How is the rescue of a muddy puppy like God’s grace? Enjoy this special reading of Lisa Morrison’s article, Muddy Puppy.
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Welcome to Celebrating God’s Grace, a Women World Leaders podcast. My name is Julie Jenkins and I am pleased to be with you as we celebrate God’s grace in our lives in the ministry and in our world.
If you’ve been around Women World Leaders for any length of time, you’re no doubt familiar with our quarterly magazine, Voice of Truth. Voice of Truth is a compilation of stories and art presentations from writers and artists from around the world. All intended to point the reader to the Lord. You can check out any of our previous editions digitally at www.womenworldleaders.com. And while you’re on our website, you can sign up to receive a physical copy of the magazine if you live within the United States, or a digital copy of the magazine no matter where you live. And the best news is subscriptions to Voice of Truth are currently free, and will remain that way for as long as funding is available. That’s where we need your help. However, women world leaders is a 501c3 ministry which allows your donations to be tax-deductible within the United States. I bring up Voice of Truth today because on celebrating God’s grace, we have a special treat for you. Going forward we are going to be sprinkling in articles from Voice of Truth for you to enjoy audibly.
Today I have the pleasure of reading muddy puppy by Reverend Lisa Morrison. Muddy Puppy was originally written for the sixth edition of Voice of Truth, which was printed in November December of 2021. And let me tell you a little bit about Lisa Morrison. Reverend Lisa Morrison is an ordained minister who has served as pastor and staff pastor in several positions in the local church, as well as in District ministerial and educational leadership positions. Lisa also has been an adjunct instructor at various educational institutions of higher learning. She teaches in the religious religion department. She holds two master’s degree and a postgraduate degree from Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary. She’s also an editor in Voice of Truth magazine. I hope you enjoy my reading of Muddy Puppy by Reverend Lisa Morrison.
I went for a walk at a public park that meandered along the edge of what is called Billington Sea. I’m not sure why it is called a sea since it really is a pond. As the trail veered off the main road into the woods, I encountered a puppy running wild. He was having a grand old time not being tethered, running as fast as his little legs could carry him. I was concerned because I didn’t see his owner. The woods were thick where we were and we were off the beaten path. His owner would never know where he was not being a dog lover. Don’t hate me. I found myself in a quandary. Should I go after the pup or try to find the owner and let him know where he was. I thought it best to look for the owner since the puppy was never going to come to me. As I headed back to the main road, I hoped the pup would follow me that the owner would be at the trailhead, and they would be happily reunited, and I could continue my walk with no further interruption. But the Puppy didn’t follow and no one not one person not even a car was at the trailhead. With no desperate owner in sight I realized I had to choose the path I did not want to travel. Catch the pup back down the trail I went and tried to reason with him to come to me he was not having it. Running Wild was much more exciting than coming to a non dog-lover who was He’s going to take away his freedom. His newfound freedom was costly though it led him down embankment entangled in pricker bushes and eventually plopped him into the murky waters of an inlet that led into the sea. Not only am I not a dog lover, but I also can’t stand the getting muddy, especially from a wet, smelly, dirty dog. I know Please don’t hate me. As I stared at his predicament, I knew I was going to have to sacrifice my feelings about dogs being clean, and my uninterrupted walk to rescue this puppy. He’d gotten himself so far in that no way out existed except to be saved. down the embankment and tangled in pricker bushes I went, struggling to make it to the edge of the water to complete the rescue. Like it or not. I had to trek into the murky water and pick him up. holding him tightly I battled my way back up the pricker Bush embankment. We then embarked on a search for the owner. We wandered down the main road for a span when a little boy jumped out of a car running as fast as he could toward us. His eyes filled with tears and joy exuded from his face. As he was reunited with his muddy puppy. He hugged him tight, not caring one bit, how wet, smelly and muddy his puppy was. As I saw the joy on the boy’s face, I sense the Lord speak to my spirit. This is a picture of what Jesus has done for humanity. Jesus sacrificed himself for us when He died on the cross. He died for those who think running untethered in sin is the courageous thing. He died for those who have headed over the embankment becoming entangled in the pucker bushes and ending up in the depths of the muddy water with no way out. Only one way out of sin exists, it is to be rescued by the Savior. Unlike me, Jesus willingly comes to the rescue, not begrudging, the pricker bushes and the dirt from our sinful filth. He has also liked the little boy, happy to be reunited with his puppy. It doesn’t matter how dirty and wet he has to get. Jesus represents both me the sacrificial rescuer and the boy, a happy owner being reunited with what was lost to him. If you find yourself today, like our muddy puppy, separated from your owner, our Savior because of your sin, Jesus is ready to rescue you and wants to welcome you back into his loving arms. No matter how entangled or murky your life has become. Will you be like the muddy puppy? Will you willingly accept the arms of the one who loves you? And who more than anything else wants to be reunited with you?
Let’s pray. To Heavenly Father, we thank you for being our Savior. We thank you for loving us even though we are filthy, filthy er than the muddy puppy. We give our lives to you and ask you to carry us to safety to our God and Father. In Jesus name I pray, Amen. Thanks for listening to women world leaders podcast. Join us each Monday, Wednesday and Friday. As we explore together God’s extravagant love and your courageous purpose. Visit our website at WWW dot women world leaders.com. To submit a prayer request, register for an upcoming event and support the ministry from his heart to yours. We are women world leaders. All content is copyrighted by women world leaders and cannot be used without express written consent.