Jewel # 68 (Sept 30, 2010)

To my dear grandchildren,

She Needed a Quarter 

Many years ago, a lady boarded a bus and a moment or two later the conductor asked for her fare.  Reaching for her wallet, she suddenly discovered she didn't have it!  She looked all through her purse, but the wallet wasn't there. She realized then that she must have left it at home on the table when she took out the quarter for her bus ride that morning.  The bus driver told her she would have to get off if she couldn't pay her fare.

It was a hot day, and she was miles away from home.  What could she do?  Seeing a park across the street, she went over to sit down on a park bench so she could think what to do. 

She was stumped, but then she remembered she had God to turn to for help!  She would tell Him about here problem.  Opening a pocket New Testament she carried, her eyes fell on Philippians 4:19, which was underlined:  "My God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus."

Her need at that moment was a quarter for bus fare for her ride home.  She closed her eyes and told the Lord Jesus about the problem, and immediately she was sure that her "need" would be supplied.  How?  She did not know, and that did not matter - God knew.

As she sat on the park bench, she began to trace letters in the gravel path with the point of her umbrella.  She traced the words, "God is love."  As she was writing the last letter, her umbrella point turned up a quarter in the gravel, and her heart gave a big thump - there was the quarter she needed!  She closed her eyes again and thanked God for showing her the quarter.  He had supplied what was needed for her bus fare home.

No need is too small and none is too large - the Lord is able to supply them all.  Whether you are a little person or a big person, do you have a problem in your life?  Talk to the Lord Jesus about it, and count on Him to supply your need.  

"This is the confidence that we have in Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us" (1 John 5:14).

Jewel # 67 (Sept 17, 2010)

To my dear grandchildren,  

The Musical Cricket 

"God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and everything that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good."  (Genesis 1:25)

For its small size the male cricket is a very noisy insect whose chirps can be heard a mile away on a quiet night.  Theses sounds are made in much the way as a musician playing a violin.   The upper surface of each wing is equipped with a scraper.  This is drawn over the lower part of the wing that has a hundred or more rough cross-ridges.  By moving its wings, the chirp sound is made.  This "music" is the way the Creator designed crickets to "talk" with one another.

Toward the end of summer, the female cricket makes a hole in the soil about an inch deep and deposits about three hundred little, banana shaped eggs.  The young crickets hatch the following spring and immediately begin searching for dead insects or tender plants to eat.

As the young cricket grows, its outer skeleton splits open and drops off.  This is called molting, and it is repeated sometimes a dozen times.  When the final molt takes place, the wings and other parts of the body are fully developed.  The common, black or field cricket is about an inch long when it emerges from its final molt.  It has two long antennae at the front of its head that act as feelers.  The cricket is able to fly but seldom does, preferring to move over the ground by jumping, like its cousin the grasshopper.  Mature crickets (which do not live through the winter) live a short but busy life, eating a variety of things.  They prefer tender, juicy plants, often doing great damage to farmers' crops.  However, they also move into houses and other buildings, eating clothing and book-bindings.

In cold weather crickets chirp less, and in hot weather they chirp more.  Do you want to know what the temperature is?  They say that if you count the chirps for 15 seconds and then add 40, you will have the temperature in Fahrenheit degrees.  Try it sometime.

Crickets represent part of God's creation and have their place among all that He has made.  He has not only provided special features for their way of life, but He also watches over them, providing for all their needs.

What does the Bible say about His care over you?  Acts 17:24-25 says, "God that made the world and all things therein . . . [gives] to all [people] life, and breath, and all things."  And in Romans 8:31-32 these wonderful words appear: "If God be for us, who can be against us?  He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?"  

Have you ever thanked Him for His wonderful gifts to you? 

Jewel # 66 (Aug 30, 2010)

To my dear grandchildren,

Discovered

Greg Johnstone yawned and stretched.  The morning sun shining through his window had wakened him after a good night's sleep, and now he was ready to get up and go to work.

Suddenly, he noticed something and jumped out of bed.  Something was wrong!  His clothes were not neatly folded as he had left them.  In fact, some of them weren't even there.  He hurried from room to room, checking to see if anything else was gone.  Yes, his watch was gone, and his wallet and several other small, valuable items also were gone.  Greg knew that he had carefully locked the doors before he went to bed, and he did not see how anyone could have gotten in.  Continuing his search, he found that one of the windows at the back of the house had been broken.  He also noticed that there was blood on the glass.  Looking more closely, he found spots of blood in the different rooms where the thief had been,

Greg called the police who came quickly.  He showed them the broken glass and the blood, and told them about the things that had been stolen.  Then he showed them the  trail of blood on the driveway.

Two of the policemen set off together to follow the trail of blood.  They followed the drops up the steps of a house to a side door.  The policemen knocked loudly on the door, called several times and finally pushed the door open and went in.  Inside they found a man with a bandaged hand.  The policemen questioned the man, but he claimed he knew nothing about any robbery.  Noticing a large bag under a bed, the officers pulled it out and opened it.  There was Greg's watch, his wallet, and all the other things that had been stolen from his home.  The thief had been discovered!

I doubt that you have ever broken a window and stolen from anyone.  But you don't have to be a thief to be a sinner.  God tells us in Romans 3:23 that "all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God."  He also says, "Be sure your sin will find you out" (Numbers 32:23).  God can see the stains of sin on your heart which no one else can see.

The thief who stole from Greg Johnstone was put in jail for his crime, but God has good news for you and me.  Although we are sinners, God offers us forgiveness through His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us. 

 "The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleans us from all sin" (1 John 1:7).

You cannot hide from God.  Admit that you are a sinner and need forgiveness for your sins.  Trust His Word, the Bible, which says, "Their sins and iniquities will I remember no more" (Hebrews 10:17).

Jewel # 65 (Aug 16, 2010)

To my dear grandchildren

The Comical Puffin 

"Hast thou not heard, that . . . the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary?"  (Isaiah 40:28)

The colorful bird called the puffin lives in the Arctic waters of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.  It has a comical look because of its bright-orange, high, flattened bill with blue and red stripes.  Its white, puffy face is topped with a black skullcap.  Add to this a body with a black collar and cape and stubby, orange legs and feet.  Though it seems to be a strange-looking bird, it is well-suited to its environment.

The puffin is an expert swimmer and diver and is skillful at catching seafood to eat.  Its beak can hold several fish crosswise while pursuing and catching others.  How does a puffin manage this?  The answer is spines on its tongue and on the roof of its mouth that spear the fish and hold them firmly.  They usually catch about ten fish during each dive.

Some colonies of puffins contain hundreds of thousands of birds.  Sometimes they make their homes in burrows or they may build nests on cliff ledges where the female lays one white egg.  The eggs are a remarkable example of the Creator's special care.  Instead of being oval like chickens or round like other birds', puffins' eggs are round on only one end and pointed on the other.

Why do you think the Lord God made their eggs such an odd shape?  When He created puffins, He knew that their eggs would be laid on rocky ledges.  A round or oval egg  would easily roll off the ledge if left unattended even for moment.  However, a pointed egg just turns in a small circle and can easily be returned to the nest.

It takes almost a month for the chick to hatch.  While the chick remains in the nest, it is fed a continual diet of fish.  When the tired parents leave the fat chick after about six to eight weeks of care and constant feeding, the young bird eventually goes to the edge of the cliff and flies down to the water.  Soon it is diving for its own food.  It later migrates north with the colony, returning south in the spring to the same rock on which it was born.

These birds live in the northern oceans of the world but are not forgotten by the One who created them.  The Lord God once said, 

"Consider the ravens [and other birds]: for they neither sow nor reap; which neither have storehouse nor barn; and God feeds them: how much more are ye better than the fowls?" 

(Luke 12:24).  

He is making it plain that He thinks more highly of human beings than of the rest of His creatures.  He has shown this by giving us a never-dying soul and a home in heaven for those who trust in Him.       

Jewel # 64 (July 22, 2010)

To My dear grandchildren

Playing with Danger

What a beautiful day, Faye thought as she looked out the window.  Then she saw something that wasn't so beautiful.  It was Tommy, her cat.  That bad cat!" she exclaimed. "He's caught another chipmunk!"

Feeling sorry for the chipmunk, Faye ran out into the front yard and grabbed Tommy by the scruff of the neck, forcing him to drop the chipmunk.

All of us, from the time we are born, are so much like the chipmunk in the cat's mouth.  God tells us that Satan is the god and prince of this world, and we are under his power until the Lord Jesus sets us free.  We know that chipmunk could not have freed itself from Tommy's jaws, and we cannot free ourselves from Satan's power either.  Only the Lord Jesus can free us, because He broke Satan's power when He died on the cross.  

"Through death He might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; and deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage."  

(Hebrews 2:14-15)

The little chipmunk was still very lively and didn't seem to be hurt.  He ran a few feet and then turned to face the cat.  Sitting on his little haunches, he scolded the cat, almost as if he was daring the cat to catch him.

You can guess what the cat did.  Of course, he soon had the chipmunk in his mouth again.

Faye freed the chipmunk a second time, and then she scolded Tommy.  But still the chipmunk didn't run far away.

Sometimes young people act like that chipmunk - they seem to love dangerous things and to play with sin.  They are like those in Proverbs 2:13 "who leave the paths of uprightness, to walk  in the ways of darkness."  But God gives the warning, 

"Go not in the way of evil men.  Avoid it, pass not by it, turn from it, and pass away."  (Proverbs 4:14-15)

It wasn't until Faye took Tommy indoors that the chipmunk ran away.  But she couldn't help wondering how long that chipmunk would live if it kept on daring its enemies.

God gives more warnings about our enemy:  "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour" (1 Peter 5:8).  It is so dangerous to fool around with Satan.  Trust in the Lord Jesus who loves you and died for you and escape from the enemy and the wrath to come.  

Jewel # 63 (July 12, 2010)

To my dear grandchildren,

Big Trouble for Big Birds

Have you ever been in trouble?  Most of us would have to answer "yes," and some of us would have to admit we needed help to get our of that trouble.  Those of us who have accepted the Lord Jesus as our Saviour know that He "is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble" (Psalm 46:1).  We only need to ask Him for help.

This story is about a large group of bald eagles that got into serious trouble and needed help.  If you have never seen bald eagles, they are large, magnificent birds, and when fully grown they can measure up to three feet long, with wing spans of seven feet.  Their white heads and tails and large, yellow bills easily identify the mature eagles.  One favorite food of these birds is fish.

Almost half of all bald eagles in the world live in Alaska.  God cares for them and gave them homes near an abundance of food.  He sees and cares for all His creation, not just the beautiful creatures, but the plain, little ones too.   In Matthew 10:29 we learn that even when a sparrow falls to the ground [or dies], God sees it and cares.  And if He cares for the little sparrow, He cares much, much more for the people He made and loves.

One winter a large fish-processing plant in Alaska parked a truck outside that was full of fish waste and left it uncovered.  Fifty or more eagles swarmed onto the back of that uncovered truck to feast on the fish remains.  Although the eagles did not know it, they would soon be in serious trouble.

As the feasting eagles tore apart the fish remains, they were soon covered with fish oil.  The poor creatures could not fly or even clean their feathers.  Some were so weak the other feasting birds trampled on top of them, injuring them.  In the very cold temperature, the birds began to freeze and die.  What a sad mess!  These birds needed help fast, but birds can't call out for help.

Have you ever had to call for help, maybe to your dad or mom?  It's always a relief when they answer right away, especially if it's serious trouble.  But each of us has a very serious problem that family or friends cannot help us with.  If we really think about the seriousness of our sins and that God says they will take us to a hopeless, everlasting hell, He wants us to know that not accepting the Lord Jesus as our Saviour is the MOST serious trouble possible.  Jesus is the only One who can help us with our serious sin problem.  God warns us, "The wages of sin is death,"  but then He adds the help we need: "The gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord" (Romans 6:23).  If we realize our danger, the Lord Jesus is listening for our call for help.

Of course, the eagles did not realize their danger, but some of the workers at the processing plant did.  The truck was quickly moved inside the plant, and the contents were dumped on the floor.  The eagles needed to be revived.  They were so soaked in the fish oil that they could barely move, even when they were frightened and tried to scatter.  Wildlife caretakers were called and began to catch the perishing eagles.  What a job they had!  The eagles had to be cleaned with dish soap in tubs of warm water.  Then they were taken to a heated building to dry and recover.  Sadly at least nineteen eagles died, but many survived and were able to be released into the wild again . . . because there were people there to help them in their trouble.

If you haven't taken the Lord Jesus as your own Saviour, NOW is the the time to accept Him and know you have His help now and forever.  The Lord is near for each  one who belongs to Him, not only in times of trouble, but also each day of our lives.  He says, "I will never leave thee, not forsake thee" (Hebrews 13:5).

Jewel # 62 (June 28, 2010)

To my dear grandchildren,

A Mom's Disappointment

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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