Enjoy these selections from the last 90 days of Walter Mouse's weekly "Field Mouse Evangelism" devotions. The devotions are listed in descending order by date with the most recent devotion at the top. Click here if you would like to read the Wending Our Way devotions.
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We visited Bill's mom the other day. She's a plant-lover. One of her favorite houseplants is an ivy that has green-and-white leaves. It's pretty because it has unusual markings. Recently, it grew two new leaves that were completely white--no green at all. I got to thinking about those leaves as we all had a cup of tea. (Bill's mom likes mice!) Without green coloration, the leaves can't make food for the plant, since it's the chlorophyll that enables plants to make nutrients.
If we neglect prayer, Bible reading, service, prayer and fellowship, we're in danger of becoming like those white leaves. We'll wind up empty and unfed--starving, spiritually, really, if we let it go on long enough.
All living things need food, and as Christians, we're each responsible for feeding our own souls.
Psalms 130:5 ...I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in his word I put my hope.
Back at our previous house, we had an overnight snowfall one night and awoke to a world silent, soft and white. As we sat having our morning coffee and enjoying the beauty of it all, we heard a neighbor's snow shovel scraping along a nearby walkway--a faithful soul who was clearing the way for someone else.
Sometimes we can clear the way for someone else, too. A smile, a word of encouragement, a kind-hearted note...all just might make a slippery walkway more passable for a fellow traveler.
2 Samuel 22:37 ...You broaden the path beneath me....
We've seen some interesting decorations on Christmas trees this year. Some are decorated around a theme. We saw one decorated entirely with cardinals and holly; one with all Disney characters; and another that was all sheep and spinning wheels. One really caught my eye. It was covered entirely with tiny teacups with all sorts of colors and designs.
It reminded me of the way God often decorates my life with little sips of Beauty and Blessing. The colors of dawn, the fragrance of baking bread, the laughter of children, the feel of cold noses and furry heads, the taste of a hot cup of tea (and maybe a cookie or two).
As we go dashing through the holidays, let's take time along the way to seek out the tiny Treasures of Love God gently places in our lives every day--gifts straight from the Father's Heart and personalized for each of us. And especially thank Him for His Gift of Jesus, Who came to us one Holy Night so long ago.
Habakkuk 3:18 ...I will be joyful in God my Savior.
We get so much junk mail! Most of it has Bill's name and address on it. It's a nuisance!! Because of identity theft, he has to shred all of it. It's time-consuming and annoying, but he has to protect himself.
Jesus would never do that--steal my identity. He doesn't want to take my identity; He wants to give me His!! And it's free no less. Free to me, although it cost Him everything.
And the wonderful thing is that I don't have to protect myself FROM Him. I protect myself WITH Him.
Acts 11:26c ... The disciples were called Christians first at Antioch.
Bill and I were stopped at a red light on a two-lane highway today when a tractor-trailer approached from our left, right blinker flashing. We were the first car in line, and neither of us could imagine how the truck was going to make the turn without running us over. He seemed intent on his mission, though, and we were boxed in, so we sat there and watched the scene unfold. And by golly, he did it!! He went slowly, got REALLY close to us and kept track of things in his mirrors--and it wasn't long before we were both safely on our way.
Tight turns--they happen in life, too. That's just when we, too, need to go slowly, be watchful, and let ourselves get uncomfortably close to what looks like danger. If we keep our eyes open, and do what we can do in the situation, God will see that we get through.
Genesis 28:15 ..."I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go...."
Our church has the most marvelous handbell choir. It's fascinating to hear them perform. The players all watch their music intently, with frequent glances at the director. Each seems to play flawlessly on cue and then remains silent until their note is called for again. Nobody plays all the time.
Our lives are like that, as well. We make our best music by "ringing" when we're called for, rather than clanging continuously. Nobody in life plays all the time, either.
1 Chronicles 6:32 ...They ministered with music before the tabernacle....
We visited Bill's mom today. She had her fall decorations out--bright orange pumpkins, colored leaves, oddly shaped gourds, and a fall candle surrounded by red berries. As Bill and his mom relaxed over coffee, I got to studying the gourds. God had to have a sense of humor when He created them. Such odd shapes and markings, and curious color combinations, lumps and bumps. They're weird things but they make interesting decorations.
Looking from the gourds to the pumpkins, I realized one important difference between the two--gourds are purely decorative while the pumpkins are useful, too. You can carve a pumpkin or cook it and eat it. It doesn't have to just sit around.
Hmmmm...we're kind of like those pumpkins or gourds. We can either sit around and be interesting and decorative, but virtually useless otherwise, or we can be reasonably attractive and useful, too. Which are you---a pumpkin or a gourd?
Haggai 2:4c ..."Be strong, all you people of the land," declares the LORD, "and work. For I am with you...."
Some mornings now we awake to a heavy frost. The grass, stiff and white, is frozen in place by chilly nighttime temperatures. Later, though, the sun will begin to warm patches of the yard, and the frost will melt away. Some patches lose their frosty cover faster than others since there are several shaded spots in our yard.
Christ's work in our lives is like that. He brings Light to some parts of our lives while other areas remain untouched. As His Presence and Light expand in our lives, the shadow of death lifts and new areas are freed to grow within His Warmth and Love. How wonderful to know that we don't have to come into His Light all at once--since His Light dawns on us gradually. This gives us time to adjust to new information and to begin to adapt to changes that appear. Hallelujah!
Matthew 4:16 ...on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.
Bill and I recently drove past a group of bikers (pedal bikers) who'd been traveling along a fairly flat country road but came to an enormously high hill. Every one of them wound up walking their bikes up the slope. As they all patiently plodded upward, I thought of the times my life has seemed like that hill--so steep that it changed my whole way of going.
When life gets too steep for normal movement, it's time to slow the pace, faithfully putting one foot in front of the other, slowly advancing toward the future that's awaiting me.
Job 18:7 ...The vigor of his step is weakened....
Bill's mom had such a pretty garden this past spring and summer. It's a mixture of annuals and perennials. The perennials give an ever-changing sequence of color, and the annuals provide bright continuous bloom all spring and summer.
The perennials die back in the coldest days of fall, but peep up above ground again as spring warms the earth. The annuals, on the other hand, die with the first frost and are gone forever. Mom pulls them out and discards them. We're always sorry to see them go, but once they've passed their season of usefulness, there's no point in hanging onto them.
So it is with our lives at times, too. Some events are meant to be annuals--to be savored and enjoyed during their season of bloom, but not to be held onto beyond that. Hard as it is to uproot the things we've loved, it's sometimes the only way to step forward into the new life that's awaiting us.
Ecclesiastes 3:1 ...a time to plant and a time to uproot....
As we left a public parking lot the other day, Bill noticed big, loopy tire marks on the blacktop. It looked like someone spun out purposely and left tread marks as evidence.
It got me thinking: What kind of marks do we leave on the roadways of life? Are they the "Hey! Lookit Me!!!" kind, or are they the often-invisible sort that speak of love, hope and encouragement?
We only come this way once. As people look back at where we've been, what will they see?
1 Peter 3:4 ...the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit....
Bill and I were stopped at a red light at a major intersection recently and were watching all the traffic going across in front of us. It's amazing how many different types of vehicles are out there: cars, pickup trucks, SUVs trailers, cement mixers, semis, motorcycles, horse trailers, tow trucks, ambulances, RVs, police cars, fire trucks.... Each one served a different purpose. Each one was off on its appointed rounds.
Wouldn't it be silly if someone tried to put a cement mixer and an ambulance together in one vehicle? Or how about a police car combined with a tow truck? Hee heee!! They'd look funny and they wouldn't work too well.
We're kind of like all those vehicles. We're each given various gifts to be used in service to mankind. It all works out well if we maximize our gifts and use them to help others. Things don't work too well if we try to add on a "vehicle" we're not. Then we can wind up at cross-purposes and find that it's hard to get anything accomplished.
Romans 12:6 ...We have different gifts, according to the grace given us.
Bill often visits with an elderly friend who's confined to a wheelchair in a local nursing home. She struggles with a wasting disease but has a bountiful spirit. She certainly has good days and bad days, but whatever her lot for the day, her whole face lights up when she sees us coming.
Her whole being seems to say, "Welcome to my world!" We're always received with such obvious pleasure that it's actually refreshing.
Have you ever stopped to think that God receives us--every one of us--in just this way? He's just tickled pink when we show up, for whatever reason. His greatest pleasure is fellowship and we're His favorite guests.
Judges 19:20 ..."You are welcome at my house," said the old man.
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This page was last revised on February 23, 2020 at 7:41 PM.
