20120610: Sunbird Reflections - His wonderful creation

I came to know that the name of the birds that came to build the nest at our home was called "SUNBIRDS".  Apparently, they appear on our Singapore Twenty Dollar note too!

My SUNBIRD journey from March to June this year was one of an experience of my lifetime!

There were the days of joy, surprise, awe when the first weave began.  Then came the moments of shock , fear and sadness when the completed nest dropped. And finally another joy to know that they are alive and saved. And they flew away.

When I first uploaded the first video in May, I was unsure of the number of eggs in the nest.

I guess the Lord heard my prayer of curiosity.  The nest had to drop on 23/5/2012.  So I managed to count and found there were TWO! So on hindsight, the dropping of the nest wasn't a bad thing afterall! Ha Ha.

Throughout this period , I have learnt several lessons indeed:-

1. Building the House of God

Sunbirds, like sparrows in the bible, Ps84:3 speaks of them finding a house , a nest for herself where she may lay her young.  

As I observed the process of this building , hatching and watching, I am in awe of our Creator God.  To me , this dwelling of a home reminds me to treasure the joy of being in the presence of the Lord - as the doorkeeper in the house of my God.  These little olive yellow sunbirds brought so much joy to me as I watch them grow.

2. Protective Father God

The most heartache part was the day the nest dropped and out fell the 2 little fledglings. I remembered as I waited for Keith to arrive on that fateful morning. And John was away - I could only watch and pray. I felt helpless as I did not know if they were dead or alive until I saw one moved. Worst still, as I watched from afar , the papa and mama birds kept flying in and then away and back again several times. They too were helpless! They were chirping loudly too. Guess they were desperate!

They perched themselves up on a floor above that of the nest watching every movement. They seemed to be watching over the nest protectively all these months too. Each time they sense I was in the room, playing the keyboard, they would fly down.

Human intervention like this was a rare moment.  But they needed the external help.  

So for that - I thank Keith for coming to the rescue. He was the saviour of the birds.  This reminded me of my beloved own Saviour , Lord Jesus Christ. 

And like any father, the Lord's eyes are upon us all the time. He is the protector at all times.

Watching the parent birds over her young warms the very bottom of my heart. And that is really the Father heart of YHWH.

3. Our Foundation in Building

The dropping of the nest led me to wonder. Why and what caused it to drop!

- The parents were inexperienced . They miscalculated the weight of the young?

- They did not weave the foundation strong enough to sustain the whole nesting?

- The winds and the rains over the recent weeks had been contributory factors?

Does it not sound familiar to our own walk with the Lord?

If we are not rooted firmly in HIM, when the storms of life come at us, we may fall. That's painful.

4. Freedom in Him

6/6/2012 seemed to be the last day I saw of the little ones.

They have flown away.

Birds are meant to be free anyway.  They are born free.

We came back from Darwin just on 5/6 after the flight was delayed by a day due to technical reasons. Yet, the Lord allowed me to catch the video on the 6/6 of the little one coming out.  I am very thankful.  Because it was my desire to see to the end of the beginning of the first weave of leaves. My Darwin trip - I had further glimpse of wild life birds and crocs, wallabies in the outbacks.  The world of nature is simply awesome.

Coming back to catch their first steps was another awesome sight. More importantly, the joy on knowing they are saved from the fall.

Conclusion?

And so like these SUNBIrds, I am reminded that it was for freedom that Christ has set us free, no longer subject to a yoke of slavery. Gal 5:1

Freedom! Yes! Fly! Higher and Higher! Whoa! Let Faith arise and take flight and enjoy every moment in our days !

201250525: Alive! My sunbirds are alive!

Thank God! 2 days after the nest dropped and the littles one fell out, they remained ok!

On 6/6/2012, the following video was taken showing one of them flying out of the nest!

So well well, it took them about three months from the nest building in March 2012 to the hatching and first flight on 6/6/2012!

This was the most awesome experience I ever had! 

Looking back below as the parents first began their weave of the nest in Mar 2012! Time really flies! Thank God they were saved from the dropped nest and they are alive!

20120523 - Day Birdnest dropped! Heart stopped!

On 23/5/2012 : Woke up to a rude shock!  My poor bird nest dropped! Upon seeing the 2 fledglings on the floor made my heart sick and dropped as well!

Couldn't work at all! Thanks to Keith - the bird saviour who came upon the call of SOS. We googled on how to save these birds! With facial cotton heated using the microwave, rafia strings and plastic bags, Keith came in rescued both of them!

Managed to put them back into the nest finally!

Heart was still overwhelmed - wondering if they survived the fall!

They did! 

On 25/5/2012 - they were caught on video alive! Thank God!

20120519-Heb10:32 Illumination!

"We do not see nature with our eyes but with our minds and hearts" Unknown
"Although the threads of my life have often seemed knotted, I know by faith that on the other side of the embroidery there is a crown" - Corrie Ten Boom
"Although dried leaves and twigs seemed meaningless weaved like a ball of mess but on the other side is a hole , where preparation of new lives is yet to come" - Mui


Heb 10:32 " But call to remembrance, the former days, in which ,after you were illuminated, you endured a great fight of afflictions"


The world "illuminated " comes from the Greek word photidzo - which means to lighten up, to shine , to illuminate, to make visible or to radiate.  It is like a phototaking session where the bright flash of light comes on from the camera. We get the word "photography" from this word.


This season in May is one where I was illuminated by the process of this nest weaving by these little birds in preparation for the eggs to be laid. As the above quotes highlighted above, the light of truth of the sense of value of my Heavenly Father who created the feathery birds, we are His sons and daughters created in His image for greater works!


Reflection
Feeling of discouragement may come after a season of high. Like the case of my niece who recently had a close shave from death last month due to an aneurysm in her lung. The surgery was a success, only then to find out only few days back that the lab report found the presence of squamous cancer cells! The process of waiting for the confirmation via a CT Pet scan to be done next month seems long.  But I guess, like the nesting process, one has to learn the art of patience.  Certain things in life cannot be hurried into.  Praying for good results to come.


In times like this, one need to call to remembrance His goodness.  Like a CD player, one need to press the rewind button. His Word is unchanging. The devil is a liar. He may instigate but such  circumstances are only temporal. Stand on the truth of the Rock.  Return to the simplicity of faith and trust - like the yellow little birds.

20120512: An Awesome Nest from home ! Matt 6:26

Have you ever wondered what the Lord really means when Jesus spoke in Matt 6:26? He says "Behold the fowls of the air; for they sow not; neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them.  Are you not much better than they?"

I realised that our Father in heaven is indeed AWESOME! In March this year, I had the wonderful journey of observing these little cute birds (papa & mama, I suppose) in their process of building a nest from the scatch!

12/3/2012 : This is the beginning of the first few strands of little twigs...they began their weaving from the yellow clothes peg outside our balcony!

About 2 months later, the full nest has been weaved! Awesome...Look at the well defined hole they weaved from those dried leaves and twigs! This photo is taken on 13/5/2012.

With the reverse of the I-phone camera, I took this photo - the hole was facing away from my window. I took a little peek inside...heh heh...no eggs yet.......

Here is the little youtube video clip I did this morning.  Videos taken over the last 2 months that would make your heart smile! Indeed, it brought great joy to my soul and day!

Reflections

My discovery of this little nest back in March this year was "pegged" with humor.  For a while I was wondering why the birds flew near to my window whenever I played my keyboard.  At first I thought they were attracted to my playing. Then one day, I decided to stand up and bend forward - an lo and behold, the mystery of attraction was solved!  It was not my music, it was simply because they found a place to nest - against my clothes peg!

It took them about 2 months to complete their 'weaving project". My journey over the last 2 months was full of cheap thrill and joy as I eagerly peeped to see their progress.  Last Sunday 13/5, I was awed by these tiny little birds! How in the world could they have used their little beaks and formed such a wonderful well trimmed hole in the nest! I wondered ! and was full of wonder!

I was reminded of Matt 6:26.  Yes, I have always read this verse.  But not until today - yes, today - did this revelation of how our Heavenly Father reminded me of "beholding" such a fowl of the air came to greater light!  Indeed, if He could create the birds like this to weave such a wonderful nest with their small light frame bit by bit with their beak with twigs and old leaves, day by day, step by step - in faithfulness, how much more valuable indeed are we humans?

Why worry? Oh yes - indeed 1 Peter 5:7 exhorts us to cast all our cares upon Him, for He cares for us. As I behold these 2 little birds,  I came to a realisation that indeed, we humans at times tend to care too much about the world.  

This nesting journey has brought such joy to me. I am eagerly now waiting for the laying of eggs. Until then...my next Youtube! The song embedded "I would die for you" By Mercyme - is such a wonderful song . Yes, And I know I can find you there for you promised me You'll always be there!

Dedicating this particular blog and video to many of my friends and loved ones whom I know who are going through hard times...some undergoing through cancer treatments due to recurrence while others for the first time, and some facing other health challenges , some facing family stresses, others in their careers.   As the song goes " Times like these, it's hard to see, But somehow I have a peace, you are near" Shalom my friends.

Humans are not birds and birds are not humans. Unlike the fowls of the air, we humans are much valued by our Creator God!  The reason why we are here on earth - until we understand the issue of surrender, living everything behind and until we know what we would die for...until then....can we only be FREE like these birds...Care Free indeed!

20120501:This is the air I breathe

The root word of "pneu" communicates the idea of the dynamic movement of air. To blow or blow air.
From this derivation "Pneuma" - it means life, force, life-force, energy, dynamism and power. The Jews consider the pneuma to be the powerful force of God that created the universe and all living things.

This video is an amazing capture from conception to birth using the latest x-ray scanning technology.
http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=fKyljukBE70

The heart is the first to be formed. Perhaps the next vital organs would be that of  LUNGS?  I am not sure but the last one week had been one of the most "educational" time for me to understand what are aneurysms in the lungs.  Simply because I believed my Lord Jesus heard the prayers of many of us and in turn held back this aneurysm from bursting and causing danger to my niece's life. Her lung surgery was timely and successful.

Today is also my late mum's 16th death anniversary.  She was said to have died of broncho-pneumonia : Yes lung related too. That year I witnessed the preservation of life via the artificial life support breathing machine.

Also this week I was in discussion over the concept of "Qi"in TCM in our body. Well this is indeed an intriguing subject. With the earlier video as seen, our human brain is just simply to small to grasp His awesome infinite wisdom in creation!



Reflections
Our very life is sustained by the function of the 2 lungs inside us, besides the heart of course.  People drown because the water had filled the lungs.  One of our friend's new born gal had to be in the intensive care for a couple of days simply due to the water bag water infilling part of the her lungs.

IN Genesis, God speak into existence of what He already had in mind.
The Greek word" theopneustos" means "God-breathed" or inspiration .  It is the picture of God breathing or emitting his own substance into something.

Rick Renner gave this illustration " If one holds a deflated balloon that is without any form to our lips and breathe into it, the balloon will inflate.  The blowing of our breath into that deflated little piece of rubber causes it to fill so that its true form will become visible. My breath now sustains the form of the balloon"

So likewise the breath of God that caused the Word to materialise in written form is now in HIs wonderful Presence! 2 Tim 3:16. The power of the Word!

So thank you Lord for our lungs!!!

20120414: HeBrews 13:Last Coffee with Tea & Potter

Heb 13:20-21 "Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is well pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ ; to whom be glory for ever and ever .Amen"


Yesterday, we went to the zoo with our nieces and grand nieces and nephews.  It was an exciting and educational trip for myself as I had not been there for umpteenth years! Above was the photo of the stately lion I took from just a moat of water in between us.


This last chapter in Hebrews ended a thought. In v9" Be not carried about with divers and strange doctrines.  For it is a good thing that the heart be established with grace, not with meats, which have not profited them that have occupied therein"


Diverse and strange teachings are the "in" thing in this age. As I gazed at the lion - the king of the jungle , I was reminded of  1 Pet 5:8  "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour"  The devil too roars like a lion but he is the counterfeit. There is only one Lion of Judah - Jesus Christ. But the end times would be a turbulent period- the rise of the unholy trinity - The devil, the anti-christ (not against - but "instead" of Christ) and false prophet.


As Hebrews reading come to a close, we who know YHWH, we thank God for the great shepherd of the sheep who is worthy to open the book and the seals in Rev 5. Rev5:4" Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has prevailed to open the book and to loose the seven seals thereof...v6 stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having 7 horns and 7 eyes which are the 7 Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth...V 9 for thou was slain and has redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred and tongue and people and nations ...v12 Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honour and glory and blessing.


This is the Lion of Judah whom I know. With His blood we have this everlasting eternal covenant. Heb13:6 He promises never to leave us nor forsake us. He is our helper. v8 He is the same yesterday today and forever. V13 reminded us that we do not have an enduring city here but we seek one to come.


Reflections
The end times that is coming.  We as believers ought to know and be sober and vigilant and be on our guard always - never to be devoured by the devil - the other roaring lion.
Like the Chronicles of Narnia - we will have our little adventures on earth. Before the world began, we were on His mind. As we were born into this world, He is in the process of perfecting us for His own pleasure. 

• Can we endure? Can we hang in to the supernatural hupomeno?
• Can we continue to offer the sacrifice of praise to Him continually, giving thanks to His name?
• Can we have a good conscience & in all things willing to live honestly?

After He Brews series of making over 13 cups of coffee since Jan this year...Here is a tea story! Let's have coffee and tea with our Potter!
"There was a couple who took a trip to England to shop in a beautiful antique store to celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary. They both liked antiques and pottery, and especially teacups.

Spotting an exceptional cup, they asked "May we see that? We've never seen a cup quite so beautiful."
As the lady handed it to them, suddenly the teacup spoke, "You don't understand. I have not always been a teacup. There was a time when I was just a lump of red clay. My master took me and rolled me, pounded and patted me over and over and I yelled out, "Don't do that. I don't like it! Let me alone," but he only smiled, and gently said, "Not yet."

Then WHAM! I was placed on a spinning wheel and suddenly I was made to suit himself and then he put me in the oven. I never felt such heat. I yelled and knocked and pounded at the door. "Help! Get me out of here!" I could see him through the opening and I could read his lips as he shook his head from side to side, "Not yet."

When I thought I couldn't bear it another minute, the door opened. He carefully took me out and put me on the shelf, and I began to cool. Oh, that felt so good! "Ah, this is much better," I thought.
But, after I cooled he picked me up and he brushed and painted me all over. The fumes were horrible. I thought I would gag. "Oh, please, stop it, stop, I cried." He only shook his head and said, "Not yet."

Then suddenly he puts me back in to the oven. Only it was not like the first one. This was twice as hot and I just knew I would suffocate. I begged. I pleaded. I screamed. I cried. I was convinced I would never make it. I was ready to give up. Just then the door opened and he took me out and again placed me on the shelf, where I cooled and waited and waited, wondering, "What's he going to do to me next?"

An hour later he handed me a mirror and said, "Look at yourself." And I did. I said, "That's not me. That couldn't be me. It's beautiful. I'm beautiful!"

Quietly he spoke: "I want you to remember. I know it hurt to be rolled and pounded and patted, but had I just left you alone, you'd have dried up. I know it made you dizzy to spin around on the wheel, but if I had stopped, you would have crumbled. I know it hurt and it was hot and disagreeable in the oven, but if I hadn't put you there, you would have cracked. I know the fumes were bad when I brushed and painted you all over, but if I hadn't done that, you never would have hardened. You would not have had any color in your life. If I hadn't put you back in that second oven, you wouldn't have survived for long because the hardness would not have held. Now you are a finished product. Now you are what I had in mind when I first began with you."

The moral of this story is this: God knows what He's doing for each of us. He is the potter, and we are His clay. (Isaiah 64:8) He will mold us and make us and expose us to just enough pressures of just the right kinds that we may be made into a flawless piece of work to fulfill His good, pleasing and perfect.

So when life seems hard, and you are being pounded and patted and pushed almost beyond endurance; when your world seems to be spinning out of control; when you feel like you are in a fiery furnace of trials; when life seems to "stink", try this.

Brew a cup of your favorite tea in your prettiest tea cup, sit down and think on this story and then, have a little talk with the Potter!"