Jewel # 97 (Oct 18, 2011)

To my dear grandchildren,

Cherokee Legend Do you know the legend of the Cherokee Indian youths' rite of Passage? His father takes him into the forest, blindfolds him and leaves him alone.  He is required to sit on a stump the whole night and not remove the blindfold until the rays of the morning sun shine through it.   He cannot cry out for help to anyone. Once he survives the night, he is a MAN. He cannot tell the other boys of this experience, because each lad must come into manhood on his own. The boy is naturally terrified. He can hear all kinds of noises. Wild beasts must surely be all around him . Maybe even some human might do him harm. The wind blew the grass and earth, and shook his stump, but he sat stoically, never removing the blindfold. It would be the only way he could become a man! Finally, after a horrific night the sun appeared and he removed his blindfold. It was then that he discovered his father sitting on the stump next to him.   He had been at watch the entire night, protecting his son from harm. We, too, are never alone. Even when we don't know it, God is watching over us, sitting on the stump beside us.   When trouble comes, all we have to do is reach out to Him.   Moral of the story: Just because you can't see God, Doesn't mean He is not there. "For we walk by faith, not by sight." Love. Grandpa

Jewel # 95 (Oct 10, 2011)

"And they shall be Mine, saith the Lord of Hosts,

in that day when I make up MY JEWELS."

(Malachi 3:17)

To My dear grandchildren,

A Daring Niagara Falls Rescue

What were the two policeman doing just sitting in their boat?  Didn't they know that just ahead was the edge of the great Niagara Falls?

You would have seen a strange sight if you had watched from the shore of the Niagara River that Saturday morning in June.  Soon a helicopter was seen coming and then hovering over the boat.  It looked like those two policemen needed to be rescued.

And this was just what was happening.  The police boat had been accidentally caught in the fast flowing water.  The two policemen had put out their anchor, and their boat was now stopped just nine hundred feet above the falls.  The boat engines were not strong enough to move the boat against the strong current.  They needed to be rescued and soon!  How long would the anchor hold in those swirling, rushing waters?  No one knew, and they didn't want to find out.

The helicopter overhead brought a rescuer to the two policemen.  While the helicopter hovered, Shawn Black of the Niagara Parks Police dangled from a long line and dropped two rescue harnesses into the boat for the men.  All they had to do was put a harness on, and the helicopter would lift them up and out of danger and place them safely on the shore.

The men would have been foolish to ignore the rescue harness.  It was all they needed.  They didn't need any special lessons or books about safety.  They only needed to do what they were told and to put on the harnesses.  It was simple.

Do you know that God also has a rescue harness for you and me?  The Bible tells us, "The Son of Man [Jesus] is come to save that which was lost" (Matthew 18:11).  He wants to rescue us and has done everything possible to save us.  It really is simple.  He is God's "rescue harness" for boys and girls. 

Maybe you are asking, "Well, just what did Jesus do?"  The Bible says it this way: "The Son of God [Jesus] . . . loved me, and gave Himself for me" (Galatians 2:20).  God punished Him on the cross for my sins.  He said, "It is finished" (John 19:30).  He paid the full price for my debt of sin.  So now He is the only one who can be the Rescuer from heaven.

Any sinner would be very foolish to ignore God's rescue harness.  But, of course, some boys and girls don't think they need it.  Can you rescue yourself from your sins?  Can you wash your own sins away?  NO, of course not!

I am glad to say that the two policemen quickly put on the harnesses, and soon the helicopter lifted them up, one at a time, away from the boat that was filling with water.  I'm sure they will never forget the morning they were rescued from going over Niagara Falls!

I know I will never forget the evening when the Bible showed me how the Lord Jesus wanted to rescue me from all my sins.  That evening I thanked Him for taking all the punishment for my sins and for rescuing me and putting me on the happy road to heaven.

Maybe there is a boy or girl reading this who who has a few foolish ideas about how you can save yourself.  Just throw away those ideas, and come to the Lord Jesus in God's way - the only way.  Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man comes to the Father but by Me" (John 14:6).

Lots of love,

Grandpa