Just up the road from my home is a field with two horses in it. From a distance, each looks like every other horse. But if one stops the car, or is walking by, one will notice something quite amazing.

Looking into the eyes of one horse will disclose that he is blind. His owner has chosen not to have him put down, but has made a good home for him. This alone is amazing.

Listening, one will hear the sound of a bell. Looking around for the source of the sound, one will see that it comes from the smaller horse in the field. Attached to her bridle is a small bell. It lets her blind friend know where she is, so he can follow her. As one stands and watches these two friends, one sees how she is always checking on him, and that he will listen for her bell and then slowly walk to where she is — trusting that she will not lead him astray.

Like the owners of these two horses, God does not throw us away just because we are not perfect or because we have problems or challenges. He watches over us and even brings others into our lives to help us when we are in need.

Sometimes we are the blind horse being guided by God and those whom he places in our lives. Other times we are the guide horse, helping others see God.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, who watches over even a blind old horse, watch over us. Show us the way to You. Provide us with heavenly guides who will lead us to You through the fields of our lives. Amen.

I spend a lot of time on a computer. I work for a computer software company, and also communicate with many friends on the Internet. Because of this, I have several interesting tools on my computer. One is an anti-virus program which does a virus scan of all the files on my computer every couple of days, using virus-definition files to look for viruses and other nasty things which might be trying to harm my computer. Another is a program that also searches my files looking for spyware — little programs that have been installed while I was visiting a website and which send out those popup ads. Both let me know when they find something so I can remove the threat.

Wouldn't it be nice to have an anti-sin program that would search though our lives and our minds, and find all the hidden sins that are just sitting around waiting to do us harm? A program that would hunt out and destroy all those little voices which discourage us or tempt us would be so useful. In fact, we do have that. God has ways of protecting us from evil, and He will spread His protection over all of us — we just have to run the "anti-sin" program. The "sin-definition files" are contained in the Bible. "Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee." (Psalm 119:11 KJV)

How do we run the program? When we come to God in prayer, He will send His Holy Spirit to run a "sin scan" and remove any evil which tries to find a home in our lives. We are called to have faith and to trust the Lord.

Prayer: Lord, help us to remember that You are there to protect us from those things which can cause harm. Come into our lives, and search for the unhealthy things which prevent us from being all we can be. Remove them from our lives, and protect us so that we might better serve You. Amen.

I ask the children what I would need to make a body. It varies with the group. Some think of the easy things — like legs, hands, eyes, etc. Others come up with more detail — blood, brain, heart, skin, etc. As children tell me a part, I ask them to become that part of the body, and then have the different parts of the body stand together.

Then I ask the skin to trade places with the eyes, the feet with the heart, and the brain with the stomach. Then I ask if the skin is able to do the job of the eyes for the body. "Eyes, can you cover the body and protect the insides? Heart, can you walk for the body?" If I am lucky I get, "No!" and some laughter.

Next I ask the heart to go and stand by the pulpit, the skin by the choir, the eyes by the door, and the feet by the picture window. Then I ask, "Are you still a body?" Again, if I am lucky, they will say, "No."

"What do you have to do to be the body again?"

"Get back together."

"Okay, on the count of three become the body again."

Once my "body" has come back together, we talk about how the church is just like the body we built. Each person in the church is important, and has a job to do. We are all different: some make music, some read scripture, some make food, some teach, and some learn. If the church is spread out like the body, it cannot work either. We, the church, need to come together, just as the children did. We need to work together, share our different gifts and skills, and, most of all, support each other.

Prayer: Help us, Lord, to celebrate our different gifts and skills. Help us to work together as one body, one family, and one church. Remind us that we are not complete if one of our number is missing, and help us to reach out to them. Amen.

Statistics Canada recently came out with the results of a survey on religious affiliation, in which it reported that 16{8395b6ce96fcf25a14d80edc3b65c36a8995b6c1ba5f8c16ac11d8adaa79f35b} of Canadians do not belong to any religion at all.

When I heard this on the radio, while I was driving to work, I was overcome with sadness. As I sat on the bus later, and looked at the faces of the other passengers, I wondered about those who had nothing to believe in. I wondered how they get through their days, the good days and the bad days, with all the joys and sorrows of living in this world today. Does the darkness overwhelm them?

During my life, there have been times when I walked through the dark valleys of life, times when I was not sure where I was going, or why things happened the way they did. There were also moments of great blessing and joy. Throughout all of this, even when it seemed the darkest, I knew I was not alone. There was a light which led me out of the darkness, a light which could not be overcome by the darkness of the world.

Because of our belief in Christ, we Christians have something the rest of the world needs. We know that our God is with us every moment. God is there beside us during the dark and difficult times. God will find us when we are lost, will carry us when we are too weary, will comfort us in times of sorrow, and will rejoice with us in the good times. It is our belief that makes us different, and allows us to walk in the light, even when the world is full of darkness.

Mark 11:24 – Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. (NIV)

Prayer: Loving God, we are truly blessed to be your children. Even when the world is at it darkest, we walk in your light. You hear our cries and answer. We pray for all who do not know the comfort of your love, and ask that they, too, may come to believe, and come out of the darkness. Amen.

My most wonderful memories of childhood are the years I spent on my grandparents' farm in the Annapolis Valley in Nova Scotia, Canada. Grandpa had a team of oxen, which he called "The Children". Wherever they were, all he had to do was call, and they came running. They would follow him anywhere, and would do whatever he asked — whether it was pulling a heavy load of logs out of the woods, pulling the plough, or putting up with the granddaughter sitting on their backs.

Now these same oxen, the gentle creatures that Grandpa loved and that loved him, were known to my grandmother — and anyone else who had to try to work with them — as not so gentle or obedient. Whenever anyone other than Grandpa called, the oxen simply ignored them. They would not move an inch; they refused to do anything. Yet when they heard Grandpa's voice, they joyfully ran to him, ready and willing to do whatever he asked.

Whenever I hear the story that Jesus tells of the Shepherd, I see Grandpa's oxen running up the field at the sound of his voice, and I am reminded that, as Christians, we must listen for the voice of Jesus, and come running, ready and willing to do the work He has ready for us. For we can trust not only that He will look out for us, but also that anything He asks us to do will be possible with His help. We know Him, we know His voice, and He knows us.

Prayer: Good Shepherd, help us to listen in our noisy world for Your voice. We know You are calling, and we want to answer. Help us to accept willingly and joyfully the work that You have for us to do in this world. We are blessed that You know our names, and that You call us close to You. Amen.