Jewel # 77 (Jan 31, 2011)

Mickey the Macaw

To my dear grandchildren,

Mr. & Mrs. Morgan really valued Mickey their macaw.  Not only was he a family pet, but he cost lots of money!  A macaw is a long-tailed parrot with beautiful blue, red, yellow and green feathers.  These birds come from the warm climates of Mexico and South America, so Mickey had to live indoors at the Morgans' home in Illinois.

One summer day Mickey escaped from the Morgans' house.  No one seemed to know just how he got out, but there he was at the top of a tree!  Mr. & Mrs. Morgan called the fire department, which arrived with a snorkel truck to try to capture Mickey.  The snorkel lifted a fireman right up to the top of the tree.  But each time the  fireman would get within reach of Mickey, he would fly off to the next tree.  It certainly looked like an impossible job to catch Mickey.

Have you ever thought of your value to God?  Matthew 10:30 tells us that God values us so much He knows exactly how many hairs we each have on our head!  We also know that God's love for us is so great that He sent His only Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, to die on the cross to wash away our sins.  Have you let the Lord Jesus wash away your sins and be your Saviour?  Those who have done this belong to Him and are called "HIS JEWELS".  Are you one of His valuable jewels?

After several attempts to capture Mickey had failed, a fireman came up with a great idea, and it worked!  The fireman hooked up the fire hose and sprayed Mickey lightly with water until his feathers were soaked.  Mickey was now so heavy with water that he could not fly anywhere.  Now it was an easy job to raise the snorkel and catch Mickey.  How glad the Morgans were to have Mickey safe indoors again, even if he was all wet!

The Morgans would not leave Mickey in the treetop, and the Lord Jesus will not leave His own children in this world.  He values His children so much that He has prepared a wonderful home for them in heaven.  Very soon He will come to take those who have accepted Him as their Saviour to that home. 

 "I go to prepare a place for you." 

(John 12:2)  

"I will come again, and receive your unto Myself; 

that where I am, there ye may be also." 

(John 14:3)

Will He take you to His home in heaven? 

Jewel # 76 (Jan 17, 2011)

To my dear grandchildren,

Attacked by an Octopus!

The storm was finally over.  It had almost been a hurricane; the wind and waves had caused much damage in the harbor.  The most serious damage appeared to be to the ship, the S.S. Dunvegan Castle, which had collided with the pier.  There had been damage to both the ship and the pier, but it was hard to tell how bad the damage really was.

To learn how much damage had been done to the ship, an underwater diving company was hired.  John Palmer was sent to make the inspection dive.  With him was his support crew who stayed on the ship to assist him during the dive.  John reviewed with his crew the signals he would use during the dive, especially in an emergency.

John went overboard in his diving suit with attached air hoses and with ropes to pull him back to the boat.  The sea was calm, and he was able to make a good inspection of both the ship and the pier.  He was about to signal his crew to pull him back to the surface, when suddenly something darted out from a crevice in the rocks and gripped his arm as if it were in a vise.  In a moment of awful horror, John realized that he was in the grip of an octopus!  Then another tentacle flashed around his chest, and he was held in a deadly embrace!  

John was helpless.  There was nothing he could do to get free.  He knew his only chance was to get help from his support crew!

Are you still being held captive by your sins?  Sin is deadly!  Only the Lord Jesus Christ can save you and break you free from its tentacles of power.  If you have never come to the Lord Jesus to have your sins taken away, you have no more power to free yourself than John had.  Call to the loving Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, and He will set you free.  "Whosoever shall call (on) the name of the Lord shall be saved" (Acts 2:21).    

Help from the deck was John's only hope to get out of this alive!  With all his might he desperately puled the emergency signal.  Almost immediately he felt himself rising . . .  they had gotten his signal and were pulling him up.  But his enemy, the octopus, was going up with him!  Still, he didn't lose hope - he would soon reach help.  Up, up, up he went.  It seemed to take forever, but finally he could see daylight.  He soon reached the surface of the water.

"An octopus!" yelled the first man to see John.  "Quick!  Get a knife!"  Using the knife and a small axe, they worked at releasing John. It was not an easy job since octopus tentacles are lined with hundreds of tiny suction cups.  But at last John stood free - no longer the captive of an octopus.  What a relief!

Would you like to be free from your sins and no longer a captive of Satan?  Jesus is able and willing to save anyone who comes to Him.  "If the Son therefore shall make you free, you shall be free indeed" (John 8:36).