Messages of God's Love: 2013

When Alan was a boy, he loved it when his dad let him ride along with him while he drove their tractor through the fields on their farm. Back then their tractor was much smaller and slower than the tractors you see in the fields today.

One day his dad was busy in the barn, and the tractor was parked beside a large field of asparagus. I bet I can drive that tractor by myself, Alan thought. I’m ten years old now, and I know I can do it. So he jumped up onto the seat of the tractor and shifted it into gear; then he gave it some gas. That tractor took off, bouncing over the rows of asparagus and jolting Alan from one side to the other!

Alan didn’t know how to stop the tractor and he was scared, so he started screaming! He knew if he fell off the seat, he’d be run over by those huge rear tires. He was a very frightened ten-year-old and didn’t know what to do.

Boys and girls, have you ever been in a frightening situation and, like Alan, you didn’t know what to do? If you belong to the Lord Jesus, your first thought should be to ask Him for help. He sees you and knows exactly what’s happening, and He will answer your prayer. He tells us in the Bible, “Call unto Me, and I will answer [you]” (Jeremiah 33:3).

Alan screamed louder, and his dad came running out of the barn. Oh, no! thought his dad as he raced toward the tractor, praying as he ran. “Lord, help me get that tractor stopped!” He knew he had to get it out of gear, but the tractor was big, and it was moving quickly over the rough ground.

Seeing his dad running towards the tractor, Alan stopped screaming and started to cry. He didn’t want his dad to die! He knew if his dad fell under those big tractor tires, he would be crushed! Oh how he wished with all his heart that he had never tried to drive the tractor by himself.

Now if you remember, Alan’s dad had already cried to the Lord Jesus to help him stop the tractor. Do you think the Lord heard and answered that urgent prayer? Yes, He certainly did.

Finally Alan’s dad was able to outrun the tractor and get his hands on the gearshift. Grasping the gearshift, he shifted it into neutral, and then the tractor slowed to a stop. “They cry unto the Lord in their trouble, and He [saves] them out of their distresses” (Psalm 107:19).

Alan and his dad hugged each other tightly. “Thank you, Dad, for saving my life. I know now I should never have tried to drive the tractor by myself. I’m sorry! Look at all the asparagus I messed up too.”

Alan’s dad gave his son another hug. “I’m just glad it all turned out okay, and neither of us got hurt,” he said.

For you boys and girls who already have accepted the Lord Jesus as your Saviour, we hope you talk to Him every morning and ask Him to help you through the day and make the right decisions. You don’t have to wait until you are in a scary situation to ask for His help. He wants to help you with little everyday problems too. And then He loves to hear you thank Him at bedtime for taking care of you all through the day. He also loves to hear you thank Him for washing your sins away and making you one of His children.

If there is a boy or girl reading this story who does not know the Lord Jesus as your Saviour, we want to tell you that He loves you very, very much, and He died to save you from your sins. He invites you to be one of His children so you can share His happy home in heaven someday. Will you admit to Him that you are a sinner and are sorry for your sins? He will gladly wash every one of them away forever and make you one of His sons or daughters. Then you will be able to call on Him as your heavenly Father to help you with any problem. He has promised, “I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee” (Hebrews 13:5).

MEMORY VERSE: “They cry unto the Lord in their trouble, and He saveth them out of their distresses.” Psalm 107:19

ML-01/06/2013

Squirrel Paths

Our next-door neighbor began feeding the few squirrels that played around in our yards. One was really tame, and our neighbor would even feed it in her house! Little did she know that she soon would have an army of squirrels! News must travel fast among squirrels, because more and more began coming for her handouts.

Not only did the squirrels eat her peanuts, but they also ate everything in sight! They even helped themselves to anything they wanted from our gardens.

To our amazement, we noticed that the squirrels always came from the same direction toward our neighbor’s house. Some crossed our front yard and some crossed our backyard. We also noticed paths starting to appear in the grass! They were squirrel paths, and each day they became easier to see, until soon all the grass was gone and the paths were bare earth.

You and I are following paths in our lives. Some of these well-worn paths are the popular paths of sinful pleasures. Sadly they only lead downward to a lost eternity. If you are following these paths of sinful pleasures today, won’t you stop and turn around before it is too late? Turn to Christ Jesus today and follow the path of happiness that ends in His heavenly home. He says, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man [comes] unto the Father, but by Me” (John 14:6).

Those of us who have accepted Christ as our Saviour should be seeking to follow the paths that would please Him. A good verse for us to memorize is Psalm 25:4: “Show me Thy ways, O Lord; teach me Thy paths.”

ML-01/06/2013

The Wonders of God's Creation: The Dignified Penguin

“The Lord is good to all: and His tender mercies are over all His works.” Psalm 145:9

No other bird goes so far into the harsh Antarctic area as the penguin, and God has provided everything it needs. To insulate its body against the fierce cold, it has a complete covering of short feathers that extend down to its webbed feet. It gets all its food from the ocean and can also drink the salt water.

The emperor penguin is the largest of the penguin family—about three to four feet tall. All penguins have wings, but they cannot fly. Instead, their wings are used as flippers to swim extremely fast under water. Special muscles give these wings great strength.

The emperor penguin does not build a nest. About a month after arriving on the ice barrier, a pair has a family of just one chick. Before the female lays the single egg, she goes several weeks without eating. Then about the middle of May the egg is laid. She turns its care over to the male and then dives into the ocean to feed, and she is gone for some weeks. As this is really the beginning of winter in the Antarctic, the male has a difficult problem since there is no nest for the egg.

The Creator has provided a way to keep the egg warm. The male stands with his feet close together and rolls the egg on top of them. With the egg securely in place, “papa” pulls a soft pouch of skin down over it, making it snug and warm. He stands in this position—never moving or going for food or water—for two months!

Here is something else amazing. Although “mama” has been away all this time, on the exact day the chick hatches she comes out of the ocean, her belly big and round from gorging on seafood. There are thousands of penguins that look just like her mate, but she goes right to him. Then she takes over, putting her beak in the newly hatched chick’s mouth and feeding it from her full belly. She does this until it can take care of itself. Meanwhile, the skinny male takes to the water to find the food he needs.

Shortly after the chick is fully grown, it joins others on ice floes, and the currents carry them north several hundred miles to the New Zealand area or to the tip of South America. The next May they repeat the cycle all over again.

We know that when the Lord God created the penguin, He made it exactly as it is now, so it could thrive in that part of the earth. “Whatsoever the Lord pleased, that did He in heaven, and in earth [and] in the seas” (Psalm 135:6).

Do you know the One who is your Creator and wants to be your Saviour as well? That is the most important question.

ML-01/06/2013

Twenty Loaves of Bread

Here comes a man from Baal-shalisha, and he seems to be carrying something.

This was a hungry time, and there were a hundred men to feed. When they saw the man carrying something, they might have thought, I hope it’s food for all of us, but it wasn’t. It was a present for Elisha—twenty loaves of fresh barley bread and some ripened grain in the husk. In Bible days, the loaves of bread were very small, and one man could eat three. The twenty loaves of bread could not feed everybody since there were a hundred men with Elisha. Would he keep the bread for himself?

No, of course not. And that’s why we are sharing this Bible story with you. Is there a Bible in your house? Even just one? The fact is that one Bible has good news in it that is intended to save lots more than a hundred people! It tells us of the hopeless, sinful downfall of each of us in God’s sight. And there is no patching or covering up with anything that will clear away our sins.

Just one Bible tells the whole story of Jesus, the Saviour of sinners. It tells how evil men crucified Him. But it also says that He was punished by God Himself for my sins. Then after He was dead, a soldier pierced His side with a spear and His blood flowed out. A verse in the Bible explains it perfectly: “The blood of Jesus Christ [God’s] Son cleanseth us from all sin” (1 John 1:7). Will you say, “Oh, that’s for me!” or will you say, “That’s not for me”?

Elisha told his servant to set the twenty loaves of bread before the hungry men. But Elisha must be making a mistake: It wasn’t nearly enough bread to feed a hundred men!

Maybe that’s what you think too. I wasn’t there when Jesus died two thousand years ago, so how could His blood be shed for me?

Leave the miracle with God. He knows what to do. God’s promise to Elisha was that all those men would have enough to eat, and there would be leftovers. God’s promise came true. The only thing the men had to do was eat!

And it is certainly true that the precious blood of Jesus is enough for every sinner in the whole world for the past several thousand years and also for right now! Is there anything you must do? Yes, just accept God’s offer. There will be enough for you and your whole family and friends, but each one of you must say, “Yes,” with your whole heart. God hears your answer, and if you say, “Yes” and really mean it, your sins are gone—forever!

But as one little girl said, “I answered Him yesterday, but I don’t know if I’m really saved or not.” Can’t you believe God? Those barley loaves left the men hungry the next day, but our Jesus is forever. Trust Him and read His Word every day. “He [or she] that comes to Me shall never hunger” (John 6:35).

You may read this story for yourself in 2 Kings 4:42-44.

MEMORY VERSE: “Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to Me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on Me shall never thirst.” John 6:35

ML-01/13/2013

Favorite Cookies

There was one kind of cookie that was Wendy’s favorite. They were chocolate sandwich cookies with white icing in the middle. Her mother did not buy them very often, and when she did, Wendy was only allowed to have one at lunchtime.

One day Wendy quietly opened the drawer where the cookies were kept and quickly took the whole package and went outside. The first cookie she ate was delicious. The second one was really good too, and she ate it more slowly. The third one wasn’t nearly so good, and she found she couldn’t finish it. With the half-eaten cookie in her hand, she began to wonder what to do with it. If she put it back in the package, her mother would ask her some questions that she didn’t want to answer. She decided she would hide the package of cookies somewhere outside, far away from the house.

The farthest place she could think of was the mailbox out at the street. She stuffed the package of cookies and the half-eaten cookie inside the mailbox and closed the mailbox door without anyone seeing her. She ran off to play and forgot about the cookies.

Now the Bible says, “He that covereth [hides] his sins shall not prosper [do well]: but whoso confesseth [admits] and forsaketh them [gives them up] shall have mercy” (Proverbs 28:13).

The next day Wendy was playing happily when her mother came to her with a very sad face. She had the package of cookies in one hand with the half-eaten cookie in the other, and there were ants crawling all over the cookies. She asked Wendy to tell her what she knew about the cookies.

Wendy sadly told her mother the whole story. Wendy did not think about it at the time, but she had hidden the cookies in the one place her mother was sure to look each day.

There were tears, and punishment and forgiveness. But it wasn’t just her mother whom Wendy had sinned against. “Ye have sinned against the Lord: and be sure your sin will find you out” (Numbers 32:23). Stealing is a sin, and she needed to tell the Lord Jesus what she had done. Because Wendy believed that God gave His Son to die for her sins, she was forgiven and could thank Him for His forgiveness.

This is the Bible verse that Wendy’s mother taught her: “Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in Thy sight, O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer” (Psalm 19:14).

ML-01/13/2013

The Wonders of God's Creation: Rhinos-Ugly and Mean!

“Will the unicorn be willing to serve thee, or abide by thy crib [stable]?... Wilt thou trust him, because his strength is great?” Job 39:9,11

The unicorn is mentioned several times in the Bible. While no one knows for sure, some think it refers to the rhino, perhaps because the word “rhinoceros” means “nose-horned.” All rhinos have horns—some have two while others have just one. These horns actually are not made of bone but are made of hair-like fibers growing tightly together and are very tough and strong.

The rhinoceros is the third largest land animal. The white rhino of Africa (the largest) can be 15 feet long, over 6 feet tall and weigh 3½ tons. Its massive head has large, trumpet-like ears and huge nostrils on an ugly, wrinkled snout with two horns. Its hide is thick, tough and warty.

The Indian rhino (the one we see in most of our zoos) weighs two to three tons. Its loose skin hangs in folds and is the home of many parasites, which attract birds known as oxpeckers. These birds may spend all day on a rhino’s back and sides, providing considerable relief as they dig out and eat the troublesome parasites. The birds also give warning calls when other animals or people approach. This is another example of the Creator providing benefits between two creatures that are nothing alike.

These beasts are truly vicious and short-tempered. They will charge anything crossing their path, be it an animal, person or even a car or train. Although they look clumsy on their short legs, they run as fast as a horse. It is a terrifying experience to be charged by one galloping at top speed, its feet pounding the ground while it snorts loudly through flared nostrils.

The African black rhino is the fiercest of all. Its front horn, with which it defends itself, is two to three feet long. Its eyesight is poor, but a strong sense of smell and extra-sharp hearing make up for that problem. They are lightning fast when charging and extremely dangerous when wounded.

Rhinos are often hunted for their horns, which sell for high prices on the black market. Natives who like to carry daggers with handles made from the horns also hunt them. Although protected by the governments of Africa and Southeast Asia, poachers kill great numbers illegally just to get the horns. It is feared these animals may someday become extinct unless the poaching can be stopped.

When those who have accepted the Lord Jesus as Saviour are with Him in heaven, we will learn and understand why such creatures as rhinos have been given a place in His creation. Meanwhile we can say, “Thou art worthy ... for Thou hast created all things, and for Thy pleasure they are and were created” (Revelation 4:11).

ML-01/13/2013

The Ducklings' Rescue

Do you know any songs about ducks? I can think of two that children like to sing. One starts like this: “Five little ducks went swimming one day.” Another one is, “Five little ducks that I once knew.” Our story today is about six little ducks, and unlike the songs, it is not all happy.

Aaron arrived at work one morning in the spring, and when he got out of his car, he noticed a mother duck acting very strange near the drain in the parking lot. He went to investigate, but the closer he got to the drain, the more excited the mother duck became, even hissing at him. He could hear tiny quacks coming from down inside the drain, and then he knew what was making the mother duck so upset. Her babies had fallen into the drain hole!

Two of Aaron’s coworkers arrived, and they pulled off the grate that was covering the drain hole. Aaron took off his shoes and socks and climbed down into the drain. He was able to grab the first duckling and hand it out to a coworker who set it on the ground. But the duckling quickly jumped back into the drain and this time landed on Aaron’s back. That little duckling did not know he was in trouble!

There are boys and girls who have never heard that they are sinners and need a Saviour to save them from their sins. Just like that little duckling, they are in trouble and don’t know it. They need to hear that the Lord Jesus Christ loves them so much He died for them and that He is offering to wash their sins away in the blood He shed on Calvary’s cross.

Here’s what happened to that duckling. Aaron quickly scooped up the duckling again and handed it out to a coworker. That little duckling was given a second chance.

Now what about you boys and girls who have heard many times that you are a sinner and need to come to the Lord Jesus to have your sins washed away? Some of you are just like “second chance duckling.” You have heard many times that the Bible says, “Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation” (2 Corinthians 6:2). What are you waiting for? It’s dangerous to wait, because time is running out! Accept the Lord Jesus as your very own Saviour right now and be safe!

While the mother duck paced nearby, Aaron was able to rescue five ducklings from inside the drain. He heard a sixth one’s tiny quacking, but as he listened, the quacking became more and more faint. He waited for about fifteen minutes, hoping the duckling would swim back to him, but his feet became numb from the cold, and he had to get out of the drain. Time had run out for that last duckling. How sad to leave one behind.

What do you think the mother duck did next? She could not say “thank you” to Aaron, but she stopped pacing and waddled away with the five saved ducklings following. She headed towards a creek that was not too far away, but far enough away from the danger of that drain where one little duckling was left behind.

Boys and girls, many of you know that the Bible tells us that the Lord Jesus is going to come again to take to His happy home in heaven everyone who has accepted the Lord Jesus as his or her Saviour. The Bible doesn’t tell us when that will happen, but it does tell us to be ready: “Be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of Man [Jesus] cometh” (Matthew 24:44).

Just as that one little duckling was left behind, will you be left behind?

MEMORY VERSE: “Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” 2 Corinthians 6:2

ML-01/20/2013

A Wise Decision

Some years ago the New England states were hit by a blizzard that will be long remembered. 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 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 back in the office, our plans for leaving at 3:00 were immediately changed, and I told everyone 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 roadways in bad conditions. 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 remind 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!

ML-01/20/2013

The Wonders of God's Creation: The Lowly Sponge

“One ran and filled a sponge full of vinegar, and put it on a reed, and gave Him [Jesus] to drink.” Mark 15:36

I’m sure when most of us think of sponges, we think of the artificial, rectangular sponges which come in all sizes and colors. But the best sponges are still those from the ocean, and they still have many uses, because the man-made sponges are often too hard and scratchy.

Surprisingly, sponges are not plants but are called animals, although in the simplest form. Their bodies are made up of millions of cells honeycombed with tubes. Unlike most other animals, they have no blood vessels, nerves, brain, stomach or other organs.

Small hairs on the surface draw large amounts of water through millions of pores into a hollow center where tiny plants and sea life are strained out to provide nourishment. This goes on twenty-four hours a day.

There are over four thousand kinds of sponges, from pinhead size to some six feet tall. The most common have a dull black color, but some are quite pretty. Among the many kinds, finger sponges look like long, pink fingers. Others also have names to fit their appearance, such as breadcrumb, horny and elephant’s ear. Some look like large vases and are prized by collectors, especially those that are yellow, pink, red, purple or green. Still others, called glass sponges, are just as pretty. They look like feather dusters, umbrellas, unusual carvings or long, embroidered tubes.

Having no physical way to defend themselves, sponges would soon be destroyed by fish and animals except that the Creator has not left them without any type of defense. To discourage hungry prowlers, they give off a bad odor that keeps most of these enemies away.

Sponges are usually harvested by divers, sometimes in very deep water. The entire outside portion is stripped away, leaving only the clean inside parts to be sold.

The next time you use a natural sponge, think how it is one of the innumerable creations made by the Creator for man’s benefit. Also think about the fact that He watches over and delights in every one of them.

The scene at Calvary’s cross, told in our opening Bible verse, reminds us of the cruelty of those who crucified the Lord Jesus Christ and of His love in enduring the awful suffering. The offer of a sponge soaked in vinegar was perhaps meant as a little act of kindness. But the Lord did not accept it, choosing rather to pay in full, without any relief, the load He bore in accepting God’s punishment for sin.

What does His wonderful love mean to you? Have you personally thanked Him for dying on the cross for you? He longs to hear every boy and girl and every grown-up not only thank Him, but also accept Him as his or her very own Saviour. “Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation” (2 Corinthians 6:2).

ML-01/20/2013

A Polar Bear in the Kitchen!

Have you ever seen a real polar bear? Many zoos will have at least one. They are huge, completely white animals that live in the Arctic regions. Much of where they normally live has been changing in recent years, because some of the ice has been thawing. This seems to have made them roam out of their normal living areas in their search for food.

In Eastern Canada, in the northern part of Newfoundland, in a village called Goose Cove, the Reardon family had an unexpected surprise at 4:30 in the morning. A polar bear broke into their home. Mr. Reardon suddenly came face to face with the bear in their kitchen! It had pushed its way through the outside kitchen door and walked right in. What a scary surprise that would be to find a live polar bear in your kitchen!

Bears can easily kill people, so they are very dangerous. One person alone cannot really fight off a hungry bear. Mr. Reardon needed some help right away with this frightening problem.

Boys and girls, what would you do? I know what I would do—pray and ask the Lord Jesus to help me and guide me. I know He will hear my prayer and help me, because I have accepted the Lord Jesus as my Saviour, and now I belong to Him. Here is a good verse to remember: “In the day of my trouble I will call upon Thee [Jesus]: for Thou wilt answer me” (Psalm 86:7).

We don’t know if Mr. Reardon prayed a quick prayer of help, but we do know he called his father to come, and the two men made loud noises to hopefully scare the bear away. Thankfully, their loud noises did the job, and the bear turned and went back outside through the kitchen door and lumbered off to see what it could find elsewhere. On its wanderings, this hungry bear came to a sheep farm where it found plenty to eat—one sheep, one lamb and two ducks. That was one hungry bear! We feel sorry for the farmer who lost these animals and ducks, but we are thankful it wasn’t people the bear attacked.

Meanwhile, wildlife officials had been called and arrived to help get this dangerous, 400- pound animal out of the area. It could just as easily attack and kill a person. They weren’t going to take any chances with this bear wandering around the village. They planned to tranquilize the bear and then move it far away from any villages or farms. Polar bears belong way up north, in the land of ice and snow!

I’m thankful to know that our Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, is always watching and listening for the cries and prayers of those who belong to Him. Isaiah 65:24 is a verse that encourages grown-ups and children to always trust Him, especially when we are in trouble: “Before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear.”

Do you belong to the Lord Jesus? Have you accepted Him as your very own Saviour? He loves you very much and died for you on Calvary’s cross. There He shed His precious blood that can wash away your sins. You only need to tell Him that you are truly sorry for your sins and truly believe the promise of 1 John 1:7: “The blood of Jesus Christ [God’s] Son cleanseth us from all sin.” Once you have done that, you will belong to Him forever!

MEMORY VERSE: “In the day of my trouble I will call upon Thee: for Thou wilt answer me.” Psalm 86:7

ML-01/27/2013

The Bridge

When we travel we often go over bridges. Some of them are so short that we hardly notice them. Others are high and long and cover many miles. The longest bridge in the United States is near New Orleans, Louisiana. The Lake Pontchartrain Causeway Bridge stretches for 23.87 miles (38.442 km), and 43,000 cars use it every day. However, there is an interesting bridge in the southwestern part of the United States that is neither the highest nor the longest. It was not built by anyone, and at one time it was alive. It was a very large tree that formed a natural bridge over a deep canyon.

Hundreds of years ago this huge tree was growing on the edge of the canyon. The mountain stream that ran through the canyon washed out the soil from around its roots. Then one day, during a severe storm, the tree fell. It was so large that when it fell it reached all the way across the canyon! There it lay for years and years. Some people might think that this great tree was a failure.

Something happened to that tree as it lay there over the years. Gradually the wood was being changed into stone or what we call petrified wood. Now it is a solid, stone bridge, which can never rot or break. Many people have used it to cross the deep canyon safely.

Some people think that our Lord Jesus, as a man, didn’t accomplish very much and that His life was a failure. “He is despised and rejected of men ... despised, and we esteemed Him not” (Isaiah 53:3). Men tried to get rid of Him and crucified Him so “that His name may be no more remembered” (Jeremiah 11:19). However, the Bible explains that by His death the Lord Jesus Christ became the “strong bridge” to take us from earth to heaven. He is the only “bridge” we can use to cross from this dark, sinful world into the light, holiness and happiness of heaven.

Have you crossed this bridge by having Jesus wash away your sins? If not, do not wait any longer. He loves you very much and will wash you clean of your sins if you will come to Him by faith.

“By grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God” (Ephesians 2:8).

ML-01/27/2013

The Wonders of God's Creation: The Strange Wildebeest

“I have made the earth, the man and the beast that are upon the ground, by My great power and by My outstretched arm.” Jeremiah 27:5

Living in great numbers on the plains of Africa, the wildebeest is commonly known as a gnu. Although it looks like a combination of several animals, it is actually a species of antelope.

Its buffalo-like horns, high on its broad head, spread out saddle-like, then curve upward with sharp points that are used as an effective weapon. Long, scraggly hair hangs below its lower jaw and throat, and a mane atop its head and over its shoulders often hangs down to meet the lower hair. The rest of its body has only short hair. A long, rope-like tail, bushy on the end, adds to its peculiar appearance.

While they look clumsy on their long, thin legs, wildebeests are one of the speediest animals in southern Africa. They travel at a fast trot, taking long strides.

These animals are grass eaters. Those that live in East Africa find a good supply during the rainy season. When it turns dry, they migrate hundreds of miles in search of grass, often in large groups of thousands, accompanied by other friendly animals and bothered by some not so friendly. Usually they remain away until the end of the year when fresh rains bring green grass back to the plains they originally left. These migrating groups are quick to stampede if something frightens them. Then they move at high speed, galloping great distances.

Bulls sometimes challenge one another, dropping to their knees with heads toward each other, locking horns. Each tries to push the other over. Failing, they get up, buck and kick with neither of them seeming to win. Suddenly the fight breaks off and they go quietly about their grazing as if nothing had happened.

Females have just one calf each year. A calf can stand shakily within minutes after birth, and by its second day it is able to keep up with the herd. The mother takes good care of it, keeping it clean by licking it and protecting it from lions, hyenas and other enemies.

Although man may never see millions of the animals on Africa’s plains, they are always under the watchful care of the One who created them. But of more importance is our Creator’s concern for every person on earth. He not only provides for our daily needs, but He also invites us to know His love and goodness now and for eternity.

Can you recite this verse? “For 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). That is the way to eternal joy and happiness. Can you do more than recite this verse? Can you say from your heart, “Yes, I believe the Lord Jesus Christ is my own Saviour”? It doesn’t get any better than that!

ML-01/27/2013

She Wanted to Be Free

We keep a small flock of chickens in our back pasture. As long as we give them food and water, they lay eggs for us, which we cook up for breakfast or put in cakes and cookies. A fence keeps out neighborhood dogs. At night the hens sleep in a little house where they are safe from their enemies—dogs, raccoons, possums and coyotes.

From her earliest days, one of the hens decided she was going to fly over the fence to lay her eggs in a nest of her own. Every day we would see her outside the fence, and soon we discovered her nest under a rose bush. We took scissors and cut off her wing feathers. This didn’t hurt the chicken; it just made her unable to fly.

For a while it worked, and the wandering chicken had to lay her eggs in the chicken house, with the rest of her hen friends. But when her feathers grew back, we saw her out on the lawn, strutting around by herself and then ducking into her old nest under the rose bush to lay an egg.

Do you think she thought about safety? I don’t think so. She just had to get outside of that fence every day to do what she wanted to do. Freedom meant more than safety to her. Well, you can guess the sad ending for this hen.

Our relatives came to stay with us last summer, and they brought along their big, beautiful dog, Henry. Henry was running and playing in the yard when he caught sight of a chicken on the loose. Ah, this looked like a new game to play. We heard a scuffle and a squawk, and that was the end of the wandering hen!

If our wandering hen had stayed inside the fence where she belonged, she would still be alive today, giving us eggs. There is a lesson for all of us in this sad little story. A verse in the Bible says it well: “There is a way which [seems] right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death” (Proverbs 14:12).

Listen to God’s warning! Boys and girls, are you trying to get away from the rules and protection of your parents or teachers? Do you want to do things your own way? The Bible tells all of us to “obey them that have the rule over you ... for they watch for your souls” (Hebrews 13:17).

Worse yet, when you hear the gospel being preached, are you blocking your ears from the call to be sorry for your sins and accept Jesus’ offer of salvation? If you put off taking His offer, you might not get another chance. “Today if [you] will hear His voice, harden not your hearts” (Hebrews 3:15).

Next time you see a chicken, I hope you will remember this little story and choose God’s way—first, for the salvation of your precious soul, and second, for a happy, useful life walking with Jesus.

MEMORY VERSE: “There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.” Proverbs 14:12

ML-02/03/2013

"Grandma Can't Read Today"

Our two little grandsons stood looking at me, not understanding. They were holding out their storybooks eagerly, but Grandma was saying that she couldn’t read. This is impossible! Grandma always reads when she comes to visit. They just couldn’t believe it, but that’s because they hadn’t learned yet that a person could lose his or her voice. All afternoon they kept bringing me their favorite books, but I could only shake my head “no.” Their daddy laughed and suggested I put a band-aid on my throat to help them understand.

The next afternoon when I heard them coming to our door, I quickly picked out a large band-aid and placed it on my neck where they could easily see it. That afternoon each time one of the boys brought me a book, I simply pointed to the band-aid. They were disappointed, but they seemed to understand and went back to their puzzles or building blocks, muttering to each other, “Grandma can’t read stories today.”

It is so much easier for us to believe in something we can see, but believing in something we cannot see is called “faith.” We use faith all the time. By faith we sit down on chairs, believing they will hold us and not collapse under us. By faith we plant seeds in the ground, believing tiny plants will sprout. By faith we drop an envelope in a mailbox, knowing we will never see it again, but believing that it will reach the person it is addressed to. Faith is a part of everyday living. The Bible tells us, “Faith is the substance [promise] of things hoped for, the evidence [proof] of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1). God wants us to have faith in Himself. He says, “Without faith it is impossible to please Him: for he that [comes] to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him” (Hebrews 11:6).

It really doesn’t take very much faith to believe in God. We have proof all around us if we will stop to see how He designed our bodies to heal a paper cut on a finger; if we will look up in the night sky and see that beautiful moon that has been regulating the ocean tides for centuries. And when we believe that He has designed our planet and us, we can also believe that He loves us and designed a wonderful plan for us to spend eternity with Him in heaven. He has given us the Bible, something we can hold and read and understand. He carefully explains in the Bible that because of our sins He sent His beloved Son Jesus down here to die for us. Each one who will by faith believe that “Jesus died for my sins” is rewarded with a place in heaven for eternity. “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:1).

It doesn’t take very much faith to believe in God. Will you believe what He says? “Though now ye see Him [Jesus] not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory: receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls” (1 Peter 1:8-9).

ML-02/03/2013

The Wonders of God's Creation: Nature's Janitors - Part 1

“The Lord is gracious, and full of compassion; slow to anger, and of great mercy. The Lord is good to all: and His tender mercies are over all His works.” Psalm 145:8-9

All kinds of natural litter collect on the ground in forests day and night. If it weren’t for busy crews of “janitors,” which the Creator provided long ago, this litter would have piled up so deeply that life on the earth would not be possible. Trees, plants and other vegetation could not withstand the pileup of tons of waste material smothering their roots. Animals, birds, fish and even humans, dependent on plants and trees for food, would starve. Their dead bodies would add just that much more waste material.

What is this crew of “janitors” and what part do they play in the Creator’s plan? One of them, quite visible to us, is the common earthworm (also called night crawler, fishworm or angleworm). Uncountable millions of them are constantly at work, eating their way through soil and returning to the surface again and again for leaves, grass and other litter they take into their burrows for disposal.

Earthworms are just part of the visible crew. Lizards, mice, squirrels and other small animals do their part, as well as beetles and limitless other insects, some visible and some invisible, all taking part in the endless job of breaking down the litter of fallen leaves, dead trees and decaying material. As they eat this, it passes through their digestive systems, becoming rich fertilizer that feeds the roots of existing vegetation as well as seeds just sprouting. Mushrooms and toadstools also have part in the process.

If we could weigh all the leaves that drop on one acre in one year, they would weigh over a ton! Interestingly, the leaves that fall to the ground in tropical rain forests would weigh three times that much! What becomes of all these when it’s time for new leaves to appear? Through the effects of sunshine, rain and snow, combined with the work of the “janitors,” it takes about two years for these to be changed into rich, soft soil. In evergreen forests of pine, fir and cedar, it takes nearly twice as long, but these become new soil in the same way.

When the Creator placed trees and vegetation on the earth on the third day of His new creation, He knew exactly what it would need, and in His wisdom all this “janitorial” force was created to handle it. This brings to mind the Bible verse, “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).

Because of all these silent helpers, nothing is ever wasted in the wonderland of God’s creation, our marvelous earth. How wonderful that we can know Him not only as our Creator, but also as our loving Saviour. Do you know Him both ways?

ML-02/03/2013

The Man Who Was Dishonest

The rich man really did not have time to look after his own business. There was just too much for one man to keep track of. He had plenty of money, and he was ready to share with others—at a price. He was rich, and he wanted to stay rich.

Now here’s a secret. There is one kind of riches that you can freely share or give away or pour out, and you will still have more than you had before! Wait until you read the story, and you will find what kind of riches that could be.

This rich man looked for a smart man, called a “steward,” who could manage his business money since he didn’t have the time, and he found one. Yes, the steward he hired was a very smart man. You see, the steward wanted to be rich too, and he was smart enough to find ways of cheating his master and filling his own pockets. He had smart ideas, no doubt, but his master found out that the steward was cheating him, and he fired the steward from his job.

What could the steward do now? He had two choices: get hired as a ditch digger or beg for money on the streets. Now the man knew ditch digging was hard work, and he also knew he wasn’t strong enough for that kind of work. His other choice wouldn’t work either, because he was too proud to beg for money. But he was still a smart man, and he thought up another plan.

He knew where the bills were kept of people who owed money or something else to his master, and he found the bill for customer number 1.

How much do you owe my master? he asked the first customer.

A hundred measures of oil, was the answer.

Sit down quickly and write fifty, he said.

Do you think you can fool God that way? Can you tell God that you are a sinner, but not a very bad sinner? Would you tell Him that you are only half-bad, and maybe your good deeds can make up for that somehow? There is no use to try, because God knows the details of your life perfectly!

Then the man talked to customer number 2 about his bill.

How much do you owe? he asked.

One hundred measures of wheat, was the answer.

Sit down quickly and write eighty.

He seemed to be in a hurry, but the master knew all about it. Smart man! said the master, but the steward still lost his job.

Yes, he was a smart man. And maybe you have tried tricks like that to make money or to show people how smart you are. Then nobody will know what you are like at home.

What was so smart about what this man did? Just this—he knew trouble was coming, and he felt he was smart enough to deal with it.

What’s coming in your life? If you are a real believer, you don’t need to wonder what’s coming, because no matter what, you KNOW that you are going to spend eternity with the Lord Jesus—one of the true riches from Him.

Are you one of the children of “light” or one of the children of this world? If you are a child of this world, then to prepare for an honest future here in this world is probably the best thing you can do.

But if you are a child of “light,” let the world see that your hope and your home are beyond this world altogether. A life spent for Jesus is never wasted, and there is a reward for this—another of the riches He promises. Work for Him, study your Bible and learn from other Christians who are studying their Bibles too. This will help you to always do your daily job honestly for God’s glory.

“In whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace” (Ephesians 1:7).

You may read the story of the dishonest steward in Luke 16:1-13.

MEMORY VERSE: “In whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace.” Ephesians 1:7

ML-02/10/2013

Following Closely

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 must have come 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-02/10/2013

The Wonders of God's Creation: Nature's Janitors - Part 2

“Yea, the darkness hideth not from Thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to Thee.” Psalm 139:12

Many industries produce what is called “toxic waste.” This material is harmful to any soil and water it comes in contact with. Many parts of nature also produce waste products, but they are helpful rather than harmful. In fact, the Creator’s design in what we call “nature” is that nothing is ever actually wasted. As trees, grass and other vegetation die, their very death is the first step in renewing life in the forest.

Last week we learned of some of the visible things—weather and creatures—that help dispose of the forest’s litter and convert it to good soil to nourish old and new growth. But even more important are the invisible ones that work along with them. These are the bacteria that take over when the work of the others is completed. Many billions of bacteria, too small to be seen without a microscope, are always present to do their part in the process of breaking down the waste products of field and forest.

These organisms not only eat and secrete the material already partly decomposed by the great “janitorial” armies of insects and animals, but in some instances they work ahead of these, preparing the material for them. We see the effect of these organisms in a piece of fruit with a brown, soft spot. Bacteria are already working there, and insects, birds or animals may finish it off.

Almost all of these “janitors” in the soil are too tiny to be seen by the naked eye, and no one but the Creator knows for sure how many different kinds there are. We do know there are countless billions of them, and all are a part of God’s wonderful design of creation.

All this activity is going on night and day, and few people are even aware of it. But God is not only aware of it, but also He is the One who has made them and given them their important place in this vast worldwide system, and He sees them as they do their work.

As we think of this amazing activity and how that which has died becomes new life again, we see a remarkable picture of the person who has trusted in the Lord Jesus as his Saviour, and how the Bible says this person has “passed from death unto life” (John 5:24). Another Bible verse explains more about this person: “If any man [or woman or boy or girl] be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17).

These happy people enjoy entirely new lives in the sight of God, a life that will be theirs for eternity. Are you one of these changed people who has new life?

ML-02/10/2013

How Do You Catch a Snapping Turtle?

Dear Children,

Our great granddaughter, Makayla, had just gotten home from school and was sitting at the kitchen table eating a snack. Looking out the big kitchen window, she saw something in the yard inching towards the pond. She called out, “Mom, there’s a big cat in our yard out by the pond! Look!”

And so her mother came to see this cat. But as she watched it, she realized it was moving so slowly that she didn’t think it could be a cat unless it was ready to pounce on something. Not seeing anything else, she decided, no, it wasn’t a cat. It was a huge snapping turtle!

Makayla ran out the front door to tell her brother Justin and his two school friends, Scott and Jeremy. They had been shooting hoops in the driveway, but she sure got their attention! The boys took off to see this monster turtle, taking hockey sticks with them ... maybe for protection! Everybody knows you don’t fool around with a snapping turtle.

It only took a minute or two until they were close to the snapper. What would they do now?

Now a snapping turtle is very smart. It does not move very fast, but its head can dart out, much like a snake, and its jaws are like a vise and will not let go! It will lie very still underwater, about eight to twelve inches below the surface. Then when a fish or frog or baby duck swims past, out darts its head, and “SNAP!” The snapper gets it and never misses!

Boys and girls, this turtle reminds us of our enemy Satan.

You may ask, “Why is that, Grampa?”

Think about when you are in a store and you see something you want but you don’t have enough money to pay for it. Satan will whisper to you, “Go ahead and steal it.” If you steal it, you have just broken God’s commandment, “Thou shalt not steal” (Exodus 20:15). Stealing is sin.

Then someone finds out about it, and Satan whispers to you to lie about it. So you say, “I didn’t steal it!” Now telling a lie is also sin. Then you start to use bad language, which is also sin. That’s three sins right in a row!

Boys and girls, it only takes one sin to keep you out of heaven! But I want to tell you right now that God has made a way to have our sins forgiven so that we can go to heaven rather than spend eternity with Satan in that terrible place called hell. If you have a Bible, read 1 John 1:7: “The blood of Jesus Christ [God’s] Son cleanseth us from all sin.” If you will tell the Lord Jesus that you are sorry for your sins and want Him to wash them all away, He will do that immediately and make you one of His very own children. Then when Satan bothers you, trying to make you do something bad, you can ask the Lord Jesus to help you do what’s right. “The Lord is my helper” (Hebrews 13:6). Asking the Lord Jesus to help you is the only way to overpower Satan.

Now, how were Justin, Scott, Jeremy and Makayla going to overpower that big snapping turtle and get it out of the yard and away from their pond? The children’s dad soon arrived home from work and came to the rescue. They found a very large tub and rolled the turtle into it. Then they tied a rope around the tub and pulled it over to their van and lifted it in. Everyone climbed into the van for the ride over to the river where they let it go. That snapper was one happy turtle! And everyone was happy to see it swim out into the river.

We like happy endings, and that was a happy ending for everyone, including the turtle. And Jesus wants you to have a happy ending with Him in heaven.

Lots of love from Grampa and Gramma

MEMORY VERSE: “The Lord is my helper.” Hebrews 13:6

ML-02/17/2013

Fun in the Glen

The glen was a place where a small creek flowed between the hills near where I lived. As a boy I loved to go there, either by myself or with a friend. We would slide down the steep bank, holding on to roots or small trees to keep ourselves from falling into the creek. In the spring after a rain, the creek would be full and running fast, but in the summer, parts of the creek would dry up completely.

There is no end to the fun a creek can provide for children. One of the best things we did was to find a fallen tree across the creek and then try to walk across it without falling in. Another was to cross the creek, stepping from stone to stone without getting wet. Every bend of the creek was different. At some places there were little waterfalls. At other places there were quiet pools of water that had minnows in them and fast-moving water bugs that skimmed across the surface of the water. We found salamanders hidden under the rocks that were everywhere along the streambed. We also found animal tracks where deer came to drink and raccoons came to wash their food.

Who designed this beautiful playground? God did! It tells us in the Bible that “He [cuts] out rivers among the rocks; and His eye [sees] every precious thing” (Job 28:10). Even though sin has left its awful marks on God’s wonderful creation, we can still see enough beauty to know that He is a mighty and wonderful God. And when we remember that we ourselves are part of His creation, then we remember that we are accountable to Him. God has not only given us all of creation to enjoy, but He has also given us His Word, the Bible, that we might know Him—as the Creator and also as a loving Father.

Have you read in the Bible about the special gift He has for you? You will find it in Romans 6:23 and also Ephesians 2:8-9.

ML-02/17/2013

The Wonders of God's Creation: About Human Hair

“The very hairs of your head are all numbered.” Matthew 10:30

This verse reminds us that God knows not only our hearts and thoughts but everything else about us too. How many hairs do you think you have on your head? You probably have about 100,000. Blond people usually have more, and redheads have less.

If you could look at a strand of hair under a strong microscope, it would look like a tightly packed tiny rope covered with fish-like scales. A cross section of the hair would show two layers surrounding a central core. The outside layer is called the cuticle. The second layer, making up 85% of the thickness, is called the cortex and is made up of the cells that provide color and sheen. The inner core is called the medulla. The whole hair structure that we see is called the shaft.

This shaft starts to grow in a bulb-like growth, known as a follicle, just underneath the skin of the scalp. The bottom part of the follicle holds the papilla, which contains an artery that nourishes the root of the hair.

As the shaft grows, it pushes upward. It is made up of dead cells that are forced up as new, living cells are formed in the follicle. In about ten weeks, an inch of this hair appears, and in an average lifetime about twenty-five feet of hair will have grown. Even though it is dead, each shaft (strand) keeps its shape and luster, because of an oily lubricant secreted by the follicle.

Nutritious food helps your hair, but worry, stress and strain hurt it and may cause some hair loss. It is quite normal to lose as many as 75 to 100 hairs a day. The follicles will send out new replacements.

Analysis of hair can show whether the body is getting the right amount of minerals, such as iron, copper, chromium and zinc, which God has wisely provided in certain foods. Laboratory tests show how much of each mineral is present, although, because of the hair’s slow growth, only the condition of a few months back will be revealed. Aside from this, most medical authorities question whether any disease can be determined through the hair.

Baldness and graying are the result of aging. High fever, drugs or serious illness may also cause baldness, but most bald people inherit the tendency from their parents.

How about straight or curly hair? Round strands make straight hair; oval strands become wavy hair; flat strands make kinky hair. But there are many variations of this.

Like all parts of the body, the hair on our heads is one more wonderful work of God’s creation. Incidentally, the Bible encourages long hair for a girl or a woman but speaks of long hair on a boy or a man as “a shame unto him” (1 Corinthians 11:14-15). It’s something to think about if we want to please the Lord. A good verse to remember is, “Them that honor Me I will honor” (1 Samuel 2:30).

ML-02/17/2013

Caught Cheating!

This was the day for the test. Mrs. Walker’s 6th grade class had been studying the fourteen possessive pronouns, knowing they would be tested on them at the end of the week. Here’s what the list looks like: my, mine, your, yours, his, her, hers, its, our, ours, your, yours, their and theirs. They were suppose to memorize them—not a hard job. Now it was Friday.

After having told the class that all books and papers must be placed inside their desks, Mrs. Walker passed out the test papers. They had two minutes to write down the fourteen words—easy if you had memorized them. But as she looked around the room, she saw that around Tom’s desk there were books and papers still on the floor. She walked back to his desk and asked him to put all that stuff into his desk, which he did.

As she remained standing near Tom’s desk, she noticed that he wrote his test answers with his right hand but kept his left hand in his lap. That’s an awkward way to write, and he was having a little difficulty writing that way. He got only a few pronouns written down in the two minutes.

When the time was up, the students had to pass their papers to the front. But before Mrs. Walker went to the front to collect the papers, she asked Tom to show her his left hand. There on the back of his hand he had written in ink all fourteen personal pronouns! He was going to copy them from his hand onto his test paper, but he couldn’t because Mrs. Walker was standing close by and would see what he was doing. You can probably guess what his score was on the test—zero. He failed it.

Tom was in trouble, and he knew what he had done was wrong. He has Christian parents who have taught their children right and wrong and what sin is. I wonder if Tom has learned the verse, “Be sure your sin will find you out” (Numbers 32:23). It is a warning to all of us about sins we try to hide.

Tom hoped Mrs. Walker wouldn’t tell his mom and dad what he had done, because he knew he would be punished if they found out. However, it was Mrs. Walker’s responsibility as his teacher to report it to his parents. She sent a computer e-mail to them that afternoon, telling them that Tom had tried to cheat on the test. Along with it she sent proof. She had taken a picture of Tom’s left hand with her cell phone and included the picture in the e-mail. Yes, Tom was in BIG trouble, not only at school, but at home too.

Mrs. Walker wasn’t the only one who wrote a report about Tom’s cheating. God also wrote it in His record book of Tom’s life. What about the rest of us who have probably cheated in one way or another, along with committing all kinds of other sins? God keeps a record book of each of our lives. He sees everything we do, good and bad: “[God’s] eyes are upon the ways of man, and He [sees] all his goings” (Job 34:21). Another verse tells us the results of our sins: “The wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23).

But thankfully, God has given us good news. He loves us very much, and He sent His Son Jesus into this world purposely to save us from our sins: “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners” (1 Timothy 1:15). He offers forgiveness for the sins of any person, young or old, who will admit his or her sin and believe that Jesus died on the cross to wash away those sins.

If you will believe and accept Jesus as your Saviour, He says to you, “I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and, as a cloud, thy sins” (Isaiah 44:22). More good news—He promises that a place will be reserved for you in heaven.

What are you waiting for?

MEMORY VERSE: “His eyes are upon the ways of man, and He seeth all his goings” (Job 34:21).

ML-02/24/2013

Feeding the Elephants

Al had always been interested in elephants. Every chance he got he’d go to visit them. He knew they loved to eat fresh lettuce, so one day he bought a big bag full of heads of lettuce and took it to the elephants.

All the elephants crowded over to the side of their enclosure where Al was breaking up the heads. They began to stretch their long, flexible trunks through the bars, but they couldn’t quite reach the lettuce. Before Al had it all ready, he was very much surprised to feel a big load of loose hay fall right on his head from the trunk of one of the elephants.

“Hey, what’s that elephant doing?” Al asked the elephants’ trainer.

The trainer laughed and answered, “She likes the looks of your lettuce and is offering you some of her hay in exchange for it.”

Now, that was very nice of the elephant. She may have thought that Al would be able to eat the hay just as she did. But he had brought a treat for the elephants, so he brushed off the hay and fed them the lettuce. They quickly gobbled it up.

Al appreciated the elephant’s offer, but he hadn’t asked for the hay and he couldn’t use it. When people think they can offer God the exchange of the good and kind things they have done to cancel their sins, they are acting like this elephant. The exchange won’t work. One day the psalmist asked himself, “What shall I render [give] unto the Lord for all His benefits toward me?” (Psalm 116:12). Then he thought that over and decided that he had nothing that was good enough to be a suitable gift for our wonderful and holy God, so he said, “I will take the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the Lord” (vs. 13). That’s what God wants each one of us to do: take what He is offering. Only the Lord Jesus’ work on Calvary’s cross can cancel our sins, because even our best works are contaminated with sin. Isaiah 64:6 tells us, “We are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags.”

Our God is a giving God, and He wants us to take His offer to cancel our sins through the death of the Lord Jesus on the cross. “The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin” (1 John 1:7). Will you just take God’s offer?

ML-02/24/2013

The Wonders of God's Creation: Is It Really Sunrise?

“By the word of the Lord were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of His mouth.” Psalm 33:6

We say the sun is rising and setting, but is this really correct? It wasn’t so far back in history when people thought the world was flat, and they were afraid to go in boats on the ocean for fear they would fall off the edge! Many thought the earth was the center of the universe and that all the stars, including the sun, traveled around it.

Now we know the earth is round, and by its revolving every 24 hours, the sun comes into view in the morning and disappears at night. Actually, it isn’t sunrise and sunset after all, but what might be more accurate would be “earthrise” and “earthset.” We also now know that the earth is not the center of everything but just a speck in God’s universe.

Perhaps you have thought that the stars only “come out” at night. Actually they are there day and night and don’t actually “come out.” Of course, we only see them at night when the brightness of the sun and city lights are gone and when there are no clouds to block the view.

When looking into a starry sky, you might think that they are very close together. Yet, astronomers know that most of them are trillions of miles apart. No one but the Creator knows the actual number of stars, but it is estimated there are more than 100 sextillion (100,000,000,000,000,000,000,000)! Man’s mind cannot begin to understand such numbers, but the Bible tells us, “He [the Lord] telleth the number of the stars; He calleth them all by their names” (Psalm 147:4). Compared to the billions of stars, our earth is very small. The diameter of the sun is 100 times greater than the earth, and yet one of the really great stars, Antares, is 330 times larger than the sun! It is so huge that, if it were hollow, most of our solar system could orbit inside Antares! The sun is the nearest star to us—93 million miles away. The next nearest is Proxima Centauri, 25 trillion miles away. If you could travel 1000 miles per second, it would take 790 years to reach Proxima Centauri.

Yet, in spite of our smallness in God’s vast universe, it was on this planet that we call Earth, and in no other place, that He placed man and other forms of life. And it was to this world, when men rebelled against their Creator, that God sent His beloved Son to die on Calvary’s cross. There He was punished for the sins of those who would accept Him as their Saviour. Now, because of what He has done, those who know Him as their Saviour have forgiveness for their sins and the wonderful gift of everlasting life in the splendor of heaven.

ML-02/24/2013

The Gypsy Boy

Gypsies are groups of families who roam the country in caravans. In years past, each family had a horse-drawn wagon with a little shelter built on top. At night the wagons grouped together in temporary camps, and each family set up a tent. Sometimes they stayed in one place for a number of days before moving on to another location.

Those of you boys and girls who go to Sunday school have probably sung the song about the Gypsy boy. It’s a favorite for many children. Here is the true story of that song. A preacher of the wonderful story of Jesus and His love told of his experience. It took place in England.

“Passing near a Gypsy camp, I went in among them. Some of the men were metalworkers, and I bought some of the skewers they were making.

“I learned that one of their children was sick, and I asked if I would be allowed to see him. The father asked if I wanted to talk religion to him. I said, ‘No.’ Then he asked what I wanted to talk to the boy about, and I said, ‘About Christ.’ Then the father said I could go talk to him but warned me that if I talked religion, he would set his dog on me.

“I found the boy alone and in bed. His eyes were closed, and he looked very sick and near death. Very slowly, I repeated this Bible verse in his ear: ‘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). I repeated it five times, but the boy did not seem to hear. When I repeated the verse the sixth time, he opened his eyes and smiled. Then, to my delight, he whispered, ‘And I never thanked Him! But nobody ever told me! I ‘turn Him many thanks. Only a poor Gypsy chap! I see! I thank Him kindly!’

“He closed his eyes with an expression of happiness. As I knelt beside him, I thanked God. His lips moved again, and I heard him say, ‘That’s it.’ There were more words, but I could not hear them.

“On going back the next day, I found that the dear boy had died eleven hours after I left. His father said he had been very ‘peaceable’ and died a ‘tidy death.’

“There were no Bibles or Testaments in the camp. I left one of each. The sad father wished me ‘good luck’ and gave me a little bundle of skewers the boy, Jimmy, had made.”

This was the first time that Jimmy had ever heard of God’s loving offer of salvation, and by faith he took God at His word. In his last hours of life, Jimmy thanked God that He so loved the world that He gave His Son for him— “a poor Gypsy chap.” In eleven short hours he exchanged the rickety Gypsy caravan for Jesus and heaven!

Boys and girls, how many times have you heard the story of God’s loving offer of salvation? Jimmy heard it just once and believed it. What about you?

Into a tent where a Gypsy boy lay,

Dying alone, at the close of the day,

News of salvation we carried. Said he,

“Nobody ever has told it to me!”

Tell it again! Tell it again!

Salvation’s story repeat o’er and o’er

Till none can say of the children of men,

“Nobody ever has told me before!”

“Did He so love me, a poor little boy?

Send unto me the good tidings of joy?

Need I not perish? My hand will He hold?

Nobody ever the story has told!”

Bending, we caught the last words of his breath,

Just as he entered the valley of death:

“God sent His Son! —Whosoever!” said he;

“Then I am sure that He sent Him for me!”

Smiling he said, as his last sigh was spent,

“I am so glad that for me He was sent!”

Whispered, while low sank the sun in the west:

“Lord, I believe! Tell it now to the rest.”

MEMORY VERSE: “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

ML-03/03/2013

The Sons of Jacob

Can you unscramble the names of Jacob’s twelve sons? The capital letter in each scrambled name is the first letter. If you need some help with the spelling, turn to Genesis 35:23-26 in your Bible.

beenRu _ _ _ _ _ _

omSeni _ _ _ _ _ _

Liev _ _ _ _

duhaJ _ _ _ _ _

ssaaIchr _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Zuluneb _ _ _ _ _ _ _

phesoJ _ _ _ _ _ _

jamBnien _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

anD _ _ _

phaNilat _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

aGd _ _ _

sheAr _ _ _ _ _

ML-03/03/2013

The Wonders of God's Creation: Have Some Maple Syrup!

“The tree of the field shall yield her fruit, and the earth shall yield her increase.” Ezekiel 34:27

Where does maple syrup come from and where did it get its name? Most of it comes from areas in eastern Canada and the northeastern United States. These are places where winters are cold and the hardy sugar maple trees grow. Since the syrup is made from the sap of maple trees, that is how it got the name of maple syrup.

Sugar maple trees are the greatest source of maple syrup. Black maple and red maple trees are also sources, although it can be made from other maple species too. The province of Quebec is the largest producer in Canada and also the largest producer in the world, and the state of Vermont is the largest producer in the United States.

Many natural groves of these valuable trees, called “sugar bushes,” are as much as a hundred years old and all are the handiwork of the Creator and not planted by men. The Indians long ago discovered how to get the sweet sap from the trees and were kind enough to help the early pioneers learn how it is done. For many years they had cut sharp holes at various places through the bark. The rich, sweet sap would promptly flow down the tree trunk into wooden or deerskin buckets tied under the holes. This is essentially what has been done ever since, only now more modern equipment is used.

The sap is still collected at the start of the spring thaw, often while deep snow is still on the ground. This is when the days become warmer but the nights are still cold. This daily rise and fall in temperature starts the sap flowing in the trees.

How is the sap collected? Workers bore a hole about 3 inches deep into the tree trunk about 3-1/2 to 4 feet above the ground. Then they hammer a small metal spout into the hole. A bucket hangs from the spout to collect the sap that drips out of the hole.

Buckets full of the collected sap are taken to a “sugarhouse” where it is boiled until most of the water in the sap evaporates. Pure maple syrup remains, and this is packed in glass or metal containers and shipped to points all over North America, as well as exported to other countries.

Sad to say, something is causing many of these groves of maple trees to die. Let’s hope they will find a way to save them, so we won’t have to eat our pancakes and waffles in the future without that delicious maple syrup!

These trees didn’t “just happen.” As the opening Bible verse tells us, they are a visible part of God’s wonderful creation in which He took much pleasure, as we are told in Revelation 4:11: “Thou hast created all things, and for Thy pleasure they are and were created.”

ML-03/03/2013

Who Made the Right Decision?

Abraham had a very dear nephew named Lot, and both of them were very rich. They didn’t have big houses and lots of money in the bank, but they had lots of cows and sheep and goats. And like many people in early Bible times, both families lived in tents.

You may know that cows, sheep and goats eat huge amounts of grass. You need to have fields and fields of pasture and wells of water to keep them all healthy. It isn’t any surprise that the shepherds caring for Abraham and Lot’s herds and flocks began to quarrel with each other about fields for their animals. Abraham and Lot wondered what they should do about the problem. They decided they had better go different ways.

You choose which way you want to go, said Abraham. Will you go to the right or to the left? Then we’ll both have room for our animals.

What would you do if you had a decision to make like that? Lot had a family, and he should think about what would be good for his children.

How would you go about making a choice? The best thing to do is to get down on your knees and pray, asking the Lord what choice to make. Tell Him that your children are far more important than your animals. Children go to heaven or hell, but animals don’t go anywhere. “Lord, what shall I do?”

Lot looked at the rich green fields towards the city of Sodom and quickly made up his mind. Good pasture ... I’ll be richer than rich! That’s my choice. So Lot pitched his tent toward Sodom, and soon he settled right in the city, which was wicked and sinful. The men of Sodom were glad to have an honest man living there.

And then came trouble. Enemies came to fight that city, and they took Lot prisoner along with many others.

Someone told this upsetting news to Abraham. He armed his 318 trained servants, and they went after the enemy and rescued Lot and all the others, as well as the goods. By now Lot should have seen that living in Sodom put him and his family in bad company.

But Lot didn’t see it that way. Sodom was a good place to become rich and be important. It seems that he never thought of leaving that wicked city. Why should he leave when business was so good?

Then Melchisedec, the king of Salem, came to meet Abraham. He was the priest of the Most High God. He brought bread and wine to refresh Abraham and blessed him, telling him that the Most High God delivered his enemies into his hand. Then Abraham gave Melchisedec a tenth of all he had won in the battle with the enemy.

The blessing from Melchisedec was such a joy to Abraham that when the king of Sodom wanted to reward him for rescuing the people, he said, No, I won’t take anything from you. I don’t want you to say, “I have made Abraham rich.” Let the others take their share, but not me. I’m rich enough.

What a wonderful answer! You can’t answer like that if you have not received blessing from God first. Then you can say “No” to whatever the world tries to offer you.

Who do you think made the right decision—Abraham or Lot? If you know the Lord Jesus as your Saviour, you’ll agree that Abraham made the right decision. He received blessing from the priest of the Most High God and didn’t care about becoming richer. If you don’t know the Lord Jesus as your Saviour, you’ll think that Lot made the right decision to get richer by living in Sodom, even though it was a wicked and sinful city and a harmful place to raise his children.

“Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Matthew 6:21).

You may read this story for yourself in Genesis, chapters 13 and 14.

MEMORY VERSE: “Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” Matthew 6:21

ML-03/10/2013

Unwelcome Visitors

It was around eleven o’clock at night. There was a very loud thump, and then cans were rattling on our back patio.

We switched on the light, and there were three busy raccoons trying to empty our garbage can! In fact, they had managed to get the garbage can lid off and had tipped the can over. They weren’t one bit ashamed about what they were doing, even though the light was shining on them. They didn’t turn and run. They just went on pulling out the plastic bags and tearing them apart when something smelled like food.

You know, boys and girls, those raccoons were acting very much like us. The raccoons didn’t care that the garbage can had a lid on it to keep them out. That didn’t stop them. And sometimes we see our school friends or other friends taking things that don’t belong to them, and they don’t seem to care. Even when they know it is wrong, that doesn’t stop them. And maybe you have taken something that doesn’t belong to you, even when you know it is wrong or without permission. Every one of us is guilty of taking something that didn’t belong to us. We need to always remember that God calls it stealing, and stealing is sin. He tells us, “Let him that stole steal no more” (Ephesians 4:28). Every day we need to ask the Lord Jesus to help us to do what is right and what will please Him.

ML-03/10/2013

The Wonders of God's Creation: The Ungainly Hyena

“Neither is there any creature that is not [visible] in His sight: but all things are naked and opened nto the eyes of Him with whom we have to do.” Hebrews 4:13

There are many hyenas throughout Africa. The largest is the one with the fiendish howl that sounds like a hysterical human laugh. It is known as the spotted or laughing hyena. It is about 6 feet long and weighs around 150 pounds.

The hyena is an unattractive animal, having yellowish-brown, coarse hair with black spots. Its short head with big, erect ears is large in proportion to its body. Its long, thick neck, muscular shoulders and long, muscular front legs make the front of its body larger and much stronger than the back, which tapers down on shorter hind legs to a stubby tail.

Other species of hyenas include the brown and the striped hyenas. Both are somewhat smaller than the spotted. Aside from their differences in appearance, they all have much in common. No other animal on earth has such powerful jaws and strong teeth that can quickly tear flesh and crush bones. They can crush bones as thick as baseball bats as easily as you would break a stick of peppermint candy. They are all scavengers, and their food preference is a dead animal that has started to decay. If they find jackals, cheetahs or other small predators eating an animal they have killed, the hyenas will chase them away and steal the carcass. However, they will not attempt to chase away lions, because the lions would kill them instead.

In the hottest season, which often reaches 120 degrees in the shade, most of the big game migrates elsewhere, so the hyenas have to be satisfied with catching hares, rodents, snakes and birds. During such dry spells with no water around, the only moisture they usually get is from their freshly killed prey. Sometimes, however, they find a patch of wild melons to quench their thirst.

Some may question what purpose hyenas serve in God’s creation. Like the vultures that often quarrel with them over a dead animal, they perform an important service in disposing of decaying flesh that spreads disease. This is part of God’s way in having His creation take care of a serious problem.

However, the services of hyenas will not always be needed. Speaking of a future time, the Bible says, “Behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind” (Isaiah 65:17). This refers to the coming time after those who are saved through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ have been taken to heaven, and judgment later falls on the rest of the world. Following those events, the world will be made perfect again, and no sin shall exist. Will you be among those in heaven looking down on this lovely and peaceful scene?

ML-03/10/2013

A Traveling Kitten

A kitten, a few months old, somehow found its way into a shipping container, which is a very large container that gets stacked up on the decks of giant freight ships. We can only guess how the kitten got inside, but when the big steel door closed on the container, the kitten was in complete darkness and without food and water. The kitten likely meowed loudly for help, but through the steel walls of the container, no one would have been able to hear the frightened kitten meowing.

A large, powerful crane lifted the container onto the freight ship, and soon it left the Chinese harbor to cross the Pacific Ocean to North America. Traveling day and night, the journey would take three weeks. That is a long time for a kitten to be trapped in darkness without food and water, and the kitten became very weak and ill.

Living in darkness is to live in a world of loneliness and sadness. A person can live in the sunshine of this world and still have darkness deep inside the soul. In his soul’s darkness, he can only stumble and grope about, hoping to find a little happiness in what this world offers. The soul’s darkness comes from not knowing the Lord Jesus Christ who is the light of the world. “I am the light of the world,” the Lord Jesus said. “He that [follows] Me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life” (John 8:12).

When dockworkers in the United States opened the container for inspection, to their surprise they found a barely alive little kitten. The poor thing was only skin and bones. One dockworker saw that something was wrong with the kitten’s eyes. He moved his fingers in front of its eyes as a test and realized the kitten had gone blind. He also saw that it was too weak to stand on its feet.

The dockworker felt sorry for the kitten and took it to an animal doctor’s office. The doctor decided to make every effort to save the kitten’s life. She washed its fur, put drops of medicine in its eyes, fed it milk with an eyedropper, and kept it warm and cozy. The kitten quickly started to recover. After a week of this loving care, the kitten improved quite a bit. Its eyesight returned, and with good food it was putting on a little weight and began filling out.

The kitten’s improvement is happy news, but when it was locked in the container, meowing for help, no help came for three weeks. When boys or girls or grown-ups realize they are in sin’s darkness and call out in faith to God, He will be there to help them immediately! “Whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Acts 2:21). God does not disappoint a call in faith, and that is happy news for each one of us.

The kitten still hasn’t been able to stand on its feet and walk, but the doctor feels it is just a matter of time before the kitten will be walking again. It can move around a little by rolling over. Since the kitten came from China, the animal doctor named the tiny kitten “Ni Hao,” which means “hello” in Chinese.

When the story got out of how Ni Hao survived three weeks at sea without food and water, many families offered to give the little traveler a home. Once the doctor says the kitten is healthy again, it will have a good home to go to.

We are all travelers to eternity. Those who have come to love the Lord Jesus Christ are traveling towards heaven to spend eternity with Him where there will be fullness of joy. There’s no darkness there and only happiness forever. However, those who refuse the Saviour’s love and grace are traveling to an eternity of darkness where there will be “weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 22:13). Be wise and by faith take the Lord Jesus as your Saviour. Then you will escape sin’s darkness and terror and come into His wonderful truth and light.

MEMORY VERSE: “I am the light of the world: he that followeth Me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life” (John 8:12).

ML-03/17/2013

Purple Crayons

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 red 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 punishment 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-03/17/2013

The Wonders of God's Creation: Bristletails, Silverfish and Firebrats

“God created great whales.... And God made ... everything that creepeth upon the earth.” Genesis 1:21, 25

In those marvelous days of creation, God made everything from great whales to the smallest creeping insects. All creation was perfect until sin came into the world through Adam’s disobedience. Since then everything has suffered, including the insects living today, and God had to tell His people, “Every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth shall be an abomination [unpleasant]” (Leviticus 11:41).

This did not mean that God would not continue to care for these insects, for He does every moment, but they would be types of Satan’s unpleasant hidden and evil ways.

Throughout the world there are billions of insects, such as termites, ants, mosquitoes and flies, that for various reasons we naturally don’t like. There are also some that God has made helpful to mankind, such as honeybees, ladybugs, the praying mantis and others. These He has made an exception, and they are not called “an abomination.”

However, the three in our title do much harm and are very clever at hiding themselves while they do their destructive work. They are good examples of Satan and his unpleasant, evil ways. The bristletail is one of these, another is the silverfish, and the third is called the firebrat, because it hides in warm places behind a stove or furnace. These three are so similar in appearance that they are hard to tell apart. They have no wings, but their scaly, one-half-inch-long bodies have six legs and two bristle-like extensions in front. All of them have unusual appetites.

For instance, the bristletail eats the paste used to stick wallpaper to a wall. Finding a loose spot, it crawls inside and, if not discovered soon enough, over a period of time gobbles up so much paste that the wallpaper just hangs loosely or may even fall to the floor.

The silverfish (not related to a fish in any way) likes to eat the glue used in binding books. Oh, how they love chewing up the glue until the book falls apart! Because starch is also a special treat to them, clothing with starch can be damaged.

Firebrats feed on carbohydrates and starches that also have protein sources—dog food, flour and book bindings. They prefer higher temperatures and can be found near boilers or furnaces.

But none of them is choosy and each kind seems to find its way to shelves, drawers, or closets where clothes and books are soon damaged.

All three of these pests are reminders that the evil things, which Satan tempts us with, are seldom out in the open and cause much harm when we do not guard against them. Psalm 16:1 tells us our best protection from Satan’s evil ways: “Preserve me, O God: for in Thee do I put my trust.” When you make this a truly honest prayer, God will always help you.

ML-03/17/2013

Who Saved More Lives Than Any Other Person?

Who would you say is the most important person who ever lived? Some of you would say, “My mom is.” Maybe you would answer, “My dad.” Those are both good answers.

Let me tell you about an important man. His name is Edward Jenner, and he saved many lives when he lived about two hundred years ago.

He was a family doctor and surgeon who realized that vaccinations could save lives. What is a vaccination? Do you remember when the nurse poked your arm with a needle so you wouldn’t get the flu or the measles? That’s a vaccination.

Dr. Jenner discovered how to save people from the smallpox disease. It was a disease that gave people little red spots on their body, and then they would die or go blind. It affected many, many children and some grown-ups too. In those days in Europe, 400,000 people died from that terrible sickness every year. That’s a lot of people! Dr. Jenner changed all that. Some people say that he saved more human lives than any other person in history. Imagine that!

Now I’m thinking about another important Man. He also lived a long time ago. With great love and care, He touched the sick lepers in Israel and healed them so they could come back to live with their families again. He gave eyesight to blind people. He raised the dead! That must have been amazing! His outstretched arms welcomed sick people, beggars, prisoners, children, mothers and fathers and others.

But he did a much greater work than any of this. Even though He was the Son of God from heaven, He allowed Himself to be taken outside the city walls of Jerusalem, and there He was crucified. It wasn’t a surprise. He had said it would happen. In fact, the prophets, five hundred years before, said it would happen. And so it did, just as the Bible said. His name was Jesus.

He was called “the Lamb of God.” Jesus was judged and rejected by the people, but on the cross He also took the blame for my sin. I did the sinning; He did the suffering. That is truly amazing! I can say with the Apostle Paul, “The Son of God, ... loved me, and gave Himself for me” (Galatians 2:20).

How many people’s souls has He saved? It must be a really huge number! Around the world, in every country and in every city we find people who love Him, because He saved them by washing them from their sins and changing their lives. For me, the Lord Jesus Christ is the most important person to have ever lived!

And don’t forget, He still lives. The resurrection of Jesus really did happen! And do you know what else is really amazing? The Bible says, “He is able also to save them [completely] that come unto God by Him” (Hebrews 7:25). You can come to the Lord Jesus Christ. He can save you and wash away your sins. And then your name will be added to that big number.

MEMORY VERSE: “The Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me.” Galatians 2:20

ML-03/24/2013

The Mockingbird

Have you ever heard a mockingbird sing? This bird got its name because of its ability to “mock” or imitate the sounds of other birds it hears. The mockingbird often changes from one song to another as it imitates different birds. One was reported to have imitated as many as thirty-two different songs in ten minutes! It seems there is almost no limit to the number of songs a mockingbird can imitate. Many are able to learn at least 180 songs in a few months—some learn many more. There are “mockers” who have been heard singing for an hour without repeating songs. God has given His creatures amazing abilities!

The meaning of the word imitate is to copy something or someone. Sometimes we are able to learn kind and helpful things by copying the good examples of others—imitating what they do. But sadly, sometimes we copy things that aren’t good. The mockingbird is so good at copying sounds that it can imitate the not-so-pleasant sounds of scolding squirrels, croaking frogs, insects and even screeching, rusty gates. And like the mockingbird, sometimes we copy things that are unpleasant. Have you ever done something mean or hurtful because you saw somebody else doing it? Maybe you have said a naughty word after you heard one of your friends say the word. Those are not good things to copy.

It is always right to imitate good manners that we hear and see others using. How pleasant it is to hear “please” and “thank you” being used and to see those who show care and kindness to their own family members, as well as to others.

If you love the Lord Jesus and have accepted Him as your very own Saviour, who do you imitate? And do you try to be a good example for other boys and girls who might imitate you? The Lord Jesus is the perfect example to copy—He never sinned, never spoke a wrong or unkind word and never fought back. God’s Word tells us how we can be good examples even when we are young: “Be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity” (1 Timothy 4:12).

The Lord Jesus gives us examples to copy in other Christians. We are to follow those who are living a life pleasing to Him in all ways. The Apostle Paul wrote, “Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ” (1 Corinthians 11:1). But the very best example to imitate is the Lord Jesus Himself. “Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children; and walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us” (Ephesians 5:1-2).

ML-03/24/2013

The Wonders of God's Creation: The Ant Lion

“Your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.” 1 Peter 5:8

The ant lion looks like a large dragonfly when fully grown. The name “ant lion” comes from its activity in its larval stage. As a larva, it eats mostly ants. An ant caught in its jaws will not be able to escape, because the ant lion has strong jaws, which are the largest part of its body.

The ant lion has an interesting way of catching ants. It digs a cone-shaped pit about two inches deep in sand or loose soil. It buries itself at the bottom of the pit, leaving only its jaws and part of its head exposed.

An ant coming to this pit is curious and goes to the edge to look inside. On the rim it loses its footing in the loose sand and falls down the steep side. It tries to climb back up the sides many times, but the surface is too loose and it finally slides to the bottom. The ant lion quickly grabs it in its sickle-shaped jaws and eats it. The ant lion sometimes attracts ants to the pit by throwing sand or little pieces of gravel into the air.

We might wonder how this little creature knows how to build its trap and how to attract its victims. The larva knows how to do this just as soon as it hatches, without having had a lesson. This is another example of an instinct given by the Creator to enable His creatures to survive through immature periods of their lives.

The ant lion’s methods remind us of our great enemy, Satan, who has many traps set to catch us. One of these is a natural curiosity on our part to want to explore things of the world that only lead to sin and unhappiness. The Bible tells us that Satan is the god of this world, and we can never stand up against him in our own power.

However, there is One who is mightier than Satan, the Saviour of all who trust in Him. “Greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world” (1 John 4:4). He has provided an armor that allows us to stand against this wicked enemy. Those who know the Lord Jesus Christ as their Saviour are urged to “put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.” This armor includes the “shield of faith,” the “helmet of salvation,” and the “sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.” (See Ephesians 6:11-17.)

If you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ as your Saviour, you are a servant to sin and Satan. You can escape from his trap only by turning to Christ, confessing that you are a sinner, and accepting Him as your Lord and Saviour. You will find Him ready and able to release you from Satan’s grasp.

ML-03/24/2013

A Hungry Cougar!

The family had just pulled into a camping spot, and Lisa, Anne and Jon ran off to explore the new campground. It was their favorite kind of camping spot, among tall evergreens and near a rushing, ice-cold stream. They discovered trails through the underbrush as they made their way toward the inviting water.

For their vacation this summer, Dad had borrowed a camper, much to the children’s dismay. They preferred their old tent, camping out like real pioneers. However, the week so far had been fun exploring Vancouver Island’s wild, beautiful parks.

Anne and Jon had just arrived at the edge of the clear, rocky stream when their father called them back up to the campsite. They really didn’t want to go back yet, but they obeyed, after first finding their sister. Dad had learned from the ranger that there was a cougar in the campground! It had killed a small dog that morning, and the ranger feared that it might grab a young child next.

A cougar, also known as a mountain lion, is usually 5 to 6 feet long and weighs 100 to 150 pounds when fully grown. People rarely see it because it usually hides in the deep, wild forests during the day and hunts at night. This powerful animal silently stalks its prey, much as a housecat sneaks up on a bird or mouse. It pounces on its unfortunate victim, digging in with sharp claws and fangs, and dragging it down to the ground.

The cougar usually hunts deer, elk and mountain goats, and in the north it will hunt moose and caribou. But if it is very hungry, it will stalk smaller animals—even skunks and porcupines. Because the previous winter had been unusually cold and snowy, deer were scarce. This starving mountain lion had come down from the mountains to a populated area to hunt for smaller animals.

This frightening news of a cougar right in the campground caused the three children to scramble into the camper, glad for its sturdy walls to protect them.

Before long, a shot rang out in the forest nearby. Soon Anne, Jon and Lisa could see a small crowd gathering down the road. Hurrying over with Dad, they saw a young cougar, like a giant kitty cat, lying dead in the back of the ranger’s pickup truck. The thin, soft-furred mountain lion looked harmless. Its ribs were visible through its tawny skin. For a moment the children were sorry that it had been shot. But then they remembered the danger while it was alive and were very happy that the forest was safe again for campers and their pets.

This reminds us of the Bible verse, “Be vigilant [watchful]; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Peter 5:8). The devil is our enemy, although he would like us to think he is not dangerous. We can only find safety and protection from him by trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ, just as Lisa, Anne and Jon were protected from the cougar by going into the camper.

Have you run to the loving arms of the Lord Jesus? The Lord Jesus loves you dearly and died on Calvary’s cross for your sins, if you will trust Him. He is waiting for you to run to Him for safety and protection right now. “I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in Him will I trust” (Psalm 91:2).

MEMORY VERSE: “I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in Him will I trust.” Psalm 91:2

ML-03/31/2013

The Car Accident

It was a nice sunny day, and Gillian and her dad visited together as they drove to their new home. Gillian’s mom, sisters and brothers were behind them in the station wagon. Suddenly Dad pulled over to the side of the road and stopped the van. He quickly told Gillian, “Mom’s just had an accident! Stay right here.” He jumped out of the car and ran back to the station wagon.

As she looked through the back window, all Gillian could see was a cloud of dust. She was only twelve years old, but she knew Jesus Christ as her very own Saviour. She cried out to Him in faith, “Oh, Lord Jesus, please keep my family safe!” She opened her Bible, and her eyes fell on this verse: “I [instruct] you to be of good cheer: for there shall be no loss of any man’s life among you, but of the ship” (Acts 27:22).

And it was true—the car was badly wrecked, but no one was hurt! Gillian’s family was all safe. Gillian knew that the Lord Jesus had answered her prayer even before she had prayed. “It shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear” (Isaiah 65:24). Gillian’s faith grew stronger that day.

Gillian is much older now, and she is still walking with the Lord Jesus and trusting in Him. She is looking forward to spending eternity with her Saviour who died to give her forgiveness of sins and eternal life. She finds many occasions to tell others of her Saviour as she works with people who are sick and ready to die and enter eternity. She wants them to know that the Bible says, “It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment” (Hebrews 9:27), and then she tells them that Jesus loves them and died for them. He has made a way so that they can go to heaven and escape the judgment. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me” (John 14:6).

Boys and girls, and grown-ups too, someone has to pay for your sins—either you will pay for them in that awful place called hell or Jesus paid for them on the cross. Jesus loves you so much that he took the punishment for your sins if you will trust in Him. Will you let Him be your Saviour? Just tell Him that you are truly sorry for your sins and want Him to wash them away in the blood that He shed on the cross. God gives you a promise in 1 John 1:7: “The blood of Jesus Christ [God’s] Son cleanseth us from all sin.”

ML-03/31/2013

The Wonders of God's Creation: Sturgeons Grow Big

“O Lord, how manifold are Thy works! In wisdom hast Thou made them all: the earth is full of Thy riches.” Psalm 104:24

Unlike the huge fish in South America’s warm waters, sturgeons prefer the colder northern waters. The best-known common sturgeon is found mostly in European waters and along the North American coast from Labrador to the Gulf of Mexico.

Olive-green or bluish-gray in their top covering, they are not very attractive, but they are certainly unusual. They range from 7 to 12 feet in length, and some species grow to 18 feet. Twelve rows of bony knobs, looking like the teeth of a big saw, cover their bodies. They also have armor of bony plates protecting their heads, which taper down to pointed snouts. Beneath the long snouts they have small, toothless mouths with thick, sucking lips. When feeding, they push their snouts into the mush of the ocean floor and suck fish, crabs and other shellfish into their mouths.

Only a few varieties become greater than 100 pounds, and some of these are the giants of the fish world. The white sturgeon of the American Pacific Coast is usually found in freshwater rivers, such as the Fraser, the Columbia and the Sacramento. The all-time-record catch weighed almost a ton (2000 pounds) and was 18 feet long! However, that was some years ago. Because of overfishing and pollution, it is unusual to find one weighing more than 1000 pounds now, but even that is twice as heavy as a large gorilla! How would you like to have one of these huge fish on your fishing line?

In springtime the adults migrate from the ocean into rivers. The females, heavy with thousands of eggs, swim upstream until they find a place to deposit them. These masses of eggs stick to rocks and plants until they hatch in about two weeks. At the end of summer when the young fish have grown almost a foot long, they migrate downstream and out into the ocean. Only a small number actually make it, since other fish eat many of the eggs as well as all the little fish they can catch.

There is always a good market for sturgeon meat, but even more so for the tasty eggs which are called caviar—a pound of which sells for as much as $800. At that price most people cannot afford them, so they are served mostly in fancy restaurants or on the tables of the wealthy.

It was on the fifth day of creation that God formed the creatures of the sea—from the tiniest to the largest—and the sea creatures of today are just like those He placed in the waters thousands of years ago.

We can be confident that the world’s interesting creatures didn’t just happen to form themselves. God created these creatures for our use and enjoyment. He says, “Be ye glad and rejoice forever in that which I create” (Isaiah 65:18).

ML-03/31/2013

Who Stands at the Door and Knocks?

Someone is knocking at the door. If I were alone in the house, I don’t think I would open the door unless I knew who was there. How can I be sure who it is?

Maybe that’s your problem too. Perhaps the old way was best, because the one who knocked on the door would also call out. If it was a voice I knew, then my fears were gone. “Yes, yes, do come in!” and I would quickly open the door.

We have a Bible verse in Revelation 3:20 which says that Someone is standing at the door and knocking. Who is it? Shall I let Him in?

The verse goes on to say, “If any man hear My voice ... ” There’s nothing mysterious about the One who is knocking if I know His voice. I will open the door at once, because I know the voice of Jesus!

How do I know? How can I be sure? If you don’t know, get your Bible and read His Word. The more you read, the more you will be sure that the Word of God is true, and the One who stands at your door knocking is truly the Son of God. Open the door and let Him in!

What can I give Him to show that He is welcome? He doesn’t want gifts from you. He is the Giver! He forgives your sins, all of them, because He took the punishment Himself on the cross for sinners like you and me. You could give Him your love and your thanks for forgiving your sins. Even the angels can’t give Him a gift like that, because they were never sinners.

He says, “I will [eat] with him,” and that means that you feast together on His wonderful love and the love of your heart in return. “We love Him, because He first loved us” (1 John 4:19). But that’s not all. The verse also says, “He will [eat] with me.”

Does He really want me in His home to eat with Him? He certainly does, and He will provide the feast forever and ever! But you can never go to His home if you don’t let Him into your heart now while He’s standing at the door knocking. We don’t let everyone in, but nobody ever loved you like Jesus does. Nobody else ever came into the world to save sinners, but I am forever glad that Jesus did!

What if you don’t want Him? What if you choose to live without Him, because you would rather do things that you know He does not like? If babies die, Jesus takes them to heaven because they cannot choose. But you can choose. We gave you this paper because we want you to open the door of your heart to the Lord Jesus, the Saviour of sinners. There’s no one to save you but Jesus.

Will you answer His loving knock at your heart’s door today? The verse says, “I will come in to him.” That’s personal. That means you, all by yourself. No one can make this choice for you.

Have you opened your heart’s door to Him? If not, don’t wait any longer, because He may stop knocking.

“Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear My voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will [eat] with him, and he with Me” (Revelation 3:20).

MEMORY VERSE: “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear My voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with Me.” Revelation 3:20

ML-04/07/2013

Spiders

At our house, there is almost nothing that is disliked more than a spider. It makes no difference that they are helpful in catching insects and so are good to have around. Most of them end up dead.

Spiders do not really bother some people, including me, but maybe that is because I do not live in Africa or South America. They have really large spiders in those countries. I have seen pictures of some that are nearly six inches across! Some of these big spiders are poisonous. Anyone bitten by one of these will die if they cannot reach a doctor or hospital quickly.

There is a story about a missionary in Africa who had an experience with one of these large, poisonous spiders. As he was coming into his house, he found one on the floor. He went back outside and found a straight stick about six feet long.

Instead of killing the spider with it immediately, he stood about five feet away and began teasing it a little by touching it lightly with the end of his stick. As he drew the stick back toward his legs and away from the spider, it suddenly jumped onto the stick. The spider tried to bite the stick, and the missionary could see the poison running down the stick. He killed the spider quickly, and then realized how foolish he had been to “play” with something so dangerous.

The spider had been very accurate in its attack on the stick. If it had decided to attack the missionary’s leg instead, he most certainly would have been bitten!

Perhaps you would know better than to tease a poisonous spider, but are you playing with something that is even more dangerous—SIN? Sin is a deadly enemy—telling a lie, disobeying, or doing something secretly that you know is wrong. These are just a few of Satan’s traps to lead you to an everlasting punishment. God says, “The soul that sinneth, it shall die” (Ezekiel 18:4).

How can we be free from Satan’s power? Escape is only through the death of the Lord Jesus Christ whom God sent into this world to be our Saviour. God’s way of escape for you is to “believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved” (Acts 16:31). It is “the blood of Jesus Christ [God’s] Son [that] cleanseth us from all sin” (1 John 1:7). We must believe and accept the Lord Jesus as our Saviour to be saved and set free from our sins.

ML-04/07/2013

The Wonders of God's Creation: The Hardy Musk-Ox

“I have made the earth, the man and the beast that are upon the ground, by My great power.” Jeremiah 27:5

The 4- to 5-foot-high, 900-pound musk-ox is not really an ox. It looks more like a water buffalo or a big ram. The Eskimos have their own name for it, “oomingmak,” which means “the bearded one.”

Not many creatures could survive in the musk-oxen’s harsh American Arctic homeland, but when it pleased the Creator to place them there He gave them special features to survive. One feature is their long, shaggy, dark-brown coat that covers their entire bodies, right down to their hooves. During winter months an additional covering of soft, downy wool grows under the heavy outer coat, but when warmer weather returns, this drops off, leaving just the coarse outer covering to keep them comfortable.

An important feature to protect them from wolves and polar bears is a pair of massive horns that curve down the sides of their heads and then turn upward with sharp points. As they follow their God-given instinct to stay together in herds of a dozen or more, they can make a united resistance when attacked. They do this by forming a circle, faces turned outward and horns lowered in warning. It would be a foolish enemy that would tackle such a determined group.

The Creator also gave them sharp, curved hooves with soft pads for traveling across the tundra and over rocky mountain slopes. With these hooves and the help of their strong horns, they dig in the tundra for hidden plants and in winter paw and toss the snow away to expose this food.

Many of the herds prefer to spend the winter among the high peaks of the cold Arctic area (where temperatures often reach more than 50 degrees below zero), because the strong winds of the mountains expose the lichens and moss they eat. In warmer weather they return to lower areas where grass, willows, flowers and water are again plentiful.

Incidentally, calves stand on their feet immediately after birth and can keep up with the herd just a few hours later. They grow quickly and reach full size in five or six years.

As we notice the special features the musk-ox has been given, we remember the Bible verse that says, “God that made the world and all things therein ... giveth to all life, and breath, and all things” (Acts 17:24-25). May each of us respond to the care and love our Creator shows us in even greater measure than He does to animals and trust in Him as the prophet Isaiah did when he wrote, “O Lord, Thou art my God; I will exalt Thee, I will praise Thy name; for Thou hast done wonderful things” (Isaiah 25:1). The Lord God loves to hear the praise and thanks of those who trust Him. Do you thank Him daily?

ML-04/07/2013

Garvin Skips School

Garvin was a good student. He normally didn’t skip class like some of the other boys in his Dickson Village school. But one hot, sticky afternoon, some of his friends talked him into going with them to the river where they had dammed up the water to make a cool, deep pool for swimming. The thought of the cool water on such a hot day was too much for Garvin, and he gave in and went with his friends. “No one will ever know,” they said, “and it’s too hot today to be in a classroom. Who cares about math and spelling anyway?”

Oh, my! Garvin had a Christian mother who would have told him that God sees everything we do, and He would know that Garvin and his friends were skipping school. And Garvin may even have learned this verse from the Bible: “Behold, ye have sinned against the Lord: and be sure your sin will find you out” (Numbers 32:23).

The boys had such a good time diving and splashing without a care in the world. The water was cool and refreshing, and school was far from their minds.

Then an older lady from the village suddenly appeared on the riverbank to wash her dirty dishes, which she carried in a large basin. Now this story took place over fifty years ago on the island of St. Vincent, and most people did not have running water in their homes. They used the river for washing dishes and clothes and often for bathing as well.

It so happened that the lady, Mrs. Sauderland, was a good friend of Garvin’s mother, and she was shocked to see him there in the water when he was supposed to be in school. She knew that his mother would not approve of what her young son was doing. And Garvin was as shocked to see her as she was to see him. As she called out his name, she began looking around for a switch or stick to give him a switching if she could catch him. However, since she was an older lady and he was just a boy, he could outrun her. He was out of the water in a flash, grabbed up his school clothes, and ran as fast as he could back to school!

Garvin stayed in school the rest of the day, but he didn’t learn a single thing or hear anything the teacher said. No, he could only think and worry about what his mother would say and do when he got home later that afternoon. He was sure Mrs. Sauderland would tell her what she had seen, and he knew there would be punishment.

However, as it turned out and for whatever reason, Mrs. Sauderland never told his mother. What a relief it was not to have to face a switching at home!

Yes, Garvin got away with an afternoon of skipping school. But remember, even though we may be able to hide a sin from our parents or anyone else, we can’t hide it from God. God not only sees everything we do, but He also keeps a record of everything we do, good and bad. And even though Garvin was never punished for skipping school that day, he would have to face punishment for that sin and any other sin of his when he stands before God his Maker. “God [requires] that which is past” (Ecclesiastes 3:15).

However, we have happy news! “God is love” (1 John 4:16), and He is also a God of mercy! “He that [hides] his sins shall not prosper: but whoso [confesses] and [forsakes] them shall have mercy” (Proverbs 28:13). And some years later, Garvin as a young man believed that happy news and came to know the Lord Jesus as his Saviour, the One “in whom we have redemption through His blood, even the forgiveness of sins” (Colossians 1:14). Happily all his sins are forgiven, even the sin of skipping school. He will not face punishment for his sins, because the Lord Jesus took Garvin’s punishment on the cross. God promises, “Their sins and iniquities will I remember no more” (Hebrews 8:12). Garvin’s record is clean.

What about your record?

MEMORY VERSE: “He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.” Proverbs 28:13

ML-04/14/2013

Helping Others

A few days ago I was working on my scrapbook. I needed to see how the pages were held in place inside the scrapbook, so I asked Dad to help me. We got Mom’s little box of tools she keeps in the kitchen and used a screwdriver to take out the screws that held everything together.

“OH!” Dad exclaimed. “Here are my pliers that I’ve been looking ALL OVER for!” and he picked up a pair of pliers with blue handles. Yes, they were his pliers and not Mom’s, but somehow they ended up in Mom’s kitchen set of tools. Meanwhile, Dad had looked everywhere for them. We don’t know how they happened to be in with Mom’s tools, but Dad was glad to find them anyway.

It was a good thing he helped me with my scrapbook, because if he hadn’t, he wouldn’t have found his lost pliers. If we help someone, we will get a blessing if we do it for the Lord Jesus. We may not find things we’ve lost or get paid for helping, but along with a “Thank you,” we do get a blessing when we help others. “He that [waters] shall be watered also himself” (Proverbs 11:25).

“By love serve one another” (Galatians 5:13).

ML-04/14/2013

The Wonders of God's Creation: Birds on Schedule

“Yea, the sparrow hath found an house, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young.” Psalm 84:3

It’s springtime here in North America, and let’s watch for those pretty, graceful cliff swallows returning again in their colorful feathers of brown, red, yellow and white. Through the winter they have been in South America, but their God-given instinct brings them back, thousands of miles, to many parts of North America for nest building, raising of young, and an active life in the northern climate.

Cliff swallows look like their relatives, the barn swallows, but cliff swallows have square tails instead of forked tails. Their legs are short, and they use them mostly for perching since they catch nearly all of their food while flying.

The reliability of the cliff and barn swallows’ annual return on certain calendar days is a signal to farmers when to plant certain crops. They know swallows are among their best friends because they help destroy harmful crop insects and mosquitoes.

Cliff and barn swallows like to live near people, either on nearby cliffs, under bridges, or under the eaves of houses and barns. These birds are sociable, and they build their interesting nests in colonies. Muddy clay is the building material mixed with gluey saliva and straw. A beakful at a time is daubed on the surface they have chosen. Then one beakful after another is added until the jar-shaped nests extend out five or six inches, with open entrances on the tapered ends. The insides are lined with feathers and grass, providing a soft, safe place for females to lay 3 to 9 eggs.

The nests in a colony actually touch each other. Watching a swallow swiftly flying in and out, it is amazing how it avoids entering a neighbor’s nest. But no mistakes are made. The Lord God who first placed them on the earth has given them remarkable instincts and abilities in their swift flight patterns.

The mouth of the cliff swallow is an example of how every bird in God’s creation is well equipped for its manner of life. The swallow has been given a short, broad beak that opens wide to scoop up insects in flight and to dig and carry mud for nest building. It will fly several miles from the nesting site searching for food. Its wings show the Creator’s wisdom too. They are long and flexible and enable the swallow to make its graceful diving-and-turning flight as it pursues its food.

But God has not only shown His care over animals and birds. In addition to His care and provisions for wildlife, He extends His love to all mankind. This was most wondrously shown when He gave His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, to die on Calvary’s cross to provide forgiveness of sins to all who will accept Him as their Saviour. Have you thanked Him for His love to you?

ML-04/14/2013

A Long, Cold Day on Slippery Ice

Have you ever tried to walk on ice? It can be fun for children to slip and slide, but it also can end up in a bad fall. Older people walk very carefully on ice so they don’t slip and fall. What if you had four feet, like a deer, to keep from slipping instead of just two?

It was a cold day when Mark spotted an unusual sight across the small lake that he could see from his backyard. There was a large deer out on the thin ice, and he was having a really difficult time. When the deer tried to walk on the ice, his legs went out from underneath him, and he landed with his four legs spread out to the side. It was upsetting for Mark as he watched the deer try several times to get up and walk, and each time he went down on the ice again. Mark knew that if he kept trying to walk on the ice, the deer could easily be hurt. Soon Mark’s neighbors were also watching the large deer’s struggles, and then someone called the local volunteer fire department for help. It was a dangerous situation. The ice around the deer was very thin, and to add to that, they all had their own ideas how the rescue should be handled.

Falling on ice is always dangerous, but there is a much greater danger for boys and girls and grown-ups too. If you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ as your Saviour, you are in much more danger than that deer. Do you know why? Because you still have the punishment for all your sins ahead of you. Like those people who had different ideas of how to rescue the deer, lots of people have their own ideas about getting rid of their sins. Some say you should do good things, like helping your neighbor or giving money to poor people. There is nothing wrong with doing those things, but that isn’t what the Bible says about your sin condition, and the Bible is God’s book. It says that there is only one way to be rescued from your sins: “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved” (Acts 16:31). Many boys and girls like to sing this song that gives the answer:

“What can wash away my sins?

Nothing but the blood of Jesus!”

We know there is only one way to be rescued from our sins, but the fire department crew had to try several ways to rescue the deer. First they tried to use a boat with a big motor that could break through the ice. They discovered that even though the ice was thin, it was still too thick to allow the boat to move. The next idea was to use an amphibious vehicle, one that could go on land or water. They would drive past the deer, breaking the ice to allow the deer to swim to shore. That also failed! By now it was dark, and the rescue attempt had to be stopped. The deer would be on the ice for the night.

How good to know that once we accept the loving Lord Jesus Christ as our Saviour, He will never leave us. “I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee” (Hebrews 13:5). That’s a promise that He will be there to love and care for us no matter where we are.

The next morning the fire department crew was back at the lake to try another idea. They wanted to be extra careful that no one would be injured or that the deer would not be hurt. One of the men slowly and carefully went out onto the ice and tied a rope around the deer’s neck while it was down on the ice. The deer remained calm. He seemed exhausted after the many hours of slipping around on the ice. The crew slowly pulled the deer across the ice to the shore, held his horns while they cut the rope, and watched while the deer stood up and walked into the woods. A successful rescue at last!

How simple and easy when the rescue plan was finally figured out. That was not true for our rescue from our sins. Just think about what that cost was for the Lord Jesus—His life! He was nailed to a cross where He died, and then “one of the soldiers with a spear pierced His side, and forthwith came there out blood and water” (John 19:34). That is what He suffered to rescue you. Have you accepted Him as your very own Saviour?

MEMORY VERSE: “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.” Acts 16:31

ML-04/21/2013

"It Was Good"

Genesis is the very first book of the Bible. In chapter 1, our amazing Creator God tells us what He created in six days. After He created something different on each day, He said, “IT WAS GOOD.” Then at the end of the sixth day, God looked over everything He had made, and He added another word to what He said: “IT WAS VERY GOOD.”

Can you find the verses in which God said, “IT WAS GOOD,” and also the verse that says, “IT WAS VERY GOOD”? Write down the verse number, and you may also write down something He created on that day if you like.

Day 1 – Genesis 1:_______________________________________

Day 2 – Genesis 1:_______________________________________

Day 3 – Genesis 1:_______________________________________

Day 4 – Genesis 1:_______________________________________

Day 5 – Genesis 1:_______________________________________

Day 6 – Genesis 1:_______________________________________

Genesis 1:_______________________________________

ML-04/21/2013

The Wonders of God's Creation: The Miracle of Soil

“He left not Himself without witness, in that He did good, and gave us rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with good and gladness.” Acts 14:17

If you have garden space in your yard, dig your spade into the soil, turn it over, smooth it out and plant some seeds. This starts the wonderful process of new plant life arranged by the Lord God when He created the world. Soon, when rain and sunshine have done their part, tiny, new plants will appear. With your care, or even if left to themselves, they will grow rapidly and be able to reproduce themselves many times over with their seeds. As far as earthly needs are concerned, this means of obtaining good from the ground is one of God’s richest blessings, just as the opening verse tells us.

The soil around us is really a miracle. It is teeming with life twenty-four hours a day, including billions of invisible microbes (such as bacteria and fungi), which supply essential elements as well as producing nutrition on which plants depend.

There are visible helpers as well, though seldom seen because they work underground. Earthworms are one of the most important, munching their way through the ground, loosening and fertilizing it by pulling leaves and grass down into the soil and depositing mineral-rich castings on the surface in exchange. Moles and even ants do much the same, as well as many other insects. The roots of grass, plants and trees all play their part too. Everything has been arranged by the Creator to work together to replenish the richness put into the soil when He created it.

A very important need of soil is nitrogen, which is made available to plants by the activities of some microbes. Rain and lightning are also very important contributors of valuable nitrogen, carrying it right into the soil where it can be used. Aren’t the designs of the Creator wonderful?

We can understand that farmers are pressured to get more and better crops out of their fields and are unable to give the land needed times of rest. However, certain crops and fertilizers replace much of the important properties. But the Lord well knew land should not be overworked, and He instructed the children of Israel that every seventh year the land should have a “year of rest” (Leviticus 25:5) so that its important qualities could be restored.

And on the subject of crops, the Bible talks about another kind of sowing to which we should pay careful attention. It says, “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man [sows], that shall he also reap” (Galatians 6:7). This refers to our way of life that is always seen by God. If we are involved in things that are good, happiness will be returned to us, but if we are involved in things that are wrong, unhappiness will be returned to us. This is something very important to think about.

ML-04/21/2013

The Goat Was Gone!

Chris, the Sunday school teacher, was telling the children about his friend who bought a very nice goat one day. He brought the goat home and put him in the barnyard. When he went to get him in the evening to put him into the barn for the night, the goat was gone! The friend and his family started looking everywhere for that goat. It took them about two hours, but they finally found the run-away goat and put him safely in the barn for the night.

Chris asked the children, “If they hadn’t found him, do you think they would have kept looking for the goat all night? Or if it took a week or a month or even a year to find him, would they have kept looking?”

“No, they would have gotten tired of looking,” the children said.

Chris agreed. Then he read them the story from Luke 15:4-7 about the shepherd who looked for his lost sheep UNTIL HE FOUND IT. He told the children, “If any one of you is one of Jesus’ lost sheep, He’s going to look for you until He finds you, because He loves you. And then He’s going to take care of you until He takes you safely home to heaven.”

Chris asked the children if they could remember anyone in the Bible who had hidden from God. The reason they had hidden was because they knew they had sinned against Him, and they didn’t want God to find them.

The children all remembered about Adam and Eve hiding behind the trees of the garden. Did God know where they were? Yes, and even though He had to punish them for disobeying Him, He was very kind to them and made them coats of skin to wear.

Another story the children remembered was about Jonah. He was running away from God and hid in the bottom of a ship. But God could see him there and prepared a great fish to swallow him and carry him safely to land. Then Jonah decided it was much better to obey God than to try to run away from Him.

Boys and girls, God sees us wherever we are. Sometimes when we have done something bad, we wish He couldn’t see us, but Job 34:21 reminds us, “His eyes are upon the ways of man, and He [sees] all his goings.” And when we tell a lie or say something naughty, we wish He wasn’t listening. But Psalm 139 tells us, “There is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O Lord, Thou knowest it.” God sees everything, He knows everything, and He hears everything. But that is good!

If you have already accepted the Lord Jesus as your Saviour, He has paid the cost for every single one of your sins when He was hanging on that awful cross and shed His blood. What if God didn’t know about every one of our sins? Some wouldn’t be washed away, and it would only take one sin to keep us out of heaven. So we can be thankful that God sees every single one, and Jesus paid the cost for every one. “Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God” (1 Peter 3:18).

Not one sin will ever be in heaven because God hates sin, but He loves sinners. If you are still in your sins, come to the Lord Jesus right now and tell Him you are sorry for your sins and that you want Him to wash them away. He will take care of every single sin so that not one is left!

Don’t run away or hide any longer. Come to Jesus before it is too late. He loves you very much and will be your very best friend.

MEMORY VERSE: “Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God.” 1 Peter 3:18

ML-04/28/2013

Mr. Williams and His Seven Boys

Mr. Rick and his son Todd were putting a new roof on old Mr. Williams’ house. A fire had destroyed the old roof and part of the kitchen.

One day while working there, Mr. Rick noticed an open Bible on the table, and so he asked Mr. Williams if he knew the Lord Jesus as his Saviour. “Yes,” was the reply. “I’ve known Him now for many years.” Mr. Rick asked him how he came to accept the Lord Jesus as his Saviour. Mr. Williams told him his story.

“You see, I had seven boys. These boys were not my own, but I was a foster parent to them. I never did marry, not that I didn’t try. When I was a young man, I was engaged to be married to a lovely girl. Her name was Ruth, but just four days before the wedding she was killed in an automobile accident. And then a few years later I met another wonderful girl—Lucy. We were engaged to be married, but one day, yes, just one day before our wedding she too was killed in an automobile accident. I decided after those two heartbreaking events that I wouldn’t try to get married. Instead, I decided to help homeless boys! Now these boys—I had seven in all—were a bit on the rowdy side as they came from rough backgrounds, but I wanted to love these boys and give them a good home.

“One evening we were eating dinner, and somehow we got talking about religion. Gary, who talked the most, said, ‘Let’s go get us a Bible after dinner!’ And so that’s what we did. We came home from the store with a Bible and started reading it that night, and one by one we were all saved! Now I am an old man, but these seven boys love the Lord Jesus and are today teaching their own children and others about Christ.”

It doesn’t matter if you are from a home where you hear about the Lord Jesus and His love for sinners, or if you are from a home that doesn’t even have a Bible. The Lord Jesus is seeking you just the same! He loves you and died on the cross for you. He wants to wash away your many sins and is now knocking on your heart’s door—won’t you let Him in? “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear My voice and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with Me” (Revelation 3:20).

Will you let Him save you from your sins?

ML-04/28/2013

The Wonders of God's Creation: Beware the Tornado!

“The wind goeth toward the south, and turneth about unto the north; it whirleth about continually, and the wind returneth again according to his circuits.” Ecclesiastes 1:6

Wind, which is movement of air, is a very necessary part of God’s wonderful creation. It is the means of keeping air fresh, moving heat from the tropics and exchanging it with cooler air from elsewhere. This is a benefit to all God’s creatures. Even violent storms serve a purpose by bringing rain to dry lands and relief from droughts and oppressive heat. Such storms are a time to find shelter until they blow over.

A tornado is a rotating funnel cloud that extends downward from a mass of dark clouds. Not all tornadoes touch the ground, but those that do destroy everything in their paths. Homes and buildings are flattened and automobiles are thrown around like toys. Sometimes strange things happen too. Babies in their cribs have been picked up by such winds and later found safely resting in the fork of a tree or some other place. Often a tornado will flatten one house and skip over the house next to it.

Tornadoes occur throughout the world but mostly in the United States. About seven hundred tornadoes are reported in the United States each year. Sometimes they are called twisters or cyclones. Sweeping across a lake or ocean, the force of these funnels can lift great amounts of water to form spectacular waterspouts.

Scientists do not know exactly why tornadoes develop. Most occur in spring or early summer when it is hot and humid in the afternoon or evening. A squall line of thunderclouds forms between cool, dry air from the north and warm, humid air from the south. The warm, humid air rises rapidly. More warm air rushes in to replace it and in some cases begins to rotate, forming a twisting, powerful funnel. Where this touches the ground, the severe damage occurs.

These storms are a picture of Satan and his power of destruction in people’s lives. Scripture tells of instances where people threatened by the wind were saved when they cried to the Lord. One instance is in Mark 4 when the Lord saved several boatloads of people from a violent storm on Lake Galilee. The grateful passengers said, “What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him?” (Mark 4:41).

The Lord still delights to save all who call on Him when Satan attacks. “Thou hast been a strength ... to the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm ... when the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall” (Isaiah 25:4). Do not try to fight Satan by yourself. That is as useless as trying to stop a tornado by blowing on it. Go to the Lord Jesus with your troubles; let Him take your sins away to shield you from Satan, and you will find Him answering you immediately.

ML-04/28/2013

A Thank-You Gift

Bonnie Gilstead walked into the sheriff’s department at the county courthouse and handed the sheriff a thousand-dollar check. The sheriff got a puzzled look on his face and asked, “What is this for?”

“I feel like I just wanted to say thank you for saving my dog,” she answered with a smile.

“Mrs. Gilstead, we just don’t get many people coming in here to say ‘Thank you,’ much less a thank-you with a thousand-dollar check! This money will sure come in handy to buy some new equipment for the Search and Rescue Department, so on their behalf I’ll accept it.”

The day before, Mrs. Gilstead’s small dog had been spotted clinging to a narrow ledge on the face of a cliff. If the dog had made one wrong move, it would have fallen seventy-five feet to its death on the beach below. How the dog managed to get to the ledge, twenty-five feet down from the top of the cliff, is anybody’s guess. The dog barely had a foothold on the narrow ledge, which was only large enough for a sea gull to land on. Good thing it hadn’t been spotted by an eagle flying along the waterfront or the dog might have turned into an eagle dinner! As soon as Mrs. Gilstead learned her dog was trapped on the high cliff, she quickly contacted the sheriff’s office and asked for help.

Mrs. Gilstead knew right away this was a problem she couldn’t solve by herself. You and I also have a very serious problem that we can’t solve by ourselves—it is called SIN. God warns us, “The soul that [sins], it shall die” (Ezekiel 18:4). There is only one person that can solve our serious sin problem. His name is Jesus, and He came from heaven to be our Saviour and save us from our sins. “In whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace” (Ephesians 1:7). Accepting Him as our personal Saviour is the only way out of this sin problem. Anyone can call to Him right now.

Mrs. Gilstead’s problem was quickly handled by two Search and Rescue workers who were sent to the cliff to see what they could do. The young men worked for the county as volunteers, and they decided what they would do. Using ropes, one of the men rappelled down the cliff to the dog, grabbed it by the scruff of the neck, and put it in a bag tied to his waist. Then he continued to rappel down to the base of the cliff, carrying the dog to safety.

Mrs. Gilstead was so grateful for her dog’s rescue that she wanted to show her appreciation in a special way—the thousand-dollar check.

Jesus Christ is the Saviour that each sinner so desperately needs. He loves you and is offering to rescue you from your sins today, before it’s too late. Mrs. Gilstead couldn’t wait another day for her dog’s rescue. It would have been too dangerous to wait any longer. And for a sinner to wait for some other time to be rescued from his sins is far more dangerous! “Boast not thyself of tomorrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth” (Proverbs 27:1). No one knows what tomorrow may bring. And leaving this world still in your sins is tragic! You will face eternal punishment for them.

If you realize what you are facing for your sins, don’t wait another minute before you call to Jesus for rescue. “Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Romans 10:13).

If you have already called to Jesus to have your sins forgiven, have you thanked Him for the most wonderful rescue of all time?

MEMORY VERSE: “Boast not thyself of tomorrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.” Proverbs 27:1

ML-05/05/2013

Taking Pictures

Isn’t it fun to get your pictures back from the photo company and look through all the pictures you’ve taken?

One day I took my camera to school and took pictures of the children playing on the seesaw, jumping rope, climbing on the monkey bars and sitting in the classroom. When I got home, I opened the camera to take the film out so I could get the pictures developed. But what a disappointment—the camera was empty!

Are you empty inside like that camera? You know, if the Lord Jesus is not living in your heart, there won’t be one thing recorded in your life that will be pleasing to God. He sees your life as empty.

All that day I thought I was taking pictures. I worked hard to get the children to pose for me, but when the day was over, I had nothing to show for it. Our lives may be like that too. We may think we are doing good things, but unless we’ve had our sins washed away and been born into God’s family, we are like a camera without film—empty.

My camera clicked and sounded like it does when there is film in it, but I wasn’t really taking pictures. And we may talk like a Christian and look like a Christian from the outside, but we must have the Lord Jesus living in our hearts to really BE a Christian.

Jesus said, “If a man love Me, he will keep My words: and My Father will love him, and We will come unto him, and make our abode [home] with him” (John 14:23). Isn’t it wonderful that we can have the Lord Jesus and God the Father living right in our hearts!

Don’t be like an empty camera—a complete disappointment to God. Be like a camera with film in it—a true and useful child of God that brings joy to His heart. The Lord Jesus tells us in John 15:5, “I am the vine, ye are the branches. He that [lives] in Me, and I in him, the same [brings] forth much fruit; for without Me ye can do nothing.”

ML-05/05/2013

The Wonders of God's Creation: Who Likes Snakes?

“The Lord God said unto the serpent ... upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life.” Genesis 3:14

God was displeased because Satan, disguised as a serpent (or snake), had deceived Eve and brought sin into the world. He pronounced the curse as a constant reminder of that time.

There are over 2500 species of snakes. About one-tenth of them are poisonous. Sizes range from five inches to great anacondas and pythons, thirty to forty feet long that can swallow a deer or wild pig whole.

A snake would be handicapped without ears, nose, feet, legs, hands or arms, except that God has shown His kindness. In spite of the curse, God has provided it with means of getting along without these aids. In place of ears, it has nerves that are sensitive to ground vibrations. Its sense of smell (aided by a flicking tongue) is keen. A change in temperature signals when something is close by, and it easily finds it even on the darkest night.

Its backbone has flexible vertebrae that enable it to writhe, crawl and coil. Overlapping scales on the underside of its body provide means of moving over the ground. Each scale hooks onto a rough surface, so the snake can pull itself along.

A snake’s mouth has hinged jaws joined with elastic ligaments. This enables the jaws to open very wide and swallow large objects. By unhinging its jaws, it can swallow eggs without breaking them until they are well inside its body. Its stomach also has a special ability to digest eggshells, bones, feathers, fur and other animal and bird parts.

A snake never stops growing. As it increases in size and its skin becomes too tight, it makes a hole in its skin by rubbing its snout against a rough stone. Pushing its head through this hole, twisting and wriggling, it peels the old skin back over its tail, shedding it. It does this several times a year.

Snakes do not attack humans unless frightened or provoked. The Creator has made them helpful to mankind, because they eat rats, gophers, mice and other small rodents. A small snake will be quite content with a good meal every week or ten days. Larger snakes can easily survive on six or seven big dinners a year.

Like the snake in the garden of Eden, man also displeases God in his behavior. This is made clear in the Bible: “There is none that seeketh after God.... There is none that doeth good, no, not one” (Romans 3:11-12). Yet God shows great mercy and kindness to all mankind, as His Word tells us: “Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us, and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (1 John 4:10). Do you know the joy of having your sins forgiven through faith in the Lord Jesus?

ML-05/05/2013

Hagar's Problem

Hagar was a maidservant in Bible times, living far away from her home in Egypt. She lived with Abraham and Sarah and served Sarah in their tent. Abraham was a man who worshipped the God of heaven, and he did not follow everybody else. He did not own any land, because God told him not to.

Who is the God you worship? Is He the God who made the tiniest bug and the biggest star? or do you follow what other people say? Our God cares so much about you that He sent His Son to die for you. There is no other God like that and never will be. And He did not leave us a picture or a statue, but He left us a Book. Have you read His Book? It’s called the Bible.

The God of heaven had promised Abraham that he and his wife would have a baby boy. They really wanted a son, but Sarah was getting old, and it was too late for her to have a child. But wait a minute! Is there anything that God cannot do? Just trust what He says, Sarah! He’ll keep His promise, even if it seems impossible! But Sarah got tired of waiting.

She said to Abraham, Take Hagar instead of me. That was not good advice. But Abraham listened to Sarah and married Hagar, and pretty soon Hagar was expecting a baby, and she was proud of it. Now Sarah was angry. She decided she didn’t like Hagar at all, and she tried to blame Abraham for the problem.

It was a very unhappy family in that tent. Maybe you can understand. You have a very unhappy family too if you are angry when you don’t get your own way.

Hagar ran away, but this was not the way to solve the problem. The Angel of the Lord saw Hagar where she was beside a spring of water. He asked her, Where have you come from, and where are you going? Hagar did not hide anything; she said, I have run away from Sarah.

Go back and obey Sarah, said the Angel. You will have a son. Name him Ishmael, because the Lord has heard your troubles. He will be a wild man, a fighter, and he will live in the presence of all his brethren.

Hagar suddenly knew that God could see her exactly where she was, and she named the place, “Thou God seest me” (Genesis 16:13). Hagar obeyed the Angel and went back to Sarah’s tent, even though it was hard to go, and God kept His promise. She had a baby boy and named him Ishmael. I don’t think Sarah loved Hagar’s baby, but Abraham loved him, and he grew to be a teenager.

And still God’s promise to Abraham and Sarah, that they would have a son, had not come true, and Sarah was growing older every day.

God sees you too, right where you are, even if you have tried to run away from Him. Turn around and face Him and listen! He has better promises for you than He ever had for Abraham and Sarah or Hagar. God sent His Son to die for sinners like you and me, and His promise of a home in heaven for those who trust in His Son Jesus will come to pass. And that could be soon, very soon! Don’t miss out!

We’ll tell you more about God’s promise to Abraham and Sarah next week, and we’ll tell you more about Hagar and her son Ishmael too. You may read today’s story in Genesis chapter 16.

MEMORY VERSE: “Thou God seest me.” Genesis 16:13

ML-05/12/2013

An Unwelcome Surprise

Thirteen-year-old Miriam was brought up on a farm where the vegetables and fruits were stored in the cold basement for the winter months.

Miriam usually attended prayer meeting with her parents, but one night she had a lot of homework to finish. She asked her parents if she could stay home to finish her work.

After a while she became tired of doing homework and, feeling hungry, she remembered there were apples stored in their cold basement. She lifted the door latch and carefully climbed down the stairway. Suddenly she caught sight of a huge furry animal eating away at the apples!

Miriam turned and raced upstairs with her heart pounding! She was terrified and couldn’t wait until her parents came home to hear her story.

Psalm 46:1 reminds us, “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.” Those who belong to the Lord Jesus can always turn to Him for help when they need it. No doubt Miriam thought of the Lord Jesus, but we are not certain if she prayed for help. All we know is that she was terrified and sorry she had not gone with her parents to prayer meeting. It was the longest evening of her life!

Hearing her story, her father set a trap in the basement. It wasn’t long before a very large, apple-fed muskrat was caught!

The muskrat was certainly a very unwelcome caller to have in a home. It reminds us of another unwelcome caller who will sneak into our lives through any little crack or opening he can find. His name is Satan, and he is the enemy of our souls. He is vicious and greedy. He doesn’t care how much he steals from us. He will rob us of our time, our energy and our possessions if he is allowed to enter our lives. He will occupy us with anything that will take us away from the Lord Jesus Christ and from serving Him. Only the Lord Jesus can fill our hearts with goodness and kindness towards others. “Thanks be to God, which [gives] us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 15:57).

Is the Lord Jesus Christ your Saviour? Trust Him today and He will gladly enter your life and bless you richly. He said, “I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly” (John 10:10).

ML-05/12/2013

The Wonders of God's Creation: Solitary Wasps

“O Lord, how manifold are Thy works! In wisdom hast Thou made them all: the earth is full of Thy riches.” Psalm 104:24

You may have seen a wasps’ nest made of paper, hanging in a protected place on the outside of your house. These wasps are called social wasps, because they live in colonies and cooperate with one another.

There are other wasps that make nests for their young in an entirely different way. They do not live in colonies and are called solitary wasps. One is the black wasp caterpillar hunter. The female makes a nest for her eggs and provides for her young by digging a hole several inches deep in well-packed sand. At the bottom of this hole she deposits her eggs. Then she hunts for a caterpillar that she paralyzes with her stinger and drops into the hole beside the eggs. The caterpillar is still alive but cannot move, and when the eggs hatch, the caterpillar becomes a fresh food supply for them.

It is common for various species to build similar nests, some of them dropping insects, spiders or caterpillars beside the eggs as a food supply when the larvae hatch. Wasps do not need to be taught these things nor to experiment until it is done right, for these instincts are the Creator’s design for them, passed on from generation to generation.

Another variety is known as the bembix wasp. Several of them make holes side by side in the ground to form colonies, digging with front feet specially designed by the Creator. After placing her eggs at the bottom of her nest, each female wasp drops paralyzed flies down the hole. Something interesting about bembix wasps is that after the eggs have hatched into larvae and eaten the food left for them, they completely cover themselves with a hard coating of fine sand held close to their bodies with sticky saliva. After being wrapped up that way through the winter months, they come out of this hard cocoon and crawl up into the outdoors as adult wasps.

Sand and wood wasps follow habits similar to those of the bembix, but they sometimes drill their holes in fence posts rather than in the ground. These wasps use paralyzed spiders and a few other insects for their food.

Another species feeds on nothing but paralyzed bees, which are right there when the larvae come out of their long sleep and find this food beside them.

As we think of how wonderfully the ways of the Lord God, the Creator of all things, are displayed, we can easily understand the psalmist who declared, after expressing verse 24 quoted above, “I will sing unto the Lord as long as I live: I will sing praise to my God while I have my being ... . I will be glad in the Lord” (Psalm 104:33-34). Are you among those who happily join in that kind of singing?

ML-05/12/2013

Hagar's Little Boy

Do you remember the story last week of Hagar’s little boy? Hagar was a maidservant to Abraham and Sarah and living far away from her homeland in Egypt. God had promised a son to Abraham and Sarah, but Sarah was old enough to be a great-grandmother, and she had never had any children.

What can I do to make God’s promise come true? thought Sarah. Then she said to Abraham, Take Hagar instead of me.

Was that a good plan? It was God Himself who made His promise to Sarah that she would have a son, and do you think He needs help from us to make His promises come true? He has promised that if I come to Him to have my sins washed away, He won’t cast me out. “Him [or her] that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out” (John 6:37). But should I fix myself up first? No. Come just as you are. He doesn’t need any help from us to make His promises come true, and He didn’t need any help from Sarah either.

It seemed as if Sarah’s plan worked. Abraham married Hagar and soon they had a little son named Ishmael. But that did not change God’s promise to Sarah. When Ishmael was about fourteen, Abraham and Sarah did have their promised son whom they named Isaac. His mother fed him until he was able to eat by himself. Now that Isaac was no longer a baby, Abraham celebrated with a big party.

Teenage Ishmael mocked little Isaac and the big party. What’s all this big fuss about? You never had a party for me! But Sarah remembered God’s promise. Mocking little Isaac was almost like mocking God who had made that promise, and she was very upset about it. Yes, she had made a pretty bad mistake years ago, and that was sin to doubt God’s promise. But there was true faith in her heart.

Send Hagar and her son away, Sarah said to Abraham. He was very sorry to do this because he loved Ishmael, but he knew it was time for Hagar to go. The two boys would not be able to get along together.

Abraham put a bottle of water on Hagar’s shoulder, gave her some bread and sent her away. God saw her go, and God took care of her and her son. The water was soon gone, and Ishmael was very thirsty, but Hagar had nothing to give him. She laid him under the shelter of a bush and went a little piece away so she would not see him die.

That’s not the end of the story. God heard the voice of thirsty Ishmael, and God opened Hagar’s eyes so that she saw a well of water. She quickly filled her bottle and gave Ishmael a good, long drink. She listened to God’s promise that Ishmael would grow up and be a wild man and have twelve sons. Every word of it came true. God’s promises always do!

In one of two ways, God’s Word will come true in your life and even in eternity. We all have made many mistakes, like disobeying, not telling the truth, being selfish and there are lots more. They are all sin. That proves that 1 Kings 8:46 is true: “There is no [person] that sinneth not.” But God has given you and me a special promise in His Word, the Bible: “This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners” (1 Timothy 1:15).

If you will accept Christ Jesus as your very own Saviour, God’s promise is that you will never have to bear the punishment for your sins. Christ Jesus died on Calvary’s cross for you. He shed His blood there to clean you from your sins, if you will admit to Him that you are a sinner and by faith believe that He took the punishment for your sins during those three hours of darkness while He hung on the cross. “We have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace” (Ephesians 1:7).

However, God’s Word also warns that boys or girls or grown-ups who will not believe that Christ Jesus died for their sins will face God’s punishment for their sins for all eternity. “It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: so Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many” (Hebrews 9:27-28). “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 story for yourself in Genesis 21:1-20.

MEMORY VERSE: “There is no man that sinneth not.” 1 Kings 8:46

ML-05/19/2013

The Lightning Storm

Lightning can be very frightening for some people and also for some animals. Our dog Freckles is one of those animals that is terrified at the first flash of lightning or crack of thunder. We have seen him try to hide under a small stool that is less than half his size, or if the bathroom door is open, we sometimes find him hiding in the bathtub. When this happens, he is also shaking all over.

What Freckles doesn’t know is that he is already as safe as possible when he is inside the house during the storm. How foolish it is for him to hide under such a small stool or in the bathtub. The stool does not hide him or protect him, and the water pipes to the bathtub might even act as a lightning rod to attract lightning.

Do you think you can hide from God? There is nothing big enough or safe enough to hide you or your sins from God. “The eyes of the Lord are in every place, beholding the evil and the good” (Proverbs 15:3). But God has promised that all who will accept His Son, the Lord Jesus, as their Saviour will be safe in His house when He carries out His fierce punishment for sin. The Lord Jesus said, “I am the door: by Me if any man enter in he shall be saved” (John 10:9).

Won’t you come to the Lord Jesus now? He loves you and offers you forgiveness of your sins and a place of safety. “The name of the Lord is a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it, and is safe” (Proverbs 18:10).

ML-05/19/2013

The Wonders of God's Creation: Poison With Three Leaves

“The tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.” James 3:8

Poison ivy is the common name for several kinds of harmful vines, shrubs or groundcover plants. It grows plentifully east of the Rocky Mountains throughout the United States and southern Canada, as well as mountainous areas of Mexico up to a certain altitude. The plants are a problem to people only and don’t bother dogs, cats, horses and wild animals. However, the poison oil can brush off onto the fur of these animals and is passed on to anyone who pets them.

The strong poison in these plants is the oil that comes out through the leaves, stems and even the roots. Even in winter, a person rubbing against a bare branch may pick up the oil and in a few days have the painful, itching blisters that last several weeks. Even dead plants and their dead roots can still contain the poisonous oil. Also, a wind blowing across the leaves can carry tiny droplets of the oil to a person’s skin, as can smoke from burning plants. If the oil is not washed off with a strong soap, after several hours it penetrates the skin, and in a day or so the itching blisters begin to appear.

These plants are not always easy to see as they straggle along the ground or twine up tree trunks or telephone poles. But some form upright shrubs if there is nothing to climb on. In the southern states and on the Pacific Coast, these bushy forms are usually known as poison oak. Both kinds have leaves made up of three leaflets on a stem. The leaves are a pretty shiny green, turning to beautiful red and orange in the fall. People who enjoy collecting colored leaves in the fall sometimes pick poison ivy leaves and don’t realize their mistake until someone recognizes the leaves and tells them or the itchy rash breaks out. In late summer, clusters of yellowish-white, waxy-looking berries form on the main stems. These are also poisonous to humans but not to birds and other creatures that eat the berries.

These hazardous plants, with their pretty three-leaf clusters, remind us of what the Bible says. In addition to the poison of an unruly tongue mentioned in the opening verse, there are three other harmful things that Satan often uses to tempt us. These are “the lust of the flesh [using our bodies in a bad way], the lust of the eyes [looking at and wanting things not pleasing to the Lord], and the pride of life [thinking we are better than others and wanting to be admired]” (1 John 2:16).

How much better to say “NO” to Satan when tempted by any of these sinful things and ask the Lord’s help to do only what pleases Him.

ML-05/19/2013

Coyote Attack!

Being recently attacked by a coyote has left a Canadian woman still in shock. Joanne said she never expected anything like this to happen to her as she walked her two dogs near her home one evening. “I just couldn’t believe it happened, and I was scared!” She had always thought that coyotes were afraid of people and dogs. “I just wasn’t expecting to see a coyote right in the middle of the sidewalk!” she said.

Hearing that makes us think of the Bible verse, “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, [walks] about, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Peter 5:8). When we least expect the devil to bother us, he will attempt to frighten us or even harm us. And just like the coyote, he doesn’t back off.

The coyote came after one of the two dogs, and they connected for a second. “The coyote jumped up and went for the neck of my dog, but pulling on his leash, which was attached to his collar, I pulled my dog away.” Joanne said she had wound the leash tighter around her arm. That was what allowed her to pull her dog away from the coyote. She said that even though she screamed and shouted at the coyote, he just stood his ground and looked at her and didn’t back away. Then she quickly turned and rushed toward her house with her two dogs and a bleeding arm.

The leash tightly wound around her arm had torn off a large area of skin. She had to be treated in the hospital with antibiotics. There was no doubt in her mind that the coyote was aggressive enough that he would have attacked her as well as the dogs.

Boys and girls, if you belong to the Lord Jesus, He has armor for you to always wear. Armor is for protection. This will prepare you for unexpected attacks by the devil, or Satan as he is sometimes called in the Bible. Ephesians 6:13 tells us, “Take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand” (Ephesians 6:13). Farther down in that same chapter it talks about different parts of the armor that we should always have on. Here are several of them—the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit. And it also adds, praying always. The Lord Jesus will always hear and answer a quick prayer in a time of danger or a difficulty that you don’t know how to handle.

Here is a good verse to memorize: “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble” (Psalm 46:1). It is a wonderful promise for every believer to remember.

MEMORY VERSE: “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.” 1 Peter 5:8

ML-05/26/2013

Love Your Enemies

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 very rich 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. Even though the Asian man was very rich and very religious, he was still a poor, lost sinner in need of the love and forgiveness of God.

Then one day the Asian man came with a very different attitude. He 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-05/26/2013

Have You Noticed?

Have you noticed that part of the memory verse is in darker type? We’ll explain why.

We are happy that many of you learn these verses every week. Memorizing God’s holy Word is very important. Can you think of some reasons why? One very important reason is given to us in Psalm 119:11. It says, “Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against Thee.” If a verse has been memorized, the Lord Jesus can bring it into your mind just when you need it most—to help you do or say what is right and what will please Him. And learning the gospel verses will help you to tell others about God’s love and how to be saved from their sins.

Some of you children probably learn these verses by yourselves. Some of you younger ones may have someone help you learn them. Perhaps there are some very young children who are only able to learn part of the verse each week. Since our memory verse this week is longer, we have printed in darker type a part for beginners to learn. We will try to do this each time we have a longer verse.

We hope this will encourage everyone, even the very young, to memorize Scripture.

ML-05/26/2013

The Wonders of God's Creation: The Gentle Tapir

“I have made the earth, the man and the beast... by My great power and by My outstretched arm.” Jeremiah 27:5

If you were in the wilds of Central America, South America or Southeast Asia and found yourself face-to-face with a strange brown animal known as the tapir, the first thing you probably would notice would be that it looks much like an overgrown pig. It has a short, heavy body with a short tail, a thick neck and a nose that serves as a short, movable trunk. All tapirs have oval-shaped ears with white tips.

It would be a special treat if a baby tapir were there too. They are really cute, weighing only about fifteen pounds when born and having white stripes all along their backs and sides for God-given camouflage purposes.

If you didn’t show any sign of wanting to hurt the tapir, you would find it wouldn’t hurt you either. The Creator has given it a shy and gentle nature, and they would rather run than fight. Their food includes twigs and leaves of trees and shrubs, water plants, grass, and fruit, and they never kill another animal unless in self-defense.

These animals stay close to their homes but make paths through the thick jungle. Some lead to water holes, which they visit morning and evening, enjoying a swim and wallowing in the mud to get rid of ticks and other pests. They sometimes walk along the bottom of these ponds completely submerged.

Their only enemy is the fearsome jaguar. However, when a jaguar springs on a tapir, it is taken on an unexpected, rough ride through low brush where it will usually be knocked off. But if it hangs on, the tapir will jump into deep water, submerging beneath the surface. At that point the jaguar gives up and the tapir is the winner.

Tapirs remind us of the great variety of animals placed on earth by the Creator and His untiring care and provisions for all. We know, however, that the lives of animals are for this world only, but God has given to each of us a never-dying soul and provided a way in which that life can be spent happily in heaven with Him.

A few verses from the Bible explain this. First, we need to understand clearly that “all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). That is a tragic statement, but thankfully we are told, “God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). We also read this wonderful statement: “Therefore being justified by faith [in the Lord Jesus as our Saviour], we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:1).

If you want that peace and everlasting life in heaven, believe these important Bible verses.

ML-05/26/2013

The Baby Barn Owl

High up in the rafters of a farmer’s barn, a family of owls made a nest. Because these birds of prey keep the population of mice and other rodents under control, farmers like to have barn owls nesting in their barns.

Barn owls are nocturnal, which means they do most of their flying and hunting at night. Their soft feathers make it possible for them to fly almost silently through the air. They also have excellent night vision and such a keen sense of hearing that they can locate a tiny mouse in the pitch dark by the pitter-patter of its footsteps. God designed them for a special purpose.

Do you know that God designed you and me for a very special purpose too? When God created mankind, He gave us the wonderful gift of understanding. This gift makes us very special, because it makes it possible for each of us to come to know and love God our Creator. Of all the earthly creatures, only mankind has been blessed with the ability to have a personal relationship with God and talk to Him. Knowing and loving God is the special purpose given to each one of us. It is God’s most important plan for our lives.

Neither parent birds nor baby birds can talk to God about a problem they might have, like you and I can. We can ask Him for help. However, He does watch over all His creatures. “The Lord is good to all: and His tender mercies are over all His works” (Psalm 145:9), and that includes baby birds.

One baby owl in the farmer’s barn was a little too curious about the world beneath him. When he was looking over the edge of the nest, he accidentally fell out. He fluttered his wings on the way down, but his muscles and feathers were not yet strong enough for him to fly. He fell many feet below, landing on a bale of hay. The mother and father owl had no way they could bring their baby owlet back up to the nest once it had fallen out.

The owlet had been safe in the nest, high up in the barn out of reach of cats, raccoons and other small animals, but on the ground he had no protection. If the owlet were discovered, he would quickly become an easy meal. The little owlet squeezed in between the hay bales to hide.

The next day the inside of the barn was a busy place. The farmer had sold a load of hay to a dairy farmer in the state of Washington. A small tractor, called a forklift, was picking up the large bales of hay and stacking them on the flatbed of a large truck. Unknown to the driver of the forklift, he picked up the little barn owl as it hid between two bales of hay. A heavy, waterproof cloth was tied down over the load of hay, and the truck began its long trip to deliver the hay.

After several hours, the truck arrived at the dairy farm. When the hay was being unloaded, the dairy farmer happened to see the owlet’s big eyes looking out from between two bales. He gently picked up the baby owl in his gloved hands, and then he found a box to hold the bird where it would be safe until later when he could help it. After the hay was unloaded and his chores finished, the farmer took the owlet to the Raptor Rescue Center that was nearby. The people at the center had raised many baby hawks, eagles, owls, and other birds of prey. The farmer was leaving the owlet where it would receive good care. Most likely it will grow into a mature owl that can look after itself when released into the wild. Because of the farmer’s care, the beautiful little bird will live out the life God designed it to lead.

Because God gave each of us a will, you and I can make choices. And because sin has entered the human race, we have all made bad choices and wandered away from God. As a result, we are easy prey for Satan, the enemy of our souls. We have chosen to follow the ideas of the world and Satan instead of God’s loving plans found in His Word, the Bible.

That little owlet couldn’t get back to its nest on its own, and neither can we get back to God on our own. Thank God He loves us so much that He sent His Son into the world to bring us back. The Lord Jesus came down from heaven and gave His life on Calvary’s cross so you and I can have our sins forgiven. Only through His death on the cross can those who have wandered into the paths of sin and self-pleasing ever be brought back to God. “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 2:8-9).

Sadly many who have wandered away from God will never return to him, even though the door of salvation stands open before them. The punishment for never returning to God is for lost souls to be cast into the darkness of hell forever. Will you accept the Lord Jesus as your very own Saviour and have your sins forgiven right now? Then you will know and love God—His special plan for each one of us.

MEMORY VERSE: “The Lord is good to all: and His tender mercies are over all His works.” Psalm 145:9

ML-06/02/2013

The Wonders of God's Creation: Hide-And-Seek in Nature - Part 1

“I have called upon Thee, for Thou wilt hear me, O God.... Hide me under the shadow of Thy wings.” Psalm 17:6,8

Boys and girls always find the game of “hide-and-seek” fun to play, but for many creatures in nature, it is a very important way of staying alive! For many little insects, the threat of being eaten by hungry, prowling enemies is greatly reduced by the God-given skills to look like something else. This is called camouflage. Let’s look at some examples.

Katydids (grasshopper-like insects) of Central and South America are among the most amazing. Some have shapes and coloring exactly like the leaves on which they feed. The wings of others look like big bites have been taken out of them, exactly like some of the leaves around them. So even though fully exposed, they are actually hidden. Some are colored green, others brown, tan or mixed colors, each matching the plant or tree leaves on which it feeds. And so they are protected from birds, monkeys and larger insects that would eat them.

Leafhoppers, which are found in many countries, have backs shaped exactly like the thorns on plants around them. They are completely safe from their enemies until they move.

In India, the Indian leaf bug, which is the same shade of green as the leaves on which it feeds, rocks back and forth like a leaf when the wind blows. This helps to fool its enemies.

Then there is the caterpillar of the sphinx moth, which frightens an attacker by suddenly blowing up the end of its short body to look like the dark-blue head of a pit-viper snake and swaying it back and forth. The snake-like look is so realistic, with two imitation, big, black, gleaming “eyes” above a pointed snout and mouth, that the attacker changes its mind and “escapes” as quickly as possible.

Another odd-looking creature is known as the walking stick, which eats tiny bugs on smooth branches of a tree or bush. When it holds perfectly still, it looks just like a twig. A bird might perch right next to it and never guess it is passing up a meal. These insects don’t move until it is dark. This is when they start feeding. Most are brown or green, and some can change their color to match what they are resting on. They have no wings.

How did these unusual insects (and many more) learn these protective camouflages? Did they get together and decide what would work? Of course not; insects can’t do that. Only their Creator could give them the ability of camouflage through all their generations. This shows us another example of His care over all His creatures.

Next week we will look at more examples of God-given camouflages to protect His creatures.

(to be continued)

ML-06/02/2013

Bart Never Heard the Warnings

Some time ago, a tragic event occurred a few miles from our home. We live in a small town, and all the students at school know each other quite well. It’s considered a safe town, and anyone can walk almost anywhere they need to go.

Bart was a typical teenager, and like most young people these days, he enjoyed listening to music. He owned a portable CD player and could usually be found “plugged-in” to the latest album put out by a popular artist. As he walked around town, Bart brought his music with him and spent his time listening to it and not paying much attention to what was going on around him.

Bart’s favorite time to listen to music was on his way home from school, which took him along a safe route through his neighborhood. It never occurred to him that paying more attention to his music than his surroundings could one day cost him his life.

One day Bart decided to take a new way home from school along a set of railroad tracks. It would definitely be a shortcut. As usual, he put on his headphones with a CD he had just bought. It was by his favorite artist, and he turned up the volume as loud as it would go so that he could enjoy every minute of the songs. He walked along the tracks, carefree and clueless about his surroundings.

Reaching the point where he could see his house, he waved to his mother and slowly walked toward her on the tracks. But all the while, he was unaware of a train speeding up behind him, trying hard to get Bart’s attention with loud blasts from the train whistle. Bart’s music, however, was as loud as the train, and he could not hear the shriek of the train as the engineer tried hard to stop it.

Sadly, the train could not stop in time, and Bart was killed instantly. He never knew what hit him.

The outcome of this story is very sad, but many people, including school students, don’t realize that it is happening in their lives every day. They are walking down the tracks of their lives “plugged-in” to this world and not aware of a speeding train called “death” that could be as close as around the next corner. They are given warnings from the gospel message, but they are too involved to pay attention to them.

God’s Word tells us, “The wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23). We have all sinned in our lives, and often when it is least expected, death hits us. There is no time then to change our foolish decisions not to accept Christ as our Saviour. “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him” (John 3:36).

Is the music of this world drowning out the warnings of death in your life? God is warning you that judgment is coming. Are you listening?

MEMORY VERSE: “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.” John 3:36

ML-06/09/2013

Tammy's Doll

Tammy and her mother would sometimes walk through the toy department of a store where they often shopped. Each time Tammy would gaze longingly at a beautiful doll that was on display. One day she and her older brother Jon were in the toy department together. Tammy pointed to the doll and said, “I would just love to have that doll. It’s my very favorite!”

What a surprise Tammy had a few weeks later! Her brother gave her a box, and what do you think was in it? It was that very same beautiful doll she had seen in the toy department. She thanked Jon over and over again for her wonderful gift.

Do you think Tammy paid her brother for the doll? Oh, no! She just received it and thanked him for it. And that is what God wants us to do with His wonderful offer of salvation—just take it as a gift. He has sent His beloved Son, the Lord Jesus, to die for you. If you will come to Jesus and tell Him that you know you are a sinner and receive Him as your Saviour, God will make you one of His own children. Why not come to Him today? God’s gift of salvation is the best of all gifts.

If you have already received God’s gift of salvation, have you thanked Him for it? “Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable gift” (2 Corinthians 9:15).

“The wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:23).

ML-06/09/2013

The Wonders of God's Creation: Hide-And-Seek in Nature - Part 2

“Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed; for the Lord thy God is with thee.” Joshua 1:9

In the last issue, examples of some insects’ abilities to hide from enemies by their camouflage were described. We could never include all of them, but here are a few more.

Many large moths have “painted” eyes on their back wings that frighten birds away, while others look just like the bark of the trees on which they rest. A butterfly, known as the glass-winged butterfly, is so transparent that a predator sees only the flower or leaf that this butterfly is resting on.

Drone flies buzz and look so much like bees they even fool the members of a beehive, while the robber fly, also looking like a bumblebee, is avoided by the birds.

In South America, a four-foot snake with a thick body, the oxybellis, is colored like the vines around which it climbs. If frightened, it “freezes,” even if part of it hangs away from the vine. If a breeze stirs the vine, the snake sways its entire body to match the vine’s movements.

Instead of spinning a web to catch insects, the crab-spider catches them on the petals of flowers where it is overlooked because its color matches the flower’s—white, black, red or pink. The Oriental praying mantis does something similar. With colorful legs held upright while sitting in a bush, it fools and traps insects that think it is a flower petal.

A fly in Arizona has transparent wings, except for three heavy black stripes across each side. At rest with wings partly open, the stripes, seen from the back, look like the legs of a huge spider. Also on the back of its orange body are spots that look like huge black eyes. Predators that would go after a fly, seeing what looks like a fierce spider, leave it alone.

Most of us have noticed that caterpillars and small worms on flowers or plants turn the same color as what they are eating, making it very difficult to spot them even up close.

Many poisonous or distasteful insects are colored bright red and black. These don’t need camouflage because birds learn to leave them alone. Many harmless insects have similar coloring, and birds avoid them as well.

All this is a reminder of the wonders of God’s creation. None of these creatures is aware that it has these markings, but God-given instincts enable them to use them as they do. Mankind does not need such devices, as God has given us intelligence to avoid our enemies. The knowledge of His love and care should cause us to give Him our thanks, as expressed in the Bible verse: “Praise the Lord of hosts: for the Lord is good; for His mercy endureth forever” (Jeremiah 33:11).

In the next issue we will review some creatures besides insects that benefit by God-given disguises.

(to be continued)

ML-06/09/2013

Pauline the Cow

Last summer, Dad and I went out to the barn in the morning to do chores as usual. Dad needed to feed the cattle and milk Pauline, our cow, and I needed to feed my goats. I walked past the goat pen to Pauline’s pen and discovered our big gray cow was stuck! Really stuck! There she was in the doorway, and she couldn’t move very far. There was a hook on the wall in the doorway that curves upwards and is open at the top. It’s been there for a long time. She must have been scratching her eye or face on the hook or the doorpost, and the open end of the hook went through her right upper eyelid, and there she was stuck. That poor cow couldn’t go anywhere!

Dad and I tried to get it out of her eyelid by pushing her forward to unhook it, but that didn’t work. So Dad got a saw and sawed through the bolt and then pulled it out of her eyelid. She was glad to be free, and we were relieved that she was free too.

For the next several days we put medicine in her eye. Her eyelid was very swollen, but gradually the swelling went down, and the wound in the eyelid healed. But we were concerned about her eye, wondering if she would be blind in that eye. We kept checking, but soon we could tell that she could see out of it. We were so happy that her eye wasn’t damaged, and today she is fine.

The sad part is that Pauline stood there most of the night, stuck in the doorway. It happened after we had left the barn for the night. She could have called for help, if she had only mooed and mooed and made a fuss. We would have heard her and come out to see what was wrong. But she didn’t, and so she stood there for hours as she waited for us.

The Lord Jesus is ready and wants to save you and me from our sins, if we haven’t already come to Him to have our sins forgiven. If we have accepted Him as our Saviour, our sins are gone, and He is ready to help us with whatever we need. We just need to ask Him! We are told in Matthew 7:7, “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.” We only need to come to Him in prayer, telling Him our trouble, and then He will give us wisdom to know what to do. He says, “If any of you [need] wisdom, let him ask of God ... and it shall be given him” (James 1:5).

Have you let the Lord Jesus save you from your sins? Have you come to Him with your problems, asking Him for help?

MEMORY VERSE: “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.” Matthew 7:7

ML-06/16/2013

Uncle Will's Watch

“Hey, Alan, come look at the sea gulls on the railing!” Screaming, laughing cousins followed Alan to see the sea gulls sitting on the railing of the ferryboat. The birds were waiting for passengers to throw them scraps of food. But as the ferryboat crossed the deep, blue water between Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island, the cousins were more excited about landing on the island that still looked small in the distance.

After the boat docked, the two families crowded into the big van to visit an old restored house many of them had read about. What fun they all had exploring the famous old house.

Checking Uncle Will’s watch, the only watch among them, the parents decided there was still plenty of time to spend at a water park before heading back to the ferryboat for the ride back to the mainland. The swimming was lots of fun, and the time seemed to fly by. Then checking Uncle Will’s watch once more, there was still enough time to make it to the dock before the last ferry of the day started its slow trip back to Nova Scotia

They were counting on Uncle Will’s watch. But what they didn’t know was that Uncle Will’s watch was wrong.

Are you counting on wrong information? Has someone told you that the way to heaven is by being good? It doesn’t matter how carefully you try to be good, the Bible tells us that is not the way to heaven. Titus 3:5 says, “Not by works of righteousness [good deeds] which we have done, but according to [God’s] mercy He [saves] us.” Wrong information leads to failure. Let’s see what happened when the two families counted on the time from Uncle Will’s watch.

As the van drove within sight of the ferry landing, one of the cousins blurted out, “Look, the ferry is leaving!” And it was! The light of the evening sun showed the day’s last ferryboat was already steaming across the water.

There was no way to reach it—no way to bring it back. All because of a watch that gave them wrong information.

As the sun sank into darkness, a long and miserably cold night began. Huddling for warmth, all the cousins curled up in the corners of the van or under the bench seats. The two sets of tired parents spent most of the night comforting shivering children.

What happens after this life on earth is over if you have been following wrong information? “There is a way that [seems] right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death” (Proverbs 16:25). Your endless, unhappy eternity in outer darkness will never end. Although the two families were given a second chance once the morning sun peeked in the van windows and the ferryboat again began making its trips through the waters, you will never have another chance.

Set your “watch” to the Bible now. It is the Word of God and gives the right information for you to safely reach heaven. “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 2:8-9). Have you accepted this wonderful gift of everlasting life from God?

ML-06/16/2013

The Wonders of God's Creation: Hide-And-Seek in Nature - Part 3

“They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength.” Isaiah 40:31

Not only insects benefit by disguises. The horned lizard has been given a rough gray skin that blends with the desert ground, concealing it from its enemies. Certain toads, sitting still when danger threatens, also look like the lumps of dirt around them. The gray tree frog can change the color of its skin to match almost anything on which it rests.

The top fin of the deep-ocean pink decoy fish looks like a helpless little fish, while the rest of it looks like part of the ocean floor. When a fish comes to grab the “little fish,” it becomes a meal instead. Flounders also change color to match the various ocean floors on which they lie.

The white polar bear blends perfectly with the snow and ice where it lives, and the same is true of Arctic hares and foxes. The Creator provides them with white, warm coats in winter.

Spots on a leopard, stripes on a zebra, patterns on the skin of a sidewinder rattlesnake, the fur of a mouse and the shell of a tortoise are a few examples of the Creator’s special provision for concealing them from enemies or enabling them to capture needed food.

An outstanding underwater disguise is that of the sea dragon, a spectacular resident of Australian waters. Its orange-colored, strung-out body is covered from mouth to tail’s end with big stringers that look like seaweed of that area, sprouting what appear to be yellow and green leaves from every part of its body. When a large fish threatens it, a quick dash through the seaweed provides a good hiding place.

Another underwater example is the anglerfish, which hides in the rocks with only its head showing. Opening its mouth, it wiggles its pink tongue to look like a minnow. When an unsuspecting fish comes to get this tempting meal, the angler snaps its mouth shut and enjoys another treat.

These three articles only skim the surface of all the provisions the Creator has given some of the world’s creatures. They cannot help but impress us with the wonders of all that He has brought into the world and has always cared for.

But, more importantly, He counts every person of more value than any other living thing. For us there is a promise of a home in heaven after life here on earth is over, although we cannot go there in our sins. But He graciously tells us, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).

When we do this and turn to the Lord Jesus as our Saviour, God forgives our sins and accepts us as His own children, promising us a home in heaven. Have you admitted to Him that you are a sinner?

ML-06/16/2013

Sick on an Airplane

Captain Tom Hood is an airplane pilot on a large jet. He flies hundreds of people to places all over the world. Many people who fly on these large airplanes are going on their vacations or holidays to other countries.

When it’s close to time for takeoff, Captain Tom walks down the long ramp onto the plane and settles into his seat in the cockpit. He checks all the instruments and makes sure there is enough fuel for the long flight. Meanwhile, the flight attendants are working in the back of the airplane, checking that there are enough food and drinks for all the passengers. They greet all the excited passengers with a happy “Hello.” All the passengers are looking forward to arriving at their vacation country.

On one trip, Captain Tom and all the passengers were boarding their airplane in the city of Toronto, Canada. The passengers were very excited to be flying to Rome, a large city in the country of Italy. The flight was long, crossing over the Atlantic Ocean, and would last many hours.

During the flight, one of the flight attendants called Captain Tom on the airplane phone to tell him that there was a passenger who had suddenly become very sick. Captain Tom talked to the sick man and then contacted a doctor, using a special telephone. He thought he would need to land the plane in Paris, France, a closer airport than Rome, to have the man taken to a hospital as soon as possible.

Now, landing a large jet airplane is not done quickly, like parking a car. It takes about thirty minutes to land a big airplane, so it has to be a large airport with long runways. They learned that the closest airport where they could land the plane did not have a suitable hospital close by. Captain Tom, the doctor and the sick man decided it would be better to go on to Rome. They arranged for an ambulance to meet the airplane as soon as they landed at the Rome airport. The ambulance would turn on the siren and flashing lights and rush the sick man to the hospital where a doctor would be waiting to help him.

Boys and girls, each one of us has a very serious illness that needs to be cured; it is called sin. There is no medicine that we can take to cure it or even help it a little. Like the man on the airplane who needed a doctor, there is only one Physician who can cure our sin sickness. Captain Tom couldn’t really help the man’s illness, but he could take him to the city where a doctor could help it.

This little Sunday school paper is directing you to the Great Physician, God’s own Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, who can cure you of your serious sin sickness. He loves you and died on Calvary’s cross for sinners like you and me so that we can be washed clean of all our sins. First John 1:7 says, “The blood of Jesus Christ His Son [cleanses] us from all sin.” There is no other way to be cured of your sin sickness.

God says there can be no sin in heaven, not even one! If you will come to Jesus and let Him wash your sins away, the door to heaven will be open for you when your life here on earth is over. He will meet you with His loving arms open wide to welcome you! “Unto Him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God and His Father” (Revelation 1:5-6).

Will you come to Jesus today and let Him cleanse you from your sins? He is the only cure for your serious sin sickness.

MEMORY VERSE: “Unto Him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God and His Father.” Revelation 1:5-6

ML-06/23/2013

The Two Natures

Flavio’s friend Clemente was visiting him for a few days in central Brazil. One morning Flavio took Clemente to see the lions at his father’s zoo.

Flavio stood near the cage of a huge male lion. He called to his friend, “Clemente, come watch this.”

Flavio gave a low whistle. To Clemente’s surprise, the big lion sauntered over to the bars and purred like a house cat as it let Flavio stroke its mane and back. “Here, you try now,” invited Flavio. Clemente reached in and stroked the lion just like Flavio had and found the lion quite calm. Flavio explained, “We had this lion in our home as a cub. I played with him as he was growing up. He’s pretty tame.”

Flavio went across to a nearby cage and caught and killed a pigeon. “Now watch this,” said Flavio. He threw the dead pigeon on top of the lion’s cage. With a sudden taste for blood, the lion leaped at the bird and, clawing it down from the roof of his cage, he started to eat this unexpected feast. “Don’t try to pet him now,” warned Flavio. “His old, wild nature has returned.”

Just like the “tame” lion, those of us who are real Christians have two natures. One is “tame” (the Bible calls it the new man) which the Lord Jesus gives us as soon as we accept Him as our personal Saviour. The other is “wild” (the Bible calls it the old man), and Satan is its bad influence. If we feed upon the world and its pleasures, the old nature plainly shows and we displease the Lord. But if we feed on God’s Word, the Bible, the new nature will show, and others will see that we belong to Jesus.

“The flesh [old nature] lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary [don’t agree] the one to the other” (Galatians 5:17).

Do you have that new nature that loves to please the Lord Jesus? “Without faith it is impossible to please Him: for he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently [continually] seek Him” (Hebrews 11:6).

ML-06/23/2013

The Wonders of God's Creation: Treasure in the Ocean

“The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord.... He [gathers] the waters of the sea together as an heap: He [lays] up the depth in storehouses.” Psalm 33:5-7

We have studied some of the treasures of the oceans—fish, whales, shellfish, salt, minerals and much more. However, there is another very important treasure. It is the living masses of small, drifting animal and plant life called krill or plankton.

Without the immense supply of krill, there would be no whales, porpoises and some of the important fish that form part of man’s food supply. For all these creatures and many others, krill is their main food. Whales are perhaps the largest krill feeders. Swimming through masses of krill with their mouths open, they close them to squeeze out the water and swallow the “krill soup” that remains. It is estimated that a large whale may swallow over five tons of krill a day.

Most krill is found in the icy waters of the Arctic and Antarctic oceans and is the real reason why whales, penguins and many kinds of fish are so plentiful in those areas. The name “plankton” means “wandering” and refers to that part of the krill composed of tiny plants and animals (also called diatoms). Some are so small that a teaspoonful of water could hold one million! These masses drift about in ocean currents, and if not devoured, their tiny skeletons eventually drop to the bottom, making great deposits of “diatomaceous earth” over the centuries. This material can be dredged out and used for many purposes.

However, krill is made up of many things besides diatoms: tiny, shrimp-like creatures, others that look like miniature lobsters, shellfish about the size of a postage stamp, another shellfish called a copepod, great masses of algae and uncountable millions of microscopic plants and life forms. The lobster-like krill, with eyes forming the major part of their heads, are a choice food of penguins, along with a heavy diet of fish. Eating-size shrimp also eat krill. All of these obtain important vitamins and minerals from krill, which is part of the Creator’s way of providing strength and health for them and to others who eventually use them for food.

Sometimes called “the pasture of the sea,” krill is often found in great masses covering the ocean for several miles. It often glows with a soft light at night, plainly visible to ships passing through it.

While these creatures are unseen to most of us, we cannot help but consider how wonderful it is that the Lord God, their Creator, is always aware of all His creation and through krill provides food for so many of them. “These wait all upon Thee; that Thou mayest give them their meat [food] in due season” (Psalm 104:27).

But His care and provisions for you are so much greater, because He loves you. You enjoy His daily care and provisions. Do you enjoy His love?

ML-06/23/2013

The Story of Lydia

Lydia was a saleslady with only one product for sale. Her customers were not ordinary people like you and me. They were very special people, like kings and queens, who wore very beautiful clothes.

Can you guess what Lydia sold? It was beautiful purple cloth, and it was very expensive. Somewhere in that part of the world, down under the shallow water, were sea snails with shells that could be ground into a very precious purple dye. When this dye was used for dyeing cloth, it had a deep, purple shine. Only rich people could afford to buy this special purple cloth and have it made into beautiful clothing. She had a successful business selling her purple cloth.

Lydia worshipped the one true God, and she had a hungry heart to know more about Him. She lived in the city of Philippi where there was a regular prayer meeting down by the riverside, and you may be sure that Lydia was always there. The followers of God in Philippi knew very little about Him, but they worshipped the Lord God just the same.

One day the Apostle Paul came to Philippi, because God sent him there. It did not take long for him to find the little prayer meeting by the riverside. Of course, Lydia was there, and when she heard his message, the Lord opened her heart to receive it. This was the message she longed for, that Jesus was the Saviour of sinners. She did not have to go far to the water to be baptized to that wonderful Saviour, in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. And her household was baptized too. It was a Christian household now.

She said to Paul, If you believe that I am faithful to the Lord, would you and Silas come to my house and stay with us? It didn’t take her long to show kindness to other believers, did it? I’m sure Paul was glad to say yes, and I’m sure she was happy to know that he and his companion Silas were spending the days on the streets of Philippi, telling the good news of salvation through Christ Jesus to everyone.

Some of the people on the street were afraid they would lose money by what Paul and Silas were doing, and they did not receive them with joy, but with anger. In fact, they were downright furious! They dragged Paul and Silas to the marketplace where they beat them. The beating was cruel and painful.

Throw them into prison, the angry men shouted, and make sure they don’t get out! The jailer thought the worst dungeon was good enough for such men, and he chained them up, even putting their feet in stocks. Then he locked the prison doors and went to sleep.

I wonder if Lydia knew all this. If she did, you and I can guess what she did—she would have been praying for Paul and Silas.

She felt the earthquake at midnight, and the jailer did too. He was sure the prisoners had all escaped, and he felt he had no choice but to kill himself. Then suddenly he heard a voice calling to him, Don’t kill yourself! We are all here!

This was a power greater than prison doors and locks! An earthquake might be a natural disaster, but this came from the man whom he had thrown in there the night before. Who could do such a thing—stay and not run for freedom? The jailer called for a light and sprang into the prison and brought Paul and Silas out and asked, What must I do to be saved?

Do you know the answer? Perhaps you can repeat it: “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved” (Acts 16:31). But is it deep in your heart? Is Jesus really your Lord and Saviour?

The jailer believed in God along with everyone in his house, and he didn’t take long to show that he was truly saved. He brought Paul and Silas home to his house and washed their bleeding wounds. Then he gave them food to eat and was baptized along with his household.

In the morning, Paul and Silas were not only let go, but the officers begged them to leave. They went first to the Christian brethren, and I’m sure that included Lydia. They comforted those who had been troubled about how they had been treated, and then they departed.

Would you like to meet Lydia in heaven? If you have the same Saviour, you will certainly meet her there. Maybe Lydia found that her belief in the Lord Jesus Christ as her Saviour was bad for business, but if we have the unsearchable riches of Christ, what does it matter?

“The preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God” (1 Corinthians 1:18).

You may read this story for yourself in Acts 16.

MEMORY VERSE: “The preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.” 1 Corinthians 1:18

ML-06/30/2013

Are All the Children in?

I wonder if, when the shadows fall

On the last, short earthly day,

When we say good-bye to the world outside,

All tired with our childish play,

When we meet the Saviour of boys and girls,

Who died to save them from sin,

Will we hear Him ask, as Mother did,

“Are all the children in?”

ML-06/30/2013

The Wonders of God's Creation: The Pack Rat

“Thou, even Thou, art Lord alone; Thou hast made ... the earth, and all things that are therein ... and Thou preservest them.” Nehemiah 9:6

Pack rats are not like their cousins, the filthy, mean city rats. Pack rats are curious and have cleaner habits. They do not live in sewers and garbage dumps but live mostly in the mountains or on the deserts of western North America and Central America. Though they look much like the ordinary city rat, there are differences other than their habits—their fur is softer and they have hairy tails. They are sometimes called “wood rats” or “trade rats.”

They have earned the name “pack rat” because of their habit of picking up and hiding or carrying home bright or shiny objects that are small. As a result, their nests become full of unusual things—pieces of glass, aluminum foil, bottle caps, shotgun shells, nails or even brightly colored stones. Getting into everything from attics to car engines, they steal their treasures, damaging electrical wiring and other things so that they become a nuisance. Sometimes they will drop or leave behind something they are carrying in favor of something more attractive. While prowling in a house, they have been known to chew a bright buckle off a shoe or a shiny pin from a dress, taking them and leaving something else behind. This is how the name “trade rat” was earned.

Pack rats build strong nests with two or three rooms in a deserted barn or cabin or in trees where they raise one or two litters a season. These nests are added to each year and may become five or six feet wide and just as high. If available, cactus prickers are woven into these nests as a defense against coyotes, foxes, dogs and other enemies. Additional safety is insured by building underground tunnels between rocks or tree roots for quick escapes if threatened while they are out and about.

Perhaps some of our readers are a little like the pack rat, always trying something new in exchange for something they have become tired of. The Lord invites us just to rest in Him and not to keep searching for satisfaction and happiness in the attractive things of this world. In the Book of Job, chapter 28, we are reminded about that searching: “Where shall wisdom be found? and where is the place of understanding?” (vs. 12). “The exchange of it shall not be for jewels of fine gold” (vs. 17). “God [understands] the way thereof, and He [knows] the place thereof” (vs. 23). “And unto man He said, Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding” (vs. 28). How wise it is to follow His way and to “be content with such things as ye have” (Hebrews 13:5).

ML-06/30/2013

Living With Cobras

Dr. Jacob Chamberlain was a Christian missionary in India for over forty years, from 1860 to the early 1900s. He was about to have breakfast one morning when a staff member rushed in with an urgent message: “Doctor, I just saw a cobra chasing a frog across the veranda! The frog got away, and the snake disappeared!”

Cobras are deadly snakes, and the doctor knew he had to get rid of the snake before it hurt someone. He called for his pistol, which he kept for traveling through the jungle. With his pistol in hand, he went looking for any holes where the snake might be hiding. Sure enough, he had never noticed it before. There was a hole with an opening the size of his wrist in between two pots of flowers that his wife watered daily.

Holding a mirror to direct the sun’s rays into the hole, Dr. Chamberlain could see a snake coiled up at the bottom. He held a piece of a broken wagon tire over the hole, and moving it a little, he fired the pistol several times into the hole. As he waited, the still-alive cobra soon stuck its head out, and Dr. Chamberlain finished killing the poisonous creature and flung it out into the yard.

Holding the mirror to direct the sun’s rays again, Dr. Chamberlain saw another snake coiled at the bottom of the hole. Using his pistol, he repeated how he had killed the first cobra and finished off the second one too. They had likely been living among the people on the missionary compound for weeks or months, and nobody had seen them. Everyone living on the compound was in danger of his or her life, but God had mercifully protected each one.

The Bible tells the true story of how God mercifully protected Daniel and all the wise men of Babylon whom King Nebuchadnezzar had threatened with death. The king ordered that someone tell him what he had dreamed and the meaning of his dream. If nobody could tell him, Daniel, his three friends and all the wise men of Babylon would all be killed.

Is that fair? Can anyone know what another person has dreamed? But it didn’t matter whether or not it was fair. The king was the supreme ruler, and he demanded that his wise men, including Daniel and his three friends, tell him his dream, which he had forgotten. Not only that, but they also had to tell him what the dream meant!

Daniel had such faith in God that he asked the king for a little time, and then he would tell the king his dream and what it meant. Daniel called for his three friends, and they called on God for mercy.

God answered their prayers. That night God showed Daniel the secret in a vision. How thrilled Daniel was! He said, “I thank Thee, and praise Thee, O Thou God of my fathers, who hast given me wisdom and might, and hast made known unto me now what we desired of Thee: for Thou hast now made known unto us the king’s matter” (Daniel 2:23). Then he went into the king and told him his dream and its meaning. God’s answer to the prayers of Daniel and his three friends saved their lives and the lives of the king’s wise men.

We can always count on God. He promises, “Before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear” (Isaiah 65:24). This was not only true for Daniel and his three friends, but it was also true for Dr. Chamberlain on the missionary compound.

Later that week, Dr. Chamberlain had some snake charmers come out to the compound. Using their weird music, five more deadly cobras were discovered and killed. There were seven snakes in all, and yet no one had been bitten or harmed. Dr. Chamberlain was greatly encouraged that God had kept everyone safe, with danger so very close.

How blessed are we who know God! Besides having forgiveness of our sins and eternal life, we can know God’s mercies and help in this life. We are happy and thankful to see His answers to our prayers.

Can you remember an answer to one of your prayers?

MEMORY VERSE: “Before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear.” Isaiah 65:24.

ML-07/07/2013

The Giant Decoy

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-07/07/2013

The Wonders of God's Creation: The Ungainly Ostrich

“The ostrich . . . [leaves] her eggs in the earth, and [warms] them in the dust. . . . She [scorns] the horse and his rider.” Job 39:13,14,18

Although it cannot fly, for size and strength, no bird can match the 300-pound, 8-foot-tall ostrich of Africa. And a rider on a horse cannot match its 50-miles-per-hour speed across the desert. The female is called a dun. She lays half a dozen or more ivory-colored eggs (each one twenty-four times as large as a hen’s egg) in a hole scraped in the sand. She sits on them during the day or, as the above verse says, leaves them exposed to the hot sun. The male takes over incubating them at night.

The ostrich is a very hardy bird; some live for seventy years. Those in the wild usually live in flocks of a hundred or more and peacefully share the open spaces with zebras, giraffes and other animals. If necessary, they defend themselves with their strong legs—a well-directed kick either killing or discouraging any attacker.

Its appearance seems strange indeed. Its long, bare legs with ankles like knees and its manner of walking give an almost mechanical appearance. Short, heavily feathered wings give it a football-shaped body, and its bulky, feathered tail looks like it was just stuck on for balance. Then it has a long, naked neck with a flat, hairy head, having bulgy eyes and a wide beak, making it look like a periscope. In fact, this is one of the Creator’s provisions for it, enabling it with its keen vision to see from a lofty height over miles of desert land.

Visitors to ostrich farms are amused to watch one swallow an unpeeled orange. Down its long neck goes the orange, spiraling around, the bulge visible through its skin, until it disappears at the bottom. The birds are also sometimes tamed and ridden by people brave enough to try. But, as no saddle is provided, it takes an experienced person to be able to ride very far without sliding off over its tail.

Why do you think the Lord God created such an unusual bird? We might ask the same question about some unusual fish, or the platypus, or an opossum, or strange insects, or other unusual creatures. Do you suppose that, as the Supreme Designer of the universe, it was His purpose to make every animal, fish, bird, or even every person a little different? The same is true of flowers, vegetables, trees and other growing plant life. How thankful we can be that He included such variety in all He has made—another example of His wisdom.

And remember that He did not leave anything needing improvement, for after every part of creation was brought into being, the Bible tells us, “God saw everything that He had made, and, behold, it was very good” (Genesis 1:31). No improvements have been necessary.

ML-07/07/2013

Real or Counterfeit?

Mr. Smith went into the bank to deposit money into his account. He walked up to the counter and handed the bank teller a piece of paper money to deposit. She took one look at the bill and quickly called the sheriff, who came and arrested Mr. Smith.

Why didn’t the teller accept his money? And why did she call the sheriff right away? Because Mr. Smith had tried to deposit a counterfeit $1,000,000 bill. The teller knew this country has never had $1,000,000 bills in circulation!

Boys and girls, counterfeit money is a worthless imitation—it is fake money! It’s a serious crime to make and use counterfeit money. Mr. Smith tried to fool the teller with a fake paper bill. It wasn’t real, and he was sent to jail. At least several other people have tried to use fake million-dollar bills to buy things in stores, mostly so they could get real dollar bills back in change. They were also caught and sent to jail.

How about you? We certainly hope that you have never tried to pass fake money in a store, but are you a fake Christian? Are you trying to pass yourself off as a real Christian? Have you ever confessed to the Lord Jesus that you are a sinner and want Him to take away your sins? Unlike bank workers and store clerks who can usually spot fake money, the people around you might very well be fooled into thinking you are a Christian when you are actually a fake.

There are simple steps that bank tellers learn in order to identify counterfeit money. They don’t look for things that are the same in the bills but ways the counterfeit money is different. One main difference is how the money feels. It just doesn’t feel right. Bank bills are printed on special cotton paper that can’t be bought in stores.

Besides not feeling the same, a fake bill really does look different. If examined carefully, the paper it’s printed on is missing tiny red and blue threads. When held up to the light, real bills have stripes, called watermarks, which are hard to reproduce. Counterfeit money also doesn’t have the same microscopic printing or careful artwork that appears on real dollar bills. Sometimes a magnifying glass is needed to check for these missing details.

God knows your heart, and He doesn’t need a magnifying glass to see if you are real. “All things are naked and opened unto the eyes of Him with whom we have to do” (Hebrews 4:13). A man in the Bible named Simon, who was pretending to be a Christian for selfish reasons, had to be told by the Apostle Peter, “Thy heart is not right in the sight of God. Repent therefore of this thy wickedness” (Acts 8:21-22). It is so very important to be a real Christian! If you aren’t and you die, you won’t be sent to jail; you’ll be sent to never-ending punishment: “Whosoever was not found written in [God’s] book of life was cast into the lake of fire” (Revelation 20:15).

Next time you handle paper money or watch bank tellers counting out bills, think about things that are real and things that are counterfeit. Make sure you are not a “counterfeit Christian.” You might trick your friends, but you can’t fool God. He knows everything about you and made a way for you to be washed clean from your sins. “Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow” (Isaiah 1:18).

Right now is the very best time in your life to give up being a counterfeit Christian and to become a REAL Christian.

MEMORY VERSE: “Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow.” Isaiah 1:18

ML-07/14/2013

Pingpong

We have a fun family pet, but it isn’t your normal pet. We have a ferret. Her name is Pingpong. She loves to play and explore everything she sees. Pingpong is not allowed to bite anybody. If she does, we punish her so she learns not to bite people.

One day I was playing with Pingpong when she bit me on the face near my eye. I yelled loudly and dropped her on the couch. After she bit me, she knew what she had done was wrong. She ran as fast as she could and hid under a couch so I could not find her.

After I looked everywhere, I heard a sound coming from under the couch. I put my hand under there and grabbed her. I had to punish Pingpong for biting me. She couldn’t escape punishment by running away.

We are all children of God, and God hates sin. “All have sinned and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). When we sin, God must punish us, and we cannot run away from Him. But for those of us who have accepted God’s Son, the Lord Jesus, as our Saviour, our sins have already been paid for. He is our Substitute. However, we still need to confess our sins to Him, and He will forgive us. “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).

But for any who are still strangers to the Lord Jesus, we want to tell you that when Jesus died on the cross, He was punished for the sins of everyone who will accept Him as their Saviour. If you try to run and hide from Him when you sin, like Pingpong tried to do, God can still see you, and you will face His punishment for your sins.

The Lord Jesus loves you very much, and He is waiting to wash you clean from every sin, if you will let Him. Come to Him today, confessing that you know you are a sinner and believing that He took the punishment in your place that you deserve for your sins. He says, “I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more” (Hebrews 8:12). That’s a promise!

ML-07/14/2013

Wonders of God's Creation: Gazing Skyward

“He [knows] the number of the stars; He [calls] them all by their names. Great is our Lord, and of great power.” Psalm 147:4-5

The darker the night, the better we can see the stars, all of them vast distances away. Some of them are hundreds of trillions of miles away. King David enjoyed gazing at them and wrote: “The heavens declare the glory of God” (Psalm 19:1). Do you enjoy them too?

How strange that some people try to figure out how the starry skies came into being when the answer is found in many places in the Bible. Here is one: “The worlds [stars] were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear” (Hebrews 11:3). The stars came into being at God’s command!

Astronomers admit they have not been able to find an end to the stars and are increasingly amazed at what they discover with electron telescopes. They report that the galaxy called the Milky Way, of which our world is a very tiny part, has an estimated 200 billion stars in it, and that there are at least 175 billion galaxies with a total number of stars so large that it is impossible for our minds to grasp the number. Yet, as our opening Bible verse tells us, God knows the exact number of stars, and even more amazing, He has a name for each one of them! Actually, there is no point in trying to count them, for God Himself declared, “The host of heaven cannot be numbered [by man]” (Jeremiah 33:22). We are also told, “One star differeth from another star in glory [beauty]” (1 Corinthians 15:41). No two are alike. What pleasure our blessed God must have had when He stretched “out the heavens like a curtain” (Psalm 104:2).

Here is an example of how the Creator made each star different from all others. Earth’s diameter is 7,926 miles, compared with the star Betelgeuse’s diameter of 540,000,000 miles and the star Aurigae’s diameter of 750,000,000 miles. Our sun is 865,000 miles in diameter, or more than 100 times Earth’s size. If we were to compare others within reach of telescopes, we would be astounded to discover what great differences the Creator has made in all of them.

It has been calculated that our fastest spaceship traveling from Earth would take 40,000 years to reach the star known as Alpha Centauri, which is 26,000,000,000,000 (26 trillion) miles away from us. (Even at that distance, it is the third brightest star in the night sky.) Yet, for all these great distances, which boggle the minds of astronomers, the Creator has each heavenly body under His constant gaze and keeps each one in its proper orbit. Only He could make them, place them in their orbits in space, and keep them in order. We sing a hymn that states it so well: “Isn’t He wonderful!”

ML-07/14/2013

Target Practice

I grew up on a farm out in the country. On our little farm, we had some chickens that we raised for the meat.

One day I was outside by myself with my BB gun, practicing shooting at a target. I happened to see a chicken wandering around, and I thought it would be fun to see what the chicken would do if I shot it with my BB gun. There were several power levels you could set on the gun, and I knew the lowest one wasn’t very powerful. Since chickens have lots of feathers, I thought the chicken would hardly feel it and would just cluck and run around, more frightened than hurt. I knew it was wrong to hurt the chicken, but I wanted some excitement.

We sometimes try to see how close we can get to sin and still not sin. The Bible gives this warning about the excitement of sin: “Avoid it, pass not by it, turn from it, and pass away” (Proverbs 4:15). But we can’t keep from sinning in our own strength: “Without Me ye can do nothing” (John 15:5). However, if we ask the Lord Jesus, He will help us to do the right thing. “I can do all things through Christ [who strengthens] me” (Philippians 4:13). I should have remembered these verses, some of which I had memorized for Sunday school.

So I set my BB gun to the lowest power level, took aim and pulled the trigger. I hit the chicken okay, but it didn’t run around clucking ... it fell over—dead!

I felt sick to my stomach. I knew my parents wouldn’t like it if they found out, so I grabbed the chicken and carried it into one of the sheds we had and hid it. I thought no one would know I had killed a chicken. But as often happens when we do something wrong, someone saw me. My little brother had watched me hide the chicken and went and told Mom.

She came out and found me, and she wasn’t very happy. I was punished right then for what I had done.

I thought when I hid the dead chicken that no one would find out and that I was safe. Boys and girls and grown-ups often do the same thing. They try to hide from God, thinking that He won’t see them and their sin. However, the Bible says, “The eyes of the Lord are in every place, beholding the evil and the good” (Proverbs 15:3). God sees everything we do and hears everything we say! We can’t hide from God. I had to take my punishment for killing the chicken, and God warns that there is more punishment after death for the sins that each one of us has done. But don’t stop here—read on.

God loves you and me, and He has good news He wants each of us to know about. He sent His Son Jesus to die for us, so our sins could be washed away. If you and I personally will believe and accept Jesus as our very own Saviour, we won’t have to bear the punishment for our sins, because Jesus bore that punishment on the cross before He died. What’s left for you and me is to spend eternity in heaven with our Saviour who loves us so much He died for us. What good news!

MEMORY VERSE: “The eyes of the Lord are in every place, beholding the evil and the good.” Proverbs 15:3

ML-07/21/2013

The Race and the Prize

It was a long race for a boy of 11—twice around the track on a very hot day. Jonathan might not have tried so hard, but Dad and Mom and Grandma were all sitting in the bleachers watching him. There must be a good reason, or you just don’t run a long race on a very hot day. With three very important people watching him, Jonathan had a triple-strong reason, so he kept on running.

Not that he was winning. There were other boys ahead of him, but being the winner was not the goal. There was a good reward at the end, of course, but that reward was for everybody, not just the winner. Then why try so hard? You have to have a motive or you don’t put on speed. And Jonathan’s motive was his love for those three very important people watching him.

Maybe some of us don’t qualify for a race like that, but we can each qualify for the race that God describes in Hebrews 12:1. To qualify, you must know Jesus as your very own Saviour. He is our Strength and our Goal. Then God gives us two rules for running that race. First, “lay aside every weight.” That means, Don’t fill your pockets or your life with junk. Carrying junk makes it much harder to run. Then verse 2 tells us, “Looking unto Jesus.” That means, Keep your eyes on the goal and don’t look around to see how others are running. That’s God’s advice for Christian runners. Now start running! If you love Jesus, isn’t He the goal worth running for?

Nobody needed to tell those three in the bleachers where Jonathan was. Their eyes were on him all the way. They saw that on the second lap he was really hurting but still running. He even put on a burst of speed when the finish line was in sight! Brave boy!

And Jesus sees exactly where we are in the race. He knows when the running gets tough and we hurt. But the finish line is in sight! Where is our burst of speed when we know that the Lord’s coming for us is so near?

Dad, Mom and Grandma rushed from the bleachers and exchanged big congratulations and big hugs. And that was not all. There were hot dogs and cold drinks for everyone, and in such happy surroundings, everything tasted super. It was well worth the run.

And what will the rewards of heaven be for God’s tired runners? Jesus will welcome each with open arms. And He has wonderful surprises waiting for us, but He has told us very little about them. They are too wonderful to describe. But this much we know for sure—to be with our Saviour forever in the Father’s house will be wonderful, and we will leave the surprises to be enjoyed then.

So while we are still running, let us remember, “Lay aside every weight ... . Let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus” (Hebrews 12:1-2).

ML-07/21/2013

The Wonders of God's Creation: The Tough Badger

“He made a covering for the tent of rams’ skins dyed red, and a covering of badgers’ skins above that.” Exodus 36:19

The verse refers to the tabernacle Moses was told to build as a place of worship for the Lord’s people in the wilderness. The heavy, dense fur of the badger was a shield that protected everything inside the tabernacle from storms and severe weather.

Badgers are twenty-pound animals with wide bodies, short necks, short legs and black feet. They are courageous and strong, about two feet long and are covered with silver-gray fur. The American badger, which lives in the United States and Canada, has a narrow white stripe that runs between its eyes onto its back. It is this white marking (badge) on the face that gives these animals their name.

Badgers are usually found on the open plains, prairies and deserts of the West. Being night hunters, their food includes rodents, rabbits, birds, snakes (including rattlers), lizards and fish. Coming across a beehive, they rip it open for the honey with no fear of the bees, which cannot sting through the badgers’ dense fur.

The Creator has provided several means of protection for badgers. If unable to otherwise escape from an enemy, being an excellent digger, it can dig itself completely underground in less than a minute with its sharp claws. Actually they have few enemies to fear. Although timid, they are quite capable of routing dogs or coyotes with their claws and powerful teeth. Also, being low to the ground, an attacker cannot get at their throats without being bitten first.

In the cold of winter, they sleep in a den about twenty-five feet from their runway entrance, sometimes even sharing their den with a fox.

Two furry babies are born in the spring and are blind for a month. The mother raises the playful youngsters, training them to hunt and care for themselves. By summer’s end, they leave her.

The activities of these interesting animals are beneficial. Besides eating destructive rodents, their digging loosens the soil, making it water-absorbent, which helps to prevent flooding.

When underground, badgers know that they are hidden from everything. But what they can’t know is that an all-wise Creator sees them, for His eyes are always on every living thing.

The Bible tells us, “His eyes are upon the ways of man, and He [sees] all his goings. There is no darkness ... where the workers of iniquity [sin] may hide themselves” (Job 34:21-22). Rather than foolishly trying to hide from God, He invites you to come with an open heart to Him. He says, “Those that seek Me early shall find me” (Proverbs 8:17), and, “The way of a fool is right in his own eyes: but he that [listens to] counsel is wise” (Proverbs 12:15). Which group are you in?

ML-07/21/2013

The Story of a Royal Purple Robe

Do you remember Lydia, the lady who sold the beautiful purple cloth in Bible times? We told you that the purple dye was very expensive, because it was made from ground-up shells of sea snails. Purple robes were so beautiful and so costly that only kings were able to wear them. The color was called “royal purple.”

There was a baby born long ago in a stable in Bethlehem. He was the son of a virgin mother who was of the royal line of King David, so He had every right to wear the royal purple. He was also legally the son of Joseph who was also of the royal line of David. Joseph’s lineage could be traced back through all the kings of Judah to King David.

“Where is He that is born King of the Jews?” (Matthew 2:2), asked the wise men from the East. This was good news for Jerusalem, but the city was troubled. Many probably thought that their king should be a great and mighty king, sitting on a royal throne and scattering their enemies. Instead, God had given them a baby. They wanted their own choice for a king, not God’s.

God’s wisdom is perfect, and absolutely nothing can change His perfect plan. The priests who read the Old Testament knew that Christ would be born in Bethlehem, but they did not come to worship Him.

This newborn baby named Jesus was the Son of God. He lived His boyhood in Nazareth until He was thirty years old. Then He began to preach the kingdom of God and to work miracles that no one else could do. They were miracles of kindness and love. Sometimes they were for just one person and sometimes for thousands of people. But even though He was hungry and thirsty and weary, He never did one thing to please Himself.

Jesus chose twelve apostles to be with Him and whom He might send out to preach. He knew the heart of each of these men, and He knew that one heart was not loyal to Him. There were eleven who loved Him and one who loved money.

What does God see in your heart? If He were right here today, would being loyal to Him spoil your life? Maybe you don’t understand Him, and certainly the apostles didn’t, but they followed Him anyway.

The chief priests and rulers of the people hated Jesus, and in the dark one night they captured Him in the garden of Gethsemane. Their hatred of Him was more important to them than sleep.

Early the next morning a crowd had gathered, shouting against Jesus. The soldiers twisted a crown of thorns and placed it on His head and put on Him a robe of royal purple and brought Him to the governor Pilate. Pilate brought Him before the crowd of people saying, “Behold your King!” (John 19:14).

“Away with Him, crucify Him” (John 19:15), they shouted. They took off the royal purple robe, and they spit in His face and struck His head with a rod. They nailed His hands and feet to a wooden cross. God saw all this and remained silent.

At noon, it became totally dark—no stars, no moon, only complete darkness. In that deep darkness, Jesus took upon Himself all the punishment for my sins that I deserved in hell forever. God did not comfort Him. His total aloneness was something that we Christians will never understand. He could have come down from the cross, but His deep love for you and me held Him to that cross for three hours ... until He cried out, “It is finished” (John 19:30). Then He gave up His life and died.

He took the punishment for your sins, if you will come to Him, admitting that you are a sinner and accepting Him as your Saviour. “Who His own self bare our sins in His own body on the tree [cross]” (1 Peter 2:24). But what if you will not come? You will bear the punishment for your own sins forever in that terrible place called hell.

Jesus will not wear the royal purple robe again. His glory will be far, far greater than any color on earth could proclaim. If you are His, you are His forever, and He will not allow one of His own to perish.

Do you belong to Him now and forever?

MEMORY VERSE: “Who His own self bare our sins in His own body on the tree.” (1 Peter 2:24)

ML-07/28/2013

The Locked Security Gate

Many of you boys and girls have seen doors that open by themselves as you walk up to them. They open by remote control or when you walk on a special pad that is electronically wired. A while ago we were taken to our friend’s place of business. It was a company where security was tight, and there was a strong, high fence all around the buildings and parking lots. I was wondering just how our friend was going to get his car inside this high fence, because I saw nothing that looked like a normal gate. But as he drove close to the fence, he had a card that he slipped into a special slot. Part of the fence began to slide sideways, making an opening wide enough to let the car through. After we passed through, it slid back into place. There was no other way in; you had to have a card.

And there is no other way into heaven except by the way the Lord Jesus opened when He gave up His life to pay for our sins. He was the Lamb of God, taking the punishment of our sins upon Himself, so we could enjoy the wonders of heaven with Him. If we think there are many ways to enter heaven, we go against what Jesus said: “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me” (John 14:6). Another verse says, “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). There is only one Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, and He offers you Himself as the free “card” that opens the door to heaven to everyone who believes in Him.

“I am the door: by Me if any man enter in, he shall be saved” (John 10:9).

ML-07/28/2013

The Wonders of God's Creation: Those Annoying Barnacles

“God created ... every living creature that [moves], which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind.” Genesis 1:21

Any swimmer who scrapes against a barnacle-covered rock or a dock piling knows how tightly barnacles are attached. Not only are they annoying, but they also can cause damage. There are over a thousand species of barnacles in the oceans fastened to rocks, pilings, driftwood, boat hulls and other objects. Even many living creatures, such as whales, dolphins, turtles, crabs and large fish cannot stop them from attaching to their sides, heads and backs. All operating ships in ocean waters find barnacles a pest and expense, requiring frequent scraping of their hulls if the ships are to operate well in the water. Barnacles will actually reduce the speed of ships by increasing the drag on the normally smooth hull.

The most common barnacles are cone shaped. One variety is called acorn shell, another is called the upright goose, and a third is called the rock barnacle. Most are very small, only about ⅛ inch wide, while some weigh as much as three pounds.

One barnacle can produce 10,000 eggs at a time. These move freely in the ocean for long periods of time, until they change to free-swimming larvae. And then after several molts, they make a final change into true barnacles. Once they find a suitable surface, they cement themselves firmly to it with self-made glue. Once the glue sets firmly, they are attached for life with a bond so tight that storms and waves will never move them, even after they die.

The hard, rough shells of barnacles, growing in layers year after year, are the protection their bodies need so as not to be eaten by fish. These also provide a shelter from the sun when they are exposed at low tide.

How would you like spending most of your life standing on your head and eating with your feet? That’s exactly how barnacles spend most of their lives. A barnacle catches food by waving six pairs of legs back and forth in the water from the open end of its shell. These legs strain out microscopic plants and animals, which the barnacle eats.

Does the Lord God care about barnacles? He certainly does. The Bible says, “Whatsoever the Lord pleased, that did He in heaven, and in earth, in the seas, and all deep places” (Psalm 135:6). We may not understand why He made them, but we know that, as the Creator of all things, He has a purpose for them, and they are a pleasure to Him.

Remember that He also has made you and watches over you. Is He happy when He sees your life? The Bible tells us, “Every one of us shall give account of himself to God” (Romans 14:12). Have you admitted to Him that you are a sinner and accepted His Son, the Lord Jesus, as your Saviour?

ML-07/28/2013

A Fish That Needed a Friend

There were three of us missionaries visiting in Guyana, South America. This is the only South American country that has English as its official language, so we were kept busy passing out English gospel tracts and Bibles.

One morning while in the area of Georgetown, which is the capital city, we decided to take a walk along the seawall or dike. This seawall has an important job. It holds the Atlantic Ocean back from flooding the towns and cities along the coast of the country. Much of the coastline is several feet below sea level, and when the tide is in, the waves will sometimes wash over the wall.

However, on this particular morning, the tide was out, and we could walk quite a ways on the hard, damp sand of the ocean floor. We strolled out over the sand, looking at all the interesting shells and other things left behind by the out-going tide. There were tide pools of water here and there for us to explore too, and sometimes we found small fish and other sea creatures trapped in these pools. However, when the tide came back in, these trapped sea creatures would be set free to once again swim out into the ocean to hunt for their food.

As we wandered around, looking into these interesting tide pools to see what we might find swimming around, we heard a noise that sounded different from anything we had heard. When we went to see what it was, we found that it was a large fish, about twelve inches long, trapped in a plastic bag that was partly underwater. The poor fish was trying as hard as it could to free itself from that plastic bag by flapping and flopping about. But no matter how hard it tried, it wasn’t able to free itself. That plastic bag was its enemy, and soon the fish would become weaker and weaker, until finally it would die. That fish needed a caring friend to help it.

This made us think of boys and girls, young people and grown-ups who are trapped in their sins by Satan, their enemy. The Bible says of the sinner, “His own [sins] shall take the wicked himself, and he shall be [trapped] with the cords of his sins” (Proverbs 5:22). Like the fish trapped in the plastic bag, those of us who do not know the Lord Jesus as our Saviour are trapped by the cords of sin. The poor fish couldn’t free itself, and we cannot free ourselves either. We need a caring Friend to help us.

We all felt sorry for the trapped fish, and the Guyanese man with us bent down, picked up the plastic bag with the fish inside and set the fish free in the tide pool. The pool was large enough for the fish to swim freely around until the tide came back in, and then it would have the freedom of the whole Atlantic Ocean once more.

The fish needed a caring friend to give it liberty and save it from dying inside the plastic bag. God has provided a loving Friend for you and me. But He is far more than just a friend; He is the Saviour for sinners as well—the Lord Jesus Christ. His deep love for sinners took Him to the cross where He died and shed His blood to take away our sins. Will you let Him set you free from your sins?

“If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed” (John 8:36). “Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Romans 10:13).

MEMORY VERSE: “Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” Romans 10:13

ML-08/04/2013

Dad's Penknife

As I remember it, the knife was lying on Dad’s chest of drawers. It was one of those wonderful, shiny penknives that has a sharp blade, a can opener and a file.

It was that sharp blade that attracted my six-year-old mind. I was showing the knife to my little friend, Danny, and I wanted to impress him. I told him, “Knives are for cutting.” I wondered what I could test the very sharp blade on to show him.

After checking to make sure my parents weren’t around, I decided to try out the knife on something in their closet. Quietly I closed the bedroom door and began to test it on my dad’s shoes, then one of his ties, and then some of my mother’s dresses. The blade easily cut through everything.

I knew what I was doing was wrong, but somehow I blocked out of my mind the thought that I would be punished for what I was doing. Besides, I could tell that Danny seemed quite impressed.

How often Satan leads us on by helping us forget that what we are doing is really sin or that it doesn’t matter as long as we don’t get caught. But the Bible reminds us, “Be sure your sin will find you out” (Numbers 32:23).

Danny and I went from the bedroom into the bathroom. The knife easily slit the shower curtain and the vinyl top of the clothes hamper. Then we headed to the living room. The last thing I tested it on was the big leather chair. Then I quietly put the knife back on my father’s chest of drawer, and Danny and I went out to play.

I thought there were only two people who knew what I had done—Danny and me. But there was Someone who had watched the whole thing. “The eyes of the Lord are in every place, beholding the evil and the good” (Proverbs 15:3). God had seen everything.

There were very sad results to what I had done. My mother cried when she saw everything I had ruined, and my father was very upset. I was miserable and had to be punished.

In looking back at that terrible incident in my childhood, I am thankful to say that the Lord Jesus bore the punishment in His own body for that awful sin. But that wasn’t the only sin of mine that He suffered for. He was punished for all my sins, because I know that He loves me, and I believe that He washed away every one of my sins in His blood that He shed on the cross. “The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin” (1 John 1:7).

Thankfully the Lord Jesus did restore my soul, and the miserable feeling went away even though, after many years, the big leather chair still has the little slit in it.

ML-08/04/2013

The Wonders of God's Creation: Trees Came First

“The earth brought forth grass, and herb ... and the tree yielding fruit.... And the evening and the morning were the third day.” Genesis 1:12-13

It was not just by coincidence that God created vegetation and trees before He created other living things. This way birds, animals and fish created on the fifth day and man on the sixth had food waiting for them. This food came from the vegetation created on the third day.

There is an important fact about trees. In God’s newly made atmosphere, a continuous supply of oxygen was needed. This was for the “animal kingdom” which cannot live without oxygen. In God’s master plan, He designed trees and all other green vegetation to produce great quantities of oxygen, which is given off through the leaves. Air-breathing creatures (including man) help the trees in return by giving off carbon dioxide. This carbon dioxide is used by the trees in the process of making oxygen and food for our use. This whole process is called photosynthesis.

Trees also cycle large amounts of water. A tree may have up to 50% of its total volume made up of water. The growth of one ton of wood requires about 1,000 tons of water. This comes mainly through the roots, with a complicated and wonderful tube system carrying water and minerals up to every branch, leaf and needle. How amazing that such a great volume of water can rise as much as 200 feet and be distributed in correct amounts to each part of the tree. Much of this water then evaporates into the air.

When the water reaches the leaves, it is utilized in the process of photosynthesis where, combined with carbon dioxide and using sunlight energy, food (glucose) is produced. Oxygen is also produced, which is released into the atmosphere.

The inner wood of the tree trunk is called heartwood. It gives the main strength to the tree. Next to the heartwood is the sapwood, which carries water from roots to branches and leaves. Surrounding this is the thin cambium layer, producing new sapwood and bark. The next layer is the inner bark, which carries the glucose produced in the leaves down to the cambium layer and some down to the roots. The bark, of course, is the only visible part of the whole trunk structure.

Trees are a most important part of creation. Not only do their beautiful structures aid in supplying the breath of life, but they also furnish food, fuel, lumber and shade, besides adding many nutrients to the soil.

There is a tree that is far more important than the trees we see. It is called the “tree of life” (Genesis 2:9; Revelation 22:2). The tree of life represents the Lord Jesus Christ. God’s created trees are essential for life to exist on earth, but the Lord Jesus Christ is essential for eternal life. Have you taken Him as your Saviour? “This is life eternal, that they might know Thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent” (John 17:3).

ML-08/04/2013

Where Is Ronnie?

“RONNIE, IT’S LUNCH TIME. COME ON IN AND WASH YOUR HANDS,” his mother called out the back door. Ronnie didn’t answer. She called again, but still there was no answer from Ronnie. His mother said to herself, “Where can Ronnie be?”

Ronnie was three years old and lived on a farm with his parents. Their farm was so large that their nearest neighbor’s house could not be seen through the forest of trees. Since Ronnie didn’t have any brothers or sisters or other playmates nearby to play with, he played out in the yard with the kittens and chickens and sometimes even with the little pigs.

Every day at noon his mother would call him to come into the house for lunch. Ronnie always answered and came when she called. But this day he did not answer and He did not come. So his mother called even louder again and again, but still Ronnie did not answer or come. Now she was getting worried.

Boys and girls, if the Lord Jesus should come today and call all the people whose sins are washed away to His home in heaven, would you hear His call and go with Him to heaven? If your sins are gone, the answer is “YES!” You would hear His call and He would take you to His happy home in heaven. But what if you have never asked the Lord Jesus to wash your sins away? You would not hear His call, and you would be left behind. That would be very, very sad.

Ronnie’s worried mother looked all over the yard for him. When she didn’t find him, she looked in the barn and grain buildings, but he was not in any of them. Finally she opened the large, heavy door into the chicken house building. There she found Ronnie playing with the chickens! Oh, she was so thankful and happy to have found him!

But how had Ronnie gotten into the chicken house? He couldn’t open the large, heavy door by himself. When his mother asked him, he showed her the little hatch door that the chickens use to go in and out. He had crawled in through that little door—he had found another way to get into the chicken house.

Boys and girls, heaven has only one door for people to enter, and that door is Jesus. He said, “I am the door: by Me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture” (John 10:9). He also said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me” (John 14:6). There is no other secret door or back door to enter heaven. We can only enter heaven if we belong to Jesus—He is the door!

One day soon the Lord Jesus will come from heaven and give a shout to call all His people home to heaven. Only the people whose sins are washed away will hear that shout and will go to live in heaven with Him. He loves you and wants you to come too.

Will you hear His shout? Are your sins washed away? Don’t be left behind.

MEMORY VERSE: “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me.” John 14:6

ML-08/11/2013

Little Raindrops Become Floods

Little raindrops were pattering against our windowpane and sliding down the glass to make a big puddle under our window. It had been a wet spring, first with melting snow and then with spring rains. But every day or so there was more rain. Now there was water everywhere.

Our sins are like that, often just little things. They don’t seem like much. But we soon have so many of them that they begin to weigh us down.

For days those little drops of rain kept falling, until the creeks overflowed their banks. The rushing water knocked down trees and even washed away houses that were close to the water’s edge.

One day when there was a lull in the rain, we went out to see the damage. The swift water had uprooted a large tree that lay across the creek, so we used it as a bridge. Our dog was following us. When we started over on the tree bridge, he jumped into the water, intending to swim across as he had often done before. But the current was too strong, and it swept him against the tree. He clawed at a branch, trying to get out, but the fast-moving water sucked him under. He popped up again and clawed at another branch. But again, the force of the water dragged him under the tree. He was pretty much helpless.

You and I are completely helpless when it comes to our sins. It takes only one sin to keep us out of heaven, and we can’t remove even one, let alone the flood of them that each one of us has. Ephesians 2:1 describes us as being “dead in trespasses and sins.” They are dragging us under! King David felt the weight of his sins and prayed to God, “Deliver me out of the mire, and let me not sink” (Psalm 69:14). He turned to the right person—the only One who could save him. And you and I can turn to the very same One.

But there was nothing we could do to save our dog in that dangerous, rushing water. Four times the poor dog went under, and four times he finally popped up again. Then the water pulled him past the tree completely, and he went bobbing down the rushing creek. Finally the water slammed him against the bank, and he was able to scramble out.

You and I have the Saviour we can turn to to save us. “Our Saviour Jesus Christ who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem [save] us from all iniquity [sin]” (Titus 2:13-14). He loves us and willingly died on Calvary’s cross, bearing the punishment for the sins of every person who will come to Him to be saved. “Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many” (Hebrews 9:28). Do you want to be included in the “many”? There is nothing you can do except to come to Him with your load of sins and let Him save you. Have you done that?

ML-08/11/2013

The Wonders of God's Creation: The Deadly Scorpion

“Light is come into the world, [but] men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.” John 3:19

Those who live in tropical climates or in the deserts of the southern part of the United States avoid the scorpion as much as possible. They know a scorpion sting is very painful and sometimes can be fatal. This creature, which will strike anything threatening it, fits the description in the opening Bible verse. Although sometimes seen in daylight, it prefers the dark and will scurry to a dark hiding place if light reaches it.

A scorpion looks rather scary. Its body can be five to eight inches long and is covered with a dark shell that protects it from heat and injury. The scary parts are the two sharp pincers extending from its head and the poisonous stinger at the end of its tail, which is usually curled over its back, ready for action. When a large insect or spider comes close, the sharp pincers catch it, and the tail arches over the scorpion’s back and plunges the poisonous stinger into its victim.

Some scorpions have as many as twelve eyes, but most have only six or eight. When a scorpion molts (sheds its shell), some of these eyes drop off, but they grow back in when the new outer shell is formed. This happens four to eight times in its short life. Its brain is very simple, but it has been given a keen sense of touch through the hairs that cover its body. In addition, comb-like parts on its abdomen pick up ground vibrations.

Female scorpions produce their young alive. The little ones are exact miniatures of the parents and stay with their mother several days. She lets them cling to her body with their tiny pincers.

We cannot help but wonder at the way God has equipped scorpions with features that allow them to fit so well into their harsh way of life. He has even made them helpful to mankind in one way—they destroy many harmful insects and spiders.

Scorpions remind us of those people who are without God in their lives, of whom the Bible says that “denying the Lord that bought them ... bring upon themselves swift destruction.” We are also told that these same people “speak evil of the things that they understand not; and shall utterly perish in their own corruption” (2 Peter 2:1,12). What a sad contrast they are to those who through faith claim the Lord Jesus Christ as their Saviour. A promise is given to these believers to know “the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, [and] shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:7).

This is what God desires for everyone, because He is “not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9). Have you come to repentance?

ML-08/11/2013

Mickey's Bad Day

The eighteen goats were having a relaxing day, grazing in their pasture in the sunshine. Mickey, one of the little baby goats, discovered a place in the fence where he could slip through. What he actually did was leave the safety of the yard where the baby goats were kept with their mothers. He probably enjoyed exploring the bigger world for a while, nibbling on the fresh spring leaves of the trees in the hedgerow.

However, baby goats soon want the protection and care of their mothers, and they also get hungry and want to nurse. This little fellow shouldn’t have been out. If he had stayed where he belonged, he wouldn’t have gotten into trouble.

After Mickey had explored a while, he tried to get back through the fence to find his mother. However, he chose a different section of fence, and it had electricity running through it. When he tried to get through, he got tangled up in the fence. Not only was he stuck, but every second the fence gave him an electric shock, and those shocks really hurt!

Poor baby goat Mickey! All he knew was that he was caught in the fence, and it was hurting him! He did the only thing he could do—he yelped a frightened cry for his mother. He yelped and yelped, but his mother and the other goats couldn’t help him. They couldn’t get him free from the fence, and they couldn’t turn off the electricity. Who could help the little baby goat?

We don’t expect baby goats to know right from wrong and that he shouldn’t have slipped through the fence. However, most boys and girls have been taught to do what is right and not to do what is wrong. Now every child has done things that are wrong, just because they wanted to, and that is sin. Sin is a big problem for all people, young and old, and it has the power to take sinners into the terrible place the Bible calls the lake of fire. But there is Someone who cares and loves us and can take away our sins and set us free. His name is Jesus Christ.

And there was someone who could set little Mickey free from the electric fence. Even though she was inside the house, Abigail, who took care of the goats, heard his alarming, frightened yelping that came again and again. Something was terribly wrong! She rushed to a different room to look out the window, and she could see a little goat caught in the fence. She raced through the kitchen and dashed outside to turn off the electric fence.

Mickey settled down a little after he was no longer being hurt from the electric shocks. Then she went around to the far side of the pasture where he was still struggling to go through the fence. He didn’t really know her because he’s not tame, but Abigail picked him up and held the frightened little goat close and cuddled him. That seemed to soothe him. She reached over the fence and set him down where he belonged. Once again he was safe with his mother who was anxious to have her baby back beside her.

We’ve all done things or gone places where we shouldn’t have, and that makes each of us a sinner. The Bible plainly says, “All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). It doesn’t take long to discover that doing what we know is wrong leads to trouble. But are we still trying to help ourselves, or have we called upon the Lord Jesus to come set us free? He would be so happy if we would confess to Him that we are sinners and want Him to cleanse us from our sins. He would gladly save us and care for us in His love.

“Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:32).

MEMORY VERSE: “Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” John 8:32

ML-08/18/2013

Snooky's Escape

What a sad day it was for Snooky’s family! Their three-year-old German shepherd dog was sentenced to die. Snooky was a big dog, but she was friendly. She even liked to stand on her hind legs and greet their neighbors with a loving lick. But one day someone left the front door open just as the mailman walked past on his rounds. That’s when Snooky’s troubles started.

The proof was strong—teeth marks in two mailbags and one shredded pair of pants. Biting the mailman was what brought Snooky’s sentence of death.

Snooky’s owners, their lawyer and several neighbors came to the dog’s defense. They went to the judge and insisted that Snooky was not a mean dog. “It was her first time, her first offense, and we don’t think she should die,” they explained to the judge.

The judge thought about it, and then he changed his mind, saying that Snooky could stay with her family. What a relief!

The judge saved Snooky from death even though she deserved the punishment. Each one of us also deserves punishment because we are sinners. The Bible says that all have sinned (Romans 3:23), and we each deserve to be punished for those sins. Revelation 20:15 tells us that our punishment will be the lake of fire (hell), and that will be forever! But when we believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, we are saved, because the Lord Jesus was punished in our place for our sins. “Who His own self bare our sins in His own body on the tree” (1 Peter 2:24).

The judge could remove Snooky’s punishment and save her from death, but he could not take her punishment for her. The Lord Jesus Christ is the only One who could take the punishment for your sins so that you can be saved. He loves you and wants to save you from your sentence of eternal punishment. Will you let Him be your Saviour?

ML-08/18/2013

The Wonders of God's Creation: The Scarce Snow Leopard

“Thou, even Thou, art Lord alone; Thou hast made ... the earth, and all things that are therein.” Nehemiah 9:6

The snow leopard is a member of the leopard family and is one of the world’s most beautiful animals. When fully grown, this animal will be two and a half feet tall at shoulder height and six to six and a half feet long, including its two-foot-long tail. Its weight will be from 100 to 150 pounds. Since it often lives two miles or more high on the cold mountain ranges of Central Asia, the Creator has given it a coat much heavier than that of the leopards of warmer climates. Snow leopards’ tails are furry, long and flexible. This helps them to maintain their balance, which is very important in the rocky terrain where they live.

Its white fur is overlaid with pale gray and leopard-like brown spots over most of its body, but the fur remains plain white on the chin, chest and belly. Each of its yellow eyes is circled with a ribbon of dark brown fur. With its small ears and a face like that of a house cat, it is a very beautiful creature. Just like when your pet cat is calm and relaxed, the snow leopard’s sharp claws are not visible, but when its paw reaches out to strike, the claws become fierce weapons, ready for action. Snow leopards cannot roar, but they can make hisses, chuffing, mews, growls, and wailing sounds.

Since the snow leopard blends in so well with its surroundings, mountain climbers might pass near one, sitting on its haunches and quietly watching them, and be entirely unaware of its presence. This leopard’s food is made up of antelope, deer, mountain goats, smaller animals, pheasants and other birds. When these are not available, the snow leopard may raid a farmyard for sheep and calves, but it has never been known to attack people.

A mother trains her kittens to catch prey by lying on the ground and gently switching her tail from side to side. The kittens try to pounce on it, but just as they pounce she gives it a quick flick and they are left empty-handed. Eventually their reflexes become sharper, and they are able to use this needed skill when hunting for food.

These lovely animals instinctively hide among the rocks and snow where the coloring of their fur conceals them so well. But they are not hidden from their Creator; He is well aware of them at all times, as the Bible verse tells us: “He [looks] to the ends of the earth, and [sees] under the whole heaven” (Job 28:24). In other parts of the Bible, we also read that He is the provider and protector of all His creatures.

Perhaps you are familiar with another verse that tells us, “The eyes of the Lord are in every place, beholding the evil and the good” (Proverbs 15:3). What do His eyes see in you?

ML-08/18/2013

Speak to the Rock

Speak to the rock. Now that’s a surprise that God would tell someone to speak to a hard, lifeless thing like a rock! But just a minute. God doesn’t tell you and me to speak to a rock. Of course not. But God tells us this true story, because He has a wonderful lesson to teach us. So let’s listen.

Long ago Moses was the leader of thousands of angry people. They were angry because they needed water, and there wasn’t any. They were very thirsty and so were their herds of animals. And when they didn’t find water, they complained loud and long!

Perhaps you can understand that too. When things go wrong and your parents say “No,” you slam things down and feel you were treated unfairly. Why don’t you go to God about the problem? If it’s good for you, He will make sure you receive it. If it isn’t good for you, then be thankful you have wise parents who say, “No.”

God heard the peoples’ loud complaining, and He told Moses, Take the rod, you and Aaron your brother, and speak to the rock, and it shall bring forth water. If you read this story in Numbers 20:11, you will find that Moses gathered the people together to the rock, but Moses had lost patience with them. He had listened to more than enough complaints from the people, and he called them rebels, and that’s just what they were. But God’s patience was greater than Moses’. Moses said, Must we bring you water out of this rock? But Moses needed to remember that it wasn’t “we.” It was only God who could supply these people with water!

Do you think God would send water after Moses took the rod and struck the rock twice? Hadn’t God told him to speak to the rock? He didn’t tell him to strike the rock.

If you read Numbers 20, you will find that the water flowed abundantly, and all the people drank and all the animals too. God was certainly merciful, even though Moses hadn’t done what God told him to do!

Moses had lost patience with the people, and God did not forget that. He loved Moses very, very much. In fact, He loved Moses so much that He did not want him to do what was wrong. So He said to Moses, You cannot lead My people into the promised land.

This broke Moses’ heart. He begged God to change His mind, but God was perfectly wise, and He said, No, but you may see the promised land with Me.

And that is just what happened. Moses went up to the top of Mount Pisgah, and God showed him all the land. He carefully explained to Moses, This is the land that I promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. What a wonderful sight for Moses to see, with such a wonderful unchanging Guide. It was God Himself who gave him this great joy, just before Moses died.

If Jesus is your Saviour, you will find that God is our God forever and ever, even until death. If you are alive until the coming of the Lord, He will prove to you that you are His forever.

He truly is a God of mercy.

“Thou art a God ready to pardon, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness” (Nehemiah 9:17).

MEMORY VERSE: “Thou art a God ready to pardon, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness.” Nehemiah 9:17

ML-08/25/2013

Counting Crosses

Jerry was on a long car trip with his aunt and older cousins. He was going to see his Grandpa and Grandma in Canada. They were driving on a windy road alongside a beautiful river, but Jerry was getting a little bored. He had nothing to do, so he decided to count how many crosses he saw by the side of the road.

Maybe you know that when you see a cross by the side of a road, it marks the place where someone died in a car accident. Jerry and his relatives had just entered the state of Montana when they passed a big billboard, reminding drivers and passengers to wear seatbelts. They all checked to be sure everyone had his seatbelt on. They didn’t want to end up adding to the number of crosses at the side of the road!

As he counted, Jerry saw tall crosses and short crosses. Some had names on them and some had flowers or flags beside them. In one place Jerry saw four crosses in a group, and he wondered if a whole carload of people had crashed there.

All along the windy river road for fifty miles, until they reached the next big town, Jerry counted crosses and drew a black line on a piece of paper for each one. Can you count the number of crosses he saw? Did you come up with the number sixty-two? That’s how many crosses he counted in fifty miles! It made them all sad to think that so many people had died beside that beautiful river. And probably not one of those people expected to die on that road.

The Bible tells us that for each one of us there is “a time to be born, and a time to die” (Ecclesiastes 3:2). Now each of you probably knows exactly what day you were born; that would be your birthday. But do you know what day you will die? No, not one of us knows that. That’s why it is so important to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ as your Saviour right now! Then you will know that your soul is ready to go to be with Jesus in heaven if you were suddenly taken in death or if the Lord Jesus comes for all believers. Either one could happen this very day! But are you ready? Jerry is. He told his aunt that he knows the Lord Jesus as His very own Saviour. Be sure you know He is your Saviour too!

“Prepare to meet thy God” (Amos 4:12). “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved” (Acts 16:31).

ML-08/25/2013

The Wonders of God's Creation: Florida's Scrub Jay

“Great is our Lord, and of great power.... He giveth to the beast his food, and to the young ravens which cry.” Psalm 147:5-9

There are thirty-six kinds of jays in North and Central America. Some that inhabit scrub oak trees are known as scrub jays. An interesting member of this group is the Florida scrub jay. Its vivid blue and gray feathers and long, slender tail are similar to the common blue jay, but it doesn’t have the crest on its head like the blue jay. It is an intelligent and inquisitive species.

These aggressive birds are about the size of a crow (a distant relative) and among the noisiest of birds. Lacking a real song, their calls are harsh.

Scrub oak trees are part of the Florida landscape where there are old sand dunes. The scrub jay is the only bird that makes its permanent home there, with the exception of hawks and a few other flesh-eaters. The scrub jay has almost completely taken over every spot where the scrub oaks grow, claiming individual territories and forcefully keeping other birds out. They can do this because the climate of that part of the country stays warm year-round, so they do not migrate. They are social birds and like to have other scrub jays nearby, so their colonies are noisy but happy.

A pair of adults raises just one brood each spring. The female does all the incubating of the eggs and feeding of the baby birds, but the male guards them carefully and provides much of their food. They eat a wide variety of acorns, seeds, peanuts, insects, tree frogs, turtles, snakes, lizards, and young mice. However, he seems to feel it beneath his dignity to feed the young birds so turns his offerings over to the mother and lets her feed them. Sadly, even in an emergency, the father bird doesn’t change, and if the mother should die, the young birds soon starve to death.

If the young ones have not found mates and made nests of their own by the time new brothers and sisters hatch out the following spring, they also help bring food to the mother and keep an eye on the nest when both parents are away. Some of them also help the father defend the home territory if strangers try to move in.

Since there are so many birds in the world, do you think God, the Creator of all of them, pays any attention to the many lowly scrub jays on the dunes of Florida? He certainly does, as the Bible often tells us. Look up these verses and see for yourself: Genesis 1:30, Psalm 50:11, Jeremiah 8:7, Matthew 10:29, and Luke 12:24. Then turn to Psalm 145:18-19 and see how He invites you to experience His love and preserving care, which are much greater to boys and girls than to birds and animals.

ML-08/25/2013

No Room for the Cardinal

Dear Children,

As most of you children know, we have many bird feeding stations for all the birds that visit us in spring, summer, fall and winter. Our most popular feeder is just outside our kitchen window where we can watch these birds while we are eating our meals.

On a cold morning recently, we had two inches of soft, white snow on the ground. Before I spread birdseed on the ground, I use a broom to brush away the snow off the feeders and then off the ground. That morning it seemed like all the blackbirds in the area came to eat! Then one lonely, beautiful red cardinal landed on a branch just above all those blackbirds. He looked down and then started hopping from branch to branch. He was probably saying to himself, “There is no room for me down there.” And he was right; there was no room for him.

As Gramma and I sat there at the table watching all this through the window, she said to me, “Doesn’t this make us think about the Lord Jesus when He was born? There was no room for Him in the inn, so He was born in a stable, and they laid Him in a manger.”

And then think about Zaccheus. He wanted to see the Lord Jesus, but he was a small man. And because he was small, he was too short to see ... no room for a small man in this crowd of people! But Zaccheus did not give up. He ran ahead and climbed up into a tree where he could look down and see Jesus. After Jesus saw him and spoke to him, he came down to the ground to be with Jesus.

And this pretty red cardinal did not give up either. He was going to find a way to get some of that good seed for himself. He was hungry! Then suddenly all those blackbirds just up and flew away! Now there was plenty of room for him to feed on the birdseed. He lost no time hopping off that branch and down to the ground where all that food was waiting for him.

Do any of you boys and girls ever get the feeling that you are all alone—you are left out—you think, No room for me? Remember this—God loves you! Yes, as you read this story, there is still room for you in heaven! But don’t waste time! Your time is very precious! If you want to be in heaven, you must have your name in the Lamb’s book of life! If your name isn’t written down in this book, you will never be in heaven. You must be saved from your sins! The very moment you trust the Lord Jesus as your Saviour, your name will be written down in the Lamb’s book of life.

Children, remember, there is room for you in heaven! Don’t miss out! In Bible times, a man wanted to know how he could be saved. He asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” (Acts 16:30). The answer they gave him was, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved” (Acts 16:31). He did believe and was saved, and he is in heaven right now.

Boys and girls, remember—the Lord Jesus loves you too, and there is room for you in heaven! Do you have room in your heart for the Lord Jesus?

Lots of love,

Grampa & Gramma

MEMORY VERSE: “What must I do to be saved? ... Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.” Acts 16:30-31

ML-09/01/2013

"Nothing to Worry About"

The noise of screeching tires made me quickly turn around, just as the car hit the motorcycle. The cyclist was thrown off the motorcycle, hitting his head on the cement sidewalk as he landed. He wore no helmet.

I wondered if the cyclist could survive such a landing. To my amazement, in a few moments he was standing and brushing the dust off his clothes.

The cyclist passed his hand over his head and noticed that his hair had a little blood on it, but nothing that seemed serious. To calm the car’s driver and all those who ran to help him, he said, “It’s nothing to worry about.” He used his handkerchief to wipe away the blood coming from the small cut on his head.

The driver insisted that the cyclist should still be taken to the hospital. A doctor there cleaned his head wound and put medicine on it. They also gave him something to take for his headache. But still he insisted that it was not serious, so they let him go home.

Just a little cut—only a little blood. Just a little sin—only a little white lie. Nothing serious? Nothing to worry about? God doesn’t look at sin lightly. He tells us plainly, “The wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23).

Later that night, the young motorcyclist’s headache got much worse. His family decided to take him back to the hospital. But by the time they arrived, the young man was already in a coma. Before the doctors could do anything to help him, he died. The wound that seemed to be just a small cut was disguising a serious hemorrhage inside his brain that would take his life in a few hours.

There are many who go on in this life giving little or no thought to their sins. But even one little sin is a sign of a serious problem. The Word of God says that sin comes from the rebellion of man against his Creator, and now every sinner deserves eternal judgment. Are you interested in the “helmet” God has prepared for anyone who will trust in the Lord Jesus for salvation? In Ephesians 6:17 God encourages us to “take the helmet of salvation.” He also tells us concerning His Son, Jesus Christ: “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). “How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation?” (Hebrews 2:3).

ML-09/01/2013

The Wonders of God's Creation: The Jellyfish - Part 1

“Their fish shall be according to their kinds, as the fish of the great sea, exceeding many.” Ezekiel 47:10

Jellyfish live near the surface of the sea and are related to the anemones, which live at the bottom. Both have poisonous tentacles that sting invaders, either paralyzing or killing them. Then the victim is passed to the mouth and swallowed.

The jellyfish’s transparent body looks like a bell or umbrella. It floats on or near the surface of the water with its long tentacles dangling below. The name comes from the jellylike material between the two layers of cells that make up the body. This serves as a skeleton to support the fragile body wall. The jellyfish has only one opening where food is brought by the tentacles and then swallowed and digested.

The tentacles, twenty or more, depending on the species, are almost all loaded with stinging cells. Small fish are usually paralyzed when they brush by the tentacles because these cells explode with corkscrew-like stingers that penetrate the victim’s skin. The tentacles of other jellyfish, instead of shooting out stingers, immediately wrap themselves around any fish, crab or shrimp that touch it. Either way, once a tentacle has hold of a captive, it curls its way up to the jellyfish’s open mouth, passes dinner in and descends again to wait for another victim.

Not all fish that swim within range are caught. Some have been given an instinct by the Creator to swim safely between the tentacles when escaping from an enemy. Many of their pursuers are so intent on catching the smaller fish that they touch the jellyfish’s tentacles and are themselves immediately captured. Of course, if the little fish is careless and brushes one of these dangerous arms, that is the end of it too.

Common jellyfish have little effect on swimmers who accidentally touch them, except for a prickly feeling that is similar to being stung by a nettle. However, some varieties with stronger poison can prove so painful that the swimmer cannot make it back to shore. So if you are swimming in the ocean and see a jellyfish, stay far away from it!

Our opening Bible verse tells of the great sea (ocean) having “exceeding many” kinds of fish. Here again we are reminded of the Creator’s pleasure in the great variety of things He created. The people in Nehemiah’s day included these thoughts as they praised the Lord, and added, “Thou preservest them all” (Nehemiah 9:6). Later in the Bible we read, “He is before all things, and by Him all things consist [are preserved]” (Colossians 1:17).

How wonderful to know the Creator, not only as your preserver, but also of more importance, as your personal Lord and Saviour. Do you have a personal relationship with Him? We hope so.

(to be continued)

ML-09/01/2013

The Story of the Green Lily

When the ship, the Green Lily, set sail, it was a cold, stormy day in November, with dangerous, fifty-foot-high waves on the North Sea off the coast of Scotland. The ship was loaded with frozen fish and was starting out on the long trip to Africa. But the day’s severe weather did not sound like a good time to be out in a ship, no matter how large it might be! There were others who had the same thoughts, including the man in charge of the harbor who warned the captain. But the captain did not listen to the warning and decided to set sail anyway.

Not heeding the warning was just the beginning of problems for the Green Lily. In just a few hours and not very far out to sea, a water line in the engine room broke, and soon after that the main engine stopped running. Now, that was real trouble! Attempts were made to get the engine started, but without success, and the Green Lily was drifting in the cold, stormy North Sea with no help nearby.

Maybe some of you boys and girls might remember another story about a ship that ran into a serious weather problem. In fact, maybe you have sung this Sunday school song about it:

“A little ship was on the sea,

It was a pretty sight;

It sailed along so pleasantly,

And all was calm and bright.”

It’s actually a story from the Bible, and you can read it in Mark 4:36-41. The song goes on to tell that it was not long until a storm came up. The end of that story turned out to be good, because the Lord Jesus was on that ship. When the people onboard asked Him for help, He calmed the wind and the waves, and they made it safely to the other side of the lake. He could do that because He is the Creator, and all things obey Him, even the wind and waves.

However, the Lord Jesus wasn’t a passenger on the Green Lily to calm the stormy North Sea. The captain of the ship waited three hours before he sent out a “mayday” call. That is the signal that a ship is in immediate and serious danger and needs help as soon as possible.

Why did the captain wait so long to call for help? That question was never really answered. But we might ask you the very same question. “What are you waiting for?” If you are still in your sins, you are in very great danger! The Lord Jesus is waiting to be your Saviour right now. You only need to admit to Him that you are a sinner and that you want Him to wash your sins away. He loves you very, very much and is waiting to make you ready for heaven. Right now is the best time to talk to Him. “Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation” (2 Corinthians 6:2). Don’t wait like the captain of the Green Lily did.

Three tugboats were sent out to tow the Green Lily to safety, but they were unsuccessful! Then a Coast Guard helicopter and lifeboat arrived quickly to help. The lifeboat was able to get close enough to rescue five of the crew. However, those five crewmembers did not seem to understand their immediate danger. They wanted to take their luggage with them into the lifeboat! How foolish when they could have been washed overboard by the next high wave.

There were still ten crewmembers left on the deck of the ship to be rescued. Bill Deacon of the Coast Guard was lowered from the helicopter to the deck of the ship, and he helped secure each man to the cable to be lifted into the helicopter. What a relief when the ten crewmembers were safely in the helicopter! But Bill Deacon was still on the ship’s deck waiting for the cable to drop down so he could be lifted to safety in the helicopter. The waves suddenly became rougher and the wind stronger. Before Bill could be lifted back up to the helicopter, he was swept into the sea and lost his life.

What a sad ending to the story of the Green Lily. Bill did not even know the men on the ship, and yet he ended up losing his life after rescuing them. The Lord Jesus Christ loved you and came to earth on purpose to give His life for you. “When we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly” (Romans 5:6). The crew of the Green Lily was never able to thank Bill for saving their lives, but if you know the Lord Jesus as your Saviour, you can thank Him right now for saving your soul.

MEMORY VERSE: “When we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.” Romans 5:6

ML-09/08/2013

The Little Lost Girl

A woman in China who was a Christian went to visit a Chinese couple that had no children of their own. She found them happy because they had recently paid money to buy a four-year-old girl to raise as their own. They told the Christian woman that there was one thing about the little girl that puzzled them. Before the child would eat food, she always folded her hands, closed her eyes and said something.

The visitor knew at once that the little girl must have had a Christian upbringing. She then remembered that she had seen an advertisement about a lost girl in a Christian paper. The parents lived in a distant town.

She was finally able to find out where the little girl came from and that she was the missing child. She had been stolen and sold.

When the foster parents heard the facts, they returned the girl to her parents. What a happy time for both the little girl and her parents when they were together again.

Fathers and mothers, how are you training your children? “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it” (Proverbs 22:6).

ML-09/08/2013

The Wonders of God's Creation: The Jellyfish - Part 2

“Happy is he ... whose hope is in the Lord his God: which made heaven, and earth, the sea, and all that therein is.” Psalm 146:5-6

Last week we looked at the design and habits of jellyfish found in oceans all over the world. Here are a few of them.

The largest of all is the Cyanea Arctica, which measures eight feet across its body and is armed with tentacles two hundred feet long. These live in cold northern waters and are rarely seen.

Perhaps one of the most feared is the Portuguese man-of-war. It has twenty or more tentacles reaching down about two hundred feet. It has a bright-blue body and a gas-filled sail reaching above the surface for a means of travel with the wind. Its tentacles have enough poison to kill two dozen fish at a time and can prove fatal to a swimmer.

But there is another jellyfish more to be feared than the man-of-war. It is the sea wasp, one of the class called box jellyfish, which is found off the north coast of Australia. It is considered one of the world’s most venomous creatures. It has a transparent, box-shaped, jet-propelled body and tentacles that also go deep into the ocean. It is perhaps the most deadly of all jellyfish, having an abundance of poison. This jellyfish actually kills more people each year than do sharks.

Another sky-blue variety is called “by-the-wind-sailor.” Like a miniature Portuguese man-of-war, it drifts with the wind and is sometimes stranded in great numbers on seashores. Its body is only two or three inches wide with short tentacles, which limit its catch to tiny fish or other small sea life.

The porpita jellyfish is medium sized, with a dark-blue body and light-blue, short tentacles that form a feathery-looking circle under its flat body. It also feeds only on tiny forms of marine life.

The physalla lives in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans. It is a beautiful blue, or sometimes pink, with tentacles from forty to a hundred feet long and, like some of the others, can kill a man. Strangely though, a small fish named nemeus makes its home among the physalla’s deadly tentacles and even nibbles on them from time to time, with no harm from the poison.

Most jellyfish are quite pretty, and a person not knowing the danger of some of these creatures might be tempted to pick one out of the water, but would soon regret it. This reminds us of Satan, the great deceiver, who likes to put attractive but hurtful temptations into our lives. How important to notice David’s prayer: “By the word of Thy lips I have ... [been kept] from the paths of the destroyer. Hold up my goings in Thy paths, that my footsteps slip not” (Psalm 17:4-5). Happiness is found only when we rely on the Lord God to preserve us from Satan’s evil ways.

ML-09/08/2013

Amanda's Amazing Fire Rescue

It was an early morning house fire, and the firefighters were hard at work trying to put out the fire. They soon caught sight of a mother dog racing back and forth into the house. Each time she came back out of the burning house, she was carrying another puppy in her mouth. These puppies were only ten days old, and mother Amanda carried them, one at a time, in her mouth. She set each puppy down in the safest place she could find—a lower open shelf in the side of the fire truck.

The firefighters could hardly believe their eyes as they watched her race back and forth into the burning house, and no one could stop her! She made six trips into the smoke and fire, until all of her puppies were safely away from the fire.

I have a Saviour who loves me and has rescued me from the punishment of fire that I deserve for my sins. His name is Jesus. Is He your Saviour too? If not, He loves you and wants to save you from that punishment too. You see, we are all sinners and face the punishment of fire that we deserve for our sins. Because He loves us so much, He made an amazing and wonderful plan to rescue us, by taking the punishment in our place.

Amanda was focused on one thing—to rescue her puppies no matter how many trips it took to go back into the burning house. The firemen tried to keep a little water spray on her to keep her fur from catching on fire. However, her fur did get a little singed on her back end, forehead and the lower part of her legs. But that didn’t slow her down; she bravely stuck with the job until she had carried out every one of her puppies. Then she lay down beside them on that shelf to nurse them, protecting them with her body. What a loving and caring mother dog Amanda was!

Jesus is a loving and caring Saviour for sinners. He knew we couldn’t save ourselves from the punishment of fire we face for our sins. He stepped in and willingly died on the cross, after bearing God’s punishment for the sins of every person who would come to Him to be rescued. Then He rose from the dead and now lives in heaven where He’s waiting for you to let Him save you. Have you come to Him, admitting that you are a sinner and that you are sorry for your sins? He is offering to save you right now. He tells us in His Word, the Bible, “Him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out” (John 6:37). There’s no safer place to be than in the loving arms of Jesus.

Amanda and her six puppies were taken to an emergency veterinary service to be checked over. Aside from one puppy being treated for burns, the entire family is alive and well, thanks to the bravery of Amanda, an amazing mother dog.

If you’ve let Jesus rescue you from the punishment of fire for your sins by accepting Him as your Saviour, He has a place reserved for you in heaven. What a happy future you’ll have with Him when your life on earth is over.

“Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved” (Acts 16:31).

MEMORY VERSE: “Him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out.” John 6:37

ML-09/15/2013

Baby Eagles and Bible Verses

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

Someone mounted a video camera that took pictures inside 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 soft. There were two eaglets in the nest. When they 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 parents gave them bigger pieces to eat. Later they were able to tear off the meat for themselves. So older boys and girls are able to learn longer verses. Your moms and dads help you to learn these verses. Later you can learn them for yourselves without someone else’s 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. But 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, wouldn’t it? If you want a happy Christian life, keep on reading the Word of God as you grow up. Then don’t stop when you become 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-09/15/2013

The Wonders of God's Creation: The Capybara

“All things were made by Him; and without Him was not anything made that was made.” John 1:3

You may never have heard of the capybara since it lives in Central and South America, east of the Andes Mountains. It is the largest rodent in the world and looks like a small pig or an overgrown guinea pig. It may weigh 77 to 150 pounds. Its thick body is covered in dark, coarse hair, and its hind legs are longer than its front legs. Webbed toes help make it an excellent swimmer. It is a sociable animal, usually living in a group of twenty or more on the shore of a river, swamp or lake, adjoining a grassy plain. Its happiest occupation seems to be standing up to its stomach in muddy swamp water, busily eating the plants growing there.

It does not have many enemies, but if a capybara is in danger, its best means of escape is to plunge into the nearest water, leaving only its eyes, ears and nostrils exposed until the enemy goes away. However, it is not so easy for them to get away from an angry farmer when they raid a melon patch or field of corn. Perhaps it was first discovered that capybaras are good for food when one was shot and taken home.

A female raises four or five two-pound babies each year. They are born with a fairly good coat of hair and immediately are able to open their eyes. Their front teeth begin growing at birth and never stop. If it were not for constantly biting and chewing plants and other foods, this could become a real problem, but the Creator has arranged that their eating habits and growth of teeth are in balance.

Strangely, young capybaras have no interest in venturing into water until the parents coax them in. Then, like some children who are slow to take their parents’ advice, they find that it is very pleasant. From then on they spend more of their waking hours in water than out of it.

Having discovered how tasty the meat of the capybara is, many South American ranchers now raise them in fenced areas. Possibly this animal, once scarcely known even in its homeland, may become a well-known food supply even in faraway places.

These unusual animals have followed their pattern of life ever since the day they were created and God declared, “Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind” (Genesis 1:24). It is good to remember that the Bible, God’s Word, is always true, and God’s way is always perfect. Believing in the Bible’s account of creation is the truth and the only safe ground on which to stand.

“Seek the Lord and His strength, seek His face continually. Remember His marvelous works that He hath done, His wonders, and the judgments of His mouth” (1 Chronicles 16:11-12).

ML-09/15/2013

The Snare That Caught People

Sometimes a hunter gets lost in the woods and has nothing to eat. Maybe he knows how to make a snare, which is a trap to catch rabbits or other animals by surprise. And the poor little rabbit is caught for the trapper’s dinner. But don’t worry. There are lots more little rabbits, and the mother rabbit can’t count.

But it’s different with people. God knows that Satan is ready to put a snare in your pathway. God doesn’t want you to get caught, so He tells you to follow the right pathway—the one of His choosing. Then you don’t need to be afraid in the pathway of obeying God and following Jesus. But if you choose your own way and ignore what God has told you is the right pathway, Satan is sure to lay some snares just for you.

Maybe you’ve heard of a brave soldier named Gideon. He won a lot of victories over the enemies of God, and he wanted people to remember him. But actually, it was God who won the victories. His Son, the Lord Jesus, won the greatest victory of all, and He is the One we want to remember.

Gideon had a plan. Bring me all the golden earrings of the Midianites you conquered, he said to the men of Israel. Those enemies had lots of golden earrings and there were even golden chains around their camels’ necks. The people of Israel spread a garment on the ground, and all the people threw down the golden earrings and chains and other pieces of jewelry that they had taken from their conquered enemies. It was a huge pile of gold—enough for the winners to be proud of. Gideon melted it down and made a golden ephod out of it. (An ephod was an apron-like piece of clothing the priests wore on top of their robes when they served in the tabernacle.) This golden ephod was truly beautiful, and Gideon set it up in his city as a memorial to their great victory over the Midianites. And the people worshipped it like an idol.

God said it was a snare to the people. How could a beautiful, golden ephod be a snare? Look how it shines! But God said it was a snare, and maybe it was all the more dangerous because it was so beautiful.

Gideon had a big family. Maybe it will surprise you to hear that he had many wives and he had seventy sons. That’s a family to be pleased with, isn’t it? But the golden ephod was a snare, not only to him, but to his large family too.

Gideon died. He had been a faithful man in many ways and a true witness for God. He died in peace. I hope you and I follow his faith—but don’t follow his failure! It’s good to be very grateful for the Lord Jesus who died for sinners, but being proud of what you have done, as Gideon was, leads only to disaster. It seems that Gideon and all his family were caught in this snare.

Satan is very clever at laying a snare for you too. Read God’s Word and follow Jesus, and you won’t have to live in fear. God’s way is perfect.

“As for God, His way is perfect; the word of the Lord is tried: He is a buckler [shield] to all them that trust in Him” (2 Samuel 22:31).

You may read this story of Gideon for yourself in Judges 8:24-27.

MEMORY VERSE: “As for God, His way is perfect; the word of the Lord is tried: He is a buckler to all them that trust in Him.” 2 Samuel 22:31

ML-09/22/2013

The Hungry Field Mouse

His little nose quivered with excitement. A tempting smell had reached the little field mouse, and he followed it until it led him right inside a garage and over to a big garbage can. He was hungry, and that food smelled so good. But he soon discovered that the plastic sides of the garbage can were too slippery to climb. He tried again and again, but he couldn’t climb up. So he tried another way. He ran up the wall beside it, and still smelling that food, he jumped right in.

He had a wonderful time climbing through the garbage, finding food scraps. He ate until his little tummy was full and then decided it was time to go home.

But he quickly discovered he had the same problem he had trying to climb in, only this time he couldn’t get out! He scrambled partway up the side of the can only to fall back down again. He jumped up the side time and again, getting a little way up, but always sliding down again. There was no way out. So there he stayed, trapped. He was down at the bottom with all the food scraps and good smells, but his freedom was gone.

At this point we must explain that our little mouse’s problem of being caught in the garbage can is just like the problem that every sinner has with sin. We are caught ... and try as we might, we can’t get free. It looks pretty hopeless, and that’s exactly what Satan wants us to think. I doubt the little mouse knew that his situation was hopeless. He couldn’t get out of that garbage can without help, and you and I can’t get free of our sins without help—God’s help.

We do not know how long the little mouse was trapped in the garbage can, but when he was discovered, he was a pitiful, trembling, little bit of fur. The owner of the garbage can looked in and saw him. Feeling sorry for the little mouse, he carried the can far away from the house. Then he tilted it on its side and allowed the mouse to escape to freedom.

The owner’s kindness saved him from death. This is exactly what the Lord Jesus will do for you, because He “came into the world to save sinners” (1 Timothy 1:15). He is ready to save all who call upon Him, and is able to deliver each one from the power of sin and Satan. He shows loving compassion and grace when a sinner realizes his lost and helpless condition and cries for mercy. He is “not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9).

Will you let the Lord Jesus set you free? “If the Son [the Lord Jesus Christ] therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed” (John 8:36).

ML-09/22/2013

The Wonders of God's Creation: The Mischievous Frigate Bird

“Great and marvelous are Thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are Thy ways.” Revelation 15:3

The frigate bird is a relative of the pelican and has a body about forty inches long. It has amazing flying skills that few birds can match—eating, drinking and even sleeping while airborne. It can fly 1000 miles without stopping and has no problem flying as high as 4000 feet. The Creator has provided the ability for such flights by giving it extremely lightweight bones, an amazing seven- to eight-foot wingspread and a strong, forked tail to act as a rudder and brake.

Because of its mischievous habits, the frigate bird is also called man-of-war. Sharing islands with great colonies of other birds, it will steal their food whenever there is opportunity. If a frigate sees a booby flying with a fish in its beak, it will chase the booby, sometimes even grabbing its tail and shaking it until it drops the fish, which the frigate then claims for itself. Sometimes one will land on a pelican’s head and eat fish right out of its pouch!

This behavior seems unnecessary, because a frigate is quite capable of catching its own food. Spotting a fish while flying over water, it dives straight down as though headed for a crash landing. Just before hitting the water, its tail and wings fan out to break its speed, and it snatches up the fish without getting more than its long bill wet.

Frigates nest in tropical seaside areas, including southern California, Mexico, the Gulf states and tropical islands. The female is a brown color, but the male has a jet-black body and bluish-green head. Young birds have white heads. In nesting season, the male grows a bright scarlet pouch under his bill, which he can blow up like a balloon nearly as large as himself. He does this to attract a mate while standing on his perch, throwing his head back and forth with loud whoops. Eventually a female responds to this attraction.

A rough nest is constructed in low trees or on the ground on remote islands. Once the male picks a spot for their nest, the female takes over building it with sticks that he brings to her. Soon they settle down to raise just one chick, which has their careful attention for about a year.

These interesting birds remind us of the great variety to be found in God’s creation, and aren’t varieties fascinating? We wouldn’t want every bird, every animal, or even every human to look alike. And so it is with each of us. Our ways of life are different from each other, but the important similarity should be to let the Lord Jesus rule our lives. A Bible verse instructs, “Seek the Lord and His strength, seek His face continually. Remember His marvelous works that He hath done” (1 Chronicles 16:11-12). Is the Lord Jesus your guide through life?

ML-09/22/2013

Facing a Tiger!

Dr. Jacob Chamberlain was a missionary to India many years ago. He planned to go to the other side of the mountain to visit a few villages where he would hold gospel meetings. He sent some of his workers on ahead with the supplies they would need. Meanwhile, he spent the morning writing letters. Then he set out to walk a few miles to where he would meet his pony that he would ride on the rest of the way to the first meeting that evening.

As Dr. Chamberlain made his way along the mountain path, suddenly a tiger sprang out of the jungle and faced him! Tigers normally sleep during the day, so he knew this was a hungry tiger, looking for something to eat! Dr. Chamberlain was carrying only an umbrella that day—a white umbrella to shield him from the hot sun. How could he use an umbrella as a weapon against a tiger?

The missionary eyed the tiger, and the tiger eyed the missionary. Suddenly, Dr. Chamberlain opened his umbrella and, rushing forward, he let out a loud war-whoop that he had learned as a boy. Then he closed the umbrella and ran directly at the tiger to hit him with it!

Startled at such strange behavior, the tiger sprang through an opening in the jungle made by the branches of a banyan tree nearby. The missionary wrote later that he had never seen such beautiful motion as the frightened tiger’s escape right then. The big cat’s forepaws were stretched out perfectly straight, with his nose between them, and his hind legs were stretched out straight behind him, with his tail between his legs!

However, Dr. Chamberlain knew the tiger might come back. As he watched the tiger run off into the distance, he shouted that war-whoop a few more times. Finally, he felt sure that he would not see that tiger again.

What a wonderful deliverance! And how Dr. Chamberlain praised God afterwards for keeping him safe!

Hebrews 1:14 tells us that angels are “ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation.” That means that God sends angels to help and protect people who believe in Him. And there’s a wonderful example in the Bible of an angel’s protection.

Most of you boys and girls know the story of Daniel and the night he spent in the lions’ den. The king was terribly worried that the lions had killed Daniel during the night. The Bible says that the next morning the king came to the den and was so afraid of what he might find. He called, Oh, Daniel, servant of the living God, is [your] God, whom [you serve] continually, able to deliver you from the lions?

Then Daniel answered the king, Oh King, live forever. My God has sent His angel and has shut the lions’ mouths, that they have not hurt me. Open your Bibles and read in Daniel 6:20-24 what the relieved king did next.

What a wonderful opportunity each believer has to live his or her life serving God and calling on Him for needed help. Boys and girls, don’t waste your lives on amusements and the world of make-believe. Instead, live for the Lord Jesus who made the world and who gave His life to save you from the penalty of your sins. One day soon, the Lord Jesus will set everything right that is wrong in our world. You don’t want to be ashamed when you stand before Him for having lived your life to please only yourself. Dr. Chamberlain is a wonderful example of a believer who lived his life for God’s glory.

“Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him” (1 John 2:15).

MEMORY VERSE: “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him” (1 John 2:15).

ML-09/29/2013

Ignored Warnings

I remember how shocked all of us were to learn of the collapse of the bridge on the Connecticut Turnpike over the Mianus River some years ago. As a bus driver, I had driven over that bridge many times before it collapsed, and I never once questioned the safety of the bridge.

It took many months of study to find out exactly what caused the bridge to collapse. But one thing became clear—there were warning signs before it collapsed, and those warning signs were ignored. How solemn to think that if the warnings had been taken seriously, the terrible disaster and loss of life could have been avoided.

Boys and girls, all around us are warning signs that this world full of sin is headed for punishment by a holy God. And what is so sad is that people do not take the warnings seriously. Some mock the Bible, and others simply ignore what God says about the coming judgment.

After the bridge disaster, I heard something very sad. At the time the bridge collapsed, one driver was able to stop his car, and he parked it at an angle across the roadway. He hoped to block others from going over the edge of the roadway into the river. Soon another car approached fast what was now the end of the roadway. The man tried to flag the car down to warn the driver, but the car simply swerved around him and his car. As it passed, the driver cursed at the man and then suddenly plunged over the edge to an almost instant death!

It is sad to know that had the driver stopped to hear the warning, he probably would be alive today. How sad to know that there are people rushing on to the awfulness of an eternity in hell without Christ! Some mock or curse the person who faithfully brings the warning, then hurry on, not believing or caring about the awful end ahead of them.

God has not left you without warning. Before it is too late, listen to God’s voice and receive the Saviour He has provided. “Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation” (2 Corinthians 6:2).

ML-09/29/2013

The Wonders of God's Creation: The Huge Banyan Tree

“God said, Let the earth bring forth grass ... and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind ... and it was so.” Genesis 1:11

It was on the fifth day of creation that trees appeared at the command of the Creator. Some were no larger than a bush and others were huge, like the giant redwood of California. Included in these were the interesting banyan trees. They always amaze visitors who see them for the first time in India, Hawaii and some other tropical islands.

This tree has a most unusual way of growing. Its branches grow extremely long, and supports for the branches grow down and take root as soon as they touch the soil. This provides a new source of food, and soon the support grows into another trunk. New branches grow from these trunks and are soon growing more supports down to the soil. The result is that a single old tree can look like a small forest.

People or animals can easily walk through these small forests, but, inch by inch, over a period of time, these enlarging trunks press against each other and the mother tree, continually adding to its size. Because of this, the trees eventually become larger in circumference than in height, and some have been found to be more than a third of a mile around. The largest known banyan tree has 350 large trunks and over 3000 smaller ones.

These trees not only provide welcome shade, but they also produce pretty flowers that attract insects to pollinate them. If undisturbed, a bright-red, fig-like fruit develops. This fruit is not suitable for man to eat, but birds and bats find it a welcome food supply. A bird carrying one of these fruits to a palm tree or other tree may let some of the seeds drop into the top branches. With the benefit of mist or occasional showers, the seeds will sprout and send roots down to the ground. Branches soon develop and grow just like the other banyans, sending supports down and starting the process that eventually will turn into another huge banyan tree. Eventually the young banyan tree kills the host tree that is supporting it.

It is certain that no one person, no matter how far he may have traveled, has ever seen all forms of creation placed on the earth by the Creator. But God knows them all, as a Bible verse tells us: “Known unto God are all His works from the beginning of the world” (Acts 15:18).

Even more important is the fact that God knows all about each of us and wants us to trust in His love. Another verse assures us that “the Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; and He [knows] them that trust in Him” (Nahum 1:7). Are you trusting in Him?

ML-09/29/2013

Tomas the Lifeguard

Tomas Lopez settled down in his high chair under a big umbrella for shade and watched the surf for any swimmers in trouble. He was one of several young lifeguards on duty at the Hallandale Beach on the east coast of Florida.

In early July the beaches were busy on hot summer days. It was summer vacation time for families with children out of school. So there were lots of people enjoying the waves and lots of people for the lifeguards to carefully watch.

Suddenly somebody on the beach pointed out to Tomas a swimmer struggling in an “unprotected” part of the beach. The area the person was in was out-of-bounds for swimmers. There were signs posted so people would know where they could safely swim with lifeguards on duty and also where swimming was not allowed.

I wonder what thoughts went through Tomas’s mind. Did he think, “Oh well, he should know better than to swim in that area”? Or did he say, “I’m not going over there to risk my life for somebody who won’t obey the signs”?

Actually, Tomas did not waste a second! He ran quite a distance and went to help a man who needed to be rescued. Then the man was rushed to the hospital in an ambulance.

What Tomas did not expect was what happened next. He was fired from his lifeguard job for leaving his assigned part of the beach. He said later, “I would do it again—it was the right decision.”

This story made me think of the Bible verse: “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners” (1 Timothy 1:15). This verse is saying that Jesus came to save people who were out-of-bounds—people who had done things that were wrong. That’s what the word “sinner” means. A sin is not obeying God’s rules that He gives in the Bible, and anyone who sins is a sinner. “All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). That includes you and me.

Speaking for myself, I know I crossed the line many times to do my own will, to do what felt good. I knew what the Bible said, but I did what I wanted anyway. I thought I could live the way I wanted and didn’t think about the eyes of God. “The eyes of the Lord are in every place, beholding the evil and the good” (Proverbs 15:3).

But I thank God He did not leave me out-of-bounds. He loved me and was interested in me, and He knew every time I strayed. Yes, that’s why Jesus Christ came. The Bible puts it this way. “The Son of Man [Jesus] came to seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke 19:10).

Children and grown-ups too, He knows every time you cross the line and are out-of-bounds. He sees you and wants to rescue you, because He loves you so much He died for you. Will you call on Him to do this? He has saved others, and He will do it again. He’s not worried about being fired.

Here is an encouragement for you: “Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Romans 10:13).

MEMORY VERSE: “All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” Romans 3:23

ML-10/06/2013

Why Snakes Don't Have Legs

Did you ever wonder why snakes don’t have legs? If you have ever gone to the zoo, you have probably seen all kinds of snakes—big ones and little ones and in many different colors. But I am sure you have never seen a snake that had legs. Do you know why snakes don’t have legs? The answer is in God’s Word, the Bible.

When God created the first man and woman, He placed them in a beautiful garden. It was filled with all kinds of good things for them to eat. God told them they could eat the fruit from any tree except one. If they ate the fruit from that tree, God said they would die.

But the wicked one that the Bible calls the devil went into that beautiful garden in the form of a serpent (snake). The devil told the woman they would not die if she and her husband ate the fruit that God told them not to eat. So the woman disobeyed God and ate fruit from that tree. Then she gave some to her husband, and he ate it too. They both disobeyed God, and this is sin. We know that later on they did die, just like God said they would. So you see, boys and girls, what God tells us is the truth. What the devil tells us is a lie.

After the devil lied to the woman, God said that the serpent would crawl on the ground. And that is what the snake has been doing ever since.

All boys and girls sometimes disobey their parents or do other things that they know are wrong. The Bible tells us “all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). This means that all boys and girls are sinners.

The Lord Jesus loves each one of us so much, He let wicked men nail Him to a wooden cross where He suffered for sin and died. The suffering from the nails in His hands and feet was terrible, but suffering for our sins was far worse! During the three hours of darkness that covered the world while He was on the cross, Jesus took the punishment for the sins of everyone who would believe in Him.

Maybe you have never told the Lord Jesus you want Him to be your Saviour. Wouldn’t you like to come to Him right now to have your sins washed away? “The blood of Jesus Christ His [God’s] Son cleanseth us from all sin” (1 John 1:7).

Jesus died and was buried, but He rose out of the grave alive again and is now waiting to save you. Just think, the Lord Jesus, the Son of God, is alive in heaven right now. He is inviting you to be saved from your sins. Won’t you accept Him as your Saviour?

“Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that [hears] My word, and [believes] on Him that sent Me, hath everlasting life” (John 5:24).

ML-10/06/2013

The Wonders of God's Creation: The Long-Nosed Narwhal

“The Lord is a great God.... The sea is His, and He made it: and His hands formed the dry land. O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the Lord our maker.” Psalm 95:3-6

Only a few hundred Inuit people live in the snow- and ice-covered regions of Greenland. They patiently wait through the cold winter for the return of the short June-through-August summer when they can fish and hunt again. They catch many fish, seals and an occasional polar bear, but what they really look forward to each summer is the return of the gray and white narwhals.

Narwhals can weigh up to two tons and may measure eighteen feet long, not including their tusks. Some live for fifty years. They are hunted, not only for their delicious vitamin-rich meat, but for the valuable oil in their bodies. Of greatest value are the long, ivory tusks of the males. These may measure eight feet long and are spiraled all the way to the pointed tips.

A tusk is really the narwhal’s only tooth. It can weigh as much as twenty pounds and can be sold for a high price. If it’s in good condition, such a prize will sell for $1000 or more. This means a great deal to the Inuit people, who, except for the fish they sell and a few furs, have little opportunity to earn money.

In the short summer, there is a very rapid growth of aquatic life in the salt water on which many kinds of fish thrive. In ways that only He could devise, the Lord God, the Creator, lets the narwhals know when this will take place. They gather in pods of 10 to 100 at the edges of ice-bound bays and fjords, waiting for the ice to break up so they can get to this food. At such times, the Inuit people make the most of their harpoon hunting skills in thrilling, dangerous hunts for the narwhals.

Like porpoises, narwhals are peaceful, lively and playful and are not known to harm anything with their pointed tusks. However, they are also wary and swift and easily escape when alarmed. As a result, absolute silence is needed when hunting them in kayaks—no outboard motors are allowed and no talking above a whisper. But even so, most narwhals escape being caught by the hunters.

If these Inuit people read the Bible, they will find in its very first chapter that fish and narwhals are all part of God’s creation. If they read further, they will find that people are more important to Him than anything else. In the New Testament they will come to this wonderful verse: “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).

We hope that many of the Inuits have accepted this loving invitation. What about you?

ML-10/06/2013

Does God Answer Children's Prayers?

My brother and I loved to play ball. Where we lived, there was a high hill on one side of our yard. The hill flattened out at the top where a farmer had planted a field of wheat that was tall and almost ready to be harvested.

We really liked that hill. Want to know why? Because when our balls hit the hill, they rolled right back down to us! We didn’t have to run and pick them up.

There was one ball that was my favorite. It was a blue ball. One day I hit that ball so hard it landed in that field of wheat. Both of us ran up to the top of the hill and looked and looked for that ball in the wheat field, but we couldn’t find it. I was a little bit sad because my favorite ball was lost in that big field of tall wheat.

The only ball left for us to play with was a golf ball. It was better than no ball, but we sure wished we had something better. As my brother and I talked about it, we decided we could pray about finding the blue ball. We both knew that God knew exactly where that ball was. We stood there together and prayed, asking Him to help us find the blue ball. “Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth” (Psalm 124:8).

In the meantime, we had the golf ball to play with. Now golf balls really fly when you hit them. One of us hit the golf ball really hard, and we watched that ball fly—up, up, up to the top of the hill and, you guessed it, right into the wheat field! We ran up the hill as fast as we could, now to try to find the golf ball.

Pretty soon my brother yelled excitedly, “Hey, come here! Look at this!”

“Two balls!” I yelled. And there was the golf ball on the ground nestled right beside my blue ball! We jumped up and down with joy!

We picked up both balls and started down the hill happily and with thanksgiving in our hearts, as we talked about our answer to prayer. It couldn’t have been plainer. We both knew all over again that, yes, God answers prayers—even children’s prayers! And we never forgot it.

The Apostle Paul told the Christians who lived in Philippi to “be careful for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God” (Philippians 4:6). That’s a really good idea, isn’t it?

MEMORY VERSE: “Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth.” Psalm 124:8

ML-10/13/2013

The Stolen Fork

Richard was ten years old. He and his brothers loved to go with Dad and Mom to the Automat, a restaurant where the food was displayed in shiny, coin-operated dispensers. First they would go to the cashier and exchange dollar bills for nickels, dimes and quarters. Then each one would choose a beef or chicken potpie or a plate of franks and beans, put the right coins in the slot, open the glass window, take out the food and put it on his tray. Drinks such as milk or chocolate milk came out of a faucet shaped like a lion’s mouth.

When each one in the family had their meal, they would find a table, and Dad would thank the Lord Jesus for their food. Then the boys would dig in to the feast.

The knives, forks and spoons they had there for people to use were plain metal, but of good quality. Each one was stamped with the words, “Horn and Hardart,” the name of the company owning all the Automats in New York and Philadelphia.

Imagine how Mom felt one day when she was emptying Richard’s pockets before putting his pants in the wash and out fell a shiny fork with the name “Horn and Hardart” on it. She felt sorry that Richard had taken the fork, but she did not say anything to him about it until Dad came home and they could talk it over together.

Dad and Mother showed Richard the fork and asked him how he got it. With the evidence right in front of his eyes, he couldn’t deny that he had stolen the fork from the Automat. Richard was ashamed. Almost at once he confessed what he had done. Dad told him it was stealing and needed also to be confessed to God. Richard knelt by the living room couch and confessed to God the sin of stealing. Then, instead of the punishment Richard was expecting, his father did something different. He made Richard take the fork back to the manager of the Automat.

“Aw, Dad,” he complained, “can’t I just put it back in the tray with all the other forks? I don’t want the manager to know I stole it.”

“No,” answered Dad. “You must take it to the manager and tell him you took it.”

Richard’s wise father then went with him and stood next to him while he told the manager what he had done. And the equally wise manager did not make a joke of what Richard had done. He explained that every year many forks, spoons and knives disappear from Automats, costing the company thousands of dollars. Then, to Richard’s relief, the manager forgave him and thanked him for bringing the fork back.

Richard is now a grandfather, but he never forgot the lesson he learned at the Automat.

Boys and girls, God says, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). Jesus died on the cross of Calvary to pay the penalty for the sins of all those who would receive Him as their own Saviour.

Have your sins been forgiven?

ML-10/13/2013

The Wonders of God's Creation: The Unlovely Crow

“He [God] giveth to the beast his food, and to the young ravens which cry.” Psalm 147:9

The Bible does not mention crows by name, but it mentions “every raven after his kind” (Leviticus 11:15). Both ravens and crows are in the same bird family—they are like cousins. So our opening verse assures us that the Creator cares for crows and even hears the cries of their young.

When fully grown, these glossy, black birds are big. They weigh about 3 pounds and are 18 or 19 inches long. Always hungry, they eat just about anything they can swallow, including mice, grubs, eggs, even small birds and small dead animals. Farmers dislike them because they pull up sprouting corn and other grains and eat them.

It is no secret to those living near crows that they do not hesitate to announce their presence with loud annoying “caws,” especially just after sunrise. In spite of this unpleasant habit, they are very intelligent birds and can easily be tamed as pets. Captive crows quickly learn tricks and can even be taught to talk as clearly as parrots do. They are clever in imitating other bird sounds too.

Spotting a lone owl trying to hide in a tree, a group of crows will come together with loud, raucous cawing and gang up to chase the owl out of the area. However, they know better than to get close to its sharp beak and talons. Crows have another annoying trick, which is to snatch a hooked fish off the end of a fisherman’s line before he can reel it in.

Crows’ nests are easy to see, as they are large, bulky nests high in treetops. The female lays four to six blue-green eggs with blotches of brown or gray.

No bird is disliked more than the crow. Yet in spite of efforts to reduce their numbers, they continually increase. They are now protected by law in many places, because of the tremendous quantity of harmful insects and small rodents they eat.

It is understandable that crows may not appeal to many people, but they are part of God’s creation. He has provided their unusual instincts and cleverness so they can perform their part of His purposes in the bird world.

The Bible tells us that every living creature is in the hands of the Lord. It is good to learn of His care over all things, even crows, but it is especially important to know that He sees and cares for every boy and girl and every grown-up: “His eyes are upon the ways of man, and He [sees] all his goings” (Job 34:21). He tells us that He also thinks kindly about us: “I know the thoughts that I think toward you ... thoughts of peace, and not of evil” (Jeremiah 29:11).

Do you know this kind and loving Saviour personally?

ML-10/13/2013

A Man Named Nicodemus

Nicodemus was a very important man. He was a Pharisee, belonging to a group of religious teachers in Israel, and he was a religious leader himself.

Some wonderful news came into his life. He learned there was a man called Jesus who could turn water into wine and do many other miracles. This Jesus called the Jewish temple, “My Father’s house” (John 2:16). Surely He must be a great teacher come from God. This was worth finding out. But Nicodemus may have felt that this Jesus might shake his own important position as a Pharisee, so he went to talk to Him at night.

Nighttime is not a good time for interviews, but Nicodemus did not wait until morning, and he was right not to wait. Do you want to know more about this man called Jesus? Don’t wait—come right now! You will find that Jesus is ready to hear you anytime, day or night.

Nicodemus called Jesus “Rabbi,” which means “master” or “teacher.” He said, “Rabbi, we know that Thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that Thou doest, except God be with him” (John 3:2). Now it is a good thing to know that Jesus is a great teacher, but that is not enough. Jesus was and is God. And He said to Nicodemus, “[Truly, truly,] I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3).

Nicodemus was very surprised to find that, instead of getting religious instruction, Jesus told him he needed to be born again! And now you might be wondering the same thing that Nicodemus asked: Does it mean that you have to be a baby all over again and be born like the first time?

Nicodemus didn’t turn and walk away; Jesus knew that he really wanted to know. He saw right into Nicodemus’ puzzled heart, and He knows about your puzzled heart too. Nicodemus waited for Jesus’ answer.

Jesus said, “Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God” (John 3:5). This says that being born again is God’s work, not yours. The Word of God and the Spirit of God are there for your new birth into God’s family. “That which is born of the flesh is flesh” (John 3:6), and that’s where you are right now, before new birth. You are alive because God made you and you were born to your earthly parents. But you have a sinful nature that we each have gotten from our earthly parents. God cannot have our sinful natures in His sinless heaven. However, “that which is born of the Spirit is spirit” (John 3:6), and that’s where being born again comes in and makes you part of God’s family—forever! God gives you a new sinless nature that makes you ready for heaven! When God calls you home to heaven, you’ll leave your sinful nature behind and arrive in heaven with only your new sinless nature. You’ll receive a new sinless nature when you ask Jesus to wash away your sins.

“How can these things be?” (John 3:9), asked the puzzled Nicodemus. And as far as the record goes, that’s all he said. But Jesus said quite a bit more for him to think about. One thing He said was this: “God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be saved” (John 3:16-17).

Are you born again? Do you have a new sinless nature?

You may read this story of Nicodemus in John chapter 3.

MEMORY VERSE: “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-10/20/2013

Pepper

We live next door to a family with five children and a dog named Pepper. He is a friendly little dog who enjoys playing with the children. But even though Pepper is friendly and has a happy home, he once had a bad habit—he chased cars. It was this bad habit that got him into trouble one day.

It was winter and Pepper was chasing a car when he slipped on a patch of ice. As he slid, his long tail got caught in the back bumper of the car and was badly mangled. His owners took him to the vet who cleaned up and treated his other cuts and scrapes, but Pepper’s long tail was in such bad shape that it had to be removed.

Pepper’s five little owners were terribly upset. Poor Pepper! How would he ever get along without his tail? But it did not seem to bother him. He was just as friendly as always. However, one thing had changed—Pepper did not chase cars anymore. He had learned his lesson.

We can all learn a lesson from Pepper. We all have problems or sadness. Often the Lord Jesus uses these to make us stop and think. Is there a bad habit we have that God does not like? Are we “chasing” after something that is not pleasing to the Lord Jesus?

When problems come up, the first thing to do is go to the Lord Jesus in prayer about them. He sometimes has something to teach us, and He will help us to learn. If we are willing to learn the lesson, then we will be happy in the sunshine of His love. Pepper did not worry about living without his tail, and we do not need to worry about tomorrow either. How good it is to be able to take everything to God in prayer and ask Him to help us and guide us.

“Casting all your care upon Him; for He careth for you” (1 Peter 5:7).

ML-10/20/2013

The Wonders of God's Creation: The Swift Cheetah

“Every beast of the forest is Mine ... and the wild beasts of the field are Mine.” Psalm 50:10-11

The cheetah, a member of the cat family, lives on the plains of Africa and Asia and is the fastest land animal known for running short distances. When hunting, it takes advantage of all available cover and crawls on the ground to get as close as possible to its prey. Then, with tail twitching, it suddenly springs up and runs with lightning speed, 70 to 75 miles per hour (112 to 120 km/h), scarcely touching the ground between its 10-foot leaps. It can accelerate from 0 to 62 mph (100 km/h) in three seconds, enabling it to catch its prey almost immediately.

The Creator has provided the cheetah with large nostrils and lungs to draw in great quantities of air while running so fast. However, it cannot run at top speed for very long, and if it fails to capture its prey promptly, it must give up and rest. Even if it succeeds, it needs to rest for a while, breathing deeply before eating.

This beautiful animal has a small head with large, yellow-green eyes and dark tear markings running from the inner corners of its eyes. Its fur is yellowish with black spots over all its body except the throat. Its long, lean body measures about 3 feet high at the shoulders and about 5 feet long. Its long, striped tail adds another 2½ feet.

The cheetah’s natural home is in open grasslands. Given excellent eyesight, it spots antelopes, elands and other animals from a tree branch, bare hilltop or even a termite mound. Another special, God-given feature enables the cheetah to go several days without water.

Female cheetahs may have three or more cubs a year. The little ones are playful, stalking and pawing each other. In the hot sun they huddle close to their mother for protection from the heat and for safety from enemies. They are nursed for several months and then trained to hunt. Cubs leave their mother when they are between thirteen and twenty months old. A cheetah’s life span is up to twelve years in the wild and twenty years in captivity.

Again we are reminded, as in our opening Bible verse, that the One who can rightfully claim every beast of the forest and field as His does not neglect these creatures. Through their whole lifetime they are under His watchful care, and He can see them just as He can see each of us even on the darkest night.

Sin that came into the world is responsible for animals such as the cheetah killing others. But the time is coming when there will be peace again among all the beasts. At that time those who accept the Lord Jesus Christ now as their Saviour will be with Him in heaven, looking down on that peaceful scene. Will you be there?

ML-10/20/2013

The Bridge of Kindness

I am sure most boys and girls expect to be treated with kindness by their friends and their families, but they would not expect kindness from an enemy. There are many verses in the Bible that tell us how kind God is, and if you will read the following verses, then I will tell you a little story that will help you to understand the meaning of kindness a little better.

These verses are found in Titus 3:3-5: “We ourselves ... were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived ... hateful, and hating one another. But ... the kindness and love of God our Saviour ... appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us.”

This story is about a raccoon—an animal we don’t particularly like. They are just too smart, and they can be destructive. Their paws are like little hands, allowing them to climb, open doors, pry off garbage can lids, unscrew caps, and they are always scrounging for food. They have a black mask of fur around their eyes and look like a robber. And, like a robber, they mostly prowl at night.

This raccoon in our backyard was hungry, so he climbed on top of the compost bin, pried the lid open enough on one side so he could squeeze into the bin. Soon he ate his fill of food scraps and peelings, and then he wanted out. But getting out was a different story.

Mr. Raccoon couldn’t seem to figure out how to get out of the bin. He was trapped in the messy compost where it was cold and wet. He found the slatted vents near the bottom of the bin and began to chew his way through these slats. Soon he had a hole large enough to get his head out. Then he kept working to make the hole bigger, until his head and front paws were out, but his body was too fat to squirm through the hole. There was no hope of his chewing the hard plastic to make the hole large enough to escape.

After watching his frantic struggles for some time, I could see he was getting weaker and would eventually die there. I had pity on him and decided to come to his rescue.

I found a long board, carefully removed the compost bin lid and slid the board into the bin at an angle. The board gave him a “bridge” to climb out on. The smart raccoon saw immediately what to do. He climbed cautiously to the top, and he soon climbed out on the “bridge” and made his escape. It was a slow escape because he was so weak, wet and covered from head to tail in mud. He dragged himself away from that awful prison. If he learned his lesson, I don’t think he will ever get caught in our compost bin again.

This story of a destructive animal being shown kindness and mercy is a picture of what God has done for sinners. We did nothing to deserve His love and grace, just as that destructive raccoon didn’t deserve any kindness from me. I think even boys and girls know that we all are sinners and deserve punishment for our sins in the lake of fire. But God saw us separated from Him in the darkness of sin and unable to save ourselves. In His love and kindness, He and His Son Jesus made a plan, a “bridge,” so we could come back to Him. That “bridge” was the cross where His Son Jesus gave His life and paid the penalty for the sins of all who would trust Him as their Saviour. Jesus is our “bridge of escape” from the awful penalty we deserve for our sins. There is no other way; there is no other name on earth that will act as a bridge to God.

The raccoon saw there was a way of escape after I put the board in the compost bin for him to climb out on. He used it and escaped to safety. I hope when you read this you will be as smart as the raccoon and use the “bridge” God provided through the death of His dear Son Jesus, so your soul will be saved for eternity. This is the sinner’s only hope of escape from death and judgment that is sure to come. “Thou art a God ready to pardon, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness” (Nehemiah 9:17).

MEMORY VERSE: “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us.” Titus 3:5

ML-10/27/2013

Terry Fox

In 1980 millions of people were touched by the courage and determination of a young Canadian man named Terry Fox. Although crippled by the terrible disease of cancer, he was determined to run from St. John’s, Newfoundland, to Vancouver, British Columbia, to raise money for cancer research. A few miles east of Thunder Bay, Ontario, stands a very impressive monument marking the end of Terry’s “Marathon of Hope.” Anyone traveling the thousands of miles of hilly country between that point and St. John’s cannot help but be amazed at the courage and determination of this 22-year-old young man running with an artificial leg. In 2005 the Royal Canadian Mint minted a new dollar coin in Terry’s honor.

We can think back to others in the past that, through research and determination, conquered diseases such as tuberculosis, smallpox and polio. Although Terry was not able to finish what he set out to do, the millions of dollars that he raised have gone a long way in helping to find a cure for this disease.

There is, however, a disease far worse than cancer for which man’s research will never find a cure. Everyone has this disease, and it is fatal. It is called sin. But there is a cure provided by a loving God for anyone who will accept it. The determination of Terry Fox reminds us of the deep love and determination of the Lord Jesus Christ who died on the cross to provide a cure for the disease of sin. “He [Jesus] was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes we are healed” (Isaiah 53:5). A man would be foolish if a cure for cancer was found and he refused to accept it. But are you ignoring or refusing to accept God’s cure for the disease of sin? “The blood of Jesus Christ [God’s] Son cleanseth us from all sin” (1 John 1:7).

Have you accepted the cure?

ML-10/27/2013

The Wonders of God's Creation: The Spider's Web

“The spider [takes] hold with her hands, and is in kings’ palaces.” Proverbs 30:28

To most people spiders are pests, but they do serve a very good purpose—insects are their food supply. Most kinds of spiders eat great numbers of flies, mosquitoes and other insects. This is the purpose of their webs—to trap insects in the sticky silk. But some birds are the spider’s enemy. They not only eat spiders but steal their webs to weave into their nests for added strength or to make smooth inner linings.

There are about 40,000 different kinds of spiders in the world. Most spin webs, and their webs come in a wide variety of shapes. Outdoor spiders make the most beautiful webs, which can be seen best in early morning while silvery dew clings to them. The garden spider stretches its beautiful web between branches of tall plants. Another, the orb spider’s creation, when covered with dewdrops looks like a splendid display of lovely pearls hanging on drooping strings.

Spider webs are creations no human being could ever duplicate. Though they vary in size and shape, most have twenty-four or more strands forming circles around a tiny center (the spider’s home). These are held at proper distance from each other and strengthened by a number of “ribs” that look like the spokes of a wheel coming out from the center. This is all so cleverly done that it looks like a blueprint had been followed. But spiders don’t need blueprints, for the Creator has given each one the instinct and ability to make its own web in a God-given pattern and design.

Threads of liquid silk, finer than human hair, flow from several “spinnerets” at the rear of the spider’s abdomen. The reason for more than one spinneret is so a spider can produce different types of silk for a particular purpose. The different spinnerets can produce liquid silk in a very thin thread or a thick, wide band, or silk that dries quickly or remains sticky. Some can even produce a thread that looks like a beaded necklace.

Webs are amazingly strong. Most can withstand the force of a bumblebee or other large insect flying straight into them, as well as the insect’s frantic struggles to break loose. Even snakes that get entangled in webs sometimes can’t get away.

The Lord God, the Creator of all things, has given each kind of spider these wonderful capabilities for its special kind of web, and His watchful eye cares for them just as He cares for every living thing. That includes every boy, girl, man and woman. A verse from the Bible tells us, “Neither is there any creature that is not manifest [seen] in His sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of Him with whom we have to do” (Hebrews 4:13). Besides knowing Him as your Creator, do you know Him as your Saviour too?

ML-10/27/2013

Can You Swim?

Tim and his classmates were very excited. Their fifth-grade class was going on a special two-day field trip that several of the teachers had been planning for quite some time. It was going to be a big event! Arrangements were made for the students and their teachers, along with parent helpers, to stay one night at a hotel with an extra-large swimming pool.

The pool didn’t have a regular lifeguard on duty, so Tim’s dad volunteered to watch the children in the swimming pool. He was a very good swimmer and had learned lifeguarding skills as a teenager. Before being allowed to go to the deep end of the pool, each child was asked, “Can you swim?” Those who said “yes” had to show that they could, by swimming across the shallow end of the pool. If they passed the test, they could go anywhere in the pool. Some of the children were able to go into the deep water, while others were told to stay in the shallow part.

Jimmy didn’t pass the swimming test, so he was told to stay in the shallow end of the pool. He really didn’t mind, because he just loved being in the water. But after a while, he thought the boys in the deep end were having more fun than he was. They were jumping off the edge of the pool and playing with a ball. He decided to go play with them.

Have you boys and girls been taught to obey your parents and teachers or any grown-up who tells you not to do something? There’s a verse in the Bible that says, “Children, obey your parents [or teacher or other grown-up] in all things: for this is well pleasing unto the Lord” (Colossians 3:20). God has given these older people wisdom to know what is safe and best for you and what is isn’t. Do you always obey them? Even when you really don’t want to? Disobeying is a sin, and your sins will keep you out of heaven.

The happy group of children down at the deep end of the pool was making lots of noise as they splashed and played. No one noticed Jimmy when he jumped into the deep water and went after the ball. The problem was, Jimmy couldn’t swim! He struggled to keep his head above the water when his feet didn’t touch the bottom of the pool. He went down under and gulped a lot of water. He came back to the top and thrashed his arms around, but then he went down under the water again. Jimmy was going to drown!

Suddenly Tim’s dad saw what was happening and quickly dove into the water and grabbed Jimmy in his strong arms. He carried him out of the pool and set him down on the floor until he was okay. Then he asked Jimmy, “Why did you go into the deep water when you can’t swim?” Jimmy answered, “But I can almost swim!”

Almost is not enough. Many people have lost their lives from almost being able to do something. Maybe you think you are almost good enough to get to heaven. There is no such thing as being almost saved from your sins. Your sins will keep you out of heaven unless the blood of Jesus has washed away your sins. A verse in the Bible says, “The blood of Jesus Christ [God’s] Son cleanseth us from all sin” (1 John 1:7). Jimmy thought he could almost swim, but he would have drowned if those strong arms had not saved him. The Lord Jesus Christ loves you and wants very much to be your Saviour. His strong arms want to rescue you from the punishment you deserve for your sins. Will you talk to Him in prayer, tell Him you are sorry for your sins and let Him wash them away? Will you accept Him into your heart right now and know for sure that your sins are gone forever?

MEMORY VERSE: “Children, obey your parents in all things: for this is well pleasing unto the Lord.” Colossians 3:20

ML-11/03/2013

The Lost Bike

When our children were young, they were given a very sturdy bike with training wheels, but they soon learned to ride the bike without training wheels. How they loved this bike, and they rode it all the time. They shared it until they were older and had their own bikes.

One day the bike just disappeared, and they were so sad to lose it. We asked the Lord Jesus to help us get it back, and then we got the idea to drive around our neighborhood to see if we could find it.

We all piled into the car and drove around the streets close by. To our great surprise, after about twenty minutes, we found the lost bike! It was parked near the street in front of Karla’s house!

Now Karla came regularly to the Sunday school that was held in our home. She must have decided it was a quick and easy way to get home. But didn’t she know that what she had done is called stealing?

The Bible tells us, “Thou shalt not steal” (Exodus 20:15). Stealing is sin. It doesn’t have to be something as big as a bike. It can be something as small as a marble or a pencil or a cookie out of the cookie jar. Or it can even be an answer copied from somebody else’s paper during a test in school. Stealing is taking something, big or small, that doesn’t belong to us, and it is wrong. God calls it sin, and sin keeps us out of heaven. But God still loves us even while He hates our sins. He still wants to take us to heaven, but we can’t go there with our sins. He tells us in the Bible that He sent His Son Jesus to die for us, and Jesus’ blood can wash away every one of our sins, even those stealing sins. Then the way is open for us to go to heaven to live with Jesus when our life here on earth is over.

Do you want Jesus to wash away your sins? He “loved us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood” (Revelation 1:5). “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners” (1 Timothy 1:15).

ML-11/03/2013

The Wonders of God's Creation: Those Feet of Yours - Part 1

“He ... set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings. And He hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God.” Psalm 40:2-3

A newborn baby has 350 bones, but some are so soft and pliable that they hardly seem to be bones. Some of these bones fuse together as the baby grows, so that when he is fully grown the number is reduced to 206. It takes the foot, with its 26 bones, about 20 years to fully develop as one of the most distinctive parts of your whole body.

The arrangement of these 26 foot bones has been perfectly designed by the Creator to not only support your weight, but also to enable you to move about easily. This is important, because just in the normal pattern of activity, an adult walks about 65,000 miles during his lifetime (equivalent to two and a half times around the world).

Your foot’s perfectly designed arch works like a spring simultaneously with the bending of your knees and movement of the ankles and toes. Many of these bones are not strong in themselves, being only half the thickness of a pencil, yet the way they are arranged makes them strong enough to support a heavy person. If you had X-ray vision and could see through the skin of your foot, you would discover why these bones don’t break, even with all the rough treatment they get. The bones in the foot are attached to strong muscles by over 100 tendons, keeping them in place and working together with the muscles so that the workload is shared by all of them.

Not only are those parts of the foot kept in such remarkable order, but also, to further strengthen them, the whole wonderful package is kept in place by tape-like bands strapped over and around them. Then there are the important blood vessels bringing constant nourishment to all parts of the foot, as well as nerve endings that carry messages to and from the brain.

The principal purpose of our legs and feet is, of course, to carry our bodies wherever we need to go. And God in His Word, the Bible, reminds us to be careful where we let our feet take us. He instructs us to “make straight paths for your feet” (Hebrews 12:13).

If we are His children, through faith in Christ Jesus, the opening verses tell us what He has done for us. Another verse says, “Ponder [think about] the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be established” (Proverbs 4:26). These are important instructions if we are to live happy Christian lives, pleasing the Lord Jesus and helping those around us.

(to be continued)

ML-11/03/2013

Bucky the Lamb

Brian and his sister Patty lived on a farm in the western Canadian prairies. They had a little lamb that was given to their dad by a neighbor, Allan, who also lived on a farm. Allan had many sheep and lambs, and during the month of May, Allan would take all his baby lambs to market.

Brian and Patty’s dad was given one of the baby lambs to take home instead of being shipped off to market with the rest of the lambs. This little lamb was not only saved from the market, but he was also given a new home where he would be loved and cared for!

Brian and Patty named their lamb Bucky. They loved this little lamb. It wasn’t long until he learned to come up to the house every morning and every evening to be fed. During the summer months, Brian and Patty played with the lamb every day.

About a year later, Brian and Patty’s dad decided to take the lamb to market to be sold.

Both children were very sad to lose their pet that they loved. Bucky did not know when he was loaded onto the truck that he was going to market and would no longer see his playmates. Patty and Brian started to cry as Bucky was driven away in the back of the truck.

Down the road and not very far away from the farm, their dad stopped the truck. He was feeling rather sad, knowing how much the children loved Bucky and that the lamb’s life would not be saved. He changed his mind. He got out and let Bucky out of the back of the truck.

Now Brian and Patty did not know that their father had changed his mind. You can imagine the yelps of surprise and joy from the children when Bucky ran back into the farmyard and into the open arms of his playmates!

Most of you boys and girls have probably learned that each one of us is a sinner, because we were born from sinful parents. We have told lies, disobeyed our parents and taken things that don’t belong to us. All of these, and other selfish things, are sin. And maybe you already know that we deserve punishment from God for all our sins. He tells us in Romans 3:23, “The wages of sin is death.” Our sins will keep us out of heaven and send us to that awful place called hell, if they aren’t forgiven. But do you know that God loves us so much that He made a way for us to have our sins forgiven? He sent His Son Jesus down here to live a perfect life and then die on Calvary’s cross where He took the punishment for the sins of every boy and girl and grown-up who will come to Him for forgiveness. If your sins are forgiven, the Lord Jesus will take you to His home in heaven when your life here is over. It’s just like Bucky being let out of the back of the truck so that he could run back to his happy home with Brian and Patty, instead of going to market.

Will you talk to the Lord Jesus in prayer and tell Him you are truly sorry for your sins and want Him to forgive you? He promises, “I will forgive [your] iniquity, and I will remember [your] sin no more” (Jeremiah 31:34). Isn’t that good news? But don’t wait. Accept the Lord Jesus as your Saviour today!

Do you remember how happy Brian and Patty were when their lamb came home? The Bible tells us, “There is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that [repents]” (Luke 15:10).

MEMORY VERSE: “There is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth.” Luke 15:10

ML-11/10/2013

What Frank Learned at School

Frank was a very special boy. His dad and mother wanted the best of everything for him, and they had enough money to buy whatever they wanted. They searched for a private school with high standards and where he would get the best possible education.

One school seemed to meet their requirements, but there was one problem. It was not money, for they could have paid twice the fees. The problem was that the school day began each morning with reading from the Bible and singing a hymn. They did not want Frank to have his head filled with what they thought was unnecessary nonsense.

The Bible says, “The preaching of the cross is to them that perish, foolishness” (1 Corinthians 1:18). If the preaching of the cross of Christ, the Saviour of sinners, is just unnecessary foolishness to you, do you see what grouping you have put yourself in? “Them that perish”! That is the grouping that Frank’s parents were in. Do you want to be among those who perish?

Frank’s dad and mother decided to send him to this school anyway, but they said that he must be allowed to stay out of the classroom during the Bible reading and singing. The teacher sadly agreed. But what would you do if you were that teacher? If you are a real Christian, it is not hard to guess what you might do and what his teacher did. She prayed privately that God would bring the light of the gospel into that unbelieving family who were going to perish without Christ.

At first Frank went to the next room during the Bible reading, but he could hear them singing. They sang, “Jesus loves me,” and he moved closer to listen outside the door. Each day found him more eager to hear. It was the answer to his soul’s need, and it always is, if you listen to the story of the One who loves you, died for you, and rose again. Soon Frank was no longer in the grouping of “them that perish.” He had found the story of Jesus and His love to be the power of God unto salvation. “The gospel of Christ ... is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth” (Romans 1:16).

It was not until Frank became very sick and his parents were afraid he was going to die that they realized that their boy had found the Saviour who is real and loving and powerful. They also came to the One who never turns sinners away. They left the grouping of “them that perish” and started on the road to heaven with Christ forever.

Which road are you on? If you are really saved from your sins, please pray that those who read this story will be saved too.

“The preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness, but unto us which are saved, it is the power of God” (1 Corinthians 1:18).

ML-11/10/2013

The Wonders of God's Creation: Those Feet of Yours - Part 2

“Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.” Psalm 119:105

In last week’s article, we looked at the marvelous structure of a person’s foot with its 26 bones, as well as tendons, ligaments, nerves and blood vessels.

Your feet, which you may have just taken for granted, are one of the outstanding features of your body. No machine designed by the most intelligent engineer could, for its size, match the human foot for its ability to move your body about and hold up the amount of weight resting on it. The only way we can grasp at all how it can work so marvelously is to admit that God, the Creator, has provided its wonderful design.

Its job is not only to enable you to walk around, but also to run, jump, kick and stand still when necessary. If you weigh around 100 pounds, then the pressure on each foot when you run fast will be equal to about 500 pounds, and a man weighing 175 pounds will have a running pressure of 1000 pounds or more. Just think also how a healthy foot can take the terrific impact of a soccer or football player giving a forceful kick to the ball!

You may be resting when just standing still, but the foot has work to do even then that you don’t think about. At such times, messages fly back and forth from your brain to each foot in order to keep you steady and in balance—subconsciously tightening a muscle, moving your big toe, the ankle bone, the heel, the sole of your foot and other parts, all handling their part in the messages that come through the amazing nervous system the Creator has given your body. Thus you keep your balance without even knowing all this is going on. But that’s why, if a person faints while standing, he will immediately fall over, because the body parts can’t communicate with each other,

The Bible tells us of this, stating, “But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased Him.... There should be no schism [division] in the body; but that the members should have the same care one for another” (1 Corinthians 12:18-25). Isn’t that a wonderful thing?

So we see a little of how important this part of the body is and the wisdom of taking care of these feet, so valuable to us. Let us remember, too, that the Lord Jesus is constantly watching our walk: “The eyes of the Lord are in every place, beholding the evil and the good” (Proverbs 15:3). And when we are aware of mistakes we have made, our prayer should be like that of the psalmist: “When I said, my foot slippeth; Thy mercy, O Lord, held me up” (Psalm 94:18). Yes, He will always put us back on solid ground when we confess our sins to Him.

ML-11/10/2013

The Frightened Sparrow

Eleven-year-old Bryan was enjoying a Sunday afternoon walk with his uncle along a beautiful lakeshore. They stopped for a few moments to watch the gentle ripples on the surface of the water, when suddenly they noticed something that did not belong in the water—a baby bird. It wasn’t a duckling or a young sea gull that has webbed feet for swimming; it was a tiny sparrow fluttering in the water, and it was in trouble!

Bryan felt sorry for the little bird and wanted to rescue it. After finding a long stick, he and his uncle stretched it way out into the water where it could reach the baby sparrow.

At first the tiny bird grabbed onto the stick. But when it was being lifted out of the water, the frightened bird fell off. Bryan didn’t want to give up, so they tried again. Once more the little bird hung on for a short time, but again it let go of the stick before it reached the shore. So they tried again ... and again ... and again. Each time it would get a little closer to the shore, but then it would let go and fall back into the water.

That stick just wasn’t doing the job. It was probably slippery from being wet, and the little sparrow’s feet just couldn’t hang on. Do you think a fisherman’s net might have been the answer? You could just scoop up the baby bird and then gently lift it out of the water and set it down on the shore. However, Bryan and his uncle didn’t have a fisherman’s net.

You and I have a problem even more serious than the sparrow’s—we are drowning in our sins! We know God hates sin, and our sins will keep us out of heaven. What can we do?

God knows we each have a sin problem, and because He loves us so much, He has provided a “fisherman’s net” to save us. He sent His beloved Son Christ Jesus into this world of sin to bear the punishment you and I deserve for our sins. “This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners” (1 Timothy 1:15). He died on the cross, was buried in a grave, and then God His Father raised Him from the dead. Right now He is sitting beside His Father in heaven, waiting to cleanse you from every one of your sins. The Lord Jesus is our “fisherman’s net”!

But since Bryan and his uncle didn’t have a fisherman’s net, they continued to try to pull the baby sparrow toward shore, and each time the sparrow continued to let go of the stick and fall back into the water. Finally the bird was close enough so that Bryan’s uncle could reach out with his hands and lift the little bird out of the water. Sadly, it was too late. The baby sparrow had been in the water too long, and it drowned just before it reached safety.

Would the little bird have been saved if it had continued to hang onto the stick? Yes. That was the only hope for its safety. And the Lord Jesus is our only hope for safety from drowning in our sins. “The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin” (1 John 1:7). And here is His promise: “Their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more” (Hebrews 8:12).

Will you accept the Lord Jesus as your “safety net” and Saviour today?

MEMORY VERSE: “Their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.” Hebrews 8:12

ML-11/17/2013

The Little Anchor

I am sure that most of you know what an anchor looks like and that it is used to keep boats and ships from drifting. When thrown overboard, the hooks on the anchor catch on rocks or other objects on the bottom of the ocean and hold the ship.

A ship traveling from England to Turkey was caught in a storm. Reaching a harbor port, the captain signaled for the anchor to be let down. However, the wind was so strong that the anchor began to drag. It could not catch hold on anything on the sea bottom. A second anchor was let down, but it could not catch on the sandy bottom either. Little by little the ship was drifting closer to shore. Soon it would be grounded.

There was one anchor left, but it was a small one. No one thought it would do any good, but since it was their last hope, the captain ordered it to be let down. Much to their surprise the chain tightened and the ship stopped drifting! The little anchor held, and the ship was able to ride out the storm in safety.

The next day when the sailors lifted the anchors, the two big anchors came up easily because they had never caught on the bottom. But raising the little anchor was a different matter. The crew worked for a long time and finally were able to get the anchor to move, but it was very heavy. Something was coming up with it!

When it was finally raised out of the water, the sailors saw that the little anchor had caught onto a huge anchor belonging to an old sailing ship that either had sunk or had lost its anchor there. The huge anchor had caught on a rock. It was this huge anchor that was caught on a rock that had steadied their ship. The little anchor had hooked onto it, and then all the strength of the rock belonged to the little anchor.

What are you using as an anchor for your soul? Is it something you hope will firmly hold you? Hope is not firm and it will not hold by itself. It has to be set in something firm and solid, just like the little anchor was set in the rock. You need to set your hope in the Rock—the Lord Jesus Christ. Only He can save you, hold you and protect you from the storm of punishment for your sins. Let Jesus be your Rock by accepting Him as your Saviour! He is the “anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast” (Hebrews 6:19).

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

ML-11/17/2013

The Wonders of God's Creation: Never Tease a Moose

“Be not afraid, ye beasts of the field: for the pastures of the wilderness do spring.” Joel 2:22

One of the largest animals of North America is the moose. It is found mainly in Alaska and in many areas of Canada and northern parts of the United States and also in Scandinavia and Russia. It is a solitary animal and does not form herds. The moose prefers areas with lakes, rivers and pastures with ample food, as the Creator has promised in the Bible verse above. It finds some food in chest-deep water, dunking its head under to pull plants out by the roots.

The bull moose of Alaska is the largest and boldest, weighing almost a ton and having shoulders as high as eight feet. Its huge size, plus big antlers, make an impressive sight, and it is very bold. It will not hesitate to charge a truck or slow-moving train that annoys it—sometimes knocking the annoyance off the highway or railroad track. It is easy to see why a moose is seldom attacked, although a calf or a sick or old one might become the victim of a bear or a wolf pack. However, if an enemy makes the mistake of attacking an adult moose, it may pay for the mistake with its life. One kick from a moose’s sharp hooves can crush a skull or break or cripple a leg. The big antlers are equally dangerous.

The dark-brown moose is not a pretty animal. It has a hump on its back, and a baggy muzzle with another loose fold of skin at its throat, called a dewlap, mark its long face. Add its massive crown of antlers, and it presents a mighty awesome appearance.

While it may seem cumbersome to us, the moose is one of God’s creatures: “Every beast of the forest is Mine.... And the wild beasts of the field are Mine” (Psalm 50:10-11). It is the divine Creator who has given it such strength and ability to survive in harsh, cold winters and who also provided it with large, split hooves and broad feet for easy walking on marshy ground and through snowdrifts. He knew what their needs would be when He created them and included four-foot-long legs and strong muscles, so they can run at a speed of thirty-five miles an hour. The Creator has also given them coloring that blends with their surroundings, making them usually well hidden from enemies. Of course, no animal is aware of the One who created and preserves it, but how about us humans? There is a real difference, for we have the ability to know the Lord God and all He has done and is still doing for us. The psalmist wrote, “Oh that men would praise the Lord for His goodness, and for His wonderful works to the children of men!” (Psalm 107:8). Have you ever thanked or praised Him?

ML-11/17/2013

Stolen Silver

Back in Bible times, there was a mother in the land of Israel who had 1,100 pieces of silver. She had them all safely hidden away, and she had a plan in her mind what she would do with the silver. However, when she went to get the silver, it was gone! Stolen! All of it!

Somebody knew her secret hiding place and had taken her silver. Every piece was gone, and she was angry! She said bad words and cursed.

Her son Micah heard her angry words, and finally he told her, I took that silver. I have it. And then he gave it back to his mother.

Now here’s a question for you: Which is more important before God, the boy or the silver?

Micah stole 1,100 pieces of silver, but in God’s sight, the boy is worth far more than the silver. Stealing is a sin against God, and you can’t give back what is stolen as if it had not happened. God says many times in the Bible, “Thou shalt not steal” (Exodus 20:15).

That sin can be removed from Micah’s heart only by the precious blood of Christ. Silver is a big loss, but the loss of your soul is far greater. Only God can clean that sin away forever.

Do you think Micah’s mother had taught him that stealing is sin? I don’t think so, because instead of scolding him for committing that sin, she blessed him: “Blessed be thou of the Lord, my son” (Judges 17:2)! You see, she wanted the silver back, but she did not care about the sin on the soul of her son. If you have stolen something, it is right to confess and return it, but only the death of Jesus can wash that sin from your heart, and that is very important to remember.

Then she told Micah that her plan was to take 200 pieces to the jeweler and have him carve two idols out of it for Micah. It would look really nice in his home, and he could worship it, and it would bring him good luck. He had many idols like this in his house, and this would be two more in his collection.

You wouldn’t be so foolish, would you? But maybe you are. Are there things in your life that are more important to you than the Lord Jesus who died for you? Micah is dead now, and he left all his idols behind when he died. But I have a Saviour who goes with me every step of the way; He will be with me all through life and all through eternity. Would you like to know my Saviour? He is a real man living in heaven and coming again. He has wounds in His hands and feet and side that tell us how much He loves us.

Micah’s mother carried out her plan, and Micah had a house of idols and chose one of his sons to be his priest. It worked very well until another man came along to be his priest. That worked better ... until he lost everything to a crowd of soldiers that was stronger than he was.

But I cannot lose Jesus, and He cannot lose me! He has washed me clean in His blood shed on the cross.

If there are still sins on your heart, come today to Jesus, whose precious blood will wash your sins away and make you “as white as snow” (Isaiah 1:18). You will belong to Him forever and someday live in His happy home in heaven where there will never, ever be any sin!

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

You may read this story for yourself in Judges 17.

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

ML-11/24/2013

First Things First

Do you like to do experiments? Here is one anybody can try. You need two jars the same size, glass or plastic, that you can see through. Fill one jar with rocks about the size of a large chicken egg, but they can be any shape. Fill the other jar about 2/3 of the way up with sand or loose dirt. Now see how many of the rocks from the rock jar you can fit into the jar holding the sand. When I tried, I was able to fit in three.

Now put the rocks that are on top of the sand back into their own jar with the rest of the rocks, and then begin pouring the sand into the rock jar too. You’ll have to shake the sand down a little. How much sand are you able to fit into the jar with the rocks? I was able to fit almost all the sand into mine.

Let’s apply this experiment to you and me, and it doesn’t matter if we are young or old. The sand represents the things we need to do every day: eat, drink, dress ourselves, go to school or work, ride bikes, play ball, read a good book or visit with friends. The rocks represent what God wants us to put first in our lives: trust the Lord Jesus to wash away our sins, read our Bibles, spend time in prayer and do kind things for other people.

If you do the things you need and like to do first, the things God wants you to do will be mostly left out. It’s like filling the jar with the sand first and then trying to fit the rocks in. But like the second part of the experiment, if you do the things God wants you to do first, you’ll find that most of the other things will fit into your life as well. That’s why we’re told, “Seek ye FIRST the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you” (Matthew 6:33), “Your heavenly Father [knows] that ye have need of all these things” (vs. 32).

I did have some sand left over that didn’t fit in with the rocks. If that’s the way it is in my life, perhaps some of the things I’m doing are not pleasing to the Lord at all. I need to listen to what He tells me in Hebrews 12:1-2: “Let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus.”

If we ask Him each day what He would like us to do and have a real desire to do His will, then we have this promise: “The Lord shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul” (Isaiah 58:11).

ML-11/24/2013

The Wonders of God's Creation: Crazy as a Loon

“Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee withersoever thou goest.” Joshua 1:9

Walking along a mountain trail in the Cascade Mountains near Seattle, Washington, we were startled by a loud, laugh-like cry nearby. Puzzled, we went on walking and soon heard it again. To investigate, we left the trail and soon came to a small lake. There swimming around we saw two large birds with black heads, white breasts and beautifully speckled black-and-white wings. Our wondering about the strange calls we had heard was soon answered when one of the birds opened its long, sharp beak, raised its head and gave out the loud laugh-like cry. And so we were introduced to the common loon.

The birds spotted us and took off, kicking the water vigorously with their webbed feet until they rose above the surface. With necks outstretched and wings flapping rapidly, they were quickly airborne and soon out of sight. This beautiful display made us decide to learn more about them.

We learned that great numbers live on small, isolated lakes across the northern United States and into Canada and some seacoast areas. When on land they seem awkward, for the Creator designed them for the water where they are excellent swimmers, both on the surface and underwater. They swim faster than most fish, which form their main food supply. They have wonderful vision, and before diving submerge their heads, turning them from side to side to locate prey. Then with a quick dive and underwater swim, they make their catch.

Loons are from two to three feet long, with a wingspan of about five feet, and weigh from ten to fourteen pounds. Their life span is about thirty years. In April a pair incubate two eggs for about a month. The newborn hatchlings are cute, with coal-black soft down. Soon they are swimming with the parents, sometimes riding piggyback. The parents feed them and care for them for about three months.

Groups of adult loons often join in choruses of hoots, cries and yodeling. The strange-sounding result is what produced the expressions “crazy as a loon” and “loony.” Actually, they are among the world’s outstanding birds. The country of Canada, which has a high population of loons, has a one-dollar coin with an image of a loon on one side. This coin is commonly called a “Loonie.”

Loons are another example of the wonders of God’s creation and are included in His words, “I know all the fowls of the mountains: and the wild beasts of the field are Mine” (Psalm 50:11). Another psalm tells us, “The Lord is good to all: and His tender mercies are over all His works” (Psalm 145:9). This is specifically true of every boy and girl, man and woman on earth. Have you thanked Him for His love and care for you?

ML-11/24/2013

Wapaha Returns Home

Falconry is a sport where a hunter uses a bird of prey to hunt other animals. This kind of hunter is called a falconer. He will begin by capturing a young bird, such as a hawk, falcon or even an eagle, and then train it for hunting. In the United States, only a few permits are issued each year that allow a falconer to capture a wild bird of prey.

Brian Kellogg received one of these permits. He traveled to Wyoming where sheep farmers were complaining about the number of lambs disappearing because of eagles. Brian caught a beautiful one-year-old golden eagle and named it Wapaha, which in the Sioux Indian language means “feathered spear.”

Feathered spear is a good description for a golden eagle because of the way these birds fly and hunt. These eagles can soar up to three miles high, and when they dive after prey, they can reach speeds up to two hundred miles an hour! This makes them one of the fastest creatures alive. They have powerful talons (claws) that lock onto their prey. Some full-grown golden eagles have wingspans up to 7 1/2 feet and weigh up to 12 pounds. Their ability to maneuver quickly and easily, along with their speed and power, make them a favorite bird for falconers.

Brian brought Wapaha home to Spanaway, Washington, where he lives, and he taught the bird to hunt. He also built a large aviary (cage) out of posts and wire fencing. The aviary had a large log perch and a roof over part of it to keep the eagle dry in the rain.

Wapaha lived under Brian’s care for seven years. Together they made many hunting trips to eastern Washington.

One day a storm hit the town where they lived with strong winds up to seventy mph. The high winds rattled the gate of the aviary until it blew open. Wapaha launched himself through the opening. Brian saw the bird spread his wings and fly away in the stiff wind. Wapaha was gone! Brian was heartbroken and searched everywhere for the bird.

Have you boys and girls, and grown-ups too, ever stopped to think that you actually belong to God? He not only loves you very much, but He designed you and made you a very special person. We each have wandered into the ways of sin and self-pleasing and left God out of our lives. We have ignored the fact that God loves us far more than our parents love us or than Brian loved his golden eagle. God has said, “I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with loving-kindness have I drawn thee” (Jeremiah 31:3). With open arms, He is waiting for you to return to Him and His love.

Brian hoped that Wapaha would come back when he got hungry. He blocked the door of the aviary so it would stay wide open, and he also placed some of Wapaha’s favorite food on the log perch.

The golden eagle’s natural home is inland, far away from the sea, but Spanaway in western Washington is close to the ocean. The coastal area only has a few of the animals roaming about that golden eagles naturally prey on. Wapaha would have been looking for food but apparently did not find any. After seven days of flying free, the eagle got very hungry and returned to its home.

Brian was very happy one morning to find Wapaha back on his large perch. The rabbit had been eaten that Brian had laid out to tempt Wapaha to return. He closed the gate, locking the eagle inside.

Wapaha found no food and eventually returned home to the aviary Brian had built for it. Sin puts a great distance between us and God. He is holy because He loves the good and hates the evil. Sin is evil and makes us strangers to God’s love and grace. Ezekiel 18:4 reads, “Behold all souls are Mine. ... The soul that sinneth it shall die.” That death includes being sent out of God’s presence forever to a place of punishment called hell. God doesn’t want this great loss to happen to anyone! To open the only way souls can be saved from their sins, the Lord Jesus Christ came to earth and let Himself be nailed to Calvary’s cross. Because He gave His life as a ransom for sinners, you and I may be delivered from the eternal death we earned by our sins. The punishment you and I deserve in hell for our sins is canceled by God the moment we accept the Lord Jesus Christ as our Saviour by faith.

If you are looking for peace and happiness down here without God, then you are looking in a place where these will never be found. You must look to God the Father and the heaven-sent Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Be wise, and come home to God the Father through the Lord Jesus Christ today.

MEMORY VERSE: “The soul that sinneth it shall die” (Ezekiel 18:4).

ML-12/01/2013

Bible Brothers and Parents

Can you match the Bible brothers with their parents? Draw a line

connecting them. If you need help or want to check your

answers, look up the references.

Brothers

Parents

Cain and Abel

Joseph and Mary (Matthew 13:55)

Jacob and Esau

Zebedee and Salome (Mark 3:17)

James and Joses

Adam and Eve (Genesis 4:1-2)

Joseph and Benjamin

Elimelek and Naomi (Ruth 1:2)

Mahlon and Chilion

Isaac and Rebekah (Hebrews 11:20)

James and John

Jacob and Rachel (Genesis 46:19)

ML-12/01/2013

The Wonders of God's Creation: Treasures in Acorns

“My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, saith the Lord.” Isaiah 55:8

A mature oak tree will produce thousands of acorns, and we may wonder what happens to all of them. Besides the few that sprout into new trees the following spring, countless numbers are eaten by birds and animals. More than eighty different creatures eat acorns, from mice and squirrels to deer and bears.

Besides squirrels and chipmunks, woodpeckers are perhaps the greatest stockpilers of acorns. Where these birds nest, it is not uncommon to find hundreds of half-inch holes drilled in the bark of a tree, with one or two acorns stuck in each hole. They also do this to wooden power-line poles, from the ground up to the wires, stuffing acorns in them.

However, insects eat even more acorns than animals and birds do. Some insects bore through the shell to get at the nut, and others wait until the nut decays to eat them. The most active insect is the half-inch-long acorn weevil, which attacks acorns while they are still on the tree. It has tiny, sharp teeth at the end of a long snout, which it uses to drill and burrow through the tough shell. The tasty bits of acorn are eaten, and it doesn’t stop burrowing until its snout is completely inside. Then it moves to another spot and repeats the drilling, eventually laying an egg in each hole before moving on to another nut.

Soon a larva hatches in each hole and for several weeks feeds on the nut, until the acorn drops off the tree. Hitting the ground signals the larva to come out. It may take three days to wiggle its fat body out of the tiny hole, and then it immediately burrows several inches into the ground where it may remain for as long as five years. During that time, it changes from larva to a mature weevil and soon flies to an overhead acorn to repeat what those before it have done for centuries of time.

Weevils are not the only insects that depend on acorns. Crack open one that’s lying on the ground, and you may find a moth inside, or beetles, small ants, sow bugs, wireworms, tiny snails, caterpillars or other creatures that have made the empty shell, left behind by the weevil, into a comfortable, temporary home.

We may not understand why so many insects are in the world, but each is a part of God’s creation and has a purpose in being here. As the opening Bible verse tells us, our ways and thoughts are not the same as the Creator’s, but we should thank Him that His ways and thoughts have been toward us in loving-kindness. He showed this so wonderfully when He died on Calvary’s cross to take away the sins of any who will call on Him and accept Him as a loving Saviour. Have you done this?

ML-12/01/2013

Caught in the Fence

It was a warm summer evening, perfect for a picnic in the hills. We gathered some food and drove up into the hills above town to watch the sun go down. After a steep climb over the bumpy, gravel road, we found a good picnic spot with a nice view. We parked and got out our chairs, food and binoculars, using them to scan the hillsides for wildlife as we ate. We saw deer grazing in a field and a few elk appeared as well. We always look closely at the grassy hillsides and brushy valleys for predators, hoping we’ll catch sight of a coyote, bear, cougar or even a wolf pack.

As the sun set in the west, we looked down and identified familiar roads and farms off in the distance. The different crops looked like colored squares, with irrigation sprinklers throwing silver threads of water across the patchwork landscape. Too soon it was time to gather up our supper things and head back home, having been refreshed by the beauty and quietness around us.

Taking a different road down, we saw a few more deer feeding in the ripened wheat. As we rounded a bend, to our surprise we came upon a large group of about seventy elk, very close to the road! Frightened by our car, they leaped over a fence, crossed the road in front of us and bounded away. When they had passed, we slowly started forward again. As we got near to the spot where the herd had run across the road, we were startled to see that one elk calf’s forefoot was caught between two strands of the barbed wire fence. The frightened animal was frantically shaking its leg, trying to get loose. We knew it would be foolish for us to go close to an elk; it wouldn’t know we wanted to help it and could hurt us badly with its sharp hooves. As we sat in the car wondering what to do, the young animal pulled its leg out of the wire fence in a violent fit of shaking. We breathed a sigh of relief as it raced off to join the herd.

In thinking about the young elk, I was reminded of the traps of sin and how often it is the young that get caught in them. The Bible has a book of Proverbs that spells out clearly the snares that Satan lays to catch careless, unsuspecting people, including teenagers. Some of these snares are drunkenness, drugs, morally sinful living, peer pressure, rebellion against authority, and loving money too much. But Proverbs 14:27 also assures us of help to avoid Satan’s temptations and snares: “The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life, to depart from the snares of death.”

Although this elk was just following the herd and the rest of them cleared the fence, it proved to be a trap to the young one. It might have been good for that smaller elk to go around the fence, if possible, or find another way. But seeing the rest of the herd clearing the fence, why wouldn’t he clear it too? However, we know God has not given animals the ability to think things through like we do. The young elk didn’t expect to get caught.

If a sinner is caught in Satan’s snare and cries out to God for help, He will save him from that snare and set him free to follow Him. “God, be merciful to me, a sinner” (Luke 18:13) was the simple prayer of a man long ago who knew he wasn’t ready to meet God with his sins unforgiven. We will see that man in heaven.

If a believer in Jesus wanders away from the Lord and gets tangled up in the snares of sin, God can free him from these too. “If we confess our sins, He [God] is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). The traps may leave scars in this life, as the barbed wire probably did on the elk’s leg, but in mercy and grace, God will bring all His own safely home to heaven. Unlike the instinct that God had given the elk calf to pull itself out of the fence, you and I can’t free ourselves by our own power. God will untangle our feet from the snares of sin if we call to Him for help, and we will gratefully thank Him for setting us free. “Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee” (Isaiah 41:10). What a loving, caring God we have!

MEMORY VERSE: “Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee.” Isaiah 41:10

ML-12/08/2013

The Wonders of God's Creation: Three Little Fish

“Thou [the Lord] hast made ... the seas, and all that is therein, and Thou preservest them all.” Nehemiah 9:6

The six-inch archer fish lives in East Indian waters and is very clever at catching its food. This little fish waits near the surface of the water until a low-flying insect comes by. Then it shoots drops of water from its mouth at the insect. If the water hits the insect, its wings become wet so that it cannot fly. When it falls into the water, it is eaten by the archer fish. How did this fish learn to do this? No practice was necessary, for the Creator gave it this skill when He created the very first archer fish on the fifth day of creation.

Instead of laying eggs at the bottom of a marshy pond where it lives, the egg hanger fish hangs them on sticky threads suspended from underwater plants. The female produces one string of this sticky thread for each egg she lays. With the egg firmly stuck to one end, she attaches the other end over the plant so it can hang down freely. She continues until there are about 150 all hanging separately in the swampy water. Then she swims away and does not return.

The eggs don’t need her care, for the One “upholding all things by the word of His power” (Hebrews 1:3) watches over them, just as He does when they hatch and swim away.

The splashing tetra is a three-inch fish found in Brazil and Venezuela. When the female is ready to lay her eggs, she searches for a bush with leaves hanging over, but not in, the water. Then she jumps up and lays her eggs on a big leaf before dropping back to the water. Doesn’t this seem strange? Wouldn’t you expect the eggs to dry out and die? That would certainly be true, except that we can see it is another of the wonders of the Lord God who designed such interesting features in His many creatures.

The eggs don’t die because both parents stay in the water under the leaf and, with flips of their tails, continually splash water on them. After three or four days, the little ones hatch and drop into the water. Then the parents swim away.

These unusual fish are not able to think of the One who made them and provides for them. But you can, and God has given you the responsibility to acknowledge Him and thank Him for supplying all your needs. What is even more important is that He invites you to accept the everlasting life He offers. The Bible tells us that this new life can only be yours through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, who died on Calvary’s cross to put away the sins of all who trust in Him. Have you accepted Him as your Saviour?

ML-12/08/2013

The Angel Wrestles With Jacob

Do you remember the story of Jacob’s dream of the ladder reaching up to heaven? That was a long time ago in Jacob’s life. Today’s story is later in his life after he was married and had eleven sons and one daughter. He also had learned a lot about breeding cattle and working on hot days and cold nights to keep those cattle safe. He had also learned more than he wanted to about having a dishonest boss who wanted him to work hard for very small pay.

Now he was ready to sneak away from that boss. His plan was to take his own family and his own cows and sheep and goats and sneak away without his boss knowing a thing about it. He seemed to forget that he himself had been a cheater earlier in his life, but he was a good planner and was quite sure that this plan would work.

Then came the news. Your brother Esau is coming to meet you! This was not good news for Jacob, because he had cheated Esau out of the blessing when they were both young men. Oh, no! Esau wanted to kill me long ago, and maybe he’s still angry because of what I did to him. Jacob was feeling guilty and decided on a plan. I’ll send a present ahead of me, and maybe that will please him.

Is that the right way to settle the wrong things you have done in the sight of God? Are you feeling guilty before God because of all your sins? God doesn’t want a big present from you. He owns the whole world anyway. He must have a blood sacrifice in payment for your sins. But whose blood? Should you kill a lamb and offer it to Him? No. Because He is a God of love, He has already provided the only sacrifice He will accept in payment for your sins: “The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin” (1 John 1:7). Will you believe and accept Jesus Christ as your wonderful Saviour right now? His death and shed blood is enough to take away all your sins forever! He is the only sacrifice that God will accept in payment for your sins.

Jacob sent all his family ahead of him, and he spent the night alone in Peniel. And that’s where the Angel of the Lord met him and wrestled with him. Jacob struggled hard, wrestling for hours, because he wanted his own way. But the Angel of the Lord put the socket of Jacob’s hip out of joint. Jacob knew the fight was over. The Angel then asked, What is your name? He answered, Jacob. The Angel gave him a new name, Israel.

The family must have been surprised to see him limping in the morning. But the truth is that something had happened, and Jacob’s limp stayed with him the rest of his life. Jacob had won the victory by his own weakness, and he had received a new name, which belongs to him even now.

Do you have a new name? Are you a true Christian, a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ? If so, you are saved forever. If you read the Bible story, you will find that the old Jacob was still there, even though he had a new name. He still had a lot more to learn.

His brother Esau was not angry with him. In fact, he wanted Jacob to come with him. But Jacob answered, No; I will follow you more slowly. This was a lie, for he had decided not to follow him. The sneaky old Jacob was still there, but he was in God’s hands, and he learned very slowly.

If you truly belong to the Lord, He will teach you too. He loves you more than anyone in the whole world loves you. Trust Him not only to save you, but to train you too.

“As for God, His way is perfect: the word of the Lord is tried” (Psalm 18:30).

You may read this story of Jacob for yourself in Genesis chapters 31-32.

MEMORY VERSE: “As for God, His way is perfect: the word of the Lord is tried.” Psalm 18:30

ML-12/15/2013

Mike

Mike was an active little dog, in spite of the fact that he looked somewhat overfed. He guarded his territory, fearlessly chasing away any trespassing dog, cat or wild animal. The size of a trespassing animal didn’t bother him at all, for he was a brave little dog.

One day Mike chased a trespassing rabbit out of the yard and followed it into the surrounding brush. He barked fiercely as he trailed it. His master stood by, smiling at Mike’s feisty spirit.

Suddenly the fierce barking changed to a frightened, shrill yelping. Moments later Mike tore out of the brush, raced across the yard and leaped for safety right up into his master’s arms.

At the edge of the yard two coyotes appeared that were hot on the trail of their next meal ... so they thought. They backed off when they saw Mike’s master and slunk away to look for something else for dinner—maybe that rabbit that was out there in the brush somewhere.

Mike had left the safety of his master’s side. Chasing that rabbit took him beyond the safety of his boundaries and into an enemy’s territory. This mistake nearly cost him his life. But when trouble came, he knew that he would find safety in his master’s arms.

Those who know the Lord Jesus as their Saviour have a place of safety for their souls. “The name of the Lord is a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it, and is safe” (Proverbs 18:10). We are safe only when we stay close to our Saviour. Satan is just like those coyotes—he is “seeking whom he may devour” (1 Peter 5:8). But the Lord Jesus saves all who come to Him. He loves you and wants not only to save your soul, but also to protect you and keep you safe. “Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Romans 10:13). Won’t you accept Him today as your Saviour? “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved” (Acts 16:31).

ML-12/15/2013

The Wonders of God's Creation: The Strong-Jawed Wolf

“I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth His life for the sheep. But he that is a hireling, and not the shepherd ... seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth.” John 10:11-12

Wolves live in forests, tundra and prairies of North America, Europe and Asia. They look much like a German shepherd dog. A large wolf can be more than six feet long and weigh up to one hundred pounds. The Creator has given them broad heads, powerful jaws and strong legs.

Gray wolves and timber wolves are the most common, often with gray, brown or black fur, but in the far north, their thick fur is usually white. The red wolf, smaller than the others, is not always red but sometimes tan or black. All live in groups of six to twenty and are loyal to each other, fiercely protecting their territory. One among them wins the place of leader by defeating the others. They sometimes show their leader respect by rolling over or crouching on the ground when he or she comes near. When a kill is made, all wait for the leader to eat first.

Wolves show much skill in hunting, with two or three families often banding together. Finding a herd of caribou, they seem to pick out one, usually a very old or very young one or one that is injured or sick. When the caribou herd panics, this weaker one drops behind and becomes an easy prey while the strong, healthy ones escape. This may seem cruel, but such sudden death is more merciful to the weaker ones than leading a sick and painful life and slowly dying.

Sometimes mountain sheep try to escape a pack of wolves by climbing a steep, rocky cliff, only to find some of the pack have circled around and are waiting at the top. Moose are tougher to fight, kicking the wolves with their hind feet and slashing with their sharp front hooves. Musk oxen are the most successful in resisting wolves. These defend themselves by forming a tight circle, with lowered heads and horns facing out. The wolves can’t break this defense and will only attack a musk ox when it is alone.

It is very unusual for wolves to stalk and attack people. However, they do go after farm animals, with the result that they are hunted and killed by ranchers and others.

While we can see how these animals are given their skills and provisions by the Creator, we also see in them a picture of that which is evil, as the opening Bible verses say. The Lord also said, “Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves” (Matthew 7:15). We need to remember the truth of God’s Word and not pay attention to “false prophets” who do not speak the truth.

ML-12/15/2013

The Missing Purse

We were packing the last few things for a two-thousand-mile airplane trip across the country, so it was a busy day. Besides our own five children, one of their friends was also going with us, so we had a lot of luggage. We had gotten good prices for the tickets we had purchased, but we had to drive to an airport three hours away.

We left home quite early in the morning for the airport and then stopped along the way to eat a quick breakfast before continuing on. About an hour later I reached for my purse, but I couldn’t find it anywhere among our things. Where could it be?

Suddenly I remembered that I had set it on the floor at the restaurant because we were so crowded at the table. What an awful feeling that gave me! Not only did the purse have many credit cards, but there was also a large amount of money and one of the plane tickets! Did we have time to drive all the way back to the restaurant to see if the purse was still there? Having to go back would take us two hours roundtrip. Our plane tickets were non-refundable, and that meant we could not get our money back if we missed our flight! What to do raced through our minds.

Have you ever had a hard problem like this and not known where to turn for help? That’s exactly where we were. But since we are believers in the Lord Jesus Christ and His love and saving power, we turned to Him in prayer. Everybody in our car knew the Bible verse that says, “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble” (Psalm 46:1). We asked Him to help us know what to do. He is a loving Saviour and delights to bless His children that have put their trust in Him.

After praying, we decided to drive back to the restaurant, even though the timing to reach the airport would be close. What a long drive it seemed to be. Some of us continued praying as we traveled back, asking the Lord Jesus to guide us through this problem.

The girl at the restaurant counter looked blank when asked about a lost purse and said she didn’t know of one being found. I was just about to leave when another employee walked over, reached under the counter ... and pulled out my purse! Someone had found it on the floor and had given it to him. Not a penny was missing, and nothing inside had been touched!

What a happy and thankful carload we were as we headed on to the airport once again. We managed to get through the security check quickly, for which we again were very thankful. And in a short time we were all comfortably seated on the airplane, waiting for takeoff. They were all amazing answers to many prayers that morning.

It would have been a sad day had we missed that flight. But there is a much more important journey each one of us is on, including you. It is the journey of life and will end in the happiness of heaven or the unspeakable despair of hell. The Bible warns, “I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life” (Deuteronomy 30:19). The choice is yours.

The same Lord Jesus Christ that answered our prayers is offering you salvation that He has already paid for. “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me” (John 14:6).

MEMORY VERSE: “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.” Psalm 46:1

ML-12/22/2013

God's Math

How many of you like math in school? Maybe it is one of your favorite subjects or maybe it is the one you dislike the most. Addition, subtraction, multiplication and division are very important skills to learn, because we continue to use them all through life. Now we would like to ask all of you young students a question. Can the answer to this little math problem we give here ever be zero? Can you think of any way that we could end up with a big 0 at the end? As you read on, you will find out that it can be done!

God has told us that we are ALL very good at adding and multiplying. In the Old Testament, He said that the children of Israel had multiplied all kinds of awful transgressions and sins and that they had added sin to sin. In 1 Samuel 12:19, the Israelites confessed that they had added to their sin by asking for a king.

Don’t you agree that it is very easy to add to our sins and to multiply them too? For example, most of us have told a lie and then told several more to cover up the first one.

But we cannot subtract them. No matter how sorry we may be for the sin we have done, there it stays. It cannot be undone. But here’s the good news! God can subtract! Subtract means “take away,” and the Bible tells us in 1 John 3:5 that Jesus came to take away (subtract) sins. John the Baptist recognized who Jesus was and said, “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away [subtracts] the sin of the world” (John 1:29). Jesus became the sin-bearer for all who accept Him as their very own Saviour, and where there is true repentance for sin, God delights to subtract. I can come to the Lord Jesus, tell Him I am a sinner with a great number of sins, and ask Him to forgive me. What will He do? Let us suppose that those figures in our math problem are the sum of my sins. The Lord Jesus will do His work by writing “minus 430” under my total, and my answer will be ZERO! Is the answer to your sin total zero?

What can wash away my sin?

Nothing but the blood of Jesus,

So that not one spot remains,

Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

ML-12/22/2013

The Wonders of God's Creation: The Lovely Finches

“He sendeth the springs into the valleys, which run among the hills.... By them shall the fowls of the heaven have their habitation, which sing among the branches.” Psalm 104:10,12.

Finches live in all parts of the world except Australia. Both Canada and the United States have great numbers of these small birds, with about one of every seven birds being a member of the finch family.

The finch most often seen in North America, the American goldfinch, is often called a wild canary. This is because of its pretty yellow coloring that is so similar to the caged canaries people have as pets, and their chirping and songs sound just like the pet canaries too. Actually, only the male is lemon yellow with a jet black cap, black wings and tail. The female has a greenish-yellow body with black wings edged in white. Both male and female are delightful little birds.

There are many other varieties of finches, since they are the largest family of birds. One is the blue finch. The male is bright blue with red and pink on its wings, while the female is plain brown on top and tan underneath. The cactus finch, which makes its home in the Galapagos Islands, has the remarkable ability to move large stones to get at seeds and insects under them. In Asia and Europe, bird watchers love the little snow finches. These are found mainly in the mountains. They have pretty, light-blue heads, white throats and underparts, with brown and white wings.

Most finches have beautiful songs, especially when nesting. They are primarily seedeaters and eat great quantities of weed seeds, with thistle seed being a favorite. The Creator has given each variety sharp, pointed, cone-shaped bills, strong enough to crush seeds. These birds, like chickens, have no teeth but swallow food whole. Their gizzards, which contain grit, grind the food for digestion. Crops in their throats store the undigested food for later use.

Females build cup-shaped nests so tightly woven that, if the parents don’t cover the nest during a rainstorm and rainwater gets in, the little chicks can sometimes drown. The male’s responsibility is to keep his mate well fed while she is incubating the three to six eggs.

These birds are another example of the way the Creator has designed each creature for its way of life. We may be sure, as our opening verse indicates, He not only delights in providing food and water for finches, but their lovely songs are pleasant to His ear as well.

Another Bible verse says, “All Thy works shall praise Thee, O Lord; and Thy saints shall bless Thee. They shall speak of the glory of Thy kingdom, and talk of Thy power” (Psalm 145:10-11). Does He hear your voice praising Him?

ML-12/22/2013

A Warning of Danger

Have you ever raised chicks? When I was growing up, every two years we would order a batch of baby chicks. We brought them home from the post office where they had arrived, carefully protected in a large box. Then we put them in the chicken house.

In the middle of the chicken house, we had a special lamp called a heat lamp. It was red. The fluffy, yellow chicks would go sit under it to get warm, and then they gradually moved away from it as they got hot. They would run around, going “peep-peep,” and we liked to watch them eat the special chick feed and drink their water. The heat lamp stayed on all the time, until it got warm outside and the chicks grew bigger.

One night after dark, a man came to our door. We didn’t know who he was. He happened to be driving by our house and saw the chicken house from the road. But inside the chicken house he saw a red glow, and he thought something might have caught on fire, so he quickly came to our door to tell us. We explained that it was the red heat lamp for the chicks, and everything was okay. We thanked him for stopping to warn us of what he thought was real danger. He understood and went on his way. We were pleased with this kindness from someone we didn’t even know.

Hasn’t the Lord Jesus done all this and more for us? He KNEW we were sinners and couldn’t save ourselves, so He came down from heaven to die on the cross, taking the punishment for the sins of anyone who will believe and trust in Him. “Whoso putteth his trust in the Lord shall be safe” (Proverbs 29:25).

If you are a boy or girl who has already been saved from the punishment for your sins in the lake of fire, have you ever warned your friends and classmates? Have you told them of the danger for anyone who dies still in their sins? God says, “Whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire” (Revelation 20:15). Can you tell them how to have their names written in God’s book of life by letting the Lord Jesus wash them clean from their sins? Ask the Lord Jesus to help you tell them. It’s a very important warning of real danger!

MEMORY VERSE: “Whoso putteth his trust in the Lord shall be safe.” Proverbs 29:25

ML-12/29/2013

Joseph's Adventure

It was dark when four-year-old Joseph opened his eyes. He couldn’t see much, but he could tell he was lying on the floor with chairs all around him. His family was on vacation, and they had just had a busy day at a science center—so busy and tiring that Joseph had fallen asleep in the Bible meeting the family attended that evening. When he wakened, all he knew was that he was in an unfamiliar building with no family in sight.

Joseph got up and wandered around, but he never called for his mommy or daddy. If he had, his parents certainly would have heard him and answered. Joseph knew that if his family were still around, their van would be out in the parking lot. So out the door he went in search of the van.

Joseph was soon to be more alone than ever. Have you ever felt alone and scared? Almost everyone does at some time. Did you know that there is Someone who knows where you are even when you are lost or alone and that He cares about you? His name is Jesus, and He loves you. If you will call on Him, He will help you.

Joseph went out to the parking lot and discovered that the van was still there, so he decided to go back into the building to look for his family again. Now he had a new problem—the door had locked behind him when he went out, and Joseph couldn’t get back into the building! Little Joseph was trapped outside in cold November weather, barefoot, and with no coat on. Now he was in serious trouble.

Jesus says to you, “Call upon Me in the day of trouble: I will [help you]” (Psalm 50:15). Because He loves you, He is watching you, even if you’re not in trouble like Joseph was. Did Jesus see little Joseph all alone outside that night? Yes He did, and He sent someone to help him.

Joseph walked down the busy street in front of the building and sat down under a tree when he got tired. Before the cold could injure him, God sent along two men who wondered why a barefoot little boy was out so late at night and asked him who he was. Joseph was able to tell them his name and also to point in the direction he had come from. The two men took Joseph in that direction in their car until he pointed to the building where the rest of the family was.

To keep Joseph warm, one man kept him in the warm car while the other man went to knock on the door to see if anyone was there. Joseph’s parents were very surprised to see their son in a stranger’s car in the parking lot, but they were very thankful to see that he was safe. As soon as the men left, they got down on their knees to thank the Lord Jesus for keeping little Joseph safe.

If you trust in Jesus, He says you will be a son or daughter to Him. Since God never sleeps, He always knows where you are and will take care of you. In fact, He already loves you so much that He sent His Son, Jesus, to die for you! Call on the Lord Jesus now. He’s waiting and ready to help you.

“In the day of my trouble I will call upon Thee: for Thou wilt answer me” (Psalm 86:7).

ML-12/29/2013

The Wonders of God's Creation: The Strange Chameleon

“God that made the world and all things therein ... is Lord of heaven and earth.” Acts 17:24

There are more than 100 varieties of these lizards in the warm ocean water areas of the world. They range in size from three inches to nearly two feet long. All of them look fierce but are actually harmless, except to the insects and small creatures that become their food.

Some chameleons have long, stilt-like legs, raising their bodies quite high; most have short legs with strong claws, helping them to climb trees and rocks. Their tails are as long as the rest of their bodies. Their tongues can, in a split second, stretch out even farther than the length of their bodies to snatch an insect. Their eyes are most unusual—each moves independently of the other, so that they may look ahead with one and behind with the other at the same time. They can also see what’s going on at both sides without turning their heads.

But the most amazing feature about chameleons is the beautiful blending of a wide variety of colors. The Creator has given them the ability to change these colors in a few moments to match their surroundings, if they need to hide from an enemy.

One of the most striking in color is the female panther of Madagascar. To attract a mate, she takes on a lovely blend of bright red with areas of deep yellow, green and white. The base of her throat is decorated with white-tipped red spearheads, which are actually quite soft and harmless.

Another, the yemeness of Saudi Arabia, will often change himself to an amazing combination of light and dark green, with areas of light yellow and deep orange. To us this looks frightening, but to another yemeness it is very attractive.

One that looks really vicious is named Parson’s and lives in the jungles of an island in the Indian Ocean. It is commonly a mixture of pale green and bright blue on its lower parts, with the upper section tan, spotted with green, brown and white. From the top of its back, coal-black stripes reach all the way around its body. Its jaws, when closed, look very much like a corncob with two rows of big kernels of yellow corn.

Another, named Jackson’s, living in the highlands of Africa, is most unusual looking. One strange feature is that each jaw has a pink carrot-shaped horn—one a little above the other—sticking straight out, with sharp points looking like vicious weapons, but which are only used to pick up food.

The above Bible verse assures us chameleons are one more interesting display of God’s creation over which He shows loving care. And His invitation to each of us is to “[cast] all your care upon Him; for He careth for you” (1 Peter 5:7). Have you accepted that wonderful invitation?

ML-12/29/2013

Messages of God's Love: 2013

Table of Contents

Alan Drives the Tractor

Squirrel Paths

The Wonders of God's Creation: The Dignified Penguin

Twenty Loaves of Bread

Favorite Cookies

The Wonders of God's Creation: Rhinos-Ugly and Mean!

The Ducklings' Rescue

A Wise Decision

The Wonders of God's Creation: The Lowly Sponge

A Polar Bear in the Kitchen!

The Bridge

The Wonders of God's Creation: The Strange Wildebeest

She Wanted to Be Free

"Grandma Can't Read Today"

The Wonders of God's Creation: Nature's Janitors - Part 1

The Man Who Was Dishonest

Following Closely

The Wonders of God's Creation: Nature's Janitors - Part 2

How Do You Catch a Snapping Turtle?

Fun in the Glen

The Wonders of God's Creation: About Human Hair

Caught Cheating!

Feeding the Elephants

The Wonders of God's Creation: Is It Really Sunrise?

The Gypsy Boy

The Sons of Jacob

The Wonders of God's Creation: Have Some Maple Syrup!

Who Made the Right Decision?

Unwelcome Visitors

The Wonders of God's Creation: The Ungainly Hyena

A Traveling Kitten

Purple Crayons

The Wonders of God's Creation: Bristletails, Silverfish and Firebrats

Who Saved More Lives Than Any Other Person?

The Mockingbird

The Wonders of God's Creation: The Ant Lion

A Hungry Cougar!

The Car Accident

The Wonders of God's Creation: Sturgeons Grow Big

Who Stands at the Door and Knocks?

Spiders

The Wonders of God's Creation: The Hardy Musk-Ox

Garvin Skips School

Helping Others

The Wonders of God's Creation: Birds on Schedule

A Long, Cold Day on Slippery Ice

"It Was Good"

The Wonders of God's Creation: The Miracle of Soil

The Goat Was Gone!

Mr. Williams and His Seven Boys

The Wonders of God's Creation: Beware the Tornado!

A Thank-You Gift

Taking Pictures

The Wonders of God's Creation: Who Likes Snakes?

Hagar's Problem

An Unwelcome Surprise

The Wonders of God's Creation: Solitary Wasps

Hagar's Little Boy

The Lightning Storm

The Wonders of God's Creation: Poison With Three Leaves

Coyote Attack!

Love Your Enemies

Have You Noticed?

The Wonders of God's Creation: The Gentle Tapir

The Baby Barn Owl

The Wonders of God's Creation: Hide-And-Seek in Nature - Part 1

Bart Never Heard the Warnings

Tammy's Doll

The Wonders of God's Creation: Hide-And-Seek in Nature - Part 2

Pauline the Cow

Uncle Will's Watch

The Wonders of God's Creation: Hide-And-Seek in Nature - Part 3

Sick on an Airplane

The Two Natures

The Wonders of God's Creation: Treasure in the Ocean

The Story of Lydia

Are All the Children in?

The Wonders of God's Creation: The Pack Rat