He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.

Psalms 91:4 (NIV)

The temperatures are lowering. A brisk wind reaches down and gathers gold, orange, and brown leaves from the ground. Those leaves dance in the air until finding a new spot on the rooftops of homes and cars. Some land on the browning grass. Autumn is arriving.

The sounds are different in autumn. School bus engines alert neighborhoods to the beginning and end of the school day. Plastic pools are put away for next summer. Sweaters and jackets have been retrieved from bins in closets. Daylight is growing shorter. Autumn is changing the world.

We wake to cooler mornings and reach to find covers on the bed. We rise to search for bedroom slippers or socks to warm cold feet. We look for warm clothing to cover chilly bodies. Autumn brings new choices and opportunities.

As we find ways to cover family, friends, strangers, and ourselves with warmth, there is peace and comfort found in knowing God’s love covers every season. Through simple and profound moments, God is speaking. When we pause and listen for His message, we can rest in the love of God and His promises.

How have you experienced the covers of God’s love?

Dear God, thank You for covering us with Your love and mercy. In autumn and always, we give thanks to You. Amen.

Award-winning author Melissa Henderson writes inspirational messages sometimes laced with a bit of humor. Melissa is the author of “Licky the Lizard” and “Grumpy the Gator” and many stories, devotions, and articles. 

Her passions are helping in the community and church. Melissa is an Elder, Deacon and Stephen Minister. Follow Melissa on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, Goodreads, Bookbub, Youtube, Linkedin, and at http://www.melissaghenderson.com 
 

Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good! 

Psalm 34:8 ESV

Even though the current age has coined the phrase “fast food,” feeding the body has always been lots of work. It doesn’t just happen. My father grew wheat, barley, and canola on a large farm in Alberta, Canada. These grains are all represented at my favorite fast-food restaurant, yet the growing of these grains is anything but fast. In order for me to enjoy a hamburger, fries, and a chocolate malt, there has to be a farmer somewhere who is spending his life growing the raw materials. He prepares the land, plants, fertilizes, cuts, harvests, stores, and sells the grain, all the while depending on God’s provision of sunshine and rain. Then the wheat becomes flour, the barley becomes malt, and the canola becomes oil . . .  everything I need for a hamburger, malt, and French fries. 

The point is, “fast food” is not fast nor are the ingredients easily obtained. It takes work to make a meal. God, in his wisdom, knew that civilization would be stabilized by the pairing of food and work. The need for food would give us purpose; the eating of food would give us community. 

Is it any wonder, then, that God uses our need for nourishment and our need for work to help us understand the gospel? We are hungry; taste Jesus. We are thirsty; drink Jesus. The real kicker, however, is that we don’t work for this food. We are simply invited to, “Taste and see that the Lord is good!” We are invited to sup at the sacramental table, recognizing that God, through Jesus, did all the work needed to supply this banquet of love. Jesus came, eating and drinking, knowing that he himself was the fulfillment of our hunger and thirst. 

Was there ever a more gracious invitation given? We, whose souls are insatiably hungry and thirsty and cannot find nourishment from the food the world has to offer, are invited to taste  Jesus—to dine gratis on his goodness. His food, given to us lavishly, hospitably, and willingly is savory, sweet, and bountiful. We are invited to feel pleasure, to be satisfied, to be FULL! 

And for all of this we say, “Dear Jesus, thank you for this food and for the hands that have prepared it. Bless it to the nourishment of our bodies. Amen.”

Norma Jean Bennett serves Word Weavers as the Word Weavers Ventura County (California) president. 

Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O Lord, you know it altogether.

Psalm 139:4, ESV

I open my blinds. Through the backlit openings, I admire the verdant kaleidoscope outside. Dry leaves swept to high piles on the curb attract my dogs to frolic. A leaf drifts across the window where my writing desk sits. I can’t escape the banging of the construction on the street.

The nudges of two wet black noses underneath my desk insist on play and back rubs. I nurture a blind Schnoodle with a broken heart valve. Meanwhile, my newly adopted rescue Yorkie takes strides to mark the house.

My thoughts race to caregiving. What do the family and dogs need for breakfast? My new computer is on the fritz. The distractions of cars and speeding bikes whirl by. A mother pushes a stroller.

The Lord speaks to my heart, “Shut it out. Close the door. Then open the blinds to your heart. Go where silence allows us to speak to each other before the household awakens. Then write to me for I know the words even before you do.”

The words are inside me and he put them there. I just need to “mine” them and mind them. I pretend I am a miner preparing to dig for malachite in the Queen Cooper mine. The bull horn has sounded. I descend the shaft to the dimly lit, still-aired tunnels of writing. At the end of the day, I excavate that special gem, placed there by him for me to discover and claim. I have opened my heart blinds.

Help me to listen intently to your still, small voice. All day and in all that I do, whether it is the God-ordained role you’ve assigned; to care, to give, to write or another task. Help me trust in the words I write or say with you in my heart. Amen.
 

Jasmine C. Gatti is a member of Word Weavers Online Groups. She is the author of poetry, articles, and devotionals and is a hospice clinician. Jasmine speaks on caregiving to parents, children, dogs, and patients. She lives in Maryland with her husband, terrier, and grown children. 

Her website: Writeinstantly.org