Month: July 2024

This morning I was in the book of Daniel chapter 12 where Daniel speaks of wisdom. Those who recognize the evil in this world look for the return of our savior. They are wise. Those who refuse are foolish. This is somewhat of a theme in scripture. The fool says in his own heart there is no God. That I believe is from the book of Proverbs. How true is it.

We are reminded to look up for our redemption draweth near. Those words should not frighten us but comfort us. The only ones who should be frightened are those who have rejected Christ and because they do not recognize the existence of God, they do not walk in fear of Him. They walk in fear of climate change or the injustices of this world as they perceive it or fearful of all things man that leads to death. For those who trust Christ, death has lost its sting. There is something so much better that lies beyond this world. Trust in the truth of scripture. Meditate on it. Memorize it for when fleshly fear arises and strengthen yourselves for the battle that lies ahead.

Many of us in the Christian community were horrified with the opening ceremony for the Olympics. It reflected the utter contempt for Christ and those who follow Him. It reflected absolutely no regard for God or His Word. It is sad and depressing to witness such a spectacle and worth noting the hypocrisy of those who sponsored it considering their own demand for respect.

We live in a fallen world. Most of us are quite aware of that. We see it in our health status when we battle disease and in the way people openly live in sin with no care for the consequences. Thankfully our hope is not in this world. It does not see us like God does nor does it truly hear our cries. This world is selfish and self absorbing. God hears us and sees our pain. He offered the ultimate gift of His own son. Our hope is not in the world but in the eternity that lays beyond. Cling to that. Place your hope in that.

Many years ago when I was young and in college, I had my first major experience with anxiety. I had panic attacks and I did not understand what they were or what was causing them at the time. I went to a local doctor in Columbus who prescribed valium because that’s what doctors did in that time period. Unfortunately that medication sent me into a major depression. Besides Zach’s cancer and death and my own bought with cancer, this was the toughest season of my life.

I was reminded of that this morning as I made plans to meet with my college roommates in a nearby town for a reunion. They besides my family were the only ones who witnessed how devastating this time period was for me. They worried about my mental health and at the time I did too. Sometimes when I reflect on it, it is embarassing to me. This morning though I reflected on how it too is a part of my testimony. It was only through God’s grace that I survived it and had a 4.0 semester average that year. It was the beginning of my relying on God’s Word and His promises and His character of who He is. What a testimony to have been an overcomer in so many areas only because of the grace and mercy of a loving and faithful God.

Often when I am up early in the morning, I listen to familiar sounds from my childhood. I hear crickets and if I open the back door, I can also hear birds already in flight. As the day wears on, I hear the familiar sound of locusts. I had happy childhood memories. Many of those years were spent at my paternal grandparents home. Is there any place as happy as that of doting grandparents?

Years go by and our lives change drastically from not having a care in the world to feeling like we are carrying all the burdens of the world. What happens to us? I was reading in the book of Daniel this morning where the King makes note that in his distress, he asked a question of Daniel who never seems worried. Daniel had a lot to worry about if he was only living in the flesh. Afterall he was living in captivity. However the king notes that he does not worry. Why? Because he lived in complete trust in God’s will. That is what it looks like. I wish I could write this morning that I have the same trust. I’m afraid I still operate under fleshly concerns. How about you? Scripture makes it clear that true peace lies in the knowledge of God and trusting in all of His ways with all that we have.

Scripture tells us to find joy in all things. Sometimes I think some of us may take this to an extreme. I have a friend who told me years ago that if you have a headache, give praise for that and have joy. Somehow I don’t find myself thinking the same way. I often pray that the headache will cease! However I will confess that for me cancer was not a totally bad thing. The thing about limited time and certain death helped bring me to where I needed to be. I needed to continue to grow to get to know the Lord and be certain in my salvation. I needed to trust in Him in the certainty of my days and where my eternity would be.

We can find grace in all situations. That I am certain of. We don’t have to be joyful over a headache or a cancer diagnosis, but we do need to know where our strength comes from and the certainty that we are not forgotten. We are children of the living God. We were created in His image. He is holy. We are not. He provided a way for us to spend eternity with Him. We can choose to believe Him and seek Christ and trust in Christ or we can choose hell. It’s really that simple. Choose life.

I have often marvelled at my own attitude. For many years prior to grandchildren, I asked the Lord in endless petitions to bless me with many. Years previous I had also prayed for children. In His grace and mercy, He blessed me with 4 children and I currently have 7 grandchildren. As you are aware, my youngest son died at the age of 17 and my youngest child, my daughter, currently is not married so no family for her yet. I have been blessed with so many grandchildren through two sons and their lovely wives. At times when I am watching many of them at one time, I become weary. I have to check myself and remember that beauty that each one brings.

Such I think is also what our attitude should be with all the Lord has blessed us with. We often take things in our lives for granted and assume it will always be like that such as AC or running water, etc. As survivors of storms will say, that is not always the case. Decide this day to honor God in all things. Thank Him for His provisions and His mercies. None of us are worthy but we have all been blessed beyong measure.

One of the greatest blessings our Lord granted each of us was the ability to have grandchildren! They are so innocent and see things from such different eyes as compared to those of us with aged eyes. My middle son’s oldest daughter saw such beauty in everything we took her to in Michigan, including the things she has seen before. Her energy inspired and at times overwhelmed. Her eagerness to see more was beyong inspiring.

That I think is how each of us should view God. Even with aged eyes our hearts become wiser and we are able to separate what is truly important from that that is superficial. There really is a lot of truth between age and wisdom as there is to the heart of the young who see beauty in so many things and are eager to grow and learn. As always after such trips, I am amazed at the years the Lord has graciously granted to me since my diagnosis. I am amazed that I am still in this world and have seen so much in the 9 years since my diagnosis and being told I had 18 months to live. Praise God indeed for His mercies are new every morning.

Yesterday our nation had the privilege of honoring and celebrating what is considered to be the beginning of our nation’s birth – the 4th of July. We have been a nation blessed beyond measure. It has not been a worry free history by any stretch of the imagination. Our sin nature has resulted in many poor decisions and wars that could and should have been avoided had all of humankind not rejected our creator in the first place. Despite all of this, look at how pampered we are as a people. To take note of the majority of the world and look at us living in nice homes, air conditioning, heating, plumbing, etc no one should deny that we have been blessed.

What causes a nation to reject and move in the opposite direction of the One who blessed it so? My guess is its own arrogance. We are smarter. We can do more. We see what direction our nation is headed and most of us are dragging our feet and praying for a repentant country. Do not give up. Keep praying. Keep seeking God. Keep trusting in His mercy while understanding He is also holy. He is our only hope.

Next week I will not be posting as I will be traveling with part of my family. Blessings to all of you!

This morning I briefly pondered why it is so challenging thinking about God’s character and I believe it is because we in our fallen state cannot relate to One who is holy and just. One who never lies. One who is only capable of justice, true justice. We read the Old Testament and in our own judgment, we question the fairness of many stories that we read. We truly miss the understanding of who God is and what He is not capable of which is what we do on a regular basis.

Some may see God’s justice as unjustice. Whoa to any of us who choose to judge God’s character. In reality God is not capable of injustice. Whether we choose to understand it or not. That part of His character should encourage us. We know that He is also merciful and that is something we all welcome with open arms. Choose this day to trust God. Trust Him in all of His character in who He says He is.

It’s a funny thing how growing up one never realizes the treasure they have in a sibling. We fight, get angry and often wish we did not know the person we were birthed to close in age but then age happens and the treasure unfolds.

During the time of my battle of cancer, no one supported me more than my sister. Oh don’t get me wrong. My husband stood by my side through it all and my children were such a tremendous blessing to me. My mom and dad comforted me and my mother in law tried her best to encourage me though she lives on the other side of the country. My sister however was a constant source of encouragement day and night. Any time I needed her, she answered the phone to encourage me and pray with me. She attended many chemo treatments with me and that was a huge blessing to my husband who needed to continue working. Treatments and followup blood work is a lot of driving to MDA! It is amazing to me how God truly took care of all my needs during that time. MDA will tell you that the patients they have who are the most successful against cancer are those with a fantastic support system of family. This was definitely true with me. Tomorrow is my sister’s birthday. I am grateful for her presence in my life and grateful to God for blessing me with her as my sister.