IF I ONLY HAD...........

Greetings Home Seekers. How's the search comin' along?

Back in the 60's...you knew Easter....or at least Springtime was appearing when you saw the commercials for the special showing of THE WIZARD OF OZ. Now what The Wizard of Oz has to do with Springtime or Easter is your guess as good as mine...but all I know is...that I got excited.

It is a little known fact that I failed the 6th grade with 13 D's and 4 F's. There were a lot of reasons and excuses...but it was a turning point in my life. My 6th grade teacher...Mrs. Martha Adkerson...took me under her wing...and introduced me to the escape mechanism of reading. I had a lot that I wanted to escape from...including a rocky home life. She told me that with reading...I could go anywhere in the world with my imagination. One book that I read...that captured my imagination was THE WIZARD OF OZ...the story of a girl trying to find a HOME...along with a ragtag group of companions including a Tin Woodman, a Scarecrow, and a Cowardly Lion. The Tin Woodman wanted a HEART...the Scarecrow wanted a BRAIN...and the Cowardly Lion wanted COURAGE.

In the movie each one had a song about their desires...and then they would start singing about being off to see the Wizard...who could help them get what they needed. It turned out that he was a HUMBUG. An example of their SONG OF DESIRE is the Tin Woodman (aka Nick Chopper)...

When a man's an empty kettle
He should be on his mettle
And yet I'm torn apart
Just because I'm presumin'
That I could be kind of human
If I only had a heart

Of course the moral of the story was...that what they were seeking...they already had...they just didn't have a symbolic representation of what they desired.

The Tin Woodman received...a large heart shaped clock...his ticker.
The Scarecrow received...a diploma.
The Cowardly Lion received a medal.
Dorothy already had the ruby slippers...that she had her entire journey...and all she had to do was click them...and recite...there's no place like home.

Once she woke up...from her journey to Oz...or was it a dream...she was surrounded by her family and friends....most of who were personified in her travellers in Oz...she came to the realization that she already had what she was searching for...a home.

I started thinking about all of this...as the Lord was speaking to me that...ONLY GOD CAN CHANGE A PERSON'S HEART. I can manipulate, cajole, nag, debate, reason, beg, a person that I love to change their ways...but if you can talk someone into something...someone can talk them out of it.

I started RUMINATIN'...about how God's heartbeat for us is all the stuff that we are constantly searching for...but for some reason we think that we have to go here and there and fill ourselves with stuff that never satisfies.

"For all the these things the Gentiles eagerly seek; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But SEEK FIRST His Kingdom and His righteousness...and all these things shall be added to you." We don't have to go to OZ...we have a ROAD TO ZION that leads through our hearts...with the King...NOT A HUMBUG waiting to give us the DESIRES OF OUR HEARTS as we DELIGHT OURSELVES IN HIM. (Psalm 37:4)

HEART:
"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God." (Matthew 5:8)

"For where your treasure is...there will your heart be also." (Matthew 6:21)

"You brood of vipers, how can you, being evil, speak what is good? For the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart. The good man out of his good treasure brings forth what is good; and thee evil man out of his evil treasure brings forth what is evil." (Matthew 12:34,35)

BRAIN (MIND)"

"I urge you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by THE RENEWING OF YOUR MIND, that you may prove what the will of God is...that which is good and acceptable and perfect." (Romans 12:1,2)

"But you did not learn Christ in this way, if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught Him, just as truth is in Jesus, that, in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, and that you BE RENEWED IN THE SPIRIT OF YOUR MIND...and put on the new self which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth." (Ephesians 4:20-24)

"Let this MIND (have this attitude) be in you which was also in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 2:5)

COURAGE:

"No man will be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I have been with Moses, I will be with you; I will not fail you or forsake you. BE STRONG AND COURAGEOUS, for you shall give this people possession of the land which I swore to their fathers to give them. Only BE STRONG AND VERY COURAGEOUS; be careful to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, so that you may have success wherever you go. This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your prosperous...and then you will have good success." (Joshua 1:5-8)

HOME:

"Now fear the Lord and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your forefathers worshiped beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. BUT AS FOR ME AND MY HOUSEHOLD (home) WE WILL SERVE THE LORD." (Joshua 24:14-15)

"For we know that if the earthly tent which is our house is torn down, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For indeed in this house we groan, longing to be clothed with our dwelling from heaven; inasmuch as we, having put it on, shall not be found naked. For indeed while we are in this tent, we groan, being burdened, because we do not want to be unclothed, but to be clothed, in order that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. Now He who prepared us FOR THIS VERY PURPOSE is God, who gave to us the Spirit as a pledge. Therefore, being always of good courage, and knowing that while we are at HOME in the body...we are absent from the Lord...FOR WE WALK BY FAITH NOT BY SIGHT...WE ARE OF GOOD COURAGE...we are of GOOD COURAGE, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and TO BE AT HOME WITH THE LORD. Therefore...also we have as our AMBITION, whether AT HOME...or absent...TO BE PLEASING TO HIM." (II Corinthians 5:1-9)

FINAL THOUGHTS...FINALLY

Well...the Wizard of Oz is just a book..but our God is real. The things that we desire...heart, brains, courage, and a home...are found in Him. Everything else is a poor comparison. We fill our lives in search for all of these things...and come up with temporary pleasures...but always come up empty. There is no place like HOME...and HOME is not a click away with a pair of ruby slippers...but HOME is just a PRAYER AWAY.

In 1976...there was a guy name Pat Terry...in a group called the Pat Terry Group...who wrote a song called HOME WHERE I BELONG. Pat recorded...and then B.J. Thomas recorded it on his HOME WHERE I BELONG Christian album. It says it all...so here it is;

They say that heaven's pretty...and livin' here is too...but if they said that I would have...to choose between the two..I'd go home...goin home...where I belong.

Sometimes when I'm dreamin'...it comes as no surprise...that if you'll look and see the homesick feelin' in my eyes...I'm goin' home...goin' home...where I belong

While I'm here I'll serve Him gladly...and sing Him all these snogs...I'm here...but not for long.

When I feelin' lonely...and when I'm feelin' blue...it's such a joy to know that I am only passin' through...I'm headed home...I'm goin' home... Where I belong

One day I'll be sleepin' when death knocks on my door...and I'll awake to find that I'm not homesick anymore...cause I'll be home...I'll be home...where I belong.

2ND FINAL THOUGHTS...FINALLY

Enjoy the journey.

Love and Fulfilled Kisses
Rodney "Don't Need No Wizard" Boyd