Remembering on Memorial Day

Remembering on Memorial Day

Though an army besiege me, my heart will not fear; though war

 break out against me, even then will I be confident.  Ps. 27:3

                There have been wars since almost the beginning of time and shall be until the end (Dan. 9:26).  However, most have never experienced a World War.  Some fought bravely and many died in Korea, or in Vietnam, but as bad as it was, the whole world was not at war since World War II.  Many people today do not even know what Patriotism is.  They do not understand why eyes fill with tears when saluting the American flag, or why tears flow while listening to the song, “My Country ‘Tis of Thee, Sweet Land of Liberty.”

            The word, ‘Patriotism’, means “devotion to one’s country”.  Yet, how little respect many Americans have for the United States and how little for the ‘red, white and blue’.  Those without respect for country and flag are trampling on the graves of the hundreds of thousands who fought and died for love of country.  If only we could see what America would have been like if it weren’t for those brave men?

            Let me tell you of one such man.  He was young – just turned eighteen when war with Japan broke loose.  He lied his age to get in the military and joined the army to see the world, but not in the way he experienced it.  After basic training, he was stationed at Hawaii, a paradise for a small town boy.  He left home with the fear of God in his heart, but the world quickly drew him into its snare.  He partied in paradise completely oblivious to the fact that paradise was about to be turned into Hell.  He had a 3-day pass and headed away from Scoffield Barracks early in the morning, on his motorcycle, along with some of his buddies.

            Suddenly the sky was filled with planes, bombs dropping everywhere and fighter planes riddling everything that moved with the staccato of thousands of rounds of ammunition.  The boys turned around their motorcycles and headed back to camp.  The young man grabbed an anti-aircraft gun of a soldier who had fallen and he began shooting, not knowing or caring who the enemy was.

            That day, the news read like this:

“Early in the morning of December 7, 1941, Japanese submarines and carrier-based planes attacked the U.S. Pacific fleet at Pearl Harbor. Nearby military airfields were also attacked by the Japanese planes. Eight American battleships and 13 other naval vessels were sunk or badly damaged, almost 200 American aircraft were destroyed, and approximately 3000 naval and military personnel were killed or wounded. The attack marked the entrance of Japan into World War II on the side of Germany and Italy, and the entrance of the United States on the Allied side.”   On December 11, 1941, Germany also declared war on the United States.  The entire world was then at war.           

         When the young man went back to his barracks, it had almost been destroyed.  The water pipes were broken and many soldiers were killed as they slept in their bunks, which left the floor awash with bloody water.  His bunk, an upper one, was riddled with bullet holes, which went through killing the soldier beneath.  Truly, it was by the grace of God, he was spared.

From there he was shipped out to the island of New Guinea where he fought the Japanese for the next four years.  He was gone from his home five years to the day, when he returned. It wasn’t until he was in his sixties that the U.S. government honored him for his heroism at Pearl Harbor.  He received medals and a flag from the state capitol.  He was extremely proud of his service to his country.  He belonged to an elite group called, “Pearl Harbor Survivors”.

The horrors of the things he experienced were to remain with him the rest of his life. Over the years, he tried to drown the memories out with alcohol.  He spoke often of being a loner, who would take his camper out to isolated spots where he would just sit by a camp fire and think.  In his later years, he dried out and became a pleasanter person, but his life style of alcohol and cigarettes dissipated his body and at seventy-two, he passed from this world. 

How do I know all this about the young man?  He was my brother.

War does horrible things to people.  Some are affected more than others, but no one is ever the same.  My brother was much older than I was, but as a child, I too was touched by the war.  I grieved for the brother that carried me on his shoulders, or played horsy so I could ride on his back.  I lost him when he left for the service and that loving, caring brother never returned.  He would forever be a stranger to me.

As we remember the brave on Memorial Day, let us take a spiritual look at fighting in the service – the service of the King.

“Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.  Therefore take up the whole armor of God that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.”           Eph. 5:10-13

The same spiritual enemy, who worked through the World Wars, is still warring against us.  He wants to defeat us and drive us into a hopeless lifestyle.  He won’t give up, but the good news is, God has provided for us, so we can stand against him.  We don’t have to turn to the things of the world.  We don’t have to be blind, wretched and naked. Not when we can put on the whole armor of God.  Verse 18 says, “Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints…”

            Today let us remember those who gave their lives for our country.  Also, there are multitudes of unsung Christian heroes and martyrs who have paved the way for us.  Let us hold their service dear to our hearts and be proud to be a part of the Kingdom of God, which is the true “land of the free, and the home of the brave”. 

Suddenly

“Go back to what you heard and believed at first; hold to it firmly. Repent and turn to me again. If you don’t wake up, I will come to you suddenly, as unexpected as a thief.”        Revelation 3:3 

We go through life thinking things will always be the same.  We may move to another house or buy a different car, but life seems to go on at the same pace, until suddenly.  Many years ago my friend, Pastor Lois Baker came to our church and did a woman’s conference and it was about ‘Suddenlies”.  I never forgot that message.  Just when everything is going on as usual, something happens.

I’ve had many catastrophes in my life, one was when I heard that awful word, “Cancer”.  Another was when a deer jumped out of a ditch and landed on the hood of my car with its face looking through the window. How about this week when I had stocked my refrigerator and freezer at the camper getting prepared for summer at the lake.  We went up to spend the weekend only to walk in the door and smell rotten meat and other foods.  We had to throw all of it out and then had to buy a new refrigerator.  That happened suddenly and was not expected at all.

Have you recently thought about the fact that someday suddenly Jesus is going to return?  I was shocked by a friend to whom I was visiting and we were talking about the Lord.  I commented about how bad the world was getting and that I thought maybe Jesus would come soon.  I was shocked when she said, “I don’t think about that happening because he hasn’t come back yet and it’s been thousands of years.”  In 2 Peter 3:3-4 others said the same thing. “Most importantly, I want to remind you that in the last day’s scoffers will come, mocking the truth and following their own desires.  They will say, “What happened to the promise that Jesus is coming again? From before the times of our ancestors, everything has remained the same since the world was first created.”

There are so many scriptures in the Bible that tell of Jesus returning to take the Believers to heaven with him, it’s hard not to believe it.  Even in the Old Testament in Malachi 3:1 “Look! I am sending my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. Then the Lord you are seeking will suddenly come to his Temple. The messenger of the covenant, whom you look for so eagerly, is surely coming,” says the LORD of Heaven’s Armies.”

In 1 Thessalonians 5:2 “For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night.”  Over and over again the Bible tells of Jesus return.  Don’t give up waiting, because God’s Word is true and it will happen and it will happen “Suddenly”.  This means that we need to be ready to go with Him.  God never said we are supposed to just sit around and wait; it means we need to be preaching and praying and lead others to know Christ as their Savior.

The reason we must be spiritually ready is because we don’t know when we could die.  The Bible tells us that there is time set when our lives will end.  It says that our days are numbered and only God knows when that is.  God loves each of us and has special plans for our lives, but it never says we will live forever.  I know this, He has a place prepared for us in heaven.  It was bought and paid for with the death of Jesus when he died on the cross for you and for me. 

Yes, we live in troubled times but God knows what happens next.  Do we need to think about it?  Yes we do.  We need to be sharing the truth with others while we watch and wait for his coming which will happen “Suddenly!”

My Mother and Her Apple Tree

My Mother and Her Apple Tree

 “And His mercy is on those who fear Him from generation to generation.”

  Luke 1:50

            My mother was a wonderful Christian woman who loved the Lord and prayed for her children and grandchildren.  So were my grandmother and my great-grandmother all the way back to my great-great grandparents who fled Scotland for America because they were Christians.  I know my mother’s prayers which eventually drew me to give my life to Jesus in 1979.

You see, the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, meaning that each of us have some characteristics of our parents and grandparents.  We pick up things that our parents did or said.  I see many things in my own children that they inherited from me and my mother.

My daughter, Sheryl Ann ministers to so many women, listens to struggles and prays with them. Her life is in the church.  She not only has the music ministry; leading the church in praise and worship, but teaches Sunday school and Bible studies. Women are drawn to her. My mother was always involved with the women’s ministry at our little Presbyterian church in the town where we lived.  She led Bible Studies and taught Sunday school.  Countless women were ministered to not only at her church, but at her little kitchen table and on the phone.  She was the first woman elder in her church and a deaconess for many years.  She also sang in the choir for years.  The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.

Daughter, Debby is a woman of the Word; a Worshiper and Prayer Warrior. She takes the time to pray and searches out the depths of God’s Word.  She has a beautiful voice and is a Psalmist, singing words of encouragement and hope. I don’t think a day went by when my mother didn’t read her devotional and look up all the scriptures in her Bible.  She would mark and underline as she studied the Word.  She was truly a prayer warrior and a worshiper. The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.

My youngest daughter, Cindy has a heart of compassion that draws the sorrowing and ministers to the needy with songs of hope.  She has a heart for the youth.  If someone has a need she will try her best to take care of it, not only by sharing prayers and tears, but also by providing food.  I can still see my mother filling her basket with cookies and a thermos of tea along with a card or little devotional and head out to visit someone who was a shut-in or had been ill.  Her heart went out to the hurting and she shared their sorrow.  She also loved the youth and led a youth group for many years. The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.

Jim, the youngest in our family, is a man of God with a heart so much bigger than any of you know, because he is the ‘tough guy’ on the outside.  I’ve seen his tears over a troubled youth or even a touching movie.  This characteristic of sensitivity is what makes him a great Christian Psychologist.  He is gifted with the ability to speak, teach and preach, not to mention his singing voice which is so anointed.  My mother was also gifted; she could stand up and give an eloquent message at any given moment.  I’m sure she could have preached very well if given the opportunity.  She also cried at sad movies, Jim.  The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.

I also have some of my mother’s characteristics such as writing stories and poems. She was one of the most grateful persons I have ever known.  I feel the same way; always thanking the Lord for even small things.  I know for sure I learned from her such strong love for my children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.  They mean everything to me and I am so proud of the wonderful adults they have become.  I have been serving Jesus for many years and I am so blessed and grateful to watch them continue to grow in the Lord and become servants of God. What more could I desire of God?

            I’m sure my children picked up some traits from me.  However, the most important characteristic for anyone to pick up, is their belief and trust in our heavenly Father.  Yes, “from generation to generation.”  In other words, the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.

As a mother and grandmother, it is my Christian responsibility to not only teach our children and grandchildren, but to live and walk in the spirit of our Lord.  They may not remember what you say, but they will surely remember what you do. 

Are you an apple tree?  This is what you should be producing. Galatians 5:22-25  “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. And those who are Christ's have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.” Perhaps you have been walking in the Spirit and you don’t see any fruit developing, but wait,  some fruit takes a long, long time to develop – don’t give up.  With God all things are possible. 

In the opposite direction, when Adam and Eve ate of the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden; when they sinned it is not surprising their next generation also sinned.  That sin was murder when their son, Cain, killed their other son, Abel. The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, does it?

Moving further along, Isaac had two sons, Jacob and Esau.  Jacob became the nation of Israel and Esau the nation of Edom.  The Edomites worshiped the gods of Baal and Ashterath. When Nebuchadnezzar attacked Israel and took many Jews as their slaves, the Edomites sided with Nebuchadnezzar and took part in the slaughter of many Israelites.  With Esau’s descendants, the apple surely didn’t fall far from the tree.

On the other hand, if you have rotten apples, that’s a different story.  All it takes is one rotten apple to spoil a whole barrel full.  This proves to be true for many generations of those who do not serve God.  We need to be producers of good fruit so we can say with joy, “Yes, the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.”

Luke 1:50 “And His mercy is on those who fear Him From generation to generation.”  How much do we really fear the Lord?  If we do, I believe we would consider more carefully our actions and attitudes.  It isn’t too late to produce better fruit.  I was 45 years old when I asked Jesus into my heart and made the decision to serve him the rest of my life.  My life changed; I’m not the same person I was.  In fact I look back and wonder who that awful person was. 

Only by the grace of God have my children become who they are today, because I wasn’t the greatest example for them.  I must say I always had a longing to know the Lord more.  But when I accepted Jesus as my Savior, I put their names on a bulletin board and laid hands on them praying daily.  The other thing was they saw such a change in me. 

It happened almost overnight and was a shock to their system.  However, within the year they were all saved and serving Jesus.  Who you really are makes a difference. I haven’t arrived yet; I’m still working on my walk with the Lord, but I’m trying.  If I take a step or so backwards, I stop and then begin again.  Don’t just say, “Oh this is the way I am, I can’t change”.  The time for excuses is over; it’s time to stand up, toe to the line and run the race. Don’t look back because you won’t run a straight line, but keep your eyes on Jesus.

If you don’t know Jesus or if you want to recommit your life to him, now is the time.  If you struggle to have a closer walk with Him; if you want to change who you are right now and become a better example to the generations to come, you need prayer.  Can you proudly say, “The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree?”

Every mother has that life manual – the Bible.  It gives you instruction in all things.  I know you don’t want your children or grandchildren lost to the evil one.  It is time, mothers, to not just believe in God, but to live for him.  It is time for you to declare that “you are an Apple Tree” so others can say about your family, “The Apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.”

The Lilac Bush

“For lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone. The flowers appear on the earth; the time of singing has come, and the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land.”    Song of Songs 2:11-12

As long as I can remember I have always loved lilacs.  A few years ago I wrote a book called, “When the Lilacs Bloom”.  It was a fictional Christian romance novella about two people who were apart, but would meet again when the lilacs bloomed.

When I was a child, I went with my mother to the cemetery on Memorial Day to put flowers on graves. We took fruit jars filled with water and added a bouquet of lilacs and iris or whatever flowers were blooming at the time and placed them on several graves.  I remember in particular one grave we never missed, was that of an old soldier who never had a single flower on it but for my mother’s jar of lilacs.  It was very important in those days to decorate the graves and many called it “Decoration Day.”

It must run in the family because one of my granddaughter’s wedding was entirely decorated in lilacs.  One of my daughter’s decorated her bathroom with pictures of lilacs. When my mother passed away another of my daughters dug up her lilac bushes; a purple and a white to plant in the yard of her new house and they bloom beautifully every year. 

When we moved into our present home about nine years ago, I immediately bought lilac bushes and planted them; a white one in front and a dark purple in back.  The purple one was planted off the corner of the deck in back where I could look out the slider window at it.  Over the past nine years that bush has grown to about twelve feet.  We have bird feeders out further in the yard which draw in the birds.

Now to paint you a word picture. There is such a variety of birds that come and sit on the branches of my lilac bush; so many that they are difficult to count. There are bright yellow finches, purple finches, chickadees, cardinals, grosbeaks, sparrows, orioles, blue jays, red-wing blackbirds, robins and even mourning doves perch there. There are many more other kinds and we certainly enjoy watching them from the dining table by the slider window.  It may be just a bush but it reminds me a verse in Matthew 13:31.  “Another parable He put forth to them, saying: "The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field, which indeed is the least of all the seeds; but when it is grown it is greater than the herbs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches.”   God cares about each of us and also the birds, even down to a place for them to rest. 

The scent of the lilac blossoms is so sweet, it reminds me of this verse in Ephesians 5:2, “And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma.”  The fragrance of lilacs brings to mind that Jesus loved us so much and when we give our heart to him he passes it to our heavenly father as a sweet smelling aroma.

When spring arrives, it reminds me of new life.  As things begin to bloom it’s like waking from a long winter’s nap.  As the lilacs bloom and send waves of fragrance, I am reminded that the Lord Jesus is going to return some day to wake us up and take us to heaven where we will experience new life and bloom forever.  Listen to this, “And now, dear brothers and sisters, we want you to know what will happen to the believers who have died so you will not grieve like people who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and was raised to life again, we also believe that when Jesus returns, God will bring back with him the believers who have died. We tell you this directly from the Lord: We who are still living when the Lord returns will not meet him ahead of those who have died. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a commanding shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God. First, the Christians who have died will rise from their graves. Then, together with them, we who are still alive and remain on the earth will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Then we will be with the Lord forever. So encourage each other with these words.”    1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 (NLT)

Yes, Lilacs have so much meaning and someday, as we wait and watch for the lilacs to bloom again, we will be with the Lord in our heavenly home.  I pray that there will be lilacs in heaven, don’t you?

When I Have Doubts

When I Have Doubts

              "And immediately he stretched out his hand  and caught him and said to him,                           O you of little faith, why did you doubt?   Matthew 14:31

There is not a person who has not at some time doubted God the Father.  It may be that you prayed and asked God for help and you don’t think he answered you.  God is not a character from the Arabian Nights tales.  You cannot say, “Open Sesame” and a great door opens and God will give you what you want right then.  With God, he listens to every prayer, but he wants to build your faith and the only way faith is built is by trusting God even when you don’t get the answer you want when you want it.

There are times when you want something so badly and it doesn’t come.  However, sometime in the future you will look back and see what God was doing in your life.  Maybe He answered by saying “no”.  Why would he do that?  Could it be that he is doing something better for you in the future?  Looking back over the years of my life, I see all the answers of why he said “NO” to me and I am so glad he did.  I could tell you so many stories of the past, when God had a greater reason than what I could have imagined.

God gave us freedom to make choices good and bad, but what he wants from us is to be obedient to his Word.  The Bible tells us that obedience is better than sacrifice and there are times we need to sacrifice so we can be obedient.  All through our lives, we will be tempted to do things that displease our Father in heaven and we are free to do them, but we will probably be miserable as we do things that our conscience tells us not to do.  We may want to go someplace that God is nudging our spirit to not go there. The longer you live, the more we sense the Holy Spirit directing us to listen to God.

The world at this time is in a spiritual conflict calling to us to turn this way or that way but we must remember that at the end of life, it won’t matter that we chose some wrong ways over some right ways.  What will matter is if we repented from those things and have faith believing that Jesus is our Savior and that he willingly went to die on the cross so we would not be charged for the sin we lived in.  There is no person alive that has never sinned.  Sin has many faces; even to doubt about God and Jesus is a sin, but God’s love for us will wipe it all away if you just believe.

As for doubting God’s existence, I recently heard a scientist say that to deny our creature would be the biggest lie in History.  Take the human body for example and how each thing we are made of works with each part to allow total function.  It has also been proven that the Word of God has never changed in context.  Over thousands of years the basic truths are the same as when they were written.  One of many examples was finding the Dead Sea Scrolls: The site of Khirbet Qumran (a modern Arabic name) is located in the West Bank, near the northern edge of the Dead Sea, and is the place where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found in 11 nearby caves 70 years ago. Though it has been decades since any scrolls were discovered, researchers announced in February 2017 that they had found a 12th cave near Qumran.

There are many other religions who claim to be the only true religion. They try to copy Christianity for some of their beliefs but then they start adding and detracting from the true Word of God, which is proven. Some add other script which is written by other people who claim to have had a message from God.  It is there the truth of God is changed and another “religion” is made. 

I am not going to get into the other religions but I will say this, “Show me where our God and Jesus our Savior, are buried.  Show me the love of God from people who kill others so they can go to heaven.  Show me where a god that demands death to his own people and where little girls whose bodies are cut and maimed so they can be more satisfying to older men who sexually rape these little girls.  There is so much more, but I’m sure you get the picture.  Statues cannot talk, nor can they answer prayer.  My loving God has answered so many prayers in my life, I cannot count them.

“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!     Matthew 7:7-11

Doubts come into our life when we have no faith.  I just recently lost my sister.  Did I want her to die; of course not.  My prayer for her was for God to have his way with her.  “A time to be born, and a time to die,” and is found in Ecclesiastes 3:2.  I would not dream to pray that God keep her here when she would only have suffered.  These are times when we must trust God to make these decisions.

I have no doubts about who God is for he has always been there for me even when I can’t feel him.  Even though the word, “Trinity” is not in the Bible, God the Father, Jesus, his son, and the Holy Spirit is at work in my life and hopefully in yours. After all, what is life if not for God and His love for me and for you?