Jewel # 406 (June 25, 2020)

"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.

Don’t Argue With a Jaguar

“Every beast of the forest is Mine. . . . And the wild beasts of the field are Mine.”  Psalm 50:10-11

A jaguar can easily be mistaken for a leopard since the brownish-yellow fur of each, covered with black spots, is so similar.  But there are some differences.  The adult jaguar is larger, and many of the circular spots covering its body have a darker black spot in the center, while those of the leopard are solid.  Some South American jaguars are almost coal black. 

The jaguar, up to 8 feet long including its 2.5 foot tail, may weigh up to 290 pounds.  The huge mouth in its large head has strong, sharp teeth and a long tongue covered with tiny rasps that help get the last bit of flesh off the bones of its victims.  Out of that mouth also comes a frightening roar.  This ferocious cat is the most feared animal in Mexico, Central and South America.

Huge, well-padded paws have fearsome claws that, like a house cat’s, remain hidden in the toes but are extended as fierce weapons when fighting or catching prey.  However, in spite of this fearful feature, it is a handsome animal with small, erect ears, beautiful eyes and large shoulders.

The jaguar is not afraid of water, jumping into a stream or pond to catch its prey, which might be a fish, turtle or even a small crocodile.  Normally it stalks the animals in hight grass or bush—seeing, but not being seen—silently creeping closer and then suddenly pouncing on its victim—a deer, peccary, armadillo, tapir or other animal.  Its muscular legs and large shoulders provide plenty of strength to drag even a heavy victim a mile or so away, where it may hide a part of the kill to eat another day.

A jaguar prefers to live alone except when raising its family of two or three cubs.  It often travels many miles a day hunting for food.  When not on the move, it likes to stretch out on a tree limb or s smooth shaded rock.  Being master of the rainforest, it has no fear of attack, except by hunters.

The Bible does not mention the jaguar, but the Lord, wanting His people to change their bad ways, said, “Their heart was exalted; therefore have they forgotten Me. . . . As a leopard by the way will I observe them” (Hosea 13:6-7).  This means that while they forgot Him, yet, like an unseen leopard (or like our unseen jaguar), He was watching everything they did. Farther on in the chapter He adds, “In Me is thine help” (vs. 9).  

Have you forgotten Him and are you careless in your ways?  Oh, how lovingly He invites you to confess it to Him and accept Hm as your Saviour before it is too late!  If you have not done this, won’t you do it right now while there is still time?   

Love you all - Grandpa            

Jewel # 405 (June 6, 2020)

“And they shall be Mine, saith Lord of hosts, in that day when I 

make up MY JEWELS.” 

(Malachi 3:17)

To my dear grandchildren

The Durable Coyote

“He giveth to the beast his food, and to the young ravens which cry.”  Psalm 147:9

Coyotes are often mistaken for wolves or large dogs.  Although they weigh only about thirty pounds, their long, thick, gray fur makes them look larger.  At times they are noisy, and if you hear a pack of them howling on a moonlit night, it is something you will always remember.

Coyotes live throughout Mexico, the United States and southern Canada.  Some make their homes on the prairies where there is a good supply of gophers, field mice, ground squirrels, small birds and insects.  But coyotes are also plentiful in deserts, seashores, forested hills and even close to cities.  Besides being meat eaters, they eat berries and fruits.

The Creator has made coyotes very clever.  Trappers are amazed at their ability to steal bait from traps without getting caught in them.  They will also quietly watch other animals or large birds hunting . . . then steal the food from them.  When chasing rabbits, they work cleverly in teams.  One chases a rabbit until it tires, then another takes over, and sometimes a third helps out.  The rabbit can outrun them, but it becomes exhausted and is finally captured.

Unfortunately, coyotes do kill sheep and chickens and are hunted and poisoned for this reason.  But it has been noted that when no coyotes are around, packrats, mice, gophers and other rodents multiply and do serious damage to crops and other property.  As a result, it has been decided that coyotes do more good than harm, and they are no longer completely killed off.

A pair of coyotes is usually loyal to each other for a lifetime.  Once a year they raise from five or six to as many as fifteen pups.  These are hidden in a den on a hillside, under a big rock, or underneath a stump.  The pups are playful but trained to obey their parents instantly.  They are taught to stay close to the den under their parents’ watchful care until they are given hunting lessons when about two months old.  

These interesting animals usually hunt at night and hide in daylight in places where they are almost impossible to find.  They often watch campers and hikers without their being aware of it.  Normally coyotes do not bother people and try to avoid them.

Many of God’s creatures live by their superior strength or swiftness, but He has enabled this animal to survive and prosper by giving it a sharp intellect and cleverness.  Since He cares for the coyote this much, the Bible assures us He cares for you even more:  “Casting all your care upon Him; for He careth for you” (1 Peter 5:7).  Also, in Jeremiah 31:3 the Lord tells us, “I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee.”

Have you accepted the Saviour’s love and care?

Love you all - Grandpa     

Jewel # 404 (May 29, 2020)

"And thy shall be Mine, saith the Lord of hosts, in that day when I make up MY JEWELS.”  

(Malachi 3:17)

To my dear grandchildren

Traveling With the Earth

“The Lord by wisdom hath founded the earth; by understanding hath He established the heavens.”   Proverbs 3:19

“He stretches out the north over the empty place, and hangeth the earth upon nothing.”   Job 26:7

Years ago men thought the earth was held up by a great elephant, standing on the back of a huge turtle.  Others thought there was a mythological god who balanced the starry sky on his shoulders.  (They didn’t explain what the turtle or the god would stand on!)  Scientists today laugh at those ideas, but still don’t understand how the earth, weighing six thousand million, million, million tons can "float" through space, or what keeps it in motion in its precisely kept schedules.  But King Solomon knew the earth and heavens were created by the Lord God, and Job knew thousands of years ago that only God could “hang the earth upon nothing.”

Man has built airplanes that fly across the Atlantic Ocean at a speed of about 1,000 miles per hour (mph).  But what is that compared to the speed you are traveling every moment of the day and night?  Did you know that every 24 hours the earth makes a complete revolution on its axis and takes you on a 25,000-mile trip at more than 1,000 mph?  Furthermore, that is only part of the journey you are on, for the earth also travels in its orbit around the sun at a speed of 66,000 mph.  This makes 65 mph in a car seem rather slow, doesn’t it?

Even these figures don’t tell the whole story, for our entire galaxy of several billion stars is moving through space at 43,000 mph.  Adding these figures together, we discover that at times we are racing through space at a speed of more that 100,000 mph!  While we are doing this (without feeling any motion that makes us aware of such terrific speed), countless stars are passing through the heavens as well.

Who started all this motion, and how is it all kept in perfect order?  God alone could create, put in motion, and keep all in perfect order, “upholding all things by the word of His power” (Hebrews 1:3).   

But, as the result of sin coming into the world, there is judgment coming when “the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up” (2 Peter 3:10).  Thankfully, those who know Christ as their Saviour will be taken from this world into the safety of heaven before this destruction takes place.  It is said of Abraham and other faithful people of Bible times that they “confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth and they looked for a better country—a heavenly country" (Hebrews 11:13-16).    Heaven can be your place of safety too, if you will come to Christ who “is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him” (Hebrews 7:25).    

Love you all - Grandpa

Jewel # 403 (May 22, 2020)

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 Shepherd and His Sheep (Part 2)

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want (lack anything]ing).  He makes me to lie down in green pastures: He leads me beside the still waters.  Psalm 23:1-2.

David, who wrote many of the psalms, could understand how the Lord Jesus is like a shepherd, because he himself had been a shepherd when he was young.  He never forgot how dependent he was on the Good Shepherd’s watchful care over him day and night.  When he was troubled, he told Him all about it and was led “beside the still waters” for rest and comfort.   

You will notice the verse doesn’t say, “He leads me beside the swift waters.” No, it is the still waters we need for safety, refreshment and quietness.  The Good Shepherd who watches over all who love Him will never lead any into  places where the evils of Satan and the world are like wild waters.  He leads only into safe and pleasant places.

That’s the way it is with with sheep and lambs too.  There are times when they need the shepherd to lead them to a quiet place beside a gentle stream or pond to drink, lie down and rest before returning to their grazing.

Have you ever rubbed your hand over the woolly coat of a sheep and noticed how much whiter it is down underneath?  This shows how the outer part has been soiled by dust and rubbing against brush and tall grass.  This makes it necessary for the wool to be washed thoroughly after it is clipped and before it can be used.

Sheep, of course, don’t realize they are getting dirty and that their wool is going to need to be washed.  Sometimes people think that if they are living “good” lives, their sins aren’t serious enough to need washing away before they can enter heaven.  But a holy God cannot look on sin, and to reach His lovely, heavenly home, we must first be made clean.  But, as the Bible verse says, “Though thou wash thee with nitre [strong cleaner], and take thee much soap, yet thine iniquity [sin] is marked before Me, saith the Lord God” (Jeremiah 2:22). 

If you have ever tried to “turn over a new leaf” and never again do anything wrong, you know it’s impossible.  How wonderful it is that the Lord Jesus, while on the cross, took away all the sins of everyone who will admit they are a sinner, repent of their sins and accept Him as Lord and Saviour.  There is no other way in which you can enter heaven.

It is important to listen to His invitation: “Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool” (Isaiah 1:18).  

Have you accepted that gracious invitation?  If so, now you know Him as your own Good Shepherd!   

 Love you all - Grandpa

Jewel # 402 (May 12, 2020)

"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 Shepherd and His Sheep  (Part 1)

“He shall feed His flock like a shepherd: He shall gather the lambs with His arm, and carry them in His bosom.”  Isaiah 40:11

The Lord has called those who love Him His sheep and lambs.  This is understandable, because these animals always need someone to look after them.  If they see a chance to break away, they quickly get into trouble and usually don’t get back until the shepherd goes out and saves them.  The Lord Jesus does this for all who love Him and know Him as their Good Shepherd.

Most of North America’s sheep are raised in Texas, California, Wyoming, South Dakota and Colorado, as well as the provinces of Canada.  The largest flocks in the world are in New Zealand, where they often cover hillsides.  

Theses woolly animals are called lambs until they are a year old; then the females are called ewes and the males are called rams.  The cries of the lambs sound like they are calling “Ma Ma,” and the mother ewe does her best to keep them near her.  For the first week, the lambs' only food is their mothers’ milk, but soon they start eating grass and hay.  

Like cows, sheep have a four-part stomach, which the Creator has provided to enable them to digest their food.  They eat so rapidly and swallow so fast that they don’t have time to do any chewing.  In fact, they can’t chew, because their upper jaw has only a thick pad with no teeth, although the lower jaw does have teeth.  When they close their mouths around a bunch of grass, they clamp down hard on it and give their heads a strong jerk, and then just swallow the bite.  Later the sheep bring the grass up to their mouths for "chewing the cud.”  Then it passes on to another part of their stomachs.

Large flocks in the western parts of the United States and Canada are watched over by shepherds and their helpful dogs.  This is a lonely job with no human visitors for long periods of time. The shepherds live alone in campers in which there may be a refrigerator and a small stove for cooking and warmth when the weather gets chilly.

It would be a poor shepherd who was not kind to his sheep, as well as to the trained dogs that help him.  The beginning Bible verse tells us of the Good Shepherd who cares for boys and girls who know Him as their Saviour.  He thinks of them as His lambs and the older ones as His sheep.  And He wants you to be His lamb or sheep, too, if you have not yet accepted the Lord Jesus as your Good Shepherd and learned how He will protect you when Satan tries to harm you.  Are you part of the flock He loves so well?   (To be continued)

Love you all— Grandpa      

Jewel # 401 (May 2, 2020)

      

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

Insect-Eating Plants

"I will remember the works of the Lord: surely I will remember Thy wonders.”  
Psalm 77:11

Many animals, birds and insects eat plants, but did you know there are some plants that eat insects?  This is truly remarkable, because plants cannot travel from one place to another to capture their food, and they do not have eyes or ears to help.

One example of an insect-eating plant is the sundew that grows in certain swamps.  The name comes from drops of sticky fluid on its leaves that glitter in sunlight like drops of dew.  The leaves are also covered with small hairs.  If an insect lands on these hairs, the sticky fluid traps it.  Immediately all the hairs near that spot fold in around the insect and hold it captive.  The plant then absorbs its prey into its system, and the hairs go back in place to wait for another victim.

The Butterwort has  fleshy leaves that produce a sticky substance.  When an insect lands on a leaf, the edges curl in and trap it.  The insect dies and is digested by the plant.

The pitcher plant has pitcher - shaped leaves that form a trap for insects.  The lower edges of its leaves fold together to form a tube.  The top edges are open and allow rainwater to collect in the bottom of the tube.  The pitcher produces a sweet juice on the inside that attracts insects.  It grows bristly hairs at the top of the pitcher that all point downward.  Once an insect lands in search of the sweet juice, it passes over these hairs pointing downward that prevent it from crawling back out.  The insect eventually falls into the rainwater at the bottom and drowns.  In time, the plant digests the insect.

One insect we would like to see trapped by this plant is the mosquito.  But the female can fly down into the pitcher, lay her eggs in the liquid and then fly back out safely.  After the larvae hatch and grow, the new adult mosquitoes escape the same way.

A certain wasp in parts of the south bites a hole in the bottom of the pitcher, allowing the rainwater to drain out.  Then it crawls through the hole, making its nest inside without harm.  How did the wasp learn this trick?  Only the Creator God could give it this knowledge.

These unusual plants certainly have no intelligence to figure out ways of capturing food.  Only God could provide food for these plants.  We are reminded that the devil also has many traps in which he catches those who are not careful.  If we know the Lord Jesus as our Saviour and walk close to Him, He is able to protect us from evil.  

“Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.  In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths.”  

(Proverbs 3:5-6).    

Love you all - Grandpa   

Jewel # 400 (April 25, 2020)

"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

Be Thankful for Chickens

O bless our God, ye people, and make the voice of His praise to be heard.    
Psalm 66:8

Most everyone has seen live chickens and knows that is where the eggs come from that we cook in so many different ways.  In former days, even city folks kept a few chickens in their yards and enjoyed fresh eggs, as well as an occasional roast chicken dinner.  But today they are usually raised by the thousands on what are called poultry farms.  Eggs are shipped out daily from these farms to markets and grocery stores.  More than five billions eggs a year are marketed in the United States alone.

American Indians never saw chickens until the Pilgrims brought some Rhode Island reds with then from England.  Now there are over 50 varieties, including cornish, New Hampshire, white rock, Rhode Island reds, Plymouth Rock and the white leghorn, which is the most common and produces most of the eggs sold in the United States.  Some 450 million hens supply these.  A champion white leghorn can lay 361 eggs in one year, but most lay between 100 and 300. 

Like all birds, chickens actually lay eggs to produce baby chicks.  If they could steal away from the poultry farm and make hidden nests in which to lay 8 to 10 eggs, they would keep them warm under their fluffy feathers for about 3 weeks until they hatched and then take good care of the chicks.  But on today’s poultry farms, that is impossible since the eggs are removed continually.  Incidentally, young hens less that a year old are known as pullets and young roosters as cockerels.

Part of the interesting work of poultrymen is raising chicks in warm areas called incubators.  Special fertile eggs are placed in these incubators, hatching in 21 days.  When it’s time, the little chick inside the shell pecks its way out with its strong little beak.  At first it is not very cute because its feathers are wet.  But after an hour or so it dries off and is so cute you’d want to pick it up and hold its fluffy little body to your cheek.  But you might get a gentle peck from its tiny beak in return.

Although poultrymen must be given credit for their careful work in raising these millions of chickens and marketing their eggs, it is really the Lord God, the Creator, who designed this amazing way of a chicken’s life beginning in an egg.  And He further designed chickens in such a way that poultrymen can raise them for us as a wonderful food supply.

The Bible tells us, “My God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus”  (Philippians 4:19).  As the supplier of everything we need, we should be continually thanking Him, especially for His loving care over us.

Love you all - Grandpa