A Gentle Giant

You know, it is strange, but I love being an older woman. After becoming a widow, I was so afraid of feeling left out and estranged from people, because my Sweet Man was such wonderful person. He seemed to be the one that people enjoyed being around. He was pretty much the same all the time. He seldom got upset about things. Oh, he could get mad. But it didn't happen much. And when it came to anything that involved him giving up his way, that was no contest. (only by pride cometh contention) He always gave up his way for others. He just had this pleasantness about him that made others think he was their best friend. I certainly did not have that gift. I was the "straighten up your act and do right person." No babying, petting, and pampering people with me! No "sirree." I guess you can see why people loved me so much. I have to say lol right there! But God knows what we need. He gave me a man that treated me like a queen even though I could be hard on him and other people. I was the oldest of five and he the famed "only child" so there were times when he needed a little "push" to get things going. (that justifies, doesn't it?) We both came from broken homes where Christ was not the head. And what a change in ours when He met Jesus and became a preacher. I  have to tell you that I will always appreciate the influence that Sweet Man had on me. He helped me to learn to handle myself with my head and to handle others with my heart. He taught me, not with words, because his were few, but by his kindness and gentleness  (II Samuel 22;36 Thou hast also given me the shield of thy salvation; and thy gentleness hath made me great).
 And that is so like our Heavenly Father. He is gently calling you back to Him. His goodness to you should lead you to repentance, (Romans 2:4 For despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?)  I will forever be thankful to God, who not only gave me a gentle giant to love and learn from, but who gave me His Son to pay for every sin I have ever, or will ever commit. I don't know what your sin problem is, but I know you have one. We all do. And if you knew me like He knows me..........You would be shouting with me!!!!!!!!

Only Two Choices: Truth or Unbelief

Since I haven't been on here in a while, I am "loaded for bear" today. There is so much stuff going on these days, it is enough to make a person get down right ill. But we, that know what the Bible says about life in this old world, shouldn't be so surprised. After all, the Bible does say "This know also, that in the last days, perilous times shall come, for men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, (I have NEVER seen it worse), unthankful, unholy, without natural affection ( latest drama of sex change), trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent (uncontrolled indulgence of the appetite), fierce, despisers of those that are good, (the Duggars), traitors (flag burners), heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof; from such turn away. I Timothy 3:1-4
I do NOT hate anyone who doesn't believe as I do. I have love for their soul. And I am diligent to give out the gospel to anyone who will listen. But believing a lie is the new normal. It is unbelief. And unbelief is simply rejecting what God says is true. And there are two problems with that type thinking. And they are:
 1. Rejecting what God says is an insult against God Himself. It dishonors Him ( Rom 1:21) and treats God as a liar. It says that God is not truthful about what He has said about Himself and about the way life works in the world.
2. Rejecting the truth about God begins the process of your own disintegration, ( Rom. 1:21-32).
A person who insists on living in a fantasy world that does not correspond to reality will encounter many bumps on the road and will have no idea why life is so difficult.
 Listen to these complaints:
**"You cannot trust anyone--not even God. You must look out for yourself"
**"God doesn't love me or He wouldn't have messed up my life by putting me in this family."
**" If I marry a loving spouse and have lots of money, I'll be happy."
None of these statements are true. A person who rejects truth and believes a lie about God or anything else in God's world will experience personal disintegration.
You must labor to find out what is true according to God, repent of believing anything else, totally reject anything else, and cling to the things that are true about God, no matter what happens to you. What is at stake here is not our unhappiness or disintegration, but the glory of God.
Unbelief robs God of His glory. (Rom.1:21) The temptation of the sinful heart is "(exchange) the truth of God (for ) a lie. Rom 1:25. These are quotes by Jim Berg in his book "God Is More Than Enough." A great read and very convicting. It has convicted me of my unbelief about life.
We must start believing God's Word. How? "Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the KNOWLEDGE of GOD" 2 Peter 1:2   Get into the Word of God! It is TRUTH. Christians get excited that Jesus is coming soon. But let's get busy giving out that wonderful news to the lost world!

I Love Cozy Comfort

These dreary winter days can sure give you the blahs, can't they? We have had snow, ice, and rain the last three weeks....enough, I say! But I'm not in control of the weather. My problem is that if it is cold and rainy I don't want to leave my nice warm, cozy home. To want to be comfortable is not a bad thing. I believe that we have to give it up at times to do for others. After all our Lord did so for us. But God wants us to be comfortable in HIM. Not lazy or unconcerned. but at peace and relaxed in the storms of life. That is exactly what the Holy Spirit is to do for us. In  John 16:7  Jesus says, "Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is expedient for you that I go away;for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you." He is saying I'm telling you the truth, that it is the very best thing for you (expedient) that I go away, so the Comforter will come TO YOU. He wants to come and make YOU comfortable. I love to be so comfortable. Just snuggle down and get all cozy with a book. It can be snowing, raining,and storming outside but I am soooo comfortable inside. God wants us to be comfortable inside (our hearts) even if the trials are raging. Because we know WHO is in control. The Holy Spirit is called the Comforter for a reason.

Fancy Words or Sincere Prayers?

Isn't it a blessing that we have prayers going up for us? And that we can pray for others also? Our Pastor gave us a list last Sunday night of 159 names of lost folk for which we will be praying. Believe me, it takes a while to pray for that many people! I have quite a list of my own to go with it. So I want to pray the right way, don't you? But I am learning that prayer does not always have to be correct or even full of faith. Elijah's prayer (I Kings 18:20-40) teaches us that if we can just be truthful with God, that will be enough. I loved for my sweet man to pray for me and with me. He had such gracious sincerity and love for the Lord coming from his heart when he prayed. It was so honest. Sometimes we live under the burden of feeling like our prayers should follow a certain form. We forget that the best part is not that we are doing it, but that God hears us and wants to answer our prayers. Sometimes my prayers are so full of faith, and there are times they are weak like Elijah's after Mt. Carmel. On Mt. Carmel he had so much confidence, but shortly afterward he sat down under that tree and asked God to let him die. But God met him, fed him and pushed him on. Whether we are full of faith, or spiritually weak, He still hears us.

Matthew 7:11  "If ye, then being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him."

Just a Little Bit of Love

  It's Valentine's Day tomorrow and I just have to talk about LOVE. This will be my second Valentines without my sweetheart. And I am still missing him, but my life as a widow has not been void of love. For that, I thank God. Now, I don't have a sweetheart on earth, but I have so many wonderful people to love. The great thing about loving is that there is always opportunity. No matter how smart, talented, successful and rich you are, without love, life is empty and has no purpose. Charles Stanley says if we never give it, we'll become self-centered and demanding. If we never receive it, we'll constantly be looking for acceptance and approval. But when we learn to let God's love flow through us, we become more like Jesus. And when people see it, they will be drawn to HIM. God's love never fails. I Cor. 13:8a. And what is more exciting than seeing someone come to Jesus? We have heard it said "The world is dying for a little bit of love." And I have to agree. The world system offers lots of lust for our carnal nature to be swayed by. But never have I seen it bring the satisfaction that the love of God brings. It was pretty cool of the four men, found in Mark's gospel, who loved their invalid friend enough to go against the crowd, tear a hole in the roof to get him to Jesus. Now, that was some kind of LOVE. Maybe we need to get a little dirty, sweaty, and tired in our efforts to show love to a lost and dying world. Jesus did.

 John 3:16 " For God so LOVED the world that He gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life."

The Blow Out that Caused Hope

 I know, I know, it's been forever since I've been on here. But I have an excuse. Well, not much of one. but I have been running all over the country to visit my kids since Thanksgiving. You see when your children are in the ministry, they are really busy. And that's good. But it means, their Mother, who isn't all that busy, comes to them. At least right now, while I am still able to run up and down the highway. But I had a blow out on the way home from Oklahoma on Friday. Now a blow out has always been a fear of mine. Because we had one in the truck once and Preacher had a hard time getting control of it. It tore our fender up. He did love to keep his truck nice. Bro. Denny Johnson in Altus, helped him to put some screws and try to make it look better. I so appreciate him helping the Preacher.  Well, anyway, back to my story, I hit some big metal thing and it took my back tire out quickly. So thankful that I was able to get to the shoulder. I called my Emergency Road Service and they came in about an hour.  They sent this nice old guy, who couldn't hear. So that makes two of us and I'm yelling as the big rigs are whizzing by. It was quite funny. We could not find that spare tire. I'm standing out here on the highway in Oklahoma with all my Christmas, my luggage, my dirty clothes from living out of my van for two weeks, on the side of the road. This nice looking young Highway Patrolman comes and tries to help. He is quite "take charge." But can't find it either. They are crawling under the van and standing on their heads, (almost literally) trying to figure this out. I called my grand daughter Brittany, and my daughter in law Rachel, to get them to google "dodge caravan" to see where this spare is located. (don't you love cell phones and internet at a time like this?) Finally we find the little thingy in the floor between the front seats that lets the tire under the van lose, and guess what? The stupid thing wouldn't budge. So I finally said, "Could you just take me into the next town so I can buy a new tire."  Into town we go,  find what I need, come back, and I'm on my way home. It cost me about 3 hours and $l46.00 for a tire.  But I made it home safe and sound. Now I can say... a blow out doesn't scare me as much. Why? Because I experienced one and lived to tell. And experiencing difficult things help us to have hope. Thank you Lord that we get to learn first hand that You've got it under control and can be trusted. Even a blow out on the highway can cause me to have more faith. (hope)
 I love these verses; Romans 5:1-5
¶ Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only so, but we glory in tirbulations also; knowing that tribulation worketh patience; And patience, experience; and experience, hope: And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.