Live, Laugh, Love in Christ

These three words are the purpose of our lives. God wants us to Live, Laugh, and Love.

 Living life to the max is to know your creator.

• Pray He agrees when you tell Him your plans. 
• He wants you to depend on His grace and not your own understanding. 
• He wants to see joy in your eyes when you are obeying his commands. 
• He lives in your heart and whispers in your ear. 
• He wants you to hear what he has to say.

As we approach the day of Jesus' death on Good Friday, and his Resurrection on Easter Sunday, we need to give thanks that God gave us his Son, Jesus, to bear our sins on the Cross. All the sins that man ever committed or will commit were carried by Jesus. 

I read Matthew 27 last Sunday. It was eye-opening to me.

The Death of Jesus

27:45-56pp 

45 From the sixth hour until the ninth hour darkness came over all the land. 

46 About the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, ""Eloi, Eloi," "lama" "sabachthani?""--which means, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" 47 When some of those standing there heard this, they said, "He's calling Elijah." 48 Immediately one of them ran and got a sponge. He filled it with wine vinegar, put it on a stick, and offered it to Jesus to drink. 

49 The rest said, "Now leave him alone. Let's see if Elijah comes to save him." 

50 And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit. 

51 At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook and the rocks split. 

52 The tombs broke open and the bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. 

53 They came out of the tombs, and after Jesus' resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many people. 

54 When the centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and all that had happened, they were terrified, and exclaimed, "Surely he was the Son of God!" 

55 Many women were there, watching from a distance. They had followed Jesus from Galilee to care for his needs. 

56 Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joses, and the mother of Zebedee's sons.

Verses 52-53

Did you ever notice these two verses before?

I had read them before, but they never had jumped off the page at me until Sunday, when Ray told me what his class discussed in Bible Study. Here is a copy of what Matthew Henry had to say:

Matthew Henry Commentary on the Whole Bible 

"The graves were opened, and many bodies of saints which slept, arose. To whom they appeared, in what manner, and how they disappeared, we are not told; and we must not desire to be wise above what is written. The dreadful appearances of God in his providence, sometimes work strangely for the conviction and awakening of sinners. This was expressed in the terror that fell upon the centurion and the Roman soldiers. We may reflect with comfort on the abundant testimonies given to the character of Jesus; and, seeking to give no just cause of offence, we may leave it to the Lord to clear our characters, if we live to Him. Let us, with an eye of faith, behold Christ and him crucified, and be affected with that great love wherewith he loved us. But his friends could give no more than a look; they beheld him, but could not help him. Never were the horrid nature and effects of sin so tremendously displayed, as on that day when the beloved Son of the Father hung upon the cross, suffering for sin, the Just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God. Let us yield ourselves willingly to his service."    

I pray that this has helped someone in some way. I have the conviction that God spoke to me to put this out today. To me it shows that when Christ comes again, we will be taken from the grave and rise to Heaven with to be with God.

GOD IS GOOD, ALL THE TIME!

ALL THE TIME, GOD IS GOOD!

 I am going to expand this thought here. I will be in prayer and listening to what the Lord wants me to do.. 

Are you Afraid of Anything?

I think we are all afraid to a certain extent. We are afraid that we will hurt others or we are afraid they will hurt us. We are afraid of flying, riding a bus, riding a train, running in a marathon, or being in a large crowd of people.

The Muslim Terrorists want us dead. There are Muslims that do not believe in jihad, but I am beginning to think that most of the ones in the Middle East do believe in jihad. I don't care who or what you believe in, hurting each other is wrong. In this war, the Muslims are the Bullies. We are the Good Guys. Of course, from the other side you could say the Muslims are the Good Guys and we are the bullies. What good does that do?

"It is assumed that the Koran is God's infallible word, and teaching contrary to the Koran is false. But, when the Christian tells the Muslim that Jesus is indeed the Son of God and one with God, that he did truly die on the Cross, was buried and rose again, that he did not foretell the coming of Mohammad, but warned his followers against false prophets, and that it is He who will raise the dead to life and sit as Judge of all men. The Muslim is then forced to believe all the Christian doctrine. which is contrary to the Koran, or to reject the Koran and Muhammad and the whole system of Islam and put his trust in Christ alone. Knowing how difficult it is to reject convictions held since childhood, it is not surprising  that Muslims almost always choose the former alternative." *

As Christians, we have a burning desire to for all those who do not believe in the love of Christ, a love that is poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, a love that will create a passionate longing for Muslims to know and love Christ crucified and risen from the dead.

"Now to him by the power at work within us is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, to Him be the Glory in the church and in Jesus Christ to all generations, for ever and ever. Amen" [Eph. 3:20-21]

This may not sound too Christian, but I am not so sure that we should be worrying about where they will be in the next life. We know they will not be in Heaven with us, but should we care so much. I think that if women were in charge, we would be able to settle all this mess. We would not want to send our sons off to war, whether it is an American or a Muslim. We would not want our sons to commit suicide to kill others. We would not want our sons to leave their families undefended to go to other countries to fight for people who do not even want us there. Why does this country keep throwing money and men at this problem? No one seems to appreciate that we have just about bankrupted our country giving away our hard earned taxes to them.

Our older people are in dire straits. Most cannot afford the medications they need and some cannot even afford food. That is how wonderful our Social Security System has become. The government seems to take from the system, but does not want to put the money back, or even give cost of living increases while they are giving away our tax money to strangers overseas.

If it were not for the Christian Churches in the United States, there are a lot of people who would starve to death. The Christian Churches are always sending missionaries overseas to help out those in need. Of course, our government sends plenty of money but the leaders seem to take it all and do not improve their people's plight. Somehow this all seems a little one-sided to me.


*The Christian Response to Islam, William M. Miller, Copyright 1976

GOD IS GOOD ALL THE TIME! 

ALL THE TIME, GOD IS GOOD!

What is the Definition of a Cult?

Click on the link and you will learn the definition.

What is the definition of a cult?

This is the best definition I have heard of so far.

GOD IS GOOD, ALL THE TIME!

Woman of God & The Jesus Prayer

Dear Woman of God,

Be still for a while and praise God for His favor, His grace and His awesomeness. God is able to do the impossible and is always near. He loves us unconditionally. Together, let's get our lady friends to praise Him with one voice in this next year and ask for God to bless us all. Let's all choose one friend each day and say this prayer during this year:

Dear Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, This is my friend whom I love and this is my prayer for her. Help her live her life to the fullest. Please cause her to excel above her expectations. Help her to shine in the darkest places where it is impossible to love. Protect her at all times, lift her up when she needs You the most, and let her know when she walks with You, she will always be safe.

Amen!

Get going girl!! Do not ask the Lord to guide your footsteps if you are not willing to move your feet.    

The Jesus Prayer

"O Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner."

“The invocation of the holy name of Jesus is the simplest way of praying always…. This prayer is possible ‘at all times’ because it is not one occupation among others but the only occupation: that of loving God, which animates and transfigures every action in Christ Jesus” 

"Into this name the Christian can pour all of his faith,  with nothing whatsoever left over, for to be a Christian is to rest all of your faith on Christ, with nothing left over."

GOD IS GOOD - ALL THE TIME!

ALL THE TIME - GOD IS GOOD!

Guillian-Barre Syndrome Miracle

In September 1999, Ray had surgery to correct a deviated septum. He was seeing Dr. Queen and it was decided that it would help him quit snoring. After the surgery, Dr. Queen went to a conference and left another doctor in charge. We thought the surgery went well, but immediately afterward, Ray's temperature and blood pressure spiked. He had to stay in recovery a couple of extra hours. He was a little shaky, but seemed alright at first. I thought it was the pain medication. Instead of getting steadier, he seemed to be deteriorating. I had to borrow a walker for him to get around the house. Monday, we went to see the doctor and he released Ray, gave him instructions and sent him home.

That night when we went to bed, Ray was so unsteady on his feet that I told him not to get up during the night without waking me up. I had already decided that I was taking him to our regular doctor or the hospital the first thing in the morning. Just as we were going to bed, his nose started to bleed profusely. It just would not stop, so I called 911 and they took him to Mary Immaculate Hospital where he laid in emergency for 4 hours before he actually saw a doctor. The doctor packed his nose with gauze and sent him home. Twenty-four hours later the nosebleed came back and the doctor at Mary Immaculate Hospital admitted him.

Ray ended up staying in the hospital for five long days. I tried to work because I did not have much leave and without Ray working, we could not afford for me to go on Leave Without Pay. By working half days and spending afternoons with him, I was able to help him and not hurt our finances. I would get there around 1:30 p.m. and he would just be lying in the bed. No one had helped him bathe or even changed his sheets. He had barely eaten. I made sure he ate and bathed him. I had never bed bathed a full grown man and assured him that he could tell how much I loved him from that. I even searched for the nurse, procured sheets, and changed the sheets myself.

By the fifth day, they decided to send him home. That is when I noticed the pumpkin seed. The first night, I had a pack of pumpkin seeds. It was the only thing I had to eat and must have dropped one. There it was on the floor under the chair. That spoke volumes to me. The floor had not been cleaned in five days. This was a very expensive hospital, but they just were not doing a good job. Ray could barely move, but they released him anyway.

We had to borrow a cane from a friend and then another friend, Bob Yeatman, procured a walker from the Masonic Lodge. That night I told him not to get up without waking me. During the night, he decided to get up and go to the bathroom.  He fell and hit his head on the chest of drawers and his elbow on the end of the bed. I was sound asleep and our dog, Precious, woke me up licking my face.

I could not get him up, so I called 911 to get an ambulance. The paramedics were going to take him back to Mary Immaculate, but I said. “I don’t care what it costs,  he is going to Riverside.” When we got to the emergency room, they determined that he has badly bruised his elbow and could have a concussion from where he hit his head.

It was around two in the morning and Dr. Parcells, the head neurologist, was walking through the emergency room. They brought him in to see Ray and he knew what was wrong even before they did the spinal tap—Guillian-Barre’ Syndrome (GBS). It is a disease of the peripheral nerves. The myelin sheath that protects the nerves deteriorates and falls off. It causes the nerves to die, but does not affect the brain or spinal cord. This was on the 29th of September 1999.

By my birthday on October 1, things were drastic. When I got to Ray’s room, I saw his eyes were open and started talking to him; he was snoring. The nurse said that the nerves in his eyelids were not working and he could not close his eyes. It broke my heart. She mentioned that they may have to put him on a respirator. That really frightened me but I tried not to show it to Ray. I just sat there until he woke up.

I kept running in and out of the cardiac care unit the rest of the day. I drove around town, collecting money for Ray’s business. All day, there were radio preachers on the Christian channels on the radio talking about healing. I prayed all day and felt an enormous burden. That evening, my friend Glynn and her husband came to the hospital. They even brought me flowers for my birthday.

There were so many people from church visiting and praying for Ray. Charlie Nichols and Andy Hughes came by and prayed with Ray. They were such great prayer partners. Everyone was so concerned for him and prayers were lifted to heaven from all over.

After everyone left that night, I stood by Ray’s bed and told him that I never prayed out-loud for anything much before, other than food, but I thought it was about time that I did. I held his hand and to his chorus of “Yes, Lord,” I prayed for the illness to stop attacking his body and let him get better from that day forward. I did not try to bargain with God; we know that doesn’t work. But, I wanted His will to be as ours. God heard our prayer that night and He put the words in my mouth to speak it His way. When I left that night, the nurse told me to sleep in the next day because they were taking Ray back for another spinal tap the next morning.

When I went to the van that night, I started it up and immediately heard the opening chorus to “God is Good, All the Time!” I sang with them all the way home and by the time I got there, I was feeling much better. I woke up Saturday morning,
washed clothes, vacuumed, and got to the hospital around 11:30.

I helped Ray with his lunch and sat with him, talking in between his naps. Around three o’clock or so, Dr. Parcells came in. He had evaluated the spinal tap and discovered that the GBS had stopped. He said those same words that I prayed the night before. The disease had stopped and Ray would get better from that day forward. If you have never heard of GBS, you need to know that this is virtually unheard of. Ray was a hairs breath away from being on a respirator. Thank you, Lord.

He stayed in the Cardiac Care unit for 9 days, a regular room for 9 days, and then in Rehab for two weeks. He was home a week and then he was working again. Thank you, Lord. His healing was miraculous. Guillian-Barre Syndrome normally takes months, even years to heal completely.

God is Good, All the Time!