Thursday, August 30, 2012
The Way To Be Saved
The Way To Be Saved
The Way To Be Saved
Posted: 30 Aug 2012 04:00 AM PDT
The way to be saved is to come to Christ. Christ is a person, a living person, full of power to save. He has not placed his salvation in sacraments, or books, or priests, but he has kept it in himself; and if you want to have it you must come to him. He is still the one source and fountain of eternal mercy. There is no getting it by going round about him, or only going near to him: you must come to him, actually to him, and there must be a personal contact established between the Lord Jesus and your spirit. Of course it cannot be a natural contact, for his body is in the heavens and we are here; but it must be a spiritual contact, by which your mind, heart, thought, shall come to Christ, and faith, like a hand, shall touch him spiritually, grasp him by believing upon him, and receive life and grace from his divine power.
Just as when the woman of old touched his garment’s hem, the virtue went out of him to her, and she was healed; so now, though he be yonder, faith’s long hand can touch his divine and human person, by confiding, trusting, and resting in him, and so virtue will flow from him into our soul, and our mind shall be healed of whatsoever disease it hath.
From a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled "Unwillingness To Come To Christ," delivered November 2, 1876. Image by Adam Sparks on Flickr under Creative Commons License.
Tuesday, August 28, 2012
"White Coat Ceremony"- Reflections of GOD's Leading and Faithfulness
"I know, O LORD, that a man's life is not his own; it is not for a man to direct his steps." Jeremiah 10:23
Dear Praying Friends and Family,
Thank you so much for your continued prayers for Dana and her family. Dana is planning to fly to Alabama tomorrow (today) and her hearts desire is to be able to spend time with Zach. Please pray the LORD will make the way for her to do this. If anyone would like to help out the Grammer Family with their legal expenses to get Zach back in their custody you can do that here. Her sis posted today, even if it's $5.00 any amount will be greatly appreciated. You can contribute here:https://fundrazr.com/
Dana had this posted early this morning on her FB page and asked us to please continue praying:
I mentioned last week about the continued rise of CHRISTian persecution in our country and saw this article from Fox news this week confirming those reports.
Christians victims of rising hostilities:
-- http://www.foxnews.com/us/
I have been wanting to write you for awhile, and i guess it hasn't been that long since i sent out an email last week and wrote about Dana and her family mostly. As i mentioned, we had the wonderful blessing of attending my son's "White Coat Ceremony" at UAB last Sunday. For those of you like me who never heard of a "White Coat Ceremony," it's a time the beginning medical students get the "white coats," at the beginning of their medical school journey, and a time of exhortation and encouragement by the professors....sort of a "commissioning" time i guess.
I didn't know what to expect, but after church last Sunday my husband and i made the hour and a half journey down to Birmingham, with my mother in law. I quickly made Johnny a sandwich, while i grabbed some casserole we had left over, and were on our way by 11:30 a.m. I don't know what happened because it's not like us to be early anywhere, but we got there an hour before it started. I'm glad cause it was packed....On the way down, our son's fiance called and told us she would be meeting us down there. At the last minute she had been able to take off work and she drove down earlier that morning.
When we got there, Johnny let us off in front of the big auditorium and folks were waiting in line in the lobby to get inside. Took just a few minutes to get in touch with Amanda, my son's fiance, but the LORD helped us find her quickly. Most of the large group of family and friends was slowly making their way through one doorway, while a few were trickling off to the side downstairs. Somehow, GOD directed our steps to go to the side and go downstairs, even though we didn't know where we were going. We entered the floor the students would be sitting on, and got seats right behind where they were sitting. Thank you, LORD for leading us to get there early, and leading us to the downstairs where we had great seats! We were there in plenty of time and while we waited we each took seperate turns to go the bathroom. Far be it from us to go at the same time, we had rather crawl over one another:).
The 45 minutes passed quickly and before long, a large group of faculty in their white coats came and sat on stage. It made me nervous as i thought about the world my son was about to enter...a world that has helped me and hurt me at times in my own health struggles.
Shortly afer the faculty entered, the students marched in one by one with their white coats draped over their arms. There were 172 or 176 or them in all....my son later said their class wasn't politically correct because there where a lot of white males in the class. There were 70 something girls in the class too. I thought about my own dear doctor in Texas when she entered med school at Emory back in the 60's there were only four girls in the whole med school! Wow...things sure have changed!
My son marched by us, and along with Nick Rockwell, a fine young man who grew up in our church at First Baptist, and all the rest of the students, and the ceremony began as soon as everyone was seated. A grandfatherly looking man in a white coat got up and spoke, and his down to earth demeanor set me more at ease. The first thing he did was to encourage the students to turn around and look around them and thank the ones who were responsible for getting them there. That sure did make me happy that they would remind these young people that they didn't get where they were on their own....they had help and a LOT of it. I appreciated that reminder so very much and that sure set me more at ease. Next, they honored three doctors in memory of a missionary doctor who was killed in Yemen a few years ago. Honoring the missionary doctor who was killed, along with the other three doctors who had lived exemplarly lives of serving others, really set the tone for the service, that of serving, having compassion, and not thinking you are above anyone else. One of the wives of the doctors who were honored got up and told the students, "Whatever you do, give glory to GOD."
The keynote speaker was a doctor who got up and right away he admitted that he had forgotten that he was supposed to speak at this ceremony. He was scheduled to be out of the country, but when he was reminded of his commitment to speak at the "White Coat Ceremony" he said he didn't want to miss it. He told about when he began medical school and how his mom was skeptical of different diseases, and it reminded me of me. He said she later was happy because she was thinking about free medical care for her, the family, friends and he said eventually everyone in Gadsden!
He went on to encourage the students to live a life of serving others, being compassionate, and challenged them to take off their "white coats," so they could really bring healing to others. He said you are going to be helping people just like your Mom and Dad, just like others in your family, and in order to bring true healing you've got to treat them with respect and care. I really appreciate his exhortation to these beginning medical students, especially to my son, to be humble, and truly care for your patients.
"The plans of the heart belong to man, but the answer is from the LORD.All the ways of a man are clean in his sight, But the LORD weighs the motives. Commit your works to the LORD, and your plans will be established. The LORD has made everything for its own purpose, even the wicked for the day of evil. Everyone who is proud in heart is an abomination to the LORD; Assuredly, he will not be unpunished." Proverbs 16:1-5
GOD's name wasn't mentioned constantly, but it surely was mentioned several times, and the exhortation to these students to live a life of service and compassion was clearly the theme of the "White Coat Ceremony." To say i felt a little more at ease about the journey my son is embarking on would be accurate. After the guest speaker finished talking, the students were called by their names up on stage and one by one the faculty put the students "White Coat's" on them and then they walked across the stage and shook hands with the Grandfather looking faculty member and got their pictures made with him. After everyone had received their "White Coats," the students marched out one by one and it didn't take us long to find our son in the lobby.
After it was over, we went took some pictures, and then went to our son's apartment not too far from campus. He was proud to show us how neat his apartment was...I was proud too:). It will be his and his fiancee's first home when they get married in Dec. After we hung out at his apartment for a little while, JM took us to a wonderful restaurant not too far from campus . It used to be a radiator place many years ago, but it's been a restaurant for over 20 years now and the food was yummy! We took our time and enjoyed visiting and hearing about our son's first couple of weeks of med school. After we finished eating, we took our son and his fiancee back to his apartment, and we headed on back to Athens. Though i wasn't feeling the best in the world, it was a really good day and i was very thankful for the "White Coat Ceremony" and the words they challenged our children with to serve, be compassionate, and take off their "white coats," to bring about true healing.
Our son's journey to med school began before he was even born, when GOD thought of him and knew the plans and purposes HE had for him before he was even born. Our son never was one who like to play outside very much...he much rather preferred being inside reading a book or playing with "Geosafari" or the countless little computer things we got him, before we got him a real computer. He always loved for me to read to him, and used to bring me a stack of books to read after he got up from his nap. I used to try and try and try to make him go and just play like i did when i was growing up....he really didnt catch on to that too much, although he did like organized soccer, and he is playing on an intramural soccer team now. He also played baseball, and basketball in the rec leagues growing up....he just didn't like to play outside much if it wasn't organized! When he got older and we went fishing he would bring a book along to read....he would sprawl out in a lawn chair reading a book while we fished! My son was a dream homeschool student as far as academics....while other Mom's pulled their hair out with their boys doing their schoolwork, i pulled mine out wanting him to play outside!
I didn't really see GOD was preparing him to go to med school although in junior high he read a book about Ben Carson being a brain surgeon and he seemed to really like Ben Carson. When he was in high school he started thinking about med school some, but still didn't want to make a commitment to that many years of school. GOD kept gently leading and planting the seeds, and i will never forget my doctor in Texas sending John Mac an email telling about how GOD led her to medical school, and how HE provided all her needs in spite of tremendous challenges. It was a fascinating email to me, and i still have it. I remember reading it to the kids the day it came as we ate lunch together. That was the first time i began to really believe that maybe the LORD was calling my son to go to med school, and HE would provide the way if that was what HE was leading him to do. GOD used my doctor to plant seeds of faith in our lives that this was a possible journey of the impossible. Our son wasn't sure at this point, and didn't want to commit and his Daddy encouraged him to pursue an engineering degree if he wasn't sure. GOD brought other godly counsel into our lives, during those years. One night Mr. George Hardy, a godly man from church who worked for NASA and took the fallout for when the space shuttle blew up several years ago, came over to eat with supper with us and gave our son his counsel. He thought the electrical engineering would be a good degree to pursue and if GOD called him later to be a doctor, his training would go well with that degree. He had a friend who was a doctor who had an electrical engineering degree. GOD used Mr. Hardy as another source of encouragement along the journey to encourage our son.
It seemed for awhile that our son was going to be content to an engineer and then he got a job working around engineers and GOD used that to gently persuade him that he didn't want to do that the rest of his life. That served as a catalyst to get him to thinking seriously about pursuing medical school. I remember one day i was at home with our son and he said "Mom what would you think about me going to medical school?" I'll be honest i was thrilled. He said "Don't tell Daddy..." and i thought what? You just told me you want to go to med school and i can't tell Daddy? He wanted to tell him himself naturally, and Johnny's response wasn't thrilled....he was thinking how much is this going to cost? Immediately i reminded him about my beloved doctor's email, and how GOD had provided for her, and somehow he would our son.
At first our son had his sights set on Johns Hopkins, or somewhere up north, and then GOD brought the desire of our son's heart into the picture, his fiancee, and he was quiet content to go to school somewhere closer to home...we were happy about that. She has one more year of school before she finished her degree, and she will be able to complete some of her training at UAB hospital after they get married. GOD is making the way, making the path clearer one step at a time.
I've been thinking a lot this week, and the past few weeks about GOD leading our steps, and HIM being sovereign in our lives and as i reflect back over our son's journey to med school. I see the hand of GOD leading in his life when i couldn't see the big picture. I've been reading a book this week, called The Red Sea Rules, by Robert J. Morgan. It is such a great book on the Sovereignty of GOD in our lives and how HE is the one who leads us in the good times and the difficult times, just as he led the children of Israel to the Red Sea when the Egyptians were pursuing them. They were led to an impossible situation so their GOD might show HIS power and deliver them in an amazing way....the first "Rule of the Red Sea" is that GOD means for you to be where you are."
That is such a comfort to me, whether it's your son being led into a profession that you are at times skeptical of some of their practices, or whether you continue to wrestle with your body as it rebels against some of the very things it needs to get better....GOD means for me to be where i am, where my husband is in his work (which i still wrestle with that at times) where my son is in school, and my daughter and where she is. Therein lieth peace, to know that just as GOD is leading me to accomplish HIS plans and purposes, HE is leading the others member of my family, and my loved ones. I can "release" them into HIS hands when my head and my heart doubt the plans HE has for us.
Sometimes those plans are very difficult on the ones that we love the most. My husband's Mom told us on the way home from the "White Coat Ceremony" that the day we left for Texas for my husband to attend seminary was the worst day for her. She hated for us to move away....and as far as she knew it for the rest of her life. But GOD had another plan and instead of going to the foreign mission field as we had planned, the LORD brought us back to Athens 5 and a half years later and HE has kept us here. Not our plans, but GOD's.
Today in my "Amazing Grace," Hymn's Devotion book was the hymn "All the Way My Savior Leads Me, by the blind hymn writer, Fanny Crosby. Fanny was blinded by a medical "error" at six weeks of age, but GOD was working out HIS sovereign plan in her life. Our "accidents," are HIS infinite plans to work out our good and HIS glory through our lives. Fanny Crosby who wrote thousands of hymns after the 40, would probably have not have the "spiritual eyes," she did to "see" that her SAVIOR indeed led her all the way, as HE does all of HIS children . Today I've included the hymn sang by Chris Tomlin who added his special touch....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
I read this quote today in the Red Sea rules that reminds us how GOD unfolds HIS providence in our lives:
"Lead me, LORD to the ROCK that is higher than I. Let me hear YOUR WORD, give me grace to obey, to build steadily, stone upon stone, day by day, to do what YOU say. Establish my heart where floods have no power to overwhelm, for CHRIST's sake. Amen." Elisabeth Elliot, www.elisabethelliot.org
"Precious LORD, take my hand, lead me on, help me stand-I am tired, I am weak, I am worn; thro' the storm, thro' the night, lead me on to the light-Take my hand, precious LORD, lead me home.
When my way grows, drear, Precious LORD, linger near-when my life is almost gone. Hear my cry, hear my call, hold my hand lest I fall-Take my hand, precious LORD, lead me home." Thomas A. Dorsey, 1899-1965
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| After the "White Coat Ceremony" with my son, his fiance, and my mother in law |
Dear Praying Friends and Family,
Thank you so much for your continued prayers for Dana and her family. Dana is planning to fly to Alabama tomorrow (today) and her hearts desire is to be able to spend time with Zach. Please pray the LORD will make the way for her to do this. If anyone would like to help out the Grammer Family with their legal expenses to get Zach back in their custody you can do that here. Her sis posted today, even if it's $5.00 any amount will be greatly appreciated. You can contribute here:https://fundrazr.com/
Dana had this posted early this morning on her FB page and asked us to please continue praying:
I mentioned last week about the continued rise of CHRISTian persecution in our country and saw this article from Fox news this week confirming those reports.
Christians victims of rising hostilities:
-- http://www.foxnews.com/us/
I have been wanting to write you for awhile, and i guess it hasn't been that long since i sent out an email last week and wrote about Dana and her family mostly. As i mentioned, we had the wonderful blessing of attending my son's "White Coat Ceremony" at UAB last Sunday. For those of you like me who never heard of a "White Coat Ceremony," it's a time the beginning medical students get the "white coats," at the beginning of their medical school journey, and a time of exhortation and encouragement by the professors....sort of a "commissioning" time i guess.
 |
| Program for the White Coat Ceremony |
I didn't know what to expect, but after church last Sunday my husband and i made the hour and a half journey down to Birmingham, with my mother in law. I quickly made Johnny a sandwich, while i grabbed some casserole we had left over, and were on our way by 11:30 a.m. I don't know what happened because it's not like us to be early anywhere, but we got there an hour before it started. I'm glad cause it was packed....On the way down, our son's fiance called and told us she would be meeting us down there. At the last minute she had been able to take off work and she drove down earlier that morning.
When we got there, Johnny let us off in front of the big auditorium and folks were waiting in line in the lobby to get inside. Took just a few minutes to get in touch with Amanda, my son's fiance, but the LORD helped us find her quickly. Most of the large group of family and friends was slowly making their way through one doorway, while a few were trickling off to the side downstairs. Somehow, GOD directed our steps to go to the side and go downstairs, even though we didn't know where we were going. We entered the floor the students would be sitting on, and got seats right behind where they were sitting. Thank you, LORD for leading us to get there early, and leading us to the downstairs where we had great seats! We were there in plenty of time and while we waited we each took seperate turns to go the bathroom. Far be it from us to go at the same time, we had rather crawl over one another:).
The 45 minutes passed quickly and before long, a large group of faculty in their white coats came and sat on stage. It made me nervous as i thought about the world my son was about to enter...a world that has helped me and hurt me at times in my own health struggles.
 |
| Faculty sitting on stage, students in front of us |
 |
| My son with his "white coat" draped over his arm. |
My son marched by us, and along with Nick Rockwell, a fine young man who grew up in our church at First Baptist, and all the rest of the students, and the ceremony began as soon as everyone was seated. A grandfatherly looking man in a white coat got up and spoke, and his down to earth demeanor set me more at ease. The first thing he did was to encourage the students to turn around and look around them and thank the ones who were responsible for getting them there. That sure did make me happy that they would remind these young people that they didn't get where they were on their own....they had help and a LOT of it. I appreciated that reminder so very much and that sure set me more at ease. Next, they honored three doctors in memory of a missionary doctor who was killed in Yemen a few years ago. Honoring the missionary doctor who was killed, along with the other three doctors who had lived exemplarly lives of serving others, really set the tone for the service, that of serving, having compassion, and not thinking you are above anyone else. One of the wives of the doctors who were honored got up and told the students, "Whatever you do, give glory to GOD."
The keynote speaker was a doctor who got up and right away he admitted that he had forgotten that he was supposed to speak at this ceremony. He was scheduled to be out of the country, but when he was reminded of his commitment to speak at the "White Coat Ceremony" he said he didn't want to miss it. He told about when he began medical school and how his mom was skeptical of different diseases, and it reminded me of me. He said she later was happy because she was thinking about free medical care for her, the family, friends and he said eventually everyone in Gadsden!
He went on to encourage the students to live a life of serving others, being compassionate, and challenged them to take off their "white coats," so they could really bring healing to others. He said you are going to be helping people just like your Mom and Dad, just like others in your family, and in order to bring true healing you've got to treat them with respect and care. I really appreciate his exhortation to these beginning medical students, especially to my son, to be humble, and truly care for your patients.
"The plans of the heart belong to man, but the answer is from the LORD.All the ways of a man are clean in his sight, But the LORD weighs the motives. Commit your works to the LORD, and your plans will be established. The LORD has made everything for its own purpose, even the wicked for the day of evil. Everyone who is proud in heart is an abomination to the LORD; Assuredly, he will not be unpunished." Proverbs 16:1-5
GOD's name wasn't mentioned constantly, but it surely was mentioned several times, and the exhortation to these students to live a life of service and compassion was clearly the theme of the "White Coat Ceremony." To say i felt a little more at ease about the journey my son is embarking on would be accurate. After the guest speaker finished talking, the students were called by their names up on stage and one by one the faculty put the students "White Coat's" on them and then they walked across the stage and shook hands with the Grandfather looking faculty member and got their pictures made with him. After everyone had received their "White Coats," the students marched out one by one and it didn't take us long to find our son in the lobby.
 |
| Faculty putting the "white coats" on the students one by one |
 |
After it was over, we went took some pictures, and then went to our son's apartment not too far from campus. He was proud to show us how neat his apartment was...I was proud too:). It will be his and his fiancee's first home when they get married in Dec. After we hung out at his apartment for a little while, JM took us to a wonderful restaurant not too far from campus . It used to be a radiator place many years ago, but it's been a restaurant for over 20 years now and the food was yummy! We took our time and enjoyed visiting and hearing about our son's first couple of weeks of med school. After we finished eating, we took our son and his fiancee back to his apartment, and we headed on back to Athens. Though i wasn't feeling the best in the world, it was a really good day and i was very thankful for the "White Coat Ceremony" and the words they challenged our children with to serve, be compassionate, and take off their "white coats," to bring about true healing.
Our son's journey to med school began before he was even born, when GOD thought of him and knew the plans and purposes HE had for him before he was even born. Our son never was one who like to play outside very much...he much rather preferred being inside reading a book or playing with "Geosafari" or the countless little computer things we got him, before we got him a real computer. He always loved for me to read to him, and used to bring me a stack of books to read after he got up from his nap. I used to try and try and try to make him go and just play like i did when i was growing up....he really didnt catch on to that too much, although he did like organized soccer, and he is playing on an intramural soccer team now. He also played baseball, and basketball in the rec leagues growing up....he just didn't like to play outside much if it wasn't organized! When he got older and we went fishing he would bring a book along to read....he would sprawl out in a lawn chair reading a book while we fished! My son was a dream homeschool student as far as academics....while other Mom's pulled their hair out with their boys doing their schoolwork, i pulled mine out wanting him to play outside!
I didn't really see GOD was preparing him to go to med school although in junior high he read a book about Ben Carson being a brain surgeon and he seemed to really like Ben Carson. When he was in high school he started thinking about med school some, but still didn't want to make a commitment to that many years of school. GOD kept gently leading and planting the seeds, and i will never forget my doctor in Texas sending John Mac an email telling about how GOD led her to medical school, and how HE provided all her needs in spite of tremendous challenges. It was a fascinating email to me, and i still have it. I remember reading it to the kids the day it came as we ate lunch together. That was the first time i began to really believe that maybe the LORD was calling my son to go to med school, and HE would provide the way if that was what HE was leading him to do. GOD used my doctor to plant seeds of faith in our lives that this was a possible journey of the impossible. Our son wasn't sure at this point, and didn't want to commit and his Daddy encouraged him to pursue an engineering degree if he wasn't sure. GOD brought other godly counsel into our lives, during those years. One night Mr. George Hardy, a godly man from church who worked for NASA and took the fallout for when the space shuttle blew up several years ago, came over to eat with supper with us and gave our son his counsel. He thought the electrical engineering would be a good degree to pursue and if GOD called him later to be a doctor, his training would go well with that degree. He had a friend who was a doctor who had an electrical engineering degree. GOD used Mr. Hardy as another source of encouragement along the journey to encourage our son.
It seemed for awhile that our son was going to be content to an engineer and then he got a job working around engineers and GOD used that to gently persuade him that he didn't want to do that the rest of his life. That served as a catalyst to get him to thinking seriously about pursuing medical school. I remember one day i was at home with our son and he said "Mom what would you think about me going to medical school?" I'll be honest i was thrilled. He said "Don't tell Daddy..." and i thought what? You just told me you want to go to med school and i can't tell Daddy? He wanted to tell him himself naturally, and Johnny's response wasn't thrilled....he was thinking how much is this going to cost? Immediately i reminded him about my beloved doctor's email, and how GOD had provided for her, and somehow he would our son.
At first our son had his sights set on Johns Hopkins, or somewhere up north, and then GOD brought the desire of our son's heart into the picture, his fiancee, and he was quiet content to go to school somewhere closer to home...we were happy about that. She has one more year of school before she finished her degree, and she will be able to complete some of her training at UAB hospital after they get married. GOD is making the way, making the path clearer one step at a time.
I've been thinking a lot this week, and the past few weeks about GOD leading our steps, and HIM being sovereign in our lives and as i reflect back over our son's journey to med school. I see the hand of GOD leading in his life when i couldn't see the big picture. I've been reading a book this week, called The Red Sea Rules, by Robert J. Morgan. It is such a great book on the Sovereignty of GOD in our lives and how HE is the one who leads us in the good times and the difficult times, just as he led the children of Israel to the Red Sea when the Egyptians were pursuing them. They were led to an impossible situation so their GOD might show HIS power and deliver them in an amazing way....the first "Rule of the Red Sea" is that GOD means for you to be where you are."
That is such a comfort to me, whether it's your son being led into a profession that you are at times skeptical of some of their practices, or whether you continue to wrestle with your body as it rebels against some of the very things it needs to get better....GOD means for me to be where i am, where my husband is in his work (which i still wrestle with that at times) where my son is in school, and my daughter and where she is. Therein lieth peace, to know that just as GOD is leading me to accomplish HIS plans and purposes, HE is leading the others member of my family, and my loved ones. I can "release" them into HIS hands when my head and my heart doubt the plans HE has for us.
Sometimes those plans are very difficult on the ones that we love the most. My husband's Mom told us on the way home from the "White Coat Ceremony" that the day we left for Texas for my husband to attend seminary was the worst day for her. She hated for us to move away....and as far as she knew it for the rest of her life. But GOD had another plan and instead of going to the foreign mission field as we had planned, the LORD brought us back to Athens 5 and a half years later and HE has kept us here. Not our plans, but GOD's.
Today in my "Amazing Grace," Hymn's Devotion book was the hymn "All the Way My Savior Leads Me, by the blind hymn writer, Fanny Crosby. Fanny was blinded by a medical "error" at six weeks of age, but GOD was working out HIS sovereign plan in her life. Our "accidents," are HIS infinite plans to work out our good and HIS glory through our lives. Fanny Crosby who wrote thousands of hymns after the 40, would probably have not have the "spiritual eyes," she did to "see" that her SAVIOR indeed led her all the way, as HE does all of HIS children . Today I've included the hymn sang by Chris Tomlin who added his special touch....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
I read this quote today in the Red Sea rules that reminds us how GOD unfolds HIS providence in our lives:
"In the unfolding of HIS providence, burdens become blessings, tears lead to triumph, and the redemptive grace of GOD overcomes the undercurrents of life in the experiences of HIS children. For them, all things work together for good to those who love the LORD and are called according to HIS purposes...
Charles Spurgeon once quipped, "We believe in the providence of GOD, but we do not believe half enough in it." Robert J. Morgan, The Red Sea Rules
Do you believe in the providence of GOD? I say i do, yet, i wrestle with some things, and i doubt. Peace comes as i trust in the LORD with all my heart and lean not on my own understanding, in all my ways, acknowledge HIM and HE will direct my paths." Proverbs 3:5-6. It also comes as i trust HIM to direct my children's paths, and my loved ones paths, and the authorities over me. I sure don't always do this i confess, but i press on toward the mark, of walking in close intimate fellowship with my SAVIOR and trusting HIS providence in all circumstances.
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| Friend shared this on FB yesterday |
It sure is peaceful out here tonight, with the crickets gently chirping, Henry, our cat, and Troy our Maltipoo have been playing around my feet, and are now laying quietly on the deck. It's peaceful here but down on the Gulf coast, there is a hurricane about to hit...that's the way it is in our lives, sometimes it's peaceful, and sometimes we find our selves led right smack in the middle of a hurricane....GOD is sovereign over the hurricanes of our lives, just as HE is the times of rest.
"Consider the work of GOD; for who can make straight what HE has made crooked? In the day of prosperity be joyful, But in the day of adversity consider; Surely GOD has appointed the one as well as the other..." 7:13-14
LORD, help us to trust you in the midst of the hurricanes in our lives, trusting that YOU led us there, just as you led the children of Israel to the RED Sea. There was no way through, except for YOU to make a way. We praise YOU that YOU are soverein over our circumstances, and YOU indeed make a way when there seems to be no way....like for a little guy that was homeschooled by a sick mama to be accepted into med school, a mama whose brain was to rattled to teach him math beyond the sixth grade. You made a way, and that little man grew up and majored in electrical engineering, and now he's beginning med school. You do these things so you will get the glory, "Not unto us oh LORD, not unto us, but to you be all glory and honor and power."Psalm 115:1
"Consider the work of GOD; for who can make straight what HE has made crooked? In the day of prosperity be joyful, But in the day of adversity consider; Surely GOD has appointed the one as well as the other..." 7:13-14
LORD, help us to trust you in the midst of the hurricanes in our lives, trusting that YOU led us there, just as you led the children of Israel to the RED Sea. There was no way through, except for YOU to make a way. We praise YOU that YOU are soverein over our circumstances, and YOU indeed make a way when there seems to be no way....like for a little guy that was homeschooled by a sick mama to be accepted into med school, a mama whose brain was to rattled to teach him math beyond the sixth grade. You made a way, and that little man grew up and majored in electrical engineering, and now he's beginning med school. You do these things so you will get the glory, "Not unto us oh LORD, not unto us, but to you be all glory and honor and power."Psalm 115:1
Please remember my son in your prayers, along with Dana and her son, and family. Please remember all those in the path of the hurricane. Hannah Beth's classes at the University of Mobile are out until Thursday and she is in Atlanta with her boyfriend whose Mom is in the hospital. Please pray for her. The timing was perfect so her son could come home and be with her. GOD's providence in the midst of the hurricane....
Thank you for spending this time with me, and let me share with you once again, GOD's goodness and mercies in the life of our family. I sure was encouraged reflecting on GOD's tender mercies in our family and HIS great faithfulness to lead and guide us. It helps me to trust HIM for the todays and the tomorrows in my life and my children's lives.
With all HIS love,
mitzi
"Precious LORD, take my hand, lead me on, help me stand-I am tired, I am weak, I am worn; thro' the storm, thro' the night, lead me on to the light-Take my hand, precious LORD, lead me home.
When my way grows, drear, Precious LORD, linger near-when my life is almost gone. Hear my cry, hear my call, hold my hand lest I fall-Take my hand, precious LORD, lead me home." Thomas A. Dorsey, 1899-1965
Tuesday, August 21, 2012
"Grace Under Pressure"
"Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." Matt. 5:10
Dear Praying Friends and Family,
You have been so kind to pray and ask about Dana and her family and it means so much to me to see you and you ask about them, or you send me a message and want to know what i have heard. Thank you so much for your love and concern and prayers for them. Her Daddy's post that i shared with you last Monday night shared Dana does have custody of Tristan, their 4 month old baby, but they are not free to leave California because they want to keep "evaluating" them for a few months. Dana posted a few days later in response to her Daddy's post:
Dana Grammer Sanchez ...Each day that goes buy my heart hurts more and my physical health takes a toll. I find it hard to want to eat so I drink shakes so I can stay strong. This is the most life altering nightmare ever. I can no longer explain the pain I feel. God is my strength and my refuge. I stand for and by him more so now than ever. And my faith and love for him has multiplied. I do pray for zach to stay close to the Lord since I am not there to install those morals.I just pray that he remember what we taught him. Sometimes I'm ok. Other times I collapse to the floor in tears. I have to be strong especially for my kids but it is very hard to do when your family is ripped into shreds. I know God is with me and I thank him even in these times. I handed Zach when he was a baby as he got baptized. Now at ten I have completely handed him to God. He has got Zach under his wing. I pray for Zach each night and through my time alone praying. I know God has Zach very close to him and is with him. And he will be ok. I cling to this all day and night. All I can do now is pray for him constantly. I miss him more than anyone can understand. He is my heart.... Both of my boys.
Her post breaks your heart over the agony she is going through, yet at the same time, her sharing the closeness of her LORD, and how she has surrendered her children up to GOD is such an example for all of us. As i write, the verse from Psalm 34:18 comes to my mind: "The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit." Dana is truly an example of how GOD is close to the broken hearted, and HE does indeed save those who are crushed in spirit.
Zach holding his baby brother Tristan a couple of months before he was taken away by CPS
The update from her Daddy is from Sunday evening:
Sermon today was about standing up for your beliefs and not fearing the consequences, because fear of this world is not from GOD. We should all stand behind are beliefs with actions and glorify GOD when we are truthful and persecuted for it. Since June 15th our family has been held captive by this fear of what would happen if we said or did anything that didn't totally back the da/CPS plan. The plan as I mentioned a few days ago now involves Tristin (4 month old). Up to now we have been quiet for the most part and Zach was and still is being punished because members of our family didn't lie to follow the plan. We have been working hard behind the scenes for Zach and your prayers are really needed for him. Dana and Anthony need many prayers. We should have a little news concerning Zach at the end of the week or early next week. Please keep Zach on your mind and we will bring him home. Zach - punished for 64 days and counting !
I had suspected that because Dana stood by her husband's discipline of Zach and didn't lie is why Zach was taken away from Dana. Terry's post pretty much confirms that. Dana had to make a very, very hard decision and tell the truth, standing by her husband's discipline and it has cost her her son for now. What an example to all of us of standing in the fire of persecution for their CHRISTian beliefs to spank their son. I just read this tonight confirming that CHRISTians are indeed being persecuted for their religious beliefs more and more in our country. The Grammer family is among those suffering for being born again CHRISTians and exercising their beliefs to spank their son.
A new survey conducted by two conservative groups reveals proven hostility toward Christianity in the U.S.
The joint study from Liberty Institute and the Family Research Council(FRC) records up to 600 incidents of hostility toward religion, most of which have occurred within the last ten years. For example, a Christian couple was fired as apartment complex managers and forced to move because a painting with a Christian reference was displayed in their office (see earlier story). Also listed is a student who was told he could not wear a t-shirt to school because of its Christian message.
RAISING AWARENESS
Liberty Institute attorney Justin Butterfield tells OneNewsNow what his group hopes to accomplish with the study's findings.
"We want to raise awareness of the issue. A lot of people think that hostility because of people's religious beliefs and attacks on religious liberty are things that happen elsewhere in the world, not in the United States," he notes. "We just want to show that it actually happens with increasing and alarming regularity here in the United States."
Liberty Institute President Kelly Shackelford and FRC President Tony Perkins are presenting the study before the Republican Party Convention platform committee to raise that awareness.
"It's something that has gone under the radar, and we want to bring it up and point out that this is an issue and a concern that's affecting more and more Americans each year," Butterfield adds.
The Liberty Institute further points out that religious liberty is "facing a relentless onslaught from well-funded and aggressive groups" who are using whatever means available to suppress or attack religious freedom
I came across this verse from Proverbs this week and it really jumped out at me concerning discipline and what Dana and her family are being severely persecuted for practicing their religious beliefs to spank their son.
Proverbs 23:13-14
New King James Version (NKJV)
13 Do not withhold correction from a child,
For if you beat him with a rod, he will not die.
14 You shall beat him with a rod,
And deliver his soul from hell.[a]
This verse doesn't say, spank, it says beat....wow....wonder what the courts would do with that? Well, we are seeing what they do when a Dad whipped his son in the backyard with a belt, and left no marks by the way. He hit him seven times, and twice he missed. Two of the spankings were not even hard swipes. The media said he was spanking because he missed the ball...the real story, Zach was being disrespectful to his Dad. Zach said so himself. They took away the Daddy's job as an elected official, his home, his family, put him in jail with a $100,000 bail and charged him with a felony...and they took away his son, and sent him 3,000 miles to live with his biological Daddy who has got a track record of not caring for his son...they've already been through court in Alabama dealing with all of that years ago. Enter "Child Protective Services," and they award this young boy who is so fearful of his biological daddy he said he would rather live in foster care than go with him.
This is the kind of pressure and earthquakes that families are destroyed under...but Dana's family is exhibiting to us, a picture of "Grace Under Pressure," GOD's grace to help them get through this very difficult circumstances.
I read a quote by Elisabeth Elliot this week that sure made me think of sweet Dana, and all of her family through these circumstances.
"Many of our prayers are for a quick and easy solution. GOD is more glorified in HIS people when they exhibit HIS grace under pressure."
"Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." Matt. 5:10
Dana Grammer Sanchez ...Each day that goes buy my heart hurts more and my physical health takes a toll. I find it hard to want to eat so I drink shakes so I can stay strong. This is the most life altering nightmare ever. I can no longer explain the pain I feel. God is my strength and my refuge. I stand for and by him more so now than ever. And my faith and love for him has multiplied. I do pray for zach to stay close to the Lord since I am not there to install those morals.I just pray that he remember what we taught him. Sometimes I'm ok. Other times I collapse to the floor in tears. I have to be strong especially for my kids but it is very hard to do when your family is ripped into shreds. I know God is with me and I thank him even in these times. I handed Zach when he was a baby as he got baptized. Now at ten I have completely handed him to God. He has got Zach under his wing. I pray for Zach each night and through my time alone praying. I know God has Zach very close to him and is with him. And he will be ok. I cling to this all day and night. All I can do now is pray for him constantly. I miss him more than anyone can understand. He is my heart.... Both of my boys.
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| Zach holding his baby brother Tristan a couple of months before he was taken away by CPS |
Sermon today was about standing up for your beliefs and not fearing the consequences, because fear of this world is not from GOD. We should all stand behind are beliefs with actions and glorify GOD when we are truthful and persecuted for it. Since June 15th our family has been held captive by this fear of what would happen if we said or did anything that didn't totally back the da/CPS plan. The plan as I mentioned a few days ago now involves Tristin (4 month old). Up to now we have been quiet for the most part and Zach was and still is being punished because members of our family didn't lie to follow the plan. We have been working hard behind the scenes for Zach and your prayers are really needed for him. Dana and Anthony need many prayers. We should have a little news concerning Zach at the end of the week or early next week. Please keep Zach on your mind and we will bring him home. Zach - punished for 64 days and counting !
A new survey conducted by two conservative groups reveals proven hostility toward Christianity in the U.S.
The joint study from Liberty Institute and the Family Research Council(FRC) records up to 600 incidents of hostility toward religion, most of which have occurred within the last ten years. For example, a Christian couple was fired as apartment complex managers and forced to move because a painting with a Christian reference was displayed in their office (see earlier story). Also listed is a student who was told he could not wear a t-shirt to school because of its Christian message.
RAISING AWARENESS
Liberty Institute attorney Justin Butterfield tells OneNewsNow what his group hopes to accomplish with the study's findings.
"We want to raise awareness of the issue. A lot of people think that hostility because of people's religious beliefs and attacks on religious liberty are things that happen elsewhere in the world, not in the United States," he notes. "We just want to show that it actually happens with increasing and alarming regularity here in the United States."
Liberty Institute President Kelly Shackelford and FRC President Tony Perkins are presenting the study before the Republican Party Convention platform committee to raise that awareness.
"It's something that has gone under the radar, and we want to bring it up and point out that this is an issue and a concern that's affecting more and more Americans each year," Butterfield adds.
The Liberty Institute further points out that religious liberty is "facing a relentless onslaught from well-funded and aggressive groups" who are using whatever means available to suppress or attack religious freedom
Proverbs 23:13-14
New King James Version (NKJV)
13 Do not withhold correction from a child,
For if you beat him with a rod, he will not die.
14 You shall beat him with a rod,
And deliver his soul from hell.[a]
For if you beat him with a rod, he will not die.
14 You shall beat him with a rod,
And deliver his soul from hell.[a]
The quote from Dana and her Daddy both show much "grace under pressure,"...grace to stand in the midst of the fire that is given by GOD above who gives "strength to the weary," and causes us to "mount up with wings like eagles" when we don't think we can take another step.
Friends, our religious freedoms are being taken away from us....http://www.defendproclaimthefaith.org/blog// This quote was on an email from the CHRISTian Anti Defamation Commission today:
"Does a double standard exist in the way Christianity is treated in America? More and more we are seeing reports of anti-Christian bigotry and discrimination in America.
If you, or someone you know, has been discriminated against or unjustly attacked because of your Christian faith, we're here to help! "
Just look what a stir the head of Chik-Fil-A caused when he spoke in support of the Biblical pattern of marriage and the family. There are those out there who hate our beliefs in CHRIST and HIS WORD, they hate us, and most of all they hate CHRIST who loves them so much HE died for them, and for us on a wooden cross to forgive us for all our sins, and to rescue us from the dominion of darkness and place us in HIS kingdom of light and love. The New Testament CHRISTians were experiencing great persecution when the Apostle Paul penned these words inspired by the HOLY SPIRIT.
11-14 As you live this new life, we pray that you will be strengthened from God’s boundless resources, so that you will find yourselves able to pass through any experience and endure it with courage. You will even be able to thank God in the midst of pain and distress because you are privileged to share the lot of those who are living in the light. For we must never forget that he rescued us from the power of darkness, and re-established us in the kingdom of his beloved Son, that is, in the kingdom of light. For it is by his Son alone that we have been redeemed and have had our sins forgiven. Col. 1:11-14
While JESUS was dying on the Cross for us, his body beaten to a pulp, beyond recognition, the blood pouring out all over his body that was beaten with a whip that had sharp bones interwoven in it to inflict more pain, HE cried out, "FATHER forgive them, they know not what they do." Luke 23:34
This verse stops me in my tracks because i want to be mad at those who have tried to tear Dana's family apart, and those who have come against Chick-Fil-A, and then i am reminded that except for the grace of GOD rescuing me from the domain of darkness, i would be lost, undone, persecuting those who love CHRIST. I'm really glad the LORD reminded me of this to humble me and remind me that apart from CHRIST i am capable of doing the same thing.
When i remember how much CHRIST has forgiven me, then i am able to forgive those who hurt me, or those i love with the forgiviness and love that CHRIST has shown me. I've never been anywhere near as persecuted as Dana and her family have been, but if we are, GOD will give us the grace to walk in that place just as HE has Dana and her family. Pray for Dana's family that they will not have any lasting bitterness and be able to forgive those who have trespassed against them, and even be a witness to them that they too might come to know JESUS CHRIST as their LORD and SAVIOR.
But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. Matt. 5:44
It's funny how this email turned as i wrote....i wasn't even thinking about forgiveness when i started out, just wanted to give you an update. Please pray for Dana and all her family and friends, that we would all be able to forgive those who have trespassed against them, especially the neighbor who videod them and put it on youtube. May they truly "Love their enemies and pray for those who persecute them." Matt. 5:44. It's easy when it's not me or you in the hotseat...but it may very well be one day soon. Will i be able to show GOD's "Grace Under Pressure," if it's me? I have to begin in the little things that irritate and bother me right now....showing HIS "grace under pressure "when i had rather snap at someone or be irritable, or unkind, when they have been unkind to me. I can only do exhibit HIS grace as i abide in HIM, and trust in HIM that HE truly is in control of all the events of my life. HE is doing what is best for me, and others as HE is working out HIS plan to bring glory to HIMself, and good to me and others.
Thank you so much for your continued prayers for Dana and her dear family. Terry said this week they should know something about Zach...please pray ferverently that he is close to being reunited with his mom and family if this is HIS will and best timing. GOD knows what HE's about, why HE has "engineered these circumstances," and HE is in charge of opening the doors and closing them in HIS perfect timing. Here is Zach's address again for anyone who wants to write and encourage him:
Last week i read a devotion about the hymn "Nearer, my GOD, to Thee." GOD uses these difficult circumstances in our lives to draw us ever closer to HIM..."e'en though it be a cross that raiseth me." May this ever be our prayer, "Nearer, my GOD, to Thee, nearer to THEE! E'en though it be a cross that raiseth me."
Nearer, my God, to Thee, nearer to Thee!
E’en though it be a cross that raiseth me,
Still all my song shall be, nearer, my God, to Thee.
E’en though it be a cross that raiseth me,
Still all my song shall be, nearer, my God, to Thee.
- Refrain:
Nearer, my God, to Thee, nearer to Thee!
Thank you dear friends for your faithful prayers for Dana and her family, thank you for praying for my family. Our son had his first day in Fundamentals yesterday, and his study load will get heavy from now until awhile. We had the privilege to attend his "White Coat Ceremony" on Sunday and what a blessing that was...i hope to share more about that in my next email. Hannah Beth's first day of her senior year of nursing is today, please pray for both of my children to "seek ye first the kingdom of GOD and HIS righteousness and all these things will be added unto you." Matt. 6:33. My nephew out in Sugarland, Texas is beginning his freshman year of college, please remember Nicholas in your prayers. My niece, Corinne is beginning pharmacy school in Memphis...thank you for remembering her too.
I just read this prayer tonight on our SS teacher, Connie Pearson's FB page. Her son wrote this prayer for his boys starting to school. As i read along i prayed it for my children....you may want to do the same. It's a powerful prayer for our kids no matter what age they may be from kindergarten to college to adults: http://theheartofpastormatt.wordpress.com/2012/08/20/a-prayer-for-my-kids-on-their-first-day-of-school/.
Please remember me in your prayers, i have begun a new regiment for my health...similar to what i've done in the past with a little tweaking. I'm having a little turbulence, and ask you to pray the LORD would grant wisdom to me and my doctors. I'm excited about our new discipleship training class starting up this Sunday night at our church at 5:00 p.m. I will be facilitating that class and we will be using the book Ultrametabolism by Dr. Mark Hyman as a guide to learn about foods that heal our metabolism, foods that kill our metabolism, environmental issues that affect our metabolism, and underlying issues that keep us from loosing weight and feeling our best. I am thankful for this journey that the LORD has used to teach me such a wealth of information from the best of teachers for true healing for our temples...come join us as we learn together. If you can't join us, please pray for us.
With all HIS love,
mitzi
--
"Men ought always to pray and not to faint." Luke 18:1
"He Knows My Name"
Sunday, August 12, 2012
A Mother's Heart Cry for her Children
"Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the earth for three years and six months." James 3:16,17
AUSES for disquietude there are none so long as this blessed sentence is true. On earth the Lord's power as readily controls the rage of the wicked as the rage of the sea; His love as easily refreshes the poor with mercy as the earth with showers. Majesty gleams in flashes of fire amid the tempest's horrors, and the glory of the Lord is seen in its grandeur in the fall of empires, and the crash of thrones. In all our conflicts and tribulations, we may behold the hand of the divine King.
"God is God; He sees and hears
All our troubles, all our tears.
Soul, forget not, 'mid thy pains,
God o'er all for ever reigns."
In hell, evil spirits own, with misery, His undoubted supremacy. When permitted to roam abroad, it is with a chain at their heel; the bit is in the mouth of behemoth, and the hook in the jaws of leviathan. Death's darts are under the Lord's lock, and the grave's prisons have divine power as their warder. The terrible vengeance of the Judge of all the earth makes fiends cower down and tremble, even as dogs in the kennel fear the hunter's whip.
"Fear not death, nor Satan's thrusts,
God defends who in Him trusts;
Soul, remember, in thy pains,
God o'er all for ever reigns."
In heaven none doubt the sovereignty of the King Eternal, but all fall on their faces to do Him homage. Angels are His courtiers, the redeemed His favourites, and all delight to serve Him day and night. May we soon reach the city of the great King!
IFor this life's long night of sadness
He will give us peace and gladness.
Soul, remember, in thy pains,
God o'er all for ever reigns."
What peace lies in knowing that GOD is sovereign over the affairs of men, and that HE loves us so very much and cares for us. Below is Dana's Dad's latest post on Bring Zach Home: Thank you so much for your prayers for them:
Without question, this hymn has touched more hearts and influenced more people for Christ than any other
song ever written. The text was born within the soul of an invalid woman who wrote these words out of intense
feelings of uselessness and despair.
Charlotte Elliott was born in Clapham, England, on March 18, 1789. As a young person she lived a carefree
life, gaining popularity as a portrait artist and writer of humorous verse. By the time she was thirty, however,
her health began to fail rapidly, and soon she became a bedridden invalid for the remaining years of her life.
With her failing health came great feelings of despondency. In 1822 a noted Swiss evangelist, Dr. Caesar
Malan, visited the Elliott home in Brighton, England. His visit proved to be a turning point in Charlotte's life. In
counseling Miss Elliott about her spiritual and emotional problems, Dr. Malan impressed upon her this truth,
"You must come just as you are, a sinner, to the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world."
She never forgot the words of her friend, for they form the very essence of this hymn.
Though Charlotte Elliott lived to be eighty-two years of age, she never regained normal health, and she often
endured seasons of great physical suffering. Of her own afflictions she once wrote,
"He knows, and He alone, what it is, day after day, hour after hour, to fight against bodily feelings of almost
overpowering weakness, languor and exhaustion, to resolve not to yield to slothfulness, depression and
instability, such as the body causes me to long to indulge, but to rise every morning determined to take for my
motto, 'If a man will come after Me, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow Me.'"
Another time she wrote,
"God sees, God guides, God guards me. His grace surrounds me, and His voice continually bids me to be
happy and holy in His service just where I am."
Miss Elliott wrote the text for "Just As I Am" in 1836. It was published that same year in the second edition of
The Invalid's Hymn Book, a collection which contained 115 of her original works. She wrote this hymn with the
desire that it might aid financially in building a school for the children of poor clergymen that her own pastor
brother was trying to build in Brighton, England. Miss Elliott felt so helpless in her desire to aid the parishioners
in this worthy project. Interestingly enough, this one hymn from the pen of the clergyman's invalid sister
brought in more funds than all of his bazaars and projects combined. The brother himself has left these words,
"In the course of a long ministry, I hope to have been permitted to see some fruit of my labors; but I feel more
has been done by a single hymn of my sister's."
"I strongly suspect that if we saw all the difference even the tiniest of our prayers make, and all the people those little prayers were destined to affect, and all the consequences of those prayers down through the centuries, we would be so paralyzed with awe at the power of prayer that we would be unable to get up off our knees for the rest of our lives."-Peter Kraft, professor at Boston College
"We should never concentrate in thought or prayer on the faults and failings and sins and stumblings of others, but on the power of love of the SAVIOR to heal and to change." Winged Life, Hannah Hurnard
"How good it is to sing praises to our GOD... HE heals the broken hearted and binds up their wounds... Great is our LORD and mighty in power; HIS understanding has no limit." Psalm 147:1, 3,5
Dear Praying Friends and Family,
It has been a real blessing have my two chillin's home this weekend...last night HB and i layed out on the cot and snuggled and watched the shooting stars go by. It was a sweet time to talk and just be together. My son has been in and out, spending time with his gal and her family and with us. He is the one who told me about the shooting stars and he and his gal would come out from time to time to watch for them too. Eventually they fell asleep on the couch, and HB and i gave it up too and went to bed. He is on his way back to B'ham...and school is getting busy. Please remember him in your prayers for all that GOD wants to do in him and through him. Most of all pray for all of us in the weakness of our frail bodies and frail character we would love JESUS with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and depend on HIM.
Please pray that in the midst of all my son has to do for school, which is a ton, he will put JESUS first, and make time to spend with HIM. I'm counting on you, prayer warriors, to pray my boy and girl through school. He got his cadaver this past week....a rather large man, so he will have plenty to work on:). Our son is also preparing to be a husband in just a few short months... all the more reason for him to seek the LORD with all his heart, and be the man of GOD the LORD desires him to be. It's a lot coming up for my boy, thank you so much for your prayers for him and Hannah Beth. She starts her senior year of nursing when she returns on Thursday to the University of Mobile. She enjoyed her training last week for the coffee shop...the new job she is beginning on campus there at the school. It's opening for the first time, and she had to taste everything they learned to make....she said she was kind of sick the second day of tasting all that coffee and drinks. I'm excited for her to get to be around the staff and students there cause when you are in nursing school, it consumes you, and you don't get to mix too much with others on campus. She will be able to study during her job at the coffee shop when she's not busy so that's an added blessing. GOD knows what HE's about, when we don't understand. We have to depend upon HIS grace as HE leads and guides our children as you do.
"My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways MY ways, declares the LORD." Isaiah 55:8
Please pray that in the midst of all my son has to do for school, which is a ton, he will put JESUS first, and make time to spend with HIM. I'm counting on you, prayer warriors, to pray my boy and girl through school. He got his cadaver this past week....a rather large man, so he will have plenty to work on:). Our son is also preparing to be a husband in just a few short months... all the more reason for him to seek the LORD with all his heart, and be the man of GOD the LORD desires him to be. It's a lot coming up for my boy, thank you so much for your prayers for him and Hannah Beth. She starts her senior year of nursing when she returns on Thursday to the University of Mobile. She enjoyed her training last week for the coffee shop...the new job she is beginning on campus there at the school. It's opening for the first time, and she had to taste everything they learned to make....she said she was kind of sick the second day of tasting all that coffee and drinks. I'm excited for her to get to be around the staff and students there cause when you are in nursing school, it consumes you, and you don't get to mix too much with others on campus. She will be able to study during her job at the coffee shop when she's not busy so that's an added blessing. GOD knows what HE's about, when we don't understand. We have to depend upon HIS grace as HE leads and guides our children as you do.
"My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways MY ways, declares the LORD." Isaiah 55:8
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| Our children...gifts from GOD |
My friend, Dana whom i have written about for several weeks now, faces another big trial in trusting the LORD, and depending on HIS grace for her children. As many of you know who read these updates, Dana's son, Zach was taken away from her after her husband was caught on video spanking his son in the backyard. Tomorrow, the state will rule if her baby will remain in Dana's custody or if they will take him away too. Dana and her family were my back yard neighbors when our kids were growing up, and we went to church with their family. They love CHRIST, and Dana was always the best playmate with my children. She loved to play with them...i remember her saying when she was 11 or so that her best friends were my children, and they were little. She was and is so precious and has always loved children, especially her own.
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| Dana with her sweet Tristan with her family in Alabama in June |
Please remember my friend Dana in your prayers... I can't imagine what Dana must be feeling. Here is one of her posts on "Bring Zach Back," which shows us her Mother's heart for her precious boys:
She is a wonderful Mom, and loves her boys and husband so much. Did i say perfect Mom...no, none of us are as the letter i share below so clearly states. We all have to depend on GOD's grace to be strong through our weaknesses. There is nothing like having children to reveal to us how very weak and helpless we really are. I know that in the midst of this hurricane in their lives they are trusting the LORD, that HE is Sovereign and HE is working HIS will and HIS plan through all of these circumstances. Here is Dana's Dad's prayer request this past Friday:
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| Zach jumping in pool earlier this summer on family vacation |
I read this most encouraging devotion this morning reminding that GOD reigns in the affairs of men and that is where our peace as Mothers or whoever we are lies:
This Morning's Meditation
C. H. Spurgeon
"The Lord reigneth, let the earth rejoice."—Psalm 97:1.
AUSES for disquietude there are none so long as this blessed sentence is true. On earth the Lord's power as readily controls the rage of the wicked as the rage of the sea; His love as easily refreshes the poor with mercy as the earth with showers. Majesty gleams in flashes of fire amid the tempest's horrors, and the glory of the Lord is seen in its grandeur in the fall of empires, and the crash of thrones. In all our conflicts and tribulations, we may behold the hand of the divine King.All our troubles, all our tears.
Soul, forget not, 'mid thy pains,
God o'er all for ever reigns."
In hell, evil spirits own, with misery, His undoubted supremacy. When permitted to roam abroad, it is with a chain at their heel; the bit is in the mouth of behemoth, and the hook in the jaws of leviathan. Death's darts are under the Lord's lock, and the grave's prisons have divine power as their warder. The terrible vengeance of the Judge of all the earth makes fiends cower down and tremble, even as dogs in the kennel fear the hunter's whip.
God defends who in Him trusts;
Soul, remember, in thy pains,
God o'er all for ever reigns."
In heaven none doubt the sovereignty of the King Eternal, but all fall on their faces to do Him homage. Angels are His courtiers, the redeemed His favourites, and all delight to serve Him day and night. May we soon reach the city of the great King!
He will give us peace and gladness.
Soul, remember, in thy pains,
God o'er all for ever reigns."
I just got off the phone speaking with my boy...he made it back safely to school. He shared some prayer needs with me and my Mama's heart wants to "fix" things, but i know i can't fix things like i did when he was little...i just have to pray and ask my heavenly FATHER to do what's best and draw near to my children and lead and guide them.
Thank you for listening to this Mama's heart for her children. This week, i am going to began "mothering" Phillip Anderson for a few hours each day after school. Phillip's Mom, Darlene, died last Sept, and his big sis left for college today. I'll be picking up Phillip after school and bringing him home for a snack, do his homework, chores and play time til his Dad gets home from work. Ya'll pray for me...i could never fill the shoes of his wonderful Mother, but i sure want to "mother" Phillip with the love of the LORD and fill in the gap for a few hours a day. Looking forward to being a "Mom" to him. We don't have to biologically have a child to be a "Mother." GOD's uses Mother's who just have a willing heart to adopt HIS needy children...often those who have a full house of children already, or those who have a busy career outside the home in addition to their roles as a Mom. I have been so inspired by so many in my life who have chosen to adopt children who needed loving parents...just as our heavenly FATHER adopted us to be HIS children. HE paid the highest price for us, the blood of HIS SON JESUS CHRIST that we might be rescued from the dominion of darkness and transferred into the kingdom of HIS marvelous light," and be made HIS children forever and ever. John 1:12 says, "But as many as received HIM, to them HE gave the right to become the children of GOD." Have you received HIM into your life...have you surrendered your proud and stubborn heart to HIM, and asked HIM to forgive you and turned away from your sins? Ask HIM today....HE longs to be your FATHER, and give you all the love that you ever need and meet all your needs in CHRIST JESUS. He longs to mend your broken heart, your loneliness, your fears, and to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the LORD for the display of his splendor." Isaiah 61:3
JESUS invites us to Come...just as we are, just as this song written by Charlotte Elliot shares so beautifully: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ovYPQl93zro, "Just As I Am." Charlotte is a perfect example of GOD using a weak and broken vessel to be strong through and touching countless lives for HIS honor and glory:
Without question, this hymn has touched more hearts and influenced more people for Christ than any other
song ever written. The text was born within the soul of an invalid woman who wrote these words out of intense
feelings of uselessness and despair.
Charlotte Elliott was born in Clapham, England, on March 18, 1789. As a young person she lived a carefree
life, gaining popularity as a portrait artist and writer of humorous verse. By the time she was thirty, however,
her health began to fail rapidly, and soon she became a bedridden invalid for the remaining years of her life.
With her failing health came great feelings of despondency. In 1822 a noted Swiss evangelist, Dr. Caesar
Malan, visited the Elliott home in Brighton, England. His visit proved to be a turning point in Charlotte's life. In
counseling Miss Elliott about her spiritual and emotional problems, Dr. Malan impressed upon her this truth,
"You must come just as you are, a sinner, to the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world."
She never forgot the words of her friend, for they form the very essence of this hymn.
Though Charlotte Elliott lived to be eighty-two years of age, she never regained normal health, and she often
endured seasons of great physical suffering. Of her own afflictions she once wrote,
"He knows, and He alone, what it is, day after day, hour after hour, to fight against bodily feelings of almost
overpowering weakness, languor and exhaustion, to resolve not to yield to slothfulness, depression and
instability, such as the body causes me to long to indulge, but to rise every morning determined to take for my
motto, 'If a man will come after Me, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow Me.'"
Another time she wrote,
"God sees, God guides, God guards me. His grace surrounds me, and His voice continually bids me to be
happy and holy in His service just where I am."
Miss Elliott wrote the text for "Just As I Am" in 1836. It was published that same year in the second edition of
The Invalid's Hymn Book, a collection which contained 115 of her original works. She wrote this hymn with the
desire that it might aid financially in building a school for the children of poor clergymen that her own pastor
brother was trying to build in Brighton, England. Miss Elliott felt so helpless in her desire to aid the parishioners
in this worthy project. Interestingly enough, this one hymn from the pen of the clergyman's invalid sister
brought in more funds than all of his bazaars and projects combined. The brother himself has left these words,
"In the course of a long ministry, I hope to have been permitted to see some fruit of my labors; but I feel more
has been done by a single hymn of my sister's."
Wow....i can sure relate to her story. I have suffered from a "thorn in the flesh" since my son was 8 months old. GOD knows i have been a weak mom, and continue to be. HE has been faithful to be strong in my weaknesses..."My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." II Cor. 12:9
Just read these words from the One Year Book of CHRISTian History about another weak Mom that GOD used mightily:
"GOD often uses the weak and infirm in mighty ways."
Elizabeth Payson Prentiss was born in 1818 in Portland, Maine, where her father, Edward Payson, served as a pastor. Edward, a godly man, was frail throughout his lie, and Elizabeth inherited his physical weakness. She was frequently an invalid and almost never without pain.
When Elizabeth was twenty-one, she began to realize that in spite of her CHRISTian home she herself was not a believer. Her realization of her sin became more and more intense. Then she heard a sermon on CHRISt's ability to "save to the uttermost." Affected deeply, she later wrote, "While listening to it my weary soul rested itself, and i thought, "surely it cannot be wrong to think of the SAVIOR, although HE is not mine." With this conclusion I gave myself up to admire, to love and to praise HIM, to wonder why I had never done so before, and to hope that all the great congregation around me were joining with me in acknowledging HIM to be chief among ten thousand and the ONE ALTOGETHER LOVELY." On her way home from church she could hardly believe the peace she was experiencing, which was so unlike the negative emotions that had long troubled her soul.
In 1845 she married George L. Prentiss, a Presbyterian pastor. Six years later the family moved to New York City with their two children. soon thereafter their son died, and the following year Elizabeth gave birth to their third child, who also died rather suddenly.
One night as the grief-stricken parents returned from visiting the graves of their children, Elizabeth's emotions reached the breaking point. In despair she cried to her husband, "Our home is broken up, our lives wrecked, our hopes shattered, our dreams dissolved."
Her husband's wise counsel to her was, "But it is in times like these that GOD loves us all the more, just as we love our own children more when they are sick or troubled in distress."
Elizabeth immediately took her Bible and began reading. Then she searched her hymnal for comfort. She came to "Nearer My GOD to Thee." As she meditated on the words of the hymn and on the words her husband had shared with her, she began composing a poem in the same metrical pattern as "Nearer My GOD to Thee."
Elizabeth went on to write many poems, publishing a volume containing 123.
Elizabeth Prentiss died on August 13, 1878, in Dorset Vermont. The graveside service closed with the singing of Elizabeth's hymn "More Love to Thee," ending with these words:
Then shall my latest breath
Whisper Thy praise;
This be the parting cry
My heart shall raise;
This still its prayer shall be:
More love, O CHRIST to THEE,
More love to THEE!
You can hear this beautiful song sung here by Fernado Ortego:
May it be all of our hearts and prayers for ourselves, our children, and our loved ones: "More Love to THEE, O CHRIST, more love to THEE."
Thank you for praying for my babies, thank you for praying for my friend Dana as she prays diligently that the LORD will in HIS sovereign will let her keep her baby tomorrow. Please remember our parents in your prayers too and the special needs they have in this season of their lives. Pray that i would be sensitive to their needs, as my role is changing gradually from being a child to the parent to them. Thank you for sharing with me the opportunity to pray for you and your babies....I'm going to close with this powerful quote my dear friend, Wanda, shared with me a few years ago about the power of prayer:
"I strongly suspect that if we saw all the difference even the tiniest of our prayers make, and all the people those little prayers were destined to affect, and all the consequences of those prayers down through the centuries, we would be so paralyzed with awe at the power of prayer that we would be unable to get up off our knees for the rest of our lives."-Peter Kraft, professor at Boston College
Thank you so much for praying....GOD hears, GOD answers, and GOD is changing lives and consequences down through the ages, because you took time to pray.
With all HIS love,
mitzi
"We should never concentrate in thought or prayer on the faults and failings and sins and stumblings of others, but on the power of love of the SAVIOR to heal and to change." Winged Life, Hannah Hurnard
"How good it is to sing praises to our GOD... HE heals the broken hearted and binds up their wounds... Great is our LORD and mighty in power; HIS understanding has no limit." Psalm 147:1, 3,5
"Men ought always to pray and not to faint." Luke 18:1
"He Knows My Name"
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