Swim Against the Current - The Salmon - The Character of Creatures

This is a chapter from the book The Character of Creatures: What the Animal Kingdom Teaches Us About God and His Word.

Swim Against the Current – The Salmon

Salmon swim upstream to where they were born. They have to fight the current, waterfalls, and predators to arrive at their destination. Anything can swim or float down the stream, but it takes a healthy, strong, motivated salmon to arrive at its destination upstream.

God gave us the salmon to teach us:

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. ~ Romans 12:2

Discussion:

1. The world is going from bad to worse. They will tell you all of your problems are someone else’s fault, that you’re a victim, and that you shouldn’t rejoice, and that God isn’t listening or working or worth serving. Christians throughout history have faced the same evil. Do we overcome evil with evil, or with good? How can you show God’s love this week?

2. When people fall into sin it’s rarely a surprise; usually they’ve been drifting there for a long time. Are you wandering away from God anywhere? He says, “Return to me, and I will return to you” (Zechariah 1:3).

3. Doing the right thing is hard, but it gets easier. Doing the wrong thing is easy, but it gets harder. Serving Jesus is much harder than swimming up a rushing river, but with the Holy Spirit, even the impossible becomes possible! Are you going with the current of the world or against it?

A dead fish can float downstream, but it takes a live one to swim against the current. The Christian is called to swim upstream in a world that is drifting away from God. ~ Alistair Begg

Guard Your Heart - The Armadillo - The Character of Creatures

This is a chapter from the book The Character of Creatures: What the Animal Kingdom Teaches Us About God and His Word.

Guard Your Heart – The Armadillo

Armadillos wear an amazing little suit of armor that can protect them from all sorts of predators when they roll up in a ball. All of their soft parts are guarded from things that would seek to harm them.

The Armadillo reminds us to protect what is important:

Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life. ~ Proverbs 4:23

Discussion:

1. Before we are born again, our hearts are desperately wicked and deceitful beyond all things. We can test that by what comes out of our hearts in the form of evil thoughts, murder, unfaithfulness, theft, lies, slander (Matthew 15:18–19), which is why we need a new heart! Read Ezekiel 36:26 and consider how God gives us that new heart. Do you have a heart of stone or a soft heart? Do you need to ask God to give you a new heart? What flows out of a heart for God?

2. Ephesians 6 describes the spiritual armor that Christians should be wearing. Take a moment to read 6:10–18 and consider how to put on the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, and the helmet of salvation. Are you ready to extinguish the flaming darts of the evil one? Are you ready to stand for truth? Are you ready to rescue the perishing?

3. Our greatest ally in this battle is God: “for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world” (1 John 4:4)! The Bible tells us to pray about everything, and to trust him with the battle while we seek to remain faithful! Take heart; Jesus has overcome the world (John 16:33)! Are you strong and courageous? Let the weak say, “I am a warrior” (Joel 3:10)!

A heart guarded by the armor of God remains soft to the Master's touch, yet impenetrable to the arrows of the adversary. ~ Author Unknown but to God

Water Seeds - The Beaver - The Character of Creatures

This is a chapter from the book The Character of Creatures: What the Animal Kingdom Teaches Us About God and His Word.

Water Seeds – The Beaver

Sometimes science forgets how important animals are. Beavers were once thought to be pests because they chew down trees and block creeks. But we’ve been learning how important they are to create thriving wetlands and even bigger trees. In some places in the American Southwest scientists are releasing Beavers to try to save ecosystems that have dried up.

They teach us that we can’t have life without water:

Neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. ~ 1 Corinthians 3:7

Discussion:

1. Jesus once asked a woman for water in a very hot dry place. She had lived a hard life and no one trusted her or wanted her around. Jesus told her that he could give her living water that would bring eternal life. She got excited and perceived that he was telling the truth. She didn’t keep it to herself—she went and told everyone she could find! Do these life-giving rivers of living water flow out of your heart? Read John 4:7–30 and 7:37–39.

2. The Bible says that it is more blessed to give than to receive: “Whoever brings blessing will be enriched, whoever waters will himself be watered” (Proverbs 11:25)! Have you been watered? How can you water others?

3. The gospel is a message of generosity. God gave his only begotten Son. Jesus gave us eternal life. The Spirit gave us the right to be called sons of God. Our giving Saviour should have giving disciples. Are you generous with your time, prayers, words, possessions, and love? How about the message of eternal life?

Out of his infinite riches in Jesus, he giveth, and giveth, and giveth again. ~ Annie J. Flint