Month: May 2009

Waiting for Granddaughter

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“Your eyes saw my unformed substance, and in Your

book all the day’s [of my life] were written before

ever they took shape, when as yet there was none of

them.” Psalm 139:16 ( The Amplified Bible)


Two weeks from today my daughter will be having her second child.  We know from the sonograms the baby is a girl; the doctor knows her approximate size and weight and the position the baby is in right now. Modern medical technology makes it possible for doctors to have valuable information about an unborn baby. But as miraculous as that is, God knows even more. God was there when she was conceived; He’s been there as she was developing and growing inside her mother’s womb and He will be there as she makes her entrance into the world.


As we eagerly anticipate the birth of this new grandchild, I wonder what will she look like? Will she have her mother’s beautiful blue eyes like her older brother? Will she be outgoing and talkative like her mother or will she be quiet and introspective like her dad? These are questions parents and grandparents ask while waiting for a new baby, and there are deeper questions we ask as well. What will her life be like? Will she make good choices?

As we wonder, God already knows. He knows each one of us intimately. He knows the very number of hairs on our head. He knows our very thoughts; there is nothing in us that is hidden from Him.  Knowing us so intimately even before we were born, He has provided for us everything we need for life and godliness.

“His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.” 2 Peter 1:3,4 (New International Version)


Through Jesus Christ, God has provided us with the means to live our lives as He intended them to be. Through knowing Jesus Christ, we not only have eternal life after we die, but we have the tools we need for this  life. Without Him, we can never fulfill the plan God laid out for us.

I can trust God to give my new granddaughter, and well as my grandsons, the tools they need for their lives. My job is to help their parents teach them, to love them and to point them to Jesus. God will do the rest.

“Oh yes, you shaped me first inside, then out;
you formed me in my mother’s womb.
I thank you, High God—you’re breathtaking!
Body and soul, I am marvelously made!
I worship in adoration—what a creation!
You know me inside and out,
you know every bone in my body;
You know exactly how I was made, bit by bit,
how I was sculpted from nothing into something.
Like an open book, you watched me grow from conception to birth;
all the stages of my life were spread out before you,
The days of my life all prepared
before I’d even lived one day.” Psalm 139:13-16 (The Message)

Peace and Blessings

Dee

Memorial Day 2009

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Vietnam Memorial Wall Traveling Replica

Next Monday is Memorial Day, a day set aside to remember all those who have died in the service of our country. Sadly the holiday has lost much of its significance since Congress changed the date from May 30th to the last Monday in May, creating a three day holiday.  People are more interested in starting summer vacations and outdoor parties and barbecues than in thinking about fallen soldiers. While vacations and barbecues are not bad things, let us not forget the significance of this day.

We need to always be aware that the freedoms we take for granted came at a heavy cost. Today, more than any other day, let us honor their memory and give thanks to God for their sacrifices for our freedom and for our safety.


Recently my husband and I saw the traveling replica of the Vietnam Memorial Wall. Every name that is on the Memorial Wall in Washington DC is on the smaller replica. There are now 58,260 names listed on the Memorial and approximately 1200 of these are listed as missing (MIA’s, POW’s, and others).  So many names, so many lives lost.


One of those names is a young man I went to school with. Alan was an average student, a little shy but he had the most beautiful smile. Alan joined the Army weeks after graduation and was sent to Vietnam weeks after he finished boot camp. A few weeks later, just 19 years old, he was killed.
Every name on that Memorial Wall represents a real person, who lived, who had dreams and plans for a future. And for every name, there is a family who was left to grieve. For Alan, it was the grandmother who raised him. Others left behind parents, spouse, siblings and some even children.


We honor our heroes, it is only right. But let us not forget that for every fallen soldier, sailor, police office and fireman, there is a family who also sacrificed for us. They too should be recognized.  Today as we remember those lost, let us also say a prayer for family and loved ones left behind.


And let us pray also for those serving today, all over the world and on our streets, for God’s protection over them and for His blessings on their service. I can think of no better way to honor those fallen than to support those serving now.

Peace and Blessings,

Dee

National Day of Prayer 2009

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“(CNN) — For the past eight years, the White House recognized the National Day of Prayer with a service in the East Room, but this year, President Obama decided against holding a public ceremony.”
While this did not surprise me, it does make me very sad. Will this be the first of other religious traditions left in our nation that he will ignore or abandon? I pray not. I pray that God will be able to change his heart to follow the godly examples set by previous presidents. None have been perfect, they all are flawed men. But some more than others sought after God’s guidance during their term of office. I pray that the present President will learn to seek  God through Jesus Christ.

John Jay was an American politician, statesman, revolutionary, diplomat, and a Founding Father of the United States; the President of the Continental Congress from 1778 to 1779 and, from 1789 to 1795, the first Chief Justice of the United States. During and after the American Revolution, he was an ambassador to Spain and France and helped fashion American foreign policy and to secure favorable peace terms from the British (the Jay Treaty) and French.

Here is an excerpt from the Proclamation he wrote while President of the Continental Congress, written and signed March 23, 1779.

PROCLAMATION

WHEREAS, in just Punishment of our manifold Transgressions, it hath pleased the Supreme Disposer of all Events to visit these United States with a calamitous War, through which his Divine Providence hath hitherto in a wonderful Manner conducted us, so that we might acknowledge that the Race is not to the Swift, nor the Battle to the Strong: AND WHEREAS, notwithstanding the Chastisements received and Benefits bestowed, too few have been sufficiently awakened to a Sense of their Guilt, or warmed with Gratitude, or taught to amend their Lives and turn from their Sins, that so he might turn his Wrath: AND WHEREAS, from a Consciousness of what we have merited at his Hands, and an Apprehension that the Malevolence of our disappointed Enemies, like the Incredulity of Pharaoh, may be used as the Scourge of Omnipotence to vindicate his slighted Majesty, there is Reason to fear that he may permit much of our Land to become the Prey of the Spoiler, our Borders to be ravaged, and our Habitations destroyed:

RESOLVED,
THAT it be recommended to the several States to appoint the First Thursday in May next to be a Day of Fasting, Humiliation, and Prayer to Almighty God, that he will be pleased to avert those impending Calamities which we have but too well deserved: That he will grant us his Grace to repent of our Sins, and amend our Lives according to his Holy Word: That he will continue that wonderful Protection which hath led us through the Paths of Danger and Distress: That he will be a Husband to the Widow, and a Father to the fatherless Children, who weep over the Barbarities of a Savage Enemy: That he will grant us Patience in Suffering, and Fortitude in Adversity: That he will inspire us with Humility, Moderation, and Gratitude in prosperous Circumstances: That he will give Wisdom to our Councils, Firmness to our Resolutions, and Victory to our Arms: That he will bless the Labours of the Husbandman, and pour forth Abundance, so that we may enjoy the Fruits of the Earth in due Season: That he will cause Union, Harmony, and mutual Confidence to prevail throughout these States: That he will bestow on our great Ally all those Blessings which may enable him to be gloriously instrumental in protecting the Rights of Mankind, and promoting the Happiness of his Subjects: That he will bountifully continue his paternal Care to the Commander in Chief, and the Officers and Soldiers of the United States: That he will grant the Blessings of Peace to all contending Nations, Freedom to those who are in Bondage, and Comfort to the Afflicted: That he will diffuse Useful Knowledge, extend the Influence of True Religion, and give us that Peace of Mind which the World cannot give: That he will be our Shield in the Day of Battle, our Comforter in the Hour of Death, and our kind Parent and merciful Judge through Time and through Eternity.

Done in CONGRESS, this Twentieth Day of March, in the Year of Our Lord One Thousand Seven Hundred and Seventy-Nine, and in the Third Year of our Independence.
JOHN JAY, President.
Attest. CHARLES THOMSON, Secretary.

I can add nothing more.
Peace and Blessings

Dee

Preparing for the National Day of Prayer

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Next Thursday, May 7, is the National Day of Prayer for our country. If there ever was a time that we as a nation need to come together in a time of prayer, it is now. We have an economic crisis resulting from years of greed, sin is not just tolerated but is exalted as “alternative life-style”, disrespect and disregard of life is rampant, and now our government is heading us down the slippery slope to socialism. Yes, we need to call on God, Who brought this nation into existence over 200 years ago, Who called us to preach the gospel to all the world and to be a friend to Israel; we need repentance as individuals and as a nation. We need to obey the command of 2 Chronicles 7:14:


“If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” (NKJV)

It’s not enough to just have some religious groups meet or have some prayers read in town hall meetings.  We can’t just go through the motions of calling it a Day of Prayer with no repentance and expect to see any positive changes in our nation.

In the Old Testament, the Jewish people had gone into captivity and in time some were living in Persia under King Xerxes. One of his officials hated the Jews and persuaded Xerxes to publish an edict that on a certain day, all the Jews were to be killed and their possessions to be confiscated.  Mordecai the Jew, who also served King Xerxes, sent word to Queen Esther and asked her to go to the king and appeal to the king on their behalf. When she finally consented, she instructed Mordecai to call all the Jews in the city and “fast for me; and neither eat nor drink for three days and nights. I also and my maids will fast as you do. Then I will go to the king, though it is against the law; and if I perish, I perish.” (Esther 4:16)

We have a more just King than Xerxes. The One to whom we appeal is eager to receive us and to hear our plea. But we must go before him with clean hands and a pure heart.

Job 11:13-15 says, “If only you would prepare your heart and lift up your hands to him in prayer! Get rid of your sins, and leave all iniquity behind you.
Then your face will brighten with innocence. You will be strong and free of fear.” (New Living Translation)

Prepare our hearts. How do we do that? Esther fasted. Daniel fasted and prayed.  Moses fasted and prayed. Jesus before starting his ministry on earth spent 40 days and nights in the desert fasting and praying.  Before we can effectively pray for our nation, we must first be sure our own lives are pure before the Lord. Maybe not everyone can go three days and nights without eating or drinking, but we all can give up something to spend more time with the Lord. Instead of watching the evening news, spend that time reading the Word and praying. How much time do we spend every day doing non-essential things, not that there is anything wrong with them, but maybe just for three days we can give those things up to spend more time praying and seeking God’s face. If every Christian would spend the next three days devoting more of their time with the Lord on behalf of our nation, this year’s Day of National of Prayer could be the “re”-turning point for our nation.

Peace and blessings.
Dee