The Squawking Woodpecker~

Matthew 6:26

"Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?"

This morning I woke up to a constant and loud tap tap tap at my bedroom window. I opened the shutters and saw a woodpecker with the most beautiful red crest pecking away. I was temporarily awestruck, and then I realized it might actually break the window. I tried shooing it away, but it would not leave. I physically went outside, and that's when the woodpecker started flying toward me. I froze for a second then started flailing my arms to scare it away. The woodpecker was not deterred. Rather, it came closer and closer. I turned to run back inside the house and tripped on the front steps of my porch. I almost had a panic attack as I saw the woodpecker approaching again. It flew straight to my ear and squawked, "Help! I have nothing to eat!"

Sorry! I made all that up to make a point:  A bird will never ask us for food because GOD takes care of everything they need.

And we, dear people, are worth so much more than the birds. If we connect the dots, this means that God will take care of every single thing that we - His more-beautiful, more-beloved, and more-precious-than-the-birds children - will ever need!

PRAYER:

Dear Lord, Thank You that You are the source of EVERYTHING I need. I have decided to take You at Your Word and invite You to unleash Your transforming power into this area of my life ______________________________.  If You so freely take care of the birds, and if I am so much more precious to You than they, then I know that I know that I shall receive today that which I have prayed for. In Jesus' name, AMEN~

Protect Our Hearts~

Farming cont…

Several years ago I visited Parrot Jungle, and like everyone else, I bought some parrot food and proceeded to feed the beautiful, talkative birds.  Just before I opened up my pellet-filled palm to a gorgeous red parrot with blue, green, and yellow plumage, I heard an employee say, “These parrots are harmless and fun loving…”

Next thing I knew the bird had eaten all the food and was ferociously clamped down on my knuckle. It hurt like crazy, but what was I going to do? Was I going to scream bloody murder in front of all the little children who were there?  I felt like punching the bird in the beak, but I just shook my hand vigorously slightly whispering, “Ouch! Ouch!” and it flew away.  The employee assured me that, “This has never happened before; he just really liked the food and got a little excited,” and then offered me a little bag of ice.  No need to call the paramedics as there was no bleeding. 

So I kind of know, through my painful experience, how much birds like seeds.  It’s an analogy that God uses in the Bible to describe one of the ways His life-giving Word becomes ineffectual in our lives.   

Luke 8:5 “A farmer went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell along the footpath and was trampled underfoot, and the birds of the air devoured it.”

In verse 12 Jesus explains: “The seeds that fell on the footpath represent those who hear the message, only to have the devil come and take it away from their hearts and prevent them from believing and being saved.”

God wants us to have a rich, fertile, heart where the seeds of His Word will grow and produce a beautiful, nourishing crop – a crop that will provide every single thing we need to live a blessed life. 

But…

Sometimes our heart is more like a well-traveled footpath.  Everyone and everything has walked all over us and our heart is hardened.  Much like a trampled road, nothing can penetrate it.  The seed that does land there is quickly devoured by the enemy of our souls, and then come the consequences.  No believing, no saving, no nothing…

Birds will always go to where the seeds are; they will flock to them because it’s in their nature.  Likewise, the devil will also do his best to make sure the precious Word is devoured before it can produce any real benefits.

All these verses on the farmer were written to get our attention.  And as we continue in this series, we will end on good news. I promise!

PRAYER: Dear Lord, The most important request we have today is for You to heal our hearts.  Some of us have been through the wringer, and we need You to renew our hope and faith.  Soften our hearts to receive Your Word.  The enemy of our souls does not want us to have peace, but You do.  It starts with prayer!  Protect our hearts. In Jesus’ name we pray, AMEN~     

Rich Earth~

“A farmer went out to sow his seed. Some of it fell on the road; it was tramped down and the birds ate it. Other seed fell in the gravel; it sprouted, but withered because it didn’t have good roots. Other seed fell in the weeds; the weeds grew with it and strangled it. Other seed fell in rich earth and produced a bumper crop (Luke 8:4-8 Message Version).”

Greetings~

I read everyday by choice.  No one is forcing me, and this shocks the people in my family.  None of them reads for relaxation or for fun; they only read when it’s required.  I love getting all cozy under Rayray’s old pink and white and tattered quilt – a relic from her teenage years – putting on my +1.25 reading glasses, loudly announcing that “I am going on an imaginary escapade with the cast of characters who are in the book I am reading at the moment so don’t bother me,” and locking the door!

If my door is locked, no one dares interrupt unless there is an emergency. And it is behind that locked door where I immerse myself in all kinds of adventures.  Mostly spy, but I am truly drawn to anything that’s lying around.  That’s how I found out I was married to a farmer.  Well, the etymology of Jorge’s name means, “farmer, a person engaged in agriculture, which is the cultivation of plants used to sustain and enhance human life.” (Thank you, Wikipedia).

And we would all be wise to be farmers ourselves.  It is vital to our Christian lives to produce a crop, and when we do, we too will “sustain and enhance human life,” mostly our own.

 Lots of stuff, however, gets in the way of successful farming.  Birds eat up the seeds, seeds land in gravel and don’t grow for a lack of good roots, and seeds fall on weeds and try to grow but those weeds strangle them.  But then there’s the seed that falls on rich earth.  It produces a bumper crop – an overflow, extravagant, and over abundance of blessings.

But what exactly does the seed represent? And the birds, gravel, and weeds? How about rich earth?  We will look at each of these in the next few DEVOs, but here’s a sneak peak.  “Rich earth” is symbolic of those people who with good, noble, perfect, and honest hearts are able to produce what is good no matter what! That’s what we want for us and our families!

PRAYER: Dear Lord, Prepare our hearts to be rich earth.  This is the kind of soil that allows for an overflow of wonderful blessings, and that’s something we all need. In Jesus’ name, Amen~