Jewel # 100 (Dec 19, 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 children & grandchildren,

Tiny Weather Forecasters

Where I live in Australia we are in a rainforest region.  Our summer is our wet season in the "underneath part of the world."

The official weather forecast for today was "continuing fair."  Now that is interesting since in the past nineteen hours we have had over six inches of rain!  Our weather people got it wrong.

We are watching something very interesting.  For the past few days ants have invaded our houses, which is not uncommon for this time of year.  In fact, there are so many we find them crawling everywhere.  They are looking for higher ground.  The little black ants scurry up and down the walls in long, busy lines, carrying their small eggs up higher to protect them from the water that will soon come.  They tuck their eggs in the cracks of the wall and even as high as the ceilings.  They know a time of trouble is coming, so wisely they take steps to be prepared.

We have also noticed over the past few days that the ant nests on the ground have had large lips built around them.  This is common too. These lips around the nests on the ground are built up like volcanoes around the entrances to keep water from running in.  Some lips are three to four inches high.  It all means rain is coming.

Sometimes I don't pay attention to what the weather bureau reports.  I watch the ants instead, for they know.  By watching the ants, I knew rain was on the way last night, but the people at the weather bureau with their highly specialized instruments got it wrong.  I don't ignore the weather people; it is just interesting to see that in the simplest of God's creatures there is an accuracy that man can't match.  Thinking of the amazing ways God's creation speaks to man, it is hard to understand how man can reject the God who is the Creator of it all.

I am reminded of the verse in Proverbs 6:6 that says, "Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise."  God has sent lessons for us in His creation, if we are willing to see them.  He has given these little ants some kind of an advance warning when the heavy rains are coming, and they obey these warnings.  God gives other creatures advance warning of winter coming with its fierce winds, cold temperatures, and shortness of food.  And they obey these warnings by migrating to warmer climates or storing food or hibernating. 

God has also given you advance warning of coming punishment for your sins.  But He has made a way for your sins to be forgiven.  Because He loves you and cares so much for you, He provided a substitute to take that punishment in your place.  That substitute is His beloved Son, Christ Jesus, Who died on Calvary's cross for you so your sins could be forgiven.  All that's left for you to do is to confess to God that you are a sinner and accept Christ Jesus as your very own Saviour - Jesus Christ "in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace" (Ephesians 1:7).

God has given you advance warning about the coming punishment for your sins.  Have you obeyed His warnings?  "The name of the Lord is a strong tower: the righteous [runs] into it, and is safe" (Proverbs 18:10). 

I love you all,

Grandpa

Jewel # 99 (Dec 8, 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

Unpredictable Lemmings of the North

"In the Lord's hand is the soul of every living thing, 
and the breath of all mankind" (Job 12:10).

In the cold, snowy, northern parts of the world, a small, furry animal called a lemming makes its home.  This plump little rodent is related to the mouse.  It is only about four or five inches long, including its stubby tail.  Most kinds have grayish or brownish fur.

Living in such cold climates, the Creator has wisely supplied lemmings with warm coats and furry feet with padded soles.  Underneath deep winter snows they live active lives, eating grass or other plants.

Early in June they come to the surface of the snow, often so many in number that they look like moving blankets.  During spring and summer, two or three litters of young are born and raised, greatly increasing their numbers.  When food becomes scarce, they become restless and begin great migrations.  At times they are so abundant that they spread out a mile or more wide, all moving, always west, as they eat.  They are good swimmers, crossing lakes and rivers as they migrate.

Hungry animals and birds, such as foxes, weasels, owls and hawks, feed on them.  The lemmings are in such great numbers that those caught are hardly missed.  However, when being chased some lemmings panic, and on reaching the ocean they plunge in and swim on westward and eventually drown.  Some remain behind, raise new families, and in a few years their numbers have greatly increased  once again.

In Canada, the lemmings live north of the Arctic circle on the mainland and on polar islands where there is vegetation underneath the snow and ice.  Although their fur is brown in summer, it changes to pure white in winter.  Eskimos use their fur to make warm clothes.

It seems sad that such pretty little animals should become the food of birds of prey and hungry animals or, in desperation, drown in ocean waters.  It was not like this in the day of their creation before sin entered the world.  Happily, God has promised a future time when this will be corrected.  The Bible says, "The creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption" even though "the whole creation groans and travails in pain together until now" (Romans 8:21-22).  When that takes place, their peaceful way of life will proclaim, "Let everything that hath breath praise the Lord" (Psalm 150:6).

That time will come after God's judgment takes place on this sinful world.  The animals will be delivered from the suffering they experience in this creation that is spoiled by man's sin.

  

People who have accepted Jesus as their Saviour will be taken to heaven befoe that judgment takes place and will look down with delight on the change when God makes it hapen.

Will you be among those in heaven?

You can be. 

Love you all,

Grandpa

Jewel # 98 (Nov 21, 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,

The Black-Footed Ferret

"Great and marvelous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are Thy ways."  (Revelation 15:3)  

When western prairies of the United States were being settle many years ago, millions of prairie dog homes dotted the plains.  Because these animals were considered pests, they were hunted and poisoned, so that today hardly any are left.

That poisoning also meant the death of a smaller animal - the black-footed ferret.  Not only were they also poisoned, but their main food supply was also gone - the prairie dogs.  Now there are also only a few of these ferrets left, mostly in the state of Wyoming where efforts are being made to protect them.

The pretty black-footed ferret is closely related to the weasel, as shown by its slim body, short legs, alert expression and sharp eyes.  About two feet long from nose to tip of tail, it weighs only a pound and a half.  Its fur is mostly brown, but its raccoon-like face is white with a black streak across its eyes like a bandit's mask.  It has a black streak all along its back, and the tip of its tail and its feet are also black, the reason for its name.  Being close to the ground, its agile body is well hidden in the grass as it skims along at high speed.

The ferret is a fierce nighttime hunter, often attacking animals larger that itself.  An example is prairie dogs.  They often weigh more than twice as much, but although the ferret may get badly wounded, it is rare for them to lose the battle.  When it is over, the ferret drags the heavier creature to its burrow for eating.  Ground squirrels, mice, rabbits and other small animals are also their victims.

Ferrets sometimes use prairie dog burrows as nests where their kits are born in early summer and raised by the mother.  Sometime before fall, each young ferret moves to a solitary burrow where it makes its home and carries back whatever it captures for its own consumption.

In the Lord God's original creation all things lived peacefully together, but when Adam and Eve brought sin into the world, that perfection was ruined, affecting all living things.  And today, lions, tigers, ferrets, hawks, falcons, sharks and many other creatures still attack and kill one another.

But the Bible gives us cheerful news about a coming day when "the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. . . . They shall not hurt nor destroy . . . for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord" (Isaiah 11:7-9).

Before that takes place, all who know the Lord Jesus Christ as their own Saviour will have been called to heaven and will look down on this peaceful scene with thankful praise to God for restoring His creation so wonderfully.

  

Will you be in heaven with those people?

Love you all,

Grandpa  

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

Jewel # 94 (Sept 25, 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,

The Barn Swallow

One of the most amazing creatures God has created is the Barn Swallow.  Perhaps you have seen Barn Swallows around your yard.  They are found throughout most of the world.  And they are most easily identified by their deeply forked tail.

Barn Swallows are especially created for flying and they are some of the most graceful birds in the sky.  The Holy Spirit mentions this in Proverbs 26:2.  "As the bird by wandering, as the swallows by flying, so the curse causeless shall not come."

One of the reasons God has given the Barn Swallow the ability to fly so well is so it can catch insects.  This bird has a wide, gaping mouth that stretches from ear to ear.  And it has been estimated that one Swallow will eat up to 2000 insects a day.  If you don't like getting bitten by mosquitoes, Barn Swallows are good birds to have around.

As you can guess by their name, Barn Swallows like to nest in barns.  They build their nests out of mud, mixed with saliva.  The nests are plastered along the rafters inside the barn.  They can hold as many as five little chicks.  

The Holy Spirit mentions another place where a Swallow can build a nest, which is even better than a barn.  "Yea, the sparrow has found an house and THE SWALLOW a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, even THINE ALTARS, O Lord of hosts, my King, and my God."  Psalm 84:3.

So years ago swallows were permitted to nest in the temple of God.  What a nice place to raise little ones - on the altar of the Lord.  This is what your parents are doing for you.  They are raising you to know your Saviour as you study Scripture.

In August, the Barn Swallows get ready to migrate South.  By early September, they have left our barn and are headed South, many of them to Brazil.  And now we have an amazing thing.  Some of these birds have been banded before they left to migrate South.  And even though the winter home of the Barn Swallow is some 6,00 miles away from where they nested, many of them will come back to that same barn the following Spring.  This power of navigation, which God has given to the Barn Swallow, is beyond human comprehension.  What a marvelous compass these Barn Swallows have, so accurately set that they can pinpoint a barn 6,000 miles away!

But there is more!  There is also the matter of timing.  I have kept records of when the first Barn Swallow returns to our barn here at Meadow Grass Memories Farm.  And it is amazing how often they come back within a few days of when they had come back in previous years.  Often they come back on the very same day of the year.

Not surprising, the Holy Spirit also makes mention of this amazing happening in Scripture:  "Yea, the stork in the heaven knoweth her appointed times; and the dove and the crane and the SWALLOW observe the time of their coming; but My people know not the judgment of the Lord," Jeremiah 8:7.  By following God's appointed times, these little birds usher in the pleasant spring season.  Winter's back has been broken.  

Barn Swallows are a real blessing from the Lord.  They show the glory of God in the way they live.

We should strive to do likewise. 

Love,

Grandpa  

Jewel # 93 (Sept 4, 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,

The Sea Horse

"Sing unto the Lord, all the earth. . . . Declare His glory among the heathen; His marvelous works among all nations.  

For great is the Lord, greatly to be praised."

(1 Chronicles 16:23-25)

The oceans contain strange creatures, many of them frightening and unusual.  The sea horse is one of these.  It is a bony fish that doesn't look or act like a fish.  It is quite common along the coasts of North and South America, as well as in Hawaii, Tahiti and others of the South Sea Islands.  Among the fifty species, there are some as long as two feet, but the more common are only about three inches long.  Most are dark gray or black,  but some are a pretty pink, red, yellow, blue or white.  All are able to change their colour to match their surroundings.

The sea horse is well named since its head and the top of its body look surprisingly like a miniature horse.  Instead of scales, it is covered with rough, bony plates.  Its curved tail enables it to anchor onto sea grass or, hooked to another sea horse, to have a playful tug-of-war contest.  Each eye pivots separately, and it can look toward the surface with one eye while while searching underwater with the other.

The seahorse swims upright - head up and tail down.  In this position it keeps itself balanced and moves by means of a fan-like fin on its back.  This fin looks similar to the small propeller that whirls on the tail of a helicopter and enables it to swim forward, backward, up or down.

Another unusual feature of this ocean resident is the manner in which its babies are born.  When the female is about to lay her eggs, she swims to her male companion and transfers about three hundred eggs into a pouch on his body.  He incubates these for a month or more, until they hatch.  Then, held in bubbles containing fifty to a hundred eggs each, he releases them out into the water.  As the bubbles burst, the tiny, transparent, comma-size-babies separate, and each one begins a life on its own.

God has been pleased to make the sea horse very different from its neighbours, not only in appearance, but also in its peaceful habits.  It has no enemies because its hard, bony plates make it unappetizing no matter how hungry they are.  Its own diet is limited to small shrimp, tiny fish, crustaceans and plankton.

The wonderful works of the Lord surely deserve the highest praise, as quoted in our 

opening verse, and should encourage every boy and girl to seek Him. 

 "The Lord is near unto all them that call upon Him, to all that call upon Him in truth." 

(Psalm 145:18) 

If you have not done this yet, call on Him today.  

He will hear and answer you.

Love 

Grandpa