A Natural Production

Nature is the greatest production ever seen by any audience.  It is performed on a universal stage where animals, insects and plants are but a few of the actors.  We should take time out of our busy schedules to appreciate God’s Natural Show - it is being enacted around us 24-7.  No bookings are required, good seats are assured and tickets have all been paid for by the Host.

Few things are more pleasing to any producer than seeing a full house enjoying their production.  In nature’s ‘living – interactive – play’, God is the Host, Writer, Director, Producer, Costume and Set Designer.  During the performance, He is infinitely busy backstage; however, still finds time to peep from behind His heavenly curtain to enjoy the audience’s enjoyment of His production.
At the closing sunset of each day we should show our appreciation for our Divine Creator’s work with a rousing applause to acknowledge and glorify His creative genius.  

The Pebble-Mound Mouse

There is a curious little mouse that lives in one of the hottest, driest and most unforgiving areas in Australia; where the reflected heat from the ground can reach over sixty degrees; where it may not rain for years; and, where the world’s deadliest snakes are its neighbours.  How can this little mouse possibly survive in such a hostile environment?
The clever pebble-mound mouse builds a fortress-like home of tiny stones measuring up to nine metres across. These pebbles create natural insulation for his mound.  The more pebbles the mouse uses, the cooler the inside temperature and the greater its protection.  Outside the temperature can be scorching hot with deadly snakes searching for an easy meal, but inside the tiny fortress, the pebble-mound mouse stays very cool and safe. 

For us, the stress and pressure of life can be unbearable.  However, if we build a fortress around ourselves using the promises of God, stress and worry can not penetrate our life and we will remain tranquil and cool.

The Snapping Turtle

A snapping turtle is one of the largest fresh water turtles in the world.  A unique characteristic of this strange turtle is the way it captures its prey.  It doesn’t chase the prey, it tempts the prey to come to it.  This cunning turtle lies motionless on the river bed with its mouth wide open.  To entice passing prey, it wriggles its worm-like appendage on the end of its tongue.  When an unwary victim enters the turtle’s mouth, its sharp jaws snap tight.

In life we are all presented with appealing opportunities, but how do we determine that which is good or that which is bad.  When an opportunistic door suddenly opens, is it a door that God has opened, or is it the mouth of a snapping turtle complete with wriggling worm to tempt us in?  We live in the devil’s world and he can entice us with very attractive opportunities that appeal equally to our moral or immoral side.  A fish that thinks it is beyond temptation is usually the easiest one to catch.
God has given us two safeguards to keep us protected - His written word and His still small voice.  We should heed both before we advance.  If God’s word says, ‘No’ we should obviously not proceed.  If we get a sense that something is not right, no matter how honorable the opportunity seems to be, we should move with caution and prayer (the road to hell is paved with good intentions).  If we rush in, ignoring God’s safeguards, we should not be surprised when everything goes dark with a sudden SNAP.

The Desperate Plant

If a plant is under stress, it doesn’t take long for the signs to show.  Firstly leaves wither and then the branches, until finally the roots wither.  When roots wither, death is near.  But while there is life, there is still hope.  If the plant is given the right amount of water, fertilizer, light and time, small sprouts of life will appear and soon it will prosper.

Plants are insightful illustrations into people.  When a person is under stress, it doesn’t take long for them to show the signs.  Their interest in life – withers.  Caring for themselves and for those around - dries up.  Eventually, their very roots (soul) become weak with depression.  Death may be just around the corner.  However, while there is life there is still hope.  If this person is given the right amount of light (with intercessory prayer), fertilizer (a graceful supportive attitude), water and time (encouragement and patients), small sprouts of hope will appear. But we must resist the temptation to over-water (it’s the quickest way to drown a plant). 
As God never gives up on us, we should never give up on them.  How many times has God propped up a withered plant so it has a chance to become tomorrow’s great tree to bare fruit for many hungry souls to feed upon?

Riding a Runaway Horse

Horses come in all shapes, sizes, colours and breeds.  Some horses are gentle and good natured while others are wild and unpredictable.  If we desire to ride a horse, we should choose carefully - no matter their nature, all horses are powerful and can critically injure - intentionally or unintentionally.  Riding a good natured horse can be a pleasant experience but we ride the wild ones at our own peril.  Remember, if we are not in control of our horse, the horse is in control of us.

Human compulsions, like horses, take many forms.  Sometimes our compulsions are good natured and even beneficial (shopping, television, exercise, eating, work, social life, entertainment, etc), but we must rein them in at the first signs of bolting. 
Some of our compulsions are wild, unpredictable and deadly (prohibited drugs, gambling, illicit sex, criminal activity, etc), and God forbids we ride these horses.  If we disobey, it is at our own peril.
The more our compulsions gallop out of control, the harder they are to restraint and soon we’re riding an uncontrollable addiction.  When no longer master of our compulsions and are stuck on a runaway addiction, it’s only a matter of time before we come to a ravine.

Beached Whales

At times, we hear about a pod of whales beaching themselves.  No one is certain why this happens.   What causes, not just one, but often whole pods to doom themselves on a beach?  Even if humans successfully guide these pods back to sea, they often unexplainably beach themselves further up the coast. 

Life is like a vast ocean filled with many dangers and detours.  We are similar to whales - if we don’t watch where we head, we can easily beach ourselves (become discouraged, disillusioned and turn from God).  Our wellbeing depends on who we follow.  If we follow an idiot, we shouldn’t be surprised when we end up on one of life’s reefs.  Equally, if we put our trust in the wise council of men, we may also be heading for danger.  If the person we are following (building our spiritual life upon) suddenly hits the beach, we too will most likely run aground.  We should never build our spiritual life around another person - no matter how inspiring, admirable or saintly they may seem (cursed is the man who trusts in man).  However, there is a dilemma: when lost in life’s ocean, direction is needed.  Fortunately, God has supplied an impeccable leader.  If we keep our eyes on Christ and follow Him, ignoring other calls, we will never run aground (get discouraged, disillusioned or turn from God).  When we pursue Christ, we will constantly be amazed at where He guides us. 

Playful Kittens

Kittens are naturally playful, curious, innocent and trusting.  This combination makes them completely oblivious to life’s many dangers.  If it wasn’t for their ever watchful mother, they would fall foul of many tragedies.  When their mother senses something is wrong, she calls her kittens to safety, but often they are not interested in heeding their mother’s warning. When danger becomes more immediate, the mother grabs her kittens by the scruff of the neck and forcibly removes them from harms way. 

We are all like little kittens – completely oblivious to many of life’s dangers.  Sometimes we become so preoccupied chasing our ‘balls of wool’ (interests in life), that we do not heed God’s warnings of imminent danger.  To save us from a fatal situation, God must sometimes forcibly remove us from harms way.  Often, this is accomplished by an unpleasant circumstance.  If we are wise, we will act like the compliant kitten that is grabbed by the scruff of the neck and go suddenly silent, letting God have His way without struggle or objections.   

Different Species of Birds

God has made a world with many different species of birds.  Each has its distinct colorings, characteristics and call.  Through creation we learn God loves variety.  However, we are often guilty of thinking that when we become Christians we should all be white swans.
I wonder how many times God has wanted a Christian eagle that speaks eagle, to witness to the eagles -  a Christian owl that knows the owls’ ways, to bare testimony to the owls – a Christian wren to speak fluently to the wrens?  Unfortunately, if all God’s birds are pretending to be white swans, none of their own species will take them seriously.

Whoever we are, whatever we do, we should do it professionally as unto God.  We should let Him raise us up with the winds of grace so those around will look and wonder how we can glide through life, tranquil and relaxed, filled with compassion and inner strength.  When they question, we shall have the answer in a language and personality they understand.  As Christians, we should stop pretending to be something we are not and realise God made us the way we are for a reason - to be missionaries in our own occupations and recreations.

Unsuspecting Insects

The spider is a cunning insect.  It spins an almost invisible web across the path of their prey and then patiently waits for unsuspecting insects to come to it.  When a bug falls into the web it soon becomes entangled and is at the spider’s mercy.  Even though the insect is caught, the spider wraps it securely with more web and, at leisure, sucks the nourishment from it.  

Satan is the biggest spider of all.  He lurks unseen in the background and relies on his many webs of lies and deceit to catch his prey.  Like the spider, he doesn’t usually chase his prey – he waits for his prey to come to him. Satan has spun many ingenious and near invisible webs to entangle us (insects).  Webs that appeal to our pride, our self righteousness, our lust for power, success, popularity, wealth, fame, etc.  No matter what sort of person we are Satan has spun a web that can catch us.  Once entangled, we are at his mercy and it’s very hard to break free.  Ever so slowly, we are wrapped in webs of our own addictions, lusts, bitterness, jealousies and hatred.  Soon we are so entwined the only purpose we can possibly serve is to nourish Satan’s plans.
How do we avoid becoming entangled in Satan’s invisible systems of lies and deceit? We look to God.  He knows the whereabouts of every web spun by Satan.  If we fly through life carefully watching where we are going but always taking our lead from God, Satan’s webs will never entangle us.

To Each His own

God did not create only one plant, with one flower, with one fragrance.  There are many different plants each having unique flowers with their own colourings, characteristics and distinct fragrances. Some flowers attract bees, while others attract birds, butterflies, beetles, ants and others mice.  A flower’s fragrance is designed to attract certain creatures for the process of pollination.   Plants also flower in their own season. To what extent depends if they are firmly rooted in rich, watered soil and how much light they are receiving. 

Plants are great illustrations of teachers of God’s Word.  They have different appearances, colourings and personalities.  Teachers that grow in God’s Word, feed of Christ’s light, speak the Truth without hypocrisy in their own personal style, will bloom in their own season.  Their fragrance will compel a certain type of person who is attracted to the Truth presented in a way they understand.  Just like the bee, these people will be pollinated (with the Gospel) and when they go out into the world will spread it around.
God did not create one flower to appeal to all creatures – nor did He create one teacher to appeal to all people.  God has illustrated this in the Twelve Apostles.  Each of them had their own distinct personality, characteristics, styles and uniquely different fragrances.

The Busy Robin

A little robin built a nest and laid her eggs.  One day, while the little robin was busy gathering food, a cuckoo came and laid an egg in the robin’s nest.  When she returned, she didn’t question why a new egg had appeared - she was far too busy for that.  When her chicks hatched, she didn’t question why one of her chicks was distinctly different from the others - she had too many jobs to do.  And she did not question why one chick ate three times as much as the others - she just worked three times harder to feed them.
One day, while she was busy at work, the cuckoo chick pushed the other chicks out of the nest.  When the little robin returned, she did not question where her other chicks had gone – no time for that as the cuckoo chick was demanding to be fed.  The cuckoo chick continued to command attention around the clock.  The little robin exhausted herself trying to obey.  Never did she once question why the chick was three times her size, sounded nothing like her and shared none of her characteristics.

Ritual without reality blinds us from the truth.  When doing things, we must always check our motives.  We should continuously test our priorities lest something of no eternal importance starts taking up all our time and energy.  We should guard our beliefs against impostors otherwise it is easy for Satan to lay an egg in our nest (life) for us to raise.

The Insignificant Snail

A snail moves slowly through life leaving a slimy trail in its wake which dissolves within 24 hours. Soon, it is very hard to see any evidence of its passing.  When a snail moves slowly along, its sensitive body retracts into its shell whenever provoked.  When a snail dies, the only evidence of its existence is an empty shell.  To us a snail is very insignificant - its existence hardly worth noticing.

On a universal scale, we are even more insignificant than a snail.  We move through life desperately trying to leave a trail that will be remembered, but usually our trail disappears as soon as we pass.  We also have very sensitive souls, which retract from life when provoked.  Finally, when our life’s journey ends, all we leave behind is an empty shell.
As insignificant as we are, it is truly amazing that God includes us in His plan.  So we must conclude: if we are not doing God’s will in our lives, all we are creating is a worthless, slimy snail trail that will quickly fade away forever.  

Frog Prince

A frog is an amphibian.  This word comes from the Greek amphi and bios, meaning double-life. Frogs live and function on land and in the water.  They start their life as a tadpole entirely in the water.  When metamorphous begins the tadpole grows legs, arms and the ability to live and breath on land.  As the changing tadpole develops it spends less time in the water and more time on land. Soon, it looses the old characteristics and takes on a completely new form. 

As Christians, we are like the frog and have a double-life.  It begins in the worldly realm and progresses into the spiritual realm.  We start life as a tadpole (unbeliever), completely unable to enter the spiritual realm.  However, when we believe in Jesus Christ a metamorphous takes place - as new Christians we are like tadpoles in their first stages of change.  With weak worldly legs that distract and hinder us, we spend very little time (if any) in the spiritual realm.  As we continue to grow our spiritual legs get stronger and arms start to form.  We begin to loose our tail (old ways) and spiritual lungs start to function (new ways).
The transformations of frogs are progressive, so are the changes in Christianity.  As we slowly develop, we spend more time in the spiritual realm than in the earthly realm.
Furthermore, when we became Christians we automatically became royalty. We are frog-princess waiting to be kissed.  When we die God gives us that kiss (resurrection) and our metamorphosis is complete.  We will be clumsy frogs no longer but glorious royalty for eternity.

Swimming Aimlessly

When we dive into the ocean with our eyes open, images are unclear.  The water blurs our vision and everything is vague.  Without aid, we are unable to clearly identify the objects that surround us.  However, if we put on a diving mask or goggles, the sea world suddenly comes into focus.  We can now marvel at the ocean in a way we never could unaided.  We can clearly see the direction in which we are heading, appreciate the beauty and quickly identify what is friendly and what is dangerous. 

Life can seem pretty vague.  For many of us, we aimlessly journey through our existence trying to find sense and purpose to something that seems pointless.  Aren’t we taught (through theories of evolution), that we live simply to breed then die!  Is there a higher purpose to life?  If there is, how can we possible see things clearly?
When we look at life through the Word of God (Bible), everything takes on a completely different appearance.  We see things in a clarity that could never be attained using our own resources.  Suddenly, there is understanding as to why certain things happen.  We can discern beauty in a way we could not appreciate before. We clearly see our destination and can identify a purpose in life. 
God never intended us to travel through life disorientated, vulnerable to every danger.  He gave us goggles (Bible) to see clearly – it is up to us to put them on.

Spiritual Fire

Fire needs three elements to burn: HEAT – OXYGEN – FUEL.  If one of these elements is missing the fire will eventually go out.

Our spiritual life is like a fire in our soul.  Three elements are required to keep our Spiritual Fire alight: FAITH – HOPE – LOVE.  We need FAITH (to trust in God), HOPE (for absolute confidence in God) and LOVE (Christ-like love directed towards God and reflected back to all humanity) for our Spiritual Fire to continue to burn.
Getting a fire started is hardest.  All raging fires start with a tiny spark (all spiritual lives start with a single act of faith in Christ).  When our Spiritual Fire is alight, the more FUEL (Love for God) we use and the more OXYGEN (Confidence in God) we blow onto it, the greater the resultant HEAT (Faith).  Soon, our Spiritual Fire will produce the warmth of compassion and light up a world in darkness.  It won’t be long before people step out of darkness to seek sanctuary and comfort from our Spiritual Fire. 

The Fish

For nearly two thousand years, a symbol of Christianity has been the fish.  It is interesting to note that the fish is an aquatic creature designed for underwater life.  They come in all shapes, size, colour and characteristics and are a great source of sustenance for many creatures.  Fish can lay millions of tiny eggs, the majority of which end up as a source of nourishment for others.  It seems that the major purpose of a fish is to sustain and strengthen other creatures. 

Christians are Heavenly creatures designed for a spiritual life.  We come in all shapes, size, colour and personality.  Christians have many purposes – one of the highest is to be a source of nourishment to the needy.  In an intolerant world, we are to be tolerant.  In a world of hatred we are to love.  In a world of despair we are to give hope.  Many people will feed from our Christian attributes, as we in turn feed from the teaching of Jesus Christ. 
As fish lay many eggs, we hopefully produce many acts of kindness, love, self-control and compassion to be digested and turned to energy by the hungry souls in our vicinity.  Just like the fish, we are unlikely to see results of our eggs (spiritual works).  We will never really know who was led to Christ and salvation through our labours until we reach Heaven.

Righteous Violence

A beautiful illustration of parenthood is a female humpback whale tending her calf. Although so great in size, she is always graceful and gentle and never seeks trouble.  Her whole existence is devoted to her helpless offspring - but often trouble comes their way.  A pod of killer whales in search of food will try to separate mother and calf.  The mother responds immediately by warning the killers to keep back.  And if these warning go unheeded, she instinctively defends her calf with an act of violence, bringing down her mighty tail on those who would harm her calf.

People are sometimes shocked that the Bible is filled with wars and violence approved by God.  We live in a brutal world (the Devil’s kingdom) where many blood-thirsty individuals and nations cause harm and havoc.  God desires to deal peacefully with everyone and wishes no-one any harm.  He paid the price at the cross so ALL may have salvation.  However, should a predator threaten those in His care, God is forced to act.  Firstly, He gives a warning and, if they persist, He will lift His mighty ‘hand of judgement’ and send it crashing down.  God does not desire this, but He has made promises to care for His children.  God knows that sometimes the only way to deal with ruthless people and violent nations is to speak in the single language they understand.  God’s violence is not unlawful, but a righteous violence to which any mother forced to protect her child can attest.

A Disaster Waiting to Happen

An avalanche is caused by a build up of loose snow, ice or earth set in motion down a hill or mountainside.  Initially it may be small, but as it gains momentum it gathers mass to descend with great force, indiscriminately destroying everything in its path. 

Anger is a disaster waiting to happen.  If we let thoughts such as self absorption, jealousy, hurt pride and feelings of injustice build up, they can instantly be set into motion by angry desire for self vindication.  When these thoughts are unrestrained, a disastrous chain of events occur.  Anger soon gathers bitterness, irrationality and blame before sliding into hostility.  As it builds momentum it forms into resentment and hatred.  Before we know it, our anger has turned into an implacable avalanche of retaliation and vengeance.
God has asked that whenever we feel our temper rising we should immediately hand the problem to Him.  He will vindicate us if it is warranted.  We should never let our anger get out of control - it is neither objective nor productive.  It is irrational and destroys all relationships in its path - friend, foe or family.  No wonder the Bible states, ‘Never let the sun set on your anger’.   

Weeding the Garden

There were no weeds in the Garden of Eden.  In this beautiful garden, every plant had its purpose and its place.  But when man fell (sinned), Satan became the Head Gardener (ruler of the world).  At that moment, nature was corrupted and weeds began to appear.  They thrived and multiplied and now the world is choked with them. 
Today, if our gardens are not constantly tended, it will not be long before they are taken over with weeds.

Sins are like weeds in the garden of our soul - if they are not pulled out and disposed of, they will soon take over (1 John 1:9).  We must constantly tend our souls by keeping our sins in check; otherwise they, like weeds, will rapidly grow and spread their seeds - not only in our garden (soul) but in neighbouring gardens (the souls closest to us).  When our soul is chocked with sins, it is impossible for new plants (divine good) to sprout, flower and bare fruit.

The Chopping Block

If chooks have a good ‘run’ (shelter), the right food and environment there is no reason for them ‘not’ to produce eggs.  If a chook has these things and still does not lay, it won’t be long before the farmer brings out the chopping block and replaces them.

When Christians have everything they need (availability of the Word, good teaching and the right environment) they should be producing ‘good works’.  God always gives us a good ‘run’.  He has an individual plan for each of us with many opportunities to spiritually-produce to bring glory to God - simultaneously procuring rewards for eternity.  However, if we have everything necessary but stubbornly live our Christian life always consuming - never producing, it won’t be long before God show us the chopping block and is forced to replace us.  All the opportunities that would have been ours, God will give to another.  This is why He sometimes allows us to go through a near-death-experience – only then do many Christians wake up and start producing ‘divine- good’.