Upside Down Beehive

On Sunday afternoon I received a call from Bill saying I better come out to his place at my earliest convenience.   A 100-year-old tree on his property had fallen, taking down one other tree with it.  The beehive pictured above complicated the matter. 

Back in the spring we had put an empty beehive in the crotch of a tree about 6 feet off the ground.  It worked great, in noo time, a swarm had had moved into the box.  Bill and his wife enjoyed have the new colony on their property, pollinating their garden, so we decided to leave it there.  Looking back it probably wasn't the best idea since its hard to manipulate a hive six feet off the ground.

As I drove the three miles to their house in the country, I wondered about the state of the hive that had fallen with the tree.  Would it be broken to bits?  bees everywhere?  It wasn't too bad.  the box was intact, just upside down with the lid opened up and the frames slid halfway out, honey dripping everywhere. 

Forty minutes and 12 stings later, the bees were safely in a new home...on the ground.

the centrality of adoption

the following is copied from "Moments With You"   by Dennis and Barbara Rainey of Family Life Today

January 30
Adopting God's Heart

Vindicate the weak and fatherless; do justice to the afflicted and destitute.
Psalm 82:3
In his book Fields of the Fatherless, C. Thomas Davis writes, "If you searched the Bible from front to back, you'd find many issues close to God's heart. But you'd also notice three groups of people coming up again and again. They appear so many times, in fact, you have to conclude that God mentions them purposely to make sure they are at the top of our priority list."
They are orphans, widows and aliens (or strangers).
God demonstrated His care and provision for these three groups through His instructions to the Israelite farmers in Deuteronomy 24:19: "When you are harvesting in your field and you overlook a sheaf, do not go back to get it. Leave it for the alien, the fatherless and the widow, so that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hands" (NIV).
Similarly, if we want our Christianity to be its purest, we too must actively exercise our concern for the left-out and the abandoned: "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world" (James 1:27-28).
Caring for the fatherless is not simply a compassionate act. Adoption is not merely an additional means of growing our families to the desired size. Caring for orphans is about obedience and expressing the heart of God.
Perhaps God is calling you to the redemptive task of adoption, as He has Barbara and me. If not, each of us can be part of supporting, praying for and encouraging those who are in the midst of adoption, those who are seeking to acquire God's heart for the fatherless
Discuss
Discuss how you can express the heart of God in caring for orphans. Also ask yourselves, Is there a reason why adopting a child would not be a possibility?
Pray
Promise the Father that you will pursue His heart for the fatherless and orphaned, in whatever way He directs you to do so--orphan care, foster care, adoption or mission work.

Wise Words from Ecclesiastes

Wisdom is a shelter
       as money is a shelter,
       but the advantage of knowledge is this:
       that wisdom preserves the life of its possessor.

Who is like the wise man?
       Who knows the explanation of things?
       Wisdom brightens a man's face
       and changes its hard appearance.

So I commend the enjoyment of life, because nothing is better for a man under the sun than to eat and drink and be glad. Then joy will accompany him in his work all the days of the life God has given him under the sun.

Ecclesiastes 9
 ¹³ I also saw under the sun this example of wisdom that greatly impressed me: ¹⁴ There was once a small city with only a few people in it. And a powerful king came against it, surrounded it and built huge siegeworks against it. ¹⁵ Now there lived in that city a man poor but wise, and he saved the city by his wisdom. But nobody remembered that poor man. ¹⁶ So I said, "Wisdom is better than strength." But the poor man's wisdom is despised, and his words are no longer heeded.
 ¹⁷ The quiet words of the wise are more to be heeded
       than the shouts of a ruler of fools.
 ¹⁸ Wisdom is better than weapons of war,
       but one sinner destroys much good.

Ecclesiastes 10
calmness can lay great errors to rest.

Ecclesiastes 12
 ¹³ Now all has been heard;
       here is the conclusion of the matter:
       Fear God and keep his commandments,
       for this is the whole duty of man.
 ¹⁴ For God will bring every deed into judgment,
       including every hidden thing,
       whether it is good or evil.

Integrity: the foundation of character

I would say that the opposite of integrity is hypocrisy.  Everyone is drawn to people of integrity and they avoid hypocrites. Yet, in my inner life I tend toward hypocrisy and find integrity a battle.  Integrity is not easy.  To shine a spotlight in my inner life is uncomfortable.  But it is only in this context that my character can grow, as I expose it to the reality and consequences of the real world.

The presence of God

I find that it's easier to confess things to God than it is to confess to other people. In a real sense, confessing to God and confessing to man are two different things.  Confessing to God is agreeing with Him about my sin, confessing to man includes divulging previously unknown information.  Since God has perfect standards it seems that the opposite would be true. You would think that others would be less critical of me since they likely struggle with the same things.   The only explanation is that I haven't fully accepted that fact that God is present. It seems to indicate that I have more fear of  man than God.   With man I may have to face near-term consequences for my confessed actions.  I have more fear of temporal earthy consequences that eternal consequences.  Perhaps I take God's grace for granted.  I need to internalize what "he will suffer loss" means in light of eternity.  If I can understand that, and live with the realization that God is present, it would make all the difference. 

What does it take?

Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize.  Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air.  No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.   1 Corinthians 9:24

Leadership is getting someone to do what they don't want to do, to achieve what they want to achieve.
-Tom Landry

         I've never seen a half-hearted athlete excel and enjoy their sport.  Pouring yourself into something leads to both enjoyment and success. Championships last one year, or at the most, four.  World records last until someone else breaks them.  If an athlete will commit and exert themselves to the limit, how much more should I strive to discipline myself for the purpose if godliness, which rewards me from now to eternity!?   In a real sense, athletes spend their bodies in the pursuit of the goal.  I spend my life.
          In order to make it to the top, athletes have coaches.  No athlete has been successful without having a coach to make him do what he doesn't want to do in order to reach a goal that he's always wanted. As a follower of Christ I should not resent someone rebuking or correcting me.  I should invite it.
         If I live as if the Bible is true, then I discipline myself for my greater good.

Gratitude

I Thessalonians 5:16-18
Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.


       "Be joyful always".   That is a command.  And God never commands us to do anything without giving us the ability to carry it out.  Being joyful is not a result of good circumstances.  It is closely linked to the next two phrases: pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances.  All of these are supernatural actions that seem impossible at first glance.
          All three are disciplines.  "Train yourself to be godly".  Each is a decision.