THE GIFT!

Photo by MRB

I was sitting at a table on the deck of a good friend having a cup of coffee when an autumn leaf fell on the table right in front of me.  I recorded my thoughts and feelings in a poem.

It came from above
To the table
For me
This leaf landscape of all He is
Speaking without words
His love
His care
His beauty and tenderness
For all who would hear.
                                                                                                                        
It came from above me.  There is something up there!  It reminded me to look up!  To look around.  Open my eyes and ears.  He is everywhere around me.  He is omnipresent!  He is in everything He has made!!!  He holds all things together!  As the scripture says, ‘The invisible things of Him are clearly seen in the things that He has made!  For in him (Jesus) all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him.  He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.’  
Romans 1:20, Colossians 1:16-17.  

What can we learn about Him by just looking up?  By looking around?  By stopping long enough to listen, to think, to ask questions.  Have you ever wondered why He painted the leaves? 

It ‘came to the table FOR ME!!!’  I recognized it as a gift.  It made me feel very special!  I said to myself, “He is here!  He is with me!  He loves and cares for me enough to show me this extraordinary ‘leaf landscape of all He is!’”  I remembered the scripture, ‘Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father.’  James 1:17.

I remembered that Jesus sent His Holy Spirit to be ‘with me and in me’ and I sensed His presence.  That He would be my advocate to help me, who would teach me and remind me of everything Jesus has said to me.  He said, ‘I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever—the Spirit of truth.  The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him.  But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.  But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.’  John 14:16-17, 26.

I can hear Him speaking a thousand words as I gaze in wonder at this simple gift!  

‘Words without a sound’ declaring His glory, proclaiming the work of His hands and revealing knowledge.  CAN YOU HEAR THEM??

And I remembered Psalm 19:1-4, ‘The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.  Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge.  They have no speech; they use no words; no sound is heard from them.  Yet their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.’

This ‘leaf landscape’ is another of Gods wonders.  He painted it to get our attention!  To tell you that He loves us enough to color the leaves.  He wants us to know that He is beautiful and worth knowing.  There is no one like Him.  Look at this leaf!  His craftsmanship is beyond compare.  His works are ‘fearfully and wonderfully made’!  I know the leaf is dying and yet it is beautiful!  It is a leaf’s promise that my death will be beautiful!  As the scripture says, ‘Precious in the sight of the Lord Is the death of His saints.’  Psalm 116:15. NKJV.  This leaf will return to the ground where it came from.  But when I die, I will return to the one who made me!  The one who delivered me from death to eternal life!   I will be ‘absent from my body, but (immediately) present with the Lord’ forever!!!  2 Corinthians 5:8. NKJV.

NOW THAT IS BEAUTIFUL!

‘Let us give thanks to the LORD for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for mankind, for he satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things.’  Psalm 107:8-9.

This simple ‘leaf landscape’ shows us His unfailing love for us and is another wonderful deed that is here for all to see, 

‘FOR ALL WHO WOULD HEAR.’

‘Many, LORD my God, are the wonders you have done, the things you planned for us. None can compare with you; were I to speak and tell of your deeds, they would be too many to declare.’  Psalm 40:5.

‘We will not hide them from their descendants; we will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the LORD, his power, and the wonders he has done.’ Psalm 78:4.