No Stranger in Heaven

No Stranger in Heaven

Thou shalt guide me with Thy Counsel,

and afterward receive me to glory.

Psalm 73:24

From day to day and from year to year my faith believes in the wisdom and love of God, and I know that I shall not believe in vain. No good word of His has ever failed, and I am sure that none shall ever fall to the ground. I put myself into His hand for guidance. I know not the way that I should choose: the LORD shall choose mine inheritance for me. I need counsel and advice; for my duties are intricate, and my condition is involved...The counsel of the infallible God I seek in preference to my own judgment or the advice of friends...Soon the end will come: a few more years and I must depart out of this world unto the Father. My LORD will be near my bed. He will meet me at heaven's gate: He will welcome me to the gloryland. I shall not be a stranger in heaven: my own God and Father will receive me to its endless bliss.

Glory be to Him who

Will guide me here,

And receive me hereafter.

Amen.

From "Faith's Checkbook" - A Treasury of Daily Devotionals by C.H. Spurgeon

I am printing this because it is my confession of faith this final day of 2009, the last day of the first decade of the 21st Century. I do not know where the past ten years have flown to, although so much has happened in them. I do wonder, though, have I done all I could do for the Kingdom? Or have I squandered muEncch of the time that was given me? I pray that I will be more faithful to my LORD in the coming year(s), recognizing His faithfulness to me, His unfailing goodness and mercy to me, and His unbounding love for me.

The Deliverer

If God…spared not the old world, but saved Noah…bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly; and turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes…making them an example unto those that after should live ungodly; and delivered just Lot…[then] the Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations. 2 Peter 2:4-9
~~~~~~~~~~~~

Despite the severity of these examples, God is sending a clear message of comfort to his people, as if to say: “I have just given you two of the greatest examples of My compassion. If, in the midst of a world-engulfing flood, I can deliver one righteous man and his family out of the havoc…then can I not deliver you also? Can I not provide a miraculous way of escape?

“If I can send down fire-and-brimstone judgment that consumes entire cities at a time, yet I manage to send angels into the chaos to deliver Lot and his daughters…then can I not also manage to send angels to deliver you out of your trials?”

The lesson here for the righteous is this: God will do whatever it takes to deliver His people out of fiery trials and temptations. Think about it: It took the opening of the Red Sea to deliver Israel out of the clutches of its enemy. It took water out of a rock to save those same Israelites from their wilderness trial. It took miracle bread, angels’ food literally sent from heaven, to spare them from hunger. And it took an ark to save Noah from the flood, and “angel escorts” to deliver Lot from fiery destruction. The clear point is that God knows how to deliver His people, and He will go to any extreme to accomplish it, no matter what their circumstance.

Peter’s phrase “God knoweth how to deliver” means simply, “He has already made plans.” The wonderful truth is that God already has plans for our deliverance even before we cry out to Him. And He doesn't sit on those plans; He only awaits our cry for help. We may be entangled in the struggle of a lifetime, wondering how God will deliver us, yet He is ready all at times to put His plan into action.

We see this illustrated in Jeremiah 29, when Israel was in captivity to Babylon. Here was perhaps the greatest trial God’s people had ever experienced, yet the Lord promised them: “After seventy years, I will visit you and perform My Word to you.”

“For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.” (Jeremiah 29:11). The last phrase literally means “to give you what you long for.” God wants us to keep praying so we'll be ready for his deliverance.
David Wilkerson, World Challenge

Copyright (c) 2009 World Challenge, Inc.You are welcome to make copies for FREE distribution or re-transmit the devotional via e-mail but all devotionals must be copied or re-transmitted in its entirety. However, devotionals may not be posted on any website, printed, or used in any media without written permission from World Challenge, Inc. Each request is considered on a case-by-case basis. Please contact World Challenge, Inc by selecting the following link: permission or call 1 903 963 8626.

What Goes Around Comes Around

One day a man saw an old lady standing on the side of the road, but even in the dim light of day, he could see she needed help. So he pulled up in front of her Mercedes and got out.

His Pontiac was still sputtering when he approached her. Even with the smile on his face, she was worried. No one had stopped to help for the last hour or so. Was he going to hurt her? He didn't look safe; he looked poor and hungry.

He could see that she was frightened, standing out there in the cold. He knew how she felt. It was those chills which only fear can put in you. He said, 'I'm here to help you, ma'am. Why don't you wait in the car where it's warm? By the way, my name is Bryan Anderson.'

Well, all she had was a flat tire, but for an old lady, that was bad enough. Bryan crawled under the car looking for a place to put the jack, skinning his knuckles a time or two. Soon he was able to change the tire. But he had to get dirty and his hands hurt.

As he was tightening up the lug nuts, she rolled down the window and began to talk to him. She told him that she was from St. Louis and was only just passing through. She couldn't thank him enough for coming to her aid. Bryan just smiled as he closed her trunk.

The lady asked how much she owed him. Any amount would have been all right with her. She already imagined all the awful things that could have happened had he not stopped. Bryan never thought twice about being paid. This was not a job to him. This was helping someone in need, and God knows there were plenty, who had given him a hand in the past. He had lived his whole life that way, and it never occurred to him to act any other way. He told her that if she really wanted to pay him back, the next time she saw someone who needed help, she could give that person the assistance they needed, and Bryan added, 'And think of me.'

He waited until she started her car and drove off. It had been a cold and depressing day, but he felt good as he headed for home, disappearing into the twilight.

A few miles down the road the lady saw a small cafe. She went in to grab a bite to eat, and take the chill off before she made the last leg of her trip home. It was a dingy looking restaurant. Outside were two old gas pumps. The whole scene was unfamiliar to her. The waitress came over and brought a clean towel to wipe her wet hair. She had a sweet smile, one that even being on her feet for the whole day couldn't erase. The lady noticed the waitress was nearly eight months pregnant, but she never let the strain and aches change her attitude. The old lady wondered how someone who had so little could be so giving to a stranger. Then she remembered Bryan.

After the lady finished her meal, she paid with a hundred dollar bill. The waitress quickly went to get change for her hundred dollar bill, but the old lady had slipped right out the door. She was gone by the time the waitress came back. The waitress wondered where the lady could be. Then she noticed something written on the napkin. There were tears in her eyes when she read what the lady wrote: 'You don't owe me anything. I have been there too. Somebody once helped me out, the way I'm helping you. If you really want to pay me back, here is what you do: Do not let this chain of love end with you.' Under the napkin were four more $100 bills.

Well, there were tables to clear, sugar bowls to fill, and people to serve, but the waitress made it through another day. That night when she got home from work and climbed into bed, she was thinking about the money and what the lady had written. How could the ladyhave known how much she and her husband needed it? With the baby due next month, it was going to be hard.... She knew how worried her husband was, and as he lay sleeping next to her, she gave him a soft kiss and whispered soft and low, 'Everything's going to be all right. I love you, Bryan Anderson.'

There is an old saying 'What goes around comes around.' God worksin mysteries ways and sometimes puts people in our lives for a reason. Think about that the next time you see someone who looks like they need a helping hand!

WHO EXPERIENCES THE DARK NIGHT?

From K-House eNews for October 20, 2009

We have all experienced dark episodes in our lives, times of discouragement and disappointment and loss. We have all had times when we've faced the natural painful consequences of our own foolish mistakes. There are seasons, though, when people who love God – who are serving Him faithfully – go through extremely difficult, dark times. When that happens, it is easy to question whether the God we serve truly loves us, or whether we are really in the center of His will. As we noted last week, the Lord allows the dark night to happen to His beloved children, and especially those who are the most faithful, the most loving, the ones who want all of Him. Again, remember Isaiah 50:10, "Who is among you that feareth the Lord, that obeyeth the voice of his servant, that walketh in darkness and hath no light?" Great Christians are made by great trials. Pain, sorrow and failure are what produce men and women of God. Those with the greatest dreams are often the ones who receive the greatest trials. Eternal lessons seem to require hard places. As Scripture declares, the way we are made "perfect," or whole or complete, is by suffering or by barring ourselves from sin and self (Hebrews 2:10). First, God must take away all our external and internal supports other than Himself, then He can strengthen our inner man, enabling us to experience His fullness – that fullness of Himself we so desperately long for. The dark night of the soul happens to people who have already accepted the Lord; those who have already given their lives to Him; those already filled with the Spirit; those who have already dedicated their lives to Him; those who have already asked for intimacy; and those who have already been set aside for God's purposes of ministry. Yet, like Job, people who are truly serving God and are in the center of His will can go through very dark times.Why Does God Send the Dark Night? There seems to be three things that God is looking for in each of our lives: our salvation, our conviction, and our sanctification. God wants to prove us, to demonstrate our true heart. Will we be obedient in all things? (2 Corinthians 2:9) Will we obey Him, even when we can't see Him or feel Him? Will we hold on to His truths even though we don't understand what He is doing? Peter writes:

"That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:" -1Peter 1:7

Can we all catch that? The trials of our faith are precious. They are never empty or meaningless, but are destined to have great value both in our personal lives and in the Kingdom. The Lord wants believers who have faith like Job, and who can utter like he did, "Though You slay me, yet will I trust You." When Job sought the Lord to know why the bad things were happening to him, he got no answer from God. And it's often the same with us. God only tells us that He does have a plan for our lives and, even though we don't understand what that plan is or how it is going to work out, we must trust that He always has our best in view. When seasoned believers enter this dark night, they are no longer in the beginning stages of learning about the reality of Christ's love and power. Those foundational bricks have been already laid. When dark nights come, we must learn to rely upon our Savior in spite of our circumstances, in spite of our logic and in spite of our human reason. We must trust that only God knows what is best for our lives; therefore, whatever He allows into them He will use it for our good. God is teaching us that all that matters in this life is knowing and loving Him. He wants us to love Him and rely upon Him regardless of what we desire, regardless of what our intellect is saying and regardless of what we are feeling. He wants us to be able to echo what Paul declares in 2 Corinthians 4:8-11:

"We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed; Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body. For we who live are always delivered unto death for Jesus' sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh."

For those who love Jesus and are dedicated to Him, to have His life manifested through us is the greatest thing that could be asked of our lives; it is worth any temporary suffering or difficulty or dark time that God puts in our path. And even during these terrible trials, when things look so very dark, we can still "rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory," (1 Peter 1:8) because we know that even then (and especially then), God is doing wonderful, precious work behind the scenes.

The Islamic Divide

From K-House eNews for September 22, 2009

The terms Shiite and Sunni are heard often in news stories from the Middle East, but few people in the West really know what they mean. Religion permeates every aspect of life in the Muslim world and understanding the differences between Shiites and Sunnis is important in understanding the complex geopolitics of the Middle East.

The division between Shiites (or Shia, there are a number of variations on the spelling) and Sunnis began in the years immediately following the death of the Prophet Muhammad, the founder of the Islamic faith. When Muhammad died in 632 AD there was a disagreement over who should succeed him as the political and religious leader of the Muslim world. One group of Muslims elected Abu Bakr, a close companion of Muhammad to be the caliph, or leader. However a smaller group believed that Muhammad's cousin and son-in-law, Ali ibn Abu Talib, was the rightful leader. The Muslims who believed that Abu Bakr should be Muhammad's successor have come to be known as Sunni. Whereas the Muslims who felt Ali should have been the successor are now known as Shiite.

Bloodshed and Betrayal

Abu Bakr ultimately became the first caliph, although Shiites considered him to be a usurper. He was succeeded by Umar ibn al-Khattab and Uthman ibn Affan, the second and third caliphs. In the year 656 AD, 24 years after the death of Muhammad, Uthman was murdered. After Uthman's death, Ali (whom Shiites had always considered the rightful leader) was finally elected to rule. Ali was opposed by Muhammad's wife Aisha, the daughter of Abu Bakr. Aisha challenged his authority and criticized Ali for his lack of interest in bringing Uthman's killers to justice. Aisha raised an army against Ali, which lead to the first Fitna, or Islamic civil war. Ali defeated Aisha at the Battle of Bassorah, also known as the Battle of the Camel. Ali's reign was turbulent and he was assassinated in 661 AD.

Under the leadership of the first four caliphs (Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman, and Ali), the political, social, and religious institutions of Islam were solidified. Islam spread far beyond the borders of the Arabian peninsula, east into the Persian empire, north into Byzantine territory, and west across northern Africa. After Ali's death, however, Islamic unity splintered. Sunni Islam continued through the Umayyads and other dynasties that led to the powerful Ottoman and Mughal empires of the 15th to 20th Centuries. For Shiites, leadership was passed down through the Imams, who were believed to be divinely appointed from Muhammad's family. The 12th and final Shiite Imam died in the late 9th Century. After several centuries a council was appointed to elect an Ayatollah, the supreme Shiite spiritual leader.

The divide between Shiite and Sunni Muslims began as a political one, but this ultimately led to some religious and theological differences. The divide between the two sects has grown over time. Shiites and Sunnis disagree on the identity of the Mahdi, the coming Islamic messiah. They also disagree on the interpretation of various key passages of the Quran and the hadith. The Quran (or Koran) is the Islamic holy scriptures - the word of Allah. While the hadith are teachings and traditions passed down from Muhammad - not considered divinely inspired nevertheless very significant. Yet while there are differences in beliefs, both Shiites and Sunnis share the main articles of faith - the five pillars of Islam - which are the testimony of faith, prayer, giving to charity, fasting, and the pilgrimage to Mecca.

Shiites and Sunnis are the two largest Islamic sub-groups. However there are other sects, as well as divisions within the two groups. Sunni Muslims make up the majority, approximately eighty-five percent, of Muslims all over the world. They are spread from North Africa to Asia. While the largest populations of Shiite Muslims can be found in Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Afghanistan and India.

The Unknowable God

Islam is the world's fastest growing religion (depending on how you measure it), and is second in size only to Christianity, but the god of Islam and the God of the Bible are not one and the same. Allah is presented as unknowable and capricious, and is derived from the ancient pagan moon god. The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob delights in making and keeping His promises. Jesus summarized the entire Law of Moses in two commandments: Love God with all your heart, soul, strength, and mind; and love your neighbor as yourself. Nowhere does the Koran make such a commandment. Although there are many peace-loving Muslims, study of the Islamic religion will reveal that true Islam is anything but a peaceful religion. Islam demands the utter destruction of all Jews, Christians, and anyone who refuses to convert to the Islamic faith. It is a warrior code that demands Muslims live and die by the sword.

___________

[Editor's note: This is a highly condensed overview of early Islamic history as it pertains to the division between Shiites and Sunnis. It is important to note that Islamic sects tend to disagree on many aspects of key historical events.]

Calling Believers to Stand in the Gap

Islamic supporters have scheduled a day of prayer at the United States Capitol September 25. Bus loads of Muslims from all over the nation are heading to Washington DC for this special day. Empowered by the President’s embrace of Islam during the inauguration, the speech in Cairo and the celebration of Ramadan this week in the White House they are coming. http://www.islamoncapitolhill.com/

Their slogan is telling: Our Time Has Come. The links below arrived the same day the notice arrived about Islam on Capitol Hill. Every one of them provides chilling evidence of Islamic control or the expression of religious spirits that create such radical mindsets.

My dear friends: This is not their Time. It has not come and it will not come. This is the Time where the Lord Jesus is exalted and He and He alone receives glory and honor and praise. His Time Has Come. His Kingdom Come and His Will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven. His Kingdom Come and His Will be done on Capitol Hill, in Washington DC and the United States just as it is in Heaven.

That is our response and that is our prayer. Let Your Kingdom Come and Your Will be Done! So we will pray and we will worship and we will continue to declare that this city is the city where The King of Kings is worshipped. It is His and He will glorify His name in it.

I bless you as you press in and seek His face concerning the Great Awakening Tour September 5-12, The Feast of Trumpets and Rosh Hashanah sundown September 18-19, The Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) sundown September 27-28 and Sukkoth, The Feast of Tabernacles sundown October 2 through October 10. The Lord is moving powerfully through these days. These are days for His powerful intervention and a release of the supernatural power of Holy Spirit. These are days where the manifest presence of the Lord must be revealed in His sons and daughters. These are days were we need to be strategic and intentional and focused on Jesus.

This is a call to intercession and standing in the gap until the Kingdoms of this world become the Kingdoms of God in Jesus our Messiah.

David and Tracy Ruleman

Not Just Any Bible

As told by Andrea Wolfe

Can anyone hide out in a corner

where I can't see him? declares Yahweh.

Am I not present everywhere,

whether seen or unseen?

Jeremiah 23:24

In the 1930's Stalin ordered a purge of all Bibles and all believers. In Stavropol, Russia, this order was carried out with a vengeance. Thousands of Bibles were confiscated, and multitudes of believers were sent to the gulags (prison camps) where most died for being 'enemies of the state.'

We once sent a team to Stavropol. The city’s history wasn't known at that time. But when the team was having difficulty getting Bibles shipped from Moscow, someone mentioned the existence of a warehouse outside of town where these confiscated Bibles had been stored since Stalin's day.

After much prayer by the team, one member finally got up the courage to go to the warehouse and ask the officials if the Bibles were still there. Sure enough, they were. Then they asked if the Bibles could be removed and distributed again to the people of Stavropol. The answer was, 'Yes!'

The next day the team returned with a truck, and several Russian people, to help load the Bibles. One helper was a young man - a skeptical, hostile, agnostic collegian who had come only for the day's wages. As they were loading Bibles, one team member noticed that the young man had disappeared.

Eventually they found him in a corner of the warehouse, weeping. He had slipped away hoping to take a Bible for himself. What he found shook him to the core. The inside page of the Bible he picked up had the handwritten signature of his own grandmother. It had been her personal Bible. Out of the thousands of Bibles still left in that warehouse, he stole the one belonging to his grandmother - a woman persecuted for her faith all her life.

No wonder he was weeping -- God was real -- and this was his introduction to the sovereign El, the Creator of the universe!
As told by Andrea Wolfe

Invoking God to Deceive the Masses

The Federal government is at war with you. We see it every day. The attacks are worse and worse. Even the political pundits are beginning to call it warfare, although they have not thought the unthinkable because they are calling it "political warfare." But it is all out war--and the White House is employing the ancient axioms of Sun Tzu that "all warfare is based on deception," and "In the practical art of war, the best thing of all is to take the enemy's country whole and intact." The true art of war is to deceive the enemy and break the enemy's resistance without fighting. And that is what the usurpers are desperately trying to do to the American public.The man who occupies the Oval Office recently held a conference call with some 1,000 Jewish rabbis trying to enlist their help in passing socialized medicine. He said, "We are God's partners in life and death." Washington Jewish Week reports that before the conference call began, the music on the holding line was 'Deutschland uber Alles,' " a classical German anthem, the lyrics to which in part say, "Preserve and protect our Kaiser, our land", which raised some eyebrows. On another conference call with about 1,000 leftists, OOO invoked one of the Ten Commandments, saying that Americans were "bearing false witness" by spreading "misinformation" about his socialist healthcare plan.Any and all means of deception and control is being used to pass this vital foundation to completing the socialist coup in America. Democratic Congressmen are using profound strong arm tactics to get health insurance companies to support socialized medicine. The Democratic leadership has sent 52 letters to health insurers giving them until September 4 to provide Congress a detailed list of every employee who made over a $1 million dollars a year between 2003 and 2008, and documents about conferences and any events held off company property as well as the types of transportation, lodging, food, entertainment and even gifts exchanged.

And there are concerns that swine flu will be used to create panic to force Americans to be vaccinated with a deadly swine flu vaccine. London's Daily Mail reports that the UK's Health Protection Agency sent a letter warning over 600 neurologists that the vaccine could trigger a brain disorder that "attacks the lining of the nerves, causing paralysis and inability to breath, and can be fatal." In a war of deception, creating panic, even using the word of God to do so, delivers control. Isaiah 32:6 says, "For the vile person will speak villainy, and his heart will work iniquity, to practice hypocrisy, and to utter error against the Lord, to make empty the soul of the hungry, and he will cause the drink of the thirsty to fail."
By Bill Wilson

I found this very interesting. Just today I was coming to understand that knowing the whole Word (including Torah) is the only way we will not be deceived. We need to be steeped in the Word NOW! The minute God is brought into this by the government, I believe the confusion will become exponential.

Shabbat Shalom!

Sad Anniversary

Forty years ago yesterday, August 19, 1969, Hurricane Camille pounded through Nelson County, VA, leaving 100 dead, and houses, roads, and hamlets devastated or destroyed. The little community of Massie's Mill was totally washed down the Tye River. The Tye is normally a small to oversized creek, but that night it became a raging torrent of a river. The Red Cross arrived within a couple days with food, etc. Mennonite Disaster Service arrived quickly as well to help organize search and rescue teams first, then cleanup and restoration teams.

How well I remember the night of August 18/19, lying in bed hearing the rain pounding, pounding, pounding on the roof, increasing in intensity over and over without lessening at all. I remember hearing the intensity change, always sounding harder when I had thought it was as hard as it could pound. We lived on the other side of the mountain in Augusta County. When I got up to go to work (a summer job) in the morning I could hear running water. The little creek bed at the bottom of the hill that was almost always a dry bed was a raging torrent, and flowing across the road. The town of Waynesboro was flooded -- the South River had risen to unprecedented heights. There were pictures of people on their rooftops waiting for rescue.

I didn't know that God was going to use that devastation and destruction to bring a young man all the way from Ontario, Canada just so we could meet and fulfill part of his overall plan for our lives! Perhaps I'll post more on that later...

So this Sad Anniversary does have a bright spot -- at least for me!!
Shalom!

Nothing to Alarm Us

But go thou thy way till the end be:
for thou shalt rest,
and stand in thy lot at the end of the days.
Daniel 12:13
~~~~~~~

NOTHING TO ALARM US

We cannot understand all the prophecies, but yet we regard them with pleasure and not with dismay. There can be nothing in the Father's decree which should justly alarm His child. Though the abomination of desolation be set up, yet the true believer shall not be defiled; rather shall he be purified, and made white, and tried. Though the earth be burned up, no smell of fire shall come upon the chosen. Amid the crash of matter and the wreck of worlds, the LORD will preserve His own.

Calmly resolute in duty, brave in conflict, patient, in suffering, let us go our way, keeping to our road, and neither swerving from it nor loitering in it. The end will come; let us go our way till it does.

Rest will be ours. All other things swing to and fro, but our foundation standeth sure. God rests in His love, and therefore, we rest in it. Our peace is, and ever shall be, like a river. A lot in the heavenly Canaan is ours, and we shall stand in it, come what may. The God of Daniel will give a worthy portion to all who dare to be decided for truth and holiness as Daniel was. No den of lions shall deprive us of our sure inheritance.
From "Faith's Checkbook" -- A Treasury of Daily Devotionals by C. H. Spurgeon


Shalom!

Struggling With Sin

"Struggling with sin" is a phrase that is used rather lightly in many religious circles. What does it mean to "struggle" with something? The word "struggle" means to "fight against"; it means to "strive, put forth effort in order to not give in". It does not mean or imply that the one who is struggling is on the losing side of the struggle. And yet, many believers when they say that they are "struggling" with sin they mean that they are committing sin(s) even while trying not to. They mean that they have struggled and then they were defeated by sin. And so perhaps the word "defeated" rather than "struggling" more accurately describes such people. Sadly, many people accept such "struggling" (actually defeat) as a way of life. They have not truly struggled so hard that they have suffered any great deal striving with all their might not to give in to temptations (Heb. 12:4).

An example would be appropriate here. I have spoken with many young men who say that they "struggle with" lust. Actually, they mean that they fight against it a little, but end up giving in to their lusts. They claim that they are trying not to sin. (See the article, "I Try".) But in reality they watch commercials that promote lust; they watch movies and television programs that encourage lust; and they listen to music that contains all sorts of sexual lyrics. Can they actually say that they are trying to overcome lust? Will God believe them when they say that they tried? Make every effort to enter the kingdom of heaven through the narrow door, Jesus says, because many will simply try but not be able to (Luke 13:24).

We are not saying that a Christian will have no struggles with temptation. We are saying that when a Christian is tempted, he must love God more than the temptation. Fighting against the temptation must be "worth it" because he would never want to do something to grieve God. A Christian desires to make sure that he is fully submitted to God to resist the temptation; the devil will then flee (James 4:7). For we are promised that no temptation will be too difficult for us because God himself will make a way for us to stand up under every temptation (1 Cor. 10:13). We may suffer or struggle and it may be difficult, but we can overcome. There is HOPE! Even Jesus suffered when he was tempted (Heb. 2:18). Remember the Garden of Gethsemane!Many people lose heart because they have "blown it" too many times. Put your faith in God! BELIEVE that you can and will overcome because of HIM. Don't rely on establishing a good "track record" before you have confidence. Believe today! Know that your belief entails a love affair with God--so much that you will do ANYTHING for him. But don't believe the lie that "struggling" is the same thing as "sinning". It is not true. Struggling against sin does not mean that you are displeasing God. Struggling against sin is one of the main evidences that you hate sin. So, struggle and be victorious through the glorious power of our great and mighty God.A wholehearted Christian is someone who struggles against sin and then gains the victory through Christ who gives him strength. Christians do struggle with sin...and then get the victory through faith. The "struggle" of the Christian is not a vicious cycle of try-fail, try-fail, try-fail,... No, the struggle of the Christian echoes the sorrowful, yet rejoicing cries of the Apostle Paul, "we faced trials far beyond our ability to endure" (2 Cor. 1:8); "God has delivered us and will continue to deliver us" (2 Cor. 1:10). "Now thanks be to God who always causes us to triumph in Christ" (2 Cor 2:14).Perhaps you are convicted by God. Perhaps there is sin in your life that you cannot seem to give up. Do not lose hope. (See the article, "If Any Man Sin".) Rather, repent and get rid of everything that hinders you (Heb. 12:1-2). Ask God to give you a revelation of the LOVE that he has for you. BELIEVE! Truly submit to God. Resist the devil and do not give your temptations a foothold.

I TRY

While witnessing to people and open-air preaching and handing out tracts, many people ignore us or mock us. Some people tell us that they already know about God. These people said that they already went to church and that they were "fine." We have asked such people if they obey God. Their reply was usually, "I try" or "sometimes." We also often asked them if they still continued to sin (1 John 3:6, 9) and their reply was quite similar: "I try not to, but of course everyone sins." These people who said that they were "fine" did not really have much evidence for being "fine" in God's sight. In fact, the best reason that they had for the hope the was supposedly in them was their church attendance. They obeyed God sometimes and resisted sin sometimes...but is this what a Christian life is like? Do Christians obey their LORD sometimes? Do they still do the devil's work sometimes? No, this is not the fruit that identifies a Christian. Since we encountered many people who seemed to have a false hope that they would be saved, the Lord led me to write to you about "trying" to please God vs. actually pleasing Him."Someone asked him [Jesus], 'Lord, are only a few people going to be saved?' He said to them, 'Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to...you will stand outside knocking and pleading, "Sir, open the door for us."...But he will reply, "I don't know you or where you come from. Away from me, all you evildoers!"'" (see Luke 13:23-27).Jesus said that many people will try to enter the Kingdom of Heaven but will not make it. They will "try." They will not be able to enter, however, because they were "evildoers."Some will say, "But I just can't help but sin." The Word of God says to you: "In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your own blood" (Heb. 12:4). How hard do you really struggle against sin? Don't tell God that you can't have pure thoughts, but then you watch all kinds of impure television programs. Don't tell God that you can't help but lust, but then you listen to all kinds of music that promotes lust. Don't tell God that you just can't help but sin when he tells you that "His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him" (2 Peter 1:3). It is God's power that gives us the ability to please him, but you need to struggle and strive with his power working in you (Col. 1:29). This is why in Luke 13:23-27 that Jesus told his listeners to "Make every effort." This is not a game. Don't just "try", make every effort. Be diligent. Find others who are diligent. Labor together out of love for your King. Exhort one another DAILY so that you aren't hardened by sin (Heb. 3:13). Take this seriously!Some of you might say that God is all-forgiving so he will forgive you when you keep on sinning against him. Look at your own attitude toward sin! Some of you think that because you call Jesus "Lord" and have acknowledged him as "the Savior" that this will allow you to keep on sinning, but still be forgiven. But Jesus said, "Why do you call me, 'Lord, Lord,' and do not do what I say?" (Luke 6:46). You might feel "safe" because you supposedly know the truth. However, the Bible says that if you persist in going your own way, God will never be willing to forgive you even if you feel safe now (Deut. 29:19-20). Jesus came to destroy sin, the works of the devil, so don't fool yourself.I don't want any of you to find yourself standing before God saying, "Well, Lord, I tried to obey you." He may very well say to you, "If you really tried, then why didn't you obey me; I gave you everything you needed; you could have done all things through Christ, but since you continued to do evil...Away from me, you evildoer!" Jesus said, "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father" (Matt. 7:21). Only those who do the will of God (not those who try to do the will of God) will enter the kingdom of heaven. "You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised" (Heb. 10:36). So my question to you today is: Do you obey God or do you merely try to obey God?"And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ--to the glory and praise of God" (Philippians 1:9-11). From web site: "Obey God"

Beaches and Birthdays

The weekend of July 24-27 I went with Karen and Katharine to Nags Head. Katharine's four youngest boys went with us. (Julius [17] is in Israel for four weeks; Luke [16] is in Washington State with relatives until school starts again.) So Joseph [15], James [14], Jeremiah [8], and Kevin [6] were with us. We drove down Friday after work (the three of us work in the same office, plus we go to the same church, so we’ve got a lot in common). We stopped at “The Border” for a bite of supper – the boys had fun standing with one foot in Virginia and one foot in North Carolina. I had left my camera in the car, so I didn’t get any pix. I thought maybe we’d stop again on our way home and I’d take pix then, but plans changed. We got to the beach house (which isn’t on the beach) around 9:00 – after stopping at WalMart so Katharine could get a pair of flip flops for Kevin as he had only brought dress shoes with him. K We unloaded the cars, made up our beds, and were in bed by 10:30 or so. Karen had told me the bed I was to have has a rather hard mattress, so I took my Aero Bed along. Joseph helped me take the mattress off the bed and stand it against the wall. Then I filled the Aero Bed and put it on top of the box spring. That made the bed rather high for me to get into and out of, but by the time the weekend was over I had my entrances and exits down pat!!

Saturday morning after a leisurely breakfast, Karen took the boys to one of the beaches. I had my computer with me so I worked on my Xanga post, then did some database work while Katharine had a couple hours of private time with the Lord. When Karen and the boys got back, Katharine expressed a desire to go out for dinner as an adult with adult fellowship and at a nice restaurant. So we got supper on for the boys – hot dogs, I think but I rather forget now! Then we “girls” went to the Fish and Fin for a lovely dinner. Entrée’s were $25.00 to $30.00. The portions were plentiful, the food was delicious, and the company was entertaining! We laughed, told stories, and shared our thoughts. People at the table next to us were listening in and laughed along with us at some of the things we shared – especially when Katharine and I told Karen of our trip to Lancaster, PA, with my sister and another friend to see a couple Sight and Sound shows and tour Lancaster County. That was a fun trip!!

Back with the boys, James decided he was ready for a hair cut. Quite a few of us had been after him to get it cut, but he really didn’t want to spend the money to get it done. He said he was planning to go see if Ms. Jessica (my niece-in-law) would do it for him because she didn’t charge the last time. Karen said she’d gladly do it, that she has cut men’s hair before. So he finally decided he’d let her do it. We were all quite impressed with the results and told him many times how much we enjoyed being able to see his handsome face again!

I think we watched a video after, but I forget which one.

Sunday morning we all slept in quite late. Around 11:00 Katharine took the boys to do some mini-golfing. She had her quiet time in the van while waiting for them to have their hour or more of fun. Karen and I stayed at the beach house – Karen had her quiet time in her room and I in mine. After they all got back we had some lunch, then loaded the car and truck with snacks and swimming paraphernalia and went to one of the beaches nearby. The winds were fairly gusty and the waves were rather high – plus I found the water too cold for my liking! So the boys played in the water and we “girls” sat on blankets and beach chairs watching the boys and visiting. We were only there an hour or two before deciding to take the two younger boys and go back to the beach house – the blowing sand was biting our skin and not real pleasant. Joseph and James were okay alone until Karen got back to get them. We got the little boys bathed, then Katharine and I showered. I drove to Food Lion to get some extra things for dinner – corn on the cob, ice cream, fresh fruit, water, etc. After dinner and dishes we watched “Luther” – the story of Martin Luther. I thought I had seen it before, but after we got into it I realized I hadn’t. It’s very good. After everyone went to bed Joseph finished watching “Seabiscuit.” I watched part of it with him, but I’ve seen it a couple times. I think Sean gave it to me for my birthday one year.

Monday we cleaned the beach house, washed and dried linens so they’ll be fresh for the next guests (the beach house belongs to Karen’s mom, so she knew all the little details that needed to be taken care of.) Then Katharine and James went thrift store shopping. When they got back it was decided we would go to the Wright Brothers Museum, then come back for a quick bite of dinner before heading home. I really didn’t want to get home that late, so Joseph and James ended up flipping a coin to see which of them would ride home with me early. Karen, Katharine, and the rest would come later. We left around 3:00. Ran into some really heavy thunder/lightning/rain storms on the way home. The first one was before we even got out of North Carolina. Things weren’t bad going through the Hampton Tunnel, but eastbound traffic was slow and go. After we got to Norfolk though, we ran into another storm and traffic was slow and go all the way to Williamsburg. It was good traveling from W’burg to Richmond. I stopped at McDonald’s for Joseph to get a hamburger and drink before dropping him off at their apartment. I stopped at Ukrop’s to get some supplies for myself before finishing the trip. I was home by 7:00. Katharine called Joseph while we were still on the road to tell him they had decided to stay the night yet and leave around 5:00 Tuesday morning – so I was really glad I had left early.

The next week was the usual quietly busy at work. I sent off several email blasts, Worked on cleaning up some databases, etc. John got home late Saturday afternoon. Sean came home with us Sunday after church and I fixed a birthday dinner for John – corn on the cob, new potatoes, creamed cucumber salad, applesauce, fresh Hanover tomatoes, and fresh bread. Dessert was fresh peach pie. I told Sean I was taking Dad to the Olive Garden for another birthday dinner on Tuesday, his actual birthday, did Sean want to join us. He declined, saying he had a community meeting to attend. I left it at that – if he hadn’t had a good reason I would have told him privately that I was inviting several other couples to surprise John as it was his REALLY BIG birthday! He turned 60!! And I can’t figure out where the years have gone – he was only 20 when we first met! Oh, dear. It seems like only a few years, but it’s really been a lifetime ago. That is so scary! But you know, God has been so good to us both over the years. We certainly are not what we were way back when. God has done so much in both of us, and He has blessed us both beyond our wildest dreams. He has proven His Word, “blessed is the man whose God is the Lord” and “the steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord.”

So Tuesday, August 4th we met at Target and left John’s car there. I drove to the Olive Garden, knowing we were a bit early and if John was driving there was no way I could tell him to take his time without letting him know something was up. Chuck and Joyce passed us on Glenside – I saw them but John didn’t, and they didn’t see us. So I slowed down even more, trying to hit traffic lights red or amber rather than green! Then when we pulled into the driveway, John saw Mike and Carolyn walking to the door. He turned to me with a grin and said, “I have a feeling I’m being set up!” I said, “Really? But you don’t know WHO is involved, do you?” When we walked into the lobby there sat Mike and Carolyn and Kathy. Kathy was a surprise. Then Chuck and Joyce walked in and that was a surprise – except that he had suggested Sunday, “Why don’t we invite someone to join us Tuesday? Maybe Chuck and Joyce? They joined us last year.” I just said I’d think about it. Joyce had a “60th Birthday” balloon for him. Then after we had given our beverage requests to our server, Fred and Jo Ann arrived. So we had a lovely party of nine – just enough to have a nice celebration. I ordered a birthday cake and they brought it in with the usual LOUD hoopla! Everyone in the room clapped with us. Then when we left a couple young ladies at the table behind us wished John a happy birthday. He commented that it is his 60th as they could see by the balloon. One of the girls suggested that if he turned it upside down he could pretend he’s 9!!


Yesterday Sean came over to help John with some outside work. John can’t do any heavy lifting anymore as he’s done too much of that in the past and it hasn’t been good on his small frame. So they cut up some fallen trees, cut down some limbs that were getting in the way of other vegetation, mowed the bank and road edge, etc. I fixed another dinner for them – basically it was a ditto of Sunday’s dinner except for the cucumbers. Corn on the cob again because they both love it, it’s summer time, and the corn is good! Then we watched a 30 minute video Sean had rented from Netflix. “Night and Fog” is a 1955 documentary about the holocaust and is especially fitting for the things we are facing today. It’s a heart-wrenching video – difficult to watch, so 30 minutes was quite enough.

Today John left for Ontario right after church. He’ll be up there for one week, then home for two. Kathy and I went to Willow Lawn after church and had a yummy lunch at Panera Bread. Then we went to Ben Franklin's and I helped her pick out some yarn to knit a scarf. We've been having knitting classes every other Thursday night. We've decided to call ourselves the "Craft and Chat Guild" because some girls are learning to crochet, knit purses to felt, or just work on knitting projects that have been put on hold due to lack of time or interest. Kathy's been learning the basics of knitting and is now ready to start a project. I think this one will be really pretty when she's finished it.

Meanwhile – we’ve been adopted!! There’s been a stray, tame but very shy cat around for several months now. I’m not even sure when she first began hanging around, but we’ll see her sleeping behind the air conditioner, walking across the deck, etc. So I’ve begun feeding her, just to make sure she’s getting some good food. Sean would love to take her home with him, but he’s got two cats already and really doesn’t want to clean another litter box! But she is a pretty kitty. Sean thinks she’s probably two to three years old.

We've also had some strange things happening around here. Something -- and we can't figure out what -- has been bringing us offerings of gravel from the driveway. We keep finding several pieces of gravel on the ground beside the bottom step of the side deck and two or three pieces on the bottom step itself. At first I thought John was putting them there to keep his lawn mower from throwing them, but he's just as perplexed as I as to where they're coming from. I'll pick them all up and throw them out into the driveway and the next morning, there's the offering again. Most curious. Anyone have any suggestions??

So….that’s it for now. Blessings to all!