AFRAID OF THE DARK

My little granddaughter is afraid of the dark. Night lights don't seem to alleviate her fears. Her Mommy taught her a scripture verse in the hope that she would say that to herself when her terror gripped her. "God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of sound mind." I understand our little one's reluctance to be in a dark place. I was that way as a child too, imagining that every twisted tree branch was a snake or that every corner held a boogyman.

I've grown up to realize that the dark is a space without light. There is, in a spiritual sense, much darkness in this world today. You have only to turn on the news to become swiftly aware that the world is not living in the Light of God. People who walk in the Light are not ashamed of their deeds, for they are in obedience to God. They need not be afraid, for God walks with them. Those who walk a path in darkness have reason to fear. They have no protector, no guard, no guide. How does one manuever through that sort of life and maintain a sane mind or a fearless attitude? They have no power to fight off evil and show no love in doing their own evil acts.

How wonderful to be able to say that I walk in the Light, without fear of the things in the dark!
How blessed to know that the Savior called to me, and hearing Him, I answered. How comforting to know that I am protected by His love and power!

God is not willing that you should walk alone, in darkness. He is not a respector of persons. What He has done for me, He will do for you. Wake up from your sleep in the darkness. Hear Him as He calls your name. Say "Here I am, Lord", and watch the Light fall around you! There will be no need ever again to fear, for He will stay beside you always. Choose the Light.

Thoughts Pre-Easter

Easter bunnies, chicks and colored eggs line the shelves in the stores. Bonnets and patent leather shoes and frilly frocks await the wearing on that special Sunday in April. What has all that got to do with Easter?

I suppose I could stretch a point and say that all signify the newness that comes with Spring after a long winter's nap. I could really defend the pretty outfit by saying that it is significant of taking off the old and putting on the new. But the truth is, they have nothing to do with the true meaning of Easter.

Yes, Easter is about newness. We were deeply asleep in our sin. God saw we had no way to escape without a blood sacrifice. We, Christians awoke to know that Jesus Christ's horrible, painful death by hanging on the Cross put sin to death for all who will accept the sacrifice. We know that His resurrection on Easter morning gave us a new Hope for our own resurrection one day. When we accept Jesus as our own Savior and Lord, He gives us a new life to live. We must leave sin behind and wear the righteousness of Christ.

Easter baskets and bonnets do not show our love of the Lord or appreciation for his payment for the sin we deserve to die for. Let us remember to give God praise for all He is done, most of all for the gift of a new life He gave us when He gave up His own.

Random Thoughts About God

Who can describe God? So often we try, but no matter how well we think we know Him, it's impossible to describe the Majestic Almighty God.

We can pin attributes on Him and say what He is or how He thinks. But we humans can only think in a humanly spiritual way. His Word tells us that our thoughts are not His thoughts, and so I wonder how closely we can guess as to the attributes of God.

Why do we attempt to describe God, anyway? We know that He IS, has always BEEN, will always BE. We know, from the Bible, that He has no beginning and no end. We know, too, that He is all-knowing, always present. Isn't it enough to know those things, without having to describe Him?

I guess it isn't, for daily, someone is attempting to tell someone else what God is like. We say that God is Love...the giver of Love, the only real Love there is. We say that God is Truth, He is the Light, He is Salvation, He is Perfect, He is Wise, He is Creator, He is no respector of persons, but accepts each of us as we are. He is all of those and more, as taught by His own Word.

We try to describe God so that others might come to know Him the way we know Him. We don't need to describe Him. We need to offer Him. We need to invite others to meet Him. We need to tell others what God has done for us. We need to share Him. We need to place our friends in His hands. God will show Himself without our descriptions.

Goin' Home

Tomorrow our church will bury the fourth of our members in as many weeks. Families are in pain over their loss, but most are grateful to know that their loved ones have 'gone home' to their Lord. Knowing that tends to lessen the pain and suffering of death to this life on earth.

As Christians, we have the blessed Hope that we will spend Eternity with Jesus. Noone seems to want to die, but we know that when God calls us, we will have no choice but to answer. Isn't that an odd way of thinking? We don't want to die, but why not, when we know that we will forever be face to face with the one who loves us more than any earthly soul? We don't want to trade the life we know or those who remain here for what we believe our future Home to be.

I can relate to those feelings. I had a scare in 1995 when I had no idea whether I would live to see another year. It saddened me to think I might have limited time left. Looking back on that,

I know that it is a natural way to feel in a time like that. However, the spiritual part of me knew that what waits beyond what I can see will be far better.

I guess that we are all a little afraid of what we cannot see. Our future, no matter how we plan, is never quite the same as we'd laid out in our minds. If we could plan the time we'd leave our families to go home to Jesus, I'm not sure we'd ever make an appointment. Maybe that's why God holds the hourglass, and not we, ourselves. It's better the way God has planned it, I think.

And so, being human, we have those human feelings to deal with. Being also spiritual, we have beliefs and hopes in the Lord that are strong enough to know that Goin' Home will be the most wonderful journey to a more wonderful place, and that gives us the strength to weather the trials, the fears and the sorrows that come in this life. We should rejoice in knowing that our loved ones have gone on and will be waiting for us at Heaven's gates. Even more, we are at peace, knowing that the face of God, which has been hidden from view throughout our earthly walk, will be revealed, shining brilliantly before us, welcoming us into the Almighty's Kingdom.

What a day, glorious day that will be!

A Prayer

Many times You'd spoken to me and I'd not listened. I'd turned a deaf ear and gone about my business in my own stubborn way. It was not so much that I didn't want to hear You, Lord. It was that I was not close enough to You to hear Your instruction. Like a willful child who runs from his loving and protective parent, I'd wandered from Your side to explore things on my own. When I was in trouble, or when I was scared, or hurt, or felt I was lost, I'd return to You looking for You to comfort and console me. You didn't greet me with anger, but opened Your arms and welcomed me back.

Those were the days of life as a young Christian, "when I was a child, I spoke as a child, I thought as a child..but when I grew to a man, such ways put aside." (1Cor: 13) Those days are gone...thank God! These days I know that I need to stay as close to You as I can be, in order to hear You speak and to respond quickly. If I don't listen, I will find myself floundering in the winds of doctrine, lost on the path of Life. I've learned that it is safer, much more wonderful too, to walk beside You and to discover with You, rather than alone, all that You have in store for me.

There is no safer place than to be beneath Your sheltering wings. Nothing can harm me, because You are surrounding me. There is no fear, because You are there. Your Word, tells me that You go before me and that You are my rear-guard. I am protected.

I have no need to wander from You, for You provide all that I need. I have no desire to be without You, for You love me more than anyone I'll ever find, should I search. There is no temptation to follow after another, because You are my All in all.

Thank you, Lord, for the lessons I have learned from childhood until this moment. Thank you, for all those who taught me about You, and for those who prayed for me. Thank you for those who attempted to steer me on the right path, and Lord, more than anything else, thank You for

patiently correcting me when I made all those mistakes, and for loving me anyway. Thank you for being my ever-present God, who knows me, loves me and died for me while I was still lost in the filthy mire of sin.

Words are not enough, Lord, and so, I will do what You ask. I will follow. I will obey. I will serve. I will show You, as best I can in my human strength and with Your help, how much I appreciate You, until You take me Home to be with You eternally.

It's a Puzzle

Jigsaw puzzles have always 'puzzled' me. I have decided that I haven't got a very mechanical mind. I can't look at pieces of things and see the place where they fit together to work properly.

I don't find it exciting, the way some people do, to look at a box full of bits of things and work toward putting them in order so that they make the finished picture shown on the cover of that box.

Life is sometimes like that. We find ourselves in a situation where things are just a jumbled up mess. We don't see how we can ever fight our way through it and get to the end. Somehow, we manage a way, but the picture at the end of our efforts may not look exactly the way it should.

I've discovered something in my walk with the Lord. Even the life of a Christian can be quite a mystery at times. We've heard the Biblical principals. We've been taught the ways of the Lord by our parents, our church leaders, our own learning. We've got a picture in our mind's eye as to what the final result is to look like. Still, sometimes what we see in life, with our human eye, is a box of bright pieces that make little sense to us. Just pretty shapes and colors that might fit together, but how? Sometimes it seems that some of the pieces don't fit at all, or even that some are missing altogether!

I believe the verse, "Seek, and you will find. Knock, and the door will be opened to you. Ask, and it will be given." When there is a place that needs filling in life, God will provide the piece that He knows will fit just the way it should. When there's a piece that doesn't fit smoothly, it probably is meant to go elsewhere, and we need to find a new bit to place into our picture. When things don't make sense to us, remember that we see only the pieces, but God sees the total picture. One by one, we will be offered the parts that will make up the whole. Sometimes we need to wait for pieces, but God will always complete the work He has begun. The puzzle will make sense one day.

Do you know, this is one puzzle that I am excited to work with!

Through a Glass, Darkly

Yesterday morning I woke to darkness, as I have since the changing of the clocks a few weeks ago. As the dawn broke, I was aware that the area outside was shrouded in a thick fog. I could barely see through it. There were dim shapes of the homes and trees in our neighborhood, but nothing was clear.

I was reminded of the scripture verse, " now we see through a glass darkly, then we shall see face to face." Each one of us has our own ideas, based on our understanding of the scriptures and on what we've been taught, of what heaven will be like. Do any of us know? I don't believe so. I think, because our vision is clouded in this life, that we've 'manufactured' an image with which we can be comfortable. We cannot see beyond the sunset, so we do not know for sure what the place looks like.

We search the Word of God for clues, for indications. We find text that describes 'streets of gold' and 'mansions'. We know that Jesus will be there, that the Judge will sit upon a throne, that no one leaves there once they've entered in and that no one will get in without their name being in the Lamb's Book of Life. But, with all this, we still see 'through a glass darkly.'

The day will come for each one of us when we will find the answers that elude us in this life. There will come a time when this life will end and we will find ourselves in a new location, one which we made our goal during our life's journey. Hopefully we have chosen Heaven as our eternal home. When that day comes, we will see clearly what it looks like there. We will see it in all its glory. But at that time, I don't believe it will matter what Heaven looks like, for we will see Jesus, face to face, and that will be enough.