THE HAND OF THE LORD HATH WROUGHT THIS

Photo provided by Deborah Bagby Bouchard

But ask now the beasts, and they shall teach thee; 

and the fowls of the air, and they shall tell thee:

Or speak to the earth, and it shall teach thee: 

and the fishes of the sea shall declare unto thee.

Who knoweth not in all these that the 

hand of the LORD hath wrought this?

In whose hand is the soul of every 

living thing, and the breath of all mankind.

Doth not the ear try words? 

and the mouth taste his meat?

With the ancient is wisdom; 

and in length of days understanding.

With him is wisdom and strength, 

he hath counsel and understanding.

Job 12:7-13

CHILDREN ARE AN HERITAGE OF THE LORD

Photo submitted by Wanda Sutherland & Chad & Casey Evans

Lo, children are an heritage

of the LORD: and the fruit

of the womb is his reward.

As arrows are in the

hand of a mighty man;

so are children

of the youth.

Happy is the man that

hath his quiver full

of them: they shall

not be ashamed,

but they shall speak

with the enemies

in the gate.

Psalm 127 :3-5

MY GLORY, THE LIFTER OF MY HEAD

Photo by Darla Swiggart 

LORD, how are they increased that trouble me! 

many are they that rise up against me.

Many there be which say of my soul, 

There is no help for him in God. Selah.

But thou, O LORD, art a shield for me; 

my glory, and the lifter up of mine head.

I cried unto the LORD with my voice, 

and he heard me out of his holy hill. Selah.

I laid me down and slept; I awaked; 

for the LORD sustained me.

I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people, 

that have set themselves against me round about.

Arise, O LORD; save me, O my God: 

for thou hast smitten all mine enemies upon 

the cheek bone; thou hast broken the 

teeth of the ungodly.

Salvation belongeth unto the LORD: 

thy blessing is upon thy people. Selah.

Psalm 3

HOPE NOT ONLY CARRIES YOU THROUGH YOUR STORMS, YOUR HOPE CAN CARRY OTHERS THROUGH THE STORMS OF THEIR LIFE.

Never underestimate the importance of passing

the baton of your heritage from one generation to another. 

It may be your baton that is used to reach many for Christ. 

Far too many times we give up hope right before someone

else is ready to receive that baton.  When this happens not

only did we lose hope, that person who was nearly ready

to receive it might lose hope and who knows how many

generations could be affected by that. 

Yet how many people can find hope if you keep on

running with that baton in your hand even when you

feel the wind has been knocked out of you, when you

feel hopeless yourself, when you feel nobody is ever going

to come along and pick the baton up and start running,

keep running anyway and one day the Lord will honor

those prayers and open the windows of heaven and pour out

his blessing of redemption upon your family and extend it far

beyond until it begins to flow to other families,

cities and even into other countries.  

It may not be your baton they take, it may be the baton

of someone that took it from you and kept running that they

take and find hope for tomorrow and find Christ. 

So never stop running! 
Never stop running! 

Take your baton and never stop running.

ABIDING UNDER THE SHADOW OF THE ALMIGHTY

Photo Provided by Shelly Haney

A few months ago I gave our two chickens away

to a co-worker that had lost his to a wild animal

that had found his way into the coop.  He was

heartbroken over losing them and h.  He had spent

a considerable amount of money building his chickens

the perfect home.  He would go out and pet them

daily and had a perfect coop set up for them.
It was obvious his chickens were probably

among the best taken care of. 

As several months have passed by he continues to

give me updates on them.  He studies them out

extensively and was going into great depths to

explain to me how these two chickens love to

spread their wings and how he would run his

fingers underneath the wings and fluff the feathers.

As winter has set in he began to explain how their

feathers have become thick and how warm they

are underneath those wings as he runs his hands

underneath them.  The chicken has a heart rate

of about 400 beats per minute causing their

metabolism to be much higher than that of

a human. 

This caused me to stop and think about a

few scriptures in the bible.

It is the nature of the chicken/bird to

cultivate it's feathers and fluff them to

be prepared for the storms in life, to

prepare them for the day they have

babies that will run and hide under

those wings for protection. 

This is the very thing the Lord speaks of.

His heart longs for the day that his

children run and hide under his wings

for protection against the elements of the

world.  He desires for us to run to him for love,
warmth and protection.  Is this

because he is a God trying to trap us and hold

onto us so we can't breathe and live life to our fullest

potential?  No, it's because he sees the elements

of this wicked world and he sees the dangers

we will be faced with.  He longs to draw us

close to himself.  He longs for us to listen

to the beating of his heart and to know

that he holds within those wings the power

to save us from any danger that might come

against us.  It's only his wings that can protect us
on that great day of judgement.

He not only wants us to run there for a moment but

he desires for us to dwell there with the Most

High.  There are several scriptures in the bible

that mentions "The Most High."  The
angels and even the demons themselves
proclaimed Christ to be the Most High God.
So in Psalm 91:1 he is letting us know that
when we are in His secret place even the
demons will recognize our divine protection
and know this is the one place we can't be
touched by their wicked devices and ways
because they understand he is the Most High.

Have you understood how the Lord spread his

wings of protection over us so that all the evilness

could not engulf us as Satan and his army became

angry at the wonders of God and his creations and

he went so far as to consume the very protector and

covering God had given for us. 

Christ left his throne in

heaven, came to earth, spread his wings over us when

he stretched out upon the cross.  He became our

protector, our deliver and though he had never done

wrong his wings spread out over us and we are

protected, yet he died doing that very act of kindness.

 His death sets us free so we can do as Malachi 4:2
says, we can go forth as the calves in the stalls. 
We can go forth with zeal and excitement knowing 

that the wicked will be tread down.  Even the

demons recognize that day is coming and in the 

scripture they plead with the Most High God to
prolong that day.

So as the Lord Jesus Christ took his wings and

spread them out for you, will you run under his

wings for protection?  His heart longs for the day

you choose to be close to his heart, to be under 

his wings where he knows you are safe from

the harm of the worldliness around you.  

........how often I have longed to gather your

children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under

her wings, and you were not willing

Luke 13:34

He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High

shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty

Psalm 91:1

But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of

righteousness arise with healing in his wings;

and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall.

You will tread down the wicked,

for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet

on the day which I am preparing," says the LORD of hosts.…

Malachi 4:2