Tag: Future

Under Siege

02/21/2014Death Grief and Mourning, Gospel, Sharing the Gospel, , , , , , , 8 Comments

timepic2014

A little over five years ago, my friend’s family came under siege. Her husband was diagnosed with cancer. They engaged the fight.

Under siege, you have limited resources. At their disposal were surgery, medicine, wise doctors, time, faith, hope and love. They have used up all the procedures, medicines, doctors and clinical trials available to them. Now, they are hoarding the only things they have left: Time, Hope, Faith and Love.

Time is running short.  The enemy will try to rob them of time together with each call, text and email notification on their phone. To protect each precious moment with their family, they have asked their friends not to phone or text. We won’t. We will pray and stand by in silence. We will give them uninterrupted moments together.

Hope will soon end for my friend’s husband as he will no longer need it. He will see the face of Jesus. He will dwell, in the glory of eternity. He will hear “Well done, good and faithful servant.”  Hope gives this family peace today.

Faith will sustain them as they grieve his passing from this life into the next. Their faith is in the Gospel: Jesus’ perfect life, death, and resurrection. They trust in the salvation that Jesus purchased on the cross. Their faith is in God’s promise of resurrection and new life.

Love never fails, and love never ends. When this precious family is reunited in glory, their love for God and for each other will grow through all eternity.

What can we learn from my friends?

Time is running short. No one is guaranteed tomorrow. Not you, your parents, children, relatives or friends.

“The life of mortals is like grass, they flourish like a flower of the field; the wind blows over it and it is gone, and its place remembers it no more.” – Psalm 103:15 NIV

Hope is the settled assurance that what God says is true. Our hope is in Christ alone. He is the promise that sustains us.

“In you, Lord, I have taken refuge; let me never be put to shame. For you have been my hope, Sovereign Lord, my confidence since my youth.” – Psalm 71:1, 5 NIV

Faith is confidence in what we hope for. We must confidently believe that the Gospel is true, and act on that belief by receiving Jesus as our Savior and committing our lives to Him as our Lord.

“Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.” – John 1:12 NIV

Love is sacrificial. It is how Christians act toward one another because this is how God acted toward us.

For God so loved the world that He gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. – John 3:16 NIV

We are all under siege in one way or another and we have limited resources. Time is running out for all of us. How might you share hope, increase faith, and show love to others while you still have time?

Living In the Present Tense

01/31/2014contentment, Death Grief and Mourning, Gospel, Sharing the Gospel, , , , , , , , 21 Comments

dadnboys1_30_2014a 

Dad would’ve loved this record-breaking winter. Not that he enjoyed the cold and snow, but he was always up for a challenge.

He would have gone out every day just to prove he could. Level 3 snow emergency – ha! That wouldn’t keep him parked. -40° wind chill – ha! That just meant putting on the lined jacket.

Then he’d call to tell me about the brutal cold, the deep snow, how many cars he’d seen in the ditch, how much he slid around, and how well he handled the icy slick roads. And if he fell on the ice, he’d tell me about that, too.

That was the “old normal”… knowing dad would be pushing the limit, and waiting for the phone to ring in the evening so he could tell all about it.

The “new normal” is talking about dad in the past tense. The “new normal” is not getting a call from him. The “new normal” is realizing the finality of death.

That may be our new normal, but it surely isn’t dad’s!

What is dad’s “new normal”? Can it even be called “normal”? Is there anything “normal” about being in the visible presence of Jesus every moment? Of continual praise? Of ceaseless joy? Of pure love? Of a sinless existence? Can we begin to imagine? I don’t think so…

“No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him” – 1 Corinthians 2:9

What do we know about heaven? We know it’s real. We know that Jesus is there. We know that those who trust in Him will be with Him in heaven when they leave their physical bodies.

“…as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord” – 2 Corinthians 5:8 NIV

“I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far” – Philippians 1:23 NIV

We know that we will recognize each other. We know we don’t become angels. We know we remain ourselves.

Can we be sure that we will go to heaven? Yes! The glorious truth is that when we trust our salvation entirely to Jesus and the work He accomplished on the cross, our eternity is secure.

Trusting Jesus means we recognize that it is not about how good we are, but about how bad we are. We must admit that there is nothing good in us. Nothing. Not 80%, not 50%, not 10%, but 0%. We ask Jesus to save us from the sin that enslaves us 100%. We ask Him to enter into our person and live His life through us. We surrender to Him, and then we are saved. From that moment on, nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus. It is God who saves us, secures our salvation, and brings us to heaven.

“To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy…” – Jude 24, NIV

Dad would’ve loved this winter… but I’m sure it can’t touch how much he loves the Springtime of eternity!

dadnboys1_30_2014b

Walking Back Home

01/14/2014Spiritual Walk, , , , , 9 Comments

watertower1

Walking is my exercise of choice. I can walk alone, but I prefer to walk with a friend. I walk at the mall in winter, and I walk outside in summer.

Fortunately, there is a great subdivision across the street from my house with miles of walking paths that meander around a lake, pond, community garden, horse stable, school, park and beautiful homes. But, because I don’t have a map of the paths, and because there are so many of them, by the time my heart is in a good place (both physically and spiritually), I’m usually lost.

But, that’s OK; I know I won’t be lost for long, because wherever I am on those paths, I can see this water tower which is right across from my house. I know that if I can find my way to the tower, I can find my way home. As soon as I spot the tower, I know which way to walk to get home and find rest.

The other day I was chatting with a friend who had lost her way home spiritually. She started out walking with God, but then made a few turns here and there without paying much attention and then before she knew it, she had wandered away. It had been over a year since she’d gone to church, and she was homesick, alone, lonely, afraid of what the future might hold, and even more, of what it might not hold.

She needed a water tower! No, she needed a friend to point her to God because God is always there pointing the way home!

“This is what the Lord says, ‘Stop at the crossroads and look around. Ask for the old, godly way, and walk in it. Travel its path, and you will find rest for your souls.’”– Jeremiah 6:16 NLT

Sometimes the old, godly way is simply returning to church. But, it’s hard to walk in alone, so my friend phoned a friend who lived near her and they went to church together last Sunday. Afterward, she told me, “I feel a lot more at ease today… like I have more direction… like comfort with the unknown.” She had returned home and found rest.

Going to church won’t make anyone a Christian, but Christians need to go to church. We need to worship with other believers. We need the spiritual communion and encouragement that comes from singing praises alongside others, and hearing God’s Word preached in community with others. This is not new.

“Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.”  – Hebrews 10:24-25 NLT

Is there an area of your life where you’ve taking baby steps away from the Lord? Away from rest? Look up! The Lord is waiting to show you the way back home.

Is there a friend whom you might lovingly invite to go to church with you?

Loving and Leaving

01/07/2014Spiritual Walk, , , , 23 Comments

rachel and ralph 2

The Lord had said to Abram, “Leave your native country, your relatives, and your father’s family, and go to the land that I will show you.” – Genesis 12:1 – NLT

When Abram/Abraham was 75 years old, God called him to leave all that was familiar and go. God didn’t give him directions; He basically said, “Follow me, I’ll show you where to go, and I’ll let you know when you get there.” Trust me, and walk with me.

Because Abraham loved and trusted God, he left the familiar, his family, his home, his job, everything! He left because God was more important than anything.

This is my Aunt Rachel and Uncle Ralph. On December 23, 1965, they left their families of origin and promised to walk with God through good times or bad, sickness or health, riches or poverty until death parted them. They walked with God as they started their own family and weathered the storms of life. They are continuing to walk with God as everything familiar fades into the rear view mirror and they become strangers.

You see, Uncle Ralph has Alzheimer’s, and Aunt Rachel is losing him a little bit each day. The familiar is gone. The unknown lies ahead.

No one said that following God would be easy, but no one expected the path to lead through Alzheimer’s. Because Aunt Rachel loves Uncle Ralph, and God, she walks where God leads.

People say, “God won’t give you more than you can handle!” Unfortunately, that isn’t true. God won’t allow temptations to overwhelm us, but he does allow difficulties that do.

The truth is that God does allow more heartache and hardship than we can bear. If he didn’t, we wouldn’t need to trust Him and we would assume that we could take care of everything the evil one throws at us. We would spend our days trudging through life trying to endure in our own strength.

Even the Apostle Paul was overwhelmed by difficulty…

“We do not want you to be uninformed …about the troubles we experienced… We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt we had received the sentence of death.”

But, Paul doesn’t stop there…

“But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves, but on God, who raises the dead.” – 2 Corinthians 1:8-9 NLT

It is not easy to follow God. It wasn’t easy for Abraham – his failures are recorded in the Bible! It’s not easy for Aunt Rachel. And it won’t be easy for you.

However, if God is calling you away from the familiar, you can be sure He is with you. He is all-powerful and he wants you to rely on Him. He will never leave you nor forsake you. And, you can rest assured that nothing is too difficult for God!

What is God calling you to leave behind as you begin a new year? What is He calling you toward? Do you love and trust him enough to follow Him wherever he leads, even if the path leads away from the familiar and into the unknown?

Happy Birthday!

12/06/2013Happy Birthday, Sharing the Gospel, , , , 4 Comments

Daniel, it amazes me that you have grown into such a fine, Godly man. Not because I didn’t think you would, but because it just doesn’t seem like there’s been enough time.

How could you be all grown up? You were a baby just a few days ago. It seems like only yesterday you were getting your first haircut from Grandpa Lawrence’s barber, smiling on the bed, or splashing in the tub.

And, how can you be flying off to China on business, or driving yourself to St. Louis, when only recently you were modeling a toddler-size Cardinal’s T-shirt and cap? When did you learn to till and plant your own garden when we just watched you pull the petals off of Grandma Furrow’s flowers? And when did you get old enough to buy your own clothes?

Didn’t you just come home from a GCHS golf meet? Or drive in from NIU just in time to compete with Bobby and Dad in the Christmas cookie contest? And, when did you possibly get old enough to graduate from college?

How is it that you’ve lived long enough to fall head over heels in love with our beautiful Nicole, get married and have a family? How can your own sons be preschoolers?

I know all of this happened, because I lived it. But Dan, where did the time go?

Oh my son, if I could wish for you one thing on your birthday, it would be that time would slow down for you. For you to have all the time you want to enjoy every moment of your life; so that you can savor and pull every sweet drop out of every single minute – but it won’t. Life flies by so very quickly and we wonder: Where did it go?

Job 9:25 My days are swifter than a runner; they fly away…”

James 4:14 “You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.”

I’m not able to give you this wish, but God has given you a much more beautiful and glorious gift: the gift of eternal life!

On January 24, 1988, when you accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior, at that moment, you received the promise and the assurance that you will not die.

John 3:16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

Dan, the greatest privilege and responsibility a parent has is to introduce their children to Jesus. I’m so glad you’ve become friends with Him, because it is now your privilege and responsibility to introduce Him to Jake and Matty, and you are doing a wonderful job!

Time will fly, there’s no stopping it, but one day, when you look back and wonder where has it gone, don’t forget to look forward. This life is temporary, but the life to come will be never-ending! I’m so glad we will all be there together, forever.

Happy Birthday, Daniel,

I love you!

Mom