romans10seventeen

That’s one of the lies the enemy used to tell me.  I didn’t know it was the enemy at the time but I see him for who he truly is now. He is a liar.

That’s a quote I found (it says it’s by Hans Christian Anderson). I didn’t fact check it but I like it, whoever said it. I think they probably got the idea from Ecclesiastes 12:1.

When I was young, I thought I was just so smart; I think we all do when we’re young. We think we have forever.  Sometimes people get a wake up call early on but for the most part, young people think they’ll be young forever.

I remember telling people (and God)…”I’ll get right with God when I’m older…God knows I can’t follow all those rules…He knows I can’t be r e l i g i o u s !…I need to live my life, have fun, be bold, be free!”  I actually remember saying, “God knows me…He get’s me…He knows I’ll come around someday…just not today…maybe when I’m like 30 or 40.”

John 8:34-36(NKJV)

³⁴ Jesus answered them, “Most assuredly, I say to you,whoever commits sin is a slave of sin.³⁵ And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever.³⁶ Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.

Words are powerful.  And I don’t mean in the sense that we can speak things into being as some people think (at least not exactly like they think).  But we have no idea when we say things like I was saying, just how powerful our words are.  We can speak life or death into our circumstances and into other people’s circumstances as well.  If I say something motivating or encouraging to you that boosts your spirit, then “life” is spoken.  If I criticize or mock you then “death” is spoken.  [Proverbs 21:23 (NKJV)²³ Whoever guards his mouth and tongue keeps his soul from troubles.] Well, I believe we do the same thing to ourselves.  The secular world would label this “self fulfilling prophecy” or “karma”.  God says: “You reap what you sow and death and life are in the power of the tongue”. Well, all those years ago, I was speaking death over myself by denying Christ and wanting to “live my life my way”.  The enemy didn’t make me do it, but he sure did make the life I thought I wanted look like fun and the one I know (now) God was calling me to look like a bore. Part of that is because I didn’t know anything about a personal relationship with Jesus Christ…I only knew of the religion of the Catholic Church with all it’s dos and don’ts and rituals and traditions and that had no appeal to me.

I believe for the most part, people think if they submit to God they won’t have control of their life anymore.  They think they won’t have fun.  But that’s just more of the lie.  We always have a free will; God doesn’t want puppets or robots.  We are humans created in the image and likeness of God.  He has a good plan for us…not evil [Jeremiah 29:11].  He wants to lead us in the path of righteousness [Psalm 23:3]. To experience true life in Christ is amazing.  It can’t be explained; there aren’t accurate enough adjectives to describe this…but knowing Jesus is better than any pleasure I have ever found through sin.  Jesus Christ is the only way to the Father.  When you submit to His Lordship, that’s when true freedom begins.  Your life becomes this beautiful walk with your perfect Savior.  It’s a true adventure.  His Holy Spirit begins to lead the way and with each new act of obedience in seeking Him, more of His nature is revealed.  IT’S SPECTACULAR!  It’s better than anything you can imagine.  Now, don’t read into that…your life will be far from perfect.  But the beauty of that is you will have a sense of joy and peace that looks beyond your circumstances like never before.  You can rest assured that He will uphold you with His righteous right hand and He will not permit you to fall.  You can know that whatever the enemy, or life, or your own stupidity brings against you, you have an advocate.  Jesus is going to be right there, He will never leave you nor forsake you. It’s just so good!

Currently I’m doing some caregiving on the side.  Two nights a week I help care for a 96 year old lady who is bedridden due to a broken femur (Thigh bone).  She has a bit of dementia setting in as well so we talk about the same things every 5 min or so…and she is just precious.  I’m pretty sure she has been a very devout Catholic her whole life as evidenced by the books and paraphernalia all over her house.  I’m sure she loves the Lord, but as it is with many Catholics (it was with me and many others I’ve met), as we talk, I’m not sure she ever knew that He loves her.  Maybe she did at one time, I don’t know.  But I tell her all the time, ” Jesus loves you.” And her usual response is, “Oh, I hope so.” One day she said to me, “How do you know that?” So I gave her the Gospel.  And I prayed that Jesus would write that truth on her heart.  What happens when you’re 96 and you’ve never been given the Gospel and now you have dementia?  I don’t know.  But I do know this: God’s mercy is greater than anything we can imagine and maybe she’s still hanging on because of His patience.

2 Peter 3:8-9

⁸ But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. ⁹ The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward ^[c]us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.

Maybe He is being merciful to her, allowing her the time she needs to accept His mercy and His grace and His salvation.   I have asked the Lord to bring healing to her body or bring her home to heaven.  It is not His will that she suffer.  But it is His will that she knows Him as Lord and Savior.  Amazingly enough, she’s not really having any pain to speak of.  This seems like a miracle since the bone is protruding so badly it has caused the skin to break open.  The bone itself is still beneath the muscle and flesh but it’s poking so badly the skin broke open.  However, that outer skin wound seems to be healing; it’s not getting bigger and has actually decreased in size.

I ask all of you who read this to pray for God’s mercy for this sweet, gentle woman who needs to come home to Jesus, this is no way for her to live.