When the End is Near

When I was twenty-five years old, my husband and I made the trip to Parsons, Kansas, to introduce our newly-born baby girl to my relatives. My grandfather was seventy-six at the time, and, to me, he seemed ancient. In fact, I thought it likely that he would die before I saw him again, and I spent as much time talking to him as possible.

My grandfather was born into a family of fourteen children, and he grew up in extreme poverty on a farm in Pleasanton, Kansas.  He left only to fight in World War I and then returned to Kansas where he married my grandmother at age twenty-seven. For a time he supported his family by working as a barber, but he took a job with the Katy Railroad as soon as one became available, and he remained there until he retired.

My grandfather never had any money. He and my grandmother bought a small house on five acres of land at the edge of town, and they fed their six surviving children by raising a huge garden and milking their own cow. Their meat was provided by the chickens that they raised and the calf and pig that they butchered each year. Life was hard.

Yet, my grandfather never said anything to indicate that they were poor. During the depression, he instructed each of his six children to bring one child home from school each evening to have “supper” with them. This was a great treat for the children who lived in town and often went to bed hungry. His only stipulation was that they had to bring different children home each evening so that they could rotate those special meals among the children in their classes.

In spite of the obvious hardships that my grandfather had endured, he never talked about his unfulfilled dreams. I never heard him say, “I wish,” or “I wanted,” or “I could have.” He lived his life simply and honestly in a straight-forward manner, and he seemed to be at peace with himself and his neighbors.

Nevertheless, I felt certain that a man of his age must have some regrets, and so during that visit, I asked him if he could go back in time and change anything about his life what that change would be. I was certain that he would say that he would have liked to have been better educated, or he would have liked to have made more money, or he would have like to have traveled to distant parts of the world. Surely, by the time a man has lived seventy-six years, he must have something he would go back and change that would have, in turn, changed the outcome of the rest of his life.

 I was very surprised, therefore, when he responded without the slightest hesitation, “I would only change one thing. I would have kept my baby from dying if I could have.” (This was a reference to the sixteen-month old baby girl who died of diphtheria).

What could possibly cause a man to be so content with a life that would appear to an observer to be completely unremarkable? I believe that the secret to my grandfather’s contentment was this: At the age of thirty-eight, he became a Christian. When he accepted Christ, he did so with his whole heart, and he never looked back.  From that time on Christ was the reason for everything he did.

My grandfather had smoked a pipe since he was eleven or twelve years old, but when he became a Christian, he stopped smoking—not because anyone told him that he should not smoke—but because he believed that smoking did not honor Christ. He never smoked again, and he never talked about having quit; it was just no longer a part of who he was.

Everything that my grandfather did was a reflection of his relationship to Christ. I do not know what he did prior to his conversion, but during the forty years that I knew him, he never drank; he never swore; and he never told a lie that I was aware of.

I needn’t have worried about not seeing my grandfather again. He lived an additional fourteen years after that visit, dying less than three months before his ninetieth birthday. He is buried in a beautiful little country cemetery only a few feet from the grave of his baby girl whose death he always mourned.

A few years after my grandfather’s death my mother and stepfather visited my family, and my stepfather began talking about my grandfather. He said that he had noticed that during the last couple of years before my grandfather died, whenever he napped in his favorite chair, he would talk in his sleep. One day my stepfather decided that he wanted to find out what my grandfather was saying, and he walked to his chair and bent his head to catch his words.

“He was praying!” my stepfather exclaimed. “All that talking in his sleep was just praying.”My stepfather was disappointed that there were no deep dark secrets to be discovered, and he quickly lost interest in my grandfather’s sleeping habits.

I, however, am blessed beyond measure to know that my grandfather was a man who loved Jesus so much that he even talked to him in his sleep. That is the best legacy he could have left me, and I hope to follow his example so that when I am seventy-six years old I can look back on my life and say with honesty that my only regret is having lost my own baby girl. If I live to be old enough to spend much of the day napping in my chair, I hope that my thoughts will be so centered on Jesus that I will talk to Him even as I sleep.

My grandfather’s name is not known outside of that small area where he lived and died, but during his lifetime he had a reputation as an honest man who loved his family and helped his neighbor. He died without regrets, and when the end was near, he drew ever closer to his Savior. I don’t know how a life can be more successful than that.

For books by Joyce Swann visit her website at http://www.frontier2000.net/ or like her on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/frontier2000mediagroup

Joyce's blog is moving!

We are moving this blog to Joyce's new blog, The Last Frontier.  Her new blog has the same great posts dealing with family, parenting and Christian living, but we are hoping that the new name will be more inclusive for families with a variety of educational preferences.  To visit the new blog, visit http://www.frontier2000.blogspot.com/.

How Big is Your Anchor?

About 2:00 a.m. on Saturday, June 18, two police officers rescued four teens whose boat had gotten turned around on the Niagara River and were in danger of going over the falls. Because it was dark and foggy, the police officers then became lost and mistakenly headed for the falls themselves.

Fortunately, their anchor caught on rocks about 300 yards from the falls’ crest. The terrified officers were stranded for five hours before they were rescued by Canada’s Niagara Police Service. Helicopter pilot Ruedi Hafen, who flew the rescue helicopter, told the Toronto Star that it was a “desperate situation.” He went on to say, “If the anchor would have let go, they would have had no chance. They would have gone over. Such a little boat, such a big anchor. That saved their lives.”

What Hafen did not say in his interview is that regardless of the size of the anchor, if it had not been attached to the rocks, the boat would have perished anyway. In fact, the anchor was holding so securely to the rocks that later that day the Coast Guard was able to successfully retrieve the boat.

What a story! And it is a story with two heroes—the anchor and the rocks. Without the anchor it would have been impossible to hold on, and without the rocks there would have been nothing to hold onto. I believe that this is a perfect illustration of our relationship with Christ.

In chapter 6 of Hebrews we read that God has made us a promise and bound himself with an oath so that we need never doubt our salvation. “This certain hope of being saved is a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls, connecting us with God himself…” (Hebrews 6:19, Living Bible)

It is this hope that keeps us connected to Christ, “a mighty Rock of spiritual refreshment.” (I Corinthians 10:4, Living Bible) Those police officers, caught up in what seemed to be a situation that would result in certain death, provide a wonderful picture of what Christ has done for us.

First, He has given us hope. Without hope we cannot have faith. The Bible defines faith as “the certainty that what we hope for is waiting for us, even though we cannot see it up ahead.” (Hebrews 11:1, Living Bible) Our hope in Christ is our anchor that allows us to connect to the Rock that will save us from certain disaster.

Second, He has given us Himself, “a mighty Rock of spiritual refreshment” that sustains us through life’s most precarious situations. He has promised that He will provide for us and lead us to safety if we will only trust in Him.

In describing the police officer’s boat, Hafen said, “such a little boat, such a big anchor.” We need to remember that it is not the size of the boat, it’s the size of the anchor that matters. If that anchor is big and strong, all we have to do is attach it to the Rock, and we will be able to weather any storm.

For related posts by Joyce, visit her website at http://www.frontier2000.net/.

Preach what you Practice—Part II

In Part I we talked about the importance of sharing our Christian faith with others. Today I want to share what God taught me about effective witnessing.

When I was in my early twenties, I spent one entire summer on my knees in the guest bedroom of our first home praying that the Lord would help me to really know Him. Consequently, He sent a series of men and women of faith into my life who helped me develop a personal relationship with Him.

Our neighbor, who was in her mid thirties, attended a Baptist church near our home, and I assumed that she was as eager as I to know Jesus better.  Consequently, I told her every detail of what was going on in my life. I was so excited about my new relationship with Christ that I told her about reading the Bible daily, and about praying for the sick, and about believing God to supply finances. She always smiled and seemed very open to everything I said. Thus encouraged, I spent the next couple of years sharing everything that God was doing in my life.

Finally, the day came when my husband and I moved to a larger house in another part of town that could accommodate our growing family, and I did not see her again. We exchanged Christmas cards and an occasional keep-in-touch phone call, but our communications more or less ceased. Then one day a couple of years later, I received a phone call from my former neighbor. She sounded very excited as she blurted out, “Joyce! I got baptized.”

I was puzzled. “You’re a Baptist. Didn’t you have to get baptized when you joined the church?”

“No, listen to me. I got baptized!”

I was now more confused than ever. “I thought you were already baptized.”

“I got baptized in the Holy Spirit!” she shouted.

My former neighbor went on to tell me that when I first began “sharing” with her she was horrified. She said that when she would come to my house she would see the Bible lying on the coffee table and she would know that I had actually been reading it. “That made me feel kind of sick,” she confessed, “but I knew that everything you were telling me was real to you, even though it made me really uncomfortable.”

My neighbor went on to say that after we moved she missed hearing all of those stories about how God was working in my life. After a while she began to look for a church where people believed the way I did. She just wanted to hear more about what Jesus was doing in people’s lives. Eventually, she came to a point where she wanted more of Jesus in her life.

A long time ago I was praying about how to witness more effectively, and God told me to tell people what He has done for me. I have always used that approach, and it has held me in good stead. I have discovered that when I share with others exactly what God has done in my life, they have no defense against that. No one has ever said to me, “God did not do that for you.” No one has ever argued any point that I have shared from my own experience. I believe that this is so because they know that I am sincere. They may not see value in Christianity for themselves, but they know that I believe it has enormous value.

If we are going to be effective witnesses for Jesus Christ, it is imperative that we study the Bible and really understand how a person can be certain that he is saved. It is also important that we are able to share that knowledge with others in a simple, straight-forward manner. However, we also need to understand that no one will seek Christ unless he understands that being a Christian has genuine, tangible value in this world as well as the next.

If you are trying to find an effective way to witness for Jesus, I suggest that you share what He has done in your life with everyone who will listen. When you do, you will become one of those messengers with “beautiful feet” sent by God to share the Good News with those who have never heard it. For “how shall they ask Him to save them unless they believe in Him? And how can they believe in Him if they have never heard about Him? And how can they hear about Him unless someone tells them?” (Isaiah 52:7 and Romans 10:14-15).

For related books and articles by Joyce Swann visit her website at http://www.frontier2000.net/.

                                                                                                               

Preach what you Practice

Who among us has not been told since early childhood to “practice what you preach?” Certainly this is good advice. If we do not believe in our message strongly enough to lead by example, we probably need to either rethink our message or rethink our actions.

This weekend someone told me that he had donated blood that day because he needs to “practice what he preaches,” and I was struck by the idea that if this is true, it must also be true that we have an equal obligation to preach what we practice. After some further thought on the subject, I have concluded that preaching what we practice may be more difficult than its converse.

It seems to me that one of the biggest obstacles we face as Christians is sharing our faith with unbelievers. Many of us live our lives carefully; we treat others with true Christian charity, and we attempt to not do anything that will dishonor the name of Christ and set a bad example for others. Certainly, these are important elements of the Christian life, but we must move beyond those basics if we are ever to help others find Jesus as their Savior.

The Bible says: “But how shall they ask Him to save them unless they believe in Him? And how can they believe in Him if they have never heard about Him? And how can they hear about Him unless someone tells them….That is what the scriptures are talking about when they say, ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the Gospel of peace with God and bring glad tidings of good things.’ In other words, how welcome are those who come preaching God’s Good News!” (Isaiah 52:7 and Romans 10:15, Living Bible)

For many years it was more or less true that anyone living in the United States had been exposed to the Gospel on numerous occasions. They might have chosen to reject it, but they had heard the salvation message. This is no longer true. Our society has moved so far away from genuine Christianity that many people do not even have a reference point for what it means to be saved.

One of my sons was telling me about his co-workers’ total lack of Bible knowledge. He loves to reference scripture as it applies to various life situations, and on numerous occasions had mentioned the accounts from the Gospels of the dishonest accountant and the wicked farmers who murdered the king’s son and stole the vineyard.  He had also referenced the handwriting on the wall from the book of Daniel.  Invariably, the response was, “That’s not in the Bible.”

One day my son decided that he would use the story of The Pied Piper of Hamlin to illustrate a particular situation, and recounted the story in some detail. After he had finished, one of the young women made a reference to it’s being from the Bible. “No,” my son replied, “That’s not in the Bible.”

“Oh,” the young woman responded, “I was waiting for you to say that Jesus came and saved the kids and took them home.”

Unfortunately, this young woman is typical of the absolute spiritual darkness that permeates today’s generation of young people. They do have any idea of what the Bible says, and because they have never heard the Gospel message, it all sounds like a fairy tale to them.

So, how do we reach them? In Part II I will share the method that the Lord gave me for sharing Christ with those who have never heard the Good News.

For books and blogs by Joyce Swann visit http://www.frontier2000.net/.

The Big Picture

From 1950 until 1975 a television show titled The Big Picture was aired by ABC. It was a documentary program produced by the United States Army Signal Corps showing weapons, battles, and biographies of famous soldiers. It was a sort of recruiting device for the army that really showed only the tiny picture that suited the army’s purpose of promoting patriotism and increasing enlistments.

This week I was reminded of that old television series when someone used the phrase “the big picture” as she wondered aloud whether God really has a specific plan for each of us—a big picture that includes every person who has ever lived. While the existence of God’s big picture may not seem to be of major importance, it actually touches the very heart of our Christian beliefs. If God has no big picture that involves each of us doing specific work, all we need to do is accept Jesus Christ as our savior and live a Christian life. Our responsibility ends there. If, however, each of us is a part of His plan, every day of our lives is of the utmost importance.

God’s picture begins and ends with Jesus Christ dying on the cross. That picture stretches out across the universe and covers everything from the highest heaven to the darkest recesses of the earth. Christ dying on the cross has been painted across everything that man will ever know or discover and everything that will forever remain hidden. It is painted across you and me, and we cannot escape from it.  It is a picture of love so enormous and all-encompassing that we can never fully appreciate the scope of the sacrifice that painted it.

It has been said that if you were the only person who had ever lived, Christ would still have died on that cross—just for you. If, then, we are not just part of God’s big picture but each of us, individually, is the reason for it, we can never say that what we do does not matter. We can never be content to accept less for our lives than that which God has called us to be.

At this moment our country is going through very difficult times. Many of us, individually, are also going through very difficult times. Sometimes we want to throw up our hands and say, “I’m finished. I can’t do this any more.” Sometimes we feel that God has forgotten us or just doesn’t care about our little problems. When you are tempted to give up, remember this:

The last thing that Christ said on the cross was, “It is finished!” During his thirty-three years on this earth, He was persecuted, despised, and vilified, but He never said, “I’m finished” until He had completed God’s plan for His life and brought salvation to everyone who will accept it. If He had stopped short of that, we would be without hope.

The next time you are tempted to quit, remember God’s big picture that covers the universe and includes you.  God’s plan will surely come to pass, but He has a special place for you in that plan, and the only one who can keep you from fulfilling your part is you. Take courage, trust Him, and let God be the one who decides when you are finished.

For more articles visit http://http://www.frontier2000.net/
                                                                  

It’s Lonely at the Bottom

In the mid twentieth century people were fond of saying, “It’s lonely at the top.” This sentiment was the theme for numerous songs, stories, and movies. It seemed that being at the bottom of the economic ladder was a little easier to deal with if we could convince ourselves that those who made it to the top were lonely and unhappy. Even as recently as 2006 this theme was played out in The Devil Wears Prada where the Ann Hathaway character is miserable in her newly acquired high-profile, high-paying position with the major fashion magazine in the United States.  At the end of the movie she does find true happiness when she quits the magazine, takes a low paying job at a socialist newspaper located in a filthy little office and reunites with her live-in boyfriend.

Both in my personal experience and in observing other people’s lives, I have not found the sentiment that it’s lonely at the top to be true. In fact, I believe there is ample evidence that the Donald Trumps and Kim Kardashians of this world have no shortage of “friends.”  If you are in doubt, just turn on your computer and glance at your homepage; the rich and famous are America’s answer to royalty.

There is, however, ample evidence to support the notion that it is lonely at the bottom. Today we are going to discuss two examples from the Bible that deal with this subject.

The prodigal son was loved by his father and given a wonderful life. In order to continue in that life, the only thing he had to do was stay close to the father.  One day, however, the son came to the father and told him that he wanted his portion of the inheritance, and the father agreed to give it to him. A few days later the son left the father’s presence and traveled to “a distant land” where he squandered everything he had on parties and prostitutes.

When the money was gone, however, the friends and prostitutes who had partied with him also disappeared. When he was starving, the son found a job feeding pigs—not a good place for a Jewish boy to be. Finally, he became so hungry that even the pods that he fed the pigs looked good to him. “And no one gave him anything.” (Luke 15:11-16, Living Bible)

Next, consider Job. He made none of the mistakes of the prodigal son. God described Job as “the finest man in all the earth—a good man who fears God and turns away from all evil.” Job was honored in his community and respected as a man of wisdom and good judgment. However, Job also lost everything: his material wealth, his children, and his health.

When Job was the most miserable and literally asking God to kill him so that he could escape the pain and suffering that was now his life, his former friends came to “comfort” him. Did they offer any sort of tangible help? Of course not! They spent days accusing Job and telling him that, apparently, he was a wicked sinner who was finally receiving the punishment that he deserved.

It is easy to understand the story of the prodigal. He finally came to his senses, confessed that he had sinned, and was reunited with the father. Having regained his position at the top, he found that his former friends were eager to attend the party that the father gave to welcome him home.

The story of Job is much more difficult to understand. The Bible makes it clear that Job was blameless. He lost everything, but his suffering was not a result of anything that he had done. Yet, he was vilified by everyone who knew him and told that he should confess that he had sinned and was getting the punishment that he deserved.

It seems to me that a lot of Christians are now finding themselves in Job’s position. They have been faithful, but they have lost jobs, homes, and families, either to the economy or the natural disasters that have plagued our country during the past few months. They have prayed, and trusted God, and done everything they could do to make things better, but nothing has improved. Friends and family members have cut off contact because they don’t want to be asked for help. These brothers and sisters in Christ are at the bottom, and they are lonely.

If you know someone who is going through tough times, take the time to be a genuine friend to them. Maybe you are going through hard times yourself and don’t have any money to offer. That’s okay; you can still be a friend. Call them regularly and let them know that you care. Don’t start every conversation by asking whether they have found work yet. Encourage them and let them know that you are praying for them daily. Let them know that you are their friend whether they are at the top, at the bottom, or somewhere in between. Being a friend to someone who is suffering is one of the best things that you can do for them; after all, it’s lonely at the bottom.

For related articles visit http://www.frontier2000.net/


                                                                                       

The Ultimate Comfort Food

What is more satisfying than a delicious bowl of homemade soup? Whether it is vegetable soup made from fresh ingredients straight from a summer garden or cream of potato served on a cold winter’s evening, soup satisfies the physical appetite while it warms the heart and brings comfort to the soul.

It is not surprising, therefore, that soup played such an important role in the history of Israel. We all know the account in Genesis 25 when Esau came in hungry from hunting and asked his brother for a bowl of the stew that he was cooking. Unfortunately, Jacob (whose name means “Grabber”) used this opportunity to strip his older brother of his birthright and “grab” it for himself.

This account has been the source of a lot of speculation about why Esau was willing to sell his birthright for something of so little value as a bowl of soup. Some speculate that even though God had already given the land of Canaan to Abraham, Esau did not want to put forth the effort to conquer it and actually take possession. Others believe that Esau did not see the potential in the land that God had given his grandfather. He looked at the parched desert stretching out in every direction and saw no value in it.

While both of these points are well taken, I believe that there is an additional reason that Esau was willing to trade his birthright with such reckless abandon: Esau was hungry and tired and the soup smelled delicious. He wanted immediate gratification, and he got it. Although this event took place thousands of years ago, it is provides a very good illustration of how we Americans behave today.

In Genesis 27, we see Esau “weeping bitterly” because Jacob has tricked Isaac into giving him the first-born son’s blessing. “…he took my birthright, and now he has stolen my blessing,” Esau sobs.  How often we find ourselves looking back at our own poor choices and blaming someone else for the outcome.

One of the problems with our society is that we want everything NOW. We demand instant gratification, and if we don’t get it, we feel cheated. This insistence on instant everything—from fast food to the most current information—is now accepted as a normal part of living in the twenty-first century. We have come to believe that impatience is a virtue.

Years ago when I was homeschooling my children, I read in one of their college texts about an experiment involving pre-school children. The children were given a series of “tests” to determine how long they were willing to delay gratification in order to gain a greater reward at the end. One of the tests involved having a child sit at a table with a marshmallow in front of him. The psychologist instructed the child that if he would sit in the chair for ten minutes without eating the marshmallow, at the end of that time he would be given two marshmallows. The tester then left the child alone in the room with the marshmallow. Some of the children immediately grabbed the marshmallow and stuffed it into their mouths. Others waited for a few minutes before succumbing to temptation and eating the marshmallow. A few waited the entire ten minutes and were rewarded with an additional marshmallow.

These children were tracked into adulthood to see how their willingness to delay gratification in order to receive a greater reward would impact on their lives. It was discovered that those children who were willing to delay gratification were better educated and more successful in their careers and relationships than those who were not.  In addition, it was determined that the longer a child was willing to delay gratification, the more successful his adult life was likely to be.

If we were more willing to delay gratification, we could avoid many of the problems that result from self-indulgence. We must learn to wait patiently for God’s promises to come to fruition and remember that none of the men of faith spoken about in the Bible received all that God had promised them, but, ultimately, through their steadfastness, they provided an example for us and received an even better reward for themselves“…for God wanted them to wait and share the even better rewards that were prepared for us.” (Hebrews 11:40, Living Bible)

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The Path of Blessing

If someone told you that they knew the way to the path of blessing, wouldn’t you be excited? That phrase conjures up such delightful images that just hearing it is bound to make us smile. Let’s see—the path of blessing should have gorgeous flowers, abundant sunshine, perhaps a gleaming ocean side villa. Whatever it has to offer, we would not doubt that it is a path that we would like to travel—or would we?

A couple of weeks go, my husband was reading aloud to me from John 13 when he read about “the path of blessing.” Jesus had just finished washing His disciples’ feet at the last supper. “Since I, the Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash each other’s feet. I have given you an example to follow:  do as I have done to you….a servant is not greater than his master. Nor is the messenger more important than the one who sends him. You know these things—now do them! That is the path of blessing.” (John 13:14-17, Living Bible) Jesus says that the path of blessing lies in following His example. First, we must get to know Him. Then, we must serve others and treat them with the same love and compassion that He shows to us.

Suddenly, the path looks less inviting. Those delightful mental images fade and are replaced by visions of hard work and unending service. A path that includes washing dusty feet is not the glamorous path that we would like to envision for ourselves. We must remember, however, that the path was first trod by Jesus Christ. When we walk that path, we are literally walking in His footsteps. Most of us have dreamed about visiting the Holy Land and “walking where He walked and standing where He stood.” When we choose His path of blessing, we are doing just that—without ever leaving home.

Jesus also says that He is the Way—not a way, not one way, the Way. “I am the Way—yes, and the Truth and the Life. No one can get to the Father except by means of me.” (John 14:6) The next time someone tells you that he wants to be blessed, tell him that you know about The Way to the path called the path of blessing. Then turn to John, chapters thirteen and fourteen, and show him the only way to find peace and fulfillment. Tell him that by accepting Jesus Christ as his savior and following His example, he will find the only Way—the Way that is the path of blessing.

For related posts visit http://www.frontier2000.net/


                                                     

The Names of God Part V: The God Who is with Us

In this fifth and final post on the names of God, I have drawn from a time in my life when I felt totally abandoned by God. During that time, I learned that even when He seems to be far away, He is still Immanuel—the God who is with us.

In 1985 my husband lost his job of seventeen years. Although he made a six-figure income and we had no money worries, we had always lived modestly. Our lifestyle was not lavish by any standards, but, suddenly, without warning, everything was gone. For the next thirteen years we were destitute.

Having no income was scary enough, but I had ten children between the ages of fourteen years and two years, and I did not know how we were going to feed or clothe them. We had some savings and John’s retirement, but I knew that those would not last very long.

As I had come to know Christ better, I had tried to always live my life to honor Him. I made plenty of mistakes, but if I believed that He wanted me to do something, I did it—no matter how difficult. I could hardly accept that He had deserted us. I was not angry with God, but I was very sad. When I went to bed at night, I turned onto my side and cried silently. I decided that God must hate me. I know that belief stemmed partially from the fact that my own father deserted our family when I was only eight years old and I never saw or heard from him again. I became convinced that there was something about me that was so unlovable that no one—not even God—could love me. I had tried hard to be a good daughter to Him, and He had taken everything from us and turned His back.

One night as I lay crying myself to sleep I decided that I could not go on this way. I told God that I loved Him and I was going to serve Him, no matter what.  I said, “You are God, and you have every right to hate me because you are righteous, but I am never going to leave you. I have spent fifteen years doing everything that I believed you wanted me to do, and I can’t turn back now. If you want to get rid of me, you’re going to have to kill me.”

Afterwards, I felt calmer than I had in a long while. I would like to tell you that everything immediately improved, but that is not what happened. I was only three months into the thirteen years, and the really rough times were still ahead of us. Nevertheless, I had settled in my own mind that my relationship with Jesus Christ is not about me; it is about Him. He is worthy to be worshiped; He is worthy to be praised; He is God.

Paul says, “When we have trouble or calamity, when we are hunted down or destroyed, is it because he doesn’t love us anymore?...I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from his love. Death can’t, and life can’t. The angels won’t, and all the powers of hell itself cannot keep God’s love away….nothing will ever be able to separate us from the love of God demonstrated by our Lord Jesus Christ when he died for us.” (Romans 8:35-39, Living Bible)

When we face life’s scariest moments, it is easy to feel that God has deserted us. It is then that we need to remember that just because we do not feel His presence does not mean that He is not present. We have His promise that absolutely nothing can separate us from His love.

C. S. Lewis wrote, “Relying on God has to begin all over again every day as if nothing had yet been done.” I cannot think of better advice for Christians everywhere. Each morning we must wake up with the knowledge that Jesus Christ is our source. Life is not about yesterday or tomorrow. Life must be lived one day at a time, relying on Him to supply our needs, to send other Christians our way so that we can fellowship with them, and to put the unsaved in our paths so that we may share our faith with those in need. And, through it all, we must always remember that we are never alone, for we serve Immanuel—the God who is with us.

For related posts visit http://www.frontier2000.net/

                                                                        

Dead or Alive?

From childhood I was preoccupied with the thought that someday I wanted to be a “good enough” Christian so that if I ever “needed” to die for Christ I would be able to do so. When I was in my early twenties, I was talking to a friend of ours who had been a Christian for a long time and had helped my husband and me to really commit our lives to Christ.

“I hope that I never have to die for Christ,” I said, “but I want to know that if I ever need to, I will be able to do it.”

I expected Ed to begin a lengthy discourse telling me how I would be able to reach a point where I could be sure that I would be able to accept martyrdom if circumstances ever required it. Instead, he was almost dismissive, “Don’t worry about that,” he said. “It’s much harder to live for Christ than it is to die for Him.”

That exchange took place more than forty years ago, but Ed’s words continue to impact my life. I now know that we can never die for Christ unless we first live for Him. Conversely, we can never live for Christ unless we first die for Him.

How can that be? The Bible teaches that sin’s power over us is broken when we become Christians and are baptized to become a part of Jesus Christ. By choosing to follow Him in baptism, we declare that our old sin-loving nature is dead and buried with Him and that when God brought Him back to life, we were born again as new creatures in Him. Thus, we must die for Christ before we can live for Him. (Romans 6:2-4)

The Bible also teaches that when we accept Christ, we are no longer slaves of sin. We are now free to live for Him. When we face trouble, or danger, or death it is never because He does not love us. He has given us power to overcome the world and to live our lives so that others can be won to Him through our good example. Thus, we must live for Christ before we can die for him.

I no longer wonder whether I will be brave enough to die for Christ if circumstances ever require it. I am busy living for Him. I trust Him to give me the power to do whatever is necessary to serve Him best. I join Paul in declaring, “We are not our own bosses to live or die as we ourselves might choose. Living or dying we follow the Lord. Either way we are his. Christ died and rose again for this very purpose, so that he can be our Lord both while we live and when we die.” (Romans 14:7-9, Living Bible)

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The Names of God--Part IV: The All Sufficient One

Long before I knew that the Bible contains many names for God that describe the various aspects of His personality, God revealed himself to me as El Shaddai—the All Sufficient One. That encounter changed my life.

In 1975 Alexandra, my oldest child, was approaching her fifth birthday. At that time John made an appointment to tour a Christian school in El Paso and reserve a spot for her so that she could be enrolled in the first grade the following year. The night before my husband’s scheduled tour, however, I had a dream that changed everything. In my dream God spoke to me, “Do not send the child to school lest she be corrupted. My wisdom is sufficient.”

When I awoke, I was very disturbed. Shortly after her birth my husband and I had decided to send Alexandra to this excellent Christian school.  As we had other children, we were equally certain that they would also attend the school; we had never considered doing anything else. Now, the night before that plan was to be set into motion, I had a dream that threatened to spoil everything.

I told John about the dream, and we agreed that he should cancel his appointment. We began praying about our situation and asking God for guidance. I found the entire dream puzzling, but the part that was most difficult for me to understand was what God meant by, “My wisdom is sufficient.”

After spending several weeks in prayer, we decided that I would teach the children at home. I was very frustrated because in 1975 homeschooling as we know it did not exist. There were no homeschool support groups and no other homeschoolers that I could locate. In fact, I did not meet another homeschooler for eight years after I began teaching my children. At that time the idea of a mother teaching her children at home was considered ludicrous.

Nevertheless, in 2000 my youngest child received his Master of Arts in the humanities through the independent study program with California State University at Dominguez Hills. My ten children had not only earned their master’s degrees through homeschooling, they had earned them at age sixteen.

Twenty-five years as a homeschooling mom had taught me a lot. Perhaps, the most important lesson I learned during those years teaching my children, however, is that God really is sufficient to meet all of our needs.

For a young mother with no teaching experience and only a high school diploma to undertake the task of educating her children from first grade through master’s degrees is ludicrous, but I was relying on God’s wisdom, not my own. Because of His guidance we were able to locate excellent schools at every grade level so that our program never lagged. Even though I gave birth to ten children in twelve years, I was able to keep both the school and the household running smoothly. I was able to study the subjects that were unfamiliar to me and learn them well enough so that I could teach them to my students in a simple straight-forward manner. Our family dealt with financial crises and serious illnesses, and, through it all, I was able to keep our school in tact and on schedule.

How did I do it? It’s simple. I am a very ordinary woman, but I serve a very extraordinary God, and He is more than sufficient to supply my needs. If I had been relying on my wisdom, I would never have been able to finish the race. In 1975 being obedient to God’s calling on my life required a step of faith on my part. Now I have experienced Him as the all sufficient one, and I know that He is sufficient in every circumstance.

If you have not yet met El Shaddai—the all sufficient one, I hope that you will take a step of faith and put your trust in Him. If you do, you will never be disappointed.

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The Names of God--Part III: The Lord Who is There

Long before we had our first child John and I made a commitment to Jesus Christ. We were new Christians and did not know exactly what living a Christian life entailed, but we were determined to try.  The result of that search was an encounter with Jehovah-Shammah—The Lord who is there.

In the Mid 1960s I worked as a secretary in a large bank building in downtown El Paso. Since I usually did not leave the building during my lunch break, I often picked up some yogurt at the concession stand on the first floor. Because I saw the woman who owned the stand nearly every day, we soon struck up a friendship. She often mentioned that she was making more money on her concession stand than she had ever dreamed possible, and from what I could observe of her rapidly expanding business I had no reason to doubt her claims.

One day she told me that a new Holiday Inn was being built downtown about three blocks from our building. The owner had approached her about putting in a concession stand at the Holiday Inn, but she felt that she could not run both. She told me that if I wanted the Holiday Inn concession stand, she could definitely get it for me. Then she added excitedly, “You will make a lot more money there than I do here because you will sell liquor.” She went on to say that there is a huge profit in selling packaged liquor. She would teach me everything I needed to know and help me get my business set up. I immediately felt uneasy about selling liquor, but I did not say anything. I told my friend that I would talk to John about it.

That evening I told John about this “business opportunity,” and he was very excited. However, John agreed that selling liquor might not be what Jesus would want us to do. The next day I told my friend that we would really love to have the concession, but we did not want to sell liquor. She responded that selling liquor was a condition of being awarded the concession.

John and I prayed and asked God if selling liquor would be okay, and for the next few days we constantly discussed the matter between the two of us. This was our reasoning:

If people want to drink, they are going to buy liquor whether we sell it to them or not.

1. We are not going to try to persuade anyone to buy liquor; they will be coming to us.    
2. Most of our sales will come from other items; everyone staying in a hotel needs toiletries, snacks, and reading material.
3. The people who buy the liquor will be taking it back to their rooms to drink it so, in a way, we will be keeping them safe by preventing them from driving drunk.

One evening when I came home from work I pulled a tri-fold flyer from the mailbox. Someone had circled a portion with a pen which read: “Satan never endorses God’s enterprises. God’s true friends never support Satan’s enterprises.”

John and I were blown away! The only ones who knew about our situation were John, me, and God!  We had received our answer. God had sent us mail! I kept the flyer for several weeks, and from time to time I took it out and looked at it. I was naïve, but I was pretty sure that there are no post offices in Heaven.

Finally, one day as I stood staring at the perfectly circled message, it dawned on me that since this was a tri-fold, maybe I should open it and see what was inside. When I did, I saw that it was from an acquaintance of ours who was a lay preacher in the Methodist church. He had circled his name and the time that he was going to be delivering a sermon in the church where the flyer had originated.  The date of his sermon had long since passed, but the ink had bled through and made a perfect outline around God’s message to John and me. The line was so sharp and circled those words so precisely that it was difficult to believe that this was not the message our acquaintance had meant to send.

Remember this: When you really, sincerely want to know something, all you have to do is ask God. He is Jehovah-Shammah—the Lord who is there, and He will answer—even if He has to send you mail.

 

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Caution!

When my son Benjamin was three or four years old, the children and I were in the car together when I saw a traffic light ahead of us. I decided that this would be a good opportunity to determine whether Benjamin knew what the various colors represent.

“What does red mean?” I asked.

“Stop,” he responded.

“What does green mean?”

“Go.”

“What does yellow mean?”

“Hurry up!”

Everyone thought that Benjamin’s reply was hilarious, and Benjamin was thrilled to be the center of attention. After we had all finished laughing, I told him that yellow means “caution” or “be careful.”

That incident occurred thirty years ago, but I still think about it from time to time. Benjamin had concluded that yellow means “hurry up” from observing his parents’ driving habits, and that was somewhat disturbing. What is even more disturbing, however, is that most of us interpret life’s “yellow lights” as a signal to speed through whatever is ahead of us without weighing the risks involved.

The more I think about what a yellow traffic light really means, however, the more I am inclined to believe that it means a  great deal more than “caution.” The American Heritage Dictionary defines “caution” as, “careful forethought to avoid danger or risk.” While that message is implied in the appearance of the yellow light, other messages also come into play when that light appears.

The appearance of the yellow traffic light means that the light is about to change from green to red. No amount of wishing that the light would remain perpetually green will have even the slightest effect on the changing of the light. When the driver sees the yellow light, he must make a decision regarding his best course of action. Does he have time to proceed through the intersection before the light turns red, or will he find himself half-way across when the light changes and he is broadsided by a driver traveling at forty miles per hour on the adjacent street?  By checking his rear-view mirror the driver may observe an SUV traveling closely behind him that will almost certainly rear-end him if he opts to stop while the light is still yellow. Change is coming, and the driver has only seconds in which to decide how to best deal with that change.

Our lives are filled with yellow lights that signal change is coming. Some of those changes are welcome, and others are not. Some of us are dealing with life-altering changes such as the death of a loved one, divorce, the loss of a job, or the loss of a home.  The one thing that we need to remember is that we cannot wish change away; nothing will keep the light green forever. When we see the yellow light, we must react.

The Bible says that the wise man thinks ahead (Proverbs 13:16) and that he is cautious and avoids danger (Proverbs 14:16). When we are overwhelmed by the change that is taking place in our lives, we should step back and really seek God. Only He knows the future, and only He can determine the best course of action for us to take.

When we find ourselves in a crisis situation, we are often advised to “do something, even if it’s wrong!” Clearly, this is not good advice. We must respond by taking action, but we frequently do not know what action is best. At these times it is important to remember that God never makes a mistake, and if we seek Him, we can trust Him to guide us to take the best possible course of action in any circumstance. Even when things look hopeless, God is in control, and He has promised that he will never desert us. That knowledge certainly makes all of those yellow lights seem less scary.

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The Names of God Part II: The Lord Who Heals

I have been blessed many times to encounter Jehovah-Rophe—the Lord who Heals, both in my own life and the lives of my family members. Today’s post deals with my mother’s healing from cancer that brought our family much joy but was not well received by the Christian community.

In 1991 my mother, who was seventy-years old at the time, was diagnosed with colon cancer. I was both stunned and devastated, and I cried and prayed for three days. After the initial shock wore off, however, I became convinced that God would heal her. She underwent surgery and a year of chemotherapy and, during that time, I prayed for her constantly. The chemo made her very ill, and the doctor finally advised her not to take the final two or three treatments.

During the following nineteen years Mother remained cancer free and healthy. Then, in 2010, at age eighty-nine, Mother told me that she was experiencing occasional “stomach aches.” She said that they were not severe, but she believed that her cancer had returned. 

She asked her doctor to run some tests, and they revealed that she had a mass in her stomach about the size of a man’s fist. Even though the blood tests indicated that she might have cancer, because of her age, the doctor did not advise surgery. Mother was adamant. “I want this out of me!” she shouted to everyone within shouting distance—including me on the other end of the phone.

Finally, the doctor told her that he was going to do a biopsy to determine whether the mass was malignant. The procedure would be performed on an out-patient basis on the morning of October 4, and she would be back home by early afternoon.

I prayed that Mother would not have cancer and that the biopsy would come back negative, and I was totally convinced that she was cancer free. However, my husband and I made arrangements to fly to Kansas on the afternoon of October 4 so that I could take care of her in the event that she did not feel well after the biopsy.

When John and I arrived at my mother’s house about 5:00 P.M., no one was at home, and we immediately drove to the hospital. When we arrived, we discovered that the doctor had made a very long incision across Mother’s stomach, and that she was recovering from what appeared to be major surgery.  We visited for a while and then took my step father home.

The next day the doctor said that he wanted to talk to me privately. He told me that prior to surgery they had done two different scans to determine the size and location of the mass. He had examined the results and knew exactly what he had to do to perform the biopsy. However, when he made a small incision, he could not find the mass. He continued to make the incision longer in order to locate it. Finally, he made the incision long enough so that he could “look under everything” to locate the mass. But, there was no mass! Mother was not only cancer free, she was mass free!

I was thrilled and did not even try to hide my enthusiasm. “I knew it!”  I kept repeating. 

When I returned to El Paso, I began to tell everyone what God had done for my mother. I was very surprised, however, to learn that hardly anyone shared my enthusiasm. The most common response was something like this: “Why would God do that? We have prayed for lots of young people with cancer who weren’t healed. They died and left families behind. Why would God heal someone who is eighty-nine years old?”

No one knows why some people are healed and others are not. But we do know this: We have been conditioned to believe that some lives have more worth than others, and we tend to “write off” people whom we believe are too old or too sick or too much trouble to deserve God’s help. Many Christians also have a mind set that God has a finite supply of miracles that He dispenses from time to time. When they are gone, they are gone. Therefore, healing should not be imparted to anyone who can no longer make a meaningful contribution to society. Those people conveniently forget that God’s power is limitless.

Fortunately, God has a different perspective on human life. We are all precious to him. Sometimes He takes us, and sometimes He heals us, but He always loves us. And sometimes, just when things look the darkest, we are privileged to meet Jehovah-Rophe, the Lord who Heals.

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The Names of God: Part I--The Lord Who Provides

The Bible is filled with names for God that describe various aspects of His personality. Today’s blog deals with a time when our family was experiencing extreme financial difficulties, and I encountered Jehovah-Jireh—the Lord who Provides.

After No Regrets was published Alexandra and I both accepted as many invitations to speak as possible, and the money we received as speakers was an important source of income for our family. Our expenses were paid, and we received an honorarium. In addition, we sold our tapes and books at these events.

In the spring of 1991 Alexandra spoke to a group of homeschoolers, and on the return trip her plane was delayed for several hours. When all the passengers were boarded and the plane was finally ready to take off, the stewardess announced that to make up for the delay the airline would be giving one lucky passenger a free round-trip ticket to anywhere in the United States. She then announced the seat number of the winner.

Alexandra did not even bother to check her seat number. The stewardess kept calling for the winner to identify himself, and finally the man sitting next to Alexandra said, “It’s you. You’re the winner.”

I was thrilled for her. Alexandra gave everything she had to the family, and I felt that this was God’s way of doing something special for her. I asked her where she wanted to go with her free ticket. She told me that she did not have anywhere that she wanted to go.

The ticket was good for only one year, and as the months passed, I began to exert some pressure on her to use it. I kept saying that she needed to treat herself to a vacation with that free ticket. She was working as a history instructor at the El Paso Community College and would have been doing well if she had not given every penny she earned to the family. She could use some of her own money to have a nice vacation with that free ticket.

 In February, 1992, when my mother was seventy years old, she was diagnosed with cancer. She had surgery and afterwards had to undergo chemotherapy. I really wanted to visit her, but I knew that was impossible so I talked to her on the phone and prayed for her, but I never said anything to my family about wanting to make the trip.

One day Alexandra came to me and said that she was certain that God had given her that free airline ticket so that I could fly to Kansas to see my mother. I adamantly refused; she insisted. Finally she told me that she had checked the expiration date on the ticket and that it would expire in one week.

I quickly made my reservations and was able to spend three days with my mother right after she came home from the hospital. My stepfather was with her, and she had plenty of money. I did not really need to be with her, but God knew that I should be with her, and He provided a way for that to happen a whole year in advance.

I made a 1400 mile round trip with only ten dollars in my purse. I took my best “at home” slacks, a pair of old Dockers with an iron-on patch on the knee, and an old dress that still looked pretty good. My step father had his birthday while I was there, and I did not know what to do for a gift. I finally went to Braums and bought two ice-cream sundaes to go, one for my mother and one for him, and I wished him a happy birthday. When my mother asked me why I had bought only two sundaes, I said, “I didn’t want one. I’m on a diet.”  Ten dollars wasn’t much, but it was enough.

The day I flew home was the expiration date for the ticket. God has great timing!

One of the most important lessons that I learned during those thirteen years is that what we want and what we need are rarely the same things. God did not always give us everything we wanted, but He always gave us everything we needed. During that time, I came to know Him as Jehovah-Jireh, the Lord who Provides.

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