Devotional GOD'S POWER RANGERS

 Humans use the word "Poor" often in describing those who have less. But sometimes, if we were to see things in the perspective of the Divine Life form (Isa. 55), we would call it "Streamlined", "Free", or even---more "power efficient".

  I  don’t know if people get it.  You get rid of excess baggage.  You don’t  need stuff  to  be  happy,  and  you  can move around a lot lighter,  faster,  stronger, more “you”.  But the more a person has, the more that person’s attention is addicted   to  those  things   in  order  to  be  happy—his  ability  to  enjoy   is shrunken!  And he must,  in reality,  have money to pay for purchasing  more of it,  to maintain it,  and he is enslaved to caring for this thing that  becomes his   master  or  it  breaks  down  (and  then  it  demands  menta l energy   and money  to buy a model that breaks down less,  at times offering the lie  there is a model that will never break down.)

  Despite the fact the following has gone on for centuries, is it not true that accumulation of inanimate amenities tends to be in diametric proportion of difficulty of developing deep personal relationships? Logic would tell you that all surrounding humans seek the best possible benefits life can offer them. Okay, easy words. It’s harder to make real friends when you’re rich, because people around see only your money. (Isn’t it more reasonable that real friendships would be born by asking for help, not flaunting wealth?

 Showing monetary power merely makes surrounding humans think of how they can benefit by proximity. This turns them into ravenous, sly wolves, not caring friends! Also, it seems to me, sometimes possession of too much causes people to lose social graces as well as respect for others as people, making them think power is sufficient, and it shrinks them as people.

  Without realizing it, gradually, they lose the quiet dignity the human being once had and degrade themselves to become me-only creatures which are a step down on the evolutionary scale.

  “I was as a beast before thee,” scripture describes the man who has not submitted himself, humbled himself; and I see power-hungry man grappling for the top, ever fitting into this mold.

  Do we know how to say, “Please”?

  Can people describe our eyes as soft?

  Will children quickly approach us?

  If our being vindicated would mean those who offended us would have their sins exposed and be driven into the ground, would we rather not be vindicated and have people take advantage of us?

  Have we kept smiling—with our eyes—and saying, “thank you” to everyone, even those who couldn’t do anything for me?

  When is the last time we said, “I was wrong; will you forgive me?”

  Are we willing to take blame to cover someone’s wrong?

  When Jesus’ Forces go on the offense and move forward into this sin-cursed, broken world, we do not wield condescension, competition or a combative spirit; our working assumptions must be ruled by the Law of Love. Gentle warriors of God need to look radically different from the world.

Devotional JUST ONE PERSON

  “I just want to know I’ve made one person happy,” someone said. It sounded so humble. But the fact of the matter is, no human being has the power in himself to make the heart of another happy. Not if he’s honest, anyway. He’s a sinful wretch himself.

  It’s God Who makes me happy. I’m the “one person”, and God deigns to make me happy. Then He goes and does it over again with another human being. And another. Even the one person other humans consider the scum of the earth.

  God humbles Himself to say to even that person, “Could I ask you for a favor?” (a drink of a cup of water, maybe.)

  And He hears him say, “Sure! I’m so happy you asked me.”

An added bonus: he doesn’t stop with going from rich to poor or educated to uneducated or godly to infidel or male to female or adult to child. He steps across caring for, not just humans but also his critter friends (Prov. 12:10); and then, even the insects.

It wouldn’t surprise me if our Creator were considerate of plants and minerals and of all we call the inanimate world.

Devptional QUENCHED

  There was one flower that keeps coming back to me. It was a yellow flower, but the reason I remember it wasn't because it was pretty--which it was. Its just that by looking at it, I could see it had been dry and probably ready to wilt UNTIL IT RAINED> The water then seeped into its petals and gave it a robust glow it had probably forgotten about.

  I know I have a tendency to make outlandish parallels, but please bear with me. This flower seemed to  e whispering out hope for people of withering spirits, saying that God would renew beauty...and would probably do it through life's rains, not sunny days. 

Devotional HIDDEN TREAT

When I was taking a walk in Koriyama, there was a neighbor's bush that seemed to call to me to come closer, and for some reason, I pushed aside a branch and almost held my breath at the beautiful bloom hidden there. God must love beautiful things, I couldn't help but think; after all, this flower's beauty was probably being appreciated by no one else but Him. (But then He loved me enough to let me get a peek at one of His visual treats.) Oh that He would continue to mould ME to become a treat to Him too--one day, maybe He would delight in the fact He created me, chose to save me, spent time working on me. Maybe one day.

Devotional PERMANENT SUPPLY

 I just got an e-mail from Jannie which inspired me to draw the below illustration of the well. Many people like to say “once saved, always saved!”

  Well, that’s like saying, “Once you’ve digged a well, you don’t have to keep going down to the river and filling up your buckets of water and lugging it all the way home anymore. True.

But you still gotta keep going to the well and drinking from the water and staying full…without the water, you can have a well dug in the backyard, but you're gonna  dry up just as surely as the person who has to make trips to the creek!

   The person who has a recharger no longer has to go running to the store for new batteries. But he better keep plugged in regularly to the power source. No appliance can run on empty, even if you have a 100% efficient recharger and there is absolutely nothing wrong with the outlet or electrical current itself.

   The soul who claims having repented for sin at regeneration therefore does not need to constantly repent and grow in holiness is saying he has a well but he will not drink from it; bought a rechargeable type appliance but he never plugs it into the charger.

Devotional DADDY’S HOMEGOING

Saying Goodbye

That was May 4, 2016; years ago. But it has gone so fast. It feels like it was yesterday that Joycie’s phone call came saying, “You’d better come. Jannie’s plane will be coming around to Tokyo; you get on it and come together to Oki.” Since I was already packed for another church retreat and had withdrawn cash for the getaway, I was ready to go. Jannie had also procured her passport and visa ahead of time, and we’d checked transportation schedules ahead of time, so everything went smoothly, and we got to talk with Daddy before he went—it seemed, peacefully--Home.

 But I want to record something I didn’t realize until about 5 years later. I remember when we were with Daddy, I wanted to express a daughter’s love with my eyes and asked God to convey it, let him understand it. I so wanted him to die happy.

 It occurred to me now the best thing for Daddy’s to see would’ve been, not a daughter’s love for himself, but a daughter’s undying love for his God.

 This must be what Elisha realized as he saw Elijah ushered away into eternity. He wouldn’t have his elderly friend die without seeing his timid disciple Elisha was sufficiently emboldened to serve in his stead. “Father, Father, the chariot of Israel, and the footmen thereof”—most people do not understand, I think, what lay behind that cry, and what might have come into Elijah’s ears by Elisha’s utterance of those words. “I haven’t cringed in fear of the flames but am seeing your God!” he may’ve wanted to assure him; “Go in peace! He will lead me all my life!”

 And I pray too that my eyes might’ve conveyed to Daddy that the Love that held him captive all his life would rule mine too. Maybe that’s why he could slip out so peacefully.

Devotional EVEN SO, COME QUICKLY, LORD JESUS!

   “The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them.

 And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together. And the lion shall eat straw like the ox.

 And the nursing child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder’s den.

  They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.” (Isa. 11:5-9)

 If anyone read completely through the above verses, maybe they’re like me and cry too when they look out at the world of wildlife, see the way men carelessly throw around the wonderful Name of Almighty God, yearn for the Day when Jesus comes again and sets up His Kingdom and makes all things right. The defenseless animal not given any rights in the present system will be able to smile and move safely among humans.   Vulnerable toddlers will be able to gurgle and tumble with giggling footless playmates.

We’ll finally lose all racial bigotry and class distinctions. Ravens and crows will get along, as will other “naturally feuding” species. We won’t see animosity between factions. Really!

 Why? Because the earth will be “full of the knowledge of the LORD”! We won’t have to look at even one person and be thought strange when explaining why we live the way we do, say the things we say, love the things we love…every single person we talk to will look at us and say, “Yes; I know, and the Lord is so worthy!”

 Oh, for that day to come—may it be soon, Lord Jesus!

THE TOKKURI TREE 忘れられない可愛い花

 Here's a bilingual photo story promised yesterday of the Tokkuri tree across the road:

1 Forgotten Flowers花が泣いた

2 They're CottonCandySeeds綿菓子の種？

3 Plant Named DecanterTreeCotton名前トックリ木綿

4 That's trunk and fruit, but what about the flower？木の幹・実はそれでいいけど、

花は？

Devotional IF I HAD KNOWN

 This is one of the pictures I came across, taken in the backyard of our first home. Chinen-san was one of my favorite housekeepers growing up, not only a super help for my Mom, showing her how to adapt to life in Okinawa, but she took time to talk with us little ones too. She was one of those "radar" people who was able to anticipate your questions and give you the answers before the words were phrased, knew exactly what change of clothes needed to be laid out or care needed to be taken before they were asked for.

She said at the end of World War II, she'd been captured by U.S. soldiers but ran away. She was caught again but slipped away when the guard looked the other way. When she was found the 3rd time, she was told to behave or would have to be tied, and noticed then friends and family caught earlier had been well fed. She'd been taught captives were starved and tortured, but she could see this was far from the truth. She stayed after that, and she didn't have to be tied.

Many Christians think Heaven will be a spiritual unending church service in the sky and do NOT look forward to it. I don't know if I'd go as far as saying they think of it as TORTURE. (Altho' I know there are people who have a misunderstanding of Biblical eternity and get depressed thinking about it.)

It's not just Heaven; all God would hand us. How many of us live for the Lord, because we have escaped the sentence of death and do not have to die and are gorging ourselves on His riches, not running around thinking we must go on living for Him since it is our spiritual duty?

"If I had known," Chinen-san said, "I wouldn't have run so hard."

Devotional READING THROUGH THE BIBLE

 How many say they’re going to do it; start at Gen. 1:1; quit by summer partway through? So they try again another year. And another. That person has read Gen. 1:1 numerous times by the time he dies but never Revelation nor the rest of the books of the Old Testament, usually. Some do not know the book of Hezekiah does not exist nor Malachi 4:7.

Gonna try again？

“Start” reading the Bible, perhaps: year 1 in Genesis, but if you’ve petered out, for year 2, Joshua might be a better place to start. God’s gracious dealings with His Own are recounted in the books right after that.

Jump-off points for following years:

Year 3 Job (Treasured poetry starts here)

Year 4 Isaiah (Seeing reality through prophets’ eyes)

Year 5 Matthew (Jesus’ words are available free of charge!)

Year 6 Acts (Church and Christian relevance today)

Year 7 James (Final fulfillment & unshakable anchor)

 Maybe it’s still spotty, incomplete. But after 7 years, a reader such as the one above will have a more well-rounded understanding of what God said than the one who says sincerely, “No; I’m reading the entire Bible straight through! from Genesis!” but actually manages only the first few books every year.

 If even that much. Some start reading only the first few chapters of Genesis, and then they’re heard saying things like, “The Bible is not for me—it’s out of touch with reality.”

I noticed Pharaoh’s dream of 7 years’ famine was accompanied by 7 years’ plenty. Joseph told him the God of Heaven had revealed to him what action was to be taken: fill up storehouses with grain from the fruitful years in preparation for severe worldwide drought. When it came, that pharaoh became the most sought-after ruler on the face of the earth.

 Someday, there will come a famine—not of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the word of the Lord (Amos 8:11). Are we filling our hearts with the plenty He sends our way today?

P.S. (By the way, feeling good about storing knowledge shouldn’t be the only reason for Bible reading!)

SEEING IS ENJOYING? ええ？

 My friend said her workday was changed to today, so I don't get to see her. But may I share some things we talked about in previous visits?

"Can you actually see God?" she'd asked me. And we talked about how reading things He's sent me in the Bible are just as alive as seeing it with my eyes. No doubt those who've received love letters can SEE vividly the sender of the letter as if he were standing on the other side of the paper speaking straight to them. Old books can ring true even across miles and passing of time.

It wasn't only what I didn't actually SEE. I grew up with music you HEAR. You enjoy music, not with your eyes, but with your ears. I'm going to switch languages here, referring to the April 11 post "Eyeful or Earful":

公園の裏に行った時、カメラマンが皆デカいカメラで鮮やかな青のカワセミ鳥を狙っているのが見えた。池の橋のずっと向こう側、皆がいない所に行った。ちょっとびっくりしたのが、そこに、自分のように、うるさい連中から離れて、その鳥のキレイな姿が見えなくてもいいから、別の鳥のキレイな鳴き声を聞いて楽しんでいる人が数人いた。（４月１１日ブログより）

Not only is it possible to enjoy without seeing, I told my Buddhist friend about something I'd seen here at the park that made me realize how unreliable sight is! One day, I saw a floating candle burning in the pond! I took a photograph of it; even my husband couldn't figure it out. It turned out to be the bottom of a curled water lily leaf reflecting light like wax. The "burning flame"? An orange carp swimming nearby.

Devotional BILLIONAIRE & BOY

 (This is the story that formed "Millionaire and Miss" found in "JUNIE'S LIBRARY")  

  If there were a rich man in fedora and furs riding along slowly in chaperoned Mercedez Benz along the proverbial road of life, handing out leaflets of what he felt was important, and the way he felt we should live, and those who saw these leaflets mostly disregarded them… Would it come as a big surprise to anyone that those who disregarded his writings and his person, then came to his car and asked for his help one day… if he didn’t lift his head to listen to their request, and they went away complaining that the rich man “never listens to them”?

  For sake of contrast and a story, let us say there was a poor boy somewhere, during one of that billionaire’s slow drives, who stopped and stared at the paper handed him through the window of that car.

  “Thanks, mister, but I can’t read...”

  Before he knew it, the boy was cleaned, fed, clothed, and sent off to the best boarding school in the land, where he received the “larnin’” he needed to “make sense” of that billionaire’s “chicken scratch”.

  And read it he did. That boy not only read through that leaflet countless times, but sometimes he read portions out loud to the man just to show him now he could, as well as to thank him.

  He came back to the car one day—clean-cut, decked out in finest clothes, and he had learned by heart—the first section, the first four pages of the pamphlet he tells the rich man his life is better now because of!

  But he needed a little tape because some of the pages were coming apart; could the man buy him some? Of course, the billionaire bought him more rolls than he’d ever need.

  Later on, when he came back not needing tape to mend the leaflet but glasses so he could read it better—his eyes were getting weak—the man quickly got him reading glasses; then took him not only to the optician but also the optometrist, then to the medical doctor too. Of course, he footed the bill for all of this. And they were friends now.

  But one day, the boy came looking as miserable as a person could be. His mother had died. The billionaire didn’t try to cheer him up; just told him how very sorry he was—he remembered the sparkle in the boy’s eyes through the years whenever he was enabled to buy a gift for his mother.

  The son ended up living with the rich man. “Everything I have is yours,” the man said as he moved in.

  Is there someone thinking, “God never answers my prayer”? When did he last pick up His leaflet—it’s called the Bible—and simply heed what He had to say? God will be quick to supply mending aid necessary for those seeking His face in His word; and no doubt, life becomes richer when putting to practice all that’s written there. And even at times of heartbreak and loss—there is no guarantee His own will not experience them--we will find all belonging to our prayer-answering God at our disposal.

Devotional JC's YOUNGER BROTHER

 I know the Psalms have been of great comfort to me when I needed comfort from danger. But one time, a Christian friend was reading from Psalm 145 and mentioned something pretty important. “The Lord is near all who call…will fulfill the desire of those who fear him…he will hear their cry and save them…he preserves all who love him.” We love to read those verses, (verses 18-20a) she said; but we can’t treat God’s Word like that, just picking and choosing the things we like and leaving out the things that make us uncomfortable. We need to read it all, remembering it’s God’s Word. And she read to the end of the verse.

Ps. 145:20b “but all the wicked will he destroy.”

Actually, when she first read it, it sounded rather cold and unfeeling. I realized later, God sees things to the end. He thinks of our good and our safety up to the minutest detail and won’t leave things to chance.

 

J.C.’s YOUNGER BROTHER

Chris almost slams into his older brother Jay who happens to be visiting at home and is standing on the other side of the door when the teen comes crashing through. Jay hasn’t taken off his overcoat, hat, sunglasses--had it been a less tense moment, there would’ve been joking about how J.C. himself looked like a man from the mafia. But the younger brother has shut the door hard behind him and is standing with his back against it, breathing hard.

He tries to greet his brother but cannot talk, can only tremble. Jay looks at his perspiring brother and doesn’t ask for an explanation or a greeting. Mom and Dad, worried, has written Jay about Chris’s recent “friends”. So it has come to this? Jay gives a knowing look to the father who nods and walks to the garage. Then he gently peels his brother off the door he seems glued to.

Jay cracks it open a bit, peers out into the street, and says to the younger brother who has been running and is dirty, out of breath, and has cuts and bruises all over himself:

“There’s hot water in the tub—Mom always has the tub full this time in the evening. There should be food on the table too. Go take a bath and get a hot meal. And Mom will take care of all those—whatever you did to yourself—there’s plenty of ointment in the medicine cabinet, I’m assuming?”

At this, Jay glances over at his mother, who nods assent. “I’ll go out and have a talk with your buddies giving you a hard time. I already know who they are and all about them. Dad’s going to back me up in the car, is already out in the garage getting it warmed up to follow me out. He may’ve retired from the force a long time ago Chris, but his years in law enforcement will hold us in good stead. And he doesn’t say a whole lot, but you know he really does care a lot about the family.”

“Now git Chris, take a bath before you stink up the whole place.”

Some people don’t like a God that destroys the wicked. They think that’s a scary God. Well, I guess I want a God that shows strength in protecting those He loves.

Scripture says God doesn’t say only, “I love you.” He also says, “I’ll take care of the bad guys.” That’s why I can relax and go take a bath, have a hot meal. I know I can leave the rest up to Him.