Messages of God's Love: 2006

It was a warm July day, and Jim was enjoying watching the animals as he strolled from cage to cage at the zoo. The monkeys’ antics were amusing as usual. The seals and sea lions were splashing around in their pools and leaping high in the air to catch the fish the keeper was throwing to them. But what interested Jim the most were the lions. He had always been fascinated by them. As he watched them, they were sleepily soaking up the morning sun. They looked just like big, overgrown pussycats.

Now Jim really should have known better. He was thirty-nine years old, and by that age most people know enough to stay away from danger, even if it does look inviting. But as he stood watching the huge beasts, a very foolish idea crossed his mind. He thought that the lioness that was lying against the bars right at the front of the cage looked so gentle and tame that he just had to pet her. So he looked around to make sure no one was watching, then climbed over the safety wall and slowly walked up to the cage with his hand outstretched to pet the lioness.

Most boys and girls would know enough not to try to pet a lion or a lioness, and yet maybe you are doing something that is just as foolish and dangerous. God tells us in His Word, the Bible, how terrible sin is and warns us of the dangers of playing around with it. He warns us that “the soul [person] that sinneth, it shall die” (Ezekiel 18:4) and that “the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). But we still hear boys and girls and even grown-ups saying, “Oh well, everybody does it,” or, “It was only a little white lie.” That is playing around with sin, and it is even more dangerous than petting a lion! God even warns us that “your adversary [enemy] the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Peter 5:8).

Jim decided to ignore the danger, and, reaching through the bars of the cage, he gently petted the lioness’s sleek fur. Seconds later he began screaming with pain! The lioness had reached out as quick as a flash and clawed Jim’s arm. (You probably know how much a kitten’s claws can hurt you. Can you imagine what a lion’s claws could do?)

The zookeepers came running when they heard Jim scream. They were able to distract the lioness so they could free Jim’s arm from her claws. Jim was then rushed to the hospital to have his hand and arm stitched up.

God has provided a way for us to escape from the consequences of our sins too. Just as Jim was helpless in the grip of the lioness, we are also helplessly caught by our sins. But God loves us so much that He sent His Son, the Lord Jesus, down to this earth to save us from our sins. “God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).

The zookeepers risked getting hurt themselves by going into the cage to save Jim, but the Lord Jesus did more than risk getting hurt for us. The Bible tells us “Christ died for our sins” (1 Corinthians 15:3). He loved us so much that He died on the cross and suffered for the sins of everyone who will believe on Him. Won’t you accept Him as your Saviour today?

ML-01/01/2006

A Terrible Storm

Some years ago the New England states were hit by a blizzard that will be remembered by many for years to come. The weathermen had predicted a “northeaster” that would dump several inches of snow.

Before lunch I told my work crew that we would leave work early so that everyone could reach home safely before the storm set in too heavily, snarling traffic. I decided 3:00 would be early enough.

At lunchtime I walked next door to a restaurant for a quick lunch, but on the way back the wind was blowing fiercely, and snow was blowing sideways instead of falling.

Arriving in the office after lunch, our plans for leaving at 3:00 were immediately changed, and I informed the crew to head straight home without waiting any longer.

This decision proved to be wise, because by 3:00 all major highways were already jamming up. All roads were slippery, snow was blowing and drifting, and soon all traffic completely stopped. This hindered the snowplows from doing their job. Those who waited too long to go home were stranded on the major highways in a serious situation. It took several days for all the snowplows the state could call in, including the U.S. Army, to pull the buried vehicles out, one by one, and clear the highways.

How this should warn us of the terrible storm that is going to fall on this world. God warns us in the Bible to “flee from the wrath to come” (Matthew 3:7). God loves us and wants us to listen to His warnings and come to Jesus for safety. Boys and girls, will you make it safely home with Jesus to heaven before God’s storm of punishment falls on this world?

Jesus said, “Come unto Me” (Matthew 11:28). He also said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me” (John 14:6). And we are told that “NOW is the accepted time . . . NOW is the day of salvation” (2 Corinthians 6:2). Don’t wait any longer to escape from the coming storm! “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved” (Acts 16:31).

ML-01/01/2006

How Many Hours?

How many hours would it take to read through the Bible?

The Bible contains about 3,000,000 letters, 31,000 verses and 1,189 chapters. About 38 hours are needed to read through the Old Testament, and 11 hours for the New Testament. This makes a total of 49 hours for the whole Bible.

At ordinary talking speed, it takes 70 hours and 40 minutes to read the whole Bible aloud.

By reading 4 chapters every day, you could finish reading the whole Bible in one year (365 days). Since this is the first day of a new year, why not begin today?

ML-01/01/2006

"Come Unto Me"

David had just had his fourth birthday. Now he felt he was big enough to sit up in the front row with the other children in Sunday school and say a Bible verse too. He learned his verse carefully at home. On Sunday morning he sat very quietly with the other children and listened as each one stood up and repeated the memory verse. Soon it was David’s turn.

David stood up very slowly and looked all around the room. It seemed as though everyone was looking right at him! He suddenly became shy and then either forgot the verse or he didn’t want to say it.

The Sunday school teacher smiled at David to encourage him, but still he couldn’t seem to get the words out. The teacher decided to help him with the first few words to get him started. “Come unto Me,” the teacher prompted. And David did just that. He believed what the teacher had said and ran up to where the teacher was standing. Then he threw his little arms around the teacher’s legs and looked up at him with a smiling face.

The teacher welcomed David and picked him up in his arms. Then the teacher asked the other children, “Who is it in the Bible that said, ‘Come unto Me?’ ”

Most of the children knew the answer. “It’s Jesus,” they said.

“Yes,” said the teacher, “and He wants us not just to say the words but to really believe them and come to Him, just like David believed what I said and came up here to me. Jesus will welcome us when we come to Him and will wash all our sins away if we will trust Him in our hearts. Then we belong to Him as one of His children. That is how we become ‘born again.’ ”

The Lord Jesus has a special place in His loving heart for each one of His children. Wouldn’t you like to be born again and become one of His happy children?

Jesus said, “Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). He also said, “Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3).

ML-01/08/2006

Saved by a Spider

I had been invited to a friend’s house for dinner. While we were eating, I happened to see a spider on the wall. I hoped my friend would not notice it or she might be upset.

Another time I was visiting friends for a weekend. The family’s three children and I took a walk. When we returned, we found a big spider on the floor of the front hall. The children made quite a commotion over it, and one of them quickly stomped on it and squashed it.

I’m sure you could find a spider in my house right now. And I think you might even be able to find one someplace in a king’s palace, if you ever had the opportunity to visit a palace.

Some people are frightened of spiders, and they won’t go near them. Others think they are ugly and make them shiver, so they kill them. But spiders are really very wonderful and clever. If you will look closely at their webs, you cannot help but be amazed.

I want to tell you about a spider that saved a man’s life. This happened during a terrible time in history. King Charles IX of France did not like the Huguenots, who were Christians. On Saint Bartholomew’s Day in 1572, he ordered, “Kill them all so that not a single one be left to reproach me!” Thousands of Huguenots were killed before it all ended.

One man who was saved was a baker. King Charles’s soldiers were hunting for him with orders to kill him, because they knew he was a Christian.

The baker knew they were hunting for him, so he climbed into his big oven, which was not heated that day, and closed the door on himself. As soon as he did, God sent a little spider along to help him. This little spider spun a web all over the oven door.

When the soldiers searched the bakehouse, one of them suggested that the baker might be hiding in the oven. But another soldier said, “No man, he is not in there. Don’t you see the spider’s web all over the door?” To them the spider’s web meant that the oven door had not been opened for quite a while. So they went away without opening the oven door, and the baker safely escaped.

There is a verse in the Bible that says, “The spider taketh hold with her hands, and is in kings’ palaces” (Proverbs 30:28). What do you think it means? I’m sure it wasn’t put in the Bible just to tell us what we already know -that a spider can be found in a fancy palace as well as in a plain little bakery. There must be another reason; God must have some lesson to teach us from this verse.

We know that a spider is little and weak and even ugly. But it is wise and takes hold with its hands and climbs into a place of safety.

Let’s just change the word spider to sinner and think about it for a minute. Isn’t a sinner little and weak? And in God’s sight there is nothing uglier than sin! Then think about this - why does God, the Creator of the whole universe, think we are worth anything or even notice us?

This is truly a miracle! In spite of how worthless we are, God loves us! His love for sinners is so great that He sent His only Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, to die on the cross for us. “God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).

Let us be wise like the spider. Let us take hold of the Lord Jesus Christ with hands of faith, accepting His love. He promises a place of safety in heaven from the punishment that is coming soon for sin.

“God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him” (Romans 5:89).

ML-01/08/2006

A Letter from Gramma and Grampa: The Mother Hen

Dear Children,

Hello again from Grampa. I’m going to share a story with all of you about a mother cat, her kittens and a hen.

“Boy, Grampa, that’s a funny group!”

Yes, it sure is, but let me tell you how they all got along together. Oh . . . by the way . . . Gramma and I hope that all you children get along happily together. Tell the truth now. No fighting? No arguing? No telling lies? You know, God our Father expects us to obey Him and not do those things which He has told us not to do. In Joshua 24:24 it says, “The people said unto Joshua, the Lord our God will we serve, and His voice will we obey.” Those are very serious words, aren’t they, children?

“Yes, Grampa, they are, and sometimes it’s hard to do.”

Well, children, it is hard to do, but ask the Lord Jesus to help you. With His help, you can do it.

Now then, this story takes place away up north where it is very cold with lots of snow, and the temperature can go as low as 40 degrees below zero! Now that is really, really cold!

There were five kittens born to this mother cat in the big barn where she lived along with other animals, including some chickens. When this mother cat had these kittens, there was still lots of snow outside and it was very cold. The mother cat had to leave these kittens at times to get something to eat . . . maybe catch a mouse or two. So the kittens were left alone in the barn.

Now it just so happened that a mother hen saw these kittens and heard them mewing. They were cold with their mother gone. So the hen came over, spread her wings over the kittens, and kept them nice and warm. When the mother cat came back, the hen lifted her wings and let the baby kittens out so they could crawl back to their mother to keep warm and be fed.

Each time the mother cat left, the hen would come over and cover the kittens with her wings. This went on until the weather warmed up outside. Then the mother hen knew that the kittens did not need her anymore.

Wasn’t that kind of the hen to help the mother cat? She protected those kittens from the cold and kept them from freezing to death.

“Yes, Grampa, it sure was. God can make animals do anything He wants.”

Yes, children, our God can do anything. God used a huge fish to swallow Jonah. God used a dove to bring a leaf to Noah, to let him know that it was safe to leave the ark. God used a donkey to speak to Balaam. And God also used two bears to punish some children who were making fun of Elisha.

We hope that you children never make fun of anyone. That hurts people. When the Lord Jesus saw Peter sinking in the water, He didn’t laugh at him. When Peter shouted out, “Lord, save me!” the Lord stretched out His hand and saved Peter.

Have you ever asked the Lord Jesus to save you from your sins? A man in the Bible shouted out, “What must I do to be saved?” The answer was, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved” (Acts 16:31). And then it says he “rejoiced, believing in God with all his house.”

And so, dear children, these barnyard animals and birds sure give us a good example in caring for each other in time of need. Here are two Bible verses I want you to remember. “Be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you” (Ephesians 4:32). “Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children; and walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us” (Ephesians 5:12).

Lots of love to all you children,

Gramma and Grampa

ML-01/15/2006

"Nothing Behind You Matters!"

The coach blew his whistle, and the four strong boys dived instantaneously. In a few seconds they were skimming through the water, almost gliding over it as they raced to the other end of the pool. When they were halfway, the coach’s whistle signaled the next four to start. They dove in as the next four moved up and poised themselves on the diving platforms. By this time the first four were headed back up their lanes, straining every muscle to win the round. As they climbed out the coach nodded his approval, and they got back in line to dive again.

Again and again the coach’s whistle blew, and evening after evening the boys came to practice. No wonder there were so many “Boys’ Swim Team Champions” pennants on the walls of the pool area. And underneath the pennants was a motto: “NOTHING BEHIND YOU MATTERS!”

Any champion swimmer or runner will tell you that they have been trained never to look back during a race. Looking back to see how far they have come or how close the next racer is breaks the rhythm or the stride. It makes them lose a few seconds, and usually those seconds can never be made up. What a good motto that is for those swimmers. It reminds them not to look back, but only to push forward.

Believers in the Lord Jesus have been given these same guidelines. Paul told the Philippians, “This one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:13-14). The finish line for Christians is that entrance into heaven and seeing our Saviour face to face. Forget past accomplishments or discouraging failures-“NOTHING BEHIND YOU MATTERS”! Push forward to the finish line . . . it’s very close!

ML-01/15/2006

Beth and the Raccoons

Beth took a long time preparing the vegetables to add to the meat she had ready for a large pot of stew. Then she began to cook it slowly. As it cooked, the wonderful smell of the vegetables and meat made her hungry. Her family would be able to enjoy at least two delicious meals from the pot of stew.

Beth carefully set the large pot of cooked stew outside to cool overnight. The lid on the pot fit tightly, but to make it even more secure, she set some heavy items on top of it to make sure it couldn’t be opened. She went to bed that night contented that her dinner for the next day was fully prepared and safely cooling outside.

In the morning she remembered her pot of stew outside the back door and knew that it was probably quite cold. She opened the door to bring it inside, but what met her eyes was an unbelievable sight! The heavy items were scattered around, the lid was somewhere else, and not a scrap of the dinner was left! Then she realized what likely had happened. Raccoons had found her pot of stew and had eaten every bit of it. They probably were off somewhere with tummies full of stew, still licking their paws and whiskers!

Raccoons are clever little animals, and there isn’t much they can’t get into if they really want to. The smell of that stew would keep their nimble fingers busy, pulling off the heavy items on the lid and then working the lid off. What a feast they must have had! But what a big disappointment for Beth and a very sad lesson. Never again would she set food of any kind outside to cool . . . not even for a few minutes!

Beth couldn’t expect those raccoons to know that stew wasn’t set outside for them. But boys and girls who know what is right and wrong are sometimes the cause of a disappointment much like this. Your mom may have spent a lot of time baking a luscious dessert for a special dinner. When you came home from school, there it sat on the kitchen counter. You were probably hungry and it was one of your favorites. Mom had said, “Don’t touch that dessert . . . it’s for our company dinner tonight.” But when Mom wasn’t anywhere around, you thought to yourself, It won’t hurt if I take just one little piece . . . Mom won’t even notice . . . Oh yum, that was good . . . maybe one more little piece. And it didn’t take long before it was quite noticeable that someone had disobeyed Mom. First one sin . . . then another . . . then a cover-up lie, and finally someone is in big trouble. Two disappointments for Mom - a child who disobeyed her and a special dessert ruined.

The Bible plainly says, “Children, obey your parents in all things: for this is well-pleasing unto the Lord” (Colossians 3:20). Disobedience is sin, and the Bible also says, “The wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). God is telling us there is a price to pay for sin - every single one.

There are only two people who can pay for your sins - you or a substitute provided by God. Because God loves you so much, He sent His own beloved Son Jesus down here to go to the cross to pay the full price for the sins of any who would accept Him as their Lord and Saviour. He is willing to be your substitute. Those who will not accept Him as their substitute will have to pay the price for their own sins in hell for all eternity. “These shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal” (Matthew 25:46).

Who will pay for your sins? Have you made that very important decision? “I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life” (Deuteronomy 30:19).

ML-01/22/2006

Afraid in Paradise

They called the little island “a tropical paradise,” with sunshine, palm trees waving in the breezes, white sand and sparkling blue water. “Oh, it’s so beautiful, it’s perfect!” said visiting Mrs. James.

“Let’s wait and see,” said her husband.

There were soft breezes, beautiful flowers and sounds of guitar playing. “Oh, how happy everyone is here!” exclaimed Mrs. James.

“Are they really?” asked Mr. James. “Let’s find out.”

The chance to find out soon came. Rogilio, a boy about ten years old, knocked gently at their door looking for some business -shoes to shine, errands to run, anything that might bring him a few coins. They found some small jobs for him, and he began to tell them about his island. “Now this,” he would say, “is a jacaranda tree, and that bush that smells so sweet is jasmine. But that tree over there is a mastic tree . . . it’s bad, very bad! Many bad spirits live there, and at night there are blue lights going up and down in it. Nobody, nobody goes by it at night! Sometimes I’m so scared!”

Here was Mr. James’ answer. It might be a tropical paradise, but the natives lived in fear of evil spirits and black magic. Even a small boy said, “I’m so scared.”

But there was an answer for Rogilio’s troubles. Sitting down with him, Mr. James opened his Bible and told him how God loved him. He showed Rogilio in the Bible how God’s Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, had come down from heaven to die to take away all his sins. He told him that if he believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, then he would go to live with Him in heaven someday. He finished by giving Rogilio a little testament of his own to read.

Would he understand? Could years of superstitious fear be erased so quickly? The answer came the next day. Down the street came Rogilio, straight past the mastic tree, eyes shining and grin flashing.

“Oh, Mr. James,” he called, “I read in the Book last night. I read all about the blood that washes away my sins. Oh, I’m so happy -I feel so good here!” and he placed his hand on his heart. With Jesus in his heart, he had no fear of evil spirits now.

“The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin” (1 John 1:7).

ML-01/22/2006

A Story in the Snow

This morning when I went out for a walk, I read a story—not in a book, but in the snow! On the ground I could plainly see a story of all the animals who had passed that way since yesterday afternoon when a couple inches of snow fell. There were perfect little cat paw prints. There were medium-sized dog tracks. There were big tracks from our old dog who drags her feet when she walks. There were footprints from a fox, birds and even the pet rabbits who got away and live in our woodpile! All these tracks told me a story of who had come and gone and even a little of what they had been doing. These animals didn’t know they had left behind a story!

This reminds me of the Bible verse that says, “All things are naked and opened unto the eyes of Him with whom we have to do” (Hebrews 4:13). Did you know you are leaving tracks? God can see everywhere you have been and everything you have ever done.

If you have not come to God as a sinner and let Him forgive your sins by washing you in the blood of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, do so now before it is too late. Then Jesus’ blood will cover all the footprints of sin you have left behind. “Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered” (Romans 4:7). You will have a new life that wants to make Him happy, and all your steps can be following Him. “The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord: and He delighteth in his way” (Psalm 37:23).

ML-01/29/2006

Jeff and Lucky

Something was whimpering . . . it caught the ear of Staff Sgt. Jeff Brinley as his boat was passing flooded homes in New Orleans. Then he saw what it was - a starved and exhausted black puppy, standing with all four paws on a 2by4 board. Jeff lifted the two-month-old little dog into the boat and made a place for him to lie down on some military gear. Later he scrawled his own name and phone number on a piece of cardboard, tying it to the pup, which he had already named Lucky. He hoped to see the dog again.

The National Guard unit from Ohio had been conducting search-and-rescue missions by boat in the flooded and devastated city following hurricane Katrina. Most of the surviving people had already been rescued from the floodwaters. But now, instead of people, the Guardsmen were finding many four-legged pets that had been left behind by owners. Some were dogs that had been tied up. The Guardsmen would rescue those they could reach by boat, and they tossed food to any they couldn’t reach. Some dogs even swam to the boats to be rescued. But this puppy could only whimper. He was probably too young to know how to swim or just too scared.

What boy or girl wouldn’t rescue a whimpering, tired little puppy in need of food and a place just to lie down? There was no doubt the puppy wanted and needed human help; he whimpered when he saw the boat passing. But do you boys and girls understand that because you are sinners, you need to be rescued too? You are caught in the floodwaters of sin. However, there is a caring, loving Saviour who sees you and your need and is just waiting to rescue you. You only need to tell Him that you want Him to save you. He will hear your call and wash you clean of every sin stain. The Bible says, “Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither His ear heavy, that it cannot hear” (Isaiah 59:1).

The Guardsmen turned all the dogs over to an animal rescue group from Arkansas. From there many of the dogs were transferred to other animal rescue groups from other states that made visiting trips south to take any adoptable animals back to their own cities.

At the end of his unit’s search-and-rescue mission, Jeff went home to Columbus, Ohio. At the same time Lucky also traveled northward, ending up in the care of PAWS Chicago, another animal rescue group that was finding homes for some of the rescued pets.

One day after Jeff got home, his telephone rang. It was PAWS Chicago contacting him to tell him that Lucky was in their care and was safe, healthy and ready for a new home. Somehow that piece of cardboard tied on the puppy with Jeff ’s name and phone number had stayed with the dog through his travels. Jeff soon made the trip to Chicago where he and Lucky were reunited. Lucky now has a good home and a loving master who is kind and takes care of him.

Any boy or girl or grown-up who calls to the Lord Jesus to be saved from their sins will one day soon be reunited with their Saviour. He promises to come and take all those who belong to Him to His home in heaven to live with Him. It says in 1 Thessalonians 4:1617, “The Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout. . . . Then we which are alive . . . shall be caught up . . . in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.”

Have you let the Lord Jesus rescue you? If not, you only need to call to Him to be saved and to have a home in heaven. “Whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Acts 2:21).

ML-02/05/2006

On the Wrong Train

I was seated on a train in the commuter station in Chicago. The car I was in was filling fast with businesspeople, anxious to return to their homes after a day of work in the city. It was a regularly scheduled express train which only stopped at certain stations. Just before the train started, a young man sat down beside me. As we pulled out of the station, he turned to me and said, “This train stops at Morton Grove, doesn’t it? I’m visiting here, and I have friends who are to meet me at the Morton Grove station.”

“No, I’m sorry, it doesn’t,” I answered. “You should have asked before you got on. This is an express train. It goes straight through to Glenview without stopping anywhere else.”

He looked worried for a while, and then he seemed to relax.

After about twenty minutes, I said to him, “Morton Grove is the next town, but I’m sure the train isn’t going to stop.” He got up, walked to the front of the car and waited. As he anxiously looked out the window, the name “Morton Grove” flashed by as the train raced past the station. All he saw was a brief glimpse of the station and platform as we went by.

He was on the wrong train for sure. His friends were waiting for him at Morton Grove. The same train that was taking me to where I wanted to go was each moment taking him farther away from where he wanted to go.

Each one of us is a traveler hurrying on to somewhere. Those who are saved from their sins are hurrying onward and upward to one day being with the Lord Jesus in heaven. Those who are not saved from their sins are hurrying onward and downward to a hopeless, never-ending darkness. If you are a child who is not saved and your parents are, you and your parents are traveling to two different places. Your father and mother are getting nearer and nearer to heaven, while you are getting nearer and nearer to that awful place of never-ending darkness.

If you come to the Lord Jesus Christ now and accept Him as your own Saviour, you will be on your way to heaven instead. Will you come to Him now while you still have time?

“There is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).

ML-02/05/2006

Julianna's New Parents

Six-year-old Juliana was taken into a waiting room and told to sit quietly on a wooden chair. Her blonde hair was cut short like a boy’s haircut. All the girls in the orphanage in Kazakhstan had haircuts like that. It made taking care of them easier for the adults. Someone had pinned a large pink ribbon in her hair. She wore a brown woolen jumpsuit that kept her warm. In winter it got very cold in the building where she lived. The children at the orphanage didn’t have any clothes of their very own; they shared everything.

Juliana’s blue eyes shone bright with hope. Was this the day that her dreams of finding a family of her own would finally come true? She didn’t remember her real parents. All she could remember was life at the orphanage. The people who worked there were nice to her, and she always had a warm bed and meals, mostly of cabbage and soup. But it was not like having a mother and father to call your own. She climbed up onto the chair and sat, folding her hands in her lap and biting her lip in excitement. She could hardly wait.

Next to this waiting room was the office of the headmistress of the orphanage. A meeting between the headmistress, who spoke Russian, and an English-speaking couple was taking place. A translator carefully interpreted all that was said. The headmistress asked the couple many questions.

The couple had traveled halfway around the world to adopt a child. They were in a strange land, and they were a little nervous and excited too. At last the headmistress was satisfied that all was in order. She said through the translator, “I am about to introduce you to Juliana, but I need to protect her from being hurt. If you are only here to look her over and see if you like her, I will introduce you as a visitor. If you know from looking at her picture and reading the information about this little girl that she is the child you want, I will introduce you as her forever-father and forever-mother. Please let me know which it shall be.”

The couple took only a moment before they replied, “We are certain we want to adopt Juliana. Please tell her that we are to be her forever-father and forever-mother.”

The headmistress motioned the couple to follow her and led them into the waiting room. Juliana stood up when they entered. “Juliana,” she said in Russian, “I would like you to meet your forever-father and forever-mother.” The little girl could hardly believe her ears. The two people standing before her were to be her parents! She was so happy she didn’t know what to say.

The headmistress led them down a hall to a large room where she left the three of them alone so they could get acquainted. The adoption process was to take another six weeks before it was completed. A judge finally wrote his signature on the adoption papers, and Juliana was able to leave the orphanage and travel to her new home.

At her new home she let her hair grow long, learned to speak English in an amazingly short time, and got a whole dresser of her very own clothes. But best of all, she had parents who promised to love and care for her as long as they lived.

Do you know God as your heavenly Father who will love and care for you always? He truly is the Forever-Father, because when this life is over He will provide a loving home for His children in heaven. The way to become a child of God is to understand that you are a lost sinner and place your faith in God’s Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus paid a great price on the cross so that you and I could be cleansed from our sins. “Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:3). The moment we believe on Him, the precious blood He shed at Calvary’s cross washes away all our sins.

Do you want a home with the God who loves you? Do you want to belong to Him as His child? Then you must believe that the Lord Jesus died for you and bore the punishment for your sins. “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved” (Acts 16:31). The Lord Jesus is a Forever-Saviour, because once you truly believe in Him, you will always belong to Him. He says, “Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art Mine” (Isaiah 43:1).

Juliana will discover many of the privileges that are hers in her new home. Believers in the Lord Jesus have many wonderful privileges too. Won’t you come to the Lord Jesus so that God the Father can give you all the wonderful blessings He has reserved for those who believe in His Son?

ML-02/12/2006

A Visit to Aunt Rose

Aunt Rose was a very old lady, but she was a special old lady. She was almost 94 years old and had loved the Lord Jesus and known Him as her Saviour for many, many of those years. Aunt Rose had forgotten many things she once knew, but she was always happy when anyone talked about the Lord Jesus Christ.

One day when Holly was visiting Aunt Rose, she read to her from the Bible. As she read John 14:16, Aunt Rose was able to repeat every verse along with Holly except for verse 5. She had memorized those verses when she had been much younger, and as she heard them read aloud, she could still repeat them from memory.

Do you love God’s Word so much that you not only take time to read it but you memorize parts of it? “Thy word have I hid in [my] heart” (Psalm 119:11). But we know that no amount of memorizing Bible verses will take away our sins. Only the blood of Jesus Christ, God’s Son, can cleanse us from all sin. When we love the Lord Jesus, it is important to hide His Word in our hearts, and a good way to do that is to memorize His Word. “I will delight myself in Thy statutes: I will not forget Thy word” (Psalm 119:16).

ML-02/12/2006

He Loved His Enemy

The old Christian was doing what he loved to do - giving out gospel tracts on the foreign ships that came into the seaport near where he lived. Sometimes he invited men he met on these ships to his home for dinner.

There was one wealthy Asian gentleman who came frequently to the port. The Christian got to know him quite well and often invited him to his home for meals. But in spite of the old Christian’s kindness and prayers, the Asian man continued to worship the god of his eastern religion and to mock Christ. That was very sad since Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, and even though the Asian man was very rich and very religious, he was still a poor, lost sinner in need of the love and grace of God.

Then one day the Asian man came with a very different attitude and said, “I want to tell you that I believe that Jesus Christ is Lord, and now He is my Saviour!”

“How can this be?” asked the amazed but happy Christian.

“How can it be that a man loves his enemy?” asked the Asian man. “Each time I came to your house I watched you, and each time your life said, ‘I love you,’ even though by my religion I was your enemy. My heart told me it must be your God who made you different, and finally I called upon the Lord Jesus to save me. He did not turn me away. Now I too am a Christian, and I pray for my enemies and love those that hate me.”

“Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you” (Matthew 5:44).

ML-02/19/2006

Faith in Bridges

Grandy was a beautiful horse and quite well behaved. It was a good thing he was, because I had very little horse-riding experience before the day I went riding along with several other riders who were more experienced. All went well for about an hour as I followed at a distance . . . until we crossed a bridge with water flowing underneath. Suddenly the horse became uneasy and began to balk. Sam yelled to me, “Get him away from the edge of the bridge! He’s afraid of water!”

After crossing the bridge, we had to go down an embankment at the edge of the road and cross a drainage ditch which had about six inches of water in it. Every time I steered Grandy toward the embankment, he would veer around or back up. He refused to go ahead. Traffic on the road had to stop as I dismounted and proceeded to lead him by the halter down the embankment.

As I reached the bottom and started through the water, the horse moved his head in behind me and shoved ahead, leaping over the water and sending me head over heels into the brush on the other side of the water. Sam, the horse’s owner, had been watching and coaching me as all this happened. Other than not being sure of what had happened, I was unhurt and picked myself up, while Sam, realizing I was just shaken up, found the whole thing quite funny.

After a rough ride through woodland paths, we came to a large, deep, watery area which could only spell trouble for Grandy and me. Sam instructed me to bring Grandy up close to Scamp, the horse he was riding. Scamp and Grandy were good friends.

“Let his head rest on Scamp’s rump,” Sam instructed, “and follow closely like that, right through the water.”

To my surprise, Grandy crossed over the watery area without any sign of fear. I never would have believed it if I hadn’t seen it! The rest of the ride was uneventful, other than my being saddle-sore from a first, long ride.

Scamp leading Grandy reminds me of Psalm 23: “The Lord is my shepherd. . . . He leadeth me beside the still waters. . . . Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for Thou art with me.”

How good it is to have Jesus as your Shepherd and your Friend. He said, “I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth His life for the sheep” (John 10:11). He continues on: “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me: and I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish” (John 10:2728).

Jesus also said, “Greater love hath no man than this, that a Man lay down His life for His friends” (John 15:13).

Do you know Jesus as your Shepherd? He laid down His life for you because He loves you. What a friend Jesus is! Claim Him as your Saviour, and He will never leave you nor forsake you, so that you “may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear” (Hebrews 13:6). What a Saviour! And He is even more - a Shepherd, a Friend and a Helper.

The Bible says, “Without faith it is impossible to please [God]” (Hebrews 11:6). Can a boy or girl have faith? Do you think you have faith? Maybe you think you have NO faith at all, but you might be surprised to know that every one of us has faith. When you sit on a chair, you have faith that it won’t collapse under you. When you cross a bridge, you have faith that the bridge will bear your weight and you will cross it safely.

I will tell you of one bridge in which I had no faith at all. It was at the seacoast, not far from where I grew up.

The fishermen had to cross from the mainland to a small island, so a rope bridge was constructed over a deep chasm where the sea crashed on the rocks below. This rope bridge was not a strong-looking structure. It swung in the breeze and wobbled and swayed if you set foot on it. But the fishermen learned to use it, and they trusted it to carry them across between the mainland and the island.

I had no faith in that rope bridge at all. I was sure the ropes would either break or it would sway so much I would fall off, so I never went across. However, when we visited the area this year, I saw that the whole structure had been made over. Now strong, thick ropes were well knotted together and held it firmly, and wide planks had been laid down to walk on. So when I looked at this new rope bridge, I had faith in it immediately, and I walked safely across to the island.

But when it comes to where you will spend eternity, it is most important that your faith is firm in what is truth and not just myth or legend. You have to be sure that you are not simply believing what other people say. You need a trustworthy “bridge” to cross from earth to heaven when your life here on earth is over. That trustworthy bridge is the Saviour.

Jesus Christ was the only perfect man who ever lived. He said He came from God and went back to God. He also said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me” (John 14:6).

We can trust the word of Jesus who had all the power of God and who rose from the dead and is now alive in heaven. He also said, “Heaven and earth shall pass away: but My words shall not pass away” (Mark 13:31). The Bible has proven itself to be the very Word of God. It says about the Lord Jesus, “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). The name Jesus means “Saviour,” and no other religion has a Saviour who gave His life that poor sinners might be saved. He is the One I can safely put my faith in. And every boy or girl or grown-up whose faith rests in Him for eternal life can be sure that He will be far more trustworthy than the strong, new rope bridge.

ML-02/26/2006

A Dangerous Waiting Game: The Loon and the Eagle

As the weather turned colder and colder last winter, a small lake in New Brunswick was freezing fast. A man on the shore could see that a loon, which is a water bird, seemed to be stranded in the middle of the lake in a small area where there was still open water.

Now a loon needs a long stretch of water in which to lift out of the water and begin to fly. However, the open water on this lake was fast becoming frozen. Every day more ice was forming, and the loon’s area of open water was becoming smaller and smaller.

Nearby, an eagle was closely watching the loon, apparently waiting for the bird to be completely stranded. It looked like an easy meal or two for the eagle, since an escape for the loon was looking very hopeless.

The kind man who had been watching the stranded loon tried again and again to save the bird. For twelve days, the man attempted to save the loon, but the loon fought against being rescued. And with each passing day, the area of open water was becoming smaller and smaller as more ice formed. And with each passing day, the eagle still waited and watched the bird.

Have you ever stopped to realize that if you are playing a waiting game with your sins, you are in increasing danger - your days may be numbered? Just as that kind man wanted to rescue the bird, there is a kind, loving Saviour who wants to rescue sinners from the punishment for their sins. The Bible tells us that “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners” (1 Timothy 1:15). But like the loon, are you resisting the only One who can rescue you from the danger that is approaching? When you hear about the Saviour who loves you and died for you, how many times have you said in your heart, I’m doing okay; just leave me alone! And another opportunity passes . . . and more ice forms.

Finally, the ice on the lake became thick enough to hold the weight of the man. Then he was able to get close enough to toss a nylon net over the loon. He wrapped the net securely around the bird and took the loon to a large body of open water where he released it. The last he saw of the loon, it was bobbing up and down on the waves, leading it far away from shore. The rescued bird was free and safe at last from the hungry eagle.

What joy the Lord Jesus would have if you would give up your ideas to try to save yourself from your sins and allow the precious message of salvation to enter your heart and save you. “Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God” (1 Peter 3:18). Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me” (John 14:6).

ML-03/05/2006

A Forgotten Prize

While Robby was still opening the door, he hollered happily, “Hi, Grandma, it’s hobby class day!”

“Sure is,” I answered, “but it’s only 11:00, and it doesn’t start until 2:00. You have to play for a while and eat lunch before we go.”

But Robby was only four years old, so at 11:05 he asked, “How long is it till hobby class?” At 11:10 he asked, “Is it time for hobby class yet?” At 11:15 he asked, “When is hobby class going to start?”

By 12:00 I was tired of reminding him that we had to wait until 2:00, so I told him I would give him a prize if he didn’t ask again. He didn’t ask, and hobby class time finally came.

The children had fun painting sun catchers to decorate their windows at home. Then after everyone had a yummy cupcake and some juice, we sang choruses, and Henry spoke to us about God and the sun.

Henry told us that in the beginning God created the sun (Genesis 1). In the Book of Joshua, God, who controls the sun, made it stand still so His people could have an extra-long day to win a victory over their enemies (Joshua 10). In Matthew, Mark and Luke we read how God darkened the sun so it could not shine at all for three hours while He punished His own beloved Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, for the sins of all who will believe (Matthew 27). Then in Acts we’re told how God made a light shine even brighter than the sun - so bright that it blinded Saul of Tarsus when he was on his way to gather up the Christians to throw them into prison (Acts 9). The last thing Henry told us about the sun was that in heaven we won’t need it because the Lord Himself will be the light there (Revelation 22).

Then hobby class was over. Robby’s mommy and daddy took him home, I went home to my house, and both of us forgot about Robby’s prize.

I hadn’t been home very long before the telephone rang. When I answered, a little voice said, “Grandma?”

“Yes?”

“Grandma, you forgot my prize.”

“Oh, I’m sorry, Robby,” I answered. “But I’ll tell you what. When you come to Sunday school tomorrow, I’ll give it to you then. Will that be okay?”

“Yes, that will be okay, Grandma,” Robby said thoughtfully. Then he added, “But you better write it down in case you forget.”

God never forgets His children. He tells them, “I [will] not forget thee. . . . I have [engraved] thee upon the palms of My hands” (Isaiah 49:1516). There are many things in God’s Word, the Bible, that He would like us to think about and remember, too. I wonder if we pay close attention to what He tells us in the Bible so we’ll never forget.

Here is one verse that tells us something God wants us to remember: “Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth” (Ecclesiastes 12:1). This would be an easy verse to memorize.

ML-03/05/2006

A Letter from Gramma and Grampa: The Canadian Geese

Dear Boys and Girls,

Would you like to hear about the wild Canada geese that come to our creek every year? I know some of you have been here when these big, beautiful birds arrive in the spring. It is a wonderful sight! So for those who have never heard or seen them, I will try to tell you what it’s like. They usually arrive back in the middle of March, and lots of times the creek and pond are still covered with ice.

First, we hear them coming. We hear them calling, “HONK, HONK, HONK!” Then we see them . . . sometimes ten, sometimes up to a hundred! What a sound and what a sight!

You know, children, God has given us ears to hear and eyes to see. Proverbs 20:12 Says, “The hearing ear, and the seeing eye, the Lord hath made even both of them.” I hope that you are using your eyes and ears the right way and not in foolish things.

When these geese come in and land on the ice, Gramma and I always have a good laugh! As they land, they sit back on their tails, spread their wings out and slide along on the ice as if they are skiing! When they have all landed, I go to the barn and get a pail full of corn to feed them.

After flying about 500 miles, the geese are very hungry. So I carry this bucket of corn down to the edge of the ice and then throw the corn out onto the ice. I call out to these geese and talk to them. Then I rattle the empty pail to let them know that there is food here for them. Some of these same geese come here every year, and they recognize the sound of the pail and know my voice. Then I make my way back up to the house where Gramma and I usually sit and look out the window at these lovely birds for about an hour. We marvel every year at God’s care of His creation, and we never get tired of it.

As the weather warms up, the ice will melt. Then I start feeding the geese on land. Each morning I take a pail of corn down to the creek and spread it around for them to eat. By this time, we only have 30 to 40 left to feed as the rest have gone farther north. It takes about a week to ten days of talking to them and rattling the pail to tame them. Then I can walk among them and scatter the corn with them following me.

One morning I was late in feeding them, and when I opened the back door to go to the barn, they were standing by the door of the barn waiting for me to get their food! Amazing! Another morning I brought Gramma with me. Guess what happened? The geese swam out into the creek! As soon as she left, they came back. Do you know why? Because she is a stranger and the geese do not know her!

I thought about what the Lord Jesus said in John 10: “I am the good shepherd, and know My sheep, and am known [by My own]” (vs. 14). “My sheep hear My voice . . . and they follow Me” (vs. 27). “A stranger will they not follow, but will [run away] from him; for they know not the voice of strangers” (vs. 5). “I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish” (vs. 28). Boys and girls, I give these hungry geese food to eat, but the Lord Jesus gives us eternal life!

“Do all the geese come in to eat corn, Grampa?”

I’m sad to say that some don’t. As much as I call, some will not come in out of the water. And the Lord Jesus has said sadly in John 5:40 that there are people who will not come to Him: “Ye will not come to Me, that ye might have life.”

Now, for you children who have never come to the Lord Jesus Christ for eternal life, He is calling to you as you read this letter. Don’t be like some of those geese who start to come in but turn back just before they get to the corn. The Lord Jesus is calling to you, “Incline [bend] your ear, and come unto Me: hear, and your soul shall live” (Isaiah 55:3).

And for you children who are already one of His sheep, do you remember He said that His sheep will run away from a stranger? That’s what you need to do! If a stranger comes to you and they do not read from the holy Bible and if it does not sound like the Shepherd’s voice, you run away as fast as you can! They do not have the words of eternal life!

Now then, children, thanks for reading this looooooong letter.

Lots of love from Gramma and Grampa

ML-03/12/2006

What's Living in There?

Gracie was getting ready to start to school. In kindergarten she would need some pencils, a notebook, eraser, ruler, scissors, crayons, paste, a new dress and new shoes. She would also need a doctor’s checkup.

Gracie’s doctor used his otoscope to carefully examine her ears to see if they were okay. Yes, they were fine. He playfully asked her, “Did you think I saw a big bird in there?”

Gracie did not answer.

After checking her eyes, the doctor got a tongue depressor and told Gracie to open her mouth and say “Aaaaaah” while he looked in. “Everything’s fine!” Then he asked, “Do you think I saw a monster down in there?”

Again no answer.

Gracie’s neck glands were fine too, so the doctor got his stethoscope and explained, “Now I’m going to listen to your heart. Hmmm, sounds good.” And then he asked, “Is that some kind of animal that’s making all that thumping noise in your heart?”

Gracie quickly replied, “Oh no, Doctor. I have Jesus in my heart!”

I wonder what the doctor thought of that answer. Could you give the doctor Gracie’s answer? Do you know the Lord Jesus Christ as your very own Saviour? We have all sinned, but Jesus died on the cross, shedding His blood so our sins could be washed away.

Will you open your heart to let Jesus wash away your sins? Then you can say like Gracie, “I have Jesus in my heart too.”

“Today if ye will hear His voice, harden not your hearts” (Hebrews 4:7).

At the heart’s door the Saviour’s waiting,

At the heart’s door locked in sin;

Can’t you hear Him gently knocking?

Open the door and let Him in.

ML-03/19/2006

A Bear on the Playground

Rrrrrrring! went the bell, and children of every size and age ran out the school door for recess. They climbed over the monkey bars, swung high on the big swings, and ran laughing and chasing one another through the playground.

The children were busy playing when, just beyond the schoolyard in a thick patch of blackberry bushes, a big brown bear stood up on his two hind feet to have a look around. He stood about as tall as a man, but his body was much thicker and heavier. He had small eyes that were hard to see, because they were the same color as his fur. And he had big nostrils.

Suddenly he was spotted! Shouts of “BEAR!” and “RUN FOR YOUR LIFE!” rang out from many of the children across the playground. In the panic and confusion, the playground supervisor quickly herded the children back into the building as fast as they could go. Some children were so frightened, they couldn’t stop crying for several minutes. But a few boys had to be stopped from going back outside to get another glimpse of the bear.

By the time the police arrived at the school, the bear had wandered off into a nearby wooded area. The teachers and principal of the school were very careful to keep all the children safe inside. Parents were telephoned and told to come pick up their children or be waiting for them at their bus stops. When the children left the school building, a sheriff’s deputy stood nearby . . . in case the bear should return.

People in this Seattle suburb didn’t expect to see bears in their community. Many years ago bears had roamed freely in the area, but those times were long past. In place of the huge forests, many new houses, stores and roads had been built.

That evening, the Department of Natural Resources placed a big bear trap in the woods just behind the school. The trap looked like a giant tube with a trap door at one end. They baited the bear trap with donuts - a favorite of bears. That big bear must have had quite the sweet tooth, because sometime that night he climbed into the trap and devoured the donuts, while the trap door slammed down behind him.

The next morning when school children were dropped off at the school, they were told to go inside immediately. Some of the children told the principal and teachers they were still afraid.

When the men who had set the trap heard that some of the children were still afraid, they thought of a way to help them. They asked the principal if the children could look at the bear in the trap and watch as he was driven off in a truck. This would prove to the children that the bear was gone!

The principal thought it was a good plan. All the children were lined up and got a good look at the bear in the trap. Some even waved to him as he was driven off. The bear was taken many miles away, up into the Cascade Mountains where he was released into the wild.

The children at the school were reassured when they could watch the captured bear being driven away. But here is something you and I have not been able to see with our eyes. Nearly two thousand years ago, the Lord Jesus died on the cross. While He hung there, He became the only sacrifice for sins that God will ever accept. So perfect was the work that the Lord Jesus finished there that anyone who trusts in Him will be saved for all eternity. Because the finished work of His Son means so much to God, anyone who trusts in Him will have their sins completely forgiven forever. “I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more” (Jeremiah 31:34). There is no other way to have forgiveness from God but through faith in His Son. Jesus is the Saviour that sinners so desperately need.

After Jesus died, He was placed in a dark tomb, and a large stone was rolled over its entrance. However, God didn’t leave Him in that tomb. Three days later Jesus arose from the dead. Many people saw Him after His resurrection. His disciples touched Him, talked with Him, and ate with Him. After forty days He was received up into heaven to sit at God’s right hand where He is today.

You and I were not there to see the Lord Jesus die on the cross when He became the sin bearer. We did not see Him after He had risen. But others did. We have their eyewitness accounts in the Bible, the Word of God.

Jesus, the Son of God, came to this earth and died for sinners. Because He rose from the dead, all who believe on Him can know that their sins are gone forever. “If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved” (Romans 10:9).

It is a story of love that is greater than any other ever told. Only the truth of Christ’s death and resurrection can bring peace to sinners who are troubled before God about their sins.

Although we may not have seen Jesus in person when He came to earth, every believer will see Him face to face in heaven. Seeing our Saviour will bring great joy to our hearts. Heaven will be full of joys that will never end.

Every unbeliever will see the Son of God too. But there will be nothing joyful about it; instead, it will be with great terror and sorrow. Since they did not receive Him as their Saviour, unbelieving sinners will face Him as their Judge who will sentence them to everlasting punishment. “These shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal” (Matthew 25:46).

Won’t you come to Jesus and let Him be your Saviour so that you will never have to face Him as your Judge?

The children at the school knew for sure that the bear was gone, and believers can know for sure that their sins are gone forever, because the Lord Jesus rose again. “These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God” (1 John 5:13).

ML-03/26/2006

Fill in

Suppose you were to wake up one morning in your second-floor bedroom, roll over in bed and stare into the eyes of an elephant peeking in your window! Of course, that isn’t likely ever to happen. But it is true that an Asian bull elephant’s shoulders are nine and one-half feet tall and that they have no problem standing on their hind legs, which would make them even taller.

Now, have you ever gone swimming and tried to see how many laps you could make at the city pool without getting tired? Or perhaps you have tried to swim all the way across the lake near your house. It wouldn’t take too many trips before most of us would be tired. However, elephants have been known to swim thirty miles across the open sea, from one island to another! Sometimes they swim underwater with their trunks sticking up above the water, like a snorkel.

Elephants that weigh nearly ten tons seem so different from us, but they actually have a lot to teach us and in some ways remind us of ourselves. There was a naughty elephant named Jumbo at the zoo in Dresden, Germany. He got sick and wouldn’t eat anything. He even refused to take the medicine that the zookeepers tried to give him, but they noticed that Jumbo would grab and eat the food they brought to the other two elephants in the same yard with him. So one keeper hid the medicine in a crust of bread and held it out to the other elephants. Jumbo immediately grabbed it and stuffed it into his mouth, realizing too late that he had been tricked. From then on, he grabbed stones in his trunk and threw them at the kind zookeeper every time he tried to come near.

Are you like Jumbo? There are many people who are, and I don’t mean that they weigh ten tons. They are like Jumbo because they won’t accept the kind person who tells them the needed truth that they are sinners. The Bible says, “All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).

Maybe you don’t like to hear that message, but God always tells the truth. He loves each of us so much that He sent His Son Jesus to die for our sins on the cross. The Bible says that “Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures; and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:34). You only need to repent, admitting that you have sinned against God and need the salvation He offers you. He won’t try to trick you into taking the medicine the way the zookeeper tricked Jumbo. He offers salvation as the only remedy for your sins, but you must accept it from Him, knowing that you are a guilty sinner who has no other hope. “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved” (Acts 16:31).

ML-04/02/2006

Taken by Surprise

Stephen’s hiccups just would not go away! His mom tried giving him honey, then counting to ten while he held his breath and several other methods, but nothing worked. Then she remembered having heard someone say that sometimes a sudden surprise will stop them. Stephen’s mom thought it was worth a try, so without thinking about what she would say she turned to Stephen suddenly and with a gruff voice said, “OH YES, STEPHEN! WHAT WERE YOU DOING LAST TUESDAY AFTERNOON?”

There was a great silence as Stephen’s face became white with guilt. All he could think was, Who could have told my mom? He was sure no one had seen him!

But Stephen had forgotten to look up. “Thou God seest me” (Genesis 16:13). And though no one on earth had seen Stephen in his secret sin that Tuesday afternoon, God saw, and He sent His messenger, the hiccups, to tell on him. And sure enough, as soon as the hiccups’ assignment was finished, they went away.

Do you have some secret sins that you are sure no one else knows about? Everyone has some, for we are all born sinners. Luke 8:17 says, “Nothing is secret, that shall not be made manifest [displayed]; neither anything hid, that shall not be known and come abroad.” This could be very embarrassing for all of us. But you know, children, God is so kind that He says, “If we confess our sins [to Him], He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). Then he assures us, “Their sins and iniquities will I remember no more” (Hebrews 10:17). Since Christ bore our sins in His own body on the tree, we have only to rest in the fact that He has taken our punishment for us and realize that what God no longer remembers, we must not think about anymore either. Now God says in Philippians 4:8 that we are to think about things that are true, honest, just, pure, lovely and of good report. When we think of our Saviour, we think of the whole list at once, don’t we? But God also wants us to notice these traits in others. Seeing these is God’s love working in us.

Now it may surprise you to know that just as God does not want us to have secret sins, He also does not want us to have secret love. He says “open rebuke is better than secret love” (Proverbs 27:5). So tell those around you today how they have helped and encouraged you in your Christian life. It may come at the very time that Satan is trying to discourage them by telling them what a failure they are. You can be God’s messenger to encourage them to continue in well doing.

How about starting right now with your mom and dad

ML-04/02/2006

So Close to Rest

I am sure every boy and girl wants to go to heaven. It is a place of eternal life and joy and costs nothing to go there. It is a free gift to all who believe that Jesus died for their very own sins and accept His gift of salvation. Don’t you think it would be a dreadful thing to expect to be accepted into heaven and then discover that you don’t have a “passport” or the right “key.” This story might help you understand a little of what it might be like.

Three men from the country decided they wanted to visit a large city and spend the weekend sightseeing. They arrived at their hotel and were given a large room on the twenty-ninth floor. So as not to waste any time, they stored their bags in the hotel lobby and then began to take a sightseeing walk around the city.

After a few hours they were tired and decided to go back to the hotel for a rest. How they looked forward to getting off their feet and lying down in a nice, comfortable room.

When they got to the hotel, they were told that, unfortunately, the elevator was out of order. They could either walk up the stairs to the twenty-ninth floor or take cheaper rooms on the second floor. After talking it over, they decided to walk up the stairs so they could enjoy the larger room with a wonderful view of the city.

And so they began to climb . . . up one floor . . . up the next . . . three . . . four . . . and they had to rest . . . five . . . six . . . seven . . . eight . . . their legs were getting really tired, but they dragged themselves on, resting and slowly climbing up and up. When at last they reached their door on the twenty-ninth floor, they looked at each other for the key. Who had the key? You can imagine their great disappointment when they realized that none of them had asked for the key from the attendant at the hotel desk. They were so close to a place of rest . . . but they couldn’t get in! They had neglected the most important thing of all.

While these men knew that somehow they could struggle on a little longer and go down again to get the key, it will not be the same for anyone who does not have the “key” to heaven. God has planned only one way to heaven. He has sent His Son, the Lord Jesus, to die in our place, so that all who believe in Him and accept Him as their Saviour will be welcome there. The Bible tells us that “God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). With Jesus we have a place of rest and joy promised to us when we leave this world, for He said, “I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto Myself; that where I am, there ye may be also” (John 14:23). And if we have taken Him as our Saviour, we won’t have to worry that we might be turned away, for He Himself is the key.

Do not neglect the most important thing of all - do not leave this world without Him! He is the key!

ML-04/09/2006

Hidden From the Hailstorm

What a treat Pat and Artie were having! Vacationing with Grandpa in beautiful Switzerland and Austria, the boys had seen the great glacier which is the source of the mighty Rhone River, and they had even gone into an ice cave in the glacier. A highlight of the trip was the train ride up through the Alps to Gornergrat. All the way up in the train, they had glimpses of the breathtaking, majestic mountain peak known as the Matterhorn. To many people, this rugged mountain is a symbol of Switzerland.

After arriving at the Gornergrat train station, Grandpa and the boys set off along the rocks of a mountain ridge to get a better view of the Matterhorn and to take some pictures. Grandpa was particular about his photography, and the view that day was certainly worth taking pictures of. While he was getting some pictures, Pat and Artie scampered around on the rocks.

Suddenly and unbelievably fast, the Matterhorn disappeared behind clouds, and the sky became overcast. It began to hail, and Grandpa became concerned about their safety.

Just then Grandpa spotted a place where the rocks jutted out overhead, a place where they could huddle and be safe from the worst of the hailstorm. It was windy and cold now that the sun was behind the clouds. Thinking the boys might be hungry, Grandpa remembered something. Fishing around in his jacket pocket, he found a bar of delicious Swiss chocolate, which he shared with the two boys. Then, almost as suddenly as it started, the storm let up. They lost no time in making their way back to the Gornergrat train station. How thankful they were to the Lord Jesus for the hiding place they had found in the rock!

Boys and girls, there is a lovely verse in the Bible in Isaiah 32:2 which says, “A Man shall be as an hiding place from the wind, and a covert [shelter] from the tempest; as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land.” Who is that Man? Why, it is no one else but the Lord Jesus Christ, our precious Saviour. An old hymn tells us,

Oh, Jesus is a Rock

in a weary land,

A shelter in the time

of storm.

When the storm of God’s judgment broke in all its fury on the Lord Jesus while He was on the cross of Calvary, He had no shelter. But He became a shelter for all who will put their trust in Him.

Have you found shelter in Him?

ML-04/09/2006

Floating Down the Sewage Pipe

As most of you know, the water from your sinks, showers, bathtubs and toilets goes down into drainpipes. If you live in a town or city, these pipes eventually drain into very large pipes that are usually under the street. These large pipes collect the wastewater from thousands of homes, taking it away to a sewage disposal plant where the water is treated and purified. Sometimes the large pipes under the street need repairs, and for this reason there are holes in the road called manholes. These holes are usually covered with heavy metal covers that can be removed to allow workmen to go down and inspect or repair the sewer lines.

A few years ago in the city of Toronto, Canada, a workman went down into a manhole to work on a big sewer line. A lot of sewage was flowing rather quickly in that particular part of the system. The place where he was standing was very slippery, so he had to be extra careful as he worked. Suddenly his light went out, and when he reached out to try to fix it, he lost his balance and fell into the flow of sewage! There he was in total darkness under the street, being carried along by that flow of very dirty water. He tried hard to stop himself and crawl back to the place where he had fallen in, but the current was too strong and the pipe was too slippery. He just could not stop himself from being carried along.

This reminds us of how sin acts on us. If we are not saved, we are like that workman who fell into that filthy water and was not able to help himself. No matter how hard he tried, he could not get out. The Bible says that without Christ we are “without strength” (Romans 5:6) and that we are “sold under sin” (Romans 7:14). Just as that workman became very dirty in that water, so we are filthy before God because of our sins.

What was the poor workman to do? Even if he shouted for help, no one would have heard him down in that sewer. But thankfully someone discovered the problem. His coworker was up in the truck, and he heard a commotion when the light went out and the workman fell into the water. The coworker went down the ladder into the manhole and quickly realized that the workman had fallen into the sewage. He immediately went back up, called the sanitation department at the city hall and told them what had happened. But no one there knew what to do! They did not know where the man was under all those hundreds of roads in the big city of Toronto, and they did not know how to rescue him. More than this, they knew that if someone did not rescue him soon, he would be washed down to a place where there was a very steep drop in the pipe. Then he would almost certainly be badly hurt or even killed.

Again, this is like the sinner before God. Many people are trying to get right with God by doing good deeds - helping their neighbors, giving money to poor people, and other things like that. Some people make New Year’s resolutions, trying to get free from bad habits. But the Bible says that “all our righteousnesses [good works] are as filthy rags” (Isaiah 64:6). The workman in that sewer struggled, but the more he struggled, the dirtier he got. So it is with sin. We cannot get free from sin by our own efforts. But God has made a way for you and me to be saved from our sins. And someone down at city hall came up with a plan to save the workman.

An engineer heard about the problem, and he quickly took out a map of the sewage system. “Where did the man fall in?” he asked. Someone pointed out the exact spot. The engineer knew where the sewage would flow from that point and how fast the current was flowing, so he made some fast calculations. Then he called other workmen on their cell phones and said, “Go to a certain intersection, open the manhole, and you should be able to catch him in a few minutes.”

As you may imagine, the men drove quickly to the intersection, opened the manhole and went down inside. Sure enough, within a minute or two the man floated right to them, filthy dirty and weak but still struggling to try to save himself. How relieved he was when he recognized some of his fellow-workers, and strong arms lifted him out of that awful water! Thankfully he was not hurt, and after a good, hot shower he was all right.

Children (and grown-ups too), God has made a way so that you too can be saved from the filth of sin. This world has tried many things to get rid of sin, but the Bible says that “all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). However, God has sent His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, to die for our sins. By simply believing on Him, our sins can be washed away, for “the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin” (1 John 1:7). That man in the sewer could not get out by himself, for he was only getting weaker as he struggled in that slippery pipe. He needed someone else to save him. It did not cost the engineer much to figure out how to find him, and it didn’t cost his fellow-workers much to go down and lift him out. But God had to send His only Son to die so that you and I could be saved.

What would you have thought if the workman in the sewer had refused the help and told the men that he could get out by himself ? Of course he did not do that; he knew he could not save himself. How sad it is that many people today are refusing to come to the Lord Jesus because they do not realize that they need a Saviour. Will you let Him save you today?

ML-04/16/2006

He Didn't Believe in Solid Water

As every schoolboy and schoolgirl will know, Africa is a land with a hot climate. Until recent years the native children knew nothing about ice or snow. I read about a missionary in Africa who tried to explain to some of them how lakes became hard and solid in his northern homeland. He told them that children could play on top of the water. But nobody believed him. They did not understand that water could freeze when it became very cold. They had never seen it, so they didn’t believe it.

The missionary brought one of the African boys with him when he came back home for a visit and took him to a frozen lake. The missionary asked him to walk on the ice with him, but the boy was afraid. The missionary took him by the hand, and together they walked out across the lake, walking on the water just like the missionary had said.

“You did not believe what I said about solid water,” the missionary reminded him.

“I believe NOW,” the boy replied quickly.

He had to see it before he would believe. He did not trust the missionary’s word when he could not see it.

The Lord Jesus has told us a lot of things about God. He has told us how we can come to know Him and how we can have a happy place in heaven after we die or an unhappy place of torment if we do not believe Him. He asks us to believe BEFORE we see, for He is simply telling the truth. He has said, “Blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed” (John 20:29). Jesus said He was THE TRUTH. He could not tell a lie. How important it is then that we listen to every word He says, because, like the missionary, He is simply telling what He has seen and knows, because He is the Son of God and came from heaven. He also warns, “He that believeth on Him [Jesus] is not condemned; but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God” (John 3:18).

Will you believe what Jesus has told us?

ML-04/23/2006

Found Through Translation

A missionary was translating the New Testament of the Bible into one of the forms of the Turkish language. He had been working with a group living in one of the Russian republics known as the Kirghizs who were Buddhists. He was able to get the help of two young men from the republic in the translation work. They were glad to help and asked many questions about the missionary’s family and country. This translating went on for many months. The missionary and the two young men each took a number of verses to translate. Every day they met to compare these translations together and decide which was the best. In the course of this work, the two men asked many questions about the gospel, which the missionary was always glad to answer.

Finally the translation was finished, and they met again for the last time. The completed translation lay on the table. Since their work was finished, the missionary expected the young men to say “good-bye” and leave, but they didn’t. Instead they sat very quietly by the table looking serious and thoughtful. The missionary wondered what was bothering them and asked if they had any questions.

“No,” they answered, “but we have something to say.”

“Well, my friends, speak up,” replied the missionary. And then to his surprise and delight, the older one pointed to the translation on the table and said, “I want to tell you that we are both converted to the religion of that book. We have been followers of the teachings of Buddha. We have studied the books closely which contain his teachings. The more we studied them, the more confused we became, and our hearts remained empty. But in studying the truths of Jesus Christ, we have found it to be just the opposite. The more we study His words, the plainer they become to us.”

They had seen Jesus. They had found Him to be “a light to lighten the Gentiles” (Luke 2:32). And what a beautiful illustration this is of the truth and meaning of King David’s words when he says, “The entrance of Thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple” (Psalm 119:130).

ML-04/30/2006

Drywalled In

Buzz! . . . Tap, tap! . . . Bang! The basement of Jany’s home was a busy place. Workmen were doing some remodeling in the basement, making it more livable. This meant hammering large sheets of drywall into place so that there would be fresh, new walls in the remodeled area. It was exciting to see the changes the workmen made. At last they were all finished, and the dust had been cleared away. Everything was much quieter.

Jany was happy with the changes in the basement, but there was one thing that made her sad. She had a pet cat, and she said her kitty was “a sweet little thing, but very shy,” and now she could not find her. At first Jany thought that the cat had run away. The days of hammering and confusion were probably scary for a small cat, and she thought her kitty might have wanted to get away from the noisy house. But as time passed and still no kitty showed up, Jany became very concerned. Four days went by, and then five . . . still the kitty had not come home. Where could she be? Then Jany had a frightening thought . . . could the cat be trapped somewhere in the house?

Jany went down into the basement. “Here, kitty, kitty,” she called. Suddenly she heard a faint meow coming from behind the walls that had just been drywalled!

A big wall was separating that little cat from her owner, and there was NO WAY poor kitty could get over it or through it all by herself. No amount of pawing and scratching and jumping was enough to free her. That must have been terrible for the little pet. But there is another awful wall which you may not see, but it is just as real. It is a wall that separates boys and girls from God - it is the wall of sin. The Bible tells us, “Your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid His face from you” (Isaiah 59:2). Our iniquities are the bad things that we have done. All of us have sinned, and those sins have made a wall between us and the Lord Jesus. Nothing we can do is enough to take away that “wall.” Trying to be good is not enough, and doing the best we can is not enough. Anything we try is as useless as the poor kitty pawing away at a wall with no opening in it.

Jany knew that the kitty could never get out by herself and would die unless someone came to the rescue. She called the fire department, and a crew was sent out to the house. First they cut a small hole in the drywall near where Jany had heard the cat’s cries. Behind the hole they found only insulation and no cat. But Jany was sure she had heard that faint meow behind the wall! So the firemen then brought in a special camera - a thermal imaging camera-to see if they could find a heat pattern somewhere. (A living body is warmer than the air around it, and so this camera could look for some sign that a living creature was behind the wall.)

The firemen were doing their very best to find the kitty. Do you know that there is Someone who is looking for you? The Bible tells us that “the Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke 19:10). The Lord Jesus loves you and does not want you to remain behind that wall of sin, because “the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). All of us will die and be forever lost -unless our terrible sins are taken from us. The Bible tells us that the Lord Jesus made a way to rescue us. He was willing to be punished for those sins on the cross, and now He offers a pardon to anyone who will trust in Him. His blood can cleanse us “from all sin” (1 John 1:7). The death of the Lord Jesus can solve the problem of the wall between us and God.

Lt. Steve Hanson wanted to get Jany’s cat out from behind that basement wall. Using that special camera, he could see a heat pattern up in the ceiling, so he cut a hole at that spot. But when he looked in with a flashlight, the kitty was not there. However, as he shone the flashlight around, he caught sight of her on a floor joist in another room! He hurried to call Jany to the hole.

“Here, kitty, kitty, kitty,” Jany called again. This was a familiar voice to the weak, hungry little cat. She knew that voice, and while everyone watched eagerly, a dusty little pet suddenly came tumbling out of the ceiling! All she needed was some food and water to put her on the road to recovery.

Have you heard a voice calling you? The Lord Jesus says, “Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool” (Isaiah 1:18). Wouldn’t that cat have been foolish if she ignored her owner’s voice? It was the way to safety, and all she needed to do was come. And that’s exactly what you need to do: “Come unto Me,” says the Lord Jesus, “and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).

ML-05/07/2006

Rabbits on the Highway

We were driving through an area where there were trees on both sides of the highway. The pavement seemed wide and the trees were quite a distance from the highway. Something was moving ahead of us on the highway, so we slowed down our speed a little. As we got closer, the little creatures on the road were running ahead of us so fast that we could hardly recognize what they were!

When we came even closer and were going very slowly, we realized it was a mother rabbit and the tiniest baby rabbit we had ever seen! When the mother dashed in one direction, the baby rabbit did the same thing. So they continued on ahead of us on the highway, dashing one direction, then another, with the baby rabbit always following right behind its mother.

We decided they came from the nearby woods but were bewildered when coming to a paved highway. We feared for their lives as a fast vehicle could easily run over the pair. But as we drove away, they were still running together as fast as they could on the paved highway.

It was evident the baby rabbit completely trusted its mother, because whatever little twist in direction the mother took, the baby followed right behind her! How good it is for young boys and girls, as well as we who are older, to put our trust in the Lord Jesus and follow Him closely. He won’t lead us the wrong way; He promises to guide us the right way. “This God is our God forever and ever: He will be our guide even unto death” (Psalm 48:14). “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding” (Proverbs 3:5).

ML-05/07/2006

Saved Twice Was Not Enough

One day a young boy named Philip was swimming in his wealthy parents’ swimming pool in England. He got into trouble in the water and was struggling to keep from drowning. He would have gone under if it had not been for Alex, the gardener’s son, who heard his cries for help. Alex jumped in and rescued Philip. The boy’s parents were so grateful they asked the gardener and his wife how they could repay their son Alex. The parents said that Alex wished desperately that he could have an education, because he very much wanted to become a doctor. Philip’s grateful family arranged for Alex to continue his education, and as the years passed, the young man did indeed become a doctor.

Philip also grew up and became an important figure in politics. But one day he lay critically ill in a hospital. No medicine helped, and it seemed he would certainly die. Dr. Alex was called in. He and a fellow researcher had just discovered an amazing substance that was powerful in curing certain cases of the same illness. Dr. Alex prescribed this medicine to the sick man. To the amazement and relief of everyone, Philip recovered. He said to Dr. Alex, “It is not often that a man’s life has been saved twice by the same person!”

But saved twice was not enough. Dr. Alex had saved Philip’s life twice, but he could not save his soul. While the body will sooner or later die, decay and disappear, the soul will live on to spend eternity in one of two places - with Christ in heaven or to be separated from God and lost forever.

The Lord Jesus said, “Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3). Every one of us must make the decision to accept or reject what Christ has done for us. He died in our place on the cross as the sin bearer, and all we have to do is come to Him, confessing that we are sinners and want Him to forgive our sins and save us. Will you believe the gracious words He spoke when He said, “Him that cometh to Me I will in no [way] cast out” (John 6:37)?

We hope Philip came to Jesus and had the experience of being saved three times - twice by Alex in this life on earth and once by Jesus for everlasting life in heaven.

ML-05/14/2006

A Heavy Pack

“You’re going to be walking a long way,” my mother had said. “I’d like my son to have a good backpack.”

It was going to be my first trip to Mexico to visit the Mixtex Indians. Many of them live in far-off villages scattered through the hills of Oaxaca, Mexico. My mother was right. Just to get to the village where the Bible conference was to be held, we would have to walk for many hours over the hills.

Mother kindly bought me the best backpack she could find. It was so light that you could lift it with one finger, and it had foam padding on the straps to keep the straps from cutting into my shoulders. When it was packed with extra clothes, some medicines and a few other things that I might need, I tried the new backpack on. Sure, it was fine. I could carry that load easily enough!

A few weeks later we arrived in Mexico at the point where we would begin the hike.

“Could I carry your pack for you?” asked one of the Christian Indians.

“No thanks, I’m fine,” I told him.

So we started off on the long walk. The backpack worked nicely, but the longer we walked the heavier it got. Surely those things I had packed weren’t so heavy when I had tried it on at home! On we walked with the hot sun beating on our heads, up one hill and down another. Everyone had loads to carry now, so there was no one to offer to help with my backpack.

I began to be afraid that I would never make it, but after two hours someone came to meet us over the hills with a horse. This time when they offered I gladly gave up the pack, and it was tied to the horse. I was so tired that it did not matter to me that the padded straps of my new backpack were not being used the way they were meant to be but were dangling from the horse’s saddle.

Many times since then I have warned boys and girls that the load of sin is like the load in my backpack. The longer you carry it, the heavier it gets. This world tries to make sin look attractive, but it is still a heavy load. No matter how “light” your load of sin may feel when you are young, it will get heavier as you grow older. After a while, the “foam padding” of pleasure no longer eases the weight of sins.

The Lord Jesus came into the world to free you from this load of sin. He Himself carried the load of sin when He was on the cross so that you might be free of your burden forever. “Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many” (Hebrews 9:28).

Oh, that you might today feel the weight of your sins and turn to Christ for salvation. “Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).

My backpack was the best that money could buy, but it could not keep my load from being heavy when I carried it for a long time. May you accept Christ as your Saviour now while you are young, before the load of sin becomes too heavy for you to carry. “Sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death” (James 1:15).

“Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth” (Ecclesiastes 12:1).

ML-05/14/2006

An Agonizing Choice

This story is about an agonizing choice that a mother of young children was forced to make. Whether she made the right choice or not, you will have to read this story to find out.

Ramakrishan, a young man, was mending his fishing net. He had made a good catch that morning, but his net had been damaged. It was now stretched between two palm trees, and he was carefully tying up the holes in the net. His wife Sangreta had a washtub and soap and was busy scrubbing her family’s clothes. After the clothes were washed, she would lay them out on rocks to dry in the sun. Every once in a while she would disappear into their one-room hut to attend to the cooking for a few moments.

Their small village on the Southeast coast of India had many huts, most no bigger than their own. Ramakrishan and Sangreta had three sons; the oldest was seven and the youngest had barely learned to walk. They were playing outside in the sand. Sometimes they would throw a stick for their dog to fetch and have a good game of tug-of-war when he returned with the stick.

As he repaired his net, Ramakrishan was watching the tide. It had gone out farther than he had ever seen it before, and it made him uneasy. He thought he heard something far out over the water in the distance. The distant sound bothered him, so he decided to climb the steep path to the top of the hill behind their hut and take a look. As he climbed, the strange noise from the sea grew louder. At the top of the hill looking out over the water, he could hardly believe what he was seeing! A giant wave, taller than the highest palm tree, was swiftly rolling towards his village! From the top of the hill he called down to his wife, “Sangreta, Sangreta, a tidal wave is coming! Grab the children and run for your lives!”

Sangreta dropped what she was doing and ran to the small children. But here she had a terrible choice to make. She had only two arms and there were three children! Because of the urgency in her husband’s voice, she knew she didn’t have a moment to waste. She gathered up the two youngest in her arms and told the oldest boy, “Dinakren, run and follow me up the hill!” Dinakren, who had just turned seven years old, would have to flee for his life on his own two feet.

Sangreta turned and ran to the path that led up the hillside. Other villagers alerted to the danger were running with them. Up she began to climb, panting for breath. In the press of frantic, running people, she lost sight of Dinakren.

As Dinakren lost sight of his mother, he turned and went back to their hut with the dog at his heels. He was scared, and his home had always been a safe place.

When she got to the top of the hill, Sangreta looked for her oldest son, but he was nowhere to be seen! She ran through the crowd, asking neighbors, “Where is Dinakren? Have you seen Dinakren?” One neighbor said she had seen the boy going into their hut. Just then the giant wave of water hit the shore and crashed into the village!

The wave crushed the boats on the beach and flattened the huts of the village. Sangreta saw the concrete walls of her own hut collapse under the terrible weight and force of the water. The destruction of the hut meant only one thing to Sangreta - her son had died inside! She fell to the ground weeping, her heart crushed with grief for her boy whom she loved.

Sangreta had been forced to make an agonizing choice - which children she would carry to safety. God, too, made an incredible decision so that sinners might be carried to safety. “The Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world” (1 John 4:14). In love to perishing sinners, God the Father sent the Lord Jesus into the world where He would suffer, bleed and die on the cross so that sinners might be saved.

The Lord Jesus knew that if He didn’t become the sin-bearer and go through the agony of the cross, no one would ever make it to heaven! “The wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:23). The Lord Jesus was willing to give His life so that all who would believe on Him would not have to pay the penalty for their sins.

Hear His agonizing cry from the cross: “My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?” (Matthew 27:46). He was forsaken so that sinners could be forgiven and find a place of safety. “Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God” (1 Peter 3:18). Can you turn away from such a Saviour who went through so much for you?

The story of Sangreta’s family had a happy ending. The family dog had followed Dinakren into the hut. Somehow the dog sensed the danger of staying in the hut. When the boy didn’t leave, the dog started nipping him and pulling at his clothes. Dinakren couldn’t resist the dog’s effort to make him leave, and he ran out of the house. The dog snapped at his heels like he was shepherding the boy. Together they ran up a different way to the top of the hill. When the wave hit, Dinakren was high enough on the hill that only his feet and legs got wet.

Sangreta’s sorrow was turned to joy when finally she saw her oldest son alive on the hill. She ran to him and hugged him close to her heart. Dinakren told her that the dog had nipped at his feet and legs till he ran out of the hut and up the hill.

The dog led Dinakren to the safety of the hill. What will it be that God will use to lead you to the safety of the Saviour’s side? Will it be a troubled conscience because of your sins? Or perhaps a Bible verse you can’t get out of your mind? God uses many things to lead people to repentance and faith. But one thing is for certain - there is no other person to whom you can turn who can deliver you from the judgment your sins deserve. Won’t you come to the Lord Jesus Christ at once and receive the salvation He lovingly offers?

ML-05/21/2006

A Letter from Gramma and Grampa: Two Boys

Dear Children,

Gramma and I were just talking about some of the children that came to Sunday school a few years ago. She said I should tell you about the two boys that got caught doing something that was wrong.

Now these two boys were really nice boys, but like Samuel in the Bible who was a young boy, 1 Samuel 3:7 tells us, “Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord.”

“But, Grampa, you just said that these two boys were ‘really nice boys.’ ”

Yes, that’s what I said, but they did not realize they were sinners. Romans 3:23 says, “All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” And so one night after a gospel meeting, these two boys found out that “all have sinned.”

Right here I want to ask you a question: Do you know what the eighth commandment is? It has only four words. Okay, here it is: “Thou shalt not steal” (Exodus 20:15). Only four words to remember. That’s easy, isn’t it? And here are four more words found in Genesis 16:13: “Thou God seest me.” Do you understand what these four words mean? Wellllll, I think you know, but you don’t want to admit that God sees everything! These two boys knew the meaning of those eight words, but for a few minutes they forgot all about them. Just read on and see what these two boys tried to do! Like I said, they came to Sunday school regularly, and they knew where we kept the big boxes of candy that we handed out after every Sunday school lesson.

One night after the gospel meeting, these two boys got together and whispered, “Let’s fill our pockets with some of that Sunday school candy . . . we both know where they keep it. Okay, let’s do it! You watch the door, and I’ll get the candy.”

So the boys got into position. The one watching the door whispered, “Okay . . . all clear!” The other boy climbed up to the cupboard and started filling his pockets with candy.

But the boys forgot about one thing - they forgot that there are two doors into the basement! (Even though it was dark down there, they could see well enough to steal the candy.) Suddenly, a light turned on! Then a voice said, “Boys, what are you doing?”

“Grampa, who caught them? Was it you?”

No, children, it was Gramma! And did Gramma ever feel sorry for these two boys. But the truth had to be told - they were caught stealing! Numbers 32:23 has eight words: “Be sure your sin will find you out.” This is the result of what happens to boys and girls who forget God’s holy Word. They end up in deep trouble. Now remember, God still loved these boys even though they had sinned.

This story has a very happy ending. Later on in life, both boys trusted the Lord Jesus Christ as their Saviour. John 5:24 says, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that heareth My word, and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.”

Today, one of these boys, now a young man, often tells the story in public of how he and his friend got caught in the act of stealing, and he could then understand those four words, “Thou God seest me.”

The other boy was always happy to tell his friends at school and other places about how he and his friend got caught stealing. It was shortly after this that both boys trusted the Lord Jesus Christ as their Saviour. One of the boys was so happy that he was saved from his sins that he wrote a story about himself, telling how God had saved him. Shortly after, he was struck with a cruel disease called cancer, and he left earth for heaven.

Now, let me ask you: Are your sins forgiven? Are you ready for heaven?

There is a wonderful verse in the Bible that has twenty-five words, and sometimes we sing them. So pretend you are sitting beside Gramma and me, and I am playing my old guitar, and you help us sing!

Twenty-five words in John three sixteen,
No greater gift has ever been seen,
Twelve about God and twelve about me,
Son in the center, verse sixteen John three.
That whosoever surely means me,
Surely means me, surely means me,
That whosoever surely means me,
Surely means you and me!

Lots of love,

Gramma and Grampa

ML-05/28/2006

An Overheard Song

I was visiting in a foreign country, far away from my home and my family. I was feeling lonely that day, wishing I could see my wife and children. A short while later I heard a voice singing, and I stopped to listen. What do you think I heard? I looked across to the house next to the one where I was staying. There, on the front porch sitting in a little rocking chair, was a little girl. As she rocked back and forth, she sang,

Jesus loves me, this I know,

For the Bible tells me so;

Little ones to Him belong,

They are weak, but He is strong.

I cannot tell you how much this cheered me. I am sure the Lord Jesus was using that little girl to shine for Him and to tell others, anyone who would listen, about His love for them.

Do you know that Jesus loves you? He loves you so much that He died on the cruel cross of Calvary for you. He wants you to know that He loves you, and He wants you to trust in Him and let Him wash away your sins in His precious blood.

Just tell Him that you are a sinner and that you want Him to wash your sins away - and He will! Then you will have peace and be able to sing from your heart, “Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so.”

“The Son of God [Jesus], who loved me, and gave Himself for me” (Galatians 2:20).

ML-05/28/2006

An Ordinary-Looking Stick

Arnold, who is from New Brunswick, Canada, was recently visiting his son’s family in Texas. He enjoyed the warm climate and being outside doing yard work. Little did he expect when he was raking that something on the ground looking like a stick would turn into something very different!

However, no sooner had his rake struck this ordinary-looking stick when it suddenly came to life and quickly went into action, viciously biting Arnold’s hand. This ordinary-looking stick was a deadly copperhead snake! Arnold was wearing gloves, but still the snake’s bite went through the glove and was serious. He would become very sick or even die if he didn’t get to a hospital quickly.

The hospital was at least a half-hour drive, but it was still in time to save his life. However, he had to be hospitalized for several days.

This ordinary-looking stick reminds us of sin which sometimes looks very harmless, but when touched it suddenly becomes deadly. Often it strikes by leading a person to form a bad habit or by leaving the person feeling guilty and miserable in their conscience. But there is a remedy for any person who is feeling guilty about his or her sins. The Bible tells us, “The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin” (1 John 1:7). “In my distress I called upon the Lord, and cried to my God: and He did hear my voice” (2 Samuel 22:7). He will hear your distress call and will save you, cleansing you from all your sins and guilt.

“Jesus Christ . . . loved us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood” (Revelation 1:5). Have you come to Him to have your sins and guilt washed away?

ML-06/04/2006

"I Want You Right Now!"

Walking down the street one afternoon, I saw a group of boys playing football in the field by the school. Some of them had on helmets, shoulder pads and jerseys. Others did not have this equipment, but that did not seem to make much difference. It was a rather rough game of tackle, and they sure seemed to be having fun.

I stopped to watch, wishing I could join them, but knowing they did not need me. It did look pretty rough. While watching, I heard someone’s mother calling from the back door of one of the houses near the field. She called, “David, I want you.”

I wondered which one of the boys was David, but none of the boys seemed to pay attention to the voice.

“David, I want you, right now!” she called again a little louder.

“What do you want?” one of the boys finally answered, taking a few steps toward the house.

“I said, I want you right now!” she told him sternly.

“Oh, all right,” answered David, walking slowly away from the group of boys and the game.

It was obvious that David was having a good time and did not want to go home. He did not know why he was wanted at home, but what he did know was that he was having fun. How many of us can remember times like that -when we did not answer a call or a question because we did not want to hear. The call was loud enough for David to have heard it the first time. He just did not want to listen. It was only when the call was repeated that he finally obeyed.

Have you heard the Lord Jesus Christ calling you? “Jesus stood still, and called them” (Matthew 20:32). Each time you hear the Bible read or read it yourself, it is the Lord Jesus talking to you. He is saying, “Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).

I remember when I heard Him calling me. He called because He loved me and wanted me to be one of His children. I am so glad that I listened and came to Him. He washed away all my sins and gave me everlasting life. Now He is close by me all the time, because He wants me to be happy.

He will do the same for you, but you must obey His voice. If you do not pay attention to Him, you cannot be saved. Don’t get so involved in your “games” that you do not want to listen to the voice of the Lord Jesus. When you know He is calling, listen to His voice, obey Him, and you will have peace forever.

“Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:1).

ML-06/11/2006

A Good Answer

A young boy whose father was a miner was waiting at the top of the coal mine for his father one afternoon. As he waited patiently for the men to finish their work shift, a man walking by the entrance asked him what he was doing there.

“I’m waiting for my daddy to come out of the mine,” the boy answered.

“You’ll never be able to find your daddy,” the man told him. “There will be 700 men coming out of that mine. All their faces will be black with coal dust, and their heads will be covered with helmets. You won’t know which one is your daddy. You had better go on home to wait for him, son.”

The little boy had a good answer. “But my daddy will know me, mister.”

Sometimes even as Christians we get “down in the dumps.” We have problems and worries and then we begin to wonder if God our Father really cares about us or if He really understands. Remember what our Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, said in Matthew 6:8, “Your Father knoweth.” Although He was mainly speaking about food and clothing, it applies to everything in our lives. We can always trust in those words, “Your Father knoweth.”

In Psalm 103:14 it says, “He knoweth our frame.” That means He knows all about us - how we feel and if we’re tired, sick or upset in any way. He knows and understands everything, because “His understanding is infinite [endless]” (Psalm 147:5).

What a happy thought! We cannot see what is ahead in our lives. We might wonder what is around the next corner or over the next hill. But every step is known to our Father. As we go on, we may be sure that He not only loves us, but He understands and cares for us. “Casting all your care upon Him; for He careth for you” (1 Peter 5:7).

ML-06/18/2006

A Huge Bill

I felt like I was really playing big time. We were on vacation, and I was playing baseball with a great group of players. We were using a professional-style hardball instead of the softball we usually played with.

At first the hardball stung my hand pretty badly every time I caught it. But after a while I got used to it, and it felt almost good every time it smacked into my glove. Sin is like that too. It takes a while to adjust to the sting of your conscience - especially when you know you’re doing wrong. But when you get used to it, it even seems like fun sometimes.

Playing hardball was fun! . . . that is, until the ball whacked me hard on the nose. I was in the outfield, and the ball was coming down through branches of trees that grew along the back of the field. I looked up for the ball, determined to make the catch and get that batter out. But the tree leaves hid the ball until it was too late . . . and then I was sitting on the ground with a broken nose and blood everywhere.

Off we went to the hospital. The emergency room doctor did a good job. It only took four stitches, and the break healed up well and quickly too.

A few days after we were back home, I received a letter from the hospital telling me that they had two different programs to help me pay my hospital bill. They advised me to call them and look into the matter.

The hospital lady who answered the phone asked a few questions: “Do you live at home? Do you have a job? How much do you earn?” Then she studied the programs’ rules and said, “I’m sorry, but you don’t qualify for either of these programs. You’ll have to pay the full amount.”

“How much do I owe?” I asked.

The amount the lady told me really stunned me! I knew there would be something to pay, but I could NEVER pay the amount she told me! It was huge!

You and I don’t really know how awful sin is to God. Every careless word we speak, every bad thought we think, every wrong thing we do - all those sins have to be paid for. How are any of us going to pay what we owe to God for every sin we’ve ever committed?

And how was I going to pay that hospital bill? I called the lady back to talk over my difficulty.

“Oh, I’m glad you called,” she said. “Someone was just in my office and offered to pay your hospital bill. Do you know this person?” and she told me who it was.

“Yes, I know him!” I almost shouted into the telephone.

“Will it be okay to accept this payment?” asked the lady.

“Yes, it certainly will be okay!” I answered happily.

I can’t tell you what relief and joy and thankfulness filled my heart and mind as I hung up that phone. My hospital debt was gone! Totally gone!

Have you talked to the One who is willing to pay your debt of sins? On Calvary’s cross the Lord Jesus Christ paid the debt in full for all the sins of every person who would receive Him as their Saviour. “Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God” (1 Peter 3:18).

What if I had said “no” to that lady at the hospital? How very foolish I would have been not to accept the kind offer to pay my hospital bill. I knew I couldn’t pay it, and I would have had that unpaid hospital bill on my conscience for a very, very long time.

I wonder if you have said “no” to the Lord Jesus for His kind offer to pay the debt of your sins? If “no” is your answer, you will have to pay that terrible debt of your sins for all eternity. How much better it is to accept His loving offer to pay it for you. Will you say “yes” to Him and have your sins gone forever? You will know the relief and joy and thankfulness in your heart for all eternity. “Our Saviour Jesus Christ; who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from all iniquity [sin]” (Titus 2:13-14).

ML-06/18/2006

Lost on the Ocean

The Lord Jesus once asked His disciples, “What is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” (Matthew 16:26). A man told the following story of how he nearly lost his life, to illustrate that in much the same way each of us can be in danger of losing our own soul. As you read, think of the Bible verse that says, “There is a way which [seems] right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death” (Proverbs 14:12).

Here is the man’s story: “One day I was seated in my little inflatable boat, feeling relaxed and carefree, rocked by the waves, enjoying the sea, the sun and freedom from the crowds that packed the beach. Suddenly, I noticed that some people had come down to the water’s edge and were signaling wildly to me. This alerted me to the fact that the waves were growing stronger, and I could now see that I was being carried away from shore by a current. I had been so happy, just drifting along, never thinking that danger was near. Now I was completely at the mercy of the angry waves and unable to do anything about it.”

At this point, we would warn you that many boys and girls, and grown-ups too, set out on the ocean of life, confident and sure, totally unaware that their souls are in danger of being lost. The Lord Jesus not only said many things about the need to be saved, but He died for us as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, “that whosoever [believes] in Him should not perish, but have eternal life” (John 3:15). There is saving help for sinners, and there was saving help for this man too.

“I began to shout for help as loudly as I could, but the noise of the roaring waves drowned my voice. There was absolutely nothing I could do to help myself. Rescue would have to come from someplace else. I held on to the hope that those people who saw me might go for help.

“Although I did not know it, the lifeguards also had seen me and realized I was in such serious danger that they sent out their helicopter to rescue me. While it hovered over my head, a man came down on a rope and passed me a harness. Once I put it on, they could lift me to safety.

“With much relief and thankfulness, I put on that harness. It truly was my lifeline to safety, and how wonderful to be lifted up from the place of certain death and set down safely a few minutes later on the beach.”

Psalm 18:16 was certainly this man’s experience: “He sent from above, He took me, He drew me out of many waters.” His life was spared, and how grateful he was to the rescuers who had seen his danger and had gone to great expense and trouble to save him.

You and I may feel we will never be in such a dangerous situation as this man. Yet, because all of us have sinned and cannot make it to heaven on our own, we are in even more danger - that of losing our souls. As we drift along from one day to the next, the current of the world is strong, continuously carrying us farther from God.

Those who tell the gospel try to alert us to our need to call on the Lord Jesus, the only One who can save us. He paid the greatest cost - in love to us He gave His very life to save us. He waits to hear our cry and from above will lift our souls to safety. All who have been warned of their danger and have realized the seriousness of delay, have called on Christ Jesus and been saved.

We hope this man’s experience will alert some to see their own need of calling to the only One who can forgive their sins. We have the assurance that “whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Acts 2:21).

Joe, his two sisters and Grandma were having a nice walk one sunny afternoon in the country near the house where they were visiting. At a pleasant time like this, what could be lurking in the field to harm them? Certainly there was no threat to them that they could see.

TRAMP went someone’s foot on a nest of yellow jackets. Immediately up came an army of these angry insects and covered Joe’s head! As Grandma tried to chase them away, she was stung several times. Poor Joe was stung by a lot of yellow jackets at the same time, even though he was running very fast towards the house. Even his youngest sister got stung twice.

After the four of them were safely inside the house, another wasp, hidden in his jacket, stung Joe! By this time poor Joe was sobbing loudly!

No crying could ease the pain he had to endure. It is terribly painful to be stung by even one of these angry wasps, and Joe had many stings. For some people, it can mean death if they are allergic to bee or wasp stings.

All of us have been stung by sin, but those who have accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as their Saviour have the sting removed. Jesus took that sting in our place when He suffered and died on the cross. Those who are trusting in Him can thankfully answer these questions: “O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?” (1 Corinthians 15:55). The answer for believers is, “Because of Jesus, they are gone!”

“The sting of death is sin. . . . But thanks be to God, which [gives] us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 15:56-57).

Has Jesus removed the sting for you?

ML-06/25/2006

Cat on a Bridge

A calico cat that just wanted a cozy place out of the wind to take a nap ran into all kinds of trouble. It found the spot by jumping into the back of a pickup truck and curling up in some loose straw. In the warm sunshine, the cat soon fell fast asleep and didn’t even notice when someone got into the truck and drove away. The truck drove to the outskirts of town and onto the Odabushian Bridge, which crosses the mighty Columbia River. It is a giant of a bridge, built very high.

As the truck crossed the bridge, a semitrailer blew his horn. The noise of the horn blast startled the cat, and it jumped out of the pickup truck and hit the pavement with a thump. The cat rolled and slid to a stop and lay stunned in the middle of the bridge. The cars traveling behind the pickup truck screeched their brakes and veered to the side, barely missing the ball of fur on the pavement.

Cars and trucks whizzed by the cat. When it came to its senses, it tried to escape off the dangerous roadway of the bridge. It dodged one way and then the other in the traffic and nearly ran into the tires of moving vehicles. Car horns blared at the cat. Frantically the cat sprinted to the edge of the bridge and was about to leap off when it suddenly discovered the bridge had nothing beneath it except space and blue water far below. The frightened cat had stopped itself just in time! With no place to escape, it sat curled up on the edge of the great bridge!

An older couple crossing the bridge in their car had seen the bewildered cat at the edge. They called the animal control department on their cell phone to report the unfortunate animal.

For half an hour the calico cat sat scrunched up at the edge of the bridge before the animal control workers arrived. They parked their truck next to the railing of the bridge, pulled on their gloves, and made their way slowly towards the cat. These men knew it would be a difficult rescue, because the cat was badly frightened. One false move, and the startled animal might fall to its death below.

At last they were able to gather the cat into their arms. They carefully carried it back to the truck and gently placed it into an animal crate in the back of their pickup.

The story might have ended happily there, but the workers did not close the gate of the crate fast enough. The cat became alarmed and bolted out of the crate, took a running leap over the side of the truck . . . and over the bridge railing as well!

“EEEOOOW!” they heard the frightened cat’s scream as it fell, hurtling through space to the Columbia River seventy feet below. The men on the bridge saw the cat hit the water with a splash. The cat disappeared beneath the water, and everyone watching thought it was the end of the cat. But to their surprise, the cat surfaced and started swimming madly!

The Columbia River is quite wide, and the cat had over six hundred feet to swim if it was going to make it to shore. The onlookers on the bridge watched as the brave little cat was spun around in one of the eddies on the river as the current carried the cat downstream. Its head, barely above the water, made it difficult for the cat to see which way to swim. When it began swimming the wrong way, everyone watching thought the cat would never make it.

Then, seemingly out of nowhere, a man in a kayak appeared and paddled out to the cat. Using his small boat to gently push the cat, he helped guide the cat to shore. Finally, when it seemed the exhausted cat could not swim any farther, one of the animal control men waded out into the river and picked up the cat. The cat was brought to a veterinarian where it was given good care and recovered from its frightening day. According to the news, no one has stepped forward to claim the cat. The authorities were hopeful they still might find the owners before putting it up for adoption.

There were at least three different times that day when the calico cat might have died tragically. Even though it’s not true, people sometimes say that “cats have nine lives,” because it’s not unusual for outdoor cats to get into trouble, but it seems most of them manage to escape alive. As a result, some say that cats have “nine lives,” but it is certain people only have one. In that one life, God wants them to come to the Lord Jesus Christ so He can save them from their sin problem. People may have all sorts of trouble in life, and sometimes these troubles may come one right after the other. However, the greatest of all the troubles we face is that we are sinners before God, who is holy and just. “All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). At the end of their lives, sinners will be sent away to a place of everlasting punishment called hell. That is why it is so important to come to the Lord Jesus. He loves you and is the only Saviour this world of sin will ever know. When we believe on Him as the Son of God who died for our sins, we receive the forgiveness of every sin and the gift of eternal life. “Be it known unto you . . . that through this Man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins: and by Him all that believe are justified from all things” (Acts 13:38-39).

Won’t you come to the Lord Jesus by faith so that you can escape the greatest of all dangers facing mankind and receive the forgiveness of your sins? He says, “I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more” (Jeremiah 31:34).

ML-07/02/2006

"The Colonel's Donkey"

Colonel Beckwith was a retired army officer who lived among the people of the Vaudois Valleys in France. His purpose in being there was to serve the Lord by helping the believers there who were poor and by preaching the gospel of Christ.

One day he met a poor man named Botalon who was well-known in the area. Botalon made his living by delivering coal and wood on the back of his donkey. The donkey was also well-known as “Botalon’s donkey.” This day Botalon was without his donkey and was so sad he was crying.

“What’s the matter, Botalon?” asked Beckwith.

“Sir, they have taken away my donkey, and without it I cannot earn a living. My family and I will die of hunger.” Then he told how a man he owed money to had taken his donkey and had put it in his own stable, intending to keep it.

Beckwith felt sorry for Botalon and asked him how much money he owed the man. When told the amount, Beckwith said, “Botalon, would you sell me your donkey and then you can pay your debt with the money I give you for your donkey?”

Botalon agreed and bought back his donkey from the man. After giving the donkey to Beckwith, he turned away sad since he still didn’t have a donkey to earn a living.

Beckwith quickly said, “You may take the donkey with you for now and use it until I claim it. However, you must understand that the donkey is mine and that no one may take it from you for any reason whatsoever.”

The surprise and joy of poor Botalon when he heard this can hardly be described. He was so happy! As for the donkey, it became quite famous in the village. After that, instead of being called “Botalon’s donkey,” it was called “the Colonel’s donkey.”

You and I are just like that donkey. We were lost and under Satan’s power because of sin. But Jesus has died on the cross and shed His blood to pay the debt of sin and to buy back our souls for Himself. No one can take us away from Him: “Neither shall any man pluck them out of My hand” (John 10:28).

The Bible also tells us that “He died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto Him which died for them, and rose again. Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature” (2 Corinthians 5:15,17).

ML-07/09/2006

Ending the Reign of Terror

Mosquitoes buzzed constantly past their noses and bothered the two men who were hiding sixty yards away from the big chunk of hippo meat. Their eyes peered into the inky blackness of the hot African night, while fear clawed at them as they nervously waited. The two men strained their ears for sounds of the killer they couldn’t see.

Wayne had promised to help the villagers when he first heard their desperate pleas. Every night they had been barricading themselves inside their huts and traveling about in small groups during the day. The deadly lion stalking them was longer than the giant Goliath was tall—nearly 10½ ft. The villagers were just as afraid of this killer lion as the people were afraid of Goliath in Bible times.

Days before, the lion had come back to claim the laundry bag from the now-empty house with the bloodstained doorway . . . the result of his first visit. In the burning African sun, the fearsome animal had stood over the laundry bag in the center of the huts and roared his victory for all the frightened villagers to hear. He had already claimed six victims, and everyone wondered if they were to be the seventh.

Satan, in his fearsome power and deep hatred for God, seems a lot like that huge killer lion. He has claimed many victims and is prowling to claim more. Maybe you have read the verse, “Your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, [walks] about, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Peter 5:8). Sometimes he tries to use fear to make God’s children turn away from following God.

Throughout the night Wayne sat with his friend Charl, straining to pick up sounds of a lion tearing apart hippo meat. The next morning, tired, covered with mosquito bites, dazed and feverish, Wayne was alarmed to find the tracks of the great lion all around their hideout and the tree where the hippo meat hung. The crafty lion had managed to circle them and pad quietly into the acacia bush without being discovered. Twenty more nights passed with barricaded doors on every hut and fear in every heart. And each night the two men hid themselves within gunshot range of the hippo meat.

On the twenty-first night, just as the shadows lengthened and the sun was ready to slip over the horizon, the lion came stealthily toward the bait. Wayne and Charl had time to take only one shot apiece before the lion disappeared into the bush. They both waited tensely for the outcome. Many hunters have come to a tragic end when a noiseless, wounded lion has suddenly leaped out of the dark jungle cover. Then finally in the distance they heard a dying groan, and Charl knew instantly that the lion would never again terrorize the Mufwe region.

It cost Wayne and Charl three weeks of tension, fear, tiredness and fever to bring an end to the reign of terror for many helpless people. It cost the Lord Jesus Christ far more than that to bring victory over the power of Satan, sin and death. Jesus went to the cross of Calvary to suffer for the sin of helpless sinners. “When we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly” (Romans 5:6). His victory isn’t just for a few people. The Bible so clearly says, “Whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely” (Revelation 22:17).

As word quickly reached the village that the fearsome lion was dead, the villagers poured excitedly from their huts. They couldn’t contain their relief and thanksgiving! One woman grabbed Wayne by the hand and looking into his eyes simply said, “Zikomo kwambili!” - “Thank you very, very much!”

How long has it been since each of us looked by faith into the face of our precious Deliverer and shared that heartfelt message found in the words, “Zikomo kwambili”?

ML-07/16/2006

Can You Use Your Name?

Uncle Norman had been telling the children Bible stories and helping them to memorize verses. After they had memorized them the way they are written in the Bible, Uncle Norman liked to have the children use their own names in the verses.

One time he was teaching them Galatians 2:20: “I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me.” The children repeated the verse one at a time. When most of them had learned the verse by heart, Uncle Norman asked, “Is there anyone who would like to put his or her own name in that verse?”

A little boy about seven years old held up his hand very high and straight.

“Yes, John,” said Uncle Norman, “will you come stand beside me and say it using your own name?”

John stood beside Uncle Norman and said as though he really meant it, “I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved John, and gave Himself for John.”

Has the Lord Jesus touched your heart so you know for sure that He loves you? And can you say that verse using your own name and really mean it? Try it.

“I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved ______________________ , and gave Himself for ______________________ ”

(Galatians 2:20).

Maybe you would like to write your name in the blanks too. But what is most important is to be sure that God has written your name in His book of life. In Luke 10:20 the Lord Jesus told His disciples to “rejoice, because your names are written in heaven.” But in Revelation 20:15 God warns us, “Whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.”

Has God written your name in His book of life?

ML-07/16/2006

Jumping Off the Wall

Patrick’s mother led him by the hand into the tall building that had an indoor climbing wall. Five-year-old Patrick was small for his age, but he was quick and strong for his size. His eyes lit up and an ear-to-ear grin spread across his face when he saw the wall. He had climbed the wall a few times before and knew it was a lot of fun. The wall was about thirty feet wide and twenty-five feet high. It looked like it was made out of brown sandstone and had foot and toe holds, none of them very large.

A worker fastened Patrick into a shoulder harness and made sure it was good and snug. Then the worker snapped a safety line onto the harness. One end of the safety line had been passed through a pulley system in the ceiling of the building. Patrick’s mother held the other end of the line in her hands. She would keep a close watch on Patrick as he climbed. If he stumbled or fell, she could pull him away from the wall and gently lower him to the ground.

Just about as nimble and quick as a mountain goat, Patrick found the necessary foot and toe holds and climbed the wall. When he got to the top, he called out with a big toothy grin, “Mom, I made it!”

“Okay, Patrick, good job,” she called to him. “Now push off and jump, and I’ll lower you to the ground,” she instructed.

This part was as much fun as the climbing. Patrick pushed off from the wall and did a free fall. He had complete trust in his mom and the safety line. For a few moments it felt as if he were flying, as his mother slowly let out the rope and lowered him to the ground.

“Can I do it again, Mom?” he asked.

“No, Patrick. Once is enough for the day,” she told him. She unsnapped the safety line and was just about to unbuckle his shoulder harness when an old friend came up to her, greeted her, and the two of them began talking. For a few minutes she took her attention off Patrick. It was all the time he needed to climb the wall for the second time. And he climbed it just as nimbly and expertly as he did the first time. When he got to the top he called out, “I’m ready to come down now.”

His mother turned around and saw him at the top of the wall! Seeing he had disobeyed her, she exclaimed, “What are you doing up there?” She took the safety line into her hands and was about to yell “Jump!” . . . in fact, she had just started to say the word when she realized, with a terrible fright, that the safety line was no longer attached to Patrick’s shoulder harness! She had almost told him to jump to what would have been certain injury or even death! She stopped herself just in time and instead told him in a very commanding voice, “HANG ON AND DON’T MOVE!”

Let me ask each of you boys and girls right now, Do you have a “safety line” connected to the Lord Jesus Christ, the only Saviour of sinners? Your answer can be “yes” only if you have had your sins washed away in His precious blood. It is the privilege of everyone who has come to the Lord Jesus in faith to know they are forgiven from their sins and safe. Forgiveness and safety cannot be earned by good works that anyone has done, but only because they have placed their faith in the saving power of the Lord Jesus. “By grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast” (Ephesians 2:89).

The manager saw the whole climbing-wall incident and realized Patrick’s danger. He quickly brought a ladder and climbed up to Patrick, carried the boy down and handed him to his mother, who was quite shaken because of what had almost happened.

When anyone truly believes on the Lord Jesus from the heart, they become a child of God and belong to Him and are safe forever. “As many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name” (John 1:12).

If anyone who belongs to Jesus is called from this life on earth, He will bring that child of God safely to Himself. It is like a safety line that is firmly attached to each one who believes on the Lord Jesus, and it is a safety line that will never break or fail!

Sadly, many people are passing through life without that safety line, because they have not put their faith in the Saviour of sinners. Patrick would have been badly hurt or even killed if he had jumped the second time he climbed the wall when no safety line was attached to his shoulder harness. Anyone who has never placed his faith in the Saviour will come to great harm too. When they die, the Bible says they will be sent away into the blackness of hell forever.

Oh, be wise! No person should climb a high rock wall without a safety line, and no one should go through life without a saving faith in the Lord Jesus! Won’t you receive Him as your Saviour today so that all danger of perishing in your sins will be past? “Whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).

ML-07/23/2006

Honey Saves Her Master

For more than a year, Michael Bosch thought about adopting a dog. He talked with the Marin Humane Society about it, and finally one November day he drove there to look at a Labrador retriever rescued from Hurricane Katrina. Michael looked over the animals in the shelter. He saw the lab that had been described to him. It was a nice dog, all right, but he fell in love with a little cocker spaniel puppy named Honey. Honey needed a home, and when Michael drove back to his house, the little cocker spaniel went with him.

Early on a Monday morning two weeks later, Michael decided to go out for a drive, taking Honey with him. He began to back down his long driveway off the Nicasio Valley Road. Suddenly his car began to slide! Michael tried frantically to stop the car, but it slid off the driveway and fifty feet down a very steep slope. When it finally stopped, Michael was pinned in the overturned car, and Honey was nowhere in sight.

What a long and terrible day for Michael! No one had seen his car tumble down that steep slope, and he was helpless and in pain. His neighbor was not home, but even if he were, Michael could not have called loud enough to be heard. With his legs caught in the twisted metal, he could not move at all. The hours seemed to crawl by.

Finally at suppertime, Michael’s neighbor came home. Honey appeared immediately, barking and whining and clearly wanting to tell the neighbor that something was terribly wrong. The neighbor followed Honey.

Together they climbed down the long, steep slope, and there was the overturned car with badly injured Michael inside. The neighbor quickly called for help. Firefighters had to cut away part of the car to get to Michael. With great care, his rescuers pulled him from the smashed car, and a helicopter came to take him to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital. There the doctors treated him for five broken ribs, leg injuries and scratches on his arms and face.

Do you know who Michael was anxious to see while he was in the hospital? It was his dog Honey! Three days later, when the doctors decided Honey was allowed to come in for a visit, Michael was overjoyed. “All my pain went away,” he said. Honey licked Michael’s face and roamed around on the hospital bed, quite happy to be the center of attention. She was given dog biscuits and a stuffed toy dog to play with!

Why did everyone treat Honey as such a special dog? Because without that little dog, Michael probably would have died. Honey had saved Michael’s life, and Michael couldn’t say enough good things about her. He kept telling everyone how beautiful and smart she was!

Michael loved Honey even more because she had saved him. No wonder he wanted to talk about her! Those of us who belong to the Lord Jesus have a wonderful story to share with you too. We want to talk about someone who loves you and wants to save you. When the Lord Jesus was born, He was given the wonderful name of Jesus, because that name means Saviour. “Thou shalt call His name Jesus: for He shall save His people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21). We were caught by our sins and unable to save ourselves. We needed someone to rescue us. The Lord Jesus was willing to take the penalty for our sins and to die on a cross so that we might be made clean from those sins. “The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin” (1 John 1:7).

I am sure Michael is glad he did not put off adopting his little dog. If he had waited even two more weeks, perhaps he would have been all alone on that fateful Monday and died before the car was discovered. He is glad he acted to adopt Honey right away. A little longer delay might have meant he had no friend to help when he was in trouble.

Putting off something you plan to do is called neglect. Don’t wait to decide to accept God’s offer of salvation. If you do, it might be too late! God says, “How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation?” (Hebrews 2:3).

ML-07/30/2006

Danger Ahead

I was in the car recently with my son Dave and his family. We were going home from a happy day visiting with Ed and another son and his family. The young cousins had played at the park, eaten lunch together, taken naps, played at Ed’s house and eaten supper together too. Now everyone was tired, and we were heading home.

Jimmy, the youngest one in the car, had already fallen asleep. The rest of us were continuing to visit when suddenly, from the very back seat, Lori called out, “Stop, Daddy, slow down! There’s road construction!” She had seen danger ahead and had called out a warning.

Boys and girls, we are calling out a warning to you right now. Do you know that there is danger ahead for you? The Bible tells us, “The soul that sinneth, it shall die” (Ezekiel 18:20). It also says, “It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment” (Hebrews 9:27). Sin is a terrible thing, and God is too holy to have sin in His presence. But because He loves sinners, He has provided a remedy for sin: “The Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world” (1 John 4:14); “the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin” (1 John 1:7). Now that you know there is danger ahead because of your sins, will you follow God’s directions to safety? Right now you can tell God that you know you are a sinner and that you believe that Jesus died for your sins. Then you will be safe from the punishment for sin that is coming.

Dave listened to the warning that Lori called out and slowed down, and we had a safe trip the rest of the way home. If you listen to God’s warning and follow what He has told you, you will have a safe trip all the way home to God the Father’s house in heaven above.

ML-07/30/2006

STOP!

Eight-year-old Kevin squirmed with delight as he heard his good friend Carol promise that he could spend Friday night and Saturday at her apartment on the beautiful college campus where she had just enrolled. Carol was eager to show the modern buildings and grounds of the school to Kevin’s family who always cared so much how she was getting along.

Finally Friday afternoon rolled around. Kevin and his family had arrived and enjoyed a tour of the campus and Carol’s warm hospitality. Good-byes were said, and at last Kevin had Carol all to himself. He happily ran here and there over the lawns just like a young colt, jumping over anything in his path. A friendly voice called to Carol from a window above, and she stopped to chat. Hardly a moment or two had passed when suddenly she remembered Kevin. Whirling around, she saw him in the act of running up a grassy slope to jump over a little wall at the top. But . . . on the other side of the wall was an eighteen-foot drop to the street below!

“KEVIN, STOP!” Carol shouted the order.

Do you always obey when you are given a command? Would Kevin be like some boys and girls we know who first do what they want and then ask “Why?” or “Who said so?” Had he been this kind of boy, he could have been seriously injured. Kevin, however, had learned to obey.

Skidding to a stop just this side of the wall, he turned questioning eyes to Carol.

Running over to him with her face drained of color, she scooped him into her arms exclaiming, “Oh, Kevin! Thank you for obeying me!” When he saw what was on the other side of the wall, it was Kevin’s turn to say, “Thank you.”

Of course we expected Carol to stop her young friend, even though she had to speak sharply. Suppose you had a friend who saw you in serious danger but refused to say anything for fear of upsetting you or “butting into your business.” You’d say, “That is no friend of mine!”

Now before you put this paper down, PLEASE STOP! You are about to be warned of certain disaster ahead - on the “other side.”

“The other side of what?” you ask.

The other side of time, of life on planet Earth. Do not continue to refuse the message God has sent to us concerning our future, our sins and life after death. Clearly in God’s Word, the Bible, we read, “All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). But, “the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin” (1 John 1:7). “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved” (Acts 16:31).

“Turn ye, turn ye . . . for why will ye die?” (Ezekiel 33:11).

ML-08/06/2006

The Basic Rule of Elephant Training

Maybe you’ve had the fun of training your dog to not jump up on people and come when called. It may have seemed like a lot of work, but once your dog caught on, anybody could tell your little friend to “stay down” or “come,” and he would do it. That is, assuming you were able to train your dog the right way.

It might even seem that training an elephant would be just as simple. After all, they can’t bounce around like your little puppy. Then again, your little dog doesn’t weigh five tons, have 100,000 muscles in his nose, and have two long tusks that grow as long as eleven feet. So maybe it’s not too surprising that it takes a good six months for most elephants to master about three dozen simple commands. Actually, when you think about it, that’s pretty good compared to how hard your mom and dad may have to work on training you.

A mahout, which is another name for an elephant trainer, first meets his new friend after it’s been brought in from the jungle trap when it is still frightened and scared. The wild elephant is straining at the ropes that are holding it and swinging out with its big, strong trunk. It first has to learn to kneel before it can go on to the big training school. It really reminds me of those words in Philippians 2:10: “At the name of Jesus every knee should bow.” How wonderful when that moment comes in a person’s life when he or she accepts Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour.

It’s rather interesting to think of the basic rule of all elephant training - the elephant must follow one and only one mahout. It’s not like a horse that will take orders from any knowledgeable, friendly person. No way! There is one, and only one, master trainer for that elephant. And that really is a good example for any child of God. The Lord Jesus told His disciples that He was their “Lord and Master” (John 13:14). In fact, He is the only one worthy of being followed.

Elephants start their training by imitating tame elephants. They lift a foot, raise their trunks, kneel or march by watching another elephant, but only when told what to do by their mahout. It almost makes you think of following the faith of other believers while listening to God’s voice in His Word, the Bible.

Once it learns the basics, it’s time for the elephant to head out for its specialized training. Imagine heading out into a raging river to clear a logjam without having full trust in the mahout giving the orders. You would see a mass of big logs, tumbling along in the roaring current and feel the push of the powerful waters. You would be banged and jostled by the logs while being crowded in by the overhanging jungle darkness. An untrained elephant would panic and thrash about, looking to escape. But an elephant that has learned to kneel, listen to and obey his one and only mahout is ready to be of service to him.

Think about it. The Lord Jesus is training each of us, sometimes even using pain if He has to, so that we will learn to obey Him completely. He wants us to listen carefully to what He has to say and then trust only in Him when He gives us work to do, even if it seems scary. The Lord Jesus tells us to “take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls” (Matthew 11:29).

Do you have a “Master Mahout”?

ML-08/13/2006

Resting on the Rock

Halifax, Nova Scotia, is a hilly city. Many times we were invited to visit our friends whose home was built at the very top of one of those hills. As we drove round and round up to the house, we could look down on the roofs and yards of the houses we had just passed. Finally, we parked behind our friends’ house where we had come to visit.

After dinner we grown-ups were still sitting at the table chatting while our boys, ages one and three, ran outdoors to play. Suddenly, Earl, my husband, shouted, “LOOK!”

There was our car, with the boys inside, rolling slowly past the dining room window! Earl was out of the house in a flash! Before he reached the car, it came to the very edge of the front yard and was just about to plunge down onto the roof of the house below, but something stopped it! The front wheels came to rest against a huge rock firmly set into the earth.

King David explains in Psalm 18:2 what the Lord was for him: “The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower.” And the Lord certainly was all those things to our boys that summer afternoon.

Earl took them out of the car. Christopher, who had put the gear shift in neutral, was old enough to see what could have happened if the rock had not stopped the car. He was white as a sheet and shaking all over. John, the one-year-old, was just enjoying the ride.

Everyone in this world is headed on a downward plunge into hell if we are not stopped by the Rock. In 1 Corinthians 10:4, God tells us “that Rock was Christ.” He has taken our place in death. God “hath made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Corinthians 5:21).

Like Christopher, may each one of us realize where we are headed if we are still in our sins and trust in the Rock, Christ Jesus, to keep us from plunging into a lost eternity.

Are you resting on that solid Rock of safety?

“Whatsoever ye do, do it heartily,
as to the Lord, and not unto men.”

Colossians 3:23

ML-08/13/2006

A Letter from Gramma and Grampa: The Marsh Hawk

Dear Children,

Hello again from Gramma and Grampa! I would like to tell you what happened this morning while Gramma and I were eating breakfast together and watching all the birds at the feeders. I usually try to feed the birds between 6:30 a.m. and 7:00 a.m., and sometimes they are waiting for me! We have nine feeders to take care of, so this takes a little time to get the seed and fill the feeders that are empty.

This morning we had lots of birds -about sixty! We have juncos, sparrows, blue jays, nuthatches, lots of mourning doves and others.

It was about 7:30 a.m. when suddenly, all at once, the birds took off flying in every direction as fast or even faster than they usually fly. That is . . . all but one dove. Before Gramma and I could even blink an eye, what made the birds take off so fast was coming around the corner of the house, flying as fast as a jet. It was a marsh hawk - the Number One Enemy of all the birds that come to the feeders!

“Grampa, why is the marsh hawk the birds’ number one enemy?”

Well, children, the marsh hawk, as well as the sparrow hawk, will make a meal out of any bird they can catch. The birds know this and are always on the lookout for such an attack at any time. When they spot a hawk coming, they only have a split second to get out of there! They can get away IF they are warned in time.

And so, children, when your dad and mom or Sunday school teacher read to you from the holy Bible that God says, “Flee from the wrath to come” (Matthew 3:7), these are words of warning from the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. And He means it! How can you and I escape from going down to the burning lake of fire? God has provided a way that is free for all who will accept it!

“What is it, Grampa?”

Listen to these words: “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved” (Acts 16:31). Don’t be like that one dove that waited too long.

Perhaps it did not believe the warning; maybe it didn’t care or thought the warning was a joke. We do not know. But when this dove realized the other birds were all gone, it was too late for him. The hawk grabbed the dove in his sharp talons and flew away to eat it.

How sad. Just a split second too late!

Children, and grown-ups too, Satan is your Number One Enemy! Don’t let him cheat you out of going to heaven. One of his favorite lies is, “Don’t worry . . . Jesus won’t be back for a looooooong time! Tomorrow there will be time.” Jesus tells us that Satan “is a liar, and the father of it” ( John 8:44).

The Lord Jesus lovingly tells us in John 14:3, “I will come again, and receive you unto Myself”! And He will come again, faster than that hawk that caught the dove!

Children, you can be late for a bus, late for dinner, late for a lot of things . . . BUT . . . don’t be late for salvation! You will not have a second chance!

Seek the Saviour early, Jesus says TODAY,

While you’re young and tender, choose the narrow way;

Lest when you get older, Satan snares your feet -

And you miss the way to heaven’s golden street!

Lots of love,

Grampa

ML-08/20/2006

A Life-Threatening Mistake

While I was serving with the 25th Infantry Division in South Viet Nam in 1968, I made a mistake which almost took my life.

One night the army tanks stopped in a large field of tobacco plants. The tanks were arranged in a big circle pointing outward with the infantry soldiers in foxholes in front of the tanks. In this way the tanks could protect the soldiers from the enemy, and the soldiers could protect the tanks from rockets.

The guard schedule was set up, and I was on first guard duty. We settled in for the night. It was a clear night with no noises to disturb the stillness. The huge silhouettes of the tanks loomed comfortingly behind us, and I leaned back and relaxed.

Toward the end of my guard time, I decided to make a bed of the large tobacco leaves which were all around. I found that the broad leaves fit nicely into the ground furrows and made a perfect bed. This was going to be a comfortable night!

As I was just finishing my bed, I heard a noise behind me and turned around to see one of the tank crew sitting on a tank with his automatic rifle pointed right at me! With horror I realized that he had mistaken me for an enemy soldier! Just as he was about to pull the trigger, he realized that I was an American and scolded me for moving away from my position. How thankful I am that God spared my life that night by not allowing the soldier to shoot. And how thankful I am that He also saved me from my sins and gave me everlasting life soon after that happened.

You see, I soon realized another mistake I had made in my life. I had been trying to make a comfortable place in life without getting right with God about my sins. God had sent His Son to die for my sins, and I simply ignored Him and tried to enjoy life in the darkness of my sins. When I realized that death and judgment for me could be right around the corner, I accepted the great salvation that God lovingly offers to every person. Now I am safe forever, because my sins are gone.

Jesus will be coming back soon to take to heaven all those who have accepted Him as their Saviour. Don’t make the greatest mistake of all by neglecting God’s salvation. Something worse than a rifle is pointed at you -it is judgment for your sins. “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved” (Acts 16:31). “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).

ML-08/20/2006

Playing Pretend

Katie was so excited about her upcoming birthday that she could talk of nothing else for many weeks. She planned her own party - who she would invite, what they would have to eat, and what games they would play.

Finally the day came, and ten little friends arrived at the house. They were all clean and pretty and very excited, and each one brought a birthday gift for Katie. Each mother must have taken special care to be sure her little girl was dressed nicely with her hair neatly combed.

A few minutes after arriving, one of the children noticed a big box containing “dress-up” clothes. There were long dresses, skirts and even a very small wedding dress. There were also fancy hats, gloves and some high-heeled shoes.

In a very short time, almost every girl was changed into an entirely different-looking person! They all pretended to be someone else.

Sometimes you and I like to pretend we are something we are not. Psalm 39:6 says, “Surely every man [walks] in a vain show.” Even though we may pretend to be something we are not, God sees exactly who we really are. The Word of God says, “The Lord [sees] not as man [sees]; for man [looks] on the outward appearance, but the Lord [looks] on the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7). God can see right into our hearts and we cannot fool Him.

Boys and girls, what does God see when He looks into your heart? Does He see a child who is trying to please Him, or does He see a child who has naughty, angry or selfish thoughts?

The party was lots of fun, but the best part came at last when they had birthday cake and ice cream. Even though they all looked like little ladies in their dress-up clothes, in the end there were tears when the time came to go home. Then they were just tired, normal little girls again.

ML-08/27/2006

Tang Saves the Passengers and Crew

In the winter of 1919, a coastal steamer named the “Ethie” was traveling along the coast of Newfoundland, Canada, when a terrible storm blew up. Back then they didn’t have modern weather instruments that could warn ships of approaching bad weather, and so the storm took the Ethie by surprise. The ship was carrying mail and freight, along with ninety-two people on board. Some said it was the worst storm in a hundred years to hit the coast.

The wind blew fiercely, whipping snow through the air, with waves nearly a hundred feet high. The captain doubted that his ship could withstand much more of the beating it was taking in the wild storm. He decided to move in close to shore to find shelter in a bay or behind an island. At nightfall he was about to turn into Bonnie Bay when the high winds and great waves pushed the ship too close to shore. With a heart-stopping thud, the iron hull of the boat ran aground on submerged rocks. The ship was stuck fast on the rocks seventy-five yards from shore.

A huge wave curled up with tremendous power and crashed onto the decks, washing away all the Ethie’s lifeboats into the sea. The ship, taking on water through a hole in its hull, began leaning far over to one side.

The captain realized the Ethie was in danger of breaking up into pieces at any moment. Everybody on board would be tossed into the raging seas, and everyone would likely be lost. He took a big flare gun out onto the open deck and shot it into the night sky. For a moment the sky was lit up in brilliant green before the flare burned out. He fired two more flares, hoping men on shore would see it and come to their rescue.

Rescue parties did come from nearby towns but were unable to help. The waves crashing onto shore were so big they would have smashed any lifeboats before they got through the surf.

The captain knew time was running out. He asked for a volunteer to swim from the stranded ship through the raging sea to shore, holding a light rope. Once he got to shore, the light rope would be used to pull a much heavier and stronger rope across. Then a boatswain’s chair could be rigged up on the rope and the passengers transferred, one by one, from the grounded ship to shore.

One brave young man fully understood the danger of the ship breaking up and volunteered to make the attempt. He stripped off his coat, boots and shirt and dove into the icy cold water. He struggled against the wild waves until some unseen current caught him in its power and swept him out to sea. He was never seen again.

Wave after wave pounded the ship as hope was failing in the hearts of everyone on board. Then the captain’s eye fell on Tang, the ship’s dog, and another desperate idea formed in his mind. Tang was a big black Newfoundland dog weighing over 150 pounds. He knew the dog was practically fearless and also intelligent. The dog was used to help with chores on the boat and in the harbors, and he always seemed to understand what he was told to do. The captain led the dog to part of the ship that was closest to shore and put the rope in the dog’s mouth. With a sweep of his hand, he pointed to shore and said, “Tang, you’ve got to swim to shore . . . to shore Tang . . . and take this rope.” The big dog seemed to understand. Without hesitating, he went to a place where the ship’s railing had been broken away and leapt into the churning waves. Newfoundland dogs are excellent swimmers, with thick, double coats of fur that protect them from the cold.

The waves crashed over the dog and the current spun him around, but still Tang swam towards shore with the rope in his mouth. He swam against strong currents. Mountainous waves would crash over him and he would be completely underwater, but he always came up and kept going. At last, he made it to shore.

Men took the rope from Tang’s mouth and quickly attached the heavier rope which the captain pulled back to the ship. After rigging up a boatswain’s chair, the passengers were transferred in the chair, one by one, from the doomed ship to shore. A baby was even placed in a mail bag and transferred just above the raging sea. The captain was the last to come across.

The Ethie broke up and sank in the waves shortly after the rescue. Because of Tang’s heroic rescue, the passengers and crew on board were saved. Lloyd’s of London, the insurance company for ships, sent Tang a beautiful medallion on a collar to show their appreciation for the dog’s brave work in saving so many people’s lives.

Tang’s courage, strength and life-saving instincts saved many lives in that terrible storm. Tang reminds us of the Lord Jesus who is supremely brave, strong and willing to save. Without hesitation on His part, He came from heaven and went to the cross where He died in the sinner’s place. He knew that every man, woman or child would be lost for all eternity if He didn’t give His life a ransom for all. At the cross God’s anger against sin fell on Jesus in one mighty wave after another. “I am the man that hath seen affliction by the rod of [God’s] wrath” (Lamentations 3:1).

Because the Lord Jesus suffered on the cross for sinners, all who believe on Him will be saved. “Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God” (1 Peter 3:18).

Sinners who are being swept along by the power of sin and darkness to eternal destruction have a way to escape, because the Lord Jesus died for them. If they believe on the Lord Jesus, He will set their feet on solid rock, save their souls and they shall never perish. “I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of My hand” (John 10:28).

It was only because Tang was able to swim through the raging waves that many lives were saved from the Ethie, and it is only because of the Lord Jesus and His work on the cross that anyone in this world of sin can ever be saved from God’s anger against their sins.

In love Jesus died for you on the cross, but if you refuse to accept Him as your Saviour, you will have to bear the terrible storm of God’s anger against your sins. “The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God” (Psalm 9:17).

Oh, won’t you realize your dangerous condition and call out to the Lord Jesus who is mighty to save? “Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Romans 10:13).

ML-09/03/2006

House on Fire

Maybe you’ve sat down near a warm, cozy campfire or curled up with a book by the fireplace at home. You watch the flames swirl and bounce, and smoke gently curls around and around as it drifts upward. It almost makes you want to drift off lazily to sleep. You wouldn’t want anyone to wake you up either.

Nicholas Emerito was sleeping soundly near the fire in his fireplace one night. In fact, it was nearly morning when his little dog Mimi jumped up on his chest and began pawing him, barking loudly and licking his face. Slowly, very slowly, he woke up, looked around and suddenly panicked. The fire wasn’t just burning in the fireplace; it was racing through the living room where he had fallen asleep! It was quickly burning everything around him. How would he tell his family in time? His wife and little boy Peter were sleeping downstairs. Upstairs Deborah, Lisa, Patricia, Anthony and Edward were sleeping.

While Nicholas rushed downstairs to waken his wife and son, Mimi, who had always been afraid of stairs, made her way up through the flames. She awakened the three girls with her frantic barking and then bounded to the boys’ room. Deborah, Lisa and Patricia hurried down the already burning staircase and got out just in time. Edward made it too, but fourteen-year-old Anthony kept right on sleeping.

How could anybody sleep through fire, heavy smoke, screaming brothers and sisters and a wildly barking dog? It’s hard to understand. But there’s something else that’s even harder to understand. Maybe you or one of your friends has been hearing warnings for a long time about God’s coming judgment. Maybe the others have hurried for safety to the arms of the Lord Jesus, but you just keep right on doing what you’ve always been doing and continue to ignore the warnings. It might even be a little bit irritating to hear the gospel warning again. Why is everyone making so much noise about it when life seems so comfortable right where you are? The most important warning comes from God, not other people. His warning says, “Seek ye the Lord while He may be found, call ye upon Him while He is near” (Isaiah 55:6).

Anthony had two friends who risked their lives for him. Edward turned around and went back up the burning staircase through the choking smoke, but Mimi got there first. The two of them finally got Anthony awake, but now they were all trapped - the burning staircase had collapsed!

The boys’ dad placed a ladder against the side of the burning house and yelled for them to climb through a window and come down. But it was too late! Flames burst out of the house and blocked the escape down the ladder. There was only one choice left. They had to jump from the second floor window!

First Anthony jumped to safety. Then Edward followed, but his foot got stuck in the window. He worked it free and jumped to safety. Finally Mimi, the dog that courageously warned the whole family, with their urging jumped free of the burning, collapsing house.

Thanks to Mimi’s warning, the entire family was saved. Only a fool would have heard the warning and not tried to escape. But the Bible tells us “that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, and saying, Where is the promise of His [Jesus’] coming?” (2 Peter 3:34). They choose not to believe that He is really coming. Anthony finally woke up, realized he was in danger and escaped just in time. Maybe you have a friend who needs to be awakened. Will you risk their ridicule and maybe anger to tell them, with Jesus’ help, how they need Him as their Saviour?

Or maybe you yourself need to wake up! “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some men count slackness; but is long-suffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come” (2 Peter 3:910). “How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation”? (Hebrews 2:3).

ML-09/10/2006

Hooked

Walking beside the river, I stopped to watch some boys who were fishing. They were all excited because one of them had hooked a fish. I looked over the wall, expecting to see them reel in a small trout. But this was no little fish - it was a big fish, and it simply would not believe it was caught.

The boys began playing with it, like a cat with a mouse. They pulled it to the surface to show it that it could no longer do as it pleased. And then they played out lots of line so that it plunged and vanished from sight, thinking it was free. Then they reeled it in once more where it could only thrash around near the surface. Again and again, when they gave it more line it took off with freedom in its mind, but always the line was there to bring it back. It was hooked.

As I watched it plunge and thrash and put up a good fight, I wanted to cut the line and set it free. But I saw it grow tired and finally give up fighting. I left as the boys pulled it out of the water.

I thought of the fish I knew, the human ones, who had swallowed Satan’s bait. They had not realized that there was a hook attached that would take away their freedom. They had not realized that after Satan had tired them he would then destroy them . . . unless one stronger than Satan cut that line and set them free. Those boys were bigger and stronger than I, so I did not try to cut the line and give that fish its freedom. But we know that the Lord Jesus is bigger and stronger than Satan, and He is able and ready to cut Satan’s line of control over us when we call on Him.

There was no good news for that helpless fish, but there is good news for every sinner who calls on the name of the Lord Jesus. “Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Romans 10:13). “Whoso putteth his trust in the Lord shall be safe” (Proverbs 29:25). “Call upon Me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify Me” (Psalm 50:15).

Are you still hooked on Satan’s line?

ML-09/10/2006

Getting Rid of Stains

When Nancy opened the clothes dryer, she found purple all over the clothes. Somehow she had overlooked a purple crayon that had been left in Nathan’s pocket when she did the wash. What a mess! Purple crayon had melted in splotches all over that dryer load of light-colored clothes. What could she do?

Sin has made a mess of our hearts too. It has left a red stain on everything that we do.

Nancy called a friend and asked, “How can I get rid of these purple crayon stains?” And we have a Friend who knows all about the red sin stains on our hearts. This Friend loves us and would like nothing better than to wash those stains away in His precious blood and make us clean and happy. Won’t you call on that Friend, the Lord Jesus Christ? He loves you more than any earthly friend ever could. Will you let Him wash away those stains of sin from your heart?

It took Nancy a long time and a lot of work to get all those purple crayon stains out of those clothes. But the Lord Jesus will take all your sins and their stains away the minute you call on Him. He did all the work necessary long ago on Calvary’s cross when He bore all God’s judgment against sin. “Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool” (Isaiah 1:18).

ML-09/17/2006

A Flock of Foolish Sheep

Most children love little lambs, and sheep are known to be harmless and rather helpless. They need constant watching, especially if there are dangers around. Recently there was a story in a Turkish newspaper about the foolishness of a flock of sheep when left alone even for a little while.

Some shepherds had left the flock to graze for a short time while they had breakfast, no doubt feeling sure the flock was safe. What a sight met their eyes when they returned. They saw one sheep leap off the cliff, followed by another, and another, and then the entire flock followed, leaping blindly over the edge. In the end, a white pile of dead sheep lay at the bottom of the cliff. Those that jumped later were saved, because as the pile of dead sheep got higher, their fall was cushioned.

The shepherds could only mourn the loss, saying there was nothing they could do to stop them. Sheep just follow each other, and the helpless shepherds learned the hard way that they should never leave the flock alone.

When the Lord Jesus was on earth, He looked at the crowds following Him and likened them to sheep not having a shepherd. He also called Himself the Good Shepherd who not only stays with the sheep but gave His life and died on the cross that all who trust in Him might have their sins forgiven. He wants to be a shepherd to you and me. He knows the dangers that lurk along the way and what is ahead. If we put our trust in Him and look to Him to guide us, He will not be like those shepherds who left the flock to themselves. He has promised, “I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee” (Hebrews 13:5). How good to have a shepherd like that. Is Jesus YOUR shepherd?

ML-09/24/2006

A Bear Under the Porch

All summer and autumn the black bear had feasted on berries, roots, nuts and fish. Food had been plentiful, and the bear had put on layers of fat. Now he looked like a giant round ball of fur with his roly-poly belly.

The golden days of autumn faded away, and in their place December came with its winds, ice and snow. As food became difficult to find, a sluggishness came over the big black bear. What he searched for now was a dry, dark, protected place where he could curl up and sleep the winter away. He wandered throughout the forest and couldn’t find what he was looking for. However, at the edge of the woods he found what seemed to be the opening of a small cave. As he peered through the opening, it must have looked like a suitable den. Crawling inside, he curled up into a ball and soon fell peacefully into a deep sleep.

Bears are not true hibernators. If they are disturbed, they can be awakened out of their deep sleep, whereas true hibernators, like marmots, cannot be awakened.

The bear had actually made a poor choice for a den for his winter’s snooze. You see, he had found his way into the crawl space under the front porch of a house near the town of Effort, Pennsylvania!

The next morning two grade school boys ran out the front door of the house to play in the snow. They were in such a hurry to get outside that they slammed the door behind them. Tappity-tap-tap went their footsteps down the steps, right over the bear’s newly found den. Thankfully, the bear didn’t wake up. The two boys made snowballs and tossed them back and forth, yelling and laughing as they played in the snow. Good thing the bear was a sound sleeper!

While playing, one of the boys discovered the large paw prints the bear had left in the snow. The two of them followed the trail to the opening of the crawl space under their front porch. They stuck their heads in to take a look. When their eyes became accustomed to the darkness, they saw the sleeping bear. The alarmed boys ran into the house and breathlessly told their dad what they had discovered.

Dad took a flashlight and looked in the crawl space for himself. Sure enough, the boys were right! A big black bear had made his winter den under their porch. Quickly and quietly they made their way back into the house, closed the door and locked it.

Once they were safely inside, do you think Dad told his two boys, “It’s only a 300pound bear sleeping under the porch. You can go on running around outside and playing in the snow. Don’t worry about his sharp claws and teeth or waking him up”?

No, of course not. He realized the great danger the bear presented to everyone. For the dad to ignore the danger would have been unthinkable.

Yet a good number of people, when they hear of God’s warning against sin, are doing the unthinkable-they are continuing on with their lives as if there were nothing to fear. The Bible solemnly states, “The wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). Unless a sinner comes to the Lord Jesus to be saved from the punishment he deserves, God will justly bring every sinner into judgment. “It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment” (Hebrews 9:27). The judgment of all sinners who never turn to the Saviour will be terrible. When they die, they will be sent away to a place of never-ending suffering and punishment called hell. The Bible warns that “these shall go away into everlasting punishment” (Matthew 25:46).

Sin has a terrible price tag attached to it. Those who ignore the results of their sins and go on carelessly with their lives as if all is well will end up paying the price for their sins forever.

When the father of the house discovered there was a bear under the porch, he did the sensible thing. He called the state wildlife authorities to come and remove the slumbering though dangerous creature.

The sensible thing to do when you are warned that you are a sinner is to come to the Lord Jesus who is mighty to save. “Whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Acts 2:21). His blood shed at the cross has the power to wash away your stains of sin once and forever. “The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin” (1 John 1:7).

In the entire universe there is no other way for a guilty sinner to have his sins removed than through the blood of Jesus Christ. Don’t pass through another day as if all is well with you when you are still in your sins and are a stranger to the Saviour who loves you. Instead, tell Him today that you know you are a sinner and accept the salvation He lovingly offers you.

ML-10/01/2006

Childlike Faith

“Why doesn’t Jesus visit us sometime, Mommy?” asked four-year-old Gail.

“Because Jesus is up in heaven,” answered her mother.

“Can’t Jesus fly in an airplane like Daddy does sometimes?”

“Jesus does not have to fly in an airplane, because even if His body is in heaven, He is also with us. Before He went back to heaven, He said that He would be with us all the time.”

“But, Mommy, I can’t see Him.”

“No, we can’t see Jesus, but we know that He loves us and is with us, because the Bible says so. Think of the wonderful things He does for us. There are many real things we can’t see with our eyes. You can’t see my love for you, but you know that I love you because of the many things I do for you.”

The next day Gail was sick. She said, “Mommy, I know Jesus is with me, and I’m going to ask Him to make me all better.” Then she knelt down beside her bed and prayed, “Dear Lord Jesus, please make me all better. I know You love me, and I love You. Amen.”

God wants all of us to have a simple, childlike faith in Him. “Suffer the little children to come unto Me, and forbid them not; for of such is the kingdom of God” (Mark 10:14).

ML-10/01/2006

Trapped and Terrified

David Earley is afraid of heights, and so am I. He works for a company that installs liners in big, super-tall smokestacks. Normally that’s not a problem because he usually works on the ground operating equipment. But the night of Saturday, March 4, 2006, would be different . . . very, very different.

David’s boss ordered him to the top of the 976 ft.-high stack. David refused, but when told he would lose his job if he didn’t go, he tried to conquer his fear. Up he went on a hoisting platform with two other workers. First, they went higher than a house, then higher than the trees, higher than a water tower, and then higher than the length of a football field. Up and up they went. Just to look down from the hoisting platform must have been terrifying, as the people below looked smaller and smaller.

I don’t know how long they were working before they heard the explosion and felt the flames below them. The hoist failed, and without brakes the hoist was held up only by its gears. Below, workers scrambled to get away. Emergency teams were quickly called. Careful planning and training meant those teams were all prepared to respond, and twelve fire departments, nine emergency teams and four police departments from four counties and two states came racing to the scene.

Sadly, nothing could be done. After all, who has a rescue ladder longer than three football fields? That’s what they needed to get to the top of the smokestack. And I suppose it’s difficult to fight a fire inside an enclosed concrete stack, because they just couldn’t put it out. It would burn for dozens of hours; in fact, it spread up the lining of the stack. The flames moved toward the workers above while blazing heat billowed upward, enveloping David and his two coworkers. The three men were trapped and terrified.

I’m thankful that I’ve never been in their shoes, but I have been trapped by something even more deadly - sin. In fact, we all have been trapped by sin, and many people still are trapped. Not only is it true that “all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23), but all have been “dead in trespasses and sins” (Ephesians 2:1). A dead person can do nothing, absolutely nothing for himself. As much as some people might want to break free from sin or rescue their friends, they can’t do it! While David and his coworkers realized rescue seemed hopeless, they did what was most important-they prayed.

The flames burned closer and hotter. Fire began to break out on their clothing. They would slap it out, and it would break out in another place. There was no way to climb down, no one could climb up to them, and now they were beginning to catch fire!

But hope finally arrived above them . . . a helicopter! And the only hope for sinners must come from the heavens too, from Jesus Christ Himself.

The helicopter pilot and two police medics were doing their best to reach the three men, but it was difficult. The darkness of night limited their vision, and swirling winds blew smoke through the air. Below them were super-high-voltage power lines, and the huge smoke stack was beside them. The pilot sent down the safety bucket.

Do you suppose that David didn’t really want to leave the platform and get into the safety bucket in the windy darkness? But what choice did he have? Many people who don’t know the Lord Jesus Christ personally don’t have real confidence in Him either. They don’t know how completely trustworthy He is. They think trusting their entire lives to Him is about as scary as stepping into a swinging bucket almost a thousand feet above a raging fire.

The first two men were lifted safely to the helicopter, one at a time. When the last man got into the bucket, there was no one left to steady it, and it skidded off the edge of the platform and fell out of sight ten feet below. But the rope held, and he was safely pulled up to the helicopter.

Christ Jesus is the only one who can rescue us from our sins. “The blood of Jesus Christ [God’s] Son cleanseth us from all sin” (1 John 1:7). He came from heaven above down to earth, purposely to rescue sinners. Any sinner who turns to Him can have his sins washed away. But unlike a scary bucket ride up to safety, He has promised, “I will come again, and receive you unto Myself; that where I am, there ye may be also” (John 14:3). The Bible tells us that Jesus is “Faithful and True” (Revelation 19:11), and He keeps all His promises. Won’t you turn to Him from the trap of sin today and be saved? He is your only hope.

ML-10/08/2006

"When I Go Up"

While driving in town, I was stopped at a red light. In front of me was a little, battered-up Volkswagon. On its bumper was a sticker that said, “When I grow up I want to be a Cadillac.” I thought to myself, Little Volkswagon, you and I both want something. Mine will happen, and yours won’t.

I want to “go up,” not “grow up”! The Lord Jesus died for me so that I could be saved from my sins. He died for sinners, but only those are saved who admit that they have sinned and accept the Lord Jesus as their very own Saviour. It is because I have believed the good news of salvation that I am saved. Because my sins are gone, I know for sure that I will “go up.”

A battered-up, little car cannot change what it is, because it does not have life. It can never grow up or be anything else other than a Volkswagon. But for people who are saved, the Lord Jesus said, “I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto Myself; that where I am, there ye may be also” (John 14:23).

Because Jesus died on the cross, rose from the dead and went to heaven, what I want will soon happen - I will go up to be with Him. Have you believed on Him? Accept Him into your heart so that you may go up when He comes to call His own out of this evil world to be with Him in heaven.

ML-10/08/2006

Eagles and Bible Verses

Did you ever see baby eagles in a nest? It is not likely, because eagles make their nests high up in tall trees or on power-line towers.

Someone mounted a video camera that took pictures of an eagle’s nest. We could see it on our computer. The nest is made of sticks and twigs, with moss inside to make it comfortable. There were two eaglets, as baby eagles are called. When the little eaglets tried to stand, they fell over. They were too weak to stand, but they were hungry.

Then as we watched, two big eagles landed on the nest. Father and mother eagle came to the nest with some meat in their talons - talons are claws on their feet. Since the eaglets were so small, they could only eat little pieces of the food. The parent eagles, using their big, hooked beaks, carefully pulled pieces off the meat held in their talons. Pieces small enough for the babies to swallow were offered to them. The babies quickly took the pieces in their beaks and swallowed them. The mother and father birds kept pulling off small pieces and giving them to their babies. The little ones ate all that was given to them.

Now what has this to do with Bible verses? As I watched the eagles being fed, it made me think of the verses that children in Sunday school learn when they are very young - short verses like “God is light” (1 John 1:5) and “God is love” (1 John 4:8). Every verse in the Bible is important.

When the eagles grew, the mother gave them bigger pieces to eat. Later they were able to tear off the meat for themselves. So older boys and girls in Sunday school are able to learn some longer verses. Your moms and dads help you to learn these verses. Later you can learn them for yourselves without your parents’ help.

After a while those eagles will be taught to catch their own food. What does that mean to you? It means that you will grow and be able to read God’s Word for yourself. It is a good habit to form. Read your Bible every day and think about what you have read.

An old man in a nursing home had such poor eyesight that he could no longer read. He knew many Bible verses. He told me he had learned them when he was young.

What would happen if an eagle quit hunting for food? It would starve to death, right? If you want a happy Christian life, keep on reading the Word of God as you grow up. Then don’t stop because you are an adult. We all need this “food” every day of our lives!

“The entrance of Thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple” (Psalm 119:130).

ML-10/15/2006

Rolando's Prank

In our neighborhood, Rolando was always up to a prank. Once some neighbors put out some rat poison and then were afraid to go in to clean out the dead rats. When no one else would touch them, it was Rolando who picked them up, tied their tails together and threw them all over the neighborhood. He was always up to a prank of some kind, so it was no surprise to find out that Rolando was the person behind the bright light that flashed into my eyes one morning.

He had found a mirror in the garbage. After breaking it into many pieces, Rolando gave the jagged pieces to the children in the neighborhood, not caring that they might get cut on the sharp edges. Then he took one of the larger pieces and held it carefully to pick up the sunlight and shined it right into my eyes. The flash of sunlight was so bright that it took a few moments before I could see anything again.

Rolando was half a block down the street, but he knew that his newest prank was working. So he amused himself for the rest of the hour by flashing the sunlight into my eyes again and again. In order to go on working, I had to shade my eyes with one hand. But when I forgot for even one moment, there would be another sudden blinding flash.

Now think for a moment about the strength of the sun. One single flash of sunlight from Rolando’s piece of mirror could blind me with brightness even though the sun is approximately 93,000,000 miles away from my house! Rolando’s prank had reminded me of how bright the sun is and of a man whose face will be “as the sun shineth in his strength” (Revelation 1:16). This man is the Lord Jesus when He returns to this earth as a judge. The Bible also says, “Behold, He cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see Him . . . and all kindreds [peoples] of the earth shall wail because of Him” (Revelation 1:7).

Are you ready to meet the King of kings? Can you stand before the One who will destroy His enemies with the brightness of His coming? “The Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of His power” (2 Thessalonians 1:79).

God has not placed these warnings in the Bible to make you unhappy. He loves you and wants to warn you of the terrible danger of turning away from the Lord Jesus, the Saviour of sinners. “God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be saved” (John 3:17). God is never in a hurry to judge. He always gives a warning first and waits for sinners to come to Him for salvation. How long has He waited for you?

The next time you feel the strength of the sun, remember that someday a judge will come from heaven whose face will shine as the sun in its strength. Won’t you come to Jesus today for salvation so that you will meet Him as your Saviour and not as your judge? He’s waiting for you.

ML-10/15/2006

The Decoy Goose

It looked like a Canada goose sitting on the water. When the migrating birds flew overhead, the pond looked like a safe place to land. They didn’t seem to be aware of anything unusual. The flock came down to rest, and then suddenly . . . BANG! BANG! BANG!

Do you know what a decoy is? The dictionary says, “Anything that entices or lures for capture.” Satan has many decoys to lure children and grown-ups into his traps. Satan’s decoys usually look interesting and inviting, but they all eventually lead to the road of destruction. Jesus says, “My son [or daughter], if sinners entice thee, consent thou not” (Proverbs 1:10).

The decoy on the pond that looked like a Canada goose was really a large fiberglass model of a goose that could hold two men and a dog inside its hollow shell. On the water all around it were life-size models of geese. The quiet pond looked inviting - but it was all a trap. The men inside the fiberglass model were hunters.

Until we are saved, we usually don’t realize that we are trapped in sin. But Jesus came to save us from our sins by dying for us. “He [Jesus] brought me up also out of a horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings” (Psalm 40:2). Don’t be lured by what the world offers. Turn to Jesus today. He will wash away your sins and will give you true happiness. And unlike the short-lived fun of the world, Jesus’ joy will be with you forever. Let Jesus save you today, and you will be saved forever.

“The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin” (1 John 1:7).

ML-10/22/2006

Bryce's Bravery

The cougar probably wandered down from the mountain range looking for food because it was hungry. It must have been young and inexperienced to have come so near the town of Gold River, British Columbia. Had it been older, it might have known better and never put itself into danger by coming close to where people live. The large, powerful cat prowled through backyards, staying well hidden by trees and bushes.

The Forbes family was busy at midday. Little did anyone guess that a dangerous animal had invaded their backyard and was lurking nearby. Dad and Mom were working together in a shop behind the garage. Five-year-old Tucker and six-year-old Bryce were busy playing with their trucks in the backyard.

Bryce decided to go into the house for a snack. He was no more than three steps away from the back door when he spotted the cougar. It was crouching in front of their garage as if ready to attack. Bryce saw the long claws on the cat raking through the gravel on the driveway. The cat looked huge and mean!

Bryce’s first thought was to run those few steps to the back door and get into the house as fast as he could. Then he remembered his brother. He knew his brother did not know a cougar was in the yard. If he left his brother alone, the cougar might pounce on him. If he called out to him to run, Tucker might run the wrong way and run right into the cougar.

Tucker was only a year younger than Bryce but a whole lot smaller. A year makes a big difference in size when you are only five. Bryce knew Tucker would be helpless against the cougar. He loved his brother and couldn’t leave him in danger. He must save his brother . . . even if it meant the cougar got him instead.

Bryce ran the forty feet to Tucker. They were the bravest forty feet he ever ran! He was so scared, expecting the cougar to attack him at every moment. He made it to his brother, and then, without telling Tucker why, he grabbed his hand and yanked him to his feet. Together they ran into the shop behind the garage.

“Daddy!” Bryce blurted out panting. “A cougar is trying to get us!” At first, Dad didn’t believe him. But one look at Bryce’s face convinced him to go take a look anyway. He didn’t think a cougar could jump the tall fence around their yard. He was surprised to see the long body of the big cat bounding away.

Dad called the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, and a team of men and dogs was sent out. They trailed the cat until they found it. The RCMP didn’t have any choice but to kill it, because the big cat was a real danger to the townspeople.

Bryce was willing to save his brother even if it meant he would be attacked instead. Nearly two thousand years ago, Christ Jesus willingly stepped into the path of pain and suffering so that sinners could be saved from the penalty for their sins. He left the glories of heaven to come to earth to become a Saviour and went all the way to the cross to save sinners. Do you know why He took that journey of pain and suffering? It was because He loves you and me so very much. He knew we were headed for danger, death and judgment, so He came and died for sinners. “The wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:23). The judgment that should have fallen on guilty sinners fell on Him instead. Now because of His death and shed blood, all those who believe on Him receive the gift of forgiveness and eternal life. The priceless gift of eternal life is offered to you - to everyone - and it’s free! God invites each one of us to receive it by accepting His Son Jesus as Saviour. How great is God’s love and faithfulness that He sent His Son into this world to die for you and me!

Several weeks after Bryce rescued his brother, a government official from the province made a special trip to Gold River to present Bryce Forbes with an award for bravery. The official came to Bryce’s school and presented him with the award in front of all his schoolmates who gave him a round of applause.

Bryce was worthy of that honor for what he did. He was very brave in saving his brother. The Lord Jesus is worthy of all honor for what He has done too. Will you choose to honor Him by accepting His offer and trusting Him as your Saviour? “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners” (1 Timothy 1:15).

ML-10/29/2006

Read the Instructions

Has your dad or big brother or even you tried to put something together without bothering to follow the instructions? I am sure it happens all too often, because there is a saying, “When all else fails, read the instructions!” This advice has even been printed on Tshirts. As I followed a man one time, the advice written on his shirt said:

Read the

Did you notice what the first letter of each word spells? Yes, this man was giving us the advice to read the Bible, for it is there that God has given us instructions, not only on how to live, but also on how to die. God made us, and He knows just what is best for us and also knows what will harm us. He tells us, and repeats it twice so that we will really take notice, “There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death” (Proverbs 14:12 and 16:25). That is a very serious statement, for when we think we are doing all right, we may well be all wrong.

So like the man walking in front of me, I would urge you to read God’s basic instruction before you leave this earth. One verse you will read says, “If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised [Jesus] from the dead, thou shalt be saved” (Romans 10:9).

ML-10/29/2006

Mary Jones and Her Bible

This is the true story of a girl named Mary Jones who loved God’s Word. She worked and saved her money for six years to buy a Bible and then walked 25 miles to buy it!

Mary was born in 1792 in the country of Wales. Her parents were quite poor and Mary’s father was ill. However, Mary and her mother went to the mission hall for Bible study, prayer and hymn singing each week. This was the happiest time of the week for Mary. She was only eight years old, but even the grown-ups noticed how eagerly she listened and how her face shone when the Bible was read.

There was no school in the district of Abergynolwyn where Mary lived, so she could not even learn to read. But Mary’s friend, Mrs. Evans, told her that when she learned to read she was welcome to come and use their Bible whenever she wished. This meant that she would have to walk the two miles to their house since there was no other way for her to go.

When Mary was ten years old, a school was opened in her district, and she finally learned to read. She soon started walking the two miles to the Evans’s house each Saturday afternoon to read their Bible and study Sunday’s lesson. But how she wished for a Bible of her own so she could read it every day for herself and also read it to her mother and father. She decided to earn money to buy one and asked her father to make her a money box. She had a colony of bees and some hens and sold the honey and eggs. She picked up sticks for a lady who was not able to pick them up herself, and she did some baby-sitting, housework and sewing for other people. Yet, for all her work, her little pile of money grew slowly.

Mary continued to work and save her money, as she longed for a Bible of her own. Welsh Bibles were very expensive and also very scarce in those days.

After six long years, Mary finally had saved enough money for a Bible. She was told that she would have to go see a clergyman in Bala to find a Bible to buy. Bala was twenty-five miles away! But that did not discourage her.

When she left for Bala with her money, Mary walked from dawn till dark to cover the twenty-five miles. The next morning she was able to buy a Bible. She hurried as she walked the long twenty-five miles back home, but her heart was full of joy and her face shining because of the treasure she held in her arms.

“Holy Bible, Book Divine,

Precious Treasure, Thou art mine.”

Do you love God’s Word? Do you read the Bible every day? The person who wrote Psalm 119:24 loved reading God’s Word. He wrote, “Thy testimonies also are my delight, and my counselors.” Jeremiah also loved God’s Word. He wrote, “Thy Word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart” (Jeremiah 15:16). Little Christians as well as big Christians need to read God’s Word every day in order to grow in the things of God. His Word will also guide us in making decisions in our lives. “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path” (Psalm 119:105).

ML-11/05/2006

The Seagull's Secret

Niagara Falls is a very famous spot in North America. This great, roaring body of water plunges from Lake Erie over a 186foot precipice and runs along as a river until it flows into Lake Ontario. Just above the falls is Goat Island, which separates part of the on-rushing water into two parts. You can cross over to Goat Island by a bridge. It is fascinating to watch this fast-flowing water as it crashes and surges against the rocks in the river and rushes on to the falls.

As we stood on this bridge, watching the water rushing underneath, we saw a sea gull which seemed to be sitting on the water completely at rest. It was neither moving or being carried away in the rapids. In fact, it was completely unaffected by the waves crashing around it and the water rushing by.

A closer look explained the sea gull’s calmness . . . it had a secret. It had found the tip of a rock to stand on in the middle of the rapids, and a boulder behind it took the force of the rushing water. The bird’s legs were completely covered by the water so that it appeared to be floating on the water, just like sea gulls often do.

David, King of Israel, boasted about God being his rock and his shelter. In Psalm 62:2,6, twice he says, “[God] only is my rock and my salvation; He is my defense; I shall not be moved.” And in Psalm 61:2 King David says, “When my heart is overwhelmed: lead me to the Rock that is higher than I.”

Isn’t that just what we all need? The world is full of turmoil and unhappiness, as restless as those waters of Niagara. How much we need a strong, firm rock to keep us from being swept away in the confusion and evil all around us. God, our Creator, has not left us alone in this unsettled world. He has given us a Rock on which we can stand, firm and secure, in the worst of storms and turmoil. He sent Jesus, His Son, to be our Rock, to die in our place so that all who believe and accept Him as their Saviour will be saved from the penalty of their sins. Then He sent His Holy Spirit to be our Guide and Comforter.

Trials and storms come to everyone, but happy is the boy or girl, man or woman, who has found the Lord Jesus Christ to be their Rock, a support and shelter through the rough waters of life. Those who are trusting in the Lord Jesus, the Rock of our salvation, will be able to stand undisturbed, like that sea gull with its feet on a rock and in the shelter of a big boulder.

“The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust” (Psalm 18:2).

ML-11/05/2006

Hold the Feather Up

I met Ernie one day at an art show where we each had displays of our artwork. During the next eight years, I met him occasionally and we talked about many things. Sometimes I talked to him about the Lord Jesus, my beloved Saviour. But when I spoke about the Lord Jesus, Ernie was not the least bit interested.

Then one day I heard that Ernie was in the hospital with congestive heart failure. That’s a slow, hard way to die, but it has one big advantage - lying in bed for long days, it gives you lots of time to think about where you are going to spend eternity.

When I heard Ernie was so ill, because of our shared interest in art, I carved him a feather out of wood. On the smooth back of the feather, I carefully printed those wonderful words from Romans 10:9: “If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.”

When I went into his hospital room, Ernie was barely able to whisper, “Hi, Jon,” because his lungs were so filled with fluid. In another hoarse whisper he said with terror in his voice, “I’m dying! I’m dying!” Then, try as he would, he could not say another word.

“I know it, I know it, Ernie,” I said. “That’s why I came.” And I gave him the feather. When he read those wonderful words from the Bible, his eyes filled with terror! He could not speak, but he looked at me pleadingly and pointed over and over to the verse.

After a while I realized that the reason he was so afraid was because he was no longer able to talk - to confess with his mouth the Lord Jesus - and that’s what the verse told him he should do. So I said, “Ernie, God is so kind and so eager to save lost, repentant sinners that if you just hold that feather up, He will know exactly what you mean, even if you can’t say it!”

Ernie grabbed that feather and held it up toward heaven, as high as he could reach. The look of fear that had covered his face was gone, and there was a smile in its place. He clutched the feather to his chest. He was at peace. He had believed on the Lord Jesus Christ and was saved, just as the verse promises.

I know that one day I’ll meet Ernie in heaven. But will I meet you there?

ML-11/12/2006

Two Kinds of Life

The sun was hot by the time Norm the earthworm came out of the earth and started to worm his way across the sidewalk. When I saw him, I wondered why he wanted to cross to the other side. He would gain nothing. There was only more of the same earth he left on the other side.

I wondered, Can an earthworm think? Do they think or do they act by instinct? Did Norm know what he would find at the end of his sidewalk journey? Did he know that it would be the same thing as he left on the other side?

Would he even arrive safely? My big shoe could easily squash poor Norm. Ruby Robin could be looking for something to feed her family. The hot sun could dry out Norm . . . and then he would never reach the other side.

Have you looked ahead to the end of your life? Will you live to be eighty years old? No one knows when his life will end. Just as Norm the worm faced many dangers, there are many things that can bring our lives to an end.

There are two kinds of life possible for you and me. One is peace now and joy forever in God’s house in heaven. The other is uncertainty and fear now, and then anger and suffering alone in darkness forever.

So the big question is this: “Where will you be in eternity?” God’s Word tells us of only two places. The Apostle Paul was sure and willing “to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord” (2 Corinthians 5:8). He even said that when he left this life, he would “be with Christ; which is far better” (Philippians 1:23).

I am sure that you do not want to be one of those “to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever” (Jude 13).

Jesus said, “[Truly, truly,] I say unto you, he that [hears] My word, and [believes] on Him that sent Me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life” (John 5:24).

Have you trusted in the Lord Jesus for your salvation? This Bible verse tells you how you can be sure you are saved: “If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved” (Romans 10:9).

Do you believe that Jesus is the Lord God? Then tell someone. Do you really believe that Jesus is no longer in the grave but that God raised Him from the dead? Then God’s own Word says, “Thou shalt be saved.” If you do this honestly from your heart, you ARE saved!

And I’ll see you in heaven.

ML-11/12/2006

Mistaken for a Toy

Six-year-old Tommy was excited to be going camping with his family. The campground they went to was in a desert-like area with lots of sand, sagebrush and desert flowers. But the campground loop was at the edge of a river, and that promised to be lots of fun. Mountains could be seen in the distance.

The family pitched their tent and then sat around a campfire until it was dark. When they climbed into their tent and tried to go to sleep, Tommy was so excited that he couldn’t help bouncing around on top of his sleeping bag. Tommy’s dad made him get inside his sleeping bag and zipped it up good and tight. Finally, they all fell asleep.

Tommy got up early the next morning. It is hard to sleep late in a tent with the sunlight filtering in. He sat down at the picnic table while his dad got him a bowl of cereal. Tommy thought of all the fun things he could do. He could ride his bike around the campground, go fishing, swim or just explore. He could hardly wait to get busy. While he was eating his cereal, he saw something on the ground at the edge of the campsite. It was three or four feet long, dull brown and skinny. He went over to investigate.

The long skinny thing didn’t move but stayed perfectly still. It looked exactly like a toy rubber snake he had at home. He looked at the eyes. They stared forward without blinking. There was a beautiful pattern on the snake’s back. It never crossed Tommy’s mind that it could be anything but a toy.

“Look, Dad, at the toy I found,” he said as he bent over and picked it up.

“TOMMY! NO! DROP IT!” his dad shouted, but it was too late. The snake, which was limp at first, suddenly grew tense in Tommy’s hands and whipped around, sinking its fangs deep into the boy’s forearm!

“OOOW!” Tommy screamed in pain. The snake dropped out of his hands. His dad ran to him and gathered him up in his arms. The bite marks were bright red. Almost instantly Tommy’s arm started to swell. Snake bites can be fatal if not treated quickly. Thankfully, there was a hospital in a nearby town. Tommy’s dad knew exactly where it was and drove very fast to get there. He didn’t waste a minute!

The doctor frowned when he saw the bite. He quickly gave Tommy the necessary antivenin to treat the effects of the snake’s poison. Then they put Tommy, who was very sick, in a bed. After three days in the hospital, doctors said Tommy was well enough to go home.

You may think Tommy made a very silly mistake, thinking the rattlesnake was a toy, and that you would never do anything like that. But is this really the case? Take a moment and think about it. Sin has a deadly bite, even more deadly than a rattlesnake. Listen carefully to what God’s Word says: “The wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23); “the sting of death is sin” (1 Corinthians 15:56); “the soul that sinneth, it shall die” (Ezekiel 18:4). Have you treated sin like it is harmless? Sin is not a plaything that a person can pick up and put down again without doing great harm to themselves. The terrible fact about sin is that it separates us from God, because God hates sin. It separates us from Him in this life, and it will separate us from Him for all eternity. When a person sins, it is as if a poisonous snake has bitten him. There is no way to get rid of that poison except by coming to the Lord Jesus Christ to be cleansed from all sin.

The Lord Jesus knew the deadly trouble we have gotten into because of our sins. He came to this earth to die in the sinner’s place, because He loves us so very much. “Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:3). When we truly place our faith in Him, He washes our sins away and gives us a new life that makes it possible to live for God. There is no other way to be saved but through faith in Christ.

Tommy’s dad knew he had to get the proper treatment for his son or he might die. He never would have thought, I’ll just put a Band-Aid on it and that will take care of it. No, he made sure he got the right treatment for his son. Won’t you realize that as a sinner you need the Saviour, and nothing else will do? Don’t waste another day thinking sin is harmless when, in truth, it is the deadliest poison ever known! “The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin” (1 John 1:7).

Rosa was a young girl of about eight years old when she first heard that the Lord Jesus loved her and wanted to be her Saviour. For many nights she had prayed and cried and wondered how she could be saved from her sins. Then one day she told God that she was sorry about her sins and asked Him to make her heart clean with the blood of His Son, Jesus Christ. Rosa was so happy! She told her parents, brother, aunts and cousins about her Saviour, and some of them came to know and love Him too.

But several years later Rosa got to worrying. As we sat talking one day she said, “Sometimes I ask God to forgive me. I ask and ask and ask, but I don’t feel forgiven. Isn’t there something more I can do?”

I told Rosa, “No there isn’t. Jesus paid the whole price for your sins when He died on the cross. He rose from the grave and is now in heaven, and there is nothing for you to do. Just trust Him. How you feel has nothing to do with your forgiveness. You will always be forgiven.”

I had Rosa take a red pencil and underline some words in her Bible. One of them was John 5:24: “He that heareth My word, and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.” Notice that it doesn’t say “might have eternal life” or “probably will not come into condemnation” or “might pass from death into life”!

I think these words helped Rosa, and I hope they will help you if you are wondering if you are really forgiven. Why not look in your Bible for some more “for sure” words. Look in John 3:16, Acts 16:31 and Romans 10:9 for starters.

ML-11/19/2006

Just a Little Bit

Our two daughters somehow left too late and missed their flight by almost an hour. Then there was Jim, a friend of ours, who had a flat tire on his way to the airport and arrived just in time to see his plane taxiing down the runway. Though he was only minutes late, he still missed his flight just the same as if he had been much later.

When I was a young girl, I took part in a day of sports and races. I came in second in the younger girls’ race, and my friend Nancy came in almost last. However, neither of us won the race.

There are children who are often mean to their brothers and sisters or disobey their parents and don’t even care. Being mean and disobedient is sin. But maybe you are a child who really wants to do what’s right and who tries hard to be obedient. That’s very good, but if you told me you have never been even a little bit grumpy when you were told to do something you didn’t want to do, I’d have to wonder if you were telling a lie. Lying is also sin. So God tells us that “there is no difference: for all have sinned” (Romans 3:22-23).

Whether we miss the plane or lose the race by just a little or by a whole lot doesn’t really matter too much, does it? Neither Jim nor our daughters caught their flights home, and neither Nancy nor I won the race. And whether we’re naughty just a little bit or a whole lot, we have all sinned and desperately need to be washed clean from our sins, for not one single sin, great or small, will be allowed to enter heaven. But the wonderful news is that “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners [like you and me]” (1 Timothy 1:15). Christ died for us and His precious blood was poured out so you and I could be washed perfectly clean from every stain of sin. “The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin” (1 John 1:7).

Don’t miss heaven. The door of salvation is open for you whether you have sinned a lot or just a little bit. The Lord Jesus loves you and wants to cleanse you from your sins right now. Won’t you come to Him and let Him wash your sins away?

“Behold, now is
the accepted time; behold, now is
the day of salvation.”

2 Corinthians 6:2

ML-11/26/2006

Trapped in a Mine

Have you ever played outside in the dust or mud and then come inside and walked across the clean floor? Your mom or dad, if they saw you, would probably get excited and want you to take those shoes off and wash up right away. Would they let you go for two weeks of playing in the dirt and never taking a bath, never washing and sitting in filth? I’m sure they wouldn’t, but I want to tell you about two men who didn’t have any choice. They had to spend two weeks filthy dirty.

Brant Webb and Todd Russell grabbed their mining tools, hung their identification tags around their necks, and got ready to ride down the elevator to their work site . . . way down . . . three thousand feet down into the inky-black darkness of an Australian gold mine. As they reached their level and walked to the place where they would dig, they passed under millions of tons of rock. No weather report told them about the earthquake coming later that day.

The two men reached their spot and stepped inside a small, metal safety cage about three feet wide, three feet long and four feet tall where they set to work digging into one of the richest deposits of gold in the world. I don’t know how long they had been working when the rock ceiling above them began to shake. Rock and dust began crashing down around them, and a huge slab of rock smashed down, covering the cage over their heads.

When the shaking stopped, the whole tunnel where they had entered was filled with many tons of rock, blocking their way out. Surrounding them in every other direction were walls of rock, five times as hard as concrete. They were completely trapped! No shower, no toilet, no sink, no supply of water, and with only one small cereal bar for food.

Now, I’ve gotten muddy hiking in the rain a few times, and I’ve slept in my dirty clothes for a few days when on a trip. But I’ve never been trapped underground like Brant and Todd. However, I have been trapped in an even dirtier and more dangerous pit - the pit of sin. Psalm 40:2 in the Bible mentions a “horrible pit” and “miry clay.” That’s an awful ugly, sticky spot to be stuck. Isaiah 64:6 says that even what we decide are our good, clean deeds, God says they are like “filthy rags.” And just like being trapped three thousand feet down inside a mine, there’s no way we can get out of the pit of sin by ourselves.

For the two men trapped in the mine, one day passed . . . then two . . . then three. They licked the walls for a little moisture. They slowly ate their one cereal bar, and they waited. They couldn’t see anyone, hear anyone or talk to anyone.

However, far above on the surface there was a rush of activity. A private jet flew back and forth throughout Australia, picking up specially trained rescue workers from other mines. Equipment of every possible kind was brought to help in finding the missing miners. Rescue crews worked day and night. And then they found something.

Special sensors detected the trapped miners’ body heat, and a sensitive microphone was able to “hear” them talking. Soon a very long tube had been drilled through the collapsed rock and into the miners’ prison. Five days after they were trapped, Brant and Todd began to receive food, energy drinks and other supplies through the drilled tube. But the men were still trapped, and rescuers would need to dig through solid rock to reach them. They waited, fearing another earthquake.

When we were dead in sins, the Lord Jesus did everything necessary to rescue us. “Even when we were dead in sins, [God] hath quickened us [made us alive] together with Christ” (Ephesians 2:5). I’m thankful that Brant and Todd had courageous men who came to try to rescue them from the mine. But I’m far more thankful that Jesus Christ came to rescue each of us from our sins. He gave His life, shedding His blood to make a way for us to escape the horrible pit of sin. “[God] hath made [Jesus] to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Corinthians 5:21). The filthy sins of all who trust Him were put on His sinless person so that we could be made clean.

Finally, after fourteen days, rescuers reached the trapped men and freed them. On their way up on the mine elevator, Brant and Todd stopped for a long shower . . . a very long shower. The rescuer waiting for them said, “We didn’t think they would ever get out.”

If you and I had been trapped without tub, shower, toilet or water supply for two weeks in a tiny hole, I think we would do the same thing. How wonderful to bathe our souls in the wonderful, refreshingly clean Word of God.

We can let it run over and over and over our hearts. “Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to Thy word” (Psalm 119:9). What a wonderful thing to be rescued from the trap of sin by the cleansing blood of Christ. Then we have His Word to keep us clean all the way home to heaven.

ML-12/03/2006

Just a Spark

Perhaps many of you children have sung this song when you were in Sunday school:

Oh, be careful, little tongue, what you say,

Oh, be careful, little tongue, what you say;

There’s a Father up above looking down in tender love;

Oh, be careful, little tongue, what you say.

There are several other verses in the song about being careful what your eyes see, what your ears hear, what your hands do, and where your feet go, and they are important too. Our story today is going to compare how a forest fire and our tongues can both do great damage. It will remind us of this Bible verse in James 3:5 where God tells us, “The tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth!”

Have you ever seen a real forest fire? We were camping beside a lake when we noticed a white plume of smoke rising into the sky. We were curious. We took our boat up to a far neck of the lake and discovered that the smoke we saw was from a raging forest fire that had started at the edge of the lake we were on.

Along with about fifty other boats, we sat out on the water and watched the California Forestry Department battle the flames, sparks and wind. And those firefighters were losing the battle. Fifty- to sixty-foot flames swept across scrubby trees which lit up like torches as the flames raced across the hillside. Airplanes made many trips flying through smoke and dangerously close to the hillsides, dropping chemicals to slow the fire’s progress, but then a gust of wind would cause the flames to shoot up again.

Helicopters arrived and began dropping fifty-gallon buckets of lake water onto the fire. Fire trucks were stationed along the dirt service road, and we could see many yellow-suited firefighters dragging hoses as they tried to stop the advancing flames.

Then a bulldozer came clanking along the service road and made a sharp right turn into the scrubby underbrush. Within five minutes, the bulldozer had cleared a firebreak up a small hill before disappearing over the top.

The “Pedro Fire,” as this forest fire was named, started on July 3 and burned out of control for ten days before it was finally stopped. There were 1,364 firefighters who worked day and night, some coming to central California from the states of Oregon and Washington. Forty-five fire engines, four helicopters, nine bulldozers, six water trucks and probably a dozen airplanes were used. The fire burned nearly two thousand acres and cost three million dollars!

The fire started out very small. A camper told investigators that the fire started with a spark when he hit a rock with his shovel. Just a spark.

After watching the fire for an hour or two, we returned to our campsite but kept thinking about the fire. We thought about it that night when its red glow lit up the night sky. We thought about it the next morning when our campsite and boat were covered with ash. We thought about it as we were leaving the lake, with smoke continuing to rise behind the hills. We could still see it from miles away.

And then we thought about that verse from the Bible that reminds us that our tongues can start a fire, just like that one spark started that terrible forest fire. Our tongues can start fires of unhappiness. If you and I say something unkind to someone, it hurts. Or if it’s about someone else, it often is repeated to others and is passed on again to even others, and the unhappiness grows. We have a verse that tells us what can happen: “He that [repeats] a matter [separates] . . . friends” (Proverbs 17:9). Or if we say something that is untrue, that is called a lie, and a lie is sin. Just like the destruction we saw which was caused by one little spark, our tongues have the power to destroy, harm and cause suffering for many. Are we setting fires with what we say?

Here is a good reminder from the Bible for every one of us to think about each day: “Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile” (Psalm 34:13).

“Oh, be careful, little tongue, what you say!”

“Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile.” Psalm 34:13

ML-12/10/2006

A Letter from Gramma and Grampa: The Camping Trip

Dear Children,

Grandma and I would like to tell you all about our camping trip this past summer. We usually camp in the same place every year because we like the lake, the swimming is good, and there are lots of fish to catch!

One of our great grandchildren, named Ethan, was also camping nearby with his family. Ethan is four years old, and he loves fishing and catching butterflies. He also catches dragonflies. He puts them in a big cage and then lets them go and they fly away.

One day he was going fishing with us and he was all excited! First, he put his life jacket on, and then he brought his fishing pole, his landing net and his bait. We put it all into the boat and away we went.

Yes, we caught nine or ten fish, but we only kept four since the rest were too small to keep. Ethan was learning that we must obey the law that says if the fish are too small, we must not harm them, but we must take them off the hook carefully and release them back into the lake.

When we arrived back at the dock, it was time to clean the big fish we kept. Ethan asked me, “Great Grampa, can I help you clean these fish?”

I answered, “Sure, I would be happy to have you help me clean these fish. You can pump the water for me when it’s time to wash off the scales.” I picked him up and let him stand beside me so that he could see what I was doing. He was watching very closely. Then he asked a very important question.

“Great Grampa, is the fish dead?”

I answered, “Yes, Ethan, the fish is dead.”

He thought for a moment and then asked another important question. “Great Grampa, is the fish in heaven?”

You see, dear children, Ethan has been taught many verses from the Holy Bible by his parents and his Sunday school teacher, and he learned that there is a real heaven and a real hell. He was worried about this fish because it was dead, and he wanted to know where its soul went. So I very carefully explained to Ethan that this fish was neither in heaven nor in hell because God did not give it a soul that lives forever, like you and I have. Genesis 2:7 tells us that God made people very special with a living soul: “The Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.”

I said to Ethan, “Have you ever watched Great Gramma make bread?” He answered, “Yes.” I went on, “So you have seen Great Gramma put the bread into pans, then into the oven to bake, then bring the bread out of the oven and set it on the counter to cool off. Then she takes a knife and cuts a nice big slice for you to eat. Did you eat it?”

“Yes I did, and it’s really good!”

“Yes, Ethan, and Great Grampa loves fresh bread just like you do! You see, Ethan, we read in the Bible in Genesis chapter 1 and verses 20, 21, 22 and 23 that God made the fish, the birds and every living creature that moves. He told them to be fruitful and multiply on the earth and fill the waters in the sea, and it was so. Just exactly as God had said. Like Great Gramma making the bread and cookies and cakes for us to eat, so God made the fish in the ocean, the lakes and the rivers for us to eat!”

Ethan was very happy to hear why God made all these fish. And, yes, he sure helped us eat them!

Gramma and I thought about this Sunday school chorus. Maybe you can sing it too.

Who did make the fish that swim?

Flowers that bloom?

Birds that fly?

Who did make both you and I?

It’s God in heaven above.

Lots of love,

Gramma and Grampa

ML-12/17/2006

Tangled Up

A little redwing blackbird had come to the feeder to get something to eat. It did not know that while it was pecking away at the seeds, one of its toes had become entangled in the mesh of the feeder. It must have been trying to pull away for quite some time.

When Mike arrived home, he saw what looked like a wet black rag hanging limply from the feeder. Wondering what it was, he went out to take a closer look. The “rag” suddenly starting flapping wildly. Then he could see that it was a bird caught by its foot.

Mike put on some gardening gloves and very gently cupped the little bird in his hand. Then with great difficulty and with the help of a penknife, he was able to pry the wire off the bird’s claw and release it from the mesh. He held the quivering little bird for a few moments, then opened his hands and off it flew, bleeding a little but free.

I think a lot of us are like that little blackbird. We go about our daily lives quite unaware that sin and sinful habits may be forming themselves, one strand at a time, into a heavy cord. Finally we find ourselves entangled, quite unable to get free and needing some outside help. Just as the little bird had a saviour come along who set it free, we have a Saviour, the Lord Jesus, who stands ready and able to set us free from that heavy cord of sin. He is waiting to hear us call to Him to be set free. We have the promise from God’s Word: “Call upon Me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify Me” (Psalm 50:15). And we know that “He [Jesus] is able to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him” (Hebrews 7:25). If you come to Jesus, whether you are young or older, He will set you free from all your sin and give you the gift of eternal life. Then you can sing as King David did in Psalm 124:7: “Our soul is escaped as a bird out of the snare of the fowlers: the snare is broken, and we are escaped.”

ML-12/17/2006

Riding Through the Stop Sign

Walter told an interesting story about his school days when he was a boy. The story started with Constable Mike who came every year to the school to talk about bicycle safety. He taught the students the rules of the road and the importance of following those rules.

On Walter’s way home from school, there was a very long hill that sloped on a downward angle. This was really fun because he picked up enough speed on his bike to coast the rest of the way without pedaling. The only problem was the stop sign at the bottom of the hill! If he passed the stop sign without stopping, he could coast all the way home.

This worked well until one day a police car was parked at the side of the road by the stop sign. Constable Mike stepped out of the car just as Walter reached the sign. He spoke sternly about breaking the rules of the road by not stopping at the sign and what a serious mistake that was.

Constable Mike must have seen Walter riding through that stop sign on another day. It makes us think of that Bible verse in Numbers 32:23 where God says, “Be sure your sin will find you out.”

Going down that hill was never the same again for Walter, because that stop sign had to be obeyed! Then one day a car horn honked, and it was Constable Mike. He had a big smile as he waved, because this time he knew Walter was obeying the rule, and this made him happy.

When God’s Word is followed and obeyed, it gives joy in heaven, especially when a sinner repents of his sins and accepts God’s offer of salvation. “I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth” (Luke 15:7).

ML-12/24/2006

A Missing Whale

Scientists and whale watchers were very happy last spring when a baby orca whale was born in the Haro Straits off the San Juan Islands. One of the reasons this little whale was so special is that it brought the total number of orcas in the area to ninety, for the first time in several years. For a name, they gave the baby orca the number K51 as soon as he was born. The K in the name is because he was born into the “K” pod. (A pod is like a big family that swims, hunts for food and plays together.) The number 51 was given to the baby orca because he is the fifty-first whale born into the pod since scientists started keeping record.

When K51 was born, he weighed close to four hundred pounds and was nearly eight feet long. Even though he was so big, he still needed his mother to feed and protect him. Like all newborn mammals, he depended on his mother’s milk. He was born knowing how to swim. You may know that orcas are mostly black with beautiful white markings, including their undersides. But did you know that when they are born their white patches are tan or yellow in color until they get older?

All seemed to be going well for K51 when suddenly the newborn whale disappeared. He wasn’t seen with his mother, whose name is “Sieku,” or his five-year-old brother named “Tika,” or his grandmother called “Sequim,” or any of the other members of his pod.

Scientists who had been watching the baby orca asked other groups of scientists and whale watchers, “Have you seen our missing newborn whale?”

“No, we haven’t seen him,” came back their replies. When no one had seen K51 for a number of days, researchers assumed he had died. They were sad at the loss of the whale and wondered how he had lost his life.

However, their sorrow was turned to joy when the baby whale was seen once again, swimming alongside his mother. Where did he go? Nobody knows, but when scientists at the Whale Watching Institute heard the news that the baby which had been lost was back, they cheered and celebrated. Everyone was very glad the baby orca had returned.

The cheering and celebrating when the lost baby orca was found is very much like the celebrating that goes on in heaven when a sinner repents and turns back to God. “I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that [repents]” (Luke 15:7). Joy is the serious business of heaven. When a child lost in sin comes home to God the Father through the Lord Jesus Christ, there is rejoicing in heaven.

Have you turned to the Lord Jesus to have your sins forgiven? He suffered on the cross for the sins of every person who comes to Him for forgiveness. Not only will your sins be gone forever, but He will reserve a place for you in His home in heaven. Then when this life is over, the Father will bring every person whose sins are forgiven to His home in heaven where there will be joys which never end. No one knows exactly what heaven will be like, but we do know it will be a very joyful and happy place, because we will see our Saviour face to face and live with Him forever.

“Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered” (Romans 4:7).

ML-12/31/2006

Where Did They Go?

Jenny was a little girl who lived on a farm. Her mother had given her a hen and some eggs to be hatched. Jenny looked forward to the time when she would have some little chicks all her own. However, these eggs were not all the same size: seven of them were hen’s eggs and six were duck’s eggs.

For many days the little mother hen patiently sat on the nest. After about three weeks, two different groups of yellow, fluffy, baby birds hatched. Jenny was so excited and decided to make a house for the new family.

One morning a few weeks later when she went to the chicken house to feed them, she discovered that all of the young ducklings were gone and only the young chickens were left. She ran and told her mother the sad news.

Her mother laughed and said, “Jenny, go down to the pond in the field and see if you can find them there.”

So Jenny hurried off to the pond. Sure enough, there were the six little ducks having a wonderful time enjoying their first swim in the water. She tried to get them to come back to the shore, but no, they loved the water and were having too good a time to leave. It was just as natural for them to be in the water as it was for the chicks to be on the land. Even though both the ducks and the chicks were hatched in the same nest, the two groups had different natures.

Jenny’s mother saw a little lesson in this. She explained to Jenny that every one of us is born with a nature that is selfish, wants to sin, loves the world and its pleasures, and is against God. But when a person becomes saved, he is “born again,” born of God. He receives a new nature that is holy, that cannot sin, and that loves to obey and please the Lord Jesus. However, that other old nature still remains in the Christian as long as he is alive. A Christian is to keep that old nature in the place of death with the help and power of Christ. But sometimes a Christian lets it become very active.

The old nature can only sin; the new nature cannot sin. May the Lord Jesus help each of us who is saved from our sins to walk in the power of that new nature.

“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17).

ML-12/31/2006

Paul and Felix

Felix was born a Roman slave, and being a slave is a hard life for a healthy young man. It cost a lot of money for Felix to buy his freedom out of slavery. For the first time he was able to make his own choices in life.

Was that the end of his problems? No, not at all. He was appointed by the Roman emperor to the high position of governor. This position gave him a new problem, and I’ll tell you how this came about.

A Christian man named Paul had been preaching the gospel in the city of Jerusalem and had been arrested. Maybe you know what a wonderful message the gospel is. It tells us of free salvation and complete forgiveness of sins through the precious blood of Jesus who died for sinners. There were many religious people in Jerusalem, and this message spoiled their proud religion. Paul’s preaching the gospel made the people so angry that they were ready to tear him to pieces. In fact, the soldiers had to pick up Paul and carry him into the castle to protect him from the angry mob who wanted to kill him.

The next day forty angry men decided that they would not eat or drink until they had killed Paul. But one boy got permission to visit the prisoner and said, Uncle Paul, they have a plan to kill you.

Paul told his nephew, Go tell the chief captain about that.

That news gave the chief captain a problem, but he decided to have his prisoner transferred to Felix the governor and let him decide what to do. So, in the dark of night, he ordered a guard of two hundred soldiers, seventy horsemen and two hundred spearmen to take Paul to the city of Cæsarea where Felix was governor. That’s nearly five hundred strong men to guard one prisoner!

But I shall tell you a secret. Paul had far more guardians than that, even if the soldiers had all stayed at home. We have thousands of angels sent with God’s orders to take care of us . . . not always according to our plans, but according to God’s perfect plans.

Felix wasted no time, probably because he thought the problem was an easy one. He ordered a hearing for the prisoner. Some men had hurried from Jerusalem to accuse Paul, but Paul spoke for himself. Felix probably was expecting some argument from Paul to explain what the uproar was all about. He probably thought the matter did not concern him personally. But when Paul spoke of righteousness, self-control and judgment to come, Felix trembled with fear. He realized the message was for himself, because he knew he was a sinner. We know that the message is for us too, and down in our hearts we understand that we are sinners, and God must punish sin. And we tremble with fear too.

That wasn’t the end of the message, but Felix did not want to hear any more. I will listen to you some other day when it suits me, he said. And Paul’s hearing was ended.

Then Felix did some thinking, but not about Paul’s message that had made him tremble with fear. He thought about the money that some of those rich Jews had, and he hoped that maybe they would bribe him with money to release Paul.

Money! He wasn’t going to miss the chance of seeing if he could get more than he already had. During the next two years, Felix often found time to call Paul to court again, but I don’t think he ever trembled in fear again. And he didn’t get the bribery money that he hoped to get. When his term as governor ended two years later, he left Paul chained in prison, hoping that would please the Jews.

That’s the last we hear of Felix. He’s been dead a long time and waiting to meet God in eternity. You and I will meet God too. For me, I will meet the same loving Saviour who died for me and washed away all my sins in His precious blood, so I have no fear.

What about you? Will you meet the loving Saviour with your sins completely gone? If not, all the money in the world can’t take away your fear when you meet the God whom you tried to forget. In fact, money, if you did get it, will be no more than dust.

“What shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” (Mark 8:36).

You may read this story in Acts 23 and 24.

ML-01/29/2006

Paul Before King Agrippa

Did you read about Felix the governor in our paper a few weeks ago and how he left Paul in prison for two years? When Felix’s term as governor ended, another governor named Festus replaced him. Festus found that Felix had left the problem for him to solve: What shall I do with Paul the prisoner? But Festus, the new governor, could not handle this problem either.

Then Festus had a surprise visit from King Agrippa. Festus explained the problem to King Agrippa: The prisoner Paul talked about someone named Jesus who was dead, but he is accused of saying that Jesus is alive.

I would like to hear Paul myself, said King Agrippa.

Tomorrow you will hear him, said Festus.

King Agrippa’s wife, Bernice, also wanted to hear what Paul was going to say. So the place where they would listen to Paul’s speech was arranged, and King Agrippa and Bernice came with great pomp and ceremony, and all the chief men of the city also came for the event. Then when Festus gave the word, Paul was led in, and the governor made a speech introducing Paul and explaining why he had been arrested. There stood the lone prisoner, chained and facing King Agrippa and his wife. What could he say?

Paul reached out his chained hand and said, I am happy, King Agrippa, because I shall answer for myself and tell you what I am accused of.

Happy? How could a man be happy after two years in a cruel Roman prison? But Paul was glad of the chance to share the gospel message, and he continued by speaking about how he became a Christian.

Paul told how he had been a very religious man, and he knew by reading the ancient prophets that God had promised to send a Deliverer to His people. But surely the Deliverer could not be Jesus, because He had been put to death! How could He do anything now?

The thought of it had made Saul, as he used to be called, so angry that he wanted to kill anybody who believed in this crucified Jesus. In fact, he was on his way to do this hateful deed when a great light, brighter than the sun, shone around him and his followers, and they all fell flat to the ground! Then a voice from heaven said, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?

Who are You, Lord? cried Paul, and he was given the wonderful answer, I am Jesus! Then Paul knew that Jesus was alive again! And this same Jesus sent him to tell the good news of forgiveness to people everywhere, even to those who hated Jesus, to turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God. Paul could understand their hate, because his heart had been full of hate too. But now he was bursting with the good news of forgiveness through Christ Jesus who died and rose again.

Festus had heard enough. He shouted, Paul, you are out of your mind! Much learning is driving you mad!

I am not mad, most noble Festus. I speak pure truth. Then he turned to the king: The king knows these things, for this was not done off in a corner somewhere.

King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? . . . I know you do! said Paul.

Yes, King Agrippa knew all this, but it made no difference to him. You’ve almost convinced me to become a Christian, he said. But to him “almost” was good enough.

Paul’s heart was troubled for all the lost sinners in that auditorium. I wish you were a Christian, King Agrippa, he said, and not only you, but all the others who hear me today! I wish you were not only “almost,” but were truly a believer in Jesus, like I am . . . except for these chains.

Then King Agrippa stood up, and Festus and Bernice also stood up. Paul’s hearing had come to an end.

Is it the end for you too? We never hear of King Agrippa again. He let the gospel message slip away. Are you a believer in Jesus who was crucified and rose from the dead and is alive in heaven today? Or is “almost” good enough for you too?

“Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures; and . . . He was buried, and . . . He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:34).

You may read this story for yourself in the Bible, in Acts chapter 26.

ML-02/19/2006

Jesus' Appearances After His Resurrection

There were eleven apostles in the room that morning and others with them, and they were very, very sad. I think you could have heard them as they mourned and wept. They felt as if they could never smile again.

Maybe that’s the way you feel right now. Has something gone wrong in your life? Is it something that seems as if it could never, ever be repaired? Then listen to this story . . . God meant it just for you.

These eleven men had lived with Jesus for three years, and they had seen His wonders of love and power. They had seen Him healing people, feeding thousands and raising the dead. They had listened to His stories of seeds and weeds and fish and trees and pearls, and they loved Him. Peter had already told Him, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matthew 16:16), and they felt sure that Jesus would always be with them.

But now He was dead.

Joseph of Arimathea had buried Him in his own new tomb and rolled a great stone over the opening. It was all over. No wonder they were sad . . . He was gone. I cannot imagine how deep their sorrow was, for I have never felt for a moment that Jesus is dead. Have you? They knew that Jesus was not popular. The crowd had crucified Him like a criminal! So they shut the doors of the room where they were gathered, so that none of Jesus’ enemies would find them.

And then suddenly, without any doors opening, Jesus was there in the room with them! Of course they would be glad . . . but no, they were terrified! How could He be real? But He was real, and He told them, “It is I myself: handle Me, and see” (Luke 24:39). And that’s what they wanted - the real, living, loving Lord Jesus, and their hearts were glad.

The risen Jesus had a real body of flesh and bones, with real nail marks in His hands and feet, and a sword wound in His side. There is no mention of blood. His precious blood had flowed from His wounded side to save those men . . . and me! Can you put your name there too? Was it for you He died? Yes, if you want Him. Yes, if you are a sinner, because He died for sinners. “God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). Those men were glad, and I am glad too. Are you?

Forty days later, He lifted up those nail-pierced hands and blessed His disciples and went right up into heaven . . . just like that. And He is there now, a real, living Man, the only One in heaven who has a real, human body. Never, never will He die again. It was once for all.

There are many who have placed their trust in Jesus and who are with Him now, but only their spirits. Their bodies are here on earth, buried or burned or drowned. God knows exactly where those bodies are. When Jesus comes on the cloud to give His great shout for all who trust Him, then those bodies will rise and be made new, and we who are alive will rise in new bodies too. “The Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord” (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17).

Will you be glad? Perhaps “glad” is too small a word to use for the joy of seeing Jesus, your Saviour, for the first time. Or will you put this paper away and say, “No, not for me”?

Why not look in God’s Word, the Bible, and see if what we have said is true.

“Be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of Man cometh” (Matthew 24:44).

ML-03/19/2006

Jacob's Dream

“Go,” said Jacob’s mother. “Go,” said Jacob’s father. They both loved him dearly, but Jacob’s twin brother did not love him at all. In fact, he was angry enough to kill him, so it seemed best that Jacob should go away for a while to save his life.

His brother Esau had reason to be angry. Esau was the firstborn, so he had the right to the blessing - a double share of his father’s possessions - but Jacob had stolen Esau’s blessing by selfishness and lies. Now the right to the blessing was gone, gone forever, and Esau could not get it back. The blessing was now Jacob’s.

You have a right to blessing from God too, just because you were born into the world. Satan can’t steal it from you unless you give it to him or throw it away. “God so loved the world” - that includes you, doesn’t it? God loved you so much that He gave His only Son for you, and He is telling you about it right now. Don’t throw His message away!

Jacob wanted Esau’s blessing of the double share, and he chose crooked ways to get it. But this was not necessary. God knows what to do. God is ready to give you a better blessing than you ever thought of asking for. Don’t throw it away. Jesus died for sinners like you, and He wants to give you not only forgiveness for your sins, but a home with Himself in heaven forever - a home where only God’s children are welcome to come. You know you are a sinner, so what is your answer to the Saviour of sinners?

Jacob went away to find his uncle Laban, but it was a very long, tiring journey on foot. Night came, and he found a spot to lie down on the ground and used a stone under his head for a pillow. In his sleep he had a very wonderful dream.

In his dream, Jacob saw a ladder so high that it reached right up to heaven. On that ladder were angels, going up from earth to heaven and down again. Did you notice that they started at the bottom and went up? Is that a surprise? We think of angels as heavenly beings, but they must have been down on earth already. Perhaps they had been appointed by God to guard Jacob on his journey, and in his dream Jacob was allowed a glimpse of them, although they were really there all the time.

He woke up and remembered the dream, but not with joy. In fear he said, “How dreadful is this place! this is . . . the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.”

Why should that frighten him? Wouldn’t you like to go to heaven? The truth is this: If your sins are not forgiven, you would not be happy in heaven, and the real presence of God would be terrifying to you.

That morning Jacob tried to make a bargain with God. He promised God that if He would take care of him and bring him home again, he would give Him ten percent of his wages!

But that money would not take away his sins and bring God’s blessing. And there is nothing you can do - nothing to take away your sins - but let Jesus save you. He gave His life’s blood for you, and there is nothing more for you to do but to accept His gift. A million dollars cannot buy it. Jesus has paid the price, and you can be justified freely by His grace: “Being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus” (Romans 3:24). Look to Jesus right now and take His free forgiveness and thank Him for it. You may not have another chance. Don’t throw away your blessing!

I think Jacob trusted himself rather than God that day. However, he remembered his dream, and he set up his pillow-stone for a memorial before he went on his way.

There is more to the story, which we will tell you another day. You may read this part of the story for yourself in Genesis 28:10-22.

ML-04/23/2006

Jacob and the Angel

Do you remember last week’s story about Jacob, the man who went to sleep using a stone for a pillow and dreamed about a ladder reaching up to heaven? Here is another story about the same man, but he is not so young as he was when he had that dream. He is married now and has one daughter and many sons.

Jacob had been very mean to his twin brother Esau when they were younger, and now he was afraid of Esau. Jacob was planning to go back home again with his large family, and he was very rich in herds of cattle, sheep and goats, which he would also take home. However, the news reached him that Esau was coming to meet him.

A bad conscience makes anybody afraid. If you are afraid to meet your brother after you have done something wrong to him, how will you ever meet God? Maybe you can forget it for a while, but when you meet God, you will find the record of all your sins is there! What will you do?

God knows how you feel, and He cares. When Jesus was on the cross in total darkness, God punished Him for my sins - all of them - even the ones I have forgotten. And when Jesus said, “It is finished,” the necessary punishment for my sins was completed and gone forever, and I can meet Him with joy . . . not with fear. But what about you? Did Jesus bear the punishment for your sins? Can you join us in thanking Him now and forever for taking the punishment that we deserved?

Jacob, who was worried about meeting Esau, sent his family on ahead while he stayed alone by the brook that night. That’s where the Angel of God met him and wrestled with him. The struggle lasted all night, for Jacob was determined to win and not to give up.

Then the Angel touched Jacob’s hip, and suddenly it was out of joint. If the Angel had power to do that, He could have done a great deal more, but God’s way is perfect. His will is to bless and not to destroy.

Let me go, said the Angel. It’s almost sunrise.

Jacob was crippled now, but he was ready to ask for what only God could give. Are you ready too? Are you ready to give up and ask instead of arguing? Are you ready to receive God’s blessing instead of fighting for your own way?

I will not let Thee go except Thou bless me, said Jacob.

What is your name? said the Angel.

God knows your name very well. God is asking right now if you will tell Him that your name is “sinner.” Will you tell Him? “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners” (1 Timothy 1:15). If you will tell Him right now that you are a sinner, then He is ready to save you. That’s what Jesus came to earth to do!

Jacob told the Angel of God that his name was Jacob, and immediately the Angel gave him a new name - “Israel.” This new name means “prince,” and it covered up the old, deceitful name of “Jacob.” What a nice new name.

Did you know that if you are born into God’s family, you have a new name too? You won’t know what it is until you are in heaven with the Lord Jesus.

Then Jacob asked the Angel of God, What is Thy name? But he never got a clear answer, perhaps because God has many names, and each one of them fits our need and yet is far beyond our thoughts. One of His names is “Wonderful,” and He is wonderful today and for all eternity!

Jacob got the blessing that he wanted from the Angel of God, and so he was the winner in the wrestling. He was also a cripple for the rest of his life, but in his old age he worshipped God, leaning on the top of his staff. You can be a winner too, and God will give you more than you ever thought of asking for. If your life ends in true worship, your eternity will be joyful worship too. “Thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 15:57).

ML-04/30/2006

Nehemiah and the Wall

Once there was a great king with a very long name and a huge sense of how important he was. His name was Artaxerxes. He was such a great king that he was in danger of being poisoned by his enemies. Many kings back in Bible times had an important servant called a cupbearer. It was an honor to be the king’s cupbearer, and his responsibility was to make sure there was no poison in the king’s cup before he presented it to the king. Nehemiah was King Artaxerxes’ faithful and important cupbearer.

No servant was ever allowed to be sad in this king’s presence. But one day Nehemiah heard some very bad news, and he was brokenhearted. He couldn’t smile, not even for the great king he served.

The news Nehemiah heard was that the wall of God’s chosen city, Jerusalem, was broken down and the gates were burned with fire. This city was where Nehemiah had been born and raised, and he just couldn’t keep the sadness from showing in his face.

Why are you sad? asked the king. You are not sick, so you must be sad at heart.

Nehemiah was terribly afraid, but he told the king about the broken wall and burned gates of Jerusalem.

Do you have a request? asked the king.

This was a big question, bigger than Nehemiah knew how to answer. But he was used to bringing his problems to the God of heaven, and now he quickly prayed to God before he answered the king.

Then Nehemiah answered, Please send me to Jerusalem to rebuild the city.

For how long? asked the king.

Nehemiah set a certain amount of time, but he needed more than just time. He asked for letters of introduction to the governors and also for timber to build homes and gates. The king said “yes” to everything, and Nehemiah and his helpers were soon on their way to Jerusalem.

You see, when God makes a plan, He puts it into the heart of the right man to say “yes.” Why should we be upset with the man who seems to say “no”? If it is God’s plan, no one can change it!

When Nehemiah arrived in Jerusalem, he kept his reason for being there deep in his heart. He went out one night in the dark to see if the city was really all that bad. Yes, it was that bad or worse. He had started out riding a donkey, but there was so much rubbish that the donkey couldn’t find a way to walk through it. It was time to clear away the rubbish and start building!

Nehemiah had willing helpers, and each one is carefully recorded in the Bible, along with the work that each one did. There were goldsmiths and merchants, the pharmacist’s son and priests, and even girls helped. A stone wall around a city is not easy to build, and there were heavy, wooden gates with locks and bars to set up, and there was no power machinery to work with.

Building the wall was hard enough, but that was not all. An enemy of the Jews named Sanballat heard about it, and he was angry! Why? Well, if you are really doing God’s work, Satan, the great enemy of God, will be angry and will stir up trouble. And Sanballat was one of Satan’s servants. But remember, if God wants the work done, nothing can stop it! “We are more than conquerors through Him that loved us” (Romans 8:37).

It is good to be a conqueror, but how can you be more than conqueror? Here is the answer. Because of Satan’s hatred, you can be better off than you were before. Satan tries to stop the Lord’s work, but he ends up helping it instead!

Do you understand how this can happen? I’ll explain. When Jesus was on earth, He went about doing good and healing everyone who came to Him, making it plain that religion was not enough. Satan hated all this, and he stirred up the people against Jesus until at last they crucified Him.

Did Satan win? NO, NO! Jesus had the victory! He rose from the dead, and now He is the Saviour who died for sinners, and Satan is forever defeated!

I have accepted Jesus as my Saviour. Whose side are you on?

Lord willing, we will tell you more about Nehemiah and that wall next week, but you may read it for yourself in the Book of Nehemiah in the Bible.

ML-06/04/2006

Nehemiah and the Wall: Sanballat's Tricks

Do you remember how Nehemiah, the king’s cupbearer, made the long journey to Jerusalem to rebuild the broken wall and burned gates? We left the volunteer helpers hard at work, lifting heavy stones and hoisting huge wooden gates into place. It was hard work, but it was made much harder by enemies who did not like what they were doing.

Sanballat, one of their enemies, mocked them, saying the builders were feeble, and one of Sanballat’s friends said the stone wall was so poor that a fox could break it down. If that were true, why did it bother them? They planned to make more trouble -to come down secretly to kill the builders.

But Nehemiah knew what to do with his problems: “Hear, O our God; for we are despised,” he prayed.

So we built the wall, and the entire wall was joined together up to half its height, for the people had a mind to work. The wall was joined, but the work was not finished, and the enemy’s work was not finished either. In fact, they were furious and made evil plans!

Look, they said, the workers are tired. We’ll sneak in and kill them, and they’ll never know till it’s too late.

Ten times they tried these scary tactics, and it is true that the workers became discouraged. But Nehemiah said, Don’t be afraid of them. Remember the Lord who is great and terrible.

We have far more reason than they had to remember the Lord. Yes, He is great and terrible, but we also know that the Son of God, Jesus our Saviour, loves us and has died for us, and God sent the Holy Spirit to live within us. If it gave them courage to remember how great and terrible the Lord is, we have a much greater reason to trust Him and take courage!

Sanballat tried another trick since his first one didn’t work. The people are planning a rebellion, he said, because Nehemiah is trying to be their king! In fact, Sanballat even hired a man in Jerusalem to tell Nehemiah, Come and hide in the temple and shut the doors, to save your life!

No, said Nehemiah.

None of the enemies’ tricks really worked, because it was God’s work and could not be stopped. The wall was properly finished, and then their enemies admitted, This work was done by their God.

That was not the end of the problems for Jerusalem, and it is not the end of problems for you and me. It is good to remember that Jesus said, “In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). You see, God has promised us troubles, and He keeps His promises . . . all of them. His promise of everlasting life through Jesus Christ our Lord is unbreakable too. But remember, this promise and gift of everlasting life is only yours if you take it, through Jesus Christ our Lord! “The wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:23).

You may read this entire story in the Bible, in the Book of Nehemiah, chapters 16.

ML-06/11/2006

Jesus and the Leper

You have heard that Jesus grew up among the poor people in a place called Galilee. When He was a man, He did not stand proudly and make crowds listen to Him.

At the beginning of the day, Jesus got up early and went to a quiet spot in the desert where He prayed. That was the day a leper came to Him. A leper was a person who had a deadly disease called leprosy. Because other people could catch the disease from a leper, he was called “unclean” and no one must touch him. This poor leper was miserable, hopeless and lonely. But he could still listen to the town news, and he heard of Jesus who could heal a leper of that terrible disease!

Good news? Yes, if it’s true.

But we have better news than that for you right now. Not just some smart doctor who has a cure for cancer or AIDS or some other terrible disease. There is the Saviour of sinners who can take away all your sins forever and has a home in heaven for you! He loves you and gave His life for you. Will you do what that leper did and just come?

The leper was sure of Jesus’ power to heal, but he was not very sure if Jesus would heal a poor leper. Maybe Jesus was too busy or maybe He healed only rich and important people.

Are you wondering, Is He willing to heal me?

No, He won’t if you are not a sinner. But if you are a sinner -little or big, rich or poor - come and see! His promises have all the power of God behind them: “Him that cometh to Me I will in no [way] cast out” (John 6:37).

The leper fell on his knees in front of Jesus. He still was not sure that Jesus was willing, but Jesus was moved with pity. It was more than power reaching a long way down from heaven to heal a poor human; it was the loving heart of Jesus, who knows what we suffer and who is tenderhearted in suffering with us. Jesus touched him and said, “I will; be thou clean.” And immediately every trace of leprosy was gone!

Jesus told the healed leper to say nothing to anyone about it. The first thing he was to do was show himself to the priest and make an offering for his healing as Moses had commanded. If he did this, the priest might have to search the Scriptures to find out what offering this should be, since he may never have had a healed leper come to him before. The priest might wonder who this wonderful Man was who could do such a great thing. If he searched the Scriptures deeper, he would discover that Jesus was truly the sent One whom God had promised long ago.

But the healed leper didn’t follow Jesus’ instructions. He was so excited that he told everybody and shouted out everywhere, Jesus healed me! This was true and wonderful, but it was not God’s choice for him. His healing was plain enough to see, but as far as we know he never went to the priest about it as Jesus had instructed.

If you are truly cleansed from your sins, there will be a change in you too, and it begins on the inside. You have a new purpose now, and it changes your whole life. Do you belong to Jesus? Let Him show you what to do. That healed man hindered Jesus’ work by telling everybody about it, so that Jesus could no longer openly enter the city.

Let Jesus choose for you. His way is perfect. “As for God, His way is perfect: the word of the Lord is tried: He is a buckler to all those that trust in Him” (Psalm 18:30).

ML-07/09/2006

Jesus Heals the Blind Man

You will surely remember that when Jesus was here on earth, He showed wonderful power to heal anyone who needed healing. One of His names is “Wonderful,” and His power has not changed.

Why then do we read of many in Israel, before Jesus came to earth, who were sick with leprosy and other diseases? And why are many Christians sick today? That puzzle is answered when we remember that our wonderful Saviour healed everyone who came to Him when He was here. But now He is gone because the world did not want Him. We who are redeemed by His precious blood know that He does not hide His love today, but He hides His power. Even if you are sick, you can be sure that He loves you and He cares. “Unto Him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood” (Revelation 1:5).

When Jesus was here, the people brought a blind man to Him. Just touch him, the people said to Jesus. But they were not wise to tell Jesus what to do. His wisdom is perfect, and if we choose our own way of getting things done, we are sure to be losers.

Jesus took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the town. Then He did a very unexpected thing - He spit on the blind man’s eyes. Are you surprised? This act shows us that Jesus was so holy that everything that came from His mouth was holy too.

This is not true of all the things that come from our mouths; bad words, angry words, lies and bad germs may come from us. But take a moment to think of the perfect holiness of the Son of God. He is the One we must meet in eternity. Are you afraid?

Then Jesus put His hands on the man and said, Do you see anything? “I see men as trees, walking,” the man said. They must have seemed like very tall men! Perhaps that is a reminder to us not to see men bigger than God made them.

Jesus put His hands again on the man’s eyes and made him look up. Then he saw every man clearly!

Are you saved from your sins already, and do you see some great man who is very important or very terrifying in your life? It is Jesus Himself who is all-important, and it is His Word we obey. Come to Him and ask His viewpoint for all that is around you.

What was the next thing the man was to do? Jesus, the one who had given him his eyesight, told him what to do. Go to your house - not to town - and don’t tell anyone in the town were Jesus’ instructions to the man.

Now that you are truly saved, perhaps you find that telling the folks at home is the hardest thing to do. They may tease you and expect you to live a Christian life right there with your family, and Satan will tempt you in all kinds of wrong ways. It is good to remember that Jesus sent you there, and He is able to keep you from failing, if you come to Him for His power.

The people in the town would soon find out that the blind man could now see. They would probably ask, Who made that blind man so different? It was Jesus, and all the praise and honor belong to Him.

You may read this story for yourself in Mark 8:22-26.

ML-08/06/2006

The Daughters of Zelophehad

Those five girls were on a camping trip that lasted for forty years. There were no roads and no cars or trucks, and there also were no stores to buy food or clothes. There must have been a million campers, and somewhere in that crowd was one tent for Zelophehad, his wife and his family of five daughters.

They had many adventures in those forty years that the Bible tells us about. Best of all, they had a promise from God that He would give them a good land when their camping trip ended, and each man would have a good, valuable spot to raise his family. Believing God’s promise made them feel secure and happy.

But those five sisters did some thinking. Every man? they said. But our father died along the way and we have no brothers. Is there not any land for us girls?

Maybe some of you girls feel dissatisfied like that too. And maybe you are asking, “Does God have nothing for us girls?” Wait and see what happened.

Those five sisters did not get angry and make a fuss. They went to their leader Moses and explained the problem to him. Moses did not know what to do, so he asked God for the answer.

That was the very best thing to do. Will you do that too? If you want a place in God’s home in heaven, talk to God about it, and He will give you a promise from His book - an unbreakable promise written in love long ago for you. The only ones who are going to miss out are the ones who don’t care. Will you read His Word and find His special promise for you?

Moses told the girls God’s answer. Yes, the five sisters may each have a place in the promised land, and this would be true for every girl without a father or brothers.

The others in the tribe thought it over. It won’t work, they said, because if they marry someone from another tribe, they’ll take the ownership of the land with them. So then our tribe will be losers!

Moses told them God’s answer to that problem: Let them marry someone from their own tribe, and no one will be losers. What a perfect solution!

Now those five sisters had a poor start in life with the loss of their father, but suddenly they became rich - real land owners. And when they would marry a man from their own tribe, they would have two pieces of land! They and their husbands would end up doubly rich!

Yes, and if you trust God, whether you are a boy or a girl, you’ll be rich too. And if you marry someone who wants to put Jesus first, you’ll be doubly rich too. Don’t trust yourself or your religion; trust the all-wise God who wrote the Bible. He is the One who has all the promises and blessings stored up for you. It is Jesus who said, “In My Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you” (John 14:2).

But when the five sisters went back to their tent, they still had nothing. Their father was dead, and there was nobody but girls to do the work. But they had a promise! If they were absolutely sure of the truth of God’s promise, they went home smiling and they would be happy doing their work. They were rich girls, and eventually doubly rich - even with only work ahead right now.

Yes, and we Christians are rich too. Maybe we have lots of work and no fancy clothes or expensive cars, but we already HAVE our promised home in the Father’s house, and we can enjoy what’s coming right now. God’s Word has made us rich!

It all came true for those five girls. They all followed God’s instructions and married in their own tribe, and their promise of double riches became real!

If you are a real Christian, why not enjoy your riches right now? They are all yours! “Ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that ye through His poverty might be rich” (2 Corinthians 8:9).

You may read the first part of this story of the five sisters in Numbers 27 and the second part in chapter 36.

ML-08/27/2006

"What I Feared"

Have you ever been afraid? I have, and I don’t like that feeling. Ever since I was a little boy growing up on a farm with steep hills, I have been afraid that someday I might flip over in the combine on one of those hills. I used to see another farmer using a combine that had a 4wheel-drive system. I thought if I had one like that, I wouldn’t be afraid. However, that farmer’s combine flipped over even with 4wheel-drive, and he was very seriously injured.

One day while I was harvesting, the combine did slip a few feet down the hill. I was really, really scared, but then the Lord stopped the slide. He wants us to trust Him, and not trust in a better combine or our own ability to handle one.

Do you remember the story of Job in the Bible? He was an honest and trustworthy man, and he was very rich. Job loved God and hated evil, yet God allowed Satan to destroy everything Job had and to cause him to become very sick and in great pain. And then all ten of his children died!

Job was so sad he wished he could die himself. He couldn’t understand why all these awful things had happened to him. But all along Job had been afraid that something sad might happen to him someday. In his deep sorrow he admitted, “The thing which I greatly feared is come upon me” (Job 3:25).

Why does God let sad things happen? Does He want us to be afraid? Fear is very real. You can’t make it go away just by wishing it would leave. Sometimes God sends sadness into our lives because He wants us to learn to trust only Him. It is then we find out how much He loves us, and we’ll be ready to trust Him even more. He says, “The beloved of the Lord shall dwell in safety by Him; and the Lord shall cover him all the day long, and he shall dwell between His shoulders” (Deuteronomy 33:12). “The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms” (Deuteronomy 33:27). And God means what He says.

If you don’t know the Lord Jesus as your very own Saviour, you need to be afraid. But if you do know Him, He wants you to trust Him to take care of you no matter what happens. “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love” (1 John 4:18). He had a lesson for me to learn about fear and trusting Him.

One morning I went out very early on the combine to cut wheat. When I came to the last pass on the steep hill, I breathed a sigh of relief. In a few minutes the steep part of the field would be finished, and I would be able to go in and enjoy a good breakfast. But that’s not the way it worked out.

As I cut the last swath, the combine began to slide sideways down the hill. I thought to myself, Now it’s happening! . . . What I have always feared is happening!

The combine continued to slide. I was helped by the knowledge that God’s everlasting arms were around me. I placed my hands over my head to prepare for the awful crash that was coming. The combine slid over the bank and down into a deep ditch where it tipped over on its side. But it landed so softly that I felt as if we were settling down into a mound of fluffy cotton balls. It was as though angels’ hands were supporting both the combine and me, and I was unhurt.

The next day a friend came with his bulldozer. He was able to make a ramp in the side of the hill so he could set the combine back on its wheels and pull it up to the field again.

The mechanic who works on my equipment had asked me to call him when the combine was upright again. He examined it very carefully. “That’s a miracle!” he said. “ ‘Someone up there’ certainly thinks an awful lot of you.” I had spoken to him about the Lord Jesus before, but this was the first time I had ever heard him even admit that there was “Someone up there.”

My heart was full of joy and thankfulness, and I wasn’t a bit sorry that I had had that scary experience. It taught me to trust God so much more. Before, when everything was going well, I knew that God was taking care of me. Now I know He cares for me whatever happens. And now I know a little more about that perfect love that casts out fear.

What about Job? If you had asked him, “Do you regret the sad events God allowed in your life?” I think he would answer, “No, a thousand times no! I came to know my God so much better because of those sad events. Now I know Him as a loving God, and I’m not afraid anymore.”

“What time I am afraid, I will trust in Thee” (Psalm 56:3).

ML-09/17/2006

s Love

Ambush: Joshua and Ai

“Ambush” means an attacker is hidden in an unexpected place to take someone by surprise. Before we tell you this story, we remind you that it is one of God’s Old Testament stories. God has written it so that we may learn from it, but today we do not go out to attack others as God’s people were told to do before Jesus came. The New Testament tells us of Jesus our Saviour who came to suffer and die for sinners like us, and Jesus said, “Follow Me.”

“Ai” was a small name for a small city. Israel had just conquered the great city Jericho, so of course Ai would be easy. A few thousand soldiers could settle that little problem. No need to ask the Lord about that!

Are you a good person with just a few sins - not very many at all? You can handle a little problem like that without Jesus . . . or can you? Read this story and you might change your mind. Israel went up to fight against Ai and ran away defeated. Not only that, but thirty-six of their men were left dead on the ground -defeated! - and Ai was a small city.

Joshua, the leader of God’s people, was down in the depths of despair, but he took his problem to the right place - God -and He had the answer. We will skip part of the story and then tell you God’s plan to conquer that small city.

Thirty thousand men were sent out at night to lie in ambush behind the city, watching and ready for the signal to rise. Then Joshua and his men attacked the city in plain sight, and the soldiers of Ai rushed out to chase them. They were probably saying to themselves, Hurrah for us! Let’s defeat those Israelites again! But there was one important thing that they did not know. Joshua knew, and his men knew, but the soldiers of Ai did not know about the ambush behind the city. They were doomed and did not know it. To them it looked like an easy victory.

God knows your heart too. He knows you are a sinner, and His promise of judgment against sin is unbreakable. Maybe you feel that this is your time of fun, but God has promised judgment to come.

Nobody told Ai about those men in ambush, but God is telling you right now of His judgment soon to come. God had no plan of escape for Ai, because they were wicked and had already made their choice against God, and He has not changed. There is still a way of escape for you, not because God will forget to punish you, but because Jesus Himself has taken all your fiery judgment upon Himself, but only if you will come to Him now. His perfect love casts out fear. Yes, the judgment is real, but we know that our Saviour and His love for sinners is real. Will you thank Him for this without waiting a moment longer?

The men of Ai probably shouted for joy as every man from the city rushed out to chase their attackers. But the men in ambush kept watching Joshua. When he stretched out his sword toward Ai, they had their signal, and every one of them rushed to the city and set it on fire! The chasers suddenly found themselves chased and turned around to see their city ablaze! . . . hopeless! . . . no place to run! Nothing but total defeat and no survivors.

God wants you to know this story because right now there IS a place for you to run. Jesus said, “Come unto ME” (Matthew 11:28), and in the strong, loving arms of Jesus you will find safety forever. If Jesus is your Saviour, the judgment of God against your sin is behind you, not ahead of you. And in Christ you will find a great deal more than just safety. The love of God and His wisdom and power have no end and no boundary, and it is all for you. Will you trust Him now? Judgment to come is not a risk but a certainty! Our God keeps all His promises. We have found Him to be our Saviour for today and forever.

“Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding” (Proverbs 3:5).

You may read this story for yourself in the Bible, in Joshua 8.

ML-09/24/2006

Jesus and the Ten Lepers

They were ten unhappy men. Unhappy because they were not only sick, but their disease had no cure. The law said that anyone having the terrible disease of leprosy must not come near to anyone, not even to their own family, because others could catch the disease. Each of those ten men had the miserable, lonely disease of leprosy.

At the time those ten men lived, there was no cure. There are doctors now who have wonderful success in curing leprosy, but they can never restore what the disease has done to a person’s body. Only God can do that.

Jesus was on His way to Jerusalem when the ten men saw Him. Nobody else knew what would happen to Him in that city, but Jesus knew. It was just outside that city that there was a place called Calvary where He would die on a cross for sinners.

As Jesus came to their village, the ten men were near enough to see who was coming. They shouted with all that was left of their voices, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us”!

Jesus saw their misery, and He knew that their problem was deeper than leprosy. “Go show yourselves unto the priests,” He told them.

Now, if you have read the law of God, you will know that the priests’ duty was to say whether or not it was really leprosy, but the priests could not heal the disease. If the sick person really had active leprosy, he was shut out. And that’s exactly the best any person on earth can do for a guilty sinner. Are you a sinner? Then nobody can do anything for your sins. Nobody but One! Only God! And Jesus is God.

As those ten men went to find a priest, every one of them was cleansed completely with not a trace of leprosy remaining. What excitement went right through them! They knew the priest had not performed the miracle of curing them - that was impossible, for they had not even seen him yet.

Now what did they do with their cured, healthy bodies? Well, what are you doing with yours? or what would you do if you had one? Maybe you can think of lots of ways to have fun, and lots of friends to go out with, and ambitions to work on. We don’t know what nine of them did, but there was one - just one - whose heart was full of praise to God. Only one.

That one man turned back and with a loud voice glorified God. He was not ashamed of being the only one, for his voice was loud. And he not only glorified God, he fell down at Jesus’ feet, thanking Him.

Jesus was glad, but He was sorry too. “Were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine?” Jesus asked. Sadly, none of the other nine returned to give glory to God and to thank Jesus.

God wants to give you far more than a healthy body. He wants to give you the forgiveness of your sins, and He will do this if you will call to Him.

Are you wondering, If Jesus is in heaven, how can I call to Him? Do you know about the Bible verse that says, “Christ died for our sins . . . and . . . He rose again” (1 Corinthians 15:34)? He is alive in heaven, and His hearing is so perfect that He can even hear you think! Distance is nothing to Him. Call out to Him wherever you are, and He will hear and He will forgive every one of your sins. When He has forgiven you, get down on your knees and thank Him, and then tell others about Him.

Then Jesus said to the cleansed man at His feet, “Arise, go thy way: thy faith [has] made thee whole.” We can’t tell you where he went or where you will go after you are forgiven, but the wonderful news is that Jesus will never leave you or forsake you. Never! Not even if you die.

You may read this story for yourself in Luke 17:11-19.

ML-10/22/2006

The Poor Man's Sheep: David and Nathan

There was not much money to spare in the poor man’s house, but he found enough to buy a lamb, a soft woolly lamb. Of course, his children loved it. It was not a lamb that lived outside in the field; it was a family pet, loved almost like a child. It even shared their food and drank from the poor man’s cup. I can picture that man resting in his chair, leaning back with that special pet lamb cuddled up on his chest. Nobody needs to teach a lamb to stay close.

There was plenty to spare in the rich man’s house. He had sheep and lambs, lots of them. He had herds of cows and goats too. They were born in his fields and grew up there. He was rich enough to have big dinners and fancy food every day.

Here comes a traveler to the rich man’s front door. “Greetings,” the traveler said as he introduced himself to the rich man. Of course, every traveler is invited to stay for dinner, and it would be one of the rich man’s fancy dinners with the best of everything.

Suppose you were the rich man: What would you do? First of all, if you give something to a traveler, make sure it is yours to give. It is God who gives us all we have. It is God who created us with the word of His mouth. It is God who gave His only begotten Son for us. These riches are mine to share with you. Jesus is my Saviour forever, and He can be yours too. With all my heart I want to share Him with you, and He will be yours forever too.

The rich man was selfish. He looked over his pastures filled with sheep, but he would not give up one of his own for dinner that night. It must be a tender roast for his visitor. His reputation depended on it. The poor man’s lamb would make the best dinner. Yes, he would take it.

It is not hard to picture the tears and emptiness in the poor man’s house. The pet lamb was gone, and there was no one to set things right. Maybe you are angry and upset and ready to scold that wicked rich man. When King David heard that story, he felt like that too! He was furious at such selfishness!

And then suddenly the prophet Nathan, who told the story to King David, pointed the finger at the king and said, You are the man!

The truth is that King David had taken another man’s wife, and who’s brave enough to accuse the king? But God knew that what King David had done was caused by selfishness, and he had tried to cover up his selfishness to save his reputation.

I think we all see a little of our own selfishness, but we try to cover it up so that no one will know how bad we are. But God knows, and only God can wipe the record clean. Don’t pretend it is not there; it grows deeper every day. But God Himself is the only One who can say, as He said to David after he confessed his sin, The Lord has put away your sin. You shall not die. God is a forgiving God and gives everlasting life - a life which never dies, although our natural bodies may die just as others do.

It was Jesus Himself who took the punishment for our sins in those dark hours on the cross. That wonderful word “forgiven” is for us who have taken shelter in the One who died for us. “In whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace” (Ephesians 1:7). His forgiveness is for sinners only. Will you repent and come to Him now? You can know that your sins are forgiven, and no matter what your background, you can be a child of God, fit for His home in heaven forever.

“Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered” (Romans 4:7).

You may read this story in 2 Samuel, chapter 12.

ML-11/26/2006

Ananias and Sapphira Lie

Yes, said Ananias to his wife. We’ll sell that piece of land and give the money for the work of the Lord. But it’s a lot of money . . . do we have to give that much? We could keep back part of the price for ourselves, and then we could pretend that we gave all of it. Nobody would know.

Yes, said Sapphira his wife. That’s a good plan. We’ll keep it a secret. We won’t tell that we gave only part of the price and kept the rest for ourselves.

And so Ananias and Sapphira sold their piece of land at a fair and honest price and then kept back part of the money in a secret place for themselves.

We don’t blame anybody for keeping honest money for their own needs. So what was wrong with that bit of hidden money? Just this: They pretended they had not hidden some away and that they gave the whole amount for the work of the Lord. It was something like this: Look at us! We are great givers! We gave all we had! It sounded good, but it was a lie.

Perhaps every one of us can remember that we have done things like that too, when we wanted people to think well of us. We are all guilty! Where can we find anybody who never did or thought a lie like that?

There is only one person who, “though He was rich, yet for [our] sakes He became poor, that [we] through His poverty might be rich” (2 Corinthians 8:9). His name is Jesus. The world and the entire universe are His, but He gave up so much for our sakes. When He hung on the cross in the darkness, He had nothing . . . nothing, not even God to comfort Him. No one could ever be so rich or become so poor as He. All He had left was His life . . . and He gave that up too.

Why did Jesus do this? It was His love for sinners like you and me, that we through His poverty might be rich. Will you answer Him with all your heart? He loves you and died for you and wants you for Himself.

Ananias brought part of the money to the apostles’ feet in a very humble way. But God showed to Peter what was in that man’s heart. Peter said, Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and keep back part of the price of the land?

You see where that lie came from - straight from Satan. And the lie was not just to Peter but to the Holy Spirit. Doesn’t that make our lies and our selfishness extra bad?

It was your money, said Peter. It was up to you to do as you chose with it. Why did you plan this? You have not lied to men but to God!

Ananias heard what Peter said, and then - he fell dead! God was showing what He thought of such sin. He is not showing the same sudden punishment now, but it’s not because He cares any less. He has shown it once for you and me to remember. God hates sin, and He holds your life in His hand. How then can He let you and me live?

The answer is “Christ died for our sins” (1 Corinthians 15:3). If you will not have Christ, God has no forgiveness for you. Jesus shows His love for you now with open arms to welcome you. Will you come to Him for forgiveness? He says, “I will forgive [your] iniquity, and I will remember [your] sin no more” (Jeremiah 31:34).

The young men buried Ananias. After that, Sapphira came in, not knowing what had happened to her husband.

Peter said, Tell me . . . was this the price of the land you sold?

Yes, that was the price, she answered.

She had made her own choice too. Husband and wife had agreed together on the lie, and each was guilty. Agreeing with others doesn’t take away your own guilt.

Peter said, How is it that you agreed together to lie to the Spirit of the Lord? Then Sapphira fell down dead, and the young men buried her beside her husband.

This is a solemn story. God records it so you will remember, whether you are a Christian or not, that God hates lying and pretending. It is so wonderful to have a Saviour who never pretends, but His love to us is real, through sunshine and storms, now and forever. Are you one of His very own?

You may read this story for yourself in Acts 5.

ML-12/24/2006

Camouflage in the Seas

“[God does] great things past finding out; yea, and wonders without number.”
Job 9:10

Around coral reefs and other areas of the oceans where sunlight penetrates, many fish would be easy targets for larger fish, mammals and birds unless protected in some way. And so God has given them camouflage for protection.

An example of this is the ten-inch, bright-red sea dragon, living in the red seaweed along Australian shores. It looks quite similar to the sea horse. The sea dragon is a poor swimmer and would be devoured quickly by larger fish except that the Creator has given it an interesting disguise. Not only is it helped by its red color, but it has been given weed-like growths all over its oddly shaped body, including its head, chin, back and stomach. This makes it look like a sea plant with new leaves sprouting on it.

In South America and the Philippines there are also several small fish that both look and act like leaves of the mangrove tree that grows there. One fish, almost as thin as a leaf, swims on its side near the surface and moves about as slowly as a drifting leaf while it finds morsels of food here and there.

The Nile catfish is the only known fish that swims upside down, just the opposite of other fish. Their backs are light-colored and bodies are dark - thus they are safely camouflaged.

Flounders, that are common around North American and European shores, can change color to match the bottom of the bay as they slowly swim along the bottom. The same is true of several fish which live around Bermuda. They can change color almost instantly when swimming over different colored parts of the ocean floor.

Sponge crabs look ordinary enough but cover themselves with a sea sponge, which they cut with their claws to make a coat over their backs. As the crab grows, the sponge does the same. Or if the sponge dies, the crab just gets rid of it and cuts another one to fit.

Another variety, the decorator crab, will often cover itself with bits of coral or limestone or certain sea plants. To other sea creatures it just looks like seaweed drifting by.

None of these amazing creatures arranged for its unusual camouflage, nor did it happen gradually over a long time. The Bible, which always tells the truth, says, “God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life” (Genesis 1:20). Another verse, speaking of God, says, “He is wise in heart, and mighty in strength. . . . [He does] great things past finding out” (Job 9:4-10).

It is good to read the Bible every day, and when you do, ask the Lord Jesus to make it all plain and helpful to you. He will be pleased to have you do this.

ML-01/01/2006

JANUARY 1, 2006

The Lovely Chamois

“The high hills are a refuge for the wild goats.”
Psalm 104:18

The Latin word chamois means “rock goat,” which describes these two-foot-high, one hundred-pound antelopes. Both males and females have curved black horns about a foot high and bodies covered with reddish-brown fur, with whitish fur on the head and hindquarters. The kind Creator has given them strong legs and hooves and also large lungs which are necessary to sustain the enormous amount of energy needed for life in the mountains. Their heads are short with sharp eyes and alert, upright ears. They have just a stub of a tail.

Grassy meadows on high mountain peaks make ideal summertime homes, providing nutritious grass, but in winter they go to lower altitudes to escape the cold, fierce winds of the heights. They have an outstanding ability to climb and romp about the mountainsides. A twenty-foot ravine presents no problem for them - they just jump over it! At times, rather than working their way down a long, smooth area, chamois may simply slide down, making a landing on the narrow ledge that has been their target.

These animals are very alert for enemies, such as eagles, lynxes and wolves or even people trying to get near them. When an enemy is still a long way off, chamois guards warn the herd with sharp whistles and stamping hooves, causing the whole herd to disappear immediately among the rocks.

Each herd will strongly resist another herd’s attempt to take over or share its territory. To keep others away, bucks rub a waxy substance from their heads on bushes, trees or rocks. This marking leaves an odor which warns others not to intrude on their territory. Where do you suppose they learned to do this? We know they didn’t need to learn to mark their territories, since it is quite common with many wild animals and a provision the Creator has given for their protection. How good He is to all His creation!

Females usually give birth to just one kid each year, but sometimes there are twins. The kids can walk almost immediately and have no fear of high, rocky places. Like other young, including boys and girls, they are very playful - running, jumping and sliding down snow-covered slopes but never straying very far from their mothers who keep watchful eyes on them.

We should not be surprised to see how well chamois survive in the surroundings that would be very dangerous for humans. The Lord God designed them for that exciting life, and they are included in our opening Bible verse. When the psalmist wrote that wonderful psalm, he exclaimed, “I will sing unto the Lord as long as I live: I will sing praise to my God while I have my being” (vs. 33). We should be happy to do this too.

ML-01/08/2006

JANUARY 8, 2006

Unseen Helpers

“By Him were all things created, that are in heaven [the sky], and that are in earth, visible and invisible.”
Colossians 1:16

There are a great number of creatures that, unseen by most people, are very helpful to us. Worms, for instance, munch their way through the soil day and night, fertilizing it and making openings for water and nitrogen to reach plant roots. Bats fly unseen through dark nights, feeding on great numbers of mosquitoes and other insects.

There are also other forms of life not visible without a microscope -billions and billions of microorganisms. One of these is bacteria, without which we could not survive! Some bacteria cause a chemical change called fermentation. These special helpers are essential in making alcohol, bread, cheese, buttermilk, yogurt and many more food items. Bacteria which live in the digestive tracts of man and animals help in the digestion of certain foods.

Bacteria are also very important and useful to man in other ways. Certain of these helpers cause decay of dead animal and vegetable matter, dissolving this matter into plant food in the soil and gases in the atmosphere. Even oil spilled on the ground or in a lake is dissolved by bacteria in time. Their activity is most important in garbage dumps where tons of waste materials are discarded every day. If it were not for the bacterial process of decay, the earth would become covered with dead material, and all living things would gradually die out. Even in the mining of copper, zinc, uranium and gold, it wouldn’t be possible to make metal out of the ore without these tiny assistants.

No matter how clever scientists are, they could never produce such microscopic forms of life that do such a vast number of helpful things and without which we could not exist. These invisible forms of life didn’t just happen to be in the world by chance. No, they were planned! Our beginning Bible verse explains that they are on the earth because the Lord God, the Master Designer and Creator of everything, has placed them here as helpers for every kind of life. They serve us in many ways, helping each one of us in our daily lives. God alone has made these invisible forms of life, and they will continue in their unseen activities while the world lasts.

When we think of bacteria and other wonders of God’s creation, may we proclaim with the psalmist, “O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the Lord our maker. For He is our God; and we are the people of His pasture” (Psalm 95:67).

He will be pleased with your worship and thanksgiving after you have accepted His Son, the Lord Jesus, as your Saviour. He loves you and has said, “[He or she] that [comes] to Me I will in no [way] cast out” (John 6:37).

ML-01/15/2006

JANUARY 15, 2006

The Owl's World: Part 1

“God created . . . every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good.”
Genesis 1:21

Although there are many varieties of owls throughout the world, we are not very aware of them, mainly because most of their activities are carried on after dark. For centuries owls have been a symbol of wisdom. However, geese, crows and ravens are all smarter than owls.

People can recognize an owl by its large, broad head with a ruff of feathers around its large eyes. This ruff covers enormous ear openings.

Most owls spend much time perched on tree branches at dusk or through the night, but some hunt during the day as well, yet manage to keep well hidden. In many ways they are useful to man, helping to control rats, mice and other rodents, as well as insects that damage crops.

Their flights are as silent as a shadow, yet amazingly accurate. In the darkness their sensitive ears pick up the faint sounds of mice or other rodents on the ground below them. They fly directly to their victims, capture and devour them.

Owls’ extremely sensitive, large eyes see remarkably well in almost total darkness. Both eyes point forward, unlike the eyes of most birds. They are not able to move them sideways; instead, they must swivel their heads to follow a moving object. Their heads turn quickly, and this has resulted in the mistaken idea that the owl can turn its head completely around.

There are a great number of varieties, from the smallest six-inch elf owl to the largest two-foot great horned owl. We will look at a few in this and the two following issues.

We will begin with the barn owl. This fairly large owl is sometimes called the monkey-faced owl and makes its home in any convenient place, from a hollow tree to the top of a church steeple. However, it usually nests in barns or other farm buildings and lives peacefully with nearby pigeons. It has long, slender legs and wings that spread three feet in flight.

The barn owl is a pretty bird, with a heart-shaped face and dark eyes. Its body is snow-white below with spotted back and wing feathers in tones of golden or chocolate brown. Like all owls, it has a strong, sharp beak and pointed, vicious talons on its four-toed feet, with which it catches its prey.

Being an expert mouse catcher, a barn owl also hunts for other rodents, frogs, lizards, sparrows and even blackbirds, never seeming to satisfy its huge appetite.

As we consider these unusual birds, it is good to remember the Bible verse that says, “The Lord is good to all: and His tender mercies are over all His works” (Psalm 145:9). This includes you. Have you ever thanked Him for His goodness and kindness to you?

(to be continued)

ML-01/22/2006

The Owl's World: Part 2

“I [the Lord] know all the fowls of the mountains: and the wild beasts of the field are Mine.”
Psalm 50:11

Today we will look at the interesting great horned owl. Weighing about three pounds and measuring two feet long, this is one of the largest in the owl family. It is found in many places throughout North America. It has the nickname winged tiger, because of its boldness and power. This is the only owl that destroys poultry, but it makes up for this destruction by keeping down the rabbit population.

The name “great horned” comes from the two tufts of feathers on top of its head that look like ears or horns. Its actual ears are not visible but are hidden under light feathers on the sides of its head. Its hearing is thought to be the most sensitive hearing in the bird and animal world. With this hearing it can pinpoint the squeak of a mouse or the faint rustle of a beetle moving in dry leaves up to three hundred feet away!

This owl does not have to rely entirely on its ears, for its eyes are as large as a man’s and thirty-five times more sensitive. With eyes pointing forward, it watches an object with both eyes. Its vision is so keen that it can observe prey a long way off that would be impossible for our eyes to see.

Without moving its body, a large, swiveling head enables it to locate prey in almost any direction, either by actual sight or by what its sensitive ears pick up. Taking off from its perch, the owl focuses on an unsuspecting target. The shape of its wings and its fluffy feathers muffle the swishing sound that most birds make when they fly. It silently swoops down, landing on the prey with its legs braced forward, and in one quick move it tosses the victim’s head back, breaking the neck and killing it instantly.

The great horned is the boldest of all owls in defending its nest of three eggs. It is not uncommon for someone trying to get close to be suddenly dive-bombed, receiving painful cuts and torn clothes.

After hatching, the baby owls rely on the parents for food for nine or ten weeks, but eventually it is up to them to catch their own. Learning to fly is difficult. On their first flight attempts they sometimes end up on the ground. Unable to fly back, they grip the bark of the tree with their claws and hooked beaks, climbing to a branch, resting a while, then continuing to climb to a high perch.

In our next issue we will look at two more of these remarkable birds and the ways the Creator, knowing all about each one of them, has designed them for their particular way of life. The opening Bible verse tells us this.

(to be continued)

ML-01/29/2006

The Owl's World: Part 3

“[God] doeth great things and unsearchable; marvelous things without number.”
Job 5:9

The small burrowing owls are ground dwellers and have heads as round as a ball and long legs. They are covered in light-colored fluffy feathers from neck to feet, but elsewhere they are a soft brown.

These owls live in open country, mainly in the western half of the United States and in Mexico. They make their homes in underground burrows, sometimes digging out their burrows themselves but preferring to find one abandoned by ground squirrels or badgers. They come out of their burrows in the cool of the morning and evening to hunt for lizards, mice, gophers and insects but retreat to the burrows during the hot hours. These owls can see well in daylight and are strictly daytime hunters.

Half a dozen baby owls are usually raised each spring, with the parents caring for them a long time. Eventually the young ones learn to make it on their own.

The 27inch great gray owl is the largest in the owl family with a wide wingspan. Part of the year it makes its home in the far north. In times of snow, it plunges through the snow to catch mice and other rodents active on the ground underneath. But when the snow becomes frozen hard, finding food becomes difficult, and it usually migrates to southern Canada and some of the western states.

Its pale yellow eyes look small in its large, round face that is heavily ringed. The rest of its head is covered with short, light-brown feathers, and it has no ear tufts. The rest of its body is darker brown mottled with white.

This owl builds a nest made of sticks and moss high in an evergreen tree. It will use old nests of other large birds when possible. It hunts chiefly by night but also at dawn and dusk. Those in the far northern range hunt by day during the summer.

If space allowed, it would be interesting to look at the boreal, long-eared, northern spotted, screech, barred, saw-whet and Arctic owls, as well as many other varieties. But those we have looked at are examples of the ways of most owls.

They are all a reminder to us of the wonderful detail which the Creator provides for all His creatures. Let us not forget the wonderful detail in His loving care for each of us.

The psalmist expresses this so well in these Bible verses: “I will remember the works of the Lord: surely I will remember Thy wonders of old. I will meditate also of all Thy work, and talk of Thy doings” (Psalm 77:11-12). Another verse says, “O Lord of hosts, blessed is the man that [trusts] in Thee” (Psalm 84:12). Is your trust in the Lord?

ML-02/05/2006

Protection Underseas

“Woe to him that is alone when he [falls]; for he [has] not another to help him up.”
Ecclesiastes 4:10

In the Red Sea, a fish called amphiprion works together with one of the sea anemones by driving away its enemies. This particular anemone relies on this fish for its protection. It will not even fully open unless it knows that its “friend” is close by. The fish communicates this to the anemone by touching it occasionally.

The anemone will never try to hurt its friend. Any other fish touching its poisonous tentacles is immediately stung to death. If something does accidentally push the amphiprion into the tentacles of its friend, it will be seized and eaten. Communication between them apparently breaks down at these times.

The benefit of this relationship to the amphiprion is that it shares the food caught by the anemone. Although it looks like a flower, the anemone is really a sea animal and lives mostly by eating other sea life.

A similar mutual benefit exists between another sea anemone and the snapping shrimp. This anemone has many enemies among the larger fish that like to feed on it. The shrimp, although not very large, can make a loud snap with its large claw. The noise is so frightening that the anemone’s enemies leave quickly.

The benefit to the shrimp is that the anemone does not bother it or sting it. It is allowed to swim freely around the anemone and to burrow near its base where it hides from its own enemies.

How nice it is to have a friend standing beside you when danger threatens or when life’s problems seem too great to bear alone. God has made these ocean residents helpers to one another, but it is not likely that they understand more than that a helper is nearby.

God gives us a very true picture of ourselves in the Bible: “Man is born unto trouble” (Job 5:7). The Apostle Paul recognized this when he asked, “Oh wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?” Here is his happy answer: “I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 7:2425).

Yes, we are happy to tell of “a Friend that [sticks] closer than a brother” (Proverbs 18:24). King David said, “The Lord also will be a refuge for the oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble. And they that know Thy name will put their trust in Thee: for Thou, Lord, hast not forsaken them that seek Thee” (Psalm 9:910).

These are comforting words. The One of whom they speak is the same One who extends His loving invitation: “Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). He assures those who know Him as their Saviour: “I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee” (Hebrews 13:5).

ML-02/12/2006

Two African Lizards

“These also shall be unclean unto you, the chameleon, and the lizard.”

Leviticus 11:29-30

The above instructions given to God’s people in Bible times defined lizards as “unclean.” This meant they were not to be eaten, but it did not mean that God, the Creator of all things, did not care for lizards. He has always provided well for their every need.

One lizard, named aporosaura, lives on the Namib desert near the tip of Africa. It has been given long, husky legs to cope with the hot sand, which is far too hot for any of us to walk on barefoot. In bright sunshine, temperatures reach 150 degrees, but at night it becomes chilly.

Moving about in that heat, as it searches for flies and other insects, the aporosaura’s long, rubber-like legs raise its body high enough so it doesn’t rub against the hot sand. But it stops often to cool one leg at a time, by raising it and waving it in the air.

Each afternoon fog blows in from the ocean, and this lizard, not pleased with the cool change, buries itself completely under the sand and stays there until the sun shines again. If the fog comes in too early for it to stay there for the night, it will lie flat on its stomach on the still-warm sand, scooping some over itself. If the sun breaks through again, it will lift its tail in the air and raise its legs and head, to get what warmth it can from the sun that had been too hot for it earlier.

Another unusual lizard, called the leaf-tailed gecko, makes its home on Madagascar Island off the coast of Africa. It is very odd looking, with mottled brown and gray skin from its sharp nose to the end of a long tail, as well as on its long legs and clawed toes. It is about a foot long.

This lizard hunts at night, and the Creator has given it large eyes, standing out like yellow balls, well back of its pointed nose. With jaws open wide, it looks like a small dragon. The toes have suction cups, enabling it to cling to steep branches and smooth boulders or even climb a wall and cross a ceiling when chasing an insect. If an enemy grabs its tail, the tail breaks away and the lizard escapes. A new tail grows back in a short time.

These are just two of about two thousand kinds of lizards in the world. The Bible assures us that the Lord God, their Creator, watches over them night and day. But He watches more carefully over you and invites you to know Him as your Saviour and give thanks to Him for all His loving-kindness to you. Is He your Saviour, and have you thanked Him today?

ML-02/19/2006

The Babirussa, or Pig Bear

“The Lord is good to all: and His tender mercies are over all His works.”
Psalm 145:9

The two-hundred-pound babirussa is a wild hog found in Indonesia. It is about three feet long with a rope-like tail, is dark gray in color and has two pairs of curved tusks. The lower pair grows right out of its mouth and curls toward its forehead. The upper pair is rooted higher in the snout, but also curves towards the top of its head.

It’s not likely you would want a fierce-looking animal like this for a pet. However, its looks are deceiving, for it is actually shy and passive. It lives beside rivers and lakes where it feeds on water plants, wild fruit and other vegetation and where it likes to wallow in the mud, just as pigs do everywhere.

These animals are a member of the pig family, much like those on American farms, except for the tusks. Their short-legged, large bodies give them a bear-like shape, which accounts for the nickname “pig bear.” They have long, pointed snouts, small ears and gruesome eyes.

Females make nests in carefully hidden places and usually give birth to just one or two smooth-skinned piglets each year. Natives often capture these, taming and raising them on their farms for their meat, which tastes as good as any pork or bacon. Little children usually take care of them.

There is a difference between these wild animals and pigs or hogs raised on most farms. Domestic hogs have only one stomach and so cannot eat grass and vegetation; they need corn, soybeans and other grains. However, wild pigs have an extra part to their stomachs, like sheep and goats, and whatever they eat goes into this “sac” where it is digested before it can nourish their bodies.

Because of this, it is much cheaper to raise the wild pigs and feed them inexpensive vegetation -which the Indonesians already do. Farmers in other countries are considering doing the same, so perhaps you may someday see some for sale in your local butcher shop.

Strange as these animals are, they are just one more example of the Creator’s pleasure in placing a wide variety of creatures on the earth. But the supreme work of His creation was in making mankind, as expressed in Psalm 40:5: “Many, O Lord my God, are Thy wonderful works which Thou hast done, and Thy thoughts which are to us-ward. . . . If I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered.” The principal “wonderful work” was the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ, bearing on the cross the sins of all who will admit their need to be saved and accept Him as their Saviour. Each person is invited to do this. Have you accepted this loving invitation?

ML-02/26/2006

Gulf Stream Waters: Part 1

“All the rivers run into the sea; yet the sea is not full: unto the place from whence the rivers come, thither they return again.”
Ecclesiastes 1:7

The Mississippi River empties a great quantity of water into the Gulf of Mexico. Other rivers and streams also empty their water into the Gulf, making a tremendous amount being continually added. If all this water didn’t have a means of escape, it would have flooded all the land surrounding the Gulf long ago.

So where does all the water go after it empties into the Gulf? The western side of the Gulf is bounded by the shores of Texas and Mexico, so there is just one direction left open -eastward below Florida, and that’s where it flows.

Moving at about four miles an hour (the same speed as a fast walker), this tremendous flow of water is first called the Florida current, but farther along it is called the Gulf Stream or “the warm ocean current of the North Atlantic.” In some places it flows as fast as 138 miles a day, and any given amount of this current takes many months to travel its full route.

After swinging around the bottom of Florida, the islands of Cuba and the Bahamas are in its path, causing it to turn north and travel along the United States’ coastline, on up to the New England states, then to the maritime provinces of Canada. By that time it is much wider than when it started. Then swinging northeast, it passes Nova Scotia and Newfoundland where the cold water of the Labrador Sea flows into it, making quite a change in the temperature of the Gulf Stream. Finally, flowing into the North Atlantic waters below Iceland it loses its identity, although its current and warming effect can be felt as far away as Norway and Spain.

All this flow of water, finally spreading out and mixing with the great North Atlantic Ocean, is a partial answer to why “the sea is not full” as stated in the opening Bible verse. But a more interesting reason is that the Creator has arranged continual evaporation from the surfaces of all oceans, lakes and rivers that equals the amount of water that rivers, rain and snow add to it.

Evaporation is mainly what forms clouds. Just the right amount of water is drawn back again into the skies, forming clouds, to later drop as snow, rain and hail for the benefit of all God’s creation. And this is just what the second part of the verse says, “From whence the rivers come, thither they return again.” The evaporation and returning moisture have balanced out perfectly through all the centuries of the world’s history, because they are so ordered by God who has created them.

In our next issue we will look at some of the benefits the Gulf Stream carries with it.

(to be continued)

ML-03/05/2006

Gulf Stream Waters: Part 2

“[God] doeth great things and unsearchable; marvelous things without number.”
Job 5:9

Last week we considered many interesting facts about the Gulf Stream which flows from the Gulf of Mexico, thousands of miles through North Atlantic waters. Now let’s look at more facts about this amazing body of water.

Even in winter this ocean current from the Gulf of Mexico is much warmer than the Atlantic Ocean waters through which it flows, and that is very welcome to the sea life along its route. People along the eastern shores of North America, particularly those in New England and Canada, are very thankful that these waters help provide milder winter weather than many places inland.

Ships traveling northward are thankful for the four-mile-an-hour boost the Gulf Stream provides. This is particularly true of huge tankers and freighters that sit deep in the water. The benefit of the stream’s northward flow, plus the fact that prevailing winds are usually from the south, has always made the Gulf Stream particularly attractive to sailing boats of the past, as well as those that sail today.

These waters also carry many seeds and plants, some of which wash up, take root and add to the beauty of remote shorelines. Stray pieces of lumber that probably fall into the Mississippi and other rivers en route to the Gulf also travel north on this unusual Gulf Stream and wash up on island shores. Residents collect them until there is enough lumber to build a shed, a barn, or even a small house.

Sportsmen have found great numbers of fish in these waters, including unusual ones from the Caribbean Sea. They like the large numbers of trout, salmon and varieties of tuna, some as large as sharks. Landing one of these is a real challenge to the most experienced fisherman.

Whales and sharks swim to these warm waters, particularly in the northern areas which otherwise are quite cold. Migrating eels swim against the current on their way to the Sargasso Sea where they produce their young ones. Incidentally, American eels swim about 2000 miles to spawn and European eels swim about 3000 miles, going to the same place. Millions of their hatchlings rise from the calm waters of the ocean floor and then follow the Gulf currents at least partway to their destinations.

There is not room to mention all varieties of birds and other creatures that benefit by this “river in the ocean.” But God, their Creator, is aware of and provides for them all. We know this from a Bible verse which states: “Thou, even Thou, art Lord alone; Thou hast made . . . the seas, and all that is therein, and Thou preservest them all” (Nehemiah 9:6).

How good it is to know Him as the Creator of all things, but much more important is to know Him also as your Saviour and true Friend. Is He your Saviour and Friend?

ML-03/12/2006

Magnificent Pearls

“When He had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that He had, and bought it.”
Matthew 13:46

Pearls are valued everywhere for their special beauty. Some of the most valuable are found in the Persian Gulf where delicate cream-colored pearls come from a little, three-inch oyster. Other larger pearls, silver-white in color, are quite valuable and usually come from large Australian oysters. Black pearls, which are really a dark, shiny gray, are probably the most valuable.

Pearls are also found along the shores of Japan, China, South America, Europe, North America and elsewhere. Some come from fresh-water oysters in the Mississippi River and other rivers running into it. Although these pearls are very pretty, they are nowhere near the quality of salt-water pearls. These fresh-water pearls are used mostly in jewelry.

How is a pearl formed? Usually an irritant, such as a grain of sand, gets inside the shell and up against the oyster’s body. The oyster cannot get rid of it and relieves the discomfort by covering it with a thin coating of a substance called nacre. The oyster continues coating it, and over a long period of time the tiny particle gets larger - a little each year, until eventually a pearl is formed. Its color may be cream, pink, black, brown, silver-white or even orange or gold.

The Japanese produce great quantities of “cultured” pearls by placing a tiny bead as the irritant inside the shells of three-year-old oysters they are “farming.” When the oysters are seven years old, their shells are opened. A valuable pearl is found in about one out of every 20 opened. The imperfect pearls will still be sold and used. Cultured-pearl “farming” is also done in other places.

Natural pearls that are perfect may be worth thousands of dollars. The imperfect ones are valuable too. Sometimes no pearl is found in an oyster’s shell, but the inside of the shell may be covered with a coating of “mother-of-pearl.” This can be sold to a button factory or be used on a vase, table lamp, decorative plate or other place.

The Bible verse quoted at the beginning was spoken by the Lord Jesus. He likened Himself to the merchant who spent all that he had (gave His life on Calvary’s cross) to purchase a pearl of great price (those who will thank Him for that wonderful sacrifice and accept Him as their Saviour). What wonderful love He showed in doing this. Are you part of that precious pearl? You can be. You only need to confess to Him that you are a sinner and accept Him as your Saviour by believing that He died for your sins. “They shall be Mine, saith the Lord of hosts, in that day when I make up My jewels” (Malachi 3:17).

ML-03/19/2006

The Seldom-Seen Desman

“The works of the Lord are great, sought out of all them that have pleasure therein.”
Psalm 111:2

In remote mountain streams of Spain and France, there is a mysterious little animal whose body is no longer than a man’s hand, and its rope-like tail is the same length. The desman lives a very secretive life and is rarely seen by anyone. It is well hidden - not only living in places that are difficult to reach, but also because it sleeps during the day, hidden in a rocky nest beside a stream. It spends the dark hours of night underwater in the fast-flowing stream.

This strange creature resembles a mole. It has thick, yellowish-gray fur which, when wet, stands out in long, arrow-like pointers. The skin, where exposed, is rough and looks like rows of small, dark, round beads pressed tightly together. Its long snout, brown on the end, has two large, rubbery nostrils. Each foot has leathery soles with five long, white claws. The claws are used to pull itself along the creek bottom, as well as for loosening rocks under which food is usually found.

The desman has eyes but does not seem to use them for finding its way around or in hunting food. Instead, it relies on a sensitive nose to smell out its underwater food of water bugs, worms and other insects and their larvae. Its nose seems to be its greatest helper, not only in finding food, but since it is so sensitive, it warns of rocks and other obstacles in the dark waters. This animal can stay underwater for a long time, occasionally poking that useful nose through the surface for a breath of air.

Its life pattern of hunting underwater at night includes the ability to hide on a dark rock when threatened. When really frightened, it darts through the water so fast that it is almost impossible to get a good look at it even if a strong light is used.

The desman and its mate hunt for their food in only a small area of the mountain stream close to their daytime home. They are most active in winter, eating as much as possible to keep warm. Their bodies develop rather fat stomachs through the winter months.

It is not likely that any of us will ever see a desman, but there is One, the Creator of all living things, who is watching over each and every one of them. He gave them these amazing instincts and the ability to live in such an unusual way. A Bible verse tells of this: “The Lord is good to all: and His tender mercies are over all His works. All Thy works shall praise Thee, O Lord” (Psalm 145:910). Do you thank and praise Him for His love and tender mercies to you?

ML-03/26/2006

Christmas Island's Red Crabs: Part 1

“Let the heaven [sky] and earth praise Him, the seas, and everything that moveth therein.”
Psalm 69:34

Christmas Island, located just below the equator in the Indian Ocean near Australia, is most interesting to naturalists. One reason is because of the unusual birds that live there. Two of these - the frigatebird and the golden bosun - are not found anywhere else in the world.

In addition, there are more than a dozen varieties of crabs. A huge one is called the coconut crab, and a very small one is called the red crab because of its bright red color. It’s a harmless little creature with a body only about the size of a man’s hand.

The antics of red crabs are unusual and among the most amazing of all inhabitants of that island, or the entire world for that matter. It is estimated there are about 120 million red crabs on the island, with a total weight of some 10,000 tons!

Most crabs live in oceans or on nearby shorelines, but the red crabs prefer living among the trees of a rain forest high on the island, a long way from the salt water. They make their homes by burrowing into the soil among the tree roots. During the cool part of the morning and evening, they come out to feast on the constant accumulation of flowers, fruit and tree leaves that fall to the ground. They also eat snails, dead birds or insects that they occasionally come across. During some feeding hours, the forest floor looks like a huge red carpet spread among the trees.

If you happen to be reading this at a time when the moon is in its last crescent-shaped quarter of either October or November, the red crabs will be following an irresistible urge to go to the ocean, their most interesting event of the year. During the moon’s last quarter in either of those two months (depending on how suitable the rainy weather is) the entire 120 million crabs start out in a long, stretched-out mass on a migration of one to two weeks or more. They travel very slowly and only in the cool morning and evening hours. Their goal is the ocean several miles away. Heavy rainfall on the soil and rocks is a real help to them.

Do you think God is aware of these little red crabs as they undertake this long trip? Indeed He is, for they are part of His creation. This Bible verse assures us He is looking after them: “Thou, even Thou, art Lord alone; Thou hast made . . . the earth, and all things that are therein, the seas, and all that is therein, and Thou preservest them all” (Nehemiah 9:6).

In the next issue we will discover some of the things that take place on this migration.

(to be continued)

ML-04/02/2006

Christmas Island's Red Crabs: Part 2

“The Lord is gracious, and full of compassion. . . . The Lord is good to all: and His tender mercies are over all His works.”
Psalm 145:89

In the last issue we left 120 million red crabs with a long trip ahead of them. They were ready to start on their annual migration from their forest homes.

In the dim light of early morning, the large male crabs start out ahead of the rest. The females and smaller ones - making up the biggest part of the huge number - will follow close behind. Everything is soaking wet from a heavy rainfall provided by a watchful Creator, and this suits the crabs.

Leaving the high forest area, they soon come upon homes in their way. Soon a girl’s screams might be heard as she awakens to discover a crab entangled in her hair. Meanwhile her mother might be awakened, hearing strange noises in the kitchen. Hurrying in the dim morning light, she finds half a dozen crabs crawling over her pots and pans. How did they get in? Someone had left the back door partly open to cool the house, and when the crabs came to the open door, they just walked right in. They will not turn to the right or left if there is an opportunity to go straight ahead.

In places where the edge of the forest ends at the top of high rocky cliffs, this doesn’t stop the crabs’ migration. Down they go, inch by inch, holding on to any supports they find as they creep downward. Soon the entire cliffside is solid red from the hundreds of thousands of crabs on it. Here and there some lose their grip or the stone they hold onto gives way. Down they plunge to their deaths. The others eventually reach bottom, followed by an endless mass of more crawling red.

At the bottom there are other hazards. A railroad track must be crossed. If a train comes by, those on the rails at that moment quickly meet a sad end to their journey. Also, regardless of how hot the steel rails have become in the sunlight, they keep on going. Many are burned on tender parts of their bodies as they crawl over the hot rails, and they also soon die. Next week’s issue will bring them to the end of their journey.

You might ask, “If the Lord God is watching over them, why does He let them die?” The answer is not that the Lord God does not care, for the verse above tells of His compassion and mercies over life’s trials. Adam’s sin in disobeying God in the Garden of Eden brought death into the world - to humans and all else. But Romans 6:23 has a wonderful message: “The wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Have you accepted this loving gift of life?

(to be continued)

ML-04/09/2006

Christmas Island's Red Crabs: Part 3

“Know therefore this day, and consider it in thine heart, that the Lord He is God in heaven above, and upon the earth beneath: there is none else.”
Deuteronomy 4:39

In last week’s account of the bright-red crabs of Christmas Island, we considered the distance and difficulties of their annual migration and how some die along the way. Regardless of the tragedies, there are so many that the loss of even a large number is hardly noticeable. It is estimated that about a million of them die each year, but the successful millions upon millions carry on.

Other hazards are waiting for them too, even when they are close to the ocean. A paved road circles that part of the island. There are so many crabs on the road that motorists cannot avoid running over great numbers. This often turns out to be tough on the motorists too, for the sharp, tough claws puncture and flatten many tires. As the tires are being changed, the millions of red crabs click right along as if nothing is going to stop them.

Here and there they come to stairs; they just drop from one step to the next. Tennis courts, golf greens, swimming pools, chain fences -nothing stops these ocean-bound travelers.

Finally they reach the ocean’s sandy beaches. There the males, who arrived first, have dug burrows in the sand and females join them for several days of rest. Soon at high tide the females, each loaded with thousands of tiny eggs, head for the waves where the eggs are released. Then they turn their backs to the ocean and start the long trip overland and back up the cliffs to their forest homes again.

Meanwhile, the eggs hatch out into tiny creatures called megalops. They don’t look at all like crabs until they spend a month in the water. Then they come ashore by the millions and are a terrible nuisance to the people living nearby, as they climb fences and walls and work their way under doors and window sills, getting into carpets, furniture, beds and kitchens.

But eventually the ones not killed by angry people, hungry birds, dogs or other crabs leave for the homes of their parents, by God-given instinct, climbing the immense cliffs and all the other obstacles en route. After this long and grueling trip, they finally reach the homes of the adults where they occupy empty burrows or dig new ones of their own. A year later they join in the annual migration to the ocean and back.

We may not understand why God created such unusual creatures, but we do know that “by Him were all things created . . . and He is before all things, and by Him all things consist” (Colossians 1:1617). The Bible tells the true story of creation. We can put full trust in it and enjoy seeing and learning something of God’s wonderful works.

ML-04/16/2006

Some Helpful Dogs

“They are all dumb dogs, they cannot bark; sleeping, lying down, loving to slumber.”
Isaiah 56:10

George Washington had a beautiful home overlooking the Potomac River where he kept riding horses, a small flock of sheep and some Doberman pinscher dogs. The dogs were not just pets; they were also guards of the valuable property.

Dobermans, as well as German shepherds, are still excellent police dogs. They are highly intelligent and can be trained for police work. Some city police departments have as many as two dozen or more for emergency work.

Both kinds of dogs are considered top performers for police work; however, the Dobermans are preferred where summer heat is a problem, since they don’t have the thick coats of the German shepherds. They are trained by experts while still pups. When older they are put in the charge of a policeman or guard with whom they will live and develop a strong, friendly bond. The dogs don’t mix with other people or other dogs and have deep loyalty to their master.

One kind of work for a policeman and his dog is to patrol department stores or other businesses during night hours. They go through each floor. The dog is on a long leash, held by his human partner, and goes behind each counter and mannequin -paying attention only to what may be hidden behind them.

The dog’s keen sense of smell immediately detects a thief who may think he is well hidden. Moving close to him, the dog growls fiercely, with its strong teeth exposed, until his master, sizing up the situation, may command “Watch him!” The dog will guard the thief while the policeman calls on his short-wave radio for backup help. If the thief tries to escape, the dog will quickly move in and cause him to change his mind, but will not harm him otherwise.

But this isn’t the only service the dogs do when in these buildings. As they move from place to place, the dog’s sharp sense of hearing and keen sense of smell may lead the policeman to some piece of equipment that is overheating or making an unusual noise. The intelligent dog seems to sense that something is wrong. Often the short-wave radio is used again with a request to send help.

The opening Bible verse, describing dumb dogs, is what the Lord says about those who did not return His love in past days, compared with those who did return His love. Of those who did respond to His love and kindness He said, “Even them will I bring to My holy mountain, and make them joyful” (Isaiah 56:7). And that’s where true joy is found today -in the hearts of those who know Him as their Saviour. Just as there are helpful dogs and dumb dogs, there are people who return God’s love and those who do not return God’s love. Which are you?

ML-04/23/2006

Decoy Birds

“Take heed to yourselves, that your heart be not deceived. . . . Lay up these My words in your heart.”
Deuteronomy 11:16,18

Horned puffins are very pretty birds which usually find nesting places on the cliffs of islands off the North American coasts. They have orange-red, sharp beaks, with wide, flat webbed feet of the same color. But the back of their necks is bright yellow, overlapping the fronts of their round heads, which are white on both sides with matching fronts and underparts. The rest of their bodies are black.

Some time ago people were concerned because fewer and fewer puffins were coming to an island off the coast of Maine that had once been a nesting place for great numbers of them. The people concluded that if something weren’t done about it, soon there would be none left.

Since puffins are social birds and only nest where there are others of their kind, the people decided to set out decoys to attract the puffins. They arranged for a number of imitation wooden puffins (decoys), skillfully painted to look like live ones, to be set in several places on the island.

It wasn’t long before several pairs of puffins spotted the decoys from the air and landed near a group of them. They must have been puzzled when the decoys didn’t respond to their cooing, but they didn’t leave. Soon others also flew in, and before long many were making nests. And so their numbers grew.

The decoys were kept in place for several years, resulting in increasing numbers making this island their home, to the satisfaction of those who worked so hard to make it possible. Now more than one hundred pairs of puffins return to the island every year, and the decoys have been moved to other areas.

This experience was so successful that before long a similar program was used to bring lovely terns and other birds to suitable spots. It was also a good way to get newcomers into areas where they had never been before. The decoy idea has also been used successfully along California shores to attract the lovely little birds called the “least tern.”

However, as we think of the happy results of the decoy system, we are reminded that there are other “decoys” that are not good ones. Satan is the one who uses these. He tries to lure us into places or tempt us to do things that we should stay away from. So the Bible faithfully warns us: “Neither give place [an opportunity] to the devil” (Ephesians 4:27), and to “trust in the Lord with all thine heart. . . . In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths” (Proverbs 3:56).

If we follow the guidance the Lord Jesus gives us in the Bible and ask Him to help us, this is the way to a happy life.

ML-04/30/2006

Unwelcome Leeches

“Remember His marvelous works that He hath done, His wonders, and the judgments of His mouth.”
1 Chronicles 16:12

A leech, also called a bloodsucker, looks like a worm. Hundreds of varieties are found, especially in tropical countries. They range from ¾ inch to 18 inches long and can stretch or shorten their bodies. Most are black, brown or gray, with lighter stripes. The horse leech is dark green. Suckers on both ends of their bodies enable them to move as some caterpillars do - the front end holding firm while the back end pushes the body forward in a loop. Then the front end loosens and moves forward as the body stretches out. This is done over and over until the leech reaches its goal.

The leech’s usual food is the blood of fish, frogs, worms, snails and some animals. The wound it makes when attaching to its victim is not painful. When its sharp little teeth puncture the victim’s skin, a pain-killing chemical comes out of its mouth. A thirsty leech sucking blood for a long time may swell up to three times its normal size. If not removed, six of them all working on a small animal, like a puppy, could take so much blood that in a short time it could die.

How does the leech attach itself to a victim? In water it slowly swims to a sleeping fish or other creature and attaches itself so gently that the victim is not aware anything is going on. In wooded or bushy areas, particularly where forests have frequent rain, great numbers of leeches crawl a short way up tree trunks or tall bushes and rest on moist leaves until an animal or even a bare-backed person walks below them. At just the right moment they slide off the leaf and drop so gently that the victim doesn’t even know what has taken place. How would you like to walk through a place like that?

In times past before modern medical treatments were available for sick people, doctors kept a number of leeches available. They thought many illnesses were due to something wrong in the blood. They used the leeches to remove blood from the sick person. Most people didn’t know any better either, and probably asked for that kind of treatment. Medical doctors in most countries no longer use leeches.

We may wonder why the Creator ever made such things as leeches, but we do know that they are a part of His creation, to which the opening Bible verse refers. Let us also remember another Bible verse that tells us, “All things were created by Him, and for Him” (Colossians 1:16). How good of God to give us such a clear explanation of creation. Man has come up with his own ideas, but God’s Word is the truth.

ML-05/07/2006

The Tricky Coati

“My help [comes] from the Lord, which made heaven and earth. He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: He that keepeth thee will not slumber.”
Psalm 121:23

The coati and its close relative, the coatimundi, are animals that look very much like raccoons. They are usually reddish-brown in color with white throats, and their mask-like faces are spotted black and white. Their long tails have eight pretty, black rings, and their snouts are long and flexible - just right for rooting in the soil for grubs and worms. They have long legs equipped with sharp, strong claws. These claws are used to dig in soil too tough for their snouts and to tear apart decayed logs to reach the insects that live inside.

All of these features were given to the coatis by the Lord God at the time He created them. He designed them in ways just exactly right to meet their needs. The Creator made all things perfect the first time and left nothing to develop gradually by itself. “God saw everything that He had made, and, behold, it was very good” (Genesis 1:31).

Coatis enjoy the high, forested mountains of Central and South America, Mexico and a few areas in the southern United States. They live in rough nests among tree branches or in small caves. Living in family groups, the little ones, although playful and curious, are watched carefully by their mothers.

As the coatis hunt for food, they travel in groups led by a mother. Behind her come the young ones, and another mother brings up the end of the line. Should a youngster wander away, a mother quickly hauls it back in line. If a mother senses danger, a quick warning is given to freeze, scramble up a tree or hide in the bushes, depending on the danger. These interesting animals make many different kinds of sounds - growling, barking, hissing and others. These sounds, along with body movements, all have their own meaning and communication to the others.

Although some coatis do hunt in the daylight, most are active only at night and hide during the day. One thing is certain: No matter when they hide, they are always under the watchful care of their Creator. “The eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth” (2 Chronicles 16:9).

Do you know that He is watching you too? Job asked, “[Does] not He see my ways, and count all my steps?” (Job 31:4). Yes, He certainly does. Proverbs 15:3 says, “The eyes of the Lord are in every place, beholding the evil and the good.” He delights to care for and watch over those who love Him, and He enjoys finding them walking in ways that are pleasing to Him.

ML-05/14/2006

Who Likes Dust?

“The Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life.”
Genesis 2:7

Your answer to the question, “Who likes dust?” will probably be, “Not I.” But dust does have many good things about it, helping us realize that nothing of God’s creation has been put in the world without His best purposes for us.

You may know that dust is always around you, even if you do not see it. A man usually waits for clear weather to wash his car. When he is finished, he is pleased to see how nice the car looks. But even if it is parked in a closed garage for two or three days, he will discover that dust has again settled on it.

His wife may have dusted the house and gotten everything bright and clean. But in a few days she has to do it all over again, even though the doors and windows have been closed most of the time.

The dust experienced by this man and his wife may not be visible in the air unless a strong wind is blowing. However, where a bright shaft of sunlight comes through a window, dust particles can be seen whirling and dancing in the sunlight. Yes, dust is always there, day and night.

What benefits does dust give us? A great many. For example, the beauty of the sky is visible only because of dust in the air. It is only because of sunlight shining through dusty air that the sky appears blue and those beautiful sunsets show up.

Without dust there would be no rain, for every drop is formed around a tiny speck of dust before it can leave the cloud. The same is true of every snowflake and piece of hail. Without dust particles we would perhaps just experience huge deluges of water instead of gentle rains. Also, the brilliant flash of a shooting star entering the earth’s atmosphere is at its brightest when encountering dust particles.

Let’s consider the beginning Bible verse that tells of the relationship of man to dust. It does not mean that God made man into an existing statue of dusty dirt, but that He formed him out of the “dust” or soil. After Adam sinned he was then told, “Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return” (Genesis 3:19).

This explains what, in time, becomes of our bodies after death. But something else also happens with those who have accepted the Lord Jesus as their Saviour. The Bible tells us their spirits go immediately to heaven and someday, very soon, will be united with changed bodies that will never die.

Will that be true of you? The Bible says, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved” (Acts 16:31). If you have not yet accepted Him as your Saviour, will you do that right now?

ML-05/21/2006

The Lacewing Fly

“The glory of the Lord shall endure forever: the Lord shall rejoice in His works.”
Psalm 104:31

Only about one-half inch long, the lacewing is a pretty little fly with transparent wings in pale shades of green. It is a real friend to farmers.

When laying eggs, the female first deposits a spot of “glue” on a branch or stem of a bush. Before this hardens, she flips her tail upward, producing a long, thread-like stalk. The stalk quickly becomes tough and hard, and she repeats this process time after time. Then she places an egg on the end of each stalk, spacing them far enough apart so they will not eat each other when they hatch, since they are vicious, hungry little larvae.

In about a week, the larva appears. Cutting its way out of the egg, it slides down the smooth stalk, using its tail as a brake. The mother fly has arranged her nest of eggs close to where aphids are feeding on a plant. These aphids become food for the larva for about two weeks; then it is ready for a change. Attaching itself to the underside of a leaf, it spins a thread of white silk, wrapping itself in a cocoon where it will undergo a twelve-day change.

While in the cocoon, the larva develops specially designed cutting jaws. Using these, it slices around the top of its cocoon, leaving a small section as a hinge and anchor post. Pushing the lid open, it crawls out and spins another thread on which it dangles from the anchor. Soon its veins fill with blood, the wings dry, and it has become a full-grown lacewing fly. Now it returns to what it does best - eating aphids for the rest of its life. As it does this, it becomes a friend to farmers by helping protect their crops from these harmful pests.

It is interesting to see how the mother lacewing makes such careful preparations for her young: first by making the eggs look like part of a plant, and then by placing them where they will immediately find food when they come out of the eggs. It is another example of how God has given instincts to His creatures so they may fill their part in His total plan of creation.

God’s ways with you and me are far more important than with these insects. He has given us a conscience to remind us that we are sinners and need a Saviour. In addition, He has given us hearts and minds capable of receiving this loving Saviour, and it is through Him and His death on the cross that we can enter heaven. He tells us, “The wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:23). Have you accepted this wonderful gift?

ML-05/28/2006

The Year-Round Ptarmigan

“Thou, even Thou, art Lord alone; Thou hast made . . . the earth, and all things that are therein . . . and Thou preservest them all.”
Nehemiah 9:6

Ptarmigans (pronounced tar-mi-gans) are about the size of hawks. Males and females stay together for life, making their year-round homes in northern Canada and Alaska. Their name means “feet like a rabbit,” because thick, soft, warm feathers cover their legs right to the claws.

In spring they build their nests on the ground. The female lays six or more eggs, which both birds take turns incubating. Foxes, weasels, hawks and other carnivorous birds are a threat, and both parents are very protective of the chicks.

While the female is tending the chicks, the male often conceals himself on a nearby rock or branch of a tree. When an enemy approaches, he will either attack it or draw it away so it will attack him instead of his family. Sometimes the male loses his life protecting his family. And if the female should be killed while the chicks are still in her care, the male often takes over and raises them by himself.

Their pure-white feathers in winter make them almost invisible against the deep snow of their homeland and preserve them from hungry enemies. They could not survive the fierce cold without these thick layers of warm feathers. If overtaken by a wild snowstorm before they can reach the nest, they will sometimes burrow into a snowbank for protection.

As spring begins and the snow melts, large rocks, patches of bare soil, and dark clumps of vegetation appear. Ordinarily, an all-white bird walking in these surroundings would be immediately visible to a hungry fox or hawk. However, just as these changes take place, the color of the bird’s feathers also changes, turning into a combination of dark and white, helping to assure its safety.

Another complete change of color is timed with the final melting of the snow. This is when its feathers turn a soft yellow, blending with the brush and grass. But that’s only part of the story, for as the fall season approaches there is one more color change to a combination of gray and brown, which remains until winter when it becomes all white again.

Do you think the ptarmigans plan these color changes? No, they couldn’t. Everything about them displays the wonders of the Creator’s care for them. But He has an even more special care for every boy and girl, man and woman. Here is what He tells us: “I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with loving-kindness have I drawn thee” (Jeremiah 31:3).

Have you thanked Him for that kindness and accepted Him as your Saviour? The Bible warns us, “Today if ye will hear His voice, harden not your hearts” (Hebrews 3:15). Will you come to Him this very day?

ML-06/04/2006

Frogs and Toads Beyond Number: Part 1

“God made . . . everything that creepeth upon the earth after his kind.”
Genesis 1:25

Many people don’t like frogs or toads, but these creatures are beneficial because they eat tremendous amounts of insects that would otherwise be pests. Millions of frogs and toads are in just about every warm part of the world in remarkable varieties. Here are a few.

The golden toad lives in Costa Rica. The entire body of the male is a bright golden orange, but the female has areas of mixed colors - most made of spots about the size of a penny.

Another unusual one is the red-eyed Mediterranean tree frog. It lives in the swamps of Spain. Its throat and lower mouth are white as snow, but sides are pale yellow with big spots of black. Its underparts are bright green. It can change colors to match its surroundings if danger is near.

A tiny one in Chile has the strange name of rhinoderma darwini. Its back and legs are bright red, but its belly is dark green. Instead of laying eggs in ponds, this one lays them on moist ground. When they hatch and begin to develop, the male frog snatches them into his mouth. He doesn’t eat them, but keeps them there until the frogs finally develop and hop out.

Poison-dart frogs have this name because their poisonous skin is used by some South American hunters on the points of their hunting darts. This frog’s eggs are laid on damp ground. When the young hatch, the mother carries them piggyback to a water-filled plant high in a tree, where she brings them food until they are able to care for themselves.

Still another variety seems to eat the eggs it lays. The female actually tucks them away in the back of her mouth where they grow into froglets, which she then spits out without harm.

In North America all frogs lay eggs in water and leave them entirely on their own. But in some tropical places, certain species provide additional care for their eggs, as well as the tadpoles hatching from them.

In parts of Europe an unusually long-legged brown frog, covered with black spots, rises on its long legs and puffs out its round body with a fierce look to scare away snakes that come to attack it.

In our opening Bible verse, the truth of God’s way of creation is explained to us with the words “after his kind.” This makes it plain that, while changes may take place within a kind, nothing changes from one kind into another. Dogs are still dogs and men are still men. Another Bible verse also plainly explains this: “All flesh is not the same flesh: but there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of beasts, another flesh of fishes, and another of birds” (1 Corinthians 15:39). The Bible always gives us the truth.

(to be continued)

ML-06/11/2006

Frogs and Toads Beyond Number: Part 2

“By Him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth. . . . All things were created by Him, and for Him.”
Colossians 1:16

In last week’s article we looked at unusual frogs and toads in different parts of the world. Here are a few more.

A tiny frog in Central America, the pygmy marsupial, lays a small number of sticky eggs each spring. Somehow, using her legs, the mother gets them into slits on her back where she carries them for many days until they are ready to hatch into tadpoles. Then she finds a good spot in the water, hops in, releases the eggs into the water and swims away, leaving them to take care of themselves.

The glass frog of South America is well-named, for its entire body, including the legs, is transparent and looks like it was made out of glass. Its eggs look like little green-colored beads or marbles. At hatching time the father frog guards these eggs and makes sure they are always kept moist.

The last one we will look at is the desert spadefoot toad, whose home is in a hot desert area of Arizona. This shy brownish-green fellow, with huge, bulging green eyes, is only seen when heavy rains fill up otherwise empty streambeds, making pools along the edges. Then, amazingly, several of these may come out of the muddy ground. The females lay a few eggs which they attach to rocks and plants at the edge of the water. Several days later little ones hatch out and find food of some kind, enabling them to grow full size. When the water in the stream begins to dry up, they quickly bury themselves in the mud, using their back feet as shovels, and will remain there until new rains come - maybe many months later. No one has been able to figure out how they live and even grow down in the muddy ground. It is certainly another of the wonders of God’s creation, and we know He is looking over them even in their unusual way of life.

If space permitted we could go on and on, always being reminded of the wonders of God’s creation and His preserving care over all things. Just think how much more He cares for men and women, boys and girls. One way is that He has given us the ability to read His Word, the Bible, and learn how good He is to us. There we learn how much He loves us and how the Lord Jesus gave His life on the cross to pay the penalty for the sins of those who trust Him. How thankful each one should be that He gave His life for them so that they could accept Him as Saviour. Have you done this?

ML-06/18/2006

Some Special Noses

“Once in three years came the navy of Tharshish, bringing gold, and silver, ivory, and apes, and peacocks.”
1 Kings 10:22

This Bible verse tells us that King Solomon included monkeys in the shipments he ordered every three years. He must have found them interesting to watch, just as many of us do today. Following are descriptions of three kinds of monkeys with unusual noses.

Mr. Bignose of Borneo: The nose of the male proboscis monkey is the most noticeable thing about this red and yellow creature with big brown eyes and a hairy face. But there is something most unusual about this monkey’s nose - it gets bigger every year!

Most of the time its big, three-inch nose hangs over its mouth, and it has to shove it out of the way so it can eat. The babies, like mischievous youngsters, tease him by tweaking it, but he doesn’t seem to mind.

The Creator had a special purpose in this unusual feature. As the “man of the house,” he has the responsibility of guarding his family. When danger comes near, he blows his nose up even bigger, making a loud, honking noise, which not only warns the family but scares the enemy away.

Another nosey one: In New Guinea there is a much smaller relative, called the white-nosed. Its prominent nose has a triangular white spot on its tip with a separate white fringe around it. This little monkey, with pretty olive-green and yellow fur on its back and sides, is usually playful but can be cranky at times.

It seems most happy to perform for onlookers and enjoys their applause for its variety of stunts and pranks. But if any of its companions try to get in on the act, it angrily chases them away.

Some with a tiny nose: Three varieties of these live in China. All look quite similar except for the color of their fur. These are named snub-nosed. Their tiny noses hardly show at all because they are squeezed between bulging eyes and their thick upper lip.

The most common of the tiny-nosed monkeys is named Sichuan and has beautiful golden fur. It lives in the mountains along with the panda bears. The names of the other two are Guizhou and Yumman. These monkeys are very few in number, and many people have learned to love them.

We know the Creator delighted to include these interesting animals in His creation. We also know they are not aware of His watchful eye over them, but we are aware of His watchful eye over us. And His love for us is far greater. When they die, that’s the very end for them. But there is a wonderful promise of a home in heaven for every boy and girl and man and woman who has accepted the Lord Jesus as his or her Saviour. Will you be in heaven?

ML-06/25/2006

The Tasmanian Devil

“The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; and He knoweth them that trust in Him.”
Nahum 1:7

The world contains many creatures strange to us, seen only by explorers or natives in some faraway spot. But the Creator had a purpose in forming every one of them, and they are always under His watchful eye.

One of these is the Tasmanian devil, found on the island of Tasmania, off the coast of Australia. It lives in woodlands and rocky, hard-to-reach places, hiding all day and coming out only after dark. Many who have seen this animal think it resembles a small bear or badger. It is about the size of a bulldog and is usually black with white patches. Its name discloses a vicious and fierce-fighting character towards nearly anything it encounters.

This animal’s large, heavy head contains sharp, strong, fang-like teeth that quickly tear and crush the flesh of victims and are so strong they can even bend some steel traps! When approached by an animal or person, it puts on a scary show, opening its mouth wide to expose these weapons, accompanied by growls and weird, screaming howls, frightening enough to turn most things away in a hurry. It also has very strong claws used in defense or when attacking its prey.

This unpleasant animal’s diet is mainly the flesh of other animals, including sheep, pigs and chickens, which makes it an enemy of farmers. But one thing in its favor is that it also eats dead animals and birds, just as vultures do, and thus provides a good service in disposing of decaying bodies that spread disease and cause horrible odors.

Strangely enough, young ones can be trained as rather nice pets. They keep themselves clean by bathing in pools of water or streams, or like cats, licking their paws and wiping them over their faces and coats.

With their savage habits, it is easy to understand the name “devil,” and their fierce ways make us think of Satan, that evil one of whom the Bible warns, “Your adversary [enemy] the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Peter 5:8). This is a warning for each of us always to be on guard, because our enemy’s evil ways can cause great harm.

How can we be protected from Satan? The verse at the beginning tells of One who will protect us if we trust in Him. Another Bible verse also gives this wonderful promise: “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on Thee: because he trusteth in Thee. Trust ye in the Lord forever: for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength” (Isaiah 26:34). How good it is to know this Saviour and have His help and protection from Satan’s evil ways! Are you trusting in this Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ?

ML-07/02/2006

The Changeable Chameleon

“Know ye that the Lord He is God: it is He that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are His people. . . . Be thankful unto Him.”
Psalm 100:34

There are more than eighty species of chameleons, a lizard relative, ranging from three to twenty inches long. They live among the trees of Madagascar, Africa, India and southern Spain, as well as in desert areas. Sometimes called a ground lion, the name seems appropriate as the males look ferocious, many having from one to four horns protruding from their large heads, as well as crests or loose flaps of skin over their short necks. However, they only look fierce and are entirely harmless.

With the exception of one called stump-tailed and a few others, all have long tails to grab onto a branch, just like monkeys do. This is particularly important for the Madagascar giant which lives in treetops. Along with strong, sharp claws, the tail enables it to move quickly and safely from branch to branch as it hunts its food. How wisely the Lord God has provided for all their individual needs!

Unlike their cousins the geckos which have no eyelids, the chameleon’s protruding eyes are almost completely covered by eyelids, leaving only a narrow opening. But their eyes, which turn independently of each other, can look forward and backward at the same time - a great help in finding food and escaping from enemies. Incidentally, if an enemy grabs one by its tail, it just lets its tail drop off and scoots away. A new tail soon grows!

For the most part chameleons are slow moving. However, their long tongues unfold out of their mouths too quickly for flies, beetles and other insects to escape.

All chameleons can change their color instantly when frightened or wishing to conceal themselves. No one can really explain just how this is done, but it is a further provision of the Creator in His care over them. Color changes are usually in shades of green, yellow, brown, blue or may be mixed.

The many species of this little creature speak of God’s pleasure in making varieties different in appearance from one another and yet all remaining true chameleons. The Bible says, “For Thy pleasure they are and were created” (Revelation 4:11). Lacking strength to either attack their enemies or defend themselves, we can also see how the Creator has wisely provided for their needs in securing food and in protecting themselves by wonderful disguises.

As our opening verse tells us, the Lord God has also created every one of us and wants us to be His special people in ways an animal could never know. This can be done only when we admit to Him that we are sinners in need of a Saviour and accept Him by faith in our hearts. Do you know the Lord Jesus Christ as your Saviour?

ML-07/09/2006

Too Kind to Storks: Part 1

“The stork in the heaven knoweth her appointed times . . . but My people know not the judgment of the Lord.”
Jeremiah 8:7

In many countries one of the most commonly known birds is the stork. There are about seventeen varieties, and all of them are from thirty to sixty inches in length with long necks, broad wings and short tails. Their nests are usually huge; some are as wide as six feet. They add to the same nest year after year. Some nests weigh as much as a thousand pounds, breaking tree limbs and platforms that people have built for them on a roof, chimney or wall.

The Creator has given the African and Asian storks instincts to migrate north to Europe (as far as six thousand miles) to spend the summers and to return to their southern homes when cold weather comes. Many people in Europe enjoy having the storks in summer. They pamper them with special food, saving the storks the trouble of finding their own. Over the years the storks have become so used to the constant food supply and rely so much on it that many don’t leave on their southward migrations, disregarding this God-given instinct. The result has been that when freezing weather comes, it is too late to fly south, and more and more die of the cold each winter.

While people think they are being kind by feeding these birds, they are really interfering with the storks’ normal way of life and are the cause of many dying. It makes us think of the Bible verse that says, “My son, fear thou the Lord . . . and meddle not with them that are given to change: for their calamity [trouble] shall rise suddenly” (Proverbs 24:21-22). It does not pay to interfere with God’s purposes.

Storks are a spectacular sight with their long legs, wide wings and long, pointed beaks. They are strong fliers and make quite a picture in the air with their necks extended and legs outstretched, soaring like eagles on their broad wings. Let’s look at a few of the species:

OPENBILL STORKS: Back feathers of these are jet black, their other feathers are a rather dull pink, and their beaks a brownish color. They live almost entirely on large, round snails found underwater. They are named “openbill” because the Creator has given them special beaks to handle these snails.

MARABOU: These make their home in eastern Africa. They are not only the largest but also the least attractive of all storks. An unusual feature is their pouches hanging down from their throats to their legs. These pouches look like big red sausages when they fill them with air. Like vultures, they eat mostly dead animals or birds. In some areas they rob flamingo nests, eating both the eggs and the young, a habit that is distressing to many people.

(to be continued)

ML-07/16/2006

Too Kind to Storks: Part 2

“Let all the earth fear the Lord: let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him. For He spake, and it was done.”
Psalm 33:89

We are continuing with descriptions of some of the world’s storks:

THE PAINTED STORK OF INDIA: This one is different in appearance from any of the others. Its feathers are a combination of beautiful silky black with pink and white over its neck and throat. The back of its head looks like a white skullcap, and the top is brownish-red down to a long yellow beak. Its legs are usually pink.

THE AUSTRALIAN BLACK-NECKED: This one is unique. Seen from the side, the most impressive thing is its all-black neck and long beak with the black continuing over its head. Most of its body is white except for black wings and tail feathers. Its legs are a crimson color and its eyes are bright yellow.

THE WHITE STORK: This one is actually black and white. Its back feathers are mainly black, compared with the rest of its body, including neck and head, which are pure white. It has a deep, salmon-red bill and legs. These storks are among the ones mentioned last week that migrate between Africa and Europe.

THE SADDLEBILL OF KENYA, AFRICA: This one displays another combination of black and white with pink knees and feet, separated by spindly, grayish legs. Its name comes from an unusual beak which is entirely red except for a broad black “saddle” around the middle, as well as a bright yellow patch from its forehead down to the saddle.

YELLOW-BILLED STORK OF AFRICA: This one is among the prettiest of all. It is almost entirely snow white except for underlying back feathers, velvety red head, pink legs and the bright yellow beak that gives it its name.

As we explained last week, some of these marvelous birds are becoming fewer in number because well-meaning people feed them. This interferes with their migrating when the weather turns cold. This is not the case with all of them, and, as part of the display of the Creator’s wonderful works, storks will probably be around as long as this world lasts.

It is sad to think of those storks that are dying and unable to do anything about it. This leads us to do some serious thinking about people who go carelessly along through life, closing their eyes to the fact that life on earth will not last forever. Many ignore God’s warning in the Bible which tells us to “prepare to meet thy God” (Amos 4:12). How do we prepare to meet God? John 3:16 tells us: “God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” Have you prepared to meet Him?

ML-07/23/2006

The Oryx, a Desert Resident

“O Lord, how manifold are Thy works! in wisdom hast Thou made them all.”
Psalm 104:24

The scimitar-horned oryx of northern Africa is noted for its spectacular horns, slanted in a high curve over its body. These pretty animals, part of the antelope family, are about four feet high at the shoulders and, except for those horns, are similar to a small horse. Another closely related species is the Arabian oryx, making its home in the desert country near Saudi Arabia.

The coloring of the oryx is very different from that of horses. The faces of one group of the scimitar-horned are grayish-white, with small brown patches over the fronts and sides and brown continuing down to the top of their hooves. Their backs (which have a small hump on them), sides and belly are all grayish white. Another of this species has reddish-tan coloring over their bodies, but black and white faces and legs.

The Arabian oryx looks much like its close relatives, only its body is almost totally white except for a little black on its head, and all four legs are totally black. The horns of the Arabian are also outstanding, but not quite as long as the others.

All these oryx species have been the victims of cruel hunters who wanted the horns for trophies. This went on for so long that they almost entirely disappeared from their homelands. Fortunately, zoologists have captured some for zoos in other countries, and these have given birth to little ones in the safety of such shelters. This program included zoos in Phoenix, Arizona, and the Wild Animal Park in San Diego, California, where they are doing well.

Also included in these programs was the help of a wealthy man who set up a most interesting reserve on his own property near Fort Worth, Texas. There he has devoted much time to the oryx group, as well as other wild, imported animals. He has worked closely with the American zoos in getting selected pairs back to the desert lands where they really belong.

As these animals are shipped back to their homelands, there are laws presently that strictly forbid hunting them, and guards patrol the desert areas where the animals graze. With this kind of protection, it is expected the herds will soon grow into large numbers.

As the beginning Bible verse expresses it, these spectacular animals again remind us of the wonders of God’s creation that account for everything seen and unseen on the earth. That includes each of us too, and His Word, the Bible, tells us of His love, inviting us to be His very own children by accepting His Son, the Lord Jesus, as our Saviour. Have you done this? If not, wait no longer, for He is soon coming to take His own home to heaven.

ML-07/30/2006

A Great Imitator

“The heart is deceitful above all things . . . who can know it? I the Lord search the heart.”
Jeremiah 17:9-10

Known as walking sticks, or stick insects, these relatives of katydids, crickets, grasshoppers and earwigs come in many varieties throughout North, Central and South America, as well as Asia. North America alone has about a dozen different kinds. Some measure only two to three inches long, but in Asian countries some may be twelve inches long when stretched out on a branch. The larger ones, when roasted, are considered a very tasty food by the natives.

Walking sticks usually remain perfectly still on twigs or even flat blades of grass or leaves. Their long, slender bodies look so much like a part of the tree or plant that insects coming from behind innocently climb up and walk along their backs.

Unlike most insects, these strange, brown or green creatures have no wings but have six long, flexible, thin legs, all about the same length, that seem awkward in climbing over twigs and branches. When folded under their bodies, their legs look like a part of a branch itself.

Walking sticks remain motionless on the twigs, branches or leaves, blending so perfectly they are nearly invisible. Their strange appearance hides them from their enemies. Even people searching for these unusual creatures may walk right by one lying on a bare branch and not discover it until, by chance, the person thinks he is grabbing a branch for support and discovers it trying to wriggle away from his hand.

These insects are greedy leaf-eaters, sometimes damaging walnut, oak, locust, hickory, cherry and other trees. The female usually drops one hundred or more eggs to the ground one at a time, which will hatch the following spring. They are neglected, and few survive. As the young grow, they shed their skin five or six times.

In many ways these walking sticks represent an illustration of the deceitful ways of Satan and his efforts to spoil our personal lives. How much better to have our trust in the Lord Jesus, our Creator, and ask Him to help us do what these Bible verses tell us: “He that will love life, and see good days, let him refrain [keep] his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile [dishonesty]. . . . For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous [honest and true], and His ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil” (1 Peter 3:10-12).

ML-08/06/2006

Eat It . . . Don't Smell It

“God said, Behold, I have given you . . . every tree, in the which is the fruit. . . . To you it shall be for meat [food].”
Genesis 1:29

Sometime ago we looked at jakfruit trees, which have fruits that smell terrible but that taste unusually good and are popular with the people of India.

There is another awful-smelling but good-tasting fruit that grows in the Philippines and Indonesia. It is called the durian and is about the size and weight of a coconut and grows hanging down on long, strong stems. This melon-like fruit is dark green, oval shaped and covered with thorn-like knobs. When a fully ripe durian fruit drops, it can badly injure or even kill a person or animal if it hits them.

In spite of their awful smell, the local people wait impatiently for durians to ripen and drop, as do elephants, tigers, wild pigs and other animals. Because of their awful smell, visitors will seldom even taste this fruit. The local residents claim they taste like rich custard, flavored with almonds. They sometimes eat them fresh, like an avocado or cantaloupe, but more often they are either cut up or mashed, then mixed in ice cream, candy, cake icing or other confections.

When durian is sliced and served on a plate in a restaurant, everyone soon knows it is there. Though foreign visitors may get up and leave, even if they haven’t finished eating what they ordered, the local residents consider this fruit a real treat. They sometimes come back with the remark, “Well, it’s just like limburger cheese. Lots of people don’t eat it because of its odor, but many others enjoy it and don’t let the smell bother them.”

Did the Creator make a mistake when He provided these lands with jakfruit and durian trees? No, they are simply another example of His providing a great variety in all He has created. Perhaps He primarily intended them as food for birds and animals, giving them a strong odor so these creatures can tell when they are ripe.

This world has many problems, but in heaven everything will be perfect-there will be no unpleasant odors there. How nice to know that God has prepared a heavenly home for those who have had their sins forgiven by letting His Son, the Lord Jesus, be their Saviour. His invitation to all is “come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). Are you one who has come to Him? Are your sins forgiven?

ML-08/13/2006

Helpful Oxpeckers

“The glory of the Lord shall endure forever: the Lord shall rejoice in His works.”
Psalm 104:31

South of the Sahara Desert in Africa are forests and fields where many wild animals and birds live. Among the animals are giraffes, rhinos, buffalo and warthogs. These feed on grass and foliage which often conceal insects that leap or fly onto the grazing animals. These insects eat into the skin of the animals, causing much discomfort and pain. Some animals will roll in a dusty spot in an effort to get rid of the insects. However, most of the pests seem to just hang on a little tighter.

The Creator has provided relief for the animals. The oxpecker, a bird about the size of a large pigeon, finds the insects quite tasty and easy to get. The oxpecker clings to the animal’s back, side or head where, gently swinging its bill back and forth through the hair, it finds and eats the ticks, lice and other insects.

There are two varieties of these birds - one called red-billed and the other yellow-billed, both of which have dark wings over light-brown bodies, short legs and strong claws.

These birds spend most of the daylight hours on the backs, sides, legs and faces of the distressed animals and remain there several hours or even a full day, eating the insects. The birds may take naps or even get into noisy fights with one another, but the animals pay no attention. They never try to shake the oxpeckers off, even when they peck insects from tender spots like eyes, ears and nostrils. The animals seem to know the birds are doing them a big favor.

As a matter of fact, if the Creator had not provided such relief, none of these animals would survive very long, for the open sores the insects cause would result in infections that would have wiped them out long ago. Of course, the animals don’t understand that, but God has given them a sense that oxpeckers are really their friends.

The Creator has been kind to send these helpful birds to the animals. But some may ask, “Why does He allow the harmful insects to bother them?” When God created the world and all things in it, every insect was harmless. But when Satan tempted man and he became a sinner, all things were spoiled, including insects.

Our sins will keep us from entering heaven forever when life on earth ends. But Christ has died on the cross to put those sins away forever from all who accept Him as their Saviour. A Bible verse tells us, “I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more” (Jeremiah 31:34).

Have you admitted to Christ that you are a sinner and accepted Him as your Saviour? If so, you are assured of a home with Him in heaven.

ML-08/20/2006

Are Those Really Eyes?

“The Lord openeth the eyes of the blind: the Lord raiseth them that are bowed down.”
Psalm 146:8

The eyes of many animals, birds and insects can perform in remarkable ways. One of the most outstanding animals with unusual eyes is the horny-toed lizard, which makes its home in the deserts of Arizona. It is an amazing creature not seen by many people. This is a strange little fellow with a wrinkly brownish-tan body, capped with a pair of reddish ears on top of its horny, grim-faced head. It also has two big areas of red flesh around its dark eyes.

On occasions this lizard curls up into a wrinkly ball, its body resting on legs pulled underneath itself. It confronts an enemy by sitting upright, and with its head raised, it will suddenly shoot out a series of dark red globs of blood over its head in such an amazing manner that its attacker is frightened away. The bloody shots may shoot up six feet or more and can have a bad smell that makes the enemy leave it alone.

Another interesting example is the strange-looking jumping spider which has two big black eyes above its jaws, while slightly higher and a short distance away are two more, smaller, dark-colored eyes. It appears that the bigger eyes look ahead, and the smaller eyes see only what is behind.

A small fish called anableps spends much time at the water’s surface. The upper half of its unusual eyes sees things in every direction above the surface, while at the same time the lower half sees only things below the surface. Thus, while resting right at the surface, it can keep fully alert to everything in front, behind, above and below it.

The eyespot grasshopper has been provided with light green round spots on the back of its dark brown body that look like huge eyes. These keep enemies away that otherwise would attack it. Something similar takes place with the silk moth, colored mostly in bright red. When a bird sneaks up from behind, it is suddenly frightened away when the moth, sensing its approach, opens its wings and two snake-like “eyes” are exposed.

The pretty yellow butterfly fish is often the target of larger fish. On swimming closer, the larger fish discover two big, white-rimmed, coal-black “eyes” with a partly open mouth below them and turn away in fright. But actually these are only markings. The Creator provided these to preserve this pretty little fish from hungry enemies. The actual eyes on the front of the fish are concealed by wide black stripes.

These are just a few of the many wonders of God’s creation. Perhaps in the delights and wonders of heaven, we who know the Lord Jesus as our Saviour will hear from His lips about many other created wonders. Will you be there?

ML-08/27/2006

Lemurs of Madagascar: Part 1

“Remember His marvelous works that He hath done, His wonders, and the judgments of His mouth.”
1 Chronicles 16:12

Lemurs are cute little animals with a wide variety of sizes and colors. Most have very long tails provided by the Creator to help them keep their balance when jumping between high trees. The hind legs of most are longer than the front legs. Perky, upright ears and sharp eyes have also been provided to help them avoid their enemies.

Lemurs live in trees most of the time. Their strong legs, feet and clawed toes enable them to scamper around as nimbly as squirrels. They wrap their long tails around the branch of a tree to hang upside down while looking for food below them. They eat leaves of trees, fruit, berries, insects, flowers, bark and tree gum. Most of them find their food at night. Because the females are the leaders, if a male gets careless and eats food before his mate does, he is likely to get a hard slap from her.

Now let’s look more closely at a few varieties that live on the island of Madagascar. An unusually pretty one, with the ability to make long jumps, is the sifaka. It is named this because its calls sound like that word. Larger than most of the others, its body and tail are white with black on its neck and face and a jet-black skullcap on top. It usually lives in groups of six or more in a large tree. Strangely, this one has never been known to drink from a puddle or pool of water; it gets moisture by sipping dew from leaves. Unlike most of the others, the sifaka is active in daylight hours, perching on a large branch during the night to sleep. At daybreak it bursts out with loud calls that can be heard for a great distance.

Another lemur has the simple name brown lemur, because its coloring is brown. It has long, husky hind legs - more than twice the size of the front legs, and a bushy brown tail longer than the rest of its body.

Like all creatures, other than mankind, these pretty animals are not aware that the very One who created them is always caring for them. Psalm 36:67 tells us, “O Lord, Thou preservest man and beast. How excellent is thy loving-kindness, O God!” The same writer stated in another psalm, “O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the Lord our maker. For He is our God; and we are the people of His pasture, and the sheep of His hand” (Psalm 95:67). How happy it must make His heart when a boy or girl does kneel down and worships Him with praise and thanksgiving!

ML-09/03/2006

Lemurs of Madagascar: Part 2

“Know therefore this day, and consider it in thine heart, that the Lord He is God in heaven above, and upon the earth beneath.”
Deuteronomy 4:39

The smallest of all lemurs is called the lesser mouse. This one is only about four inches long, plus a four-inch tail, and weighs just a few ounces. This tiny creature has brown fur over the top of its head, back and tail, with white fur on its chin, neck, stomach and the back of its front paws. Sometimes it is simply called the mouse lemur.

By contrast, one of the largest is the indri. Its body is about two feet long and weighs about fifteen pounds. Surprisingly, its tail is quite short. But it is handsome with its black and white body and black paws, which look like they have fancy gloves and slippers on. The indri can jump as much as twenty feet between trees. A male and female, waking from a nap in the daytime, make strange calls which can be heard a long distance away.

Another large lemur is the ring-tailed. Its whole face is white, contrasted with a cap-like top, eyes, nose and mouth which are all deep brown. Its body is dark brown above and solid white beneath. Its name comes from its long, heavily furred tail, which has wide rings of dark brown and pure white around it.

There is something strange about those named black lemurs. Only the male is black. The female is a beautiful reddish color, with a black face fringed with feather-like white tufts of hair around her chin and up both sides, but the top of her head is smooth and bare.

There are three varieties of a species known as bamboo lemurs. They got this name because they mostly eat the tender parts of bamboo shoots. The prettiest is called the golden bamboo. The males have red-gold tails, golden eyebrows, golden chipmunk-like cheeks, teddy-bear ears and black noses and eyes. Of the other two bamboo varieties, one has reddish fur and the other is more plain gray, but all three varieties really are beauties.

If these animals interest you, no doubt a library near you will have books with pictures of a great many more. They are, of course, only a very small part of God’s creation.

Whatever we see or hear in the things of nature should always remind us that nothing came into the world by chance. A Bible verse tells us, “Thou, even Thou, art Lord alone; Thou hast made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth, and all things that are therein, the seas, and all that is therein, and Thou preservest them all” (Nehemiah 9:6). How plainly this verse tells us that the Lord God made it all.

ML-09/10/2006

Animals of Many Stripes

“I [the Creator] know all the fowls of the mountains: and the wild beasts of the field are Mine.”
Psalm 50:11

Wild zebras graze on the grassy plains of Africa. They group together in both small or large bands, usually on the open plains, but some prefer the rough mountain areas. When the grass is fresh and tall, they eat only the tops. However, if food begins to get scarce, they will nibble lower on the grass stems. Eventually they move to a new location, but each band waits for its strong stallion leader to give the signal before moving on.

Most adult zebras are four to five feet high at the shoulders and weigh around five hundred pounds. They may live twenty-five years or more. They are members of the horse family and live very peacefully when with them. However, the different species do not mix in breeding.

Snouts, ears and tips of tails are usually plain black. On some the tail reaches almost to the ground, but on others it may reach only as low as the knees.

Zebras have parallel black and white stripes arranged in exact designs. On some species the colors are more a combination of brown and yellow. Each animal’s stripes are distinctive, although they all may appear the same. On some the stripes cover the animal’s complete body, including head, neck, back, stomach and legs, but there are some species with plain white stomachs; also, the legs of some have ring-like stripes all the way down to the hooves, while on others these are just half-circles and the insides of the legs have no stripes.

The Creator has provided these animals with special characteristics to help them survive in their often-threatening environment. Besides their stripes that are a camouflage to hide them from their enemies, they have excellent sight, keen hearing and a sensitive sense of smell that quickly detects an approaching enemy. Their reaction to such a threat is interesting. When their sense of smell alerts them a lion is dangerously near, they immediately form a tight circle, with their heads facing in and strong, sharp-hoofed legs facing out, kicking out as the enemy gets near. The lion, sensing the danger of a hard kick from one of those hooves, wastes no time in leaving.

A Bible verse warns us that we have an enemy threatening us: “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about seeking whom he may devour” (1 Peter 5:8). But verse 10 tells those whose faith is in the Saviour to resist that enemy by faith in “the God of all grace, who hath called us unto His eternal glory by Christ Jesus.” Do you know Him as your Saviour?

ML-09/17/2006

At the Ocean's Bottom: Part 1

“In His hand are the deep places of the earth: the strength of the hills is His also. The sea is His, and He made it.”
Psalm 95:45

Imagine you are standing at the seashore on a lovely summer evening, looking across the water at a beautiful sunset as the gentle incoming waves quietly wash up on the sand. What a beautiful sight this can be, with all around you so peaceful.

Perhaps two or three days later you come to the same spot. Now the wind is blowing fiercely, huge waves are thundering against the beach, and the sky is black with threatening clouds. How changeable the ocean can be, you might think, and you are reminded that our own lives are often changeable also.

But no matter how rough the ocean’s surface appears, if you could look down into deep water, you would find it calm and undisturbed by the turmoil overhead. Perhaps such a contrast should cause us to realize that when troubles come into our lives, we also should find it possible to be calm, by casting all our cares upon the Saviour who tells us to do this. We can be encouraged by these wonderful reminders from God’s Word: “O Lord God of hosts, who is a strong Lord like unto Thee? or to Thy faithfulness round about Thee? Thou rulest the raging of the sea: when the waves thereof arise, Thou stillest them” (Psalm 89:89).

More than three-fourths of the earth’s surface is covered by the oceans, the largest of which is the Pacific, some 11,000 miles wide between Panama and the China Sea. Before explorations were made, it was generally thought that the floor of the oceans was almost level, but researchers have since discovered amazing facts about what is below the surface. It is now known that the floor of the Pacific is mostly rough and irregular, having mountains and deep valleys in many places never seen from above.

If Mount Everest, the world’s highest mountain with its peak five-and-a-half miles above sea level, were placed in the deepest part of the Pacific Ocean, it would rise five-and-a-half miles above the bottom but would still be completely covered by another mile of salt water. The ocean at that point is more than six miles deep!

In other parts of the same ocean where the water is not so deep, many of the underwater mountains break through the surface, causing the upper parts of them to appear as islands. The highest of these is the island of Hawaii, surrounded by other beautiful, lower ones, including Oahu, Maui, Kauai and others, extending all the way to Midway Island.

These things all speak majestically of God’s wonderful creation, and we will look at them further in the next few articles.

(to be continued)

ML-09/24/2006

At the Ocean's Bottom: Part 2

“Thy way is in the sea, and Thy path in the great waters, and Thy footsteps are not known.”
Psalm 77:19

In the last article we looked at the deep waters of the Pacific Ocean. The Atlantic Ocean is over 4,000 miles wide and the deepest place is 30,180 feet. It also has a chain of underwater mountains 10,000 miles long. Some of these are higher than the Rocky Mountains but still out of sight under the water. By contrast, the floor of the North Atlantic is mostly wide, flat areas in which deep sea channels have made cuts like rivers.

It would take an entire book to list all the islands in every ocean and the details of islands such as Japan, the Philippines, the Bahamas, Cuba, Iceland, Madagascar and many others which represent entire nations. These islands have become the homelands of millions of people and often supply part of the world’s food.

Most of these islands have been formed in one of two ways. Many are volcanic, that is, they began as fierce volcanoes, breaking through the ocean floor. Over a period of many years with many eruptions, they became higher and higher, finally breaking through the surface and rising above it. Some of these, like the island of Hawaii, are still active volcanoes and are adding to their size with thick, fiery streams of lava.

Other islands are formed by coral that built colonies on burned-out, underwater volcanic peaks, lifting their summits higher, year by year, and eventually rising above the surface where waves of the ocean gradually deposited many kinds of matter that decayed and turned into soil. Birds making their nests on these new lands also often help by dropping seeds that take root, helped by the fertility of decaying fish and other marine life that have been washed into the coral by stormy waters. Wind and rain also bring deposits of dust and vegetation from great distances, so that in the course of many years rich, fertile soil is formed.

Some people fear that someday the oceans may rise and cover many shores and even cities. But there is a Bible verse that should remove that fear. It says, “Who shut up the sea with doors, when it brake forth . . . and said, Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further: and here shall thy proud waves be stayed?” (Job 38:8,11). We know all these things reveal the hand of the Lord God, the Creator of all things, who keeps everything under His controlling power.

Another Bible verse says, “Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth” (Ecclesiastes 12:1). Do you remember to thank Him often for all His care and love for you?

(to be continued)

ML-10/01/2006

At the Ocean's Bottom: Part 3

“They that go down to the sea in ships . . . these see the works of the Lord, and His wonders in the deep.”
Psalm 107:23-24

All the continents are surrounded by “continental shelves.” These extend out from the shores in rather shallow water but suddenly drop off into deep canyons, except for a few places where they continue as flat areas. It is along these continental shelves that most of the commercial fish are caught and where beautiful shells are found.

Incidentally, if you were looking up from the floor of the Bering Sea or the North Atlantic, you would discover that icebergs which appear so huge above the water are actually nine times larger underwater. No wonder they crush huge ocean vessels that get in their way!

Another discovery has been that not only volcanoes break through the ocean floors, but springs of clear, fresh, cold water bubble up, and also springs of boiling-hot water. The Creator has designed just the right kinds of sea life to live in each of these places.

It would not take long for an explorer to find that there are many caves in the rocky bottoms of the oceans. These caves almost always hold a wide variety of fish and other marine creatures, including Moray eels, many octopuses and huge numbers of squid. How amazed you would be as an explorer to find yourself surrounded by huge schools of fish, large and small, and to meet porpoises, sharks, whales and other large creatures.

However, you would not be able to explore very deep, even if equipped with a diving suit and scuba tanks, for the pressure of the deep water would crush you to death. Most submarines cannot venture into the deepest places, and yet the Creator has placed in them strange forms of sea life that live there, some of them equipped with electric rays that provide light as they swim about in the total darkness. However, if creatures living in these great depths are brought up to the surface, it means sudden death for them, for their bodies explode like a bomb.

If space permitted, we would look at more of the wonderful sights down below the surface of the seas, including the great variety of beautiful corals, shellfish, seaweed and other living forms the Creator has placed there. What a happy thought to think of the pleasure our Lord had in creating such a great variety and to know that He cares for them and supplies their needs.

Those who know the Lord Jesus as Saviour will someday sing the heavenly song quoted in the last book of the Bible: “Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power: for Thou hast created all things, and for Thy pleasure they are and were created” (Revelation 4:11). Will you be in heaven to sing that song?

ML-10/08/2006

The Possum That Isn't a Possum

“O Lord: let Thy loving-kindness and Thy truth continually preserve me.”
Psalm 40:11

When an early explorer in Australia first saw certain little furry animals in the forests, they somehow reminded him of opossums in England, so he just called them “possums.” But if he had watched them longer, he would have realized they weren’t opossums at all. Since then, different names have been given to them; some are known as lemurs, phalangers and colugos.

But one of these did keep the possum name and is now known as leadbeatter’s possum. It is an unusually pretty little animal, an adult being about six inches long with a ten-inch tail. It has soft, gray-brown fur on most of its body, but white at the throat, belly and lower parts of its legs. Black-shaded eyes are alert over a pointed, bright-red nose, and furry ears crown its head. It has a long, gray-brown tail and sharp claws and soft cushions on the toes, enabling it to run safely over smooth bark without a sound.

It is a great tree climber and, like most of its kind, can make long jumps between trees with its four legs spread out, to become a living kite. Its long, bushy tail acts as a rudder as it glides through the air.

This possum nests in holes in tree trunks where little ones are born. For several weeks they stay in their mother’s pouch until ready to follow her and learn how to gather food, mainly insects and the sweet gum of Acacia trees.

In parts of Australia there is a larger relative called the silver-gray bushtail possum. It is equally at home on the ground, where it walks with a swaggering style, or in trees, where it seems to take fearful chances in long glides - sometimes as much as 150 feet or a straight drop of 30 feet or more to the ground. Everything about them is on a larger scale than the leadbeatter’s. Instead of pointing upright, their big ears stand out on each side of their heads. Razor-sharp claws enable them to climb well and defend themselves very capably. Their calls are harsh, like a deep, barking cough.

The Bible tells us that the Lord God took pleasure in all His creation, so we can understand why He made so many different kinds of lemurs, phalangers and possums. We also know that He watches over each of them, for it is recorded in the Bible: “O Lord, Thou preservest man and beast. How excellent is Thy loving-kindness, O God!” (Psalm 36:67).

The Lord God is the only One in whom we can put our full trust. Another psalm says, “It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man” (Psalm 118:8). Have you put your trust in Him?

ML-10/15/2006

Tamarins in Danger

“God said, Let the earth bring forth . . . the beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so.”
Genesis 1:24

Tamarins, natives of South America, are part of the monkey family. Let’s look at two species that are in danger of disappearing, because the forests in which they live are being cut down or burned.

One is the cotton-top (called pinche by the people of Colombia, where they live). Its soft-gray, gentle face is emphasized by a large, upright mane of pure white hair, dropping over an orange-brown collar. The rest of its body is entirely white.

Another, the golden lion of Brazil, is now one of the rarest animals on earth, with only about one thousand living in the vanishing forests. It is about two feet long, including its tail, and weighs only about one-and-a-half pounds. It looks almost too fragile to live in the wild, but it thrives there.

Thick, orange-red, velvety hair frames its pretty face with its pleading eyes, small nose and large, square mouth. It prefers thick bushy areas under tall trees; this also supplies many of the insects it eats. Wild bananas and other fruits are favorites too.

At times tamarins make their homes in hollowed-out trees, where the mother, with two little ones, teaches them to make their own way in the forest. It is amazing to see her leading her little ones over branches or along a vine stretched between trees.

The father brings up the rear and keeps an eye on the youngsters as well. Coming to the end of a vine, one by one they leap to nearby tree branches, the little ones jumping successfully without any training.

It is usual for young tamarins to stay close to their parents for quite a while and help take care of baby brothers and sisters. Surprisingly, the otherwise gentle females are often quarrelsome with one another (even sisters and mothers and growing daughters), until a father moves in and quiets things down.

Recently some of the golden lions have been taken to zoos in the United States where large numbers of babies have been born. Many of these have been taken back to Brazil and placed in more natural homes, where they seem to be thriving under the watchful eyes of forest officials. Efforts are being made to save the remaining forests of Brazil, which would also help increase the tamarin population.

Does God, their Creator, know about these tamarins? He certainly does. A Bible verse assures us, “The Lord is good to all: and His tender mercies are over all His works” (Psalm 145:9). It is also written, “His eyes are upon the ways of man, and He [sees] all his goings” (Job 34:21). What does God see when He looks on your ways?

ML-10/22/2006

Lovely Sun Bitterns

“I [the Lord] know all the fowls of the mountains: and the wild beasts of the field are Mine.”
Psalm 50:11

Sun bitterns are found from Mexico south through Central and South America. Fully grown, they are about eighteen inches in length and have small heads with rather long necks. Their bodies are plump, and they have pretty tails composed of sixteen feathers. The first part of their name was given to them because of their bright colors. Their small heads are a combination of green, white and black, with sharp, blue beaks. Tails are decorated with bands of dark brown and spotted with crimson where they join their bodies. They have dark brown and white wavy lines on their wings. As a final decoration, their legs are orange.

While this coloring is very pretty, when one of these birds is excited or challenging another bird, the more visible beauty of its body shows more clearly with its wings extended. The tail, raised high at such times, has added beauty as well, and its whole appearance is quite amazing. With its long neck, head and long beak lifted high, it looks threatening. It is easy to see why they don’t experience many challenges from other birds or animals.

Sun bitterns have a very graceful way of flying, usually with slow wing-beats, like those of pelicans. But if they become alarmed without warning, they quickly fly high into a tree. If this should happen late in the day, they just spend the whole night there.

Their nests are made of mud, leaves and grass and are built in the forks of tree branches, usually not very high above the ground. However, sometimes they are built right on the ground. Unlike most other birds, they make no effort to hide these nests. Perhaps they are aware that they are not likely to be attacked.

Mother and father birds take turns incubating the two or three eggs for about a month. They also share in bringing food to the newborn chicks as soon as they hatch. One reason they nest near water is for the plentiful supply of insects, small fish, frogs, lizards and other small creatures in such places. Just as soon as the chicks hatch, they are fed this kind of food.

The Bible often speaks of birds and the Creator’s ever-watchful eyes looking out for them. Matthew 10:29 says, “Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father [knowing it].” Then verse 31 Says, “Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows.” God the Father and His Son, the Lord Jesus, love you very much and want you to return that love from your own heart to Them as well. Do you enjoy Their love and return it?

ML-10/29/2006

Life in a Monsoon

“He that [forms] the mountains, and [creates] the wind, and [declares] unto man what is His thought . . . The Lord, The God of hosts, is His name.”
Amos 4:13

In North America and other parts of the world, hurricanes or tornados accompanied by heavy rains are never welcome. But monsoons, which take place every year, are welcomed in parts of Africa, India, southern China and some islands above Australia.

What is a monsoon and why is it welcome? It is a very strong wind that blows regularly in definite seasons in those countries. It is caused by large differences in temperature between land and sea air. This difference occurs because land heats and cools faster than water. Cooler air always rushes in over warmer areas. This causes a wind. A summer monsoon is usually accompanied by rain. It is called a wet monsoon. A winter monsoon is called a dry monsoon.

Without the monsoons, these land areas would be too hot and dry for growing crops to support people, animals or birds. Planting crops would be useless, because there is no other water available for irrigation. So it is not difficult to see why the people in those areas welcome the monsoons with their great supply of rain. The people hold great celebrations right out in the heavy rain. Some go into their fields in the rain, plowing them up so the water will soak in.

During a monsoon the streets of many towns look more like rivers, stopping all traffic for many days. Some may try to get through on bicycles but usually find the water too deep and swift to pedal and have to push their bikes through.

Knowing just when the monsoon will come, wise farmers prepare the dry soil and plant seeds beforehand, and people do the same in some home gardens. When we think how hard they work, hoping for rain, it is not difficult to understand why they celebrate when it does arrive.

But there are many places where care needs to be taken. Airplanes can’t fly in a monsoon, and the ocean becomes so rough with huge waves that fishermen offshore head home quickly. Those big waves also crash against heavy walls built to protect property, and many fish are often washed over top, which the people collect later.

It is the Creator’s provision that sends the welcome rain each year, for without it the hot sunshine would dry everything up and there would be no local food. We hope many of the people of those lands have heard about the Lord Jesus and thank Him for His care over them. We know that many Christians do tell them about the true, living God who loves them. What a change from their stone or wooden idols which they worship fearfully. Do you know this living, loving God and His Son, Jesus, who died for you?

ML-11/05/2006

Wrasse Fish Are Beauties

“God created great whales, and every living creature that [moves] . . . after his kind.”
Genesis 1:21

Wrasse (pronounced “rass”) are among the most colorful and interesting of all fish. They range in size from a few inches to some that weigh as much as two hundred pounds, but the small ones are the most attractive. All have been given beautiful coloring by the Creator and are found in ocean waters off the coasts of Europe, in the Mediterranean Sea and in the Great Barrier Reef of Australia. Many divers find the Red Sea another favorite place for them.

Those in the northern waters include the red wrasse, the green, the black, the rainbow, the ballen and several more. An outstanding one in the Great Barrier Reef is called moon. It is different than most others, having a rather small mouth and pointed head. It has a beautiful, narrow blue and pink ridge along the length of its back, which matches big fins that are bright blue with soft pink in the center. Its pointed, narrow head is also blue.

A big, two hundred pounder in the Red Sea is called the humphead, because at first glance it looks like a big turtle is getting a ride on its blue and green back. Huge lips covering its large mouth are a smooth deep blue, but the rest of its body is pale blue, except for big green fins matching the coloring of the hump on its back.

One of the interesting activities of the smaller wrasse is cleaning the teeth of big fish. When a huge fish is uncomfortable with bits of food caught in its teeth, it holds its huge mouth open when it sees a wrasse approaching. The wrasse swims right inside, checking out each tooth for bits of food, which are often parts of other fish that were eaten.

If the big fish should shut its mouth at such a time, it would be the end of the little visitor, but they never seem to do that. When the little wrasse finishes its job, it swims away, having had a free meal. The huge fish, with its teeth now clean, goes its way also, perhaps never again to see its tooth-cleaner. Isn’t it wonderful how the Creator has provided such an arrangement for them?

There are many more varieties. Each one is a little different from the others, but all are beautifully colored by the One named in our opening Bible verse.

These provide one more example of the wonders of God’s creation, and they are always under His watchful eye. But more importantly, the Bible also tells us that “the eye of the Lord is upon them that fear [respect] Him. . . . Our heart shall rejoice in Him, because we have trusted in His holy name” (Psalm 33:1821). Can this be said of you?

ML-11/12/2006

Bats Are Helpful: Part 1

“[God] in whose hand is the soul of every living thing, and the breath of all mankind.”
Job 12:10

In North America, bats are active only at night. This makes people, who are not aware of their helpful ways, afraid of them. Many people think bats are creepy or dangerous.

Some also think they are part of the bird family because they fly. Actually, bats are mammals. They don’t lay eggs as birds do but give birth to babies, just as mice or chipmunks do. The mothers nurse them, just like most mammals, for a few weeks before they learn to fly and take care of themselves.

How unfortunate that they are so often thought of as evil creatures, for they are one of the most important ways the Creator planned to control mosquitoes and other harmful insects. Some bats eat six hundred mosquitoes in an hour! When you multiply this by the twenty million bats living in just one cave, such as in Texas, you reach a total of about two-and-a-half tons of those pesky insects eaten in just one night! Let’s not discourage bats!

Some bat varieties prefer fruit and nectar to insects. The Creator has included in His design for these bats to pollinate plants, fruit trees and berry bushes as they search for sweet nectar. In fact, there are some flowers and plants that would soon be extinct if they were not pollinated by bats.

Some bats hibernate in the fall and winter, after fattening up in advance. However, if they should be disturbed and become excited, this reserve of fat is not enough to keep them alive for very long. Well-meaning but uninformed explorers who bring lights and noise into caves, awaken and excite the resting bats, and many die soon afterward. Careful “cavers” who know this avoid caves where bats are hibernating.

In still other instances, people who do not like bats go into caves and kill great numbers with fire or dynamite, not realizing that these little animals are actually among the most helpful of the little creatures on the earth.

In certain parts of the British Isles, there are wise people doing just the opposite. Old buildings, deserted castles and other places are being fixed up so bats can make their homes in them. When we think of how much good these little creatures of God’s creation do, we wish people in other places would also help protect them. We hope the Creator will prevent them from being completely destroyed.

In the following two issues we will look individually at some of these likable nighttime creatures.

Did you notice that the beginning Bible verse mentions “all mankind” when it speaks of God’s care over living things? That includes you. Have you thanked Him for His care and love?

(to be continued)

ML-11/19/2006

Bats Are Helpful: Part 2

“I will remember the works of the Lord: surely I will remember Thy wonders of old.”
Psalm 77:11

There are about a thousand varieties of bats throughout the world. The greatest number are in Central and South America, but many are also in North America, Europe and other countries. Some have a wingspan of more than five feet, and a few weigh more than a pound. Most are much smaller.

They are the only mammals that can truly fly. (There are some squirrels and lemurs that appear to fly but are actually just gliding from tree to tree.) Although bats are not birds, they have been provided with wings made of thin skin stretched over delicate “finger” bones and muscles. Their most amazing feature is the different head shapes.

Bats “see” in the dark by producing high-pitched twittering sounds through their mouths and noses. These sound waves strike objects and bounce back immediately to the bat. Then the bat’s large ears send the sounds to the brain, where the bat can identify and avoid whatever is in its way or eat it, if it’s an insect. In this way they not only avoid bumping into things, but they can also identify a moth, a frog or other creatures they catch for food.

To rephrase, bats fly with their fingers and “see” with their ears, enabling them to find their way through the most difficult places, even in the darkest night. Another unusual feature is that they do not actually have nests; they hang upside down, holding onto the edge of a rock wall, a timber or other support. Even newborn bats do this without being taught.

Bats are most common in warm climates. A favorite place to see them is the Carlsbad Caverns of New Mexico where visitors often have an opportunity to see thousands of them flying out of the caves as darkness takes over. A similar place is the Blowing Wind Cave of Alabama, where about 500,000 gray bats live.

Following is a brief description of some of these interesting flying animals:

One named Kitti’s hog-nosed bat, a native of Thailand, is the world’s smallest, weighing less than an ounce. The largest is the flying fox, also in Thailand. Some of these weigh more than two pounds and have wingspans up to five feet across.

The greater horseshoe bat has a very red face, legs and claws, along with almost-transparent, huge wings, which in some varieties are white; others are light green or light tan.

The fishing bat, especially fond of minnows, locates its prey with sonar and snares it with oversized claws. The very faint noise of ripples on the water made by the minnow swimming near the surface tells the bat where to find it.

Our Creator God has given us many amazing and unique creatures to enjoy.

(to be continued)

ML-11/26/2006

Bats Are Helpful: Part 3

“The eyes of the Lord are in every place, beholding the evil and the good.”
Proverbs 15:3

In the two previous issues we have looked at some of the amazing bats found in various parts of the world. There are about a thousand varieties, every one intensely interesting, but of course we can only briefly consider a few. Here are a few more:

The Panamanian frog-eating bat has no difficulty hunting its prey on the darkest of nights. A frog sitting on a log or rock can’t help croaking occasionally and usually plops safely into the water if its croak attracts an enemy. But when a bat’s sonar system reacts to such a noise, the bat is usually too fast for the frog, attacking it head-on with wide-open mouth and long-fingered hands snatching it away. End of frog.

Many folks think the black-faced fruit bat is ugly and dangerous. But when seen straight-on with its toothy mouth open and big black eyes shining, it looks like it wants to be friends. Actually, it isn’t harmful to people at all.

Another, the leaf-nosed bat, has unusual flaps of skin on its face that are responsible for its name. These seem to be helpful in bringing in the sonar rebounds that help it find its way, as well as capturing insects.

There are many flowering plants that depend entirely on bats for pollination in order to produce seeds and reproduce themselves. If these plants were to disappear, the bats themselves would soon die out without their nectar and pollen. This relationship is called symbiosis. In other words, they are dependent upon each other and it works out beautifully, just as the Creator designed it.

In Mexico the Sanborn’s long-nosed bat has an extra-long red tongue for gathering nectar and pollen. The end of its stubby nose has a strange-looking growth which looks like a little flag sticking straight up about two inches. This bat’s main source of food is nectar and pollen from the agave plant’s flowers. This food is very high in acid, and most bats couldn’t handle it, but the Creator has provided the long-nosed bat with special stomach glands to handle the acid. Sorry to say, much of the areas in Mexico where the agave plant grows is being destroyed, so the future does not look very good for this particular bat.

Let us remember that the Lord God who created bats looks on them day and night, and as our opening Bible verse tells us, He is looking on each of us day and night too. How good it is to try to be pleasing to Him in everything we do and say.

“Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path” (Psalm 119:105).

ML-12/03/2006

How Much Are You Worth?

“Fear not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows.”
Matthew 10:31

Some years ago it was thought that the human body, if reduced to salable items, would be worth only about a dollar. However, as scientists learned more about the body’s valuable chemicals and minerals, they revised the figure to $150,000! In today’s dollars, it would be even higher than that. Actually, the wonderful way the Creator has formed our bodies makes them priceless!

No one could ever construct anything like a living body with its wonderful parts all working together. For instance, scientists often speak of genes. These are molecules in the cell that determine, even before you are born, what kind of person you will be and that also make you similar to your father and mother in many ways.

The human body is made up of some fifty trillion cells, and each cell contains forty-six chromosomes, and every chromosome has hundreds of these tiny genes. Do you think these parts, so necessary for life, just happened to come about or perhaps took millions of years to develop? No - it would be impossible! Adam’s body was given all these important parts when the Lord God created him, and they have been passed on to all people ever since.

Scientific language uses code names such as DNA, GRF, CRF, TRT and others. These are abbreviations for terms describing how the various genes can determine whether a baby will develop into a person who is quiet or lively, tall or short, or having a certain color to his or her skin, eyes and hair.

All animals also have cells, chromosomes and genes, although they are not the same as man’s. The most important difference is that it was only of man that the Bible says, “The Lord God . . . breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul” (Genesis 2:7). The soul is part of our earthly life, but it will go on forever in either heaven or hell. God has lovingly invited us to make heaven our eternal home. It can be ours through faith in the atoning work of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, who died on Calvary’s cross to pay for the sins of all who will trust in Him.

His promise about everlasting life includes the body as well as the soul. This assures us that when the Lord Jesus comes to take those of us who love Him to heaven, He will give each one a changed body “fashioned like unto His glorious body” (Philippians 3:21).

Will you be one of those who receives such a wonderful change and lives forever with the Saviour in heaven? Or will your soul live forever away from the Lord Jesus in outer darkness?

ML-12/10/2006

Father of the Shoe, or Shoebill

“[God] doeth great things and unsearchable; marvelous things without number.”
Job 5:9

One of the most strange-looking birds lives in the Nile River area of Africa. It was called father of the shoe by the natives, because its huge eight-inch-long bill looked like the shoes they wore. The name was later changed to shoebill.

The shoebill is a relative of the stork. Its four-foot-tall body is covered with coarse, blue feathers over its back and wings, with gray feathers everywhere else. It has long legs and spends most of its time wading through swamps to feed on frogs and fish. It often points its large head skyward, snapping its oversized bill open and closed rapidly, making a racket that sounds like a machine gun.

It certainly ranks among the world’s strangest creatures, but we know it is part of God’s creation. Even though it is unusual and strange to us, God had a purpose for it, and it gave Him pleasure to create it.

Speaking of shoes, it is interesting to think about them in another way. For instance, most shoes have a tongue, and so do we. Many Bible verses speak of using our tongues in the right way. Here is one: “Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile [bad things]” (Psalm 34:13).

Also, the eyelets that hold laces in place make us think of our wonderful eyes. One of the best things we can do is to ask the Lord Jesus to “open Thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of Thy law [the Bible]” (Psalm 119:18). Also, “Look unto Me, and be ye saved . . . for I am God, and there is none else” (Isaiah 45:22).

A shoe’s toe and heel are important, for without them we could not walk straight. King David was no doubt thinking of this when he wrote, “Thou [the Lord] hast also given me the shield of Thy salvation. . . . Thou hast enlarged my steps under me, that my feet did not slip” (Psalm 18:3536). Do you remember to ask the Lord Jesus to keep your feet in the right path too?

In many ways the sole is the most important part of a shoe, and the soul is the most important part of every person. It is only by faith that our souls will enter an eternity in heaven. How wise is the Bible verse, “Set your heart and your soul to seek the Lord your God” (1 Chronicles 22:19). Those who know the Lord Jesus as their Saviour can say, “[This] hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast” (Hebrews 6:19). Does your heart and soul trust in Him?

Perhaps you can think of other parts of a shoe that apply to you and find Bible verses to accompany them.

ML-12/17/2006

The Smallest of Their Kind

“My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me: and I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish.”
John 10:27-28

Mouflons, which make their homes on high pastures, are found on some Mediterranean islands. These wild sheep have very long, reddish-brown hair mixed with a few patches of white. Their short legs and small bodies make them the smallest sheep in the world.

A newborn lamb is about the size of a kitten, and a full-grown lamb is not much more than half the size of the sheep we commonly see. The males appear somewhat larger, with two big wrinkly horns nearly three feet long on top of their heads. These curve downward and then upward again when reaching the sides of the mouths.

As mouflon numbers have become greatly reduced by hunters, for some years concerned people have provided protected areas in Texas. They also have imported quite a few of these adult mouflons to live in the protected areas. This has resulted in giving them a new name of Texotics, and some United States zoos now display a few of them. You would find them very interesting little animals.

The smallest pig in the world is named “pot-belly.” This miniature pig is about the size of a large house cat; the adult is only about eighteen inches long from its snout to its straight tail. Most are black, but there are also white pot-bellies and some mixes. They were introduced into Canada and the United States from Vietnam in the late 1980s and have become quite popular as house pets.

Unlike most pigs, pot-bellies are extremely clean and have no objectionable odor. A pot-belly makes an ideal house pet, never has fleas, and enjoys being on a leash while the owner takes a walk - an obedient little walker.

Pot-bellies make quick friends with other animals, especially cats and dogs, and often cuddle up with them for a nap or they may sleep beside each other at night. Some pot-bellies, however, prefer to be with people and even spend nights on top of the covers cuddled up against their owners.

Both of these cute little animals are examples of the marvelous creatures the Creator God has placed on the earth. “[God] doeth great things and unsearchable; marvelous things without number” (Job 5:9). Another verse says, “Ask now the beasts, and they shall teach thee” (Job 12:7). The beasts don’t tell us with their voices, of course, but just to see them and their contented ways of life assures us that there is a Creator who looks after them.

And that very same Creator is also looking with greater love on every boy and girl. Are you one of His sheep, one who knows the Lord Jesus as your Saviour?

ML-12/24/2006

Don't Argue With a Bluefish

“They that go down to the sea . . . see the works of the Lord, and His wonders in the deep.”
Psalm 107:23-24

Huge schools of bluefish live in the Atlantic Ocean, off the shores of Eastern Canada and the United States to the southern tip of South America. They have been known to migrate in tremendous numbers, at times in schools more than fifty miles wide, from which individual groups separate from time to time to go their own way. It is estimated that many thousands of tons of them are caught by fishermen throughout the world, but mostly off the eastern coast of North America.

Bluefish are about fifteen to twenty-four inches long and usually weigh one to four pounds. But some grow over three feet long and may weigh more than thirty pounds. Their name comes from their bluish color. They are fierce and usually hungry, never seeming to satisfy their hunger with enough fish and eels, their main food. They catch these with mouths wide open and often swallow them whole.

Some fishermen call the bluefish the fiercest fish in the ocean. When hooked, they fight hard and sometimes even attack the person taking it off the hook, severely biting hands, fingers and arms with their dagger-like teeth. When a bluefish catches a fish too large to swallow whole, it will bite it in two. Another bluefish will immediately grab the other half.

They are not the least bit afraid of people. If a person falls into water close to a bluefish, it may not hesitate to attack the person with its razor-sharp teeth. If not quickly rescued, the bluefish may cause the person’s death.

These fish are not in demand as a commercial fish, because they do not keep well and freezing them spoils the taste. Therefore, they are mainly a sport fish for fishermen who want some excitement. A hooked bluefish will fight and leap into the air as it tries to shake the hook out of its mouth.

The opening Bible verse speaks of the wonders of God’s creation in the depths of the oceans. It is certainly wonderful to think of the wonders of His creation in this great world on which we live and realize that its great oceans cover more than seventy percent of the surface. Solomon wrote in Ecclesiastes 1:7, “All the rivers run into the sea; yet the sea is not full; unto the place from whence the rivers come, thither they return again.”

Some researchers have marveled at the wisdom of the Creator who arranged for such perfection. In Psalm 139:6,14, David said it so well in speaking of the wonders of creation: “Such knowledge is too wonderful for me. . . . I will praise Thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvelous are Thy works.” We all should agree with David.

ML-12/31/2006

Bible Book Name Unscramble

Can you unscramble
these names of books
in the Old Testament?

H U S O J A

__ __ __ __ __ __

G A G A H I

__ __ __ __ __ __

M A N H U

__ __ __ __ __

ML-02/19/2006

Unscramble Bible Book Names

Can you unscramble
these names of books
in the Old Testament?

C H E R I H A A Z

__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __

S E D O U X

__ __ __ __ __ __

I D E A L N

__ __ __ __ __ __

L A M A C H I

__ __ __ __ __ __ __

H A H E M I N E

__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __

H A J O N

__ __ __ __ __

ML-07/23/2006

For Little Folks

If you are between the ages of five and nine years old, there is a hidden message for you in this diagram. Starting at the top row, work from left to right and then go on to the next row. Find all the times that your age is shown, writing down each letter that is shown under your age. This will be your message from the Bible.

ML-12/03/2006

For Little Folks

ML-04/16/2006

Bible Names Word Search

This word search uses Bible names which begin with the letter “R.” See how many of the names listed below you can find among the letters. Look up, down, diagonally, backwards, across - every direction.

RABBI REBECCA ROME

RABONI REHOBOAM RUFUS

RACHEL REUBEN RUTH

RAHAB RHODA

ML-03/19/2006

"Z" Names Word Search

This word search uses Bible names which begin with the letter “Z.” See how many of the names listed below you can find among the letters. Look up, down, diagonally, backwards, across—every direction.

ZACHARIAH ZIKLAG

ZARED ZION

ZEBULUN ZIPPORAH

ZEPHANIAH

ML-11/19/2006

"D" Names Word Search

This word search uses Bible names which begin with the letter “D.” See how many of the names listed below you can find among the letters. Look up, down, diagonally, backwards, across - every direction.

DAMASCUS DELILAH

DAN DEMAS

DANIEL DEUTERONOMY

DAVID DIDYMUS

DEBORAH DORCAS

DECAPOLIS DOTHAN

ML-12/10/2006

"J" Names Word Search

This word search uses Bible names which begin with the letter “J.” See how many of the names listed below you can find among the letters. Look up, down, diagonally, backwards, across - every direction.

JACOB JOHN

JAMES JONAH

JEHU JONATHAN

JERICHO JORDAN

JOANNA JOSEPH

JOASH JOSHUA

ML-02/12/2006

Scripture Verse Word Search: John 10:11

Can you find the words of this Scripture verse in this word search? Look up, down, diagonally, backwards, across - every direction. Use a ruler if necessary.

Circle each word in the diagram as we did with “the” and then circle the same word in the verse once you have found it.

“I am the good Shepherd: the good Shepherd giveth His life for the sheep” (John 10:11).

ML-03/12/2006

Scripture Verse Word Search: John 3:17

Can you find the words of this Scripture verse in this word search? Look up, down, diagonally, backwards, across -every direction. Use a ruler if necessary.

Circle each word in the diagram as we did with “the” and then circle the same word in the verse once you have found it.

“For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be saved” (John 3:17).

ML-04/09/2006

Scripture Verse Word Search: Matthew 7:14

Can you find the words of this Scripture verse in this word search? Look up, down, diagonally, backwards, across -every direction. Use a ruler if necessary.

Circle each word in the diagram as we did with “the” and then circle the same word in the verse once you have found it.

“Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it” (Matthew 7:14).

ML-05/21/2006

Scripture Verse Word Search: Isaiah 53:6

Can you find the words of this Scripture verse in this word search? Look up, down, diagonally, backwards, across - every direction. Use a ruler if necessary.

Circle each word in the diagram as we did with “the” and then circle the same word in the verse once you have found it.

“All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 53:6).

ML-07/02/2006

Messages of God's Love: 2006

Table of Contents

Petting Lions

A Terrible Storm

How Many Hours?

"Come Unto Me"

Saved by a Spider

A Letter from Gramma and Grampa: The Mother Hen

"Nothing Behind You Matters!"

Beth and the Raccoons

Afraid in Paradise

A Story in the Snow

Jeff and Lucky

On the Wrong Train

Julianna's New Parents

A Visit to Aunt Rose

He Loved His Enemy

Faith in Bridges

A Dangerous Waiting Game: The Loon and the Eagle

A Forgotten Prize

A Letter from Gramma and Grampa: The Canadian Geese

What's Living in There?

A Bear on the Playground

Fill in

Taken by Surprise

So Close to Rest

Hidden From the Hailstorm

Floating Down the Sewage Pipe

He Didn't Believe in Solid Water

Found Through Translation

Drywalled In

Rabbits on the Highway

Saved Twice Was Not Enough

A Heavy Pack

An Agonizing Choice

A Letter from Gramma and Grampa: Two Boys

An Overheard Song

An Ordinary-Looking Stick

"I Want You Right Now!"

A Good Answer

A Huge Bill

Lost on the Ocean

Cat on a Bridge

"The Colonel's Donkey"

Ending the Reign of Terror

Can You Use Your Name?

Jumping Off the Wall

Honey Saves Her Master

Danger Ahead

STOP!

The Basic Rule of Elephant Training

Resting on the Rock

A Letter from Gramma and Grampa: The Marsh Hawk

A Life-Threatening Mistake

Playing Pretend

Tang Saves the Passengers and Crew

House on Fire

Hooked

Getting Rid of Stains

A Flock of Foolish Sheep

A Bear Under the Porch

Childlike Faith

Trapped and Terrified

"When I Go Up"

Eagles and Bible Verses

Rolando's Prank

The Decoy Goose

Bryce's Bravery

Read the Instructions

Mary Jones and Her Bible

The Seagull's Secret

Hold the Feather Up

Two Kinds of Life

Mistaken for a Toy

Just a Little Bit

Trapped in a Mine

Just a Spark

A Letter from Gramma and Grampa: The Camping Trip

Tangled Up

Riding Through the Stop Sign