Thursday, October 6, 2011

Eagle, Chicken or Buzzard; Which Are You?

The eagle is the "King of birds". They are a symbol of strength, beauty, authority and freedom.
Eaglets are born with their mouths wide open and looking into the sun. They have an enormous hunger and constantly cry for food. Both, the male and female eagles are involved in feeding their eaglets. When we realize the fact that we are children of God and accept God as our Father, we have a hunger for God's Word and a need to be fed constantly.
Eagles are the only creature who can look directly into the sun. They have 2 sets of eyelids, which allow them to hunt for prey while flying directly towards the sun. When we fall into trials and temptations we need to fly directly to the Son, Jesus Christ, who is the light.
In order to fly one must be strong. The eagle's strength is in it's food. Eagles feed only on freshly killed prey and does not eat anything dead, rotten, toxic or contaminated, as the buzzards do. Just as we should only eat on the living Word of God, nothing dead or rotten, like gossip, profanity, pornography, self-will, rebellion, etc.
Eagles cannot digest everything they eat, like bones and hair. These things accumulate in the craw, hindering their ability to fly free and soar to great heights. They must expel the bad things so they hit their beak against a rock until the hindrances come out. We should do as the eagles and take our hindrances to the "Rock", Jesus Christ, until they are expelled from us, so that we may soar to great heights. We, like the eagles, must check what we take in to avoid hindrances and contamination.
Eagles have strong vision when flying in the sky. When an eagle sights his prey, he narrows his focus on it and sets out to get it. No matter what the obstacle, the eagle will not move his focus from the prey until he grabs it. In the same manner, we need to narrow our vision/focus and grasp the revelations that come from God's Word for our lives. We have to tune our ears to God's voice, be positive and obey. Have a vision, stay focused, no matter what the obstacles, and you will succeed.
When a male eagle takes interest in a female eagle, the courtship begins. The female eagle will test the male eagle, in which he has to pass before she will trust him. He has to pass the tests to show her that he will be a good father, a good husband and committed to her. If the male fails the tests she will chase him away. Only after the male eagle passes the test will she marry him.
The marriage ceremony of the eagles takes place 10 to 15 thousand feet in the air, locked together by their talons (holding hands) and both screaming with joy. Eagles are totally committed to each other, once they are married, and stay together for life. In good times and bad. in sickness and in health; only death can separate them. What a wonderful difference this would make if we could make such a commitment to our mate and to God.
After the eagles marry, they choose the proper place and build their home high up on a rock. We should learn from their example and build our homes on the "Rock", Jesus Christ.
The male eagle builds a strong nest out of thorns and sticks, for protection and security. Once the nest is completed the female eagle will lay her eggs in the nest. While she is preparing for birth she pulls down feathers from her breast to make a soft and warm bed for the eaglets.
After the eaglets are born not only do the parent eagles bring food to them and feed them, they also bring string, shiny objects and pieces of wool for toys for the eaglets. This is an unbelievable show of good parenting by an animal, that we as humans should learn from.
The eaglets grow strong and bigger, the mother eagle knows when it is time to prepare the eaglets to learn to fly. The mother will start the process by making the nest uncomfortable, she stops bringing them daily food and stops covering and protecting them from the storms. Just as God teaches us to grow up by allowing storms, adversities and problems, come into our lives. We have to admit, most are brought on by our own choices of being rebellious and defiant.
Eventually, the mother eagle will throw the eaglet from the nest. If the eaglet jumps back into the nest it gets pricked by the thorns. If the eaglet starts falling towards the ground, the father eagle will swoop down, grab the eaglet before it hits the ground and killed, and bring the eaglet back to the nest. This will happen over and over until the eaglet realizes he can fly. The uncomfortable changes in the nest prepares us for the changes in our lives. The parents role teaches us that the parents active participation leads us to success. This thorn built nest teaches us that when we are to comfortable, it prevents us from experiencing life, not developing and not learning to fly. The thorns of life come to teach us to grow, get out of the nest (out on our own) and learn to live. Remember, when problems come our way, God is teaching us to fly. We should not grumble and complain during trials and problems, because we are learning to fly to greater heights.
God will come to our rescue before we hit the ground and are destroyed, just as the father eagle rescued his eaglet. Strive to be obedient to God's Word, through every problem, trial and temptation, and God will teach you to fly. Through our trials and temptations God will teach us to over come, be a victor and to fly, just as the eagle.
Eagles do not reach their full potential until they learn to handle their adversities with no fear. An eagle's destiny is to be an over comer not a survivor, a victor not a victim. God wants us to reach our full potential, be over comers, develop our wings of prayer and praise, sharpen our vision and understanding, to grab hold to His Word and destroy the strongholds of evil.
When an eagle realizes that he is weighted down and cannot fly to great heights, he pulls out loose feathers from his body. We must pull out and turn away from the sins or anything in our lives that is keeping us weighted down and stops us from flying higher. We also need to spend time with God, being fed His Word to renew our strength.
The eaglet is always being watched and protected by the father eagle during the training to fly. We should know and trust that we are always being watched, protected and under God's power while we are learning to fly. There is no situation or problem that the Father cannot bring us out of as a victor and not a victim.
The eagle understands wind currents, stands on a rock and waits for the right wind to take off in flight, where he can glide and let the winds move him forward. We need to learn to stand on the "Rock", God's promises and wait for God to tell us when to take off and fly. We should acknowledge God in everything we do and know when God is leading us, not satan.
Eagles love storms, while other birds run and hide from it. Eagles get excited about storms because they use the storms to reach higher places. Once the eagle finds the storm winds, he uses the raging storm to soar into the clouds and glides, resting his wings. We must learn not to fight the storms in our lives because the storm is not our enemy. We should learn, when our storm comes to face them in prayer, study the Word and spend time in fellowship with God.
Content to a fault, self-satisfied and unconcerned people, who accept problems and act like victims, are like chickens. We, like chickens, have undeveloped wings and cannot fly. We know God's Word in our minds but do not have a personal relationship with God. We chickens have fed on worldly scraps that have made us fat and lazy, instead of feeding on the living Word of God, which teaches us to fly and win the battle.
God compares Himself and His children to the eagles. He protects, feeds and teaches His children, as the eagles protect, feeds and teaches their eaglets.
Eagle is in the Bible 32 times and 32 represent God's covenant. God desires to reproduce Himself in us while showing us His covenant through the life of the eagle.

Are you an eagle that is strong, beautiful, free and able to fly to great heights?
Are you a chicken that settles for worldly scraps, that makes you fat and lazy?
Are you a buzzard that feeds on dead and rotten food, contaminating you and others around you?

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