Friday, September 9, 2016

God Heard My Cry

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“I waited patiently for the Lord;
he turned to me and heard my cry.
He lifted me out of the slimy pit,
our of the mud and mire;
he set my feet on a rock
and gave me a firm place to stand.”
Psalm 40:1-2 (NIV)
   
               These are words of David. Waiting is not something we like to do. Then, David said he did it patiently. Do you remember the picture of a young person holding a megaphone to his mouth and saying, “Lord, I want patience, and I want it now!” That is the way I was in my youth and early adult life.

               God heard David’s cry and He heard mine. When God spoke to my heart, He did not do it instantly but over a period.

               God brought me out of a nasty circumstance in his own way. He did not deal with the person I thought was guilty of doing wrong but He dealt with my heart and pointed out to me what was important in my life. God gave me new spiritual insight along with new friends with which to worship.


               Jesus became real to me through the process of giving Him my pain and concern. I owe Him everything. I now realize have the foundational beliefs to stand for Jesus.

Wednesday, September 7, 2016

Book Review. Unreasonable Hope by Chad Veach


Unreasonable Hope

Subtitle: Finding Faith in the God Who Brings Purpose to Your Pain
           
            Chad and Julia Veach looked forward to the birth of their daughter, Georgia. When she was four months old, the doctor diagnosed their sweet child with a disorder that would not allow her to develop beyond the age of three months and cause her life expectancy to be about ten years.

            Chad is a pastor. In this book, He tells of how God has used his daughter to reach out to people across our nation and even the world.

            Chad writes of God’s promises to His people interweaving the truths God presents to him with the story of this family’s day-to-day events caring for their precious little girl.

            I enjoyed the many lessons God has taught Chad and Julia. Interspersed throughout the book are concluding remarks about the previous chapter. In each of these sections, Chad gives the reader action steps to pursue to guide him or her through the conditions that beset them. Most of these ‘action steps’ are simple—things we would normally do without thinking.

            I recommend this book to any Christian parent faced with rearing a child with special medical needs. I wish I had something like this when our special-needs son was an infant. I recommend this book to pastors and pastoral students as a resource for their counseling of congregants faced with bringing up a child with a disorder.


            I received this book, free of charge from BookLook Bloggers, an arm of Harper Collins. Thomas Nelson published it. All they asked of me was an honest and impartial review.

Monday, September 5, 2016

Heaven is Richer, A Memorial Poem

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While I was unplugged, we were on vacation. A friend texted me and told me our brother-in-Christ, Greg E. had to be admitted to one of our hospitals and was in ICU. Greg had a car wreck in the 1970's and was severely injured. When I met him, he was confined to a power chair due to his quadriplegia. He was paralyzed from the chest down. He was a man of God. He always shared what God had put   on his heart. I penned these words as a form of being thankful that  I  had the privilege of knowing Greg and his wonderful mother and son. When I shared this with our pastor, he asked me to allow him to read if, quoting me, during the memorial service. Now, those of us here get to pray that God will raise up others like Greg E. to continue working in His Kingdom.  

Last week, heaven admitted our friend.
The Lord asked him the question
He will ask each of us one day.
Greg’s journey, though t’was hard, is over.

We are not sad, you see, ‘cause we know
He lived his life for our Lord.
He prayed for each of us.
When he prayed, we knew God listened.

Down here, his body was confined,
However, his spirit was not.
Now, he runs foot races with the men
And dances with every woman.

He’s in our cloud of witnesses,
Watching us as we serve Jesus.
We are richer for knowing him
And now heaven is richer still.

By Cecelia Lester


Written in memory of Greg Ellis who passed from this world into his eternal home on August 26, 2016. 

God Alone

  Jesus and the children at our church's prayer walk.          I will both lie down in peace and sleep;  For You alone, O LORD make ...