Proverbs 15:23  "A person has joy in making an apt answer, and a word spoken at the right moment--how good it is."

Proverbs 25:11 "A word fitly spoken and in due season is like apples of gold in settings of silver."

My daughter told me (again) yesterday, "You write more precisely than you talk."  It's true.  When I am talking, I am thinking out loud.  And usually say too much.  I have always done that.  I say something so I can hear how it sounds and then I can know whether I agree with myself or not.  When I am writing, I get to go back and edit myself.  I can say exactly what I really want to say.  I get to talk out loud on paper.  Or the computer.  With an eraser.

I have always admired people who are able to formulate their responses on the spot.  Or interject a funny comment.  I have to think about it.  Otherwise, I wish I had kept my mouth shut.  When I speak publicly, I always do it without notes.  But I have etched an outline in my mind beforehand, and practiced exactly what I want to say ahead of time.  So I know it will be right.

You know what I am talking about.  We have all have heard someone say exactly the right thing at exactly the right time.  And you have heard people say things that you wish they hadn't.

I like what the Proverbs says.  "An apt answer."  "Fitly spoken in due season."

I think I am going to work on my "apts" and my "fits" a little.

As long as I'm on the subject, many people want the government to legislate morality.  If it is legal, then it is moral.  Not so.  There are times when Christian people must participate in civil disobedience.  Those times are when the government passes legislation in conflict with the moral guidance of God.

The government cannot change the inner soul of people.  It can only give us civil guidelines to live by.  Or revolt against--peacefully I hope.  I revolted once. In the early 70's.  Very peacefully.  I made a picket sign and started walking up and down in front of an establishment directly across from the Junior High School.  I had talked with the manager and asked him to put the pornography magazines under the counter since he was so close to the school.  Young children--that came over the lunch hour--then couldn't stand and thumb through the magazines.  I felt that it was wrong and in conflict with the morals of many (actually most) of the parents in our town. 

He refused.  So I got a picket sign.  Very quietly I began to picket.  Before long, word spread over the   town and a crowd had gathered and others had joined me.  Then more.  And more.  Quietly.  The police came.  Then the mayor.   Then the newscasters.  No body knew what to do with me.  Finally, the mayor--who was a Christian--found a law on the city charter that said that what I was doing was legal.  By then, the proprietor was begging me to leave. "I will, as soon as the magazines are under the counter," I said.  He not only moved them, he threw them out.  Four other establishments sent representatives to inform me that they had changed their policies and removed all such stuff from the shelves and told the distributers not to bring any of it back.

Larry Flynt was upset and wrote asking me, "Who do you think you are.  These magazines are legal, protected free speech."  They may have been legal.  But by exercising my right of peaceful protest, the store owners decided they didn't want to lose business and changed their policies.  It made the national news.  A friend in California called and asked me what I was doing on national television.  I wish I could say I made a difference permanently, but look around.  We are drowning in porn.  It may be legal, but it isn't moral.  When you do the right thing, you will be criticized.  Expect it.  

I wrote this blog some time ago, then didn't post it because it is controversial.  I was thinking outside of the box.  But if I am thinking about it, you may be too.  The world has turned upside down.   Men and women are living together rather than getting married.  On the other hand, homosexuals want to get married.  They don't want to just live together.  Like I said, the world has turned upside down.

How does the government always get everything wrong?  Older people are penalized financially by the government if they marry.  And many of them are living on borderline subsistence levels.  They will lose part of their income if they marry.  Go figure.  Maybe when the government fails the church should step in.   Maybe, if older Christians want to marry--but will lose their income if they do--that the churches in America should come up with a ceremony blessed by the church.  It wouldn't be ratified by the government but at least older couples wouldn't suffer financial distress, could be true to their Christian beliefs, and have the approval of the church and other Christians.

This is a problem that we as Christians could solve--when a Christian man and woman want to marry but can't afford to, why couldn't they be married by the church, in the church?   Marriage is performed in a lot of different ways. We already have "common law marriages."   Marriage in the 1800's was delayed while waiting for a traveling preacher.  Some marriages were validated by stepping over a broom.  Marriage is, simply, a contract secured by a group who agree that it is valid--an agreement between two people and some society.  It is a contract so that the rest of the world can know that they have pledged themselves to each other.  There are older people who want to be true to their faith.  They shouldn't be penalized.

When the government is nuts, the church should step in.  Like I said, controversial.  I'm not even sure whether I agree with myself or not.  I just think something has gone wrong.

A couple of nights ago, I couldn't sleep.  At midnight I heard my garage door opening.  I jumped out of bed and ran out a side door.  There was a car parked in my driveway--with no one in it.  The garage door was closed, so  I assumed that someone was inside my garage.

Then, I realized that the car in the driveway was mine.  I never leave my car out.  More than that, the car door wasn't locked.  I always lock my car.  I was flustered to say the least.

It took me many minutes to figure out what had happened.  That morning, I had left the house and gone  out.  When I came home, I went into the house to get some food that I needed to deliver to a lady.  I called her to see whether she was home.  She wasn't.  I got distracted and forgot completely that I had left my car in the driveway--because I had planned to come right back out.  I  had left my keys and purse on the carseat and left the garage door open.

My wonderful neighbor came home from work at midnight, saw that I had failed to close my garage door and closed it.  They have my code.  So instead of the garage door being opened, what I had heard was it being closed.  God bless them.  They take care of me.

But in the confusion, I left the door to my house open when I went outside to see what was going on, and my dog ran off.  He was still gone at three in the morning.  Eventually he came home, but had gotten into something that made him sick and he spent the next hour throwing up on my bedroom floor. By then sleep was out of the question.

Yes, the five hundred dollars in my purse had sat in the unlocked car in my driveway for twelve hours.  So I have had a double portion of the grace of God. The virtuous woman in Proverbs 31 is identified by a number of characteristics.  Carefulness is one of them!! "She carefully watches everything in her household…"(NLT)  I am going to start paying better attention to what I am doing.

I lost my purse.  I didn't even know it--until I got a call that it had been turned in to Wal-Mart.  After I loaded groceries in my car, I got in the car and came home.  Then got the phone call.  I had left my purse in the grocery basket in the parking lot.

On Saturday, everyone in the county goes to Wal-Mart.  Hundreds of people.  What is the chance that the one person who found my purse would take it in the store and report that they had found it in a grocery cart outside???  And here is the thing that is surprising:  I had some bills to pay and had gone to the bank and cashed a five hundred dollar check.  The money was in my purse.  I figured that it would be gone.  But it wasn't.  It was all there.

God bless the person who found my purse.  I will never know who it was, but I pray that God will shower them with blessings.  One thing I know for sure, God will honor their honesty.

And God bless me!!  I did a really stupid thing.  I don't even know how I did it.  My head must have been in a bag.  Have you ever done something similar?  Something that had every possibility of turning out all wrong.  But God took care of you.  He certainly took care of me.

Psalms 46:1-3  God is our refuge (defense) and strength (offense), a very present help in trouble.  Therefore we will not fear…"  The Psalmist then gives a list:

1. Even if the earth be removed
2. Even though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea
3. Even though the waters of the sea roar and are troubled
4. Even if the mountains shake and swell

Five hundred dollars is nothing to God.   It was by his grace I had it in the first place.

At one point in his ministry, Jesus went back home--and was not well received.  I am going to paraphrase Matthew 13: 54-58.  "When He went back home to his own country, he taught in their synagogue.  People were astonished and said, "How did this man get all this wisdom and how does he do these mighty works?  Isn't he the carpenter's son?  Isn't his mother Mary?  Aren't his brothers James, Joses, Simon and Judas?  And aren't sisters here as well?  Who does he think he is?"

Jesus answered and said to them, "A prophet isn't honored in his own country and in his own house.  So he didn't do very many mighty works there because of their unbelief."

These people knew him.  They knew his family.  But they didn't know his message.  They didn't see him as the Messiah.  He was just a local woodworker to them.  Can you imagine how difficult it would be for Jesus' brothers and sisters to understand who he was!  I am sure that Mary tried to explain his miraculous birth.  The flight from Egypt.  The day that he taught in the temple at Jerusalem--when he was only twelve years old.   But still, he was family to them.  Not God.

James, his brother, eventually understood and accepted him as the Christ.  James wrote one of the books in the New Testament to affirm Jesus' Messianic role in the world.  Mary and Joseph knew who Jesus was.  They had both been told by angels--on separate occasions.

Jesus was God.  He came to earth as a man to show us what God is like.  To die a sacrificial death in our stead.  It is one of the hardest principles of Christianity to understand.  How could God limit himself in every way to be just like us?  Why would He do that??  Never once, as far as I can find, did Jesus use the power of God for himself.  Only for others.  The Roman soldiers taunted him and told him that if he was the Messiah to come down off the cross.  Jesus didn't do that.  He bore our sins.  And died.

For us.

Today, I got outside and did some weeding and pruning.  Everything is turning brown and nothing is blooming.  I told you one time that I had my yard staged so that something was always blooming from March through September.  So when the last of the blooms are gone, I guess it means that winter is around the corner.  The sooner the better.  I want it over with.  I dread the cold.  I always used to like it.  Not any more.  So one good thing about winter is that I get a rest from weeding.

My next door neighbor is such a great Christian man.  He saw me weeding and came over and helped me.  He brought a shovel and dug up wild tree sprouts.  He is the one who takes my garbage to the street every week.  His wife and eight year old daughter are just as kind.  God is so good to give me people who want to help me.

I also found a man to do yard work.  He is also a Christian.  He and his wife worked for hours and hours and when I asked him what I owed them, he said, "Whatever you think is fair."  I told him what I thought, and he said, "That's way too much."  I paid it anyway.  Reward people who do good work.  I'll have him back in the spring.

My daughter in law, Stacy--Scott's wife--wants me to move to town on her street so that she can--as she puts it--take care of me.  She keeps bugging me about it.  I might like that.  She wants me to be close to her and Scott.  I have no idea what I should do.  Move or stay.  Pat wants me to move to Harrah so she can be there when I need someone.  Becky says I should stay in Pryor where my life is--until I need to do something else.  I wish God would give me call and say, "Quit thinking about this.  I will let you know--when I am ready for you to do what I want you to do."  But I am a type A personality so fussing over problems comes very easily.  I fight it and sometimes I am successful.

Psalms 46:10a "Be still and know that I am God…"  I've got to get myself to quit wiggling in my brain.

Carolyn and I were listening to the Gaither Hour (Yes, we are two of those who love it) and  George Younce sang "Suppertime."  We started reminiscing about when we were little and everyone played outside almost all day.   "Kids don't do that anymore," she said.  "They are hooked up to some electronic device in an air-conditioned house.  We knew when it was time to come in because your mom would open the screen door and call, "Suppertime."

So many of the old songs aren't relevant today because those times are gone.  When was the last time you heard the word "suppertime?"  Everyone eats on the go, in the car, or at a drive through.  But suppertime was pretty fixed when I grew up.  Dad would get home from work and all of us would sit down at the table for supper, say the blessing, and discuss the events of the day.  Then we did our homework or went back outside to play.  It's no wonder the world is obese.  Children get a head start on it because of inactivity now days.

But you can't go back.  The generation following yours will not have any conception of a dial phone, a tire swing, rubber guns, or a million other things.  Life changes.  Sometimes it gets easier.  But many times it just gets more complicated.  Or worse.  When Carolyn and I grew up in Pryor, we could ride our bikes all over town, play hide and seek with all the kids on the block at night--after the sun went down--and a million other wonderful things that nobody would let children do today.  It was fun.  I don't remember ever being afraid.

If you hurt a child back then, you would probably be dead by morning.  And there wouldn't be much of an investigation.  It may not have been legal, but it was very effective.  Punishment that is swift is a deterrent.  Now it takes ten or more years to go to trial!!  By the time someone is punished (or as many times is the case--let go) nobody remembers what they did.

Listen to the Gaither Hour.  It will warm your soul.  I love four part harmony.




 

Everyone told me not to make any serious decisions for a year.  I haven't.  I have cleaned Ken's office and given Scott some of his books.  (My oldest son.  He was a Marine as well.)  I have emptied Ken's desk drawers, shredded paper and given the things I don't want to the other children or grandchildren.  But those were all small decisions.  Many of his things I will keep for awhile.  There was a stack of Father's day and birthday cards that Becky had faithfully sent him for forty years.  Ken kept them all.

The other day, one of our local Marines--a Sergeant--came by the house and asked if I would consider letting the local Marines use Ken's name for their organization.  They want to name their museum for him.  Of course I said yes.  They called this week to say that they were going to have their first meeting, and would I come.  And would I come to the Marine Corps Ball.  Of course.

Our neck of the world is so small where Marines are concerned that I doubt that they will have a hundred people.  But still, it is gratifying that they want to remember Ken in this way.  I told them that they could have some of Ken's things for their museum if they wanted them.  They did.

My daughter Pat wore Ken's leather flight jacket to school last week.  She had asked me if she could have it.  I had his squadron patches stitched down the sleeves.  (It looked great)  Anyway, one of the older men asked where she got it.  "It belonged to my Dad." she told him.  "Well," he said, "I was in the Marines.  It's been a long time since I have seen a jacket like that.  You must be proud of your dad."
"That's why I wanted his jacket," she said.  "It feels like he has his arms around me."

I will go to the Marine Corp Ball.  I love the Marines.  They are the proud.  The few.  I am honored that I got to be on the sidelines for such a wonderful military group.  They are all really something.

There is grief, but in the book of Lamentations the writer who is lamenting says: Lamentations 3:21,(20) 22-23  "This I recall to my mind, therefore I have hope.  My soul has them (him) still in remembrance, and is humbled in me.  It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassion's fail not, they are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness."   There is a wonderful hymn that I love to sing and play.  "Great is thy faithfulness."  So true.                                                                                                                                                          

The temperatures are dropping here and it is cool at night.  I love this time of year.  I think it is neat that God saw fit to give Oklahoma all kinds of weather.  It sure doesn't get boring.  Some people would prefer to live in a "balmy-every-day" environment.  Not me.  I get up every day and decide what I am going to do based on the weather.

If it is rainy, dark and gloomy, I make hot tea and read.  In my pajamas.  Why get dressed?  It is a lazy day provided for me by God himself.  There are dozens and dozens of things you can't get done when it is raining so you can mark them off your list. Thank God for the rain.  I need rainy do nothing days.

Psalms 147:7-8a  "Sing unto the Lord with thanksgiving; sing praise upon the harp to our God:  Who covers the heavens with clouds, who prepares rain for the earth…"  I praise God that he is up there preparing rain for me.

God compares the spreading of his Word to the rain in Isaiah 55:10-11  "For as the rain comes down…and waters the earth and makes it bring forth and bud that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater, So shall my word be that goes forth out of my mouth:  it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it."

God is also in control of what His word accomplishes.  His word accomplishes awesome things.  The things that God sent it to do.  His words are the words of life.  We learn how to reach Him because of his words.  We learn how to serve him.  We learn how to be saved from our sins.

In John's gospel, he begins by saying:  "In the beginning was the Word.  And the Word was with God, and the Word was God."  That is Jesus.  The Word.  The best word that God gave us.

I'm glad God gave us rain.  And words.  He is good.  He gives us what we need.

Surrender.  That's what it takes.  Some say it is belief in Jesus, but the Devil himself believes in Jesus.

Speaking of the devil,  James the brother of Jesus put it this way:   James 2: 19  "You believe in God; you do well: the devils also believe, and tremble."

The devil tempted Jesus and mocked him saying:  Matthew 4:3b, 6a  "If you are the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread."   "If you are the Son of God,  jump off this building."

Jesus answered, "You shall not tempt the Lord...."

So if it isn't simple belief, what is it?  It is belief and faith, but also surrendering to the will of God.  We don't want to do that.  We want to run the show.  Yes, you have to believe that Jesus is the Son of God and that he rose from the dead.  But he must be Lord.  Of all.   You must give yourself to him.

Galatians 2:20  "I am crucified with Christ; nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ lives in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for  me."  The only thing about life here on earth that counts is the life of Christ living within you.  That is the kind of life that is eternal.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer said, "Christ bids a man to come and die."  That self will, that part of you that says, "I want what I want,"  must become "I want what You want."  We must crucify our self will.   Then you know that you belong to God and that no one can pluck you out of his hand.

Believe that Jesus is the Son of God and that He rose from the dead.  Admit that you are a sinner and that no matter what you do you can't get rid of your guilt.  Repent. (That doesn't mean being sorry)  Repentance means:  With Your help, I will never turn back to those old behaviors.  I will do a one eighty turn.  Give him your life.  You won't be sorry.  It works better that way.

Bo is the most expensive free dog I've ever known.  He was a rescue dog.  Now he is on special food because of failing liver function.  He takes four pills a day for epilepsy.  He has to have regular blood work as well.  He has really bad cataracts and is losing his hearing. He is failing pretty fast.  I just pray that I will know when he can't go on.  I certainly don't want him to suffer.  But every now and then he turns over on his back and does a Snoopy dance.  Wiggling and throwing his pet "Piggy" up in the air.  Full of joy.

Joy is a funny thing.  You have to take it when you can get it.  I am flooded with joy every now and then when I think about how good God was to let me have Ken as my best friend.  God was gracious when he brought Ken into my life.  And I didn't have to find him.  God delivered him to my door.

Ken was generous.  He wanted me to succeed.  He wanted me to be the very best "Me" that I could be.  He encouraged me.  He gave me full control over our finances but took steps to ensure my financial future.  Whatever I wanted, he wanted me to have.  He worried about the difference in our ages and wanted me to be comfortable when he was gone.  When we were married, he said, "I am almost nine years older than you and the possibility is very real that you will spend part of your life without me.  Of course when I was eighteen, I couldn't imagine a time like that.  Now, I can.  Ken was a real "Do unto others as you would that they should do unto you," kind of person.

It gives me joy to think about him even though I am sad that he is gone and I miss him terribly.

In John 15:11 we find these words: "These things have I spoken to you that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full."

In the midst of loneliness, or sadness, or whatever, we can have joy.  Like I said,  joy is a funny thing.  It isn't happiness.  It isn't contentment.  It swells up from somewhere inside you and bubbles.

Spread your joy around.

I pulled up the tomato vines this evening.  There were a few green tomatoes left, but no new ones coming on.  My kale is still going gangbusters.  It is a sweet curly variety.  I no longer buy lettuce.  I use kale on everything.  They say kale is one of the top ten foods for a healthy life.  Parsley is still abundant and bright green.  There is so much of it that I think I will have to dehydrate it.  The thing I love--the garden--will sit there until spring.  But I can look forward to it in March.  It is getting so that leaning over picking things is hard.  I pay for it later with aches and pains.  But I won't stop doing it!!!

Jesus said in Matthew 13:3a-8 "…Behold, a sower went forth to sow; and…some seeds fell by the way side, and the birds came and devoured them up:  Some fell upon stony places where they had not much earth:  and they sprang up but they had no deepness of earth, and when the sun came up they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away.  And some fell among thorns; and the thorns…chocked them.  But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit.  Some a hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold."

Jesus is telling the disciples that they are not responsible for growing the seed.  They are only responsible to scatter it. There are four possibilities as to how it will be received..

1. The seed never takes root.  Birds eat it.  This is a description of people who hear the words of salvation, but don't receive it into their lives.  Or they don't believe it.
2. The seed falls where there is some soil, but mostly stones.  It starts to grow, but there is no place for the roots to take hold, so it dies.  This is a description of people who hear the words of salvation, consider it for awhile, but don't develop the depth to sustain growth.
3. The seed falls into a patch of thorns and weeds.  It takes root, but is choked out for lack of nutrients.  The thorns overtake it.  This is a description of people who hear the words of salvation, accept them, but never change.  They stay with the same old crowd doing the same old things and salvation doesn't take preeminence in their lives.
4. The seed falls on good ground, takes root and flourishes.  This group of people are ready to commit to Christ.  They are hungry for the gospel.  They share the good news with others and bear much fruit.

Ken's dad was the pastor of the 1st Baptist Church in Pryor during the forties.  I was between four and nine at the time.  I remember many of his sermons.  I didn't know Ken.  He graduated from high school when I was in the third grade, went to Tulsa University for a year, hated it, joined the Marine Corps and a year after that was in flight school--then the Korean war--flying and doing ground support.  Over a hundred missions and getting hit regularly.  He was a Captain when I met him.  I was very young.

Later, I had the privilege of living with Ken's dad and mom for a few months when Ken spent thirteen months in Okinawa, or Japan, or the Philippines or all three.  I can't remember. He was at all those places one time or another.  During that time, I got to hear his dad speak again.  By that time I wasn't a child anymore.  I heard his wisdom with the ears of an adult.  Well, simi-adult.  I was twenty-two at the time with two little girls.   He was even better than I remembered.

When he finished preaching and if there was a baptism,  he would step forward in the water and take hold of the glass front and begin to sing.  He had a beautiful voice.  The song he usually sang was "The Ninety and Nine."

When I was telling you about lost boxes and lost coins yesterday, I thought about the verses of the lost sheep and hearing Ken's dad singing about them.

Matthew 18: 12-14 "If a man has a hundred sheep, and one wanders away and is lost, what will he do?  Won't he leave the ninety-nine others and go out into the hills to search for the lost one?  And if he finds it, he will rejoice over it more than over the ninety-nine others safe at home!  Just so, it is not my Father's will that even one of these little ones should perish." (Jesus is speaking.)

I don't know about you, but I am distressed over the people that I know, family and friends, that do not know the Lord.  They are wandering around lost and don't know it.  My prayer is that God will burden their hearts with their condition.  I pray that God doesn't give up on them.

When Ken was in Italy in 1965, he brought each of the children a gift.  Somehow in our many moves, the music box he bought for Becky was lost.  She looked everywhere for it.  She asked me to continue to look for it throughout the years, but eventually all the many containers from our many, many moves had been unpacked and it never turned up.  She was devastated.  It was a gift that her dad had picked out specifically for her.  I offered her one of the other things he had brought back, but that wasn't what she wanted.  "He picked the box out especially for me.  That's what I want."

Throughout all these years, she has often said how sad she was that it was gone.  As a six year old little girl she would wind the box up and listen to the music.  Fascinated.    When she finally accepted that it wasn't going to be found, she tried to find one that was identical--because it meant so much to her.  It was an inlaid wooden box from Sorrento that played "Return to Sorrento."  Although she occasionally found  boxes that were similar, they did not play the same piece of music.  They weren't right.

Two weeks ago, she called me and was excited, no, ecstatic.  She had gone to Italy again and had gone back to Sorrento--where she had been any number of times.  But this time her search through antique stores for old boxes was successful.  She found it.

Her friend Rose Ann was with her, and said that when Becky opened the box and the music began to play that Becky began to cry, silently.  Tears running down her cheeks.  Becky doesn't cry.  She is a very stoic person.  The woman who had the little shop was upset.  But Becky explained that her father had died this year and that the one thing he had left her was a box like that one.  And it had been lost.  She explained that she had been looking for another one for over forty-five years.   She bought it of course.  Some things are priceless.

Luke 15: 8-10  There was a woman who had ten pieces of silver and lost a piece.  Jesus asked:  "Doesn't she light a candle and sweep the house and seek diligently until she finds it?  And when she has found it, she calls her friends and her neighbors together, saying, Rejoice with me; for I have found the piece which I had lost.  Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repents."   God doesn't want us to be lost.  Salvation is priceless.

Yesterday was a crash and burn day.  (As Ken would say)  When they put a pilot in a simulator, they give him emergencies to deal with.  One at a time.  However the emergencies were cumulative.  Just when you thought you had figured out how to deal with a problem, another one was introduced.  Ken said that when you introduced the seventh crisis situation, the pilot would take his hands off the stick and sit back and give up.  He knew he was a dead man.  It was a hopeless situation.

Ken also said that when you did things in an airplane in a certain sequence day after day, that if you were distracted you could skip something and never know it.  The tower always watched incoming aircraft to make sure their wheels were down.  Some times they weren't.  It usually depended on how many crisis situations were going on in the cockpit.

Thursday, I got up, forgot to take my medications--which are absolutely mandatory.  Got dressed, fed the dogs but forgot to give Bo his meds for epilepsy--which are mandatory.  Then I forgot to blog.  The day went downhill after that.  I had gone to Luther to visit Pat's school the day before to give her some papers--which I forgot to give her.  (I got busy interacting with the students in her class and forgot why I was there.)  And then I went to Becky's to spend the rest of the day.  My "stay at home schedule" was interrupted.  Which says I probably need to stay at home and knit???  I had more than seven things to do and so I guess I failed the simulator test.  I did get six of them done.

I find it very frustrating when I forget something.  So I write myself notes.  And forget to read them.  Or lose them.

 Phillipians 3: 12a-13b "Not that I have now attained the ideal or have already been made perfect…but one thing I do; forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize to which God in Christ Jesus is calling us toward."

Some kinds of forgetting are good.





 

I missed writing this morning.  Sorry.  Will post tomorrow.

Oddly enough, I have never owned a red-letter edition of the Bible.  (The red is for the actual words of Jesus.)  But recently when I was in Tulsa, there was a sign for a garage sale where there were tables full of books.  A minister of the gospel had died and his estate was on sale.  I bought a number of Bibles. They  were pristine, very expensive onion skin editions--on sale for three dollars each.  I must have bought a dozen or more.  If I had bought them in a store, they would have cost hundreds and hundreds of dollars.  

I gave most of them away.  But there was one that was a red-letter edition.  I kept it for myself and have really enjoyed thumbing through it and taking note of the words of Jesus that are written in red.

We discuss the words and letters of Paul, Peter, James, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John…etc.  But we don't possibly give as much attention to what Jesus said as we do to what others "said that Jesus said."  Perhaps because Jesus never wrote anything.  Everything we know about Jesus is from those who knew him.

There is a book of the gospels that has the four authors lined up in parallel.  It makes it easy to see what Matthew, Mark, Luke and John remembered. You can see the differences in what each of them thought was important.  What each of them recalled.    Their personalities show in what they chose to document.  They didn't all recall the same stories, or sayings of Christ.

In looking at the red letters today, a couple of verses caught my attention.   Matthew 6: 7-8  "But when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do.  For they think that they shall be heard for their 'much' speaking.  Don't be like them, for your Father knows what things you need before you ask him."

God just wants to hear your voice.  That's what Jesus himself said.  It is written in red.

There are two more verses I want to share and then I am through with Hebrews for awhile.  One of the verses you have heard it before.  Heb. 13:8  "Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, and today, and for ever."  This simply assures us that Christ will not change.  He is perfect.  He will fulfill all of his promises that he has made to us.

The next one is Heb. 13:15  "... let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to his name."

There are two things we have to do just because God deserves it.  Praise him continually.  And Give thanks to him.

1 Thessalonians 5:18 puts it this way.  "In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you."  It does not say concerning "us".  It says concerning "you".  It is personal.  It is God's will.  It also doesn't say "...for everything give thanks."  It says "...in everything give thanks."  In every situation we need to find something to be thankful for.

There is nothing that will help you grow like a thankful heart.  And even though you may have sorrow, difficulties and sadness in some way, there is still something to be thankful for.  Today, my back is killing me.  Old age and arthritis.  But I have eyes.  I can see.  I have legs.  I can walk.  I love the fact that I have hot water.  And a microwave.   And dishwasher.  I have a home, a car, money for gas...I could go on for ever with the blessings I enjoy.  I'll just take some some Tylanol for my back.  And be thankful there is something that will help!!!

God wants us to think in a thankful manner because it changes us.  If you concentrate on what is wrong, you will kill the joy of living.

Thank you God, that someone out there is reading this.  It gives meaning to my life. I feel like I have a purpose.   Maybe it will help someone.

The book of Hebrews ends with a blessing. Hebrews 13: 20-21 "Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, Make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is well-pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be the glory for ever and ever.  Amen."

Make you perfect.  To do his will.  Those things that are well pleasing in his sight.  Which reminds me of something that happened Sunday.

I have been arranging for special music in the early service at our church.  We have so much talent that if I use everyone I know about, it will take four months to go through them all!!  God be praised.

This Sunday we had a special blessing.  Telia Summy, pianist and soloist extraordinaire, and her husband Don Lewis sang, (Yes, from the Country Hall of Fame).  He played the guitar.  But what made it such a blessing is that we have know Telia since she was very young and have as a church prayed for her and Don through the years.  She grew up here.

He played with Johnny Lee Wills, Bob Wills, the Waylen Jennings Band and Sammie Smith ( who sang "Take the Ribbon From My Hair") until a terrible car wreck destroyed him.  He couldn't swallow, chew, use the right side of his body or care for himself.  Telia and her family cared him for years as he learned to do everything all over again.  The worst thing was that he could no longer remember how to play the guitar.  At all.  But he refused to give up.  He learned to play again with one hand.  He is better than anyone I have heard in years.  He can't speak very well, but he can play.  And such an inspiration.  Telia believed in him until he could believe in himself again.

Watching Don and Telia on Sunday was such a blessing.  They sing in churches all over Oklahoma and bring joy everywhere they go.  What an inspiration they both are.

And that is your blessing today.  Their story.  If it doesn't bless you, well, I give up.

Hebrews 13: 7, 9a  "Remember your leaders who have taught you the Word of God.  Think of all the good that has come from their lives, and try to trust the Lord as they do…So do not be attracted by strange, new ideas.  Your spiritual strength comes as a gift from God, not from ceremonial rules…"

The leaders tomorrow will be you.  The leaders of today have taught you the Word of God.
Watch their lives.  Do what they have done.  But be careful.  Make sure you are following a person who uses the Bible as their guide, not the random, unnecessary, ceremonial  rules of some church.

Paul put it this way:  "Dear brothers, pattern your lives after mine, and notice who else lives up to my example.  For I have told you often before, and I say it again now with tears in my eyes, there are many who walk along the Christian road who are really enemies of the cross of Christ."  Philippians 17-18.

Basically, we are to be in the company of strong leaders.  Strong Christians.  And we are to grow up and be the same.  And be careful not to follow the wrong people.  Enemies of the cross.

Ken used to say, "Tell me who you are running with and I will tell you what you are doing."  That is so true.  You may have to drop a friend or two.  I did.  I had a friend who always had something bad to say about others.  I found that when I was with her, I had difficult time not joining in.  Which was wrong, ungodly, not loving, and certainly not a Christian behavior.  So, I had to ease myself out of that relationship.  I want to be around positive people because I want to  be positive.  I want to see the good in others, not the bad.  I want to be with people who make me better.

And finally, the writer says that our spiritual strength is a gift from God.  It comes from applying what we know and building spiritual muscles.

Someone is following you.  Watching you.  Are you leading them in the right direction?

Hebrews 13:14 "For this world is not our home; we are looking forward to our everlasting home in heaven."

My mom had Alzheimer's disease.  When dad couldn't care for her any longer (she would get up in the night and take the car and go--somewhere--and then was lost) he found a unit that cared exclusively for Alzheimer patients.  A place that had monitored doors so that their patients couldn't wander away.

My mom taught mathematics for years and years.  She was really good at it and her students loved her. She had a pleasant, cheerful disposition.  She never complained about anything.

One day when I went to the Alzheimers unit, she had pulled a long table into position and placed chairs around it and had all the other patients sitting around it.  She was teaching them math.  They weren't learning anything, but she was giving it all she had.  She looked up as I came in and said, "Janie, these people don't want to learn anything!!"

She couldn't remember my dad coming to see her.  She couldn't remember much of anything.  But she didn't know how to quit trying.  She was something.

I am glad this world isn't her home anymore.  She is in an everlasting home where everyone wants to learn.  I, for one, can't wait to find out how the worlds were made.  How cells divide and make a human person. How dinosaurs lived.  I have a million questions.

My body is a mess.  But I think my mind is okay.  So far.  I want to learn.

Alzheimers is the disease that kills the family of the patient.  I know some of you out there must be dealing with it.  You have my prayers.

Hebrews 13:5-6  "Stay away from the love of money; be satisfied with what you have.  For God has said, 'I will never, never fail you nor forsake you:'"  The writer continues:  "That is why we can say without any doubt or fear, 'The Lord is my helper, and I am not afraid of anything that mere man can do to me'."

When you are young you are so attracted by things.  The "in" thing.  The "new" thing.  This year's car. Different clothes. Etc., etc., etc.  But when you reach my age, your wants are very simple.  The things that money can buy have very little allure.  I don't want a new house, I actually need a smaller house.  I don't want a new car, I just want the one I have to be full of gas.  I don't want to redecorate, I want to get rid of things that serve no purpose and have to be dusted.

Since Ken died, I have realized that everything I did to make our home pretty and attractive was because it was "Our" home.  Now that it is just mine, I have very little interest in decorating.  I want less.  I need less.

In King James, the verse from Hebrews 13:5 says it this way:  "Let your conversation be without covetousness…"  Living Bible says: "Stay away from the love of money…"  Either translation tells us that the more we want, the more we want.  There is no end to it.

Simplify.  Simplify.  Be satisfied with what you have.  God isn't going to let you down.  He is in it for the long haul.  He will "never, never leave you or forsake you."

That's good news.