A Great Honor

 ¹³ If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!”

                                     -Luke 11:13

¹⁷ Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.

                           -James 1:17

I have often struggled with the concept of Gods love. I mean, yes, I know that He loves me, but when people would start saying  (or I would read in the Bible) that God wants to give good gifts to His children I would balk, as I thought about all of the bad things that often befall His people. On Monday as I was pondering this, I had the distinct impression that I should ask God to make His view known to me, so I let a half formed prayer whisper through my mind, before I was needed to go do something else. As, the day went on I completely forgot about this (to my mind) insignificant prayer, until, that is, God answered it! I was listening to Bro. Darvie preach (he is the preacher for our missions revival), about Esther and how God used her to save her people, and then he said that God could have used the magnificent angels or a great blazing signs in the heavens, but He chose instead to use people to work out His plan. It was then that I remembered that little half- formed prayer, and it was then that I knew that everyday, through sunshine and storms, God was giving us the second greatest gift He could ever present (next to salvation): the extreme privilege of being allowed to have a hand in His great and awesome plan! And while I still haven't fully grasped this amazing concept, and will probably have days where I will still balk and wonder, I can always rest in the knowledge that God never does anything on accident, and that He promises to guide us each and every day!

Stepping Heavenward

I have been reading "Stepping Heavenward" by Elisabeth Prentiss for the last couple of days, and I have never been so blessed by a book! Although it was written in the 1800s it is more applicable than even most modern books. It is written in diary format and so many of the emotions of Katy, the main character, so many of the things that she struggles with are things that I have said before. In fact, in the few days before I picked this book I was really struggling with some doubts and some questions and I'm sure that God was smiling as He knew that He was going to use this book to answer every one of those questions.
    I'm probably butchering this, as I can't seem to articulate everything I want to say, but I truly cannot recommend this book enough! In fact I would love to buy everyone of you a copy if I could, but since I can't I'll just tell you that you can buy the book here. I hope that you do buy it and are as blessed as I have been!

The Lord laughs...

³ Trust in the LORD, and do good; Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness.⁹ For evildoers shall be cut off; But those who wait on the LORD, They shall inherit the earth.¹⁰ For yet a little while and the wicked shall be no more;Indeed, you will look carefully for his place, But it shall be no more.¹² The wicked plots against the just, And gnashes at him with his teeth.¹³ The Lord laughs at him, For He sees that his day is coming.
                                        -Psalm 37:3,9-10,12-13


  Today being to tenth anniversary of 9-11, the war on terrorism is on my mind a little more than usual. So, when I read these verses, the 'evildoers' that came to mind were the terrorists. I don't know about you, but I have a really overactive imagination, so when I hear about how the terrorists are infiltrating us from the inside, or anything else along those lines, my mind instantly imagines the worst and I begin making a game plan for how we can stop them. And then I read, verse thirteen of Psalm 37: "The Lord laughs at him, for He sees that his day is coming". Can you just imagine God sitting in heaven laughing at the arrogance of this -to Him- tiny and insignificant nation, as He pictures the day that He will demolish them? Its almost like one would laugh at a child who is bragging about saving the day with his water gun! My God is greater, stronger, and mightier than anything, or anyone, and He says that the nations are "as a drop in a bucket, and are counted as the small dust on the scales;"! So who am I to be afraid?

Anne of the Island

   I forgot how much I love the 'Anne of Green Gables' series, until I started reading the abridged version of 'Anne of Green Gables' to Lacey. It inspired me to begin re-reading some of the books that I have, and I have discovered that Anne and I are truly 'kindred spirits'. I'm actually very 'Anneish'  on the inside, and I have always been able to relate so well to Anne's thoughts and feelings, especially in this book as she is growing up and looking back on her life. But, I think the thing that struck me the most, as I was going back through this classic, is the abundance of spiritual wisdom that L.M.M. has tucked so naturally into its pages, unlike alot of modern authors whose spiritual quips seem forced and scripted. One in particular sparked a great deal of thought and reflection, and I wanted to share it with you all. It is one of the few truly tragic parts in the series, but is also very profound.

   Anne sat in a pain that was almost intolerable. She could not tell comforting falsehoods; and all that Ruby said was so horribly true. She was leaving everything she cared for. [Ruby] had laid up her treasures on earth only; she had lived solely for the little things of life -the things that pass- forgetting  the great things that go onward into eternity, bridging the gulf between the two lives and making of death a mere passing from one dwelling to another -from twilight to unclouded day...  Anne walked home very slowly in the moonlight. The evening had changed something for her... When she came she came to the end of one life, it must not be to face the next with the shrinking terror of something wholly different- something for which accoustomed  thought and ideal and aspiration had unfitted her. The little things of life, sweet and excellent in their place, must not be the things lived for; the highest must be sought and followed; the life of heaven must be begun here on earth.
                                          - Anne of the Island

Planking

³And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? ⁴ Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye’; and look, a plank is in your own eye? 
⁵ Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.
                                  - Matthew 7: 3-5

     I memorized these verses several years ago for my Bible class in school and they sounded pretty hilarious to my childish mind. I would imagine myself with a board sticking out of my eye, hitting peoples heads with it as I turned to look at them. And while that is amusing to think of, its also painful, because with my (slightly) more mature teenage mind, I can see so clearly the truth in it. You see, I have a problem with pride...not one of those little annoying habits, but a serious problem. I can honestly say that 97% of all of my sin issues have their origin in  pride. It especially manifests itself in my judgmental spirit. I can profess to love someone dearly, as mentally run over every thing about them that bugs me. I can hug them and laugh with them as I plot how to tell them just exactly what I think of a certain character flaw that they possess. I can tell them I'm praying for them and try to give them a spiritual lift, when not ten minutes earlier I was gossiping about how they really need to get right with God because their life is going down the drain. And especially frustrating to me is when I'm supposed to be listening to a great sermon, but I'm really sitting there wondering if so-and-so is paying attention to the message. (as if I am!)   In fact, just to be honest (and also to practice some much needed humility) I'm sitting here writing this right now, trying not to hope that certain people will read this post.
   The more I reflect on this tendency, the more I realize that I truly am hitting people in the head! I try to help them see the error of their ways ( in a rather self-righteous way) when in reality I'm pushing them farther and farther away because of this painful plank.
   I'm going to end this post a little differently today. Instead of asking everyone to search their hearts or join me as I seek to rid my life of this pesky problem (though that would be great!). I am instead going to ask for prayer. Pray for me that I will allow God to have His way in my life, no matter how hard it may be on my pride, and that I may become an empty vessel, ready to be filled with Him and poured back out. And that maybe, I won't hit anyone else in the head with this plank.

What Manner of Person ought I to be?

¹⁰ But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. 
¹¹ Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness,
                                                2 Peter 3:10-11

  I don't know about you, but these verses hit me right between the eyes. I mean, I've always known the concept behind them, but having it so clearly laid out really brought it home. I heard an expression once, I can't remember the exact wording, that talked about people going to heaven smelling like smoke, because everything that they did here was burned up, it didn't count! So, I started thinking, what manner of person ought I to be? How does God want me to live my life, so that when I stand before Him one day to give an account, I don't 'smell like smoke'? And God, in all of His faithfulness, has used these last few days to show me ways that I need to grow in Him and redeem the time that He has given me. Now, I'm not going to go into the things that He has taught me in this post, I may later. I just want to encourage you to join me as I search my heart, and together we can  ask ourselves, "what manner of person ought we to be?"

To Joel

   Yesterday morning my youth ministers 5 year old son Joel, went to be with Jesus. Joel was the sweetest, happiest little boy I've ever met, so brave through everything. I didn't know him long or see him often, but when I did see him, he was smiling and laughing, and playing, loving life and the people in it. His father too, is an incredible example. He loved his son, but I never saw him become bitter, and people that were around him more often than me, said that he always had a positive, joyful attitude. He was always so full of faith, praying for his son and trusting God to hear and answer him. And I believe that God answered all of our prayers, because Joel is now in His presence, running with the angels, completely healed. Joel's short life has touched so many, more than many, much longer lives. And as much as it breaks my heart that he is no longer here, I am so thankful that God let Joel and his family cross my path. I love you guys!
Below is a video of  Joel's wish for the 'Make a Wish' foundation.