes both up and down. Sometimes we see charts that have smoothed the line down but that does not reflect the true events impact.   Life has some real highs and some real lows that hit us during periods of our lives. Most of us only want to experience the highs and stay in the best of everything.   The reality is  our lives are not this smooth line that takes life in an easy fashion and gives us only an upward line but our experiences are so varied that some times we are high and other times we are low.

Even though we believe that the Lord wants what is best for us, our hope is that we just want want the best and never experience  rough times.  Yet it is in the rough times that our faith should be strengthened and our resolve to focus more our spiritual relationship be our prime focus.  Still the pain, frustration and the heartache that comes with challenges of life usually make us draw away from our relationship with the Creator.

I call these times, "Job moments".  If you read in the Bible the first two chapters of Job you will see how events had taken Job from the best that life could offer to the very worse.  All because of Satan wanting to prove a point.

As I write this blog with a patch over my eye, I believe that there are Job moments today where we are tested and Satan is allowed to place obstacles in front and on us.  After we made a major commitment to the Lord, I found out that I have a cracked sternum.  Next I pulled a muscle in the lower back.  Next one of our customers had moved out a commitment for a large order to January.  Then I experienced the detached and torn retina.  I pray that enough is enough and told Satan to be gone from our lives.

Still it is important for us to have an increased faith in the faith giver.  God was not surprised by all this and more rough  happenings right now.  We could have turned our back on the Creator but our trust in in Him to care for us.

My blog today is to realize that there are up and down seasons of our lives.  We need to remain faithful to believe in the Lord.  Just like fall is approaching and another summer season is gone, so will the Lord get you through your Job moments to a new season in your life.  We just need to be ready and not turn away from the giver of life and detest the giver of pain and suffering. 

My thought today!