Prepare Our Hearts

Today I was searching through some old journals and I came across an entry where I had taken notes on a talk by Joyce Meyer where she described “Eagle Christians”. She said, “Be an eagle Christian, the world is watching”, implying that the Bible says we are God’s personal representatives. Therefore our character is paramount.

Isiah 40:31

They that wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not grow faint.

Joyce then described several types of birds, we as Christians might compare ourselves with:

Chicken – Afraid of life, seldom flies, flaps and stirs up dirt, runs, finds grub worms, when a storm comes they stay in the fence, they have no freedom.

Deuteronomy 32:11

As an eagle stirs up its nest,

and hovers over its young;

as it spreads its wings, takes them up,

and bears them aloft on its pinions,

Magpie – a harsh and pushy bird that doesn’t have the greatest singing voice

Kookaburra – laughs and doesn’t take anything seriously

Vulture/Buzzard – loves to corrupt, tears apart, doesn’t mind the smell of death, takes their prey alive

To read more about this controversial photo, taken by Kevin Carter in the Sudan, go to this WordPress site.

Parrots – parrots talk the talk but do not walk the walk, they’re copycats

Cuckoo – removed mind, fruit loops, won’t work, sponges, uses someone else’ nest

Peacock – flashy, showy, struts his stuff, big ego

Pelican – eats all the time, fishes by wading around in shadowy areas but never dives into the deep

Crow – pesters the eagle more than any other bird, out for himself

Canaries – beautiful, but content to be locked up, canaries were often used by coal miners to check for high levels of poisonous gas if the bird died suddenly they knew to evacuate the mine

Eagle – bold, strong, committed, reliable, mates one mate for life, parent’s well, dwells on the rocks of high places, makes strong baby birds, even will throw them from the nest so that they will fly but will soar down and save them if they fail to spread their wings, can have a wingspan of up to 8 feet, does not have a large head, humans can see three basic colors, eagles can see 5 – they have amazing eyes.

Find out more about eagles at National Geographic’s Bald-Eagle page.

It looks like I may have taken the notes on Joyce’s bird talk clear back in 2007, as I was preparing for my very first trip to Haiti, but I want to share it with you. I can still recall the impact the Eagle Christian talk had on me. How I still long to be like that bird! I want to be an on fire Christian versus one God cannot use because I am lukewarm.

Dear Father, let us be like the eagle today, let us soar to great heights, stay upon the Rock, do not let us be caged and carried to our deaths, keep us from the evil that lurks among us waiting to pick us apart, let us walk the walk with humility, give us boldness. Thank you for putting us among Your creation so that we can learn about life and thank you for people like Joyce who continue to speak challenges into our spiritual journeys.

Amen.