Nature Devotions : May 2013

Saturday, May 11, 2013

May Apple

Early spring brings out the May apples. Here is a May apple patch in the woods. My wife and dog were caught in the photo as well.

Osprey Camera Live Feed

The egg hatched May 3rd and May 6th 2013

http://joinacf.org/osprey-cam/

Friday, May 03, 2013

American White Pelican

I encountered these birds as they were migrating up from the Gulf coast and further south through Missouri up into the northern states and in Canada.

They stand about 4' tall with a wing span of 9'. They scoop up fish as they swim in the water. They do not plunge into the water for food. They at times will form a line and herd fish to shore where the fish are easy to scoop up.

Foraging areas are marshes, rivers and at lake edges.

I saw this bright white through the trees as I walked up to the Missouri river. As I got closer I realized they were birds. American White Pelican.

I was shooting through some brush so as not to be seen by them. Yet after a short time they were on to me and started to get nervous. Most of them took off till only a few were left on the dike.

Psalm 102:6
I resemble a pelican of the wilderness;
I have become like an owl of the waste places.

This encounter reminds me I am just passing through. This world and city are not mine. My home is in heaven. The Pelican lives by the water. In Psalm 102:6 refers to being in the wilderness. There is no place for the Pelican to live naturally in the desert. Christians are like Pelicans in the desert. We don't thrive in this world. We are of the Kingdom of God. Yet we can make a big influence here by the power of the Holy Spirit.

It is not with our ability but God's which allows us to be effective here.

Thursday, May 02, 2013

Early Morning Mist

Mist off the pond early in the morning speaks to me of the value of an early devotion time with God. It is early in the morning when there are few distractions where we can be with God and learn/hear from Him.

Psalm 63:1 "O God, You are my God; I shall seek You earnestly;

My soul thirsts for You, my flesh yearns for You,
In a dry and weary land where there is no water."

Habakkuk 2:1 "I will stand on my guard post
And station myself on the rampart;
And I will keep watch to see what He will speak to me,

And how I may reply when I am reproved.

The mist represents the Holy Spirit coming to us. This mist happens in the early morning. Cherish these times with God. It is not that we can't meet Him at any time. It is that we are involved in things that will distract us from Him.