Ha ha! I hope that title caught your attention and caused you to open up this blog.  Thanks to an incredibly inspiring old sermon by David Wilkerson, I feel re-energized on how we can get through these troubled times.  It is NOT Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's version of the Green Deal, which is reportedly "a manifesto calling for sweeping changes to American society. Key goals include cutting greenhouse-gas emissions to net zero over 10 years and guaranteeing jobs for all. " (Washington Post)

Sweeping changes will not come to this nation by cutting greenhouse gas emissions; but sweeping changes to America very well COULD come through the teaching David Wilkerson brought forth about "keeping green."  He referenced Revelation 9:4, which speaks of the end times when a demonic human army referred to as "locusts" are waging war with stingers and poisons.  But they are told "not to harm the grass of the earth or any green tree, but only those people who did NOT have the seal of God on their foreheads."

As I outlined in my last blog, there IS a "mark of God" given to His faithful saints who have refused the mark of the beast, and who are living out their faith by "keeping green."  You are wondering, "What on earth does THAT mean? " Let's go to Jeremiah 17:5-7 for the answer:

5 This is what the Lord says:
“Cursed is the one who trusts in man,
    who draws strength from mere flesh
    and whose heart turns away from the Lord.
6 That person will be like a bush in the wastelands;
    they will not see prosperity when it comes.
They will dwell in the parched places of the desert,
    in a salt land where no one lives.
7 “But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord,
    whose confidence is in him.
8 They will be like a tree planted by the water
    that sends out its roots by the stream.
It does not fear when heat comes;
    its leaves are always green.
It has no worries in a year of drought
    and never fails to bear fruit.”

As we seek the LORD about how we can prepare for days of tribulation and chaos, I really found this to be a profound and meaningful blueprint.  Through these verses our God is reminding us that IF WE KEEP TRUSTING IN MAN, OR A LEADER, OR A GOVERNMENT to resolve all these problems and make everything good and peaceful and calm again, we will be "barking up the wrong tree" (pardon the pun)!
 
Drawing strength from mere flesh is turning away from the LORD and He says "that person will be like a bush in the wasteland."  A bush in a wasteland is not going to survive; there is no water -- He calls it a "parched place in the desert in a salt land where no one lives."  

That is contrasted with the man who TRUSTS IN THE LORD. This man (or woman) has full confidence in God.  He is like a TREE PLANTED BY THE WATER; that would most certainly be a GREEN TREE!  No green tree will be harmed by those demonic forces.  That man does not fear when heat comes -- his leaves are always "green."  He does not worry in a year of drought.  He has put his trust in the Lord God Almighty, so there is provision for him and he (or she) is marked by God and will continue bearing fruit for the Kingdom, even unto the end.  

It is GOD'S GREEN NEW DEAL!  Trust in Him, not in man or military, as it says in Psalm 20:
Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in YHVH, the name of our God.
They are brought to their knees and fall, but WE RISE UP AND STAND FIRM!
Save, O King!
Answer us when we call!
Sign us up for YOUR Green New Deal!

Amen

I headed out my back door yesterday to check on my garden and my eyes were immediately drawn to a baby robin, perched on my pot of basil herbs.  Its fuzzy little head darted from side to side, and it tried to unfurl immature little wings, but was unable to fly. I surmised it must have fallen out of a nearby nest and hopped its way up to my deck.  I decided to go back inside and keep watch over it for a while to see what would happen. I had just received a text on my phone from the National Weather Service, warning of a severe thunderstorm headed our way.

Baby bird...so small, so innocent, so vulnerable.  Something deep inside of me started to resonate with it. These times we are living in sometimes make me feel small and vulnerable too.

Suddenly the wind kicked up fiercely and I was so worried about this little creature clinging to the edge of my basil pot. Wind gusts reached 65 miles per hour and then the rain began to pour. I watched through the window. Baby bird clung tight, stretched its tiny neck way back, and fixed its fuzzy little face upward.  Limbs began to snap off the surrounding trees and came hurling into our back yard like javelins.  A huge, gnarled old tree a block behind us was uprooted by this strong gale and crashed into the house, demolishing the garage. Baby bird clung to the edge of the basil pot, pelted with rain, rocked by wind, little face turned upward. 

Through all of this I was praying for him - and as I prayed, a song began to fill my heart: "His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me."  The whole picture was almost surreal; I knew Abba Father was illustrating something for me in a very real way.  The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that baby bird but it did not fall!  You know the rest of Matthew 7:25; the house does not fall because its foundation is on the Rock (Yeshua).  Maybe the baby bird did not fall because I was praying for its protection.  Or MAYBE it was just because His eye IS on all His creatures and also all His children!

The storm blew out as quickly as it had blown in.  I thought perhaps I might be able to sneak past the tiny bird and look for a worm in my garden soil. I found one and brought it back up to him. He stayed right where he was, and I held the worm right over his little beak but he didn't open his mouth.  I wondered if he was abandoned now, orphaned by his parents. I went back inside the house and continued to keep watch through the curtain.  Then I heard the sound of happy chirping and I watched as one of his parents came to him with food!  My heart rejoiced!  No, he was not abandoned. No, he did not perish in the storm. No, not a fuzz on his head was harmed! 

HIS EYE IS ON THE ROBIN...AND I KNOW HE WATCHES ME!
​
Baby Bird finally hopped off the basil pot, along the edge of my deck, and then dropped to the grass below.  His parent found him there again and brought more food. I went to bed feeling so secure in Abba's love and protection, so blessed to have watched that little bird weather the storm.  And now it is the next day - bright and sunny - everything looking normal outside. Headlines on the news read, "Hurricane Force Winds in Colorado Damage Homes and Uproot Trees; Tens of Thousands Without Power."  That was true. We spent the rest of the day and night with no power. But I kept thinking about the Power that sustained the baby bird!

 I came downstairs to write this blog and just as I was about to finish it, my husband called to me from upstairs. "Kelly, come look! Your baby bird is back!"  I raced up the stairs and peered out the window. I couldn't believe my eyes! There he was, that precious little robin, now perched on the deck railing and staring into our back door window.  I gingerly opened the door and stood there for the longest time. I stared into his beady little black eyes and he stared back. I think I know why he came back. I could almost HEAR a tiny little voice say, "Thank you."