"I Have Come By the Way of the Cross"

JESUS answered, "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through ME."
John 14:6

Dear Friends
Last Sunday evening, Hannah Beth and i got dressed and ready to go see our friends the Greene's (www.thegreenesgospel.com) sing over at Underwood Baptist Church in Florence, Al. The drive was only about an hour from our house, and except for not having directions how to get there, i was really eager to get on the road and see them. John Mac had to do a repair job on the computer so we couldn't "google" the directions before we left. Thankfully, HB was able to get the address up on her phone (oh the miracle of technology) and with a quick call, we were able to get directions to the church. HB slept most of the way over, after having her friend Tab spend the weekend, so it was a quiet drive for me on the way over. The directions were great, and with a little assistance from HB, we made it to the church with 20 minutes to spare.
Underwood Baptist was packed when we arrived, including the balcony,and thankfully we found a seat right up front on the second row. The lady who sat beside us introduced herself and was so friendly and made us feel right at home, and i did...it's amazing how you can not know folks, and yet because you're one in the body of CHRIST, you are family and you are loved. After a few minutes, i caught my first sight of Tony Greene limping in, from gout, i think. He was limping the worst i'd ever seen, and he looked the tiredest i've ever seen him. They had been on the road for 10 days, and driven from Atlanta that morning where they sang at First Baptist Atlanta. This was their last stop before heading back home to Charlotte, NC for a few days rest before they headed out again. The service started and we sang along with the large choir up front, and had a time of greeting one another. Then it was time for the Greene's to sing. As ya'll know, we have been blessed to hear them sing many, many times now over the past 5 or 6 years we've come to know them, and always the LORD JESUS is lifted up and exalted and our hearts are encouraged in CHRIST.
When the Greene's got up to sing, Tony's tiredness seemed to disappear, and they sang "Miracle in Me," a song that became very special to me when their brother Tim was singing with them. As many of you know, Tim and i met at the clinic where he was being treated for mold exposure and me for pesticide poisoning. Tim couldn't walk and almost died before the LORD led him to the Environmental Health Center in Dallas, Texas for help several years ago. Now, Tim is pastoring a church in Calabash, North Carolina, along with serving the LORD in other ways, with his dear wife Amy and their two girls, Brittany and Brooklyn. Tim is not able to be on the road with the Greene's, for the same reasons i have trouble traveling, but GOD had a plan and has raised up some wonderful replacements for Tim through the years. HE has shown Tony and Taranda that HE is faithful to supply all their needs. As Tony and Taranda and Paul, Tim's replacement, sang "Miracle in Me," my mind always goes back to the miracle that CHRIST brought forth in my life...the miracle of when HE called me to be HIS child, when HE drew me to an altar at Central Baptist Church in Decatur, AL, and by HIS grace, I surrendered my life to HIM...that was the beginning of my "Miracle in Me." My journey continues each and every day, and CHRIST becomes more and more real to me through the twists and turns of this life...especially in the "dark nights of my soul."
I had been listening to the Greene's on my ipod at home last week, getting "primed" for the concert. They sang two songs at the concert Sunday night that had really spoken to me as i listened to them earlier in the week. When Tony started sharing about their friends, the Crofts, who had almost given up on GOD because of all the trials they had been through, I knew he was about to sing, "I Can't Even Walk Without YOU Holding My Hand." GOD gave the Crofts this song in the midst of their "dark night of the soul," that has encouraged countless believers through the years who were going through desperated struggles, including me. I've used those lyrics more than once in my emails, because GOD continues to teach me that lesson over and over in my life, as i too have learned that "I Can't Even Walk," without HIM holding my hand. As Tony literally hobbled slowly down off the podium holding on to the speaker stand as he limped heavily down the steps to make his way down the aisle to sing...he shared that when he was 18 he looked his parents in the eye and told them he could do things by himself and didn't need them anymore. Not an exact quote, but it was something like that. I could relate to him declaring "his independence." My own declaration was not so blatant, but when the LORD called Johnny and i to be "foreign missionaries," we both were only too thrilled to move away to Ft. Worth Texas, for Johnny to attend seminary and me nursing school and exert our "independence," though his family was very much still helping us out financially. When the LORD called us back to Athens, 5 years later, and i was broken in health, and my husband returned to the family restaurant business instead of full time ministry, it hurt, and it hurt a lot...and it was very humbling. Yet the LORD in HIS graciousness was teaching us humility, dependence on HIM, and that yes, we did indeed need our family, and they needed us...and GOD had a plan for us in Athens, Al. Tony later shared Sunday night that when his Daddy died suddenly a few years ago that he not only lost his Daddy, he lost his best friend in the world. Tony had long ago made his amends with his parents and they faithfully served the LORD as they traveled together as a family singing the gospel until his Dad's health caused him to retire from the road.

That second verse shares...
"I thought I had done a lot on my own,I thought I could make it all alone,
I thought of myself as a mighty big man, But I can't even walk with YOU holding my hand."

Yes...i can relate to that a whole lot Tony Greene and how thankful I am the LORD has graciously shown me that...though it sure did hurt.

Tony, who was born with one kidney and he only discovered that a few years ago, had complete renal failure last summer. He was 39 years old with a 2 month old, and 3 year old at the time. He said when the doctors told him he needed to have surgery so he could take dialysis through a port in his stomach (he is awaiting a kidney transplant from his wife, Taranda, this May), he said he didn't want to do that. He said an old country preacher whispered in his ear, this may have taken you by surprise Tony, but GOD isn't panicked up in heaven. Tony shared that after that, he told the LORD if the LORD could bring more glory to HIMself through Tony having to take dialysis four times a day (and he does that on the bus when they travel), that he would surrender to that. As one who has followed the Greene's for the past several years, i can tell you, HE is bringing more glory to HIMself through Tony's suffering...and it's always when the Greene's are going through difficult times that CHRIST is the most powerful through them, just as it's true in my life and yours.

They sang another song that has been ministering to me called, "GOD DID," that Phil Cross wrote. In that song, i am reminded that GOD did it all to save me:
"The teacher could not move me to understand, the preacher could not reach me to take my hand,
Who came when i was caught to rescue me, who looked beyond my fault and saw my need...GOD Did."

Wow, how many teachers and preachers had i listened to before GOD rescued me and opened my eyes up to who HE is and gave me understanding and forgave me of my sins? GOD did it all for me, and HE does it all for each one of us whom HE has called and chosen to be HIS own..."For it is by free grace (GOD's unmerited favor) that you are saved (delivered from judgment and made partakers of CHRIST's salvation) through [your] faith. And this [salvation] is not of yourselves-of your own doing, it came not through your own striving-but it is the gift of GOD. Ephesians 2:8 Amplified.
Taranda, Tony's wife, who CHRIST just keeps making her more and more powerful as she sings, and HE is so powerful through her, sang a song I had never heard before called, "I Have Come by the Way of the Cross." I'm sorry i don't know who wrote it, i wasn't able to find out that information, but it told the story of the Cross from the perspective of the thief who hung beside JESUS on the Cross. That song touched all of our hearts... and brought the crowd to our feet for a standing ovation for the LORD. I knew it was powerful when i heard it, but it wasn't until later that i was listening to it on the way home with Hannah Beth that the words really started sinking in...

"I Have Come By the Way of the Cross"

"Condemdemned to die on a cross for crimes he had done,
He was guilty everyone could see,
But his destiny was changed when he looked at CHRIST and said,
When your kingdom comes remember me."
In paradise that day he stood just like the LORD said that he would
Surrounded by those who had gone before.
And one said, "Friend how do you come, what are the deeds you have done?"
With tears in his eyes I can hear him reply:

"There are no merits to my name, no works that i can claim,
HE who brought me here told me to say...
"I have come by the way of the cross, I have come by the way of the cross...
It is nothing i have done, it is the suffering of GOD's SON... I have come by the way of the cross."

I had nothing to claim but my guilt and my shame
Hopelessly lost i could not find my way
Then HIS glorious light of love shown down on me
HIS mercy washed all my sin away
And what HE did for me that day,
Was a price i know HE paid
And by HIS grace I too can say....forever say...

"I have come by the way of the cross
I have come by the way of the cross
It is nothing i have done
It is the suffering of GOD's Son
I have come by the way...

I see millions gathered round the throne from every kindred and tongue
Those redeemed by the blood of the LAMB
And as they cast their crowns down at HIS feet this will be their story,
This will be their song...

"We have come by the way of the Cross, we have come by the way of the Cross,"
It is nothing we have done, it is the suffering of GOD's Son
We have come by the way, we have come by the way, we have come by the way...
Of the Cross, by the old rugged Cross, by the Cross, by the old Rugged Cross, by the Cross!

Last week, i shared my "Cardboard Testimony" with you that i used to glory in my abilities, and believe me i still do at times. GOD has graciously given me a "thorn in the flesh" through my infirmities to remind me , that "I Can't Even Walk " Without Him Holding my Hand...and from time to time HE lets me bite the dust. It is then HE whispers to me that "HIS grace is sufficient for me and HIS power is made perfect in my weakness. Therefore I will gladly boast in my weaknesses that the power of CHRIST may rest on me." II Cor. 12:9,10. GOD has used the Greene's to be a living demonstration of this verse in my life since i met them...because i can see and feel HIS power in their weakness.


Tony and Taranda, in humility, both share their weaknesses, and don't try to hide them and GOD gets the glory. When the Greene's suffer, you can count on this... GOD is going to save more souls, and more folks are going to be encouraged and strengthened through the ministry GOD has called them to, to encourage the saints and share the gospel of JESUS CHRIST wherever they go. GOD throws in some extra perks along the way, like Taranda being "Favorite Female Vocalist" in 2007, along with a number one song, "Sky Full of Angels, " and blessing them with two beautiful little girls, Belle and Josie, when the doctors told them they could never have children. He does that for the Greene's, and encourages them, and rewards them with HIS loving kindness and HE does that for me and you...HIS mercies are new every morning and along with the struggles comes HIS "sweetness," and HIS favor if we will but look for it in the midst of the hard times. Tony shared that HE has never walked as close to the LORD as HE has this year since HE had his surgery and has been taking dialysis four times a day...the "sweetness of the LORD," to reveal HIMself in the hard struggles and that's what HE does over and over and over for you and me.

"The mark of rank in nature
Is capacity for pain;
And the anquish of the singer
Makes the sweetness of the strain."
-Streams in the Desert, Jan 21


As i shared that "Cardboard Testimony," last week, i realized that i hadn't shared my salvation testimony with you, ... i shared more how GOD has dealt with me since HE rescued me from my sin. "I Have Come By the Way of the Cross...it is nothing i have done, it's through the suffering of GOD's Son" is my salvation testimony, and though i tried many times to pray my way in by responding to altar calls, and going up during countless invitations...I came away the same person. I wasn't "born again," (John 3:3) or a "new creature" in CHRIST (ll Cor. 5:17) and i was still lost in my sin, "condemned to die," until CHRIST saved me by HIS grace, HIS amazing grace...and brought me in "By the Way of the Cross." I can't tell you exactly how it happened...i just know that "GOD Did it all for me." How thankful i am to HIM for paying my debt for my sin on the Cross of Calvary and bringing me to HIM, "by the Way of the Cross."
As i mentioned above, HB and i were eager to go see the Greene's but not having the directions to the church made me a little apprehensive about starting out on our journey and unsure of our destination. I had a general idea of how to get there but not exactly. What a blessing it was when one of the church members answered the phone at Underwood Baptist and told me the way to come. I'm sure there were many ways to get to Underwood Baptist Church...but there is only ONE way to receive forgiveness for our sins, have a personal relationship with JESUS CHRIST and live in heaven with HIM and our brothers and sisters in CHRIST forever. Many have a general knowledge of how to get to heaven, but unlike Underwood Baptist Church, there is only one way to the FATHER and that way, is through HIS SON, JESUS CHRIST, "by the Way of the Cross," John 14:6. "For GOD so greatly loved and dearly prized the world that HE [even] gave up HIS only-begotten (unique) SON, so that whoever believes in (trusts, clings to, relies on) HIM shall not perish-come to destruction, be lost-but have eternal (everlasting) life. John 3:16 Amplified. May we be ever be diligent to tell others how they too can know JESUS CHRIST as their LORD and SAVIOR and spend eternity with HIM...sharing faithfully, "I Have Come By the Way of the Cross."

With all HIS love,
mitzi


"For CHRIST, the Messiah, sent me out not to baptize but to (evangelize by) preaching the glad tidings (the Gospel); and that not with verbal eloquence, lest the cross of CHRIST should be deprived of force and emptied of its power and rendered vain-fruitless, void of value and of no effect.
For the story and message of the cross is sheer absurdity and folly to those who are perishing and on their way to perdition, but to us who are being saved it is the [manifestaton of] the power of GOD.
For it is written, I will baffle and render useless and destroy the learning of the learned and the philosophy of the philosophers and the cleverness of the clever and the discernment of the discerning, I will frustrate and nullify [them] and bring [them] to nothing. [Isaiah 29:14].
Where is the wise man-the philospher? Where is the scribe-the scholar? Where is the investigator-the logician, the debater-of this present time and age? Has not GOD shown up the nonsense and the folly of this world's wisdom?
For when the world with all its earthly wisdom failed to perceive and recognize and know GOD by means of its own philosophy, GOD in HIS wisdom was pleased through the foolishness of preaching [of salvation, procured by CHRIST and to be had through HIM], to save those who believed-who clung to and trusted in and relied on HIM."
I Corinthians 1:17-21 Amplified


I have included a video of "By the Way of the Cross," from You Tube. It's not Taranda singing it, but whoever is singing does a beautiful job...to GOD be the glory!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cyZDhk4YfFU&feature=related

"We all have a story..." Part ll

..."Now thanks be unto GOD WHO always leads us forth to triumph with the ANOINTED ONE, and WHO diffuses by us the fragrance of the knowledge of HIM in every place."
2 Corinthians 2:14

Dear Friends,

Wow...how 'bout that Tim Tebow and the Florida Gators-National College Football Champions for the 2nd time in three years! In case you're like me and live "under a rock," part of the time (I'm not so hot at keeping up with current events it seems), Tim is the junior quarterback at the University of Florida, and won the Heisman Trophy last year. Last Thursday night, they played the Oklahoma Sooners for the National Championship, and man, was it a great game. I really enjoyed watching these two teams, very evenly matched, battling it out for the rights to be the best football team in all of college football. All throughout the game were references to Tim Tebow and what a young man of character he was, and how he was born in the Philippines to missionaries. There were enough references that made me really more curious about who this powerhouse of a football player was... and as you women know, we women, like the "real life" story's about folks. I knew Tim was a CHRISTian from what little I have watched him before, and heard our friends, the Radcliffe's, who are Gator fans, talk about him. I was excited when the Gators won and when Tim was interviewed after the game and had his helmet off, I was so impressed with his black stuff under his eyes bearing the witness of John 3:16. My husband said, " Are you just now noticing that?" Yeah.. i was, I'm not the most observant person in the world, and i was so impressed with his bold witness for CHRIST...his courage inspired me to be more of a bold witness for my LORD and SAVIOR. I wasn't disappointed when Tim was handed the microphone during an interview after the game when they were presented with the championship trophy and he gave the glory to his LORD and SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST...yep, think I've become a Gator fan till Tim Tebow graduates!
I looked up Tim on the internet earlier this week and was interested in reading some about "his story."..and that of his family. In fact I've included the website below for you to read yourself and be blessed by what GOD is doing through this young man and his family. I read in a couple of different places that when Tim was a baby his Mother contracted amoebic dysentery, and several doctors encouraged her to get an abortion because of the strong drugs she would have to take to kill the amoeba, and she was very sick and dehydrated. GOD gave Tim's parents the courage and strength not to do what the doctor's suggested, but they prayed and trusted GOD for this little one, the baby of 5 children. GOD knew the plan He had for this young man and though satan is not all knowing like GOD, he sure seemed like he was doing his best to destroy this young man before HE could be used by CHRIST in the way that he is being used- to bring glory to GOD through the platform of football. GOD, as HE always does, won the victory...and what seemed like a life destined for utter defeat before this little one left his Mother's womb, was turned into triumph for our LORD JESUS CHRIST..."Now thanks be unto GOD WHO always leads us forth to triumph with the ANOINTED ONE, and WHO diffuses by us the fragrance of the knowledge of HIM in every place." 2 Corinthians 2:14. Wow, when you watch Tim, and start reading about his parent's and his family's life, you know that CHRIST is using them to share the fragrance of the knowledge of CHRIST in every place including the "platform of the football arena."
One of the things that I read about Tim is that his priorities in life are 1) JESUS CHRIST 2) His family 3) His education and 4) Football. It's pretty clear that when you examine this young man's life that he glories, not in accomplishments in football, but in HIS LORD and SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST. His Mom and Dad have prayed for him and raised him up in the nurture of a loving CHRISTian family, but only GOD could give Tim a new heart and put HIS HOLY SPIRIT inside of him to be as passionate about CHRIST that he is...you just can't teach that or fake that...it has to come from CHRIST and a living and personal relationship with JESUS CHRIST. Jeremiah 9:23,24 reminds me of what GOD says we should glory in...that we understand and know HIM instead of glorying in our wisdom, our might, or our riches. It all comes from GOD whatever we have to glory in...the talents that HE gives us are all from HIM, and HE provides the resources to develop those talents and HE is the one who blesses us with strength and riches. "Thus says the LORD: "Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, let not the mighty man glory in his might, nor let the rich man glory in his riches, but let him who glories glory in this that he understands and knows ME, that I am the LORD, exercising lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth. For in these I delight," says the LORD.


What a refreshing story is Tim Tebow and his family in this day and time of self glory every where we turn. What an inspiring story! I hope you'll take time to read this little clip about him and his family, and watch the video of his mission trip to the Philippine's last year...and like me, you just may become a Gator fan since Tim's sticking around for his senior year instead of going pro. http://beyondtheultimate.org/athletes/Tim-Tebow.aspx?gclid=CMPF8K3VjpgCFRKAxgodjj05Og

I didn't really mean to have a second part when i wrote that last week about "We All Have a Story..." but throughout the course of this week, I've been continuing to think about the stories that GOD writes in and through all of our lives. The things that seem to be most adverse, difficult, unfriendly and unfavorable are the very things HE is using to write the chapters that bring HIM the most glory, us the most good, and that HE uses to encourage and strengthen others hearts and lead them to a saving relationship in JESUS CHRIST.

You know i have written a lot about my sickness in these emails, because, well, it's a BIG part of my story. Not the chapters I would have chosen to include in my story...I would much rather have gloried in my "might" a few years ago and the accomplishments GOD has blessed to give in my life. But it's through my story of sickness that GOD has chosen to make me weak, that "CHRIST's power might rest upon me," II Cor. 12:10. For the past 10 years GOD has poured out HIS grace upon me through the doctors and staff in Dallas, Texas at the Environmental Health Clinic-(www.ehcd.com) where HE is slowly but surely restoring my health...and then there's heaven:). I had been sick 9 years prior to that time going from doctor to doctor trying to find answers. Praise the LORD for HIS goodness in helping me through our dear doctors, who have suffered with the similar struggles their patients are going through. One day while we sitting in the allergy testing room, waiting our turn to get "stuck," one of the patients said, "You know, Dr. Rea says we should look at our sickness as a gift." And i thought, wow, has he been reading Elisabeth Elliot? That's the same thing she says about suffering, and as I've walked down the road a few years , with a chronic thorn in the flesh, i realize that it has indeed been a gift. I read a devotion from Streams in the Desert while i was out there the very first time, and though it wasn't the right date, it was January 11, and i was there from Easter till the end of May, it was the right devotion for exactly where the LORD JESUS had faithfully led me. The words said,

"Store up comfort. This was the prophet's mission. The world is full of comfortless hearts, and ere thou are sufficient for this lofty ministry, thou must be trained. And thy training is costly in the extreme; for, to render it perfect, thou too must pass through the same afflictions as are wringing countless hearts of tears and blood. Thus thy own life becomes the hospital ward where thou art taught the divine art of comfort. Thou art wounded, that in the binding up of thy wounds by the GREAT PHYSICIAN, thou mayest learn how to render first aid to the wounded everywhere. Dost thou wonder why thou art passing through some special sorrow? Wait till ten years are passed, and thou wilt find many others afflicted as thou art. Thou wilt tell them how thou hast suffered and hast been comforted; then as the tale is unfolded, and the anodynes applied which once thy GOD wrapped around thee, in the eager look and the gleam of hope that shall chase the shadow of despair across the soul, thou shalt know why thou wast afflicted, and bless GOD for the discipline that stored thy life with such a fund of experience and helpfulness.-selected

Well, 10 years down the road, GOD seems to have used my story to help encourage others who are walking along the same path that HE has led me. HE has used my doctors' story's, who suffer with similar type issues, to encourage me and bring help and healing to the patients that HE brings there from literally all over the world. And he has definitely used my fellow patient's, many of you who have become dear friends, to teach me and encourage me along this path. My chapters of "sickness" are not the chapters I would have chosen to write in my story, this sickness i have wrestled with for most of my adult life now, but this is where God has taught me so many lessons of faith, humility, trust, and blessed me with an education that some of the finest medical schools in the land couldn't compare with...just wish i could remember it all:).

Last week, i shared that a dear friend of mine has recently been experiencing a chapter of her story that she never dreamed would be included...that of her husband committing adultery. Please continue to remember this dear family in your prayers. Another friend of mine experienced a similar trial in her marriage several years ago, and GOD brought her and her family through that difficult time "more than conquerors. " This friend was only too willing to reach out to my other friend and be a source of strength and encouragement to her and give her hope that GOD can heal her marriage just as HE has hers, and share with her the valuable lessons she learned in CHRIST as she went through that difficult time...lessons such as hope, unfailing love, perserving prayer, forgiveness and seeing her husband come to know CHRIST and repent of his ways.

Often times, i would say most of the time, our greatest conflicts in life, are the greatest chapters in our stories...those conflicts that leave us wailing on the floor before our Creator, stripped of all our self sufficiency and casting ourselves utterly on HIM for HIS mercy to be poured out upon us. Romans 8:37 says, "In all these things we are more than conquerors through HIM that loved us..." In all these things we are more than conquerors." What were these things...they are tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, peril, sword, and death, as it shares in Romans 8:35. That about covers all the bases...and not only are we "more than conquerors" but as Streams in the Desert shares, this is more than victory, this is a triumph so complete that we have not only escaped defeat and destruction, but we have destroyed our enemies and won a spoil so rich and valuable that we can thank GOD the battle ever came. How can we be "more than conquerors"? We can get out of the conflict a spiritual discipline that will greatly strengthen our faith and establish our spiritual character...our spiritual conflicts are among our choices blessings, and our great adversary is used to train us for his ultimate defeat...so it is possible for us in our spiritual life through the victorious grace of GOD to turn to account the things that seem most unfriendly and unfavorable, and to be able to say continually, "These things that were against me have happened to the furtherance of the gospel."
Streams goes on to say,"...it has been commonly thought that protected ease is the most favorable condition of life, whereas all the noblest and strongest lives prove on the contrary that the endurance of hardship is the making of the men, and the factor that distinguishes between existence and vigorous vitality. Hardship makes character." Streams in the Desert, Jan. 13

I've written a lot here about being "more than conquerors through HIM that loved us," and JESUS CHRIST is the key to our trials crushing us or making us "more than conquerors. " The starting place is a personal relationship with HIM who loves us so much HE gave HIS life on the cross that we might have everlasting life... "For GOD so loved the world that HE gave HIS only SON. Whoever puts his trust in GOD's SON will not be lost but will have life that lasts forever." John 3:16(New Life Version)

My dear friends, the Greenes, www.thegreenesgospel.com , whom i met their brother Tim at the clinic in Texas several years ago while he was being treated for mold poisoning, have a tremendous story of their own. For the past 30 years they have traveled all over this country telling and singing what JESUS CHRIST has done for them in the good times and the very, very hard times, and what CHRIST has done for all of us on the Cross of Calvary. Their lives are like mine and yours full of the grace and mercies of GOD...HE has blessed their socks off in the midst of the most severe suffering...and I've heard them share many times, "they live what they sing." I do love this dear family who is so transparent and shares their victories, their joys, and their sorrows, and sings the gospel of our glorious LORD and SAVIOR week end and week out. This coming Sunday night they will be in our area in Florence, Al at the Underwood Baptist Church at 6:00 p.m. Been listening to a song over and over this week,the Greene's sing that shares why we can be "more than conquerors through him that loved us..." it's all because of the blood of JESUS CHRIST. Tony who is a master story teller, and will have you laughing one minute and crying the next, shares the story that one morning he was going to eat breakfast out at Bojangles there in Boone, NC where they were living at the time, and he found a cassette tape in his mailbox. The cassette was wrapped in a brown paper wrapper with a rubber band around it. Tony shares he didn't think much of it, they were always getting songs people wanted them to sing...but this song, sent to him by a little old lady was written by her daughter i believe, has proven to be one of their most powerful and requested songs throughout their singing careers...a song that has touched my heart over and over as I listened to it through the years-"The Blood Covered it All."

"The Blood Covered It All" by Lucy Hemingway

Have you ever tried to measure one sin
Seeking forgiveness when your heart knows within
Our GOD will not judge us on how big or how small
He just looks for Calvary's blood to cover it all.

Oh the blood, the blood covered it all,
Love has no boundaries, sins debt's paid in full.
JESUS knew in the beginning that man would surely fall
But I'm glad my SAVIOR's precious blood covered it all

Just try to imagine how this miracle took place
Love beyond measure its GOD's amazing grace
Sometimes when I get weary, I might stumble and fall,
But just one drop of HIS precious blood covered it all.



As i close, i wanted to give you another chance to watch the video i shared last week called "Cardboard Testimonies." I've watched this video over and over and it blesses my socks off every time i watch it and think of what my great GOD has done in each of these lives...lives i don't have a clue who they are, but the same GOD who reached down and saved me and loves me and is writing my story is the same one who is doing miracles in their lives. If you didn't get a chance to watch it last week, or just want to be blessed again by our great GOD and HIS lovingkindness and tender mercies...here it is:

http://www.rhchurch.org/pages/cardboard-testimonies/

As i have thought about my own cardboard testimony this week i thought it might go something like this:

Gloried in athletics, academic, spiritual achievements... broken in health.
Now i..."Glory in my weaknesses that CHRIST's power may rest on me."

I'm sorry, i can't write anything short, is seems,...even my "Cardboard Testimony." But we all have a story, a story like Tim Tebow, that GOD wants us to tell to "spread the fragrance of the knowledge of HIM" through our lives in every place. Tell the story that GOD has given you and watch GOD use it to bring glory to HIMself, encourage others, and draw them to our dear LORD and SAVIOR, JESUS CHRIST.

With all HIS love,
Mitzi

"We All Have a Story..."

"Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all HIS benefits, who forgives all your iniquities, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from destruction, who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies."
Psalm 103:2-4

Dear Friends,

It sure does seem like it's been a long time since I've written you. I didn't mean to take a break...it just happened that way. I have missed you and I hope that you and your family had a good CHRISTmas. I know some of you didn't, it was the worse you've ever experienced and if anything i write seems callous, please forgive me. I don't mean to be insensitive to your situation...in fact, it's "for such a time as this" that CHRIST came to bring hope, healing, and forgiveness in the midst of our "darkness nights..." The MIRACLE of CHRISTmas, JESUS CHRIST, sure didn't come into our world in perfect circumstances, though HE was perfect and sinless, but to heal us from our sin, give us hope and grant us HIS peace in the midst of tribulation. If you don't have time to read the whole email this week, please be sure and take time to watch the video below...it sure is powerful and a living testimony of the hope and healing that JESUS CHRIST brings to our "impossible situations." Thank you, Shelia, for sharing it with me.

I've had many thoughts running through my mind these past few weeks and a verse the LORD keeps bringing me back to is the one above-"Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all HIS benefits, who forgives all your iniquities, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from destruction, who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies."
Psalm 103:2-4. One of the highlights of my CHRISTmas season was to take our calendar from this past year, an idea my friend Wanda shared with me, and as a family we sat down and go back through last year's calendar. GOD reminded us of HIS benefits to us that HE has blessed us so lavishly with...like Johnny's hip replacement surgery going well in January, and we all survived his rehab...what a blessing to even remember that several weeks and months before that time, Johnny had gotten where he couldn't walk much, and couldn't sit at the table to enjoy meals with us...what a special blessing to be able to sit at the table together. Benefits like being blessed with plenty, and Johnny being able to work, and GOD sending folks to eat at the restaurant, though the economy is struggling and we had to tighten our belts, but GOD has blessed us with plenty. Benefits like doing the best I've ever done on my allergy shots and not having to return to the clinic in Dallas, TX for retesting for a year and a half...though i do miss seeing my friends out there. This has been my longest time ever not to have to return since I've been going since 1999 and I'm so thankful for GOD using my doctors in Dallas to help me so much. John Mac being picked Most Outstanding Math and Physics Student at the largest community college in Alabama...to GOD be the glory for HIS faithfulness and for the favor HE showed my son. This home school Mom taught him no math probably since the 6th grade,(my brain just doesn't work that way too well anymore) and John Mac did struggle with Math during high school. Just the other day i saw a prayer request that i had jotted down in an old journal, asking the LORD to help my children with their school work, particularly my son in Algebra where he was struggling. That was a few years ago...talk about GOD answering your prayer "exceeding abundantly beyond all i ask or thought," wow! What a benefit from our faithful LORD! GOD has blessed Hannah Beth in so many areas like the rest of us, and she made it through her 1st year of driving without having an accident...Praise the LORD! I managed to back into two cars last year...thankfully, no damage was done to us, just my pride, our car, and the cars behind me...both of them new, sorry Daniel...you sure had a great attitude when i crunched your new sports car. How we thank HIM for the work HE is doing in all of our hearts, not just through the "good" times, but especially the trying times where we grow and depend on HIM the most.

GOD has poured out so many benefits on our family, as HE has yours. Many of those benefits came through you our dear friends, new friends the LORD has so blessed us with this year that was totally unexpected, the Hembree's from Mobile, and our dear homeschool friends from Excalibur and the wonderful time we had together at the Ladies Retreat last year. We drew closer to dear friends at church, and through email (I love hearing from you!), being reacquainted with old friends like the Ezzo's (www.gfi.org) who have encouraged us so much in our parenting. We got to see them in July for the first time in over 10 years, and what a blessing that was to our hearts. What an unexpected blessing the LORD gave us when HE brought the Parkers who ran for Congress and other old friends back into our lives that we knew from the campaign years ago. We were blessed to work and pray hard together on a common goal...and learn the hard lessons that only come with being told "NO" through defeat. Your love as our dear friends and family has been such a tremendous joy and benefit to us in our lives and we thank GOD for you.
Benefits have come my way through lessons CHRIST has taught me while trying to reach out in faith and love to someone who is very dear to me. Through the ups and downs of trying to build this relationship, CHRIST has taught me that HE is my FRIEND that sticks closer than a brother," HE is my LODGE of LOVE, who loves me with HIS everlasting, intimate, and personal love. HE gives me true and lasting peace and joy in the midst of sorrow and heartache. HE is teaching me to have faith in HIM to lead and guide my footsteps especially when my path seems shaky at best and i stumble and fall, to wait on HIM, to love with HIS unconditional love, to pray without ceasing, to forgive...and to marvel at HIS goodness when HE comes crashing through and encourages me along the way that HE is indeed working, and HE will "perfect that which concerns me" Psalm 138:8. All these are done only through HIS benefits, His grace, and the power of HIS HOLY SPIRIT. "For it is GOD who is at work in you to will and to work for HIS good pleasure..."Phil 2:13. That verse sure does bring me peace when i seem to make a mess of things over and over...along with "My grace is sufficient for you for My power is made perfect in weakness." II Cor. 12:9-I think Paul wrote that verse just for me:).

Another dear blessing and benefit from CHRIST is that both sets of our parents are still alive and pretty healthy. We were able to enjoy CHRISTmas with both sides of our families on CHRISTmas Day...thank ya'll Tracy and Cheryl, Drew, Lee and Nicholas for traveling from Texas, and Jill and Dennis, from Florida, and Lizzy from Mississippi, Joe and Marilyn, Dusty from Missouri, and Dallas from Huntsville, and Ralph, Wendy, Daniel, and Melissa from here so that we could all be together. The "white elephant" gifts were a lot of fun, thank you for that suggestion, Tracy...and hope Mom and Dad enjoyed their "gift" for their 61st wedding anniversary New Years Eve:). Praise the LORD for giving our parents the grace to weather the storms of 61 years...and it does take a lot of grace and forgiveness... there's a whole lot of forgiveness in all those years....what a tremendous benefit and special blessing from the LORD.
At our extended family gathering at our Uncle Mickey's I was reminded of another wonderful benefit of last year...that of the LORD saving my Uncle Mick who is in his mid sixties. The whole tone of our gathering was different than in past years, and a whole lot of forgiveness has taken place in our extended family for past offenses that have occurred due to broken relationships. What a blessing it was when Uncle Mick welcomed us all to his house in his gentle way, and invited my Daddy, out of his respect for him, to ask the blessing for the meal. Most of my Daddy's family was there, and lot's of our cousins and Aunt's and Uncle's including my 84 year old Aunt Van, my namesake (my middle name) who keeps a check on my kid's by keeping up with their Facebook...she's something else having her own Facebook at her age! I am thankful that GOD blessed our families on both sides with lots of love and have modeled for us the importance of loving our family's and extended families.

Another benefit and longtime desire of mine that GOD brought to fruition in my life was the opening of a Publix grocery store about a mile down the road from us. For years i have had to order food from a food coop,. Thank you dear Wahl's and Anderson's for your dear friendship and help in this, or travel to Huntsville or Madison to buy organic foods that i can by right down the street now! This may not be a big deal to you, but this was a long time desire of mine to be able to buy healthier food closer to home ...and GOD brought it to fruition. Every time i go in there i just smile and marvel at what GOD has done for me:). Several years ago, it was 'rumored' that Publix was going to build in our area, and for several years nothing happened...until, one day, it was announced in our local paper that Publix was indeed planning to build in an area right down the street from us. GOD reminded me through that long time of delayed desire, that HE is faithful. Though it takes years sometime to bring about HIS plans, "He will accomplish what HE purposes and plans. "The LORD has done what HE purposed, HE has accomplished what HE has planned," Lamentations 2:17. He does that for us and HE puts those desires in our hearts often long years before HE brings them to fruition...in the meantime we are to "delight in HIM." "Delight yourself in the LORD and HE will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the LORD; trust in HIM and HE will do this; HE will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun. Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for HIM; do not fret when men succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes. Refrain from anger and turn from wrath; do not fret-it leads only to evil." Psalm 37:4-8. Praise the LORD...and i do praise HIM for all HIS benefits. I could go on and on, praising my SAVIOR for HIS benefits, bringing us safely through another year, drawing us closer to HIM, and being so faithful in every way to supply all our needs in CHRIST JESUS and so very many of our wants.

The next part of this verse reminds me of what I wrote in the opening paragraph, the benefit of HIM who "forgive all your iniquities." We did have a good CHRISTmas but for me, personally, it was a difficult CHRISTmas in many ways. A few weeks ago, i remembered reading something and praying "LORD show me my sin." Once again HE took me at my word and answered that prayer. A few days before CHRISTmas, Johnny came in and had sold something of his personally to be able to give something special to the kids and me and others for CHRISTmas. He had previously said we weren't going to give each other gifts, and i started "balking" at that and saying he could use some of that money he just got from what he sold to buy me a little something, totally unselfish of me...after all i had already bought him something:). Well, he wouldn't act like he was even considering getting me something, and that didn't sit too well with me...and i let him know it:). Unbeknownst to me, John Mac was gone that very minute to purchase Dad's CHRISTmas gift to me...a new laptop! I felt pretty badly CHRISTmas morning when i opened it and saw what he surprised me with...but that isn't all. CHRISTmas morning, i was having a bad reaction from a shot that wasn't working properly (i think the time is drawing near to go see my friends in Texas:),, but when i opened the computer that Johnny and my family was so excited for me to see, i shortly started crying afterwards, overcome by the chemicals from the new computer, compounded by the reaction from the allergy shot. This didn't make for the reaction Johnny had hoped i would have. In fact, i asked him to take it back, and then some other "expectations" of mine and his were disappointed. I was just having myself a pity party come CHRISTmas morning by 9:00a.m. Yeah, the day started with a bang! I took a walk later on, to cool off, and called my friend Wanda and asked her to pray for me...i was really struggling, and seems like it just came out of nowhere, this CHRISTmas morning gone awry...but i knew where it came from, our "Adversary, the devil prowls about like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour... I Peter 5:8." He seeks to devour those who love CHRIST and serve HIM...your family and mine. I know that the devil doesn't have to be around for me to sin...I can do it all on my own, but just seemed like there was a little extra going on that morning and throughout the CHRISTmas season in my life and some of yours. Wanda and I didn't talk long, but she prayed for me, and i can tell you by the time i was on my way home, walking out in the woods and field, the LORD had me on my knees, with a shout of joy in my heart, praising HIM. Talk about a fast answer to prayer, HE completely changed my attitude, and i decided to keep the computer, it would eventually air out, and ask forgiveness for my behavior from my family and the LORD. CHRISTmas Day went a whole lot better from that point on. What a blessing it is that my family forgave me all because of what CHRIST has done for us on the Cross...and i forgave them too:). Seeing my husband sacrifice something of his personally,(he does everyday as he goes to work to provide for our family), to be able to "provide" a good CHRISTmas for his family really touched my heart with the depth of his love for us. It was to me truly a picture of CHRIST's love for us...and reminded me of what GOD sacrificed for us, HIS Son, that we could have forgiveness of our sins and eternal life. "For GOD so loved the world that HE gave HIS only begotten Son that whosoever believes in HIM should not perish but have everlasting life." John 3:16

I remember thinking CHRISTmas day when i was wallowing in my self pity, that CHRIST was showing me how much i need a SAVIOR, the very thing we were celebrating that day...the birth of our dear LORD and SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST. If i don't realize what a sinner i am, then how can i be truly grateful for the gift that is mine in CHRIST JESUS, the gift of forgiveness for my sins,? How can I forgive others when they trespass against me, if I haven't experienced the forgiveness that CHRIST has imparted to me through HIS gift of salvation? How i thank the LORD for teaching me these lessons in a more real way over the CHRISTmas holidays. Those weren't the only turbulences over the holidays...there continued to be more opportunities to practice forgiveness and be forgiven with a close relative... we had some heated words over some past offenses (there are reason's the Bible warns us not to let the sun go down on our anger, Ephesians 4:26. Keeping anger in our hearts allows a "root of bitterness" to take root, grow in our hearts, causing trouble and defiling many...as it shares in Heb. 12:15. Well, i saw that up close and in person in my own heart, as i had been letting some seeds of bitterness take root and grow for several months. Thankfully, there was later restoration in our relationship through forgiving one another. If that wasn't enough lessons for me in the forgiveness department, i deeply offended another person that I dearly love by doing something they asked me not to do... so yes, it was a tough CHRISTmas for me in many ways. Yes, i am so thankful the LORD JESUS, through the price HE paid on Calvary, forgives all my iniquities and gives us the grace to extend forgiveness and be forgiven by those we've offended...what blessed benefits are ours in CHRIST JESUS.



The part about healing all our diseases...what a blessing that is to me. I know this, that CHRIST has healed my sin disease completely, and though i still sin each and every day, and need a "foot washing" for those sins to restore fellowship with HIM and those i sin against, all my sins are covered under the precious blood of our LORD and SAVIOR JESUS forever and ever. When CHRIST looks at me, HE sees me covered in HIS robe of righteousness, not the filthy wicked heart i once had before HE gave me a new heart. As far as my physical diseases, wow HE has brought me through a lot, a whole lot...and you've read some of it here. How i thank HIM and praise HIM for healing me from "fibromyalgia," scarlet fever, arthritic pain all over my body that i couldn't hold Hannah Beth very much as an infant (thankfully she didn't seem to want to be held then, and saved her snuggling for these later years-Praise the LORD!), Candida , adrenal fatigue, thyroid issues, pesticide poisoning, just to name a few things the LORD has been healing me from...wow! Just waiting on that parasite healing:)... As i was reading John MacArthur's comments on this verse, he reminded me that ultimately all GOD's children will be healed for all eternity from whatever we suffer from here on earth, because HIS children are going to be made completely whole in heaven...that's another benefit of being in CHRIST. In the meantime, i praise the LORD for the benefits HE has taught me through my diseases, humility, education, faith, patience, an opportunity to reach out to others, and HIS faithfulness to deliver me using some wonderful doctors, that i love dearly. They have paid a huge price to be able to share the knowledge they have learned from their own sufferings and bring healing to their patients who couldn't find answers anywhere else. Thank you so much for praying for Dr. Rea and the other doctors at the clinic that are filling in for him and for his recovery from his surgery last week. He came through his surgery well, and hopefully is home by now.

"Who redeems your life from destruction..." I've often thought about what would my life have been like if GOD hadn't rescued me from the sin i was living in and saved me at 19? What if Johnny and I, two unbelievers, had married? Pretty sure that marriage wouldn't have lasted very long. What about temptations CHRIST has saved me from, and rescued me from through the years? Thank you, LORD JESUS for redeeming me from the destruction of a life lived apart from CHRIST. Thank you for the trials you have placed in our way to hem us in, for moving us, for rescuing us from perilous situations, and those are just the things we know about...thank you for redeeming us from the destruction of everlasting hell, fiery flames, and living apart from YOU. Oh dear FATHER, open the eyes of those who might be reading this who don't know YOU. Draw them too you with YOUR love and HOLY SPIRIT and open their eyes to WHO YOU ARE...JESUS CHRIST our LORD and SAVIOR.

"Who crowns you with loving kindness and tender mercies..." wow, i could write a book on each one of these verses alone... I was thinking earlier this week as I was doing a follow up on some "female" stuff at the doctor's office, how good and kind the LORD has been to allow me not to have any complications on some "female" issues my doctor has been so diligent to follow up on throughout last year. This week as I went to a breast surgeon, he pretty much gave me a great report, and I am so thankful. As i checked off stuff on the form you fill out when you're a new patient, I realized, I have a lot going for me on "normal" stuff, no big health issues there-Praise the LORD for HIS lovingkindness...HE knows exactly what we need in our lives to grow us closer to HIM.
I thank the LORD for HIS loving kindness that draws me so close to HIM through my hard times, through HIS loving comfort and care and concern, for HIS tender mercies when i deserve punishment. Loving kindness and tender mercies, HE crowns us with them day after day after day after day...especially through our most darkest, worst trials we could imagine...HE crowns us with loving kindness and tender mercies. A dear, dear friend of mine called this week and told me her husband was having an affair and had left her and her family, a week before CHRISTmas...i am so ashamed for my small turbulences I've complained about. Never in a million years would anyone have thought this family would experience this trial in their family...just not a chapter they expected to include in their story. Strong CHRISTian family, leaders, loving, home school, just a great family...and yet, we all have feet of clay and but for the grace of GOD, there go I..."i was at a loss of words for my friend, she knows all the right words...but this hasn't caught GOD off guard or by surprise, and in the midst of these difficult and dark days of their lives, my friend's life and her family's will be crowned with GOD's loving kindness and tender mercies...the kind that is only experienced "in the dark night of the soul." Please remember this dear family in your prayers for GOD's healing and restoration...HE's still writing their story and ours.

HE does it all that's for sure... and deserves all of our Praise..."Bless the LORD O my soul, and all that is within me, bless HIS holy name! Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all HIS benefits; who forgives all your iniquities, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from destruction, who crowns you with loving kindness and tender mercies."-Psalm 103:1-4

Sheila Heil forwarded me the video below, "Cardboard Testimonies." She said it had made more of an impact on her than anything in a long time. Some of you know Sheila's husband, Paul, from the Gospel Greats Radio show (www.thegospelgreats.com). When Shelia speaks, I listen. She, along with her husband Paul, faithfully serve the LORD through their family, their church, their community, and the world wide ministry that GOD has blessed them with of sharing gospel music through their weekly radio show. GOD has used Paul's gifts in radio broadcasting and teaching the Word and Shelia's gifts in service and administration to shares the good news of JESUS CHRIST through Gospel music and the testimonies of the gospel singers. Week after week, Paul and Shelia are faithful to "tell the story " of JESUS through Gospel songs and what HE is doing in the lives of these gospel singers.
As I watched the video Shelia shared with me, these "cardboard testimonies" reminded me over and over what CHRIST is doing not only in my family's lives, but the lives of HIS children all over...how HE forgives our iniquities, heals our diseases, redeems our lives from destruction and crowns us with HIS lovingkindness and tender mercies...this is the GOD that we serve...Alleluia! Alleluia! Praise HIS name! We all have a story, and GOD wants us to tell that story of what HE is doing through our lives, to bless HIM, and forget not all HIS benefits! I would love to hear your story of what CHRIST has and is doing in your life. Your story encourages me and gives me strength and increases my faith in our great GOD. Perhaps, like Paul and Shelia, i could pass your story along to others and encourage many hearts. Thank you so much for honoring me by taking time to read these emails and sharing what CHRIST is doing in your life...to GOD be the glory!

http://www.rhchurch.org/pages/cardboard-testimonies/


With all HIS love,
Mitzi


"Thanksgiving or complaining-these words express two contrastive attitudes for the souls of GOD's children in regard to HIS dealings with them. The soul that gives thanks can find comfort in everything; the soul that complains can find comfort in nothing." Hannah Whitall Smith

" It is only with gratitude that life becomes rich." Dietrich Bonhoeffer

"A child of GOD should be a visible beatitude for happiness and a living doxology for gratitude." C.H. Spurgeon

"The words "thank" and "think" come from the same root word. If we would think more, we would thank more." Warren Wiersbe

-quotes taken from CHRISTmas Treasures



Please remember my sister in law, Marilyn, who is in Japan on a mission trip, and my brother, Joe, who is home "alone." Thanks, Joe, for being such a faithful reader of these emails and dear encourager to my heart.

Go Gators!!!

No Cabin for a Bed

"And she brought forth her firstborn SON, and wrapped HIM in swaddling cloths, and laid HIM in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn." Luke 2:7


Dear Friends,

Last week, Hannah Beth and I were blessed to spend the week up in Gatlinburg. Our friends, the Hembree's, invited our family to stay in the amazingly beautiful 3 story cabin they were renting. I know some of you must be thinking, every time you read these emails I'm in Gatlinburg...well, I have been blessed to go several times this fall, that's for sure. We ate at several really scrumptious restaurants we haven't eaten at before...and getting on the scales to weigh this morning reflected that...ugh, and we went to several shows we'd never seen like "The Miracle," a show about the life of JESUS, the Blackwood Brothers and "the Black Bear Jamboree." Hannah Beth ice skated with our friends up at Ober Gatlinburg and went to "Wonder Works," a "souped up" hands on science museum that had laser tag, rock climbing, and a bunch of other neat stuff. I made it to Dollywood, in my long johns, and warm clothes, and a rain coat, to see the beautiful CHRISTmas lights (the old white church decorated with hanging greens and white CHRISTmas lights was my favorite), ride the train through the cold, dark mountain, and shop a little, for an hour and a half before they closed due to ice and snow moving in. We shopped in Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg where the streets were decorated with snowflakes going up and down the poles, and all decked out in ribbon and lights for CHRISTmas. We went in art stores I've never been in, but I sure was blessed by the artwork of JESUS and scenes from the Bible and nature scene. We hit a bunch of shops I've never been...honestly, they hit a bunch of stores, and i waited outside most of them, i had had my chemical fill from the cabin, and was trying to survive. We did manage to squeeze in a trip to Greenbrier Thursday morning in the rain. Greenbrier is one of the most peaceful and picturesque areas of the Smokies, with it's beautiful waterfalls, the highest one in the park is there, and I've never had the opportunity to hike up to it yet, hiking trails with the rhodenderon and mountain laurels blooming in the spring, and the Little Pigeon River running through it. Riding through there, getting out on the walking bridge and setting foot on the Ramsey Cascades trail, gave me my nature fix. It was just the therapy i needed...I'm not a shopper by nature, and was longing to get out in the woods all week. We saw kayakers taking advantage of the rapids in the Little Pigeon River and I sure did envy them playing in the water. We watched as the water billowed over the huge rocks like I've never seen before due to the torrential rain the LORD was blessing us with most of the week. The rain was a great blessing from the LORD, a couple of years ago we were there and the rivers were almost dried up due to the drought.

Before anyone might be tempted to get envious... I wanted to show you a side of my traveling that is not so glamorous, but it does draw me closer to the LORD, and causes me to lean on HIM while HE takes us to these wonderful places, and we get to be with dear friends. I was a bit apprehensive about this trip because when we travel, we usually stay where it's "semi-safe" for me if we can. What i mean by that is GOD has allowed my body to have a "detox" system that is missing a few genes, or they're damaged, and I don't process chemicals too well. We usually try to stay at a place that is not too smelly with fragrances, or not too new-formaldehyde, paints, etc, etc. etc...but that doesn't always happen and sometimes i just end up sleeping in the car, on the balcony, on the deck, porch, I've done them all. On this trip, our friends were gracious enough to invite us to stay in the beautiful, 3 story cabin that slept 36, on the ridge of a mountain just outside of Gatlinburg they rented for the week. It was absolutely gorgeous, the most beautiful cabin we've ever stayed in and I immediately thought of the different "LODGE's of LOVE" that I've been writing about the past few weeks as soon as we saw the place....wow.

When we walked inside the spacious living area with the huge fireplace (it had 3) and large kitchen and dining area on the first floor, i knew that i was in trouble...I could smell "new." I thought it was formaldehyde, but Mr. Hembree said he smelled the varnish on the logs, and they sure were shiny...and they were all over the place. They showed us around the cabin, which sure was more like a "Lodge" instead of "Little House on the Prairie." They took us downstairs where mine and HB's bedroom was...it had two large bunk beds made out of logs, and a double or queen size bed, and a love seat all in the bedroom. Our bathroom adjoined Emily Hembree's bathroom and it was really nice...but i knew i was going to have trouble staying in there. At first i thought i might try staying in Emily's room, they were so gracious to offer whatever i needed. Her room had a door to the outside, but i knew i wasn't going to be able to stay in there to sleep...it was just to "new." We got settled in and i opened a window in the bedroom and that really helped a ton. When it got to be bedtime, I did what I've often done on our "road trips," and i left the family inside, and bedded down in my sleeping bag in my car. It was very comfortable, on my middle seat, and thankfully it wasn't cold...that's what i was afraid of. One year we stayed in Gatlinburg during Dec. celebrating Hannah Beth's 13 birthday and we were staying in our camper that we no longer have:). I couldn't sleep inside the camper, (the heater was putting out a bunch of dust), and I slept outside in the van in 15 degree weather...and about froze to death. Thankfully, i slept pretty well that first night, and enjoyed the coziness of my car and spending time with the LORD reading my Bible and praying early the next morning. After getting up and getting ready for the day, we hung out inside the den are...with the door opened, and visited, and the kids played their guitars, and i pecked around on my mandolin, while Linda Hembree played the keyboard...they all are the true musicians while i struggle to play simply by ear. It was a lot of fun playing "Away in a Manger," "How Deep the Father's Love for Us," and some other tunes...but it wasn't too wise on my part to hang out inside. Later on, we went to eat lunch,seems like we were always eating or going to eat, and then walked around a little shopping area and looked at the really neat artwork I told you about earlier. That evening is when we went to see the show "The Miracle." We had a little bit of trouble managing our time...and were only 30 minutes late, after eating pizza up in Gatlinburg...we just missed the live animals for the nativity scene...no big deal:). It was really a good show, and i highly recommend it, and all the shows we went to...JESUS was truly lifted up in each one.

After the show, it was getting late, 10:00p.m. their time, I decided to go and sauna ( to get the chemicals out of me) where i usually do when we stay in Gatlinburg, and Hannah Beth rode home with the Hembree's. Where i sauna is on the mountain behind the main drag in Gatlinburg and you drive up Ski Mountain Rd to get there. Pretty curvy, but not too bad of a drive. I sauna at Highland Condominium's inside by their pool and the view of the mountains is gorgeous from there. They gave me permission years ago, so i just go in do my thing, and I'm out of there... it's really nice during the day, with the beautiful view, but this night it was dark, it was late, after 11:00 a.m. and when i got through saunaing and taking a shower, it was beginning to rain. I called HB to let her know i was leaving cause i didn't want them to be worried. Her voice mail answered and i left a message. As i started driving back down the mountain, it started dawning on me that i wasn't exactly sure how to get back to the cabin we were staying in...i had only driven there once or twice before, once at night, and once that day, and i was always following someone else. As i drove through the streets of Gatlinburg, and headed out Hwy 321 toward the cabin, i started praying, " LORD please help me find the little road sign that showed me where to turn off," and thankfully HE did. That was one hurdle...the cabin we were staying in was about a mile and a quarter up the mountain, and it sure was dark and curvy and i was driving slowly through the misting rain. I did pretty well until i got further on up, and it started looking unfamiliar. I backed up and decided to turn up "Antler Ridge Road" or something like that and it didn't look familiar in the dark...but it did look narrow, and it did look curvy, and it did look high up on the edge of that ridge. My "fear of heights," started kicking in and i started getting a little panicky. I was praying, "Hannah Beth, please answer the phone, cause i was lost, it was dark, and i had no way of finding them if she didn't answer her phone except to hunt and peck...and pray. I dialed her number and thank the LORD, she answered! Five minutes before that, Linda Hembree had suggested to Hannah Beth to keep her phone nearby just in case i called and thank the LORD HE was taking care of me. HE always does, sometimes i just have a little doubt:). HB put Josh, the Hembree's son, on the phone, and he started trying to tell me what to do...though he wasn't sure where i was, it was just comforting to hear their voices on the other end. As Josh held on and i got turned around off that narrow mountain road, and started easing back down, the phone started beeping and the battery was running out..for a brief moment i thought, "Oh no," and about that time, i turned on the road that led to our cabin, and it wasn't long before i was pulling into that big "LODGE of LOVE." I have never been so glad to be back to a "new" smelly place with familiar faces in my life. It was really scary out there in the dark, rainy night, on a mountain ridge by myself-well, me and the LORD:)...and i was so thankful to be back. The kids were up watching a movie with Josh's grandparent's, and it was past midnight when i got home. I was so glad to see them all...and I told Hannah Beth not to ever repeat that dumb thing her Mom had just done staying out that late and not knowing the way back. I was so thankful to be back, even if it was for a brief time, and i returned to my car, very gratefully to sleep for the night. That night it rained, and it rained, and it rained hard (i was so thankful it wasn't raining that hard when i was lost) and the wind blew hard. I could just see the cabin, and then my car just washing right off the side of the mountain. Thankfully it didn't, and the next morning i asked if they'd heard the wind blowing and the rain falling during the night. They didn't hear it inside the warm and cozy cabin where they all slept , but i sure had outside in my car. That's okay, it was GOD's place for me, and HE had kept me safe, inside my car, where HE dwelt with me.

As i thought about the events of last week, and what i was going to write this week, i started thinking about Mary and Joseph and there being no room in the inn for Mary to birth our Savior...and they had to manage outside in a dirty, smelly stable...I'm sure there was probably cow manure and all that good stuff that goes with animals...don't ever see that in the CHRISTmas stories. I wonder if Mary and Joseph ever felt sorry for themselves...i don't know. I kind of felt sorry for myself not being able to sleep inside that wonderful cabin and hang out more with the Hembree's and their parents and my daughter. But GOD had a different place for me at night and in the early morning,to be alone with HIM as HE, my "LODGE of LOVE," dwells inside of me. HE and i sure had some sweet time alone in that car, sitting in front of that big old cabin, with the rain pouring down. In fact, as I've shared before, my car has become a refuge for me, HE is our Refuge, from things that make me sick, so my body can rest from the chemicals and i can be recharged for the next day...sort of:). It's also a time that as much as I'd like to be fellowshipping with the folks inside, JESUS calls me aside to be alone with HIM and spend time with HIM in the quietness of my car.

As i was thinking about what to write, my favorite CHRISTmas story that I used to read to my kids when they weren't 17 and almost 19, came to mind, called "The Crippled Lamb." I've always loved that little made up story about the Crippled Lamb who couldn't keep up with other sheep when they followed the shepherd to greener pastures, and had to stay behind at the stable. He felt sorry for himself because he had to stay behind, but that very night, Baby JESUS was born in the stable, and the "Crippled Lamb" kept baby JESUS warm by snuggling up to HIM. Yes, it's a made up story, don't recall that being in Scripture, but the thought of it has been very true for my life as well as countless others. I am the "Crippled Lamb," and i often am not able to keep up and do the things that other folks do, like staying inside new cabins, shopping a bunch, or even hanging out in the wilderness for long periods of time, because of my "thorn." But, as CHRIST as shown me time and time again, including when i slept in the car in Gatlinburg, this is the time, that I can snuggle up to HIM, and HE to me, and I get to know HIM more dearly. I wouldn't trade that for being able to stay inside a "new" cabin or anything else. I had some really sweet time with the LORD out there in my car in the mornings as i waited for the rest of the family to arise, and even during the middle of the night when i couldn't sleep. One night the LORD woke me up, and there was the moon, not completely full, peeking down at me through the window of my car. Granted it wasn't too glamorous staying in the car when i had to get up and go "potty" with it pouring down rain, twice in the same night, but then i don't imagine the CHRISTmas story was as glamorous as we make it out to be either when we sing "Away in a Manger," or act out the CHRISTmas story such as in the play "The Miracle."

As i was thinking about what to write, and i thought about this long and hard...i hated being lost out in the dark rainy night, on a narrow curvy road, with the thought of not being able to communicate with anyone...not a good feeling. What a blessing it was when Hannah Beth answered that phone, and even though she couldn't tell me how to get back( Josh could have if i had to start all over), it was so comforting to have someone on the other end of that phone to talk to...it was scary being lost, and not knowing which way to go. I was so relieved when GOD brought that huge cabin in my view...it truly was like a "city set on a hillside for all to see," and i was so thankful to be brought safely home to the "Lodge of Love." Matthew 5:14 says, "You are the light of the world, a city set on a hillside cannot be hid." You know, i thought once again, about those who are outside of CHRIST, our "Lodge of Love," and they are walking around, driving around in the dark, "running a 100 miles an hour in the wrong direction," and they are lost, dying, and on their way to an eternity in Hell. You and I are the "city set on a hillside," to share CHRIST's love with them, and tell them the good news that CHRIST came into the world, died for our sins and rose from the dead and "Whosoever believes in HIM shall not perish but have everlasting life"John 3:16. And the very next verse is, "For GOD did not send HIS SON into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through HIM might be saved." We have the privilege of being used by CHRIST to point others to HIM, the LODGE of LOVE, and bring them safely in from the danger of the dark, lonely, and cold night of sin.

We also have the privilege of encouraging our brothers and sisters in CHRIST, who are in the "dark night of their soul," and just be there for them...like Josh and Hannah Beth were for me. We may not have the perfect words to say, but just being there and showing others that we love them, care for them, and are praying for them, helps them walk through those dark, curvy mountain roads, and make it safely to the "Lodge of Love," CHRIST HIMSELF, who alone can comfort, and give peace and be their "All in All."

I know I've shared some of these same things just recently but CHRIST keeps taking me back to the "Lodge of Love." Even as i lay inside my car and thought of that huge "Lodge of Love" right there in front of me, and all of those rooms filled with all that a person could ask for to make them comfortable and i couldn't enjoy them:), i thought of those rooms in our "LODGE of LOVE," CHRIST JESUS, and how they are filled with the treasures of HIMSELF, "WONDERFUL, COUNSELOR, MIGHTY GOD, EVERLASTING FATHER, PRINCE of PEACE," - everything and more we will ever need or want for now and all of eternity. I can enjoy HIM wherever i am, whether it's in my car, a luxurious mountain cabin, or a hot sauna late at night on a curvy mountain road... but HE's not just for me to enjoy or use or have a relationship with HIM, He wants to use me and you to share HIM with others, through the gospel and through HIS love, that others might believe in HIM, repent of their sins, and JESUS CHRIST might come and dwell inside their hearts.

A dear friend of mind sent me a video earlier this week of a young man that is definitely crippled from birth, but CHRIST is shining through his weakness, and dwells in that young man's heart. I'm sure his "thorn" has been the very thing GOD has used to draw that young man closer to HIMSELF and reveal HIMself to him and through him.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MslbhDZoniY


After watching it, i started thinking about the story of the Crippled Lamb. We all have something that GOD uses to draw us closer to HIM and with me it just happens to be my health issues, with you it may be something else...it may be the loss of a dear loved one, a broken relationship, the loss of your job, loss of health, loss of your home, struggling in your marriage, issues with family members or co-workers. Whatever it is...CHRIST wants to use it in our lives to draw us to HIM, to actually help us "Come Let Us Adore HIM," in a way that we can't when we have no struggles. HE who comes to "dwell in us," "the HOPE of GLORY", uses our adversity, our difficult times to show HIS dear love to us and reveal HIMself through us- these "weak vessels," "clay pots," to lead others to HIM...the SAVIOR of the WORLD.

You may have some things in your life like i do mine, that aren't "picture" perfect this CHRISTmas, but so did JESUS and his parents. I can relate to that line in "Away in a Manger," where it says, "no crib for a bed." I had "no cabin for a bed," but i sure am thankful for a car where i was able to sleep comfortably. Not what most folks picture when they go to Gatlinburg to spend a cozy time in the mountains. GOD is teaching me to be thankful for the places HE leads me, dwells in me, and reveals HIMself to me... places that this Crippled Lamb can snuggle up to my JESUS and experience HIS wonderful love to me, any time and any place.

The last night of our trip to Gatlinburg, it snowed up on the mountain, and from the pictures our friends sent us, it was beautiful up there at the cabin. HB and I missed the snow, my body had stood all it would from the beautiful "new" cabin, and we stayed in a "safer" motel for me the last night down in Pigeon Forge. Oh well, another picture of things not being so perfect, but i sure was thankful to get a good night's rest, with the balcony door opened in my room. Poor HB, I about froze her to death...i accidentally turned the heat off, and with the door open and temps in the low 30's, she got really cold. We hated we missed the snow up on the mountain, but the next morning, we enjoyed our tradition of eating at the Pancake Pantry there in Gatlinburg where i enjoy eating the buckwheat pancakes, and HB had an omelet i believe. After a quick breakfast, we had to get back that afternoon for HB's dance recital practice, we drove home through the mountains, along the rolling, cascading river, and saw the beautiful snow in the trees and higher elevations along the winding road that leads to Townsend. GOD is sooo good!

You, my dear friends and family, who take time out of your busy lives to read these emails and so often encourage me are such a blessing to my heart. I thank GOD for you all this CHRISTmas season. Thank you for honoring me, for encouraging me, and praying for me and my family ...and i do pray these emails will be a blessing to you in some way. I love you and pray that you and your dear family will have a wonderful CHRISTmas celebrating our dear SAVIOR's birth and love for us.

Merry CHRISTmas,
mitzi



"Away in a Manger"

The video below is not "picture perfect"- there are several pauses. But if you'll stay with this video of Kelly Nelon, her daughter, Amber, and the Bill Gaither Homecoming choir, JESUS CHRIST, our "HOPE of GLORY," will shine through the "imperfections," just as HE does in our lives. I hope and pray you heart will be blessed as mine was as i watched the video of "Away in a Manger."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wL6cn97LEhs&feature=related


" The manger is a symbol of what can happen when JESUS CHRIST resides inside us. The ordinary suddenly becomes extraordinary."
-Billy Hybels

JESUS CHRIST our LODGE of LOVE

"He satifies the longing soul and the hungry soul HE fills with good things." " I am the BREAD of LIFE, whoever comes to ME shall not hunger and whoever believes in ME shall not thirst." Psalm 107:9, John 6:35

Dear Friends,

Earlier this week, I decided to decorate for CHRISTmas...it was a picture perfect night like you read about in a storybook. My husband was at work, Hannah Beth was busy talking on the phone, emailing her friends, folding clothes and feeling sick...she went to bed at 8:00 p.m. My son was studying for finals in his bedroom, working on a project for school, and me, well, I was in the mood to decorate for CHRISTmas after supper. I went out to the garage and started bringing in the large plastic bins that store our decorations. We used to store them in the attic, but I kept getting really mad when we decorated. I caught on that the insulation on the decorations was making me really irritable and was really "dampening" our CHRISTmas spirit when I yelled at folks. So we store them in the garage now in plastic bins and that seems to work much better...no more yelling while decorating for CHRISTmas:). I put on some music, not CHRISTmas music, but Kim Greene Hopper's new CD I got last week, "I Just Want YOU to Know" on HB's CD player...and started putting out CHRISTmas decorations. I got our little tree out of the box that lights up, it's one of those fiber optic trees that we've been using for years now, about 2 1/2 feet tall. I'm allergic to the real ones and newer ones (one CHRISTmas we had to put our decorated tree was out on the back porch where we looked at it through the window. Another year, we had a live one on the front porch in a big five gallon bucket with big colored lights wrapped around it-the family loved that one:). I cleared off the round glass coffee table, trying to figure out what to do with all the stuff that usually stays on it, put a pretty off white table cloth over it, and set up the "Snow Babies" ice rink my Mother-in-law gave us several years ago. It still works, though it was a little slow getting going. The little Eskimo kayaking figurine (my favorite piece) started "paddling" on the "frozen pond-bet that's some tough paddling through the ice:). The pond is actually plastic with a magnet underneath going round and round, and alongside the kayaker were some other little skaters going around the "pond." I set up the collection of snow babies around the ice rink, and put out a large white ceramic church on the wooden antique table against the wall. After that, I decided to go back and look in our cedar closet in our bedroom for the CHRISTmas ornaments. We don't store them in the garage because they might melt. Ughh what a mess that closet was with gifts and gift wrapping paper, bows, boxes, and other stuff all over the place. I had to pull all that out before I could get to the box of ornaments in the back of the closet...and that mess took a while to clean up. While I was in the closet, I saw two of my favorite CHRISTmas pictures that we put up every year...one was a picture of a church out in the country, all lit up, with snow all around, and the folks walking up to it and coming in sleds. I always think of "Oh Come All Ye Faithful," when I see that picture...such a "perfect "CHRISTmas scene. We've had that picture every since Johnny's seminary days, and we lived in Ft. Worth... It was given to us at a CHRISTmas party one night at the little church Johnny was serving in at the time, and brings back really good memories. This was before I got sick and life suddenly became less than perfect...in fact, it became downright very difficult at times,for long periods of times. The other picture is a picture of the manger scene, with Mary, Joseph, Baby JESUS, the cows, hay, donkey, and the wise men (not completely accurate since JESUS was older by the time the wise men brought gifts to HIM) bringing gifts to the baby JESUS. I got that picture out from the back of the closet, climbed over the mess on the floor and put it up on the wall. That was about it for my decorating that evening. By the time I got through cleaning the closet out...it was bedtime. Like I said a "picture perfect" night of CHRISTmas decorating:).

Last week, I told you about my friend Bebe Williams', "Lodge of Love." It was an extremely nice and big house, on a mountain, filled with the love of CHRIST that flowed through Bebe and her husband Larry. I wrote about how that big home filled with love reminded me of HEAVEN and how heaven is a "Lodge of Love." Those who have accepted CHRIST as their LORD and SAVIOR will spend eternity in the loving presence of our LORD JESUS and with our loved ones and folks we don't love now but will who have gone on before us. I also wrote about how CHRIST wants our hearts to be a "Lodge of Love," that He can flow through to reach others for HIM and love one another deeply. The next day after I wrote that, it's like a light bulb went off inside me as I was having my morning devotions and JESUS whispered to me, "I am YOUR LODGE OF LOVE." I thought, ooh, that is so true, and I felt like I had gotten the cart before the horse writing about the other "Lodge's of Love," last week. But GOD's timing is perfect, and HE takes our imperfections, and mess ups and works them for good. As I looked at that picture of the manger scene this morning during my prayer time, I thought about JESUS CHRIST being our LODGE of LOVE, and how very imperfect the LODGE was that HE came to be born in...some type of shelter for the animals and it may have even been a cave...not the "picture perfect," CHRISTmas we try to create each year.

I have written about this before at CHRISTmas, how thankful I am that the perfect JESUS did not come in perfect circumstances, to a perfect "Lodge," but in fact HE left HIS glorious "LODGE" in heaven, and was born to two very poor parents, in a really poor "lodge," a place where the animals were kept. I've been around a lot of stables and barns and they are usually pretty darn stinky. When Mary and Joseph went to sacrifice at the temple they offered the sacrifice of the poor... pigeons or turtledoves. Isn't it amazing that JESUS CHRIST, the KING of KINGS, and LORD of LORDs, who could have been born anywhere, to anyone, in the design of GOD's plan chose to "LODGE" in that stinky place, in their poor home? HIS Love brings me, exceeding joy as I think, of how JESUS HIMSELF, the LODGE OF LOVE, chooses to come and "Lodge" in my stinky heart, filthy with sin, cleanse me with HIS precious blood, and make it HIS dwelling place...that is amazing love. It is amazing love, that HE left HIS "LODGE OF LOVE" to come and be born in a simple "Lodge of Love," a stable, to common, poverty parents, live a common life and die a most humiliating death,falsely accused, beaten to a pulp, hung naked on a wooden cross, and drove stakes through HIS hands and feet for you and me. HE did all this because, "GOD so loved the world that HE gave HIS only begotten SON that whosoever believes in HIM shall not perish but have everlasting life." John 3:16

You know, my life, like yours is not perfect, and there are some very difficult trials along the way. The older I get, the more I realize and understand what a dear gift is ours in our "LODGE of LOVE" our LORD JESUS CHRIST. HE has brought me through so many difficult health issues through the years, and how I thank HIM and praise HIM, my GREAT PHYSICIAN for teaching me to learn to trust HIM through my health problems...and teaching me to love HIM. It has been a gradual process, learning to realize how much CHRIST my "LODGE of LOVE," loves me. I can look back and see it has been through the very difficult times, that HE has revealed HIMSELF so tenderly to me. and been that "LODGE of LOVE" to me in every circumstance. In HIS "LODGE," HE has sheltered me in HIS arms through every storm, HE has enriched me with knowledge, blessed me with friendship, provided all my needs and most especially, blessed me with HIMself, as my 'LODGE of Love " in the dark nights of my soul.
Even in the death of our dear loved ones, CHRIST our 'LODGE of LOVE," binds our soul with theirs, ours as we dwell in HIM here, and them as they dwell with HIM there...we continued to be bound together by HIS sweet love. The longer HE walks with me and I with HIM, the more I realize that this KING who has "stolen my heart," and come to "LODGE" in me, truly is my "LODGE of LOVE," both now and forever.

"E'en for the dead I will not bind my soul to grief;
Death cannot long divide,
For is it not as thought the rose that climbed my garden wall
Has blossomed on the other side?
Death doth hide, but not divide
Thou art but on CHRIST's other side!
Thou art with CHRIST, and CHRIST with me;
In CHRIST united still are we.
-Streams in the Desert, Dec. 3

Earlier this year, I shared about a broken heart that I incurred through a relationship that I very much desired, but GOD shut the door. In the course of my broken heartedness, I have never known the love of CHRIST in the intensity that I did right after that happened. HE ran to me in the Scripture that I read, the hymns I sang, the friends and family that showered me with HIS love and encouraged me. HE truly showed me what a comfort HE is and how my heart was gradually healed in HIS "LODGE of LOVE." Although the pain was very real and hurt very deeply, it makes me not afraid to suffer the next time, because of the preciousness of HIS presence HE poured out on me during that time...and how thankful I am to say, that HE is giving me my heart's desire and growing that relationship that my heart so very much longed for...HE is our Promise Keeper..."Delight yourself in the LORD, and HE will give you the desires of your heart." Psalm 37:4

HE is teaching me that HE is my 'LODGE of LOVE," each and every day, not just when the trials come, but in all times. Every day HE is my HUSBAND, the Lover of my Soul, my "Bread of Life," and HE feeds me with HIS Word, leads and guides and teaches me with HIS HOLY SPIRIT, and provides all my needs in CHRIST JESUS. HE is my Bright and Morning Star and brightens my path, HE is my Counselor, and a Friend that sticketh closer than a brother. HE is my Deliverer, Rock, Refuge and Strong Tower, and what a comfort that is when the enemy assails us, and falsely accuses us. Our LODGE of LOVE runs to us, to rescue us and deliver us. HE is Emmanuel, GOD with us, and how I thank HIM for choosing to "Lodge" in our hearts, the Eternal Lodge of Love. He is a Friend of Sinners, and how thankful I am of that...that HE loves me in my imperfections and sin, and puts up with "my silly heart and bad manners," as Charles Spurgeon puts it. HE is my GOOD SHEPHERD, and HE leads and guides me, ever providing HIS "LODGE of LOVE" to surround me with HIS grace. HE is the great, "I Am," everything that we need HIM to be in every situation...HE is our LAMB, LIGHT of the WORLD, LIVING BREAD and MESSIAH, our GREAT PHYSICIAN, PRINCE of PEACE, ROCK, TEACHER, TRUTH, WAY, WONDERFUL and WORD, and in HIS LODGE "are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge." JESUS CHRIST, our "LODGE of LOVE," who chooses to "Lodge" in the hearts of all those who accept HIM as LORD and SAVIOR is all this and more...what a "LODGE OF LOVE," is ours in CHRIST JESUS our LORD!

There is that matter of making room in our hearts and accepting CHRIST as our LORD and SAVIOR before JESUS can become our LODGE of LOVE. JESUS cannot come and dwell in a heart that is full of itself. We must be empty of our pride and our independence and our "good works," and confess our sins before HIM, before HE can give us a new heart and a new spirit and come and "Lodge" inside us. Oswald Chambers shared in his Nov. 28th writing "The Bounty of the Destitute:"






THE BOUNTY OF THE DESTITUTE



"Being justified freely by His grace. . ." Romans 3:24

The Gospel of the grace of God awakens an intense longing in human souls and an equally intense resentment, because the revelation which it brings is not palatable. There is a certain pride in man that will give and give, but to come and accept is another thing. I will give my life to martyrdom, I will give myself in consecration, I will do anything, but do not humiliate me to the level of the most hell-deserving sinner and tell me that all I have to do is to accept the gift of salvation through Jesus Christ.

We have to realize that we cannot earn or win anything from God; we must either receive it as a gift or do without it. The greatest blessing spiritually is the knowledge that we are destitute; until we get there Our Lord is powerless. He can do nothing for us if we think we are sufficient of ourselves, we have to enter into His Kingdom through the door of destitution. As long as we are rich, possessed of anything in the way of pride or independence, God cannot do anything for us. It is only when we get hungry spiritually that we receive the Holy Spirit. The gift of the essential nature of God is made effectual in us by the Holy Spirit, He imparts to us the quickening life of Jesus, which puts "the beyond" within, and immediately "the beyond" has come within, it rises up to "the above," and we are lifted into the domain where Jesus lives. (John 3:5.)



Truly, our LODGE of LOVE, the LORD JESUS CHRIST, offers a "bountiful supply" for those who are destitute and empty of themselves...and through HIS LODGE of LOVE, "... has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in CHRIST. For HE chose us in HIM before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in HIS sight. In love, HE predestined us to be adopted as HIS sons through JESUS CHRIST, in accordance with HIS pleasure and will-to the praise of HIS glorious grace, which HE has freely given us in the One he loves. In HIM we have redemption through HIS blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of GOD's grace that HE lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding. And HE made known to us the mystery of HIS will according to HIS good pleasure, which HE purposed in CHRIST."Ephesians 1:3-9

On that new not CHRISTmas CD I mentioned up above, Kim Greene Hopper (sister to Tim and Tony Greene) sings a beautiful song of praise to our "LODGE of LOVE" telling HIM how much she loves HIM. HE yearns for us to return HIS love, and come and abide in HIS "LODGE OF LOVE," enjoying the warmth and comfort and peace of all HIS abounding gifts. which HE lavishes upon HIS children. HE teaches us to love HIM, in HIS LODGE, and tells us to diligently teach our children to love HIM, and new believers to love HIM, "with all of our hearts, all our soul, all of our mind and all of our strength."

Well, Hannah Beth and I put the ornaments on the tree last night, and put the wreath above the mantle with the little white lights on it, between texting and phone calls, and face book (it's a lot different decorating with teenagers than when they were little, and I did my share of emailing too while we were decorating:)... with Amy Grant singing Christmas music. We still haven't finished decorating, the plastics bins are outside the door on the porch, but as I put the old Advent ornaments on the little CHRISTmas tree in our "Joy" room, I was reminded again of JESUS being my "LODGE of LOVE." We made those ornaments when the kids were little out of red felt, gold glue, and different pictures on them for the names of JESUS. As I put those ornaments on that little tree going round and round, there was a little picture of a gift, for JESUS being the Greatest Gift, and a picture of Mary, for the Virgin Birth, a Shepherd's Crook, for HE is our Shepherd, a picture of the stars and universe- HE is our Creator, and the Creator of the Universe, a picture of a Candle, for HE is the LIGHT of the WORLD, and I picture of a Lamb, the Lamb of GOD, who takes away the sin of the world, and my sin. Truly, HE is our LODGE of LOVE, and in HIS LODGE are many rooms, filled with the fullness of HIS love. In each room, in HIS LODGE, we find CHRIST for whatever our needs may be. I am learning things rarely go "picture perfect" in our lives...just at those little simple ornaments aren't perfect, and neither are our decorating skills. But I am so thankful that our CHRISTmas decorations and gifts are not what CHRISTmas is all about...but it is about JESUS CHRIST, our "LODGE of LOVE," being the greatest and perfect GIFT of all. "Thanks be to GOD for HIS indescribable GIFT 2 Cor. 9:15...our LORD JESUS CHRIST. Kim Hopper shares it best when she sings, "My love for You is overflowing JESUS...and I just wanted You to know."

With all HIS love,

mitzi



"I Just Wanted YOU to Know" by Kyla Rowland

Where there is fear, LORD You will hide me
When winds of danger around me blow
I feel Your arms of grace surround me
And I just wanted You to know

There's strength in knowing You are near me
And peace that You alone bestow
I love you more today than ever
And I just wanted You to know.

You make dry ground where once were oceans
Where once were mountains You make them low
Where there were stones now there is water
You satisfy my thirsty soul.

There's strength in knowing You are near me
And peace that You alone bestow
I love you more today than ever
And I just wanted You to know.

For all the time, I've seen Your glory
And watched You conquer my every foe,
My love for You is overflowing,
And I just wanted,
Oh LORD I needed
My heart is longing for You to know.