‘His Eye is On the Sparrow’

Good afternoon, friends.  Thank you for tuning in today.  It’s a privilege to talk with you.  On next week’s program, we’re going to have to tackle our annual Year In Review, highlighting the major news stories of 2015.  I’ve already compiled most of the information.  It’s not a pretty sight.  In fact, it’s awful, its horrific.  My prayer is actually that nothing more happens the rest of the year — I’m not sure we could handle it.

We live in fearful times.  When we see what is coming upon the Earth, when we watch our nation crumble from within, and deliberately destroyed by those whom we have set over us as leaders, and when we come to realize our country will never be the same again, that the America we grew up in is gone forever, it is natural to be fearful.  We fear for our children and grandchildren.  What sort of life will they have?  If the Lord tarries, will those who come after us remain faithful to Him and sound of mind, after growing up in a world where evil is called good and good is called evil and everywhere we turn is nothing but insanity and wickedness?

It is very important to be informed and knowledgable about the things in this world that we must do battle with as Christians.  We cannot, like many prefer, just turn our backs or bury our heads in the sand.  We need to know and understand what is happening so that we can warn others, so that we can educate others and lead them to the only hope we have in this world.  But today I’d like to take this time with you to consider some positive things, some uplifting, edifying things.   Because I think we all need to take a deep breath today and spend at least a few brief minutes in praise to our Lord and Savior, our Heavenly Father, our Creator.  I think we need it.  I know I need it.  The bad news can wait today.  It will still be here tomorrow.

Philippians 4 tells us to think about those things that are true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent and praiseworthy.  Our Bible tells us 365 times — once for each day of the year — to “fear not.”  We live in a world where fear and dread are everywhere because of the enemy of our souls.  Satan wreaks havoc and mayhem in the world and turns everything upside down and backwards.  But this world is not our home.  And as a Christian, I know that the One who is within me is greater than the one who is in the world.  If God is for us, who can ever be against us?  And so as difficult as it sometimes seems, we would do well to heed Scripture, and “fear not.”

Today, I’d like us to remember just WHO this God is, that is “for” us.  Who is this One who is within us?   First of all, as we read in the very first words of Scripture, He is the Creator.  God the Father created, out of nothing, the heavens and the earth.  Genesis 1:2 tells us His Holy Spirit was there, hovering over the waters.  Colossians reminds us that Jesus, God’s Son, completed the Trinity, as “by Him all things were created, things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible…all things were created by Him and for Him.”

Just imagine the miracle of creation.  We’ve all seen images of outer space, the galaxies, the stars and planets.  Scientists have shown how vast the universe is, and how incredibly small our world is.  I can’t comprehend the universe, but I can tell you about our tiny Earth.  Our Father created this amazing world and everything in it in perfection and called it “good.”  In my life I have been blessed to see many amazing things.  I’ve been to the highest peak of the Rocky Mountains.  I’ve been to the lowest point in America, at Death Valley.  Being from Wisconsin, I have always loved visiting the Great Lakes.  My favorite way to spend my spare time in the summer is outdoors, in nature.  Often I take hikes or sit and take in a whole beautiful, amazing scene and just wonder at the beauty of God’s design — how utterly BEAUTIFUL this world is.  And I remember then that this is a fallen world, and I try to comprehend what it must have been like before the fall, before sin tainted everything.  We can never know just how beautiful the Lord made the garden for Adam and Eve to enjoy.  What we see in nature today is beautiful, but it’s just a distorted, marred, and broken version, compared to what it once was, the way God meant it to be.

And then I look closer.  I have always loved birds, ever since I can remember.  As a kid I had a parakeet and I taught him to talk and do tricks.  He was my best friend, and very intelligent.  He had a personality of his own, even a sense of humor.  Look at a simple, small parakeet, how beautiful God made him.  Look at the intricasies of the design, the colors, thousands of tiny feathers, all arrayed in different colors to form a unique, beautiful pattern.  Look at the personality God gave each individual, tiny bird.  Look at the intelligence He gave them.  Consider how each one has a beautiful song to sing.

Then consider the other songbirds, out in the wild.  How they have families, communities, how God feeds and cares for them.  Look at their unique beauty….  each one with thousands of tiny feathers, each arrayed in beautiful colors.  There are over 4,000 species of songbirds, and God designed each one special.  Think of the amazing color pallette as God, our heavenly Father, painted each one of His beautiful songirds by hand.  They may seem so small and insignificant, but God’s word tells us, His eye is on the sparrow.

Then consider the bigger parrots.  Macaws, Cockatoos, Amazons, Lories, Conures, African Grays.  I have a Blue and Gold Macaw myself, which we adopted from a parrot rescue shelter.  I can tell you these birds have personalities all their own, they are loving, affectionate, intelligent and sensitive.  They’re also amazingly beautiful.  God made each one and He cares for them all.  I’ve only mentioned songbirds and parrots, but consider also the penguins, the ostriches, the chickens, ducks, geese.  Consider the owls, the eagles… such amazing diversity.  And then look how God designed and hand-painted each one in such beautiful ways.

I think the birds of the air are the most beautiful of all God’s creatures… but He also made so many more.  Look at the lions and tigers, the apes, the horses, the dogs.  Every creature hand-made by our God.  Then, consider yourself.  It is said that human beings only utilize 10% of our brains, and yet we can concieve and build skyscrapers, supersonic jets, submarines and spaceships.  But even with all our great intelligence, we still cannot make an eye.  We cannot make a heart or cause it to pump blood, or to love a child.  Only God can create life, and He does.  Indeed, God IS life.

I look at the beauty and wonder of all God has made… and consider how much He has loved us to put us in such an amazingly beautiful habitat.  Then I think of the wildflowers growing on the side of a mountain where no man or woman will ever see… but He plants them there Himself, because HE sees them, and He likes them.  He puts them there for His own pleasure — as well as to be a part of His awesome creation, perhaps sustaining the honeybees nearby.  And then I think of the honeybees and how incredible and complex their design is… and then I think of the ants… and even the sea creatures and how God made each one of those.  God’s creation is simply beyond comprehension.  It is teeming with LIFE.  Yes, God IS life!

When I observe the beauty and wonder of God’s Creation, I am so thankful for all He has made…. and then I am reminded that there are people in this world whose mission in life is to destroy it all.  I see the beauty of a summer sunset over a still, peaceful lake, loons cooing quietly as dusk falls and the stars come out.  I see the love of a mother for her newborn baby, the miracle of life as a daddy Robin feeds his chicks.  I see how beautifully God created and sustains this tired old world, and then I’m jolted back to the reality of knowing there are people in this world who want to turn all this beauty into a devastated smoking heap of smoldering wasteland, because it is all they know and understand.  It does not fit.  It’s just so WRONG.

But our heavenly Father not only created us, He also loves us.  He loves us so much that when we rejected Him and went our own way, arrogantly turning against Him, He willingly left His heavenly throne and came to dwell among us.  Our God did not just send others to shepherd us — He came HIMSELF, humbly and lovingly to restore us and redeem us as His own beloved children.  And He didn’t come as a vindictive, conquering dictator, to give us the punishment we so richly deserve.  Instead, He came in the flesh to teach us His ways,  to reach out and give us one more chance — to lead us back to where we had strayed from, back to where we belong.  He came as an innocent, humble child, as a precious baby.   Jesus grew to adulthood, and then He taught and ministered and healed and blessed everywhere He went.  Until we killed Him.

This seems to be what we do, as ruthless, arrogant selfish people.  Our Savior comes to give us life, and life more abundantly….  in return, our sin-filled hearts — apart from God — know only murder.  But God turned even this horrific event around for our ultimate good.  What Satan meant for evil and death, God used for our salvation and life.  Christ, our Savior, willingly paid the ultimate penalty for our betrayal.  He got what WE deserved, as He laid down His life in order to save us.  Indeed, while we were YET sinners, Christ died for us!  As a Christian of many years, I know this is true, yet every time I think of it, I am always amazed at the extent of God’s love.  The song Amazing Love says, “I’m forgiven because You were forsaken.  I’m accepted, You were condemned.  I’m alive and well, Your Spirit is within me, because You died and rose again.  Amazing love, how can it be?  That You, my King would die for me…”  Such a thing doesn’t seem right.  It doesn’t fit, and yet our God loved us so much that He gave His only Son, so that all who believe in Him would not perish in Hell, but instead, inherit eternal life.

The black flags of ISIS march onward in Satan’s quest to overtake the whole world.    It appears that this will continue and the whole world will be led astray by these demons…  only a remnant will remain faithful to God.  “Evil” is called “good” and “good” is called “evil.”   “Terrorism” is called “a peaceful religion.”  Confused and sinful men are named “Woman of the Year.”  Precious children are murdered, ripped from their mothers’ wombs, and their mothers pay for the “service.”  It’s just so wrong.  It doesn’t fit.   Which brings me to my closing point.     You see, God not only created us and He not only sent His Son, Jesus, to redeem and save us, offering us one last hope… He is also coming again soon, to judge the evil of this world and restore all things to perfection.    As bad as things are on this sin-filled planet, God can fix it.  And that is our greatest hope.  He is coming soon to do just that.

Yes, Jesus, our Savior is coming soon.  The Bible describes the time of His coming, and that description tells us the time is certainly at hand, even at the door.  When that day comes, we are promised, God will make all things new.  Revelation 21:  “God’s dwelling place will be among the people, and He will dwell with them.  They will be His people and God Himself will be with them and be their God.  He will wipe every tear from their eyes.  There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”  And He who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new!”

Now, I have been speaking to God’s children today.  If you are not a part of God’s family, and in fact, let me speak even more plainly here:  IF YOU ARE NOT A CHRISTIAN, saved by the blood of Jesus, then you have a great deal to fear.  I would urge you, if you are not a Christian, to look into this now.  You instinctively KNOW that what I am saying is true, so don’t reject it.    False teachers abound who will tell you what you want to hear, that everyone will be saved, that we’re all going to heaven, no matter what or who we believe.  Friend, it is not true.  God does not want you to end up in hell, but that is where this sinful world is headed — where we are all headed — apart from Christ.  I hope that concerns you, and that you will care enough to heed the warnings.  God doesn’t want you to go to Him out of fear.  He offers you salvation through love…. but each of us must choose that love, individually.

I would like to close with a few verses of Scripture for us all to meditate on, as we close out the year, remembering God’s goodness.  I hope they will bring you comfort, even among the awful storms of this world.  Psalm 34:4, “I sought the Lord and He heard me, and delivered me from all my fears.”  1 Peter 5:6-7, “Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that He may lift you up in due time.  Cast all your anxiety upon Him, for He cares for you.”  Proverbs 3:5-6, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;  in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will direct your paths.”

And Philippians 4:6-7, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

The coming year is sure to bring more turmoil, more apostasy, more wickedness and pain.  But as Christians we need not be anxious, and we need not fear, even though sinful men may persecute us, torture us and take our very lives.  Just remember how He cares for His creation and His dear children, whom He loves.  Because His eye is upon the sparrow.  And I know He watches me.

Audio CDs and text versions of this message are available when you call me at Wisconsin Christian News, (715) 486-8066.  Or email [email protected].  Ask for message number 142.

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Rob is the founder and publisher of Wisconsin Christian News, a regional Christian newspaper. While the main distribution of the paper is Wisconsin-based, WCN also has subscribers in nearly all fifty states.  He writes a monthly commentary for WCN, and can also be heard twice weekly, (Tuesdays and Saturdays) nationwide on the VCY America Radio Network, with his “From the Editor’s Desk” commentaries.  Rob’s messages offer unique teaching and insights from God's word, dealing with the most important issues of our day.

Rob Pue

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