Jewel # 109 (April 17, 2012)

"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.

Six-Mile Fall

Vicky, a 31-year old airline attendant, fell six miles without a parachute and lived to tell the story.

The plane in which she was an attendant exploded in the air.  She was making coffee in the back of the aircraft when the explosion took place.  "I don't remember anything," she says.  But one thing she does know is that for some reason she is the only survivor of the strange accident.

What Vicky does not talk about is that for some reason God has spared her life.  We hope she thanks Him as much as she thanked the person that found her in the plane's wreckage.  "The man that pulled me from the wreckage burned his hands from the hot metal," she says.  When Vicky met him later, she said, I was so happy - I kissed his hands!"  But what the Lord Jesus has done for her can save her soul; He died for her!  His hands and feet were nailed to Calvary's cross and His side was pierced, from which flowed soul-saving blood.  

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

Have you realized you are completely helpless to save your own soul, and have you accepted Jesus as your Saviour?  Vicky had no choice; she was completely helpless.  Her rescuer, a forest worker, was nearby and heard the noise of the airplane metal falling down the mountain and heard her screams.  The Lord Jesus sees your need of His saving power, and because He loves you so much, He is offering you salvation completely free.  

"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).

Will you accept the soul-saving offer that cost the Lord Jesus His life?

Love you all,

Grandpa 

Jewel # 108 (April 4, 2012)

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 African Aardwolf

"O Lord, Thou preservest man and beast.  How excellent is Thy Loving-kindness, O God!" 

(Psalm 36:6-7)

The aardwolf, sometimes call earth wolf, lives in the dry, open areas of eastern and southern Africa.  It is related to the hyena, though smaller, and looks like a dog with extra-large ears and a pointed muzzle.  It is about three feet long and has a bushy, black-tipped tail of the same length.  Like hyenas, it has a sloping back and hind legs shorter than those in front.  Its fur is rough, coarse and yellowish striped, with a crest down its back that rises in angry bristles when it is attacked.

In spite of its fierce looks, loud barks and roaring, the aardwolf is harmless, shy and nocturnal, sleeping in underground burrows during the day and doing its hunting at night.  Although it has strong claws and sharp teeth, it uses them only for defense or for getting food.  It eats mostly large insects, white ants and harvester termites.  It finds these last two by breaking into nests and mounds with the sharp claws on its five-toed, strong front feet.  Since these insects are its main food, the Creator has provided it with a sticky tongue to help catch and consume as many as 200,000 harvester termites in a single night.  It may also eat eggs, some small mammals and birds.

Because of the aardwolf's sharp claws and teeth, plus the fact that it can spray enemies with a foul-smelling fluid, this animal is left pretty much alone.  The claws are important for digging the deep burrows where it sleeps. These burrows are cleverly designed.  Three or four pairs of aardwolves each have their own burrow, and each burrow is extended farther into a central chamber where, on occasion, the aardwolves come together.  In bad weather they stay underground for days at a time, but when the weather is clear, some will interrupt their day time sleep to enjoy an outdoor sunbath.

If an empty burrow is available, they use it and avoid digging their own.  However, they still have to make changes to provide a room where babies, usually triplets, are born.  Like dogs, their babies are blind and helpless at birth, but in less than a year they are fully grown.

It is not likely anyone would want to make pets of aardwolves.  But in spite of their unusual characteristics, they are part of God's creation, and He takes care of them even though they are unaware of it.  The Bible tells us of His love and care, and each of us should respond as the psalmist did when he wrote, 

"The Lord is good to all: and His tender mercies are over all His works.  All Thy works shall praise Thee, O Lord" (Psalm 145:9-10).

Do you give Him praise and thanksgiving for His care of you?

I love you all,

Grandpa   

Jewel # 107 (March 28, 2012)

"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,

Lost for Seven Years

It certainly was a mystery when a cat named Smoky suddenly reappeared seven years after she had vanished from her owner's backyard!  Denise had held out hope that Smokey would return someday.  Even thought she had moved, she still had the same phone number.  Still, she was quite surprised when she got a call telling her that the Animal Control Service had her long lost pet!

"I don't know where this cat has been for seven years!" said Denise.  The Animal Control Service had used a small identification tattoo on the cat to trace Smokey to her owner.  Smokey is slowly getting reacquainted with her owner and new home.  Denise says it is important to have your pet marked with permanent identification.

I wonder if you have Jesus' identification mark on you, showing that you belong to Him.  God can see it, because He sees that you are covered with the precious blood of His beloved Son.  When the call comes to go to heaven, will you go to be with Jesus? or will you be lost forever?  It all depends on whether or not you have that identification mark.

Thankfully, Smokey wasn't lost forever because of the identification mark on her body that showed she belonged to Denise.  Are your sins covered with the blood of Jesus showing you belong to Him?

"The blood of Jesus Christ God's Son cleanseth us from all sin" (1 John 1:7).

"Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered" (Romans 4:7).

I love you all,

Grandpa

Jewel # 106 (March 14, 2012)

"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  

Catch a Bird

"Aren't the birdies pretty, Mommy?" said three-year-old Margaret to her mother one sunny day as they sat together in the yard.  "See, there's some in the grass . . . and see that pretty blue one over there in the tree?  I wish I could catch a bird.  Will you help me catch one, Mommy?" 

"Do you know what my daddy always used to say, Margaret?  If you could put salt on a bird's tail, you could catch it." 

"Did you ever catch one?" asked Margaret.  "No, I never tried," said her mother. "Didn't you even try?" said little Margaret surprised.  "If I could catch a bird, I'd try!"  And with that she ran into the house to get the saltshaker off the kitchen table.

For a long time Margaret chased the birds, trying to put salt on their tails.  Finally she got discouraged and and ran over to her mother in tears.  "They won't stay still long enough for me to put salt on their tails," she sobbed.

Mother scooped Margaret up into her arms and said, "No, that way won't work.  That's just like trying to get to heaven by doing good works, isn't it?  We just aren't able to do good because we are sinners, so we can't get to heaven that way.  It won't work.  We have to trust the Lord Jesus.  He said, 'I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father but by Me.' (John 14:6).  He died for us to wash away all the naughty things that we've done so we can go to heaven and live with Him there forever.  Wasn't that very, very kind of Him?"

Have you admitted to the Lord Jesus that you are a sinner, and have you let Him wash your sins away? Have you ever thanked Him for dying for you? 

 "Not by works of good deeds which we have done, 

but according to His mercy He saved us." 

(Titus 3:5).

Love you all,

Grandpa  

Jewel # 105 (Feb 23, 2012)

"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,

"Proud as a Peacock"

"Gavest Thou the goodly wings unto the peacocks? or wings and feathers unto the ostrich?" (Job 39:13) 

The name peacock actually applies only to the male.  The female is a peahen, and together they are called peafowl.  Both of them are very pretty, but it is the male that has the most beauty with his thirty-inch body and five-foot tail.  Each feather over his entire body is patterned with a brilliant iridescent "eye."  He seems to enjoy displaying this beauty by frequent spreading his tail and parading around.

These birds are native to Asian countries but have adapted easily to the many places where they have been taken.  The Bible tells us that King Solomon imported them to Israel, probably to roam in his lovely gardens.  The pharaohs of Egypt also imported them.

There are two main colour types.  One is know as the blue Indian.  It has a metallic blue-green neck and breast, with purplish-blue underparts and a long train of greenish feathers.  The blue Indian is the national bird of India.

The other is called Java green, and it has metallic bronze plumage and a crest of long, straight feathers on its head.  It is the more splendid and stately of the two species, with longer and slimmer legs.  Its face is blue or yellow, and the crest of its head forms a long, straight tuft of fully barbed feathers.

Both types are beautiful, but the blues are more popular because they are even-tempered.  The greens are always fighting among themselves and sometimes attack people.  The females (hens) of both varieties are pretty and almost as large as the cocks, but they  lack the long train of feathers and crowns.

The "eyes" of the feathers on nearly all peacocks appear as a deep purple-green pupil, centered in an orange iris, topped with yellow, lavender and green semicircles.  How faithfully the design follows the pattern given by the Creator when He first placed them on the earth!  Each generation of peacocks repeats the design perfectly.

The only thing that spoils these unusually pretty birds is their voice.  It is disappointing to hear their harsh, rough cries that sound like fighting cats or someone desperately calling for help.

"Proud as a peacock" is a common expression.  Of course, the peacocks do not know about it.  But we who have the Bible to read and follow know that we should not let pride come into our hearts and minds.  One Bible verse states: "The lofty looks of man shall be humbled, and the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down; and the Lord alone shall be exalted" (Isaiah 2:11).  May we always remember to be humble and give all praise to Him.

"The Son of God, who loved us, and gave Himself for us" (Galatians 2:20).

Love you all

Grandpa        

Jewel # 104 (Feb 12, 2012)

"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 Greedy Pigeon

Every day a pigeon came to our feeder.  It was always alone and always stayed for a long time eating birdseed.  It wasn't satisfied with the seeds on the ground but would fly up to the feeder, hang onto it and flap its wings to spill the seeds out onto the ground.  Then it flew down to the ground again to pick up every seed it could find.  This was certainly a greedy pigeon, and this routine went on for many days.  Sometimes one of us would walk slowly to the place where all the seed had fallen, and eventually the pigeon would fly away.

Proverbs 15:27 tells us something about being greedy,because people can be greedy too.  It says, "He that is greedy of gain troubles his own house."  Another word for greedy is selfish, and we all have known selfish people.  Selfish boys or girls always want to be first in line or want to have the best of everything.  Sometimes they will push and shove others out of the way to get what they want, and some won't share.  Do you like people like that?  Probably not.  Because other boys and girls don't want to be around them, greedy or selfish children make trouble for themselves.  That's what the last part of the verse means when it says "troubles his own house." 

And that's what the greedy pigeon was doing.  One day I saw it being very bold and very greedy.  Then I had to run some errands and was away for a few hours.  When I came back home, I could see a very large bird in the yard by the feeder.  When I looked closely, I discovered it was a hawk and on the ground around the hawk were feathers - pigeon feathers!  That hawk was just finishing a pigeon dinner.  The greedy pigeon spent so much time eating seeds on the ground that it didn't look around to make sure there were no enemies nearby, and it got caught.  Its greediness made trouble for itself.

This is a lesson not only for children, but for grown-ups too.  It's easier to learn not to be greedy or selfish when we are young.   Usually parents and teachers will remind us when we are being greedy or selfish.  The Bible has another good verse that will help us to be fair and nice to everybody.  "Be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you" (Ephesians 4:32).  That will make you happy, and that will make the Lord Jesus happy too. 

Love you all,

Grandpa  

Jewel # 103 (Feb 1, 2012)

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

in that day when I make up

MY JEWLS."

(Malachi 3:17)

To my dear Grandchildren

The High Leaping Impala

"Be strong and of good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee wherever you go" (Joshua 1:9).

South Africa has a great variety of animals; some are hunters and vicious and others are gentle and harmless. Among this second group are several closely related antelopes such as the gazelles, klipspringers, springboks and impalas.  The impala is a beautiful animal.  Its velvety coat is a soft brown colour over its head, neck, back and legs, but plain white on its underparts and another patch of white under its stubby tail.  Its nimble legs are long and slender but surprisingly strong, and for a good reason, as we will see.

This timid animal is only about three feet high and weighs between 100 and 150 pounds.  Males have V-shaped horns, beginning with a short backward slant and then straightening upward a total length of two or three feet.  These horns are indeed a part of the Creator's display of beauty on this animal.  They look like an artist might have carved them.

The impala is quite content with the food supply of the prairie - herbs, bushes, shrubs and the most important and nourishing Savannah grass.  But there is the constant threat of a lion or other prowling hunter.  When an impala becomes aware of an enemy, it barks an alarm, and in a flash the whole herd scatters in various directions.  This is where their slender, strong legs are so valuable, as they run for safety in a series of dashes and long-distance jumps as high as ten feet and as far as thirty feet in single, graceful leaps - a beautiful sight.

When bounding away from danger in these great leaps, the front feet are in the air on the first bound.  When the hindquarters come up, the white patch under their tail becomes a signal to others that danger is present and its time for them also to get moving.  The lion, presuming it is well hidden, seems to be surprised at the swift action and gets confused as to which impala to chase.  When it hesitates, sometimes they all escape.

The Creator has also provided another means of warning through tick birds that frequently ride on an impala's back.  These birds not only rid the animal of pesky insects but also give their own warning when they see danger approaching.

The Creator's care over these gentle animals should remind us that His care over us is even more tender.  He invites you to prove His wonderful love, as the writer of Psalm 147:11 expresses it so well: "The Lord takes pleasure in them that fear [respect and love] Him, in those that hope in His mercy."  Has He ever had the pleasure of hearing you thank Him for His love? 

Love

Grandpa