The Trapped Bee... A crazy little story...

Crazy little story...

Yesterday, I noticed a bee stuck in our bedroom window between the screen and the glass... honestly, I don't care much for bees...(had an 'incident' with a hive when I was little) so I quickly shut the window so that it couldn't fly into the house.

All evening and into the night I thought about that silly little bee. I ... See Morerecalled the stories I have heard about how bees are dissapearing and that this is causing great damage to flowers and crops due to lack of pollenation. I have to admit that I peaked at that bee at various times.

This am I looked again and noticed that this little bee was growing much weaker. It crawled up and down on that screen desparately seeking a way out. I couldn't stand it any longer. (crazy, I know) So I called Randy and asked him to help me get this bee out by lifting up both the window inside and the screen outside. (he expressed his disdane at assisting me for a silly bee - but was good to his crazy wife and helped!) Carefully, Randy and I worked together to get the bee out the screen without hurting it or us getting stung.

The bee being so used to that screen -- began crawling up and down the outside of that screen not recognizing that it was free. It had become to accustomed to its situation that it continued to climb up and down.

Funny, how God can use a situation like this to make one think about things (then again, maybe it is just me, lol). I thought of how many times I became comfortable where I was at (whether in a good place in life or not so great) and soon resolved myself to where I was at.

It is only for the grace of God that that 'screen' is lifted and I am set free by his mercy. Eph 2:3-5 (NIV) ...Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions--it is by grace you have been saved.

As that bee finally flew away and recognized its freedom, so shall I bask in the Freedom of the Cross. Bee stuck in window = priceless object lesson.

Thank you, Jesus. :)

Does God know what is in our Heart?

Ah, yes God most certainly does know our hearts. We justify our thinking, our feelings, our motives. We mock God while all the time doing all of this in His name and thinking "it is well with our soul". With faces we 'show' what WE consider to be love -- and then in our hearts have nothing but malice and envy - which goes unrecognized, understated, and unrepented of. We are self-centered, self-focused and self-propriatiating. How can a cup that is empty, pour out? How can a vessel lacking, bring forth life? Quite simply - it can't - and that is the whole point.

Without breath in our spiritual lungs we are nothing but dead men walking. Without a continuous ebb and flow of communion with the Spirit of God - we have nothing but empty, lifeless lips speaking empty words. Without application, supplication and impression, all that can come forth from us is flesh.

Isaiah 65:2-5
I have stretched out My hands all day long to a rebellious people,
Who walk in a way that is not good,
According to their own thoughts;
A people who provoke Me to anger continually to My face;
Who sacrifice in gardens,
And burn incense on altars of brick;
Who sit among the graves,
And spend the night in the tombs;
Who eat swine’s flesh,
And the broth of abominable things is in their vessels;
Who say, ‘Keep to yourself,
Do not come near me,
For I am holier than you!’
These are smoke in My nostrils,
A fire that burns all the day.

Although, this scripture is referencing Israel... it still applies to the very nature of God and his thinking concerning rebellious flesh nature.

But, OH to walk in his ways! Seek His face!

Seeking God's face is about knowing God, knowing who He is, knowing Him very closely. To walk with Him and to have a relationship with Him. Letting his spirit consume us.

As Christians when we believe that Jesus Christ is our Lord and Savior and submit our whole self completely, it is then that we have been resurrected to life, as it were, so that there will be a change in the kind of life we live due to God being at work in us. We become santified.

Sanctification is also known as becoming holy and becoming conformed to God's image. (Eph. 1:4 and Romans 8:29). We begin to take on the characteristics of the Family—where we begin to think and act like the current members of the Family of God. The character, the mindset, the attitudes, the perspective, the way we think, the way we look at things begins to become just like the God's.

The sanctification process writes the laws of God in our hearts and minds, making His righteousness real and practical to daily life. During this process, which requires our cooperation with Him in His purpose, we literally become conformed to the image of Jesus Christ.

We have been summoned to a great cause. The summons is personal and specific. It presents us the challenge of choosing to live a life worthy of the awesome vocation to which God has summoned us. Our calling has become our life's work.

God has summoned us to yield to His creative efforts of reproducing Himself, just as II Corinthians 3:18 instructs us: "But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord."

Oh, live within me God -- Let me seek your face, be santified, transformed and conformed to your image daily. Let me not trample on your goodness and grace! Let me be a light, a reflection of you. Purge me, cleanse me, help me to submit to you and your Word. Let me be your face to others with a heart that radiates your life...and not mine. In Jesus name. Amen.

- I wrote this as a post on a friend's FB page, while inspired by the HS this am. Awesome!