Life Is TOO Short For Some Things . . .

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". . God created man in His own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them." (Genesis 1)

In The Sermon on The Mount, Jesus said, "But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute       you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you [only] love those who love you, what reward do you have?"  (Matthew 5)

Tonight I am not exactly sure how to say what is on my heart. How do we even begin to comprehend the greatness of our God, who spoke the vast universe into existence? How do we understand the power of the one who holds all heavenly bodies in their place? Is your mind boggled at the design and the order of all creation? And did you ever wonder how an omnipotent, ominipresent and unchanging God knows and cares about you and me? And how can he care for people everywhere through all history past, present, and future? 

It is impossible for me to understand how and why God reached down to the likes of me to redeem me and welcome me into His family. One hymn says, "amazing love! How can it be that Thou, my God should'st die for ME."  Another old song says, "How big is God, how big and wide his vast domain? To try to tell these lips can only start. He's big enough to rule the mighty universe, yet small enough to live within my heart." 

We could go on and on talking about the "wonder that God loves me!" Perhaps Francis Schaeffer had some of these very thoughts when he wrote his book, How Shall We Then Live? And that is what I hope we think about: in light of all that God has done in us and for us, how should we be living? And more specifically, what should our behavior be toward others? The Bible says, "be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another even as God for Christ's sake has forgiven you."

Friends and family, it is so easy to fall into the negativity that is so prevalent in this world. Let us be in continual prayer that we will recognize that all people are made in the image of God. Let us look into ourselves and begin to find some understanding of just what God has forgiven us -- "my sin, not in part but the whole was NAILED to the cross and I bear it no more. . ." Let's realize that if God loves us anyway, we should have such an attitude toward others. 

Life is too short for us to do less than to be, to do, and to think in God's terms. Together, we can make a difference. We can express joy, not anger. We can love, not hate. We can learn humility, and not let our pride get into the way. Let us sincerely seek to be the people GOD created us to be.  And most of all, let's be people of prayer. 

A Heart For Children

Grammie Muriel Reading a Book To Some Of Her Grandchildren 

What a wonderful thing it is for a child to be loved unconditionally and know it! How do I know? It is because I was loved like that by my Grammie Muriel. 

My generation grew up at a time when many people really believed that children were "to be seen and not heard." Now that wasn't the case in our family for we were dearly loved by our parents, grandparents, our aunts and uncles. We were a closely knit family and most of the people around us were Christians. 

That said, let me also say that my grandmother went the second mile for children. Grammie was the best child advocate ever! When we visited her house, she treated us with the same respect and dignity that adults enjoyed. Her kindness went beyond the family to the community to the extent that many other children also called her "Grammie Muriel" just as we did. She never met a child that she did not love. And they loved her in return. 

As much as she cared for our physical comfort, her greatest priority was to minister to our spiritual needs. You could say that Grammie Muriel was truly a MISSIONARY TO CHILDREN. The name of Jesus was in every conversation we had with her. She helped us memorize Bible verses and whole passages of Scripture. She couldn't carry a tune, but she rocked us and sang to us. Sometimes she would have two or three children on her lap and a child standing on each rocker and holding onto the arms of her creaky rocking chair while she sang -- sometimes silly songs, but more often "Jesus Loves Me" and other hymns and Christian songs. One that I especially loved went like this:

When He cometh, when He cometh  to make up His jewels,
All His jewels, precious jewels, His loved and His own.

Like the stars of the morning, His brightness adorning,
They shall shine in their beauty, Bright gems for His crown.

He will gather, He will gather the gems for His kingdom;All the pure ones, all the bright ones, His loved and His own.

 Little children, little children who love their Redeemer,
Are the jewels, precious jewels, His loved and His own.

Grammie continually shared the Gospel with us and she taught us to pray, She took us to prayer meeting with her and made a habit of prompting us to join the adults in prayer. She was so burdened that we become people of prayer that she actually called out our names: "Brenda, it's your turn". "Andrea?" We didn't always appreciate hearing her call out our names, but we are very thankful today that she encouraged us in the way that she did. 

A verse that she quoted to us many times was from Matthew 19: "Jesus said, Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven." 

Thank you, Jesus, for giving my grandmother a heart for children. I am so glad that you chose her to show the love of Jesus to ME and every child she ever knew. She is the one who led me to YOU. It was the best day of my life.

A Thankful Heart is Filled With Joy

• "Count your blessings, name them one by one, Count your blessings, see what God hath done! Count your blessings, name them one by one, Count your many blessings, see what God hath done."
• This chorus is a wonderful reminder of the need for Christians to recognize God's blessings and to be thankful for them. All too often I find myself taking His blessings for granted. Those are times to stop, to reflect, to give thanks, and to rejoice in the Lord and His abundant blessings.
• Probably you have experienced some trying times in your life and have become so focused on the problem that the very foundations of your faith have wavered. It has happened to me. When that happens, it is time to stop and take inventory of the goodness of God and the hope that we have in the Lord. 
• May I share a story? When Jonathan was about two, he choked on a peanut. It was horrifying to us. As we rushed to the hospital for help, he coughed and coughed between short, raspy breaths. I had my hand on his back and I could feel the peanut vibrate with every breath. At the hospital, they took x-rays and saw no obstruction. In time, Jonathan calmed down and began to breathe better. With the improvement, he was discharged. 
• From that point on he got sick about once every two weeks with a fever and coughing up huge quantities of mucous. Off to the doctor we went every time. And time after time Jonathan went home with antibiotics. On antibiotics, our little boy got better -- for a few days. And then he would be sick again. After a couple of months of this cycle, a test was ordered to see if the lungs were filling equally with air. They weren't! So he was sent to Bangor for a bronchoscopy. They were going to take a look and see if there was a peanut down there, obstructing a bronchial tube. 
• As we sat in his room waiting for things to happen, the surgeon came in and he got very frank with us. He told us that a peanut -- especially a Spanish peanut with skin on it -- would be very irritating. He thought he would find damaged lung tissue. He expected Jonathan to lose as much as half of his lung. After all, if something was down there so long, it wouldn't be good. When the doctor left the room, two very shocked parents looked at each other and could barely speak. We felt a black cloud descend over us and push us down. 
• As we sat there, stunned, the Lord sent light to shine through the darkness.  He gave us the assurance that HE was in control of the situation. We grasped the truth that we could trust Him with our little guy and we clung to it. 
• The outcome was this: the doctors found an intact peanut. They plucked it out with no problem. The tissue was totally healthy. Jonathan kept his whole lung. After recovery from anesthesia he went home a healthy little boy, free of the cycle of illness and antibiotics. 
• God is GOOD. But what if Jonathan had lost half of his lung? What about God's goodness then? We talked about that. We were thankful for the miracle. Our hearts rejoiced at the mercy of God that was extended toward him and us. But we resolved in our hearts that our God is GOOD even if we do not understand what He is doing or why. 
• Think on these words from Philippians 4: "Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. . . do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."
• Have a thankful heart! Thanksgiving brings joy. And joy brings more thanksgiving. 

There Is A Season And A Time

"For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:

 a time to be born, and a time to die;
a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;

a time to kill, and a time to heal;
a time to break down, and a time to build up;

a time to weep, and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
 a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together;
a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
 a time to seek, and a time to lose;
a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
 a time to tear, and a time to sew;
a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
 a time to love, and a time to hate;
a time for war, and a time for peace."  -From Ecclesiastes 3 (ESV)

". . .  it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment. . ."   -From Hebrews 9

In May of 2013, this blog was born with an entry entitled "What Am I Doing Here?" This was meant to explain why the blog was being written. Today the same question comes to my mind and it is a more serious question. Right now the question relates to why I am still living on this earth. In the general sense, the answer is clear as can be and that is, "God has a plan and a purpose".

Circumstances over the past week have convinced me without a doubt that I have stepped into 2014 because of God's miraculous intervention and that He still has a purpose for me on this journey we call life. Last week I had a brush with death and today I am at my desk writing another entry to this blog. I have His gift of hours, weeks, or years with my family and to accomplish what He puts before me.

My earnest prayer to the Lord is to ask of Him, "help me to be the person You created me to be." God's ways are perfect, but left on my own I would just be stumbling around in the dark. My desire is to walk closely to Him, "all the days of my life".

It is a comfort to know that God is in control -- and He has been in control from before my beginning. Psalm 139 is an amazing one. Let me quote a couple of verses:

"Nothing about me
    is hidden from you!
I was secretly woven together
    deep in the earth below,

but with your own eyes
    you saw my body being formed.
Even before I was born,
you had written in your book
    everything I would do."  (CEV)

Think about it! God is definitely NOT the "prime mover" who set everything in motion and then just stepped back and let things go.

He is intimately involved in our lives in the good times and in the hard times. He is moved with compassion as we journey through this broken, sinful world. (I look forward to the day He restores it all!) 

Because He knows every breath: the first one and the last one, I can trust Him completely. NOTHING can touch me without His permission. ALL the triumphs and trials of this life are being knit together for GOOD and to His glory. 

In 1833, John Henry Newman wrote a prayerful hymn:

"Lead, Kindly Light, amidst th'encircling gloom,

Lead Thou me on!

The night is dark, and I am far from home,

Lead Thou me on!

Keep Thou my feet: I do not ask to see

The distant scene; one step enough for me."

He ends it with these words that describe the attitude of the trusting heart:

"Lead, Savior, lead me home in childlike faith,

 Home to my God

 To rest forever after earthly strife

 In the calm light of everlasting life." 

With our hands in His, let's walk anywhere He leads us for this season and for this time and until our journey is done.

Your OWN Understanding . . .

Coffee -- Tim Horton's at the Camp

Wayne and I love to go for coffee at various drive through windows. Our favorite is Dunkin Donuts. It's just one of those luxuries that we allow ourselves (all too often). That wouldn't be so bad, but Wayne has an AARP card. If he shows that at the double D's window, it entitles us to a free donut of our choice with the purchase of a large coffee. It is usually chocolate glazed. Mmmm!

This ritual of ours is a good starting place to talk about our responsibility to rely on the Lord in every aspect of our lives. The Bible says in Proverbs 3 that we should trust in the LORD with all of our heart and that we should not lean on our own understanding. If we are honest, we can easily look at our lives, our decisions, and the consequences and see that we can and should profit from wisdom outside ourselves. When we take an objective look around, we have to realize that we can and do make a major mess of things. That often happens when we trust our own opinions and decisions and fail to adequately consider and heed the clear teaching of the Bible and the good advice of people who love us.

Well, what does that have to do with drive-through coffee and a free donut? It is a matter of human nature and our propensity as sinners to turn in the wrong direction. This becomes confession time:

-- At first, Wayne ate his donut and I refrained.
-- After a few trips, I wanted a bite. Mmmm.
-- Over time we began to split the donut. Mmmm and Mmmm some more.
-- Here and there, we began to take one free donut and buy the second (not every time).

Now, a donut isn't wrong for most people but it is for me. I am a Type II Diabetic who opted to go without medications and control it by diet. That has worked very well for about eight years. My tests have always been good, but the good test results emboldened me to modify my regimen even more. Where will that end if I continue that path? I know. Things are on track now. Please pray for me if you think of it.

I don't know how a daughter becomes a mentor to her mother, but with her Biblical knowledge and nursing degree, I have gleaned much wisdom from Valerie and I appreciate it. We like to swap advice and do so seriously. Recently she wrote this and I think it fits into tonight's topic since it tells us three things that constitute good reasons for seeking godly counsel (among other things):

1. Satan hates those who are in Christ. He despises us with a white-hot hatred, a murderous passion. Nothing pleases Him more than to see Christ and His Word blasphemed in our lives.

2. Satan is a liar. Not only is He a liar, but He is an exceedingly good and very effective liar. If you think you cannot be deceived, you underestimate him and overestimate yourself.

3. If we have sense, we will be absolutely certain that we are not better or stronger than the millions who've been struck and hurt before us.

Friends and loved ones, we need each other. When we have big decisions to make -- especially those that impact our Christian lives -- we ought to quickly seek the counsel of someone who is willing to search the Scriptures with us and pray with us so that we will not fall for any of the myriad of lies waiting to overcome us. Remember that the devil goes about as a roaring lion seeking anyone he may devour -- not literally eat up, but destroy. He wants to destroy our faith, our confidence, our reputation, our peace, our future. Don't rely totally on your own smarts.

Need someplace to lean? Lean on God. Lean on His Word. Lean on godly friends and family.

Conflicted Over Christmas

David Buza Adds the Angel

Christmas has always been a happy time in our family. This year it is, for me, a time to remember:

• When I was a child we always took a ride as a family just to see the beautiful lights and displays at homes, schools, and businesses. The air was punctuated with glowing sights and breathless exclamations. "Look at THAT!" "Oh, WOW." "It is so beautiful". 
• Another fond memory was our Sunday School program. Once my cousin Andrea kept stealing baby Jesus from the manger (her doll) and I kept grabbing it away and returning it until someone finally let her keep her baby! 
• I loved it when I was "big enough" to help pack the boxes of candy, nuts, and popcorn that were given to each child attending the Christmas program at Church. 
• Our children, for quite a few years, always gifted us with their own, costumed rendition of the nativity. Their Dad usually played the inn keeper from his seat on the couch and offered Mary and Joseph his stable. 
• We liked to cook Christmas goodies, a tea ring for Christmas morning, and we loved decorating our tree. 
• Family devotions grew at Christmas time until we added our own family communion service, using unleavened bread that we made at home. 
• Practicing and singing in the Christmas Cantata was something Wayne and I always enjoyed. 
• In our later years we try to go to each of our children's homes sometime in the last week or two before Christmas. Of course, that is a rare thing with Valerie's family. Time with our family members is cherished deeply. 
• And we love Christmas Eve service and singing the beautiful carols that we do not hear often enough!

So why am I conflicted? It is partly because the most important thing to remember about Christmas does not take its proper priority. Christmas is not primarily about lights, cookies, gifts, and spending money. Not at all. Christmas is a day that was set aside to remember the Incarnation of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Deliverer, the Redeemer, the Messiah. It is a day set aside to remember and celebrate one of the two most significant days in all of history (the resurrection is the other). Christmas is the day to remember a birth, the most extraordinary and most important birth EVER. 

Another reason I am conflicted is the controversy over creche displays, the public singing of traditional Christmas Carols, even calling our national tree the Holiday Tree instead of a Christmas Tree. People say "Let's Keep Christ in Christmas". I understand that on the one hand, but on the other hand I wonder why unbelievers would even want to celebrate Christmas? If it is about sharing love and gift-giving, that could happen at any time. What about New Year's Day? The fact is that without trust in the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior, Redeemer, and King, there is no reason to celebrate the Incarnation. Only the Christian understands why. We know that people need Christ in their lives far more than we need Christ in Christmas. 

If your are a Christian, please consider the following verses and take them to heart during our celebration of the first advent of Jesus Christ. Remember and cherish in your heart that the day of His birth in Bethlehem was the day GOD became flesh to live on this earth for thirty-three years and then to offer himself as a sacrifice for our sin:

" Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.  Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.  And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." From Philippians 2 (ESV)

A Broken Stove

The Bible says, "And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus. . . " (Philippians 4:19)  In context, this promise was being made to people who had been very generous in giving toward the needs of others. So is this a promise only to those people? Is it a promise to all who are "givers"? Or is it a general promise to ALL believers?

It is not my purpose to answer that question. I can only say that I have seen the Lord's hand in meeting many needs we and others have experienced. Let me tell the story of a broken stove just to illustrate God's gracious generosity to His children. 

Once upon a time, there was a wonderful stove on Craig's List in Wisconsin. It was a white Maytag stove with a double oven and a black glass top. It was a perfect stove for a large family. It had self cleaning ovens and the top was super-easy to wipe down. The price was right, too. Even though there were many ways the money could have  been spent, a stove is a necessary item. The purchase was made, and what a blessing! 

Not so long after the stove was hooked up in the kitchen, a spice bottle fell from the cabinet and cracked the glass top. This was very disappointing and left the family with only three working burners. Over time the crack in the stove top grew larger and larger. Finally the stove was no longer safe to use, since spattered oil or grease could run under the glass top and catch fire -- Thanksgiving was coming along and how were we to cook the turkey? The vegetables? It was time for Valerie to check Craig's List once more. 

Ha! A stove was listed. Someone else needed to be able to cook the Thanksgiving turkey but they had a broken element in the bottom oven -- same stove, but the stainless steel variety! They couldn't get it fixed in time to cook turkey, so they bought a new stove. The OLD one was available for $200.00. What a buy that was! Check: money was available. Check: that stove would fit in the back of our minivan. And, yes, the stove was still available. Time to go to Illinois for a replacement stove. 

A few hours later, our crew arrived at home with their purchase. Once home, Valerie discovered that a few pieces of the cracked glass had totally broken off, so there could be absolutely NO top of the stove cooking any more. God provided and He provided at the perfect time. The stove lasted until the very day it was replaced. 

Back to business. Things were moved around, and the floor under the stove was cleaned.  Amalie (13) removed the bottom heating element of the new stove and replaced it with the old one. The ovens, the broilers, and the burners ALL worked, and what a NICE stove! What a wonderful provision from our gracious and kind Lord. Not only did the stove WORK, but it was the very one that Valerie hoped to have. 

Just an aside: The door handle to our Maytag stove at home was broken -- a replacement would be $100.  Valerie gave us the handle to her old stove and it WORKS for our oven door. What a blessing for US! 

As I end this story, I hope you see the wonderful lesson that the LORD cares about every aspect of our lives and that He delights in providing for our comfort and joy. 

Thank you, Lord! And thank YOU for the new oven door handle to fit our stove here in Maine.