Lyric and the Leaves
"If they keep quiet, the stones will cry out." Luke 19:40
Lyric kept interrupting.
Every few minutes, I heard, “Um… Mommy?”
And I’d shoo her away.
I was busy knocking on doors. I was finally doing what God called me to do: knocking on doors and telling people about the love of Christ.
Yet, Lyric kept tapping me. And butting in. And basically – getting on my nerves.
Finally, I turned to her and said, “Hush. This is important. This is not the time for you to talk.”
She hung her head, and walked a bit behind me. I noticed her picking up leaves, and as we
finished up and headed back to the car, I saw why.
Lyric said nothing, but pushed a yellow leaf in my face.
It said, “God loves you.”
She’d been gathering leaves along the street upon which we were witnessing and writing, “God loves you,” on them. Then she dropped them and let the wind carry them where it would.
Whoa.
I was so awed by the power of God.
Can you image a God so big, majestic and all-knowing that he’d use a 9 year-old child, a leaf and a pen to touch his hurting children and remind them of his love.
God is so good. So kind. So loving. So righteous. So perfect. So Sovereign.
He knows exactly what we need, when we need and how we’ll receive it.
See, as we went about this street, there were a few people who did not receive our message. One woman in particular said angrily, “You can pray, but I don’t believe in that mess.” And we stood right on her property and prayed for her salvation, peace and comfort.
I wonder if she found a leaf.
And how about the guy that just blew us off and kept walking when we tried to talk to him. Was one of the leaves just for him?
I may never know until I reach Heaven.
But what I know now is God said, “"if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out." In Luke 19:40, Jesus made his triumphant entry in to Jerusalem. He road upon a mule and as He entered the city, people laid their coats down on the road. Then, they began to praise Him, saying "Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord, and peace in heaven and glory in the highest!"
This upset the religious folks, and they begged Jesus to shut his disciples down. That’s when Jesus told them, "If they keep quiet, the stones will cry out."
Wow.
If we don’t praise Him, the stones will cry out. A 9 year-old child will cry out. A leaf will speak of his love.
People, God will be God. He will have his way – with or without us.
He doesn’t need us – He wants us.
He desires our love, our service, our time, our praise.
And it’s so easy to give Him.
Jesus commanded each of us to go out and spread the gospel of his love, death, burial and resurrection. And that’s intimidating to some.
It shouldn’t be.
You can show the love of Christ with a phone call.
A card.
Gas money for a stranger at the gas pumps.
Babysitting for new, or simply overwhelmed parents.
Surprising someone with housecleaning services.
Preparing dinner for someone.
A ride to a neighbor standing in the rain waiting on the bus.
An encouraging word to your Pastor.
A gift for your child’s teacher.
A simple, “I love you with the love of Christ,” to a friend.
A smile at a co-worker you’ve had drama with.
Any or all of these things are simple, small gestures that show love. Then, as we develop this love walk, we can learn how to witness. We can search the scriptures, pray and seek God on how to go about the weightier message of salvation.
For starters, study Acts 10.
Here, Peter message follows a simple pattern. He speaks of the life of Jesus, His death, resurrection, role as judge of living and dead, and finally he lets them know salvation is available to all who believe.
It’s that basic, yet so essential. We’ve got to let a dying world know about the love of Christ. But if we don’t, that’s OK too. God will be God. He will have his way. And He will show himself mightily to those who need Him – even if he has to use a leaf.
People let’s not let anything steal our praise or witness.
Know that I love you each, L.
Lyric kept interrupting.
Every few minutes, I heard, “Um… Mommy?”
And I’d shoo her away.
I was busy knocking on doors. I was finally doing what God called me to do: knocking on doors and telling people about the love of Christ.
Yet, Lyric kept tapping me. And butting in. And basically – getting on my nerves.
Finally, I turned to her and said, “Hush. This is important. This is not the time for you to talk.”
She hung her head, and walked a bit behind me. I noticed her picking up leaves, and as we
finished up and headed back to the car, I saw why.
Lyric said nothing, but pushed a yellow leaf in my face.
It said, “God loves you.”
She’d been gathering leaves along the street upon which we were witnessing and writing, “God loves you,” on them. Then she dropped them and let the wind carry them where it would.
Whoa.
I was so awed by the power of God.
Can you image a God so big, majestic and all-knowing that he’d use a 9 year-old child, a leaf and a pen to touch his hurting children and remind them of his love.
God is so good. So kind. So loving. So righteous. So perfect. So Sovereign.
He knows exactly what we need, when we need and how we’ll receive it.
See, as we went about this street, there were a few people who did not receive our message. One woman in particular said angrily, “You can pray, but I don’t believe in that mess.” And we stood right on her property and prayed for her salvation, peace and comfort.
I wonder if she found a leaf.
And how about the guy that just blew us off and kept walking when we tried to talk to him. Was one of the leaves just for him?
I may never know until I reach Heaven.
But what I know now is God said, “"if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out." In Luke 19:40, Jesus made his triumphant entry in to Jerusalem. He road upon a mule and as He entered the city, people laid their coats down on the road. Then, they began to praise Him, saying "Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord, and peace in heaven and glory in the highest!"
This upset the religious folks, and they begged Jesus to shut his disciples down. That’s when Jesus told them, "If they keep quiet, the stones will cry out."
Wow.
If we don’t praise Him, the stones will cry out. A 9 year-old child will cry out. A leaf will speak of his love.
People, God will be God. He will have his way – with or without us.
He doesn’t need us – He wants us.
He desires our love, our service, our time, our praise.
And it’s so easy to give Him.
Jesus commanded each of us to go out and spread the gospel of his love, death, burial and resurrection. And that’s intimidating to some.
It shouldn’t be.
You can show the love of Christ with a phone call.
A card.
Gas money for a stranger at the gas pumps.
Babysitting for new, or simply overwhelmed parents.
Surprising someone with housecleaning services.
Preparing dinner for someone.
A ride to a neighbor standing in the rain waiting on the bus.
An encouraging word to your Pastor.
A gift for your child’s teacher.
A simple, “I love you with the love of Christ,” to a friend.
A smile at a co-worker you’ve had drama with.
Any or all of these things are simple, small gestures that show love. Then, as we develop this love walk, we can learn how to witness. We can search the scriptures, pray and seek God on how to go about the weightier message of salvation.
For starters, study Acts 10.
Here, Peter message follows a simple pattern. He speaks of the life of Jesus, His death, resurrection, role as judge of living and dead, and finally he lets them know salvation is available to all who believe.
It’s that basic, yet so essential. We’ve got to let a dying world know about the love of Christ. But if we don’t, that’s OK too. God will be God. He will have his way. And He will show himself mightily to those who need Him – even if he has to use a leaf.
People let’s not let anything steal our praise or witness.
Know that I love you each, L.
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