As the Falling Rain

How far would you go to find the Messiah? If you knew He was on earth would you travel any distance to give Him your homage? Would any distance any obstacle seem small? Would any sacrifice be small enough for the King of kings? Or what if the ones to announce His coming to you were mere shepherds? Would your pride be hurt because you weren't the one who was chosen to hail His advent? We often hear how the wise men traveled a great distance to find Jesus- and when they found Him, they discovered a mere baby in the care of poor peasants! No mighty potentates were in attendance; no great men were before them worshipping the tiny King. But did they turn away? Did they reject Him because He didn't meet their expectations? No! They had read the Scriptures, they had the witness of the Holy Spirit, they had seen His star. Yes, He was the One they had come so far to find! Often we hear, too, of the priests who did not welcome Jesus at His birth. They were offended because mere sh...

The account of the five loaves and two fishes is an amazing story! Imagine being in a secluded area with five thousand men to feed (not including however many women and children must have been there!), and you only have five loaves and two fishes! What would you do? When this happened to the disciples, they just wanted to send all of the people away. But Jesus told them, " Give ye them to eat " (Luke 9:13). The disciples responded by saying, " We have no more but five loaves and two fishes; except we should go and buy meat for all this people" (verse 13). Jesus then told the disciples to have all of the people sit down in companies of fifty. Then taking the loaves and fishes, He blessed them, and gave them back to the disciples. Then the disciples gave it to the people. Afterwards, from the multiplied five loaves and two fishes, they took up twelve baskets of fragments! It's the same with us really. We may feel that we nothing to share with people. Or...

"Now it came to pass on a certain day, that He went into a ship with His disciples: and He said unto them, Let us go over unto the other side of the lake. And they launched forth. But as they sailed He fell asleep: and there came down a storm of wind on the lake; and they were filled [ with water,] and were in jeopardy. And they came to Him, and awoke Him, saying, Master, master, we perish. Then He arose, and rebuked the wind and the raging of the water: and they ceased, and there was a calm. And He said unto them, Where is your faith? And they being afraid wondered, saying one to another, What manner of Man is this! for He commandeth even the winds and water, and they obey Him. " Luke 8: 22-25.   Recently, I read this, and it made me wonder, Where is Jesus in the storms of my life? When the disciples were in the ship, Jesus was with them; they were not alone. But. . . where is Jesus in my "storms"— like when I lose someone or something dear to me, or if I...

I respect Asians very much. They are often hardworking, intelligent, and family oriented. Historically, they were among the most highly civilized nations. Many times when speaking of her Vietnamese and Hmong friends, my sister mentions how level-headed they are compared to herself and her other friends. But what makes them that way? It seems to me it is often based on honour— honouring your family and culture. To disgrace your family's name is almost unspeakable. As Christians, what should govern us? I believe it is honour, too. God says, "Them that honour Me I will honour" 1 Samuel 2:30. What kept such great men like Joseph, Daniel, Nehemiah, and Paul— and above all, Jesus— so steadfast? Love for God, of course. But what would that love lead them to do? We honour and obey our parents when we love them. It is the same with God. Such men like Joseph and Daniel cared for God's honour— they wanted to rightly reflect His character to others because they loved Him. ...

Photo: My dad. :)  Sitting by the river on a rock, I noticed a little skeleton-like object. As I looked a little closer, it looked like what had been a dragonfly nymph.   I had gone home with some friends this particular Sabbath, because we were planning to go to Bar Harbor the next day. We went for a walk by a river that was near my friends' house, and we were all supposed to look for object lessons in nature, and share them with the others after our walk. (Unfortunately, I didn't share this one then-or any of the other ones I gained- but I can share this one now!) As I looked at the nymph shell, I thought about how the nymph had to completely leave behind it's exoskeleton to become a dragonfly- a new creature.   So it is with us. We must completely leave off the old nature if we would be Christians. The dragonfly couldn't be half nymph and half dragonfly. We can't be half with the world and half with Christ...

Mandarin Duck Artists are often said to be their own worst critics. Maybe it's because we see all the defects that no one else seems to notice. We see the misaligned eyes, the crooked nose; we know what didn't come out just as we had planned. But aside from that, I believe the Great Master Artist has an artist's eye, too- albeit in a different sense. Here is an interesting quote from The Desire of Ages , p. 826: "Tell the people of Him who is 'the Chiefest among ten thousand,' and the One 'altogether lovely.' The Song of Solomon 5:10, 16. Words alone cannot tell it. Let it be reflected in the character and manifested in the life. Christ is sitting for His portrait in every disciple. Every one God has predestinated to be 'conformed to the image of His Son.' Romans 8:29. In every one Christ's long-suffering love, His holiness, meekness, mercy, and truth are to be manifested to the world." King James Version American S...