LOST & FOUND: The Lord knows right where you are!

"But the father said to his slaves, 'Quickly bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet; and bring the fattened calf, kill it, and let us eat and celebrate; for this son of mine was dead and has come to life again; he was lost and has been found.' And they began to celebrate."

Luke 15:22-24

Alan Murphy, was devastated; while on vacation in the United States, Murphy lost his digital camera. That loss would cost him all of his vacation pictures from the trip. Disheartened, Murphy, an Irish insurance underwriter now living in Australia, returned home to Sydney.

However, on his 34th birthday, not quite two weeks later, he learned he would be getting the missing camera and the photos back. "I was over the moon," he says now.

At dusk on New Year's Eve[, 2007], Erika Gunderson got into a taxi in New York City and entered a digital-age mystery.

Sitting on the back seat was a nice Canon digital camera. Gunderson asked the driver which previous passenger might have left it, but the cabbie didn't seem to care.

Thus began the saga of several amateur sleuths determined to unite an unknown individual with a camera lost and found in NYC.

Together the friends spent hours culling the digital images stored in the camera's memory, looking for and following up on minuscule clues as to the camera's owner. Lead after lead was followed to a dead-end when one last look by the last of the detectives revealed the interior of a NYC business not far away.

That final effort would put the Canon back in the hands of its owner.

We were lost, but now we're found; no amateur detectives were needed however. No, the Most High God who created us has known where we were all along. We may be lost to eternal life but God has a light on for us to follow home. Praise Him!

Christianity, Illustrations,
Lost & found, Religion

REVIVAL: Blow on the embers!

"LORD, I have heard the report about You and I fear. O LORD, revive Your work in the midst of the years, In the midst of the years make it known; In wrath remember mercy."

Habakkuk 3:2

When I lived in a cabin in the mountains above Santa Cruz, California, I had a fire in my fireplace all day, virtually everyday; the ash would build up over a few days. Eventually, I’d let the fire die down, then take the ash out to dump it.

I always left a few pieces of burned wood and some embers in the fireplace. When I came back in I’d put some dry sticks and shredded paper on it, then blow on the embers a little … poof, fire and heat!

How God must wish we’d be more like the embers in my fireplace. A little of the Holy Spirit on what’s left after the ash of our lives is discarded and poof, fire and heat!

Christianity, Illustrations,
Religion, Revival

NEW CREATION: Our spiritual contractor!

"Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come."

2 Corinthians 5:17

We know this one thing, if a man owned a house and a contractor offered to restore it, free of charge, he’d be a fool to deny his offer.

Why then do so many men reject the offer of God to restore their spiritual homes? We are indeed a people without spiritual vision.

Christianity, Illustrations,
New creation, Religion

Restoration

No Greener Grass [Amos 9:11-15]

In marriage counseling it's imperative to show both parties that there is no grass on the other side of the hill any greener than the grass in their own front lawn.

The real problem is to remind them that marriage, like grass, must be watered in order to stay green; likewise that it must be mowed and trimmed regularly. In a similar way, weeds get in and must be pulled-out or eradicated. And couples must understand some grasses go dormant once in awhile.

Maintaining a marriage is much like yard care; when all is said and done, hard work pays off.