Just a snowflake...

In the upcoming months, there will be a lot of these little things around the Northeast, but I heard this evening that Louisiana had snowfall. I wonder when the last time that happened was? Well, I chose these pictures because there is something different about them; ordinary, but different. Ordinary in that they are just snowflakes after all and different because snowflakes are all different. And how beautiful! Think of it, EVERY ONE IS DIFFERENT! All this beauty and each one an individual. If I were making snowflakes, there would possibly be 5000 or so styles (remember, I really like snowflakes) but God isn't satisfied with something that trivial. He makes billions upon billions of them and each one is a work of art. Reminds me of a passage from Genesis.


Genesis 1:31 WEB (R)
(31) God saw everything that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. There was evening and there was morning, a sixth day.


Think of it, God doesn't even mention snow in chapter 1. Snow an afterthought! Untold billions of such beautiful things do not even get an honorable mention. Why should snow get top billing, mankind is the pinnacle of creation? And OH, yes, the stars in the heavens are not to bad to look at either. It would be interesting to find out what God considers beautiful, if something as wonderful as snow is treated as commonplace.

Not my cake!

Birthday cake?? Not one that I would want to receive! It does bring to mind a topic we must all deal with; our eventual demise. No one really LIKES to think about the topic, but if we are honest with ourselves, we KNOW we must at least address the issue. How we live will affect the life after. Jesus spoke about the topic in a rather straight forward way....


Luke 12:16-21 WEB (R)
(16) He spoke a parable to them, saying, "The ground of a certain rich man brought forth abundantly.
(17) He reasoned within himself, saying, 'What will I do, because I don't have room to store my crops?'
(18) He said, 'This is what I will do. I will pull down my barns, and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods.
(19) I will tell my soul, "Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years. Take your ease, eat, drink, be merry." '
(20) "But God said to him, 'You foolish one, tonight your soul is required of you. The things which you have prepared-whose will they be?'
(21) So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God."


Is it wrong to have "things"? No, but what is wrong is to make them the focal point of your life. That is God's place. Rejoice in every day that God gives you and live it with HIM. Money and possessions are optional.

Spooky picture

You may or may not be able to see the bluish hue above and to the left of the gravestone, but it is supposed to be pictorial evidence of a ghost. I really think its there, but if you don't that is OK. As far as the Bible goes, it makes mention of one in the book of first Samuel and in the World English Bible, calls them "familiar spirits".


1 Samuel 28:7-19 WEB (R)
(7) Then said Saul to his servants, Seek me a woman who has a familiar spirit, that I may go to her, and inquire of her. His servants said to him, Behold, there is a woman who has a familiar spirit at Endor.
(8) Saul disguised himself, and put on other clothing, and went, he and two men with him, and they came to the woman by night: and he said, Please divine to me by the familiar spirit, and bring me up whoever I shall name to you.
(9) The woman said to him, Behold, you know what Saul has done, how he has cut off those who have familiar spirits, and the wizards, out of the land: why then do you lay a snare for my life, to cause me to die?
(10) Saul swore to her by Yahweh, saying, As Yahweh lives, there shall no punishment happen to you for this thing.
(11) Then said the woman, Whom shall I bring up to you? He said, Bring me up Samuel.
(12) When the woman saw Samuel, she cried with a loud voice; and the woman spoke to Saul, saying, Why have you deceived me? for you are Saul.
(13) The king said to her, Don't be afraid: for what do you see? The woman said to Saul, I see a god coming up out of the earth.
(14) He said to her, What form is he of? She said, An old man comes up; and he is covered with a robe. Saul perceived that it was Samuel, and he bowed with his face to the ground, and did obeisance.
(15) Samuel said to Saul, Why have you disquieted me, to bring me up? Saul answered, I am sore distressed; for the Philistines make war against me, and God is departed from me, and answers me no more, neither by prophets, nor by dreams: therefore I have called you, that you may make known to me what I shall do.
(16) Samuel said, Why then do you ask of me, seeing Yahweh has departed from you, and has become your adversary?
(17) Yahweh has done to you as he spoke by me: and Yahweh has torn the kingdom out of your hand, and given it to your neighbor, even to David.
(18) Because you didn't obey the voice of Yahweh, and didn't execute his fierce wrath on Amalek, therefore Yahweh has done this thing to you this day.
(19) Moreover Yahweh will deliver Israel also with you into the hand of the Philistines; and tomorrow you and your sons will be with me: Yahweh will deliver the army of Israel also into the hand of the Philistines.


Saul had disobeyed God and therefore God left him. He was alone and sought a witch to conjure up Samuel for some "spiritual" guidance. Samuel told Saul he was about to die and die he did a day later. Are spirits real? You bet they ARE! In the words of a famous character from the "Wizard of OZ": "I do believe in spooks". Not everything in this world or the next is easy to understand, but take a look at the picture once again and see if you don't see something this time. Spooky picture, isn't it?

Birds must fly

Birds are beautiful creatures, attractive in both form and function. If you have taken some time to watch them fly, it will be moments that you will remember. I can't look at them without wondering what it would be like to be able to soar in the clouds, so high above the ground. But this picture brings out a fact that we don't normally think about; flying in bad weather. Its easy to do something when the weather is nice, but what about when its less-than-nice? Birds have to do what they really have to do, regardless of the weather. People are like that too; especially Christians. We must be what we must be, in spite of whatever opposition we may face. There have always been those who reject The Christ of God and try to make him something less than God-in-the-flesh. The apostle John talks about just such a situation in his first general letter.


1 John 2:18-23 WEB (R)
(18) Little children, these are the end times, and as you heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have arisen. By this we know that it is the final hour.
(19) They went out from us, but they didn't belong to us; for if they had belonged to us, they would have continued with us. But they left, that they might be revealed that none of them belong to us.
(20) You have an anointing from the Holy One, and you all have knowledge.
(21) I have not written to you because you don't know the truth, but because you know it, and because no lie is of the truth.
(22) Who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the Antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son.
(23) Whoever denies the Son, the same doesn't have the Father. He who confesses the Son has the Father also.


Today, the term Antichrist is overused an misapplied by every sensational minister who wants to draw attention to the end times. One thing is certain; that is Jesus is God and the world is as it never has been before. Will we see the return of Christ? Could be? I really don't know and I don't WANT TO KNOW! But, we must be faithful to him who has called us in all things, because just as birds fly in all types of weather, so we must be who we are regardless of the opposition. So, watch the birds fly and think about the future, but always remember to watch where they are flying because you don't want an unexpected surprise to make a mess on you.

A fish story

Now that is one really big fish! I wonder if he prayed he would catch it? In the Godfather II, the oldest brother (Pauley) tells how he always was able to catch a fish because he prayed first. I guess this means that God prepared a fish just for him... Not all that surprising because it has happened before...


Jonah 1:17 WEB (R)
(17) Yahweh prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah, and Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.

Jonah 2:1-10 WEB (R)
(1) Then Jonah prayed to Yahweh, his God, out of the fish's belly.
(2) He said, "I called because of my affliction to Yahweh. He answered me. Out of the belly of Sheol I cried. You heard my voice.
(3) For you threw me into the depths, in the heart of the seas. The flood was all around me. All your waves and your billows passed over me.
(4) I said, 'I have been banished from your sight; yet I will look again toward your holy temple.'
(5) The waters surrounded me, even to the soul. The deep was around me. The weeds were wrapped around my head.
(6) I went down to the bottoms of the mountains. The earth barred me in forever: yet have you brought up my life from the pit, Yahweh my God.
(7) "When my soul fainted within me, I remembered Yahweh. My prayer came in to you, into your holy temple.
(8) Those who regard lying vanities forsake their own mercy.
(9) But I will sacrifice to you with the voice of thanksgiving. I will pay that which I have vowed. Salvation belongs to Yahweh."
(10) Yahweh spoke to the fish, and it vomited out Jonah on the dry land.


The question is: What do you do with the fish once you get it? The picture certainly doesn't tell us and The Godfather didn't tell us, but this passage from Jonah does. Jonah reflected on his situation while in the fish and turned to God. God listened! In a way, God prepared a fish to prepare Jonah for something better - obedience. The result was that the city of Nineveh was spared destruction and Jonah was given an opportunity to learn even more about God and his mercy. The book of Jonah ends with the stubbornness of the prophet, so I can't say if he ever did learn his lesson, but I wonder if God would use an even bigger fish for round two?

Just look!

This is a picture of Melbourne, Australia at night. I love the reflections of the city lights on the water; simply beautiful. However, that is NOT why I chose this picture; rather, it was the sky. Look at the clouds, nothing unusual, right? Right, but normally I don't even notice clouds at night because somehow it seems strange to focus on them. Sometimes, even ordinary things take on a new significance when cast in a different light, such as this passage from the book of Acts.


Acts 19:11-12 WEB (R)
(11) God worked special miracles by the hands of Paul,
(12) so that even handkerchiefs or aprons were carried away from his body to the sick, and the evil spirits went out.


God used handkerchiefs to demonstrate HIS POWER, so, suddenly the mundane becomes the focus of attention. Look around, and if you are a spiritual sort of person, you will see God throughout your day and maybe even at night... just look! Miracles are optional!

Careful is as careful does

When I saw these pictures, I was reminded of my former brother-in-law, who didn't use caution when he was lighting his grill and poured gasoline on it, "to get it going". He was burnt quite badly, but survived to learn a valuable lesson. It could have gone the other way, though; he could have died. If I could speak to this woman, I would tell her to be more careful, because you never know, a mistake like hers could cost her the only thing of real value... her existence. James puts it another way...


James 4:13-15 WEB (R)
(13) Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow let's go into this city, and spend a year there, trade, and make a profit."
(14) Whereas you don't know what your life will be like tomorrow. For what is your life? For you are a vapor, that appears for a little time, and then vanishes away.
(15) For you ought to say, "If the Lord wills, we will both live, and do this or that."


These pictures do something very valuable; they provide incentive to quit smoking and to appreciate this short life. When we really do this, the smart thing to do next is to seek guidance from God, and OH, yes, put out that cigarette!!!