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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Bill used to belong to a local charitable organization that didn't actually have an address. The group met at the same place each month and could be reached through its members or via email. They provided a valuable community service, but people couldn't just drive up to a home-base to make a connection. They'd have to hear about the group and search out a contact.
Jesus has also been in the same situation for quite a while now. He has no address, either, so people have to hear about Him from someone else and then seek Him out.
Generally, the things we search for most diligently are those we value most. That's certainly true with Jesus.
Luke 9:58 ...the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.
Bill loves solitaire. He got a hand-held electronic game for Christmas one year. Instead of moving cards around by hand, he can move them with the touch of a button. The only trouble is, sometimes Bill responds faster than the game allows and the cards get jammed. Then he has to slow down and unstick things.
That can happen in our lives, too. If we go rushing headlong into something, we might discover that we're going too fast to be effective. Consequently, we might make mistakes, hurt ourselves, slow things down or make things difficult for others.
Sometimes we just need to slow down enough to let one thing happen at a time. We can start with the most important thing and then keep doing whatever comes next-- and things will usually get done in a workable fashion.
Mark 4:28 ...All by itself the soil produces grain--first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head.
Bill and I ran into the grocery store for a few things the other day. There weren't many people there, so we got to the check-out line pretty quickly. While we were waiting our turn, I became aware of all the noise around us--not from people, but from the environment. The scanners were loudly beeping and booping with several different tones. The mechanical voice from a nearby self-check-out station was telling the whole store what the customer using it bought. Obnoxious music was blaring from the ceilings. A child was crying somewhere and there was the constant crinkle of plastic bags. It all got to be pretty overwhelming after a bit.
All that racket drowned out any quiet thoughts we might have been able to connect with. We were glad to leave the store and find some peace and serenity!
Sometimes, in the rest of life, too, racket surrounds us and we just need to become aware of it and escape, if only for a short time. Whether it's inside us or outside us, noise pollution is stressful, and it helps to get away from it.
Psalms 23:2b ... he leads me beside quiet waters....
Isn't there a song that speaks of The Wild Blue Yonder? Bill was humming it the other day, I think. The Wild Blue Yonder always sounds so welcoming and hopeful; and so clean--a place you'd willingly go where you'd be happy and effective at what you do; a place where you find others who are also happy in doing satisfying things.
But what if your Yonder isn't so blue? What if it's looking kind of gray---or black, even? What if the journey isn't toward joy and success and fulfillment? Sometimes we need to pull inward and tell our concerns and sorrows to the One Who understands, even if we don't. And then we can open our hearts and lives to the resources and people God has placed along our path to accompany us on this step of our journey--for God is always in the Yonder, no matter what color it seems to us.
Psalms 46:10a ...Be still and know that I am God....
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....
Click here to read the Wending Our Way devotions.
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This page was last revised on February 23, 2020 at 7:41 PM.
