26 April 2011

Profound words

There are so many things going on in life right now...and so little time for me to get on the computer.  Hopefully, I will get better at balancing that.  And I'm still reading Genesis, but there are so many juicy morsels to share that it is almost overwhelming!!  I'll need to start picking and choosing...

Today, I received a message that has really made me think.  There is a couple I know who have been married for 30+ years (I'm not sure how many exactly, but it is at least 30---probably more like 40 years).  Anyway, back in the winter, he had an accident.  He simply slipped on the ice and hit his head.  That was the beginning of a steady decline in his health.  Since that time, he has been in brain injury units of hospitals and nursing homes, then just in a regular nursing home.  Things have deteriorated to the point of the message I read today.

Here it is:
DAY 121
MONDAY APRIL 25, 2011

We know it and yet it still manages to surprise us.  It is the way of things.  We are born and we live and we die.  I realize now that I was well prepared for death, but not so well prepared for dying.

John is unconscious.  The seizures continue to come as his injured brain fires over and over causing his arms and legs to tremble.  All that can be done to keep my beloved comfortable is being done.

I wish for one more smile, one more look of those soft eyes and one more conversation.  But the time for that is now over.

John is only talking with God now.


The line that really struck me was this one:

"I realize now that I was well prepared for death, but not so well prepared for dying."

How profound is that?!?   They are Christians who have known the Lord for years and served Him in ministry with their lives.  They knew that life leads to death and after that heaven for those who die in Jesus.  But what has been such a challenge for the family has been the dying process.  Watching the one you love slowly fade away with no more laughs or smiles, no more quiet evenings talking together, no more hand holding, and so on.  My heart breaks for this family.  Soon death will come, but I pray for this family while they continue through this process.  And I continue to ponder the profound words of this message.

May you feel God close to you today.  (P.S.  I'm not sure why my font changed, so just ignore it...)
~Amy 

05 April 2011

2 Kings 6:15-17

     First, let me set the scene for you.  God is revealing many things to Elisha who is informing the king of Israel.  The king is making his strategic moves based on the information from Elisha.  Israel's enemy, Aram, is becoming very frustrated that Israel seems to know what they are doing ahead of time.  Their king believes that someone in his camp is leaking information.  Then he (the king of Aram) is informed that Elisha the prophet is the one who is giving Israel the information.  He decides to find out where Elisha is staying and capture him.  The troops head out to Dothan and surround the city.  Here we pick up the story in verses 15-17 of 2 Kings 6.

15 When the servant of the man of God got up and went out early the next morning, an army with horses and chariots had surrounded the city. “Oh no, my lord! What shall we do?” the servant asked.  16 “Don’t be afraid,” the prophet answered. “Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.”
 17 And Elisha prayed, “Open his eyes, LORD, so that he may see.” Then the LORD opened the servant’s eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. 

     I have highlighted verse 17 because it is the crux of these verses.  It is so important for each of us to remember that in the midst of our battles, there is warfare in the heavenly realms that we do not see.  Oh, how I wish that my eyes could be opened so that I could see those "hills full of horses and the chariots of fire" that are around me and my family as we struggle through some tremendous battles.  My oldest daughter has been in what I feel is an "epic" battle (see my previous post here about those!) with an eating disorder since the summer of 2007.  You know, that is almost 4 years now.  And we as her family are in this battle with her.  I wish that I (we) could see the army that the Lord has fighting for her right now.  She waffles between wanting to be better and wanting to just be the disease.  It is agonizing to watch and I feel so helpless to actually make a difference against this illness.  It is like an abusive boyfriend that she must decide to dump.  But those abusive relationships seem to be so hard to get out of for some reason.

     This verse is such an encouragement to me that I am not alone...she is not alone...we are not alone.  The Lord has given me this verse twice in less than a week, so I believe that He wants me to understand that the battle is His.  But I am still praying, "Lord, intervene quickly!!  I need You to help us!!"

Blessings to you today!!
~Amy

04 April 2011

Submissive Rebel?

 


Give me rules, I will break them

Give me lines, I will cross them

I need more than a truth to believe

I need a truth that lives, moves, and breathes

To sweep me off my feet

It ought to be

More like falling in love

Than something to believe in

More like losing my heart

Than giving my allegiance

Caught up, called out

Come take a look at me now

Its like I'm falling, oh

Its like I'm falling in love

Give me words, I'll misuse them

Obligations, I'll misplace them

Cause all religion ever made of me

Was just a sinner with a stone tied to my feet

It never set me free

It's gotta be

CHORUS

It's like I'm falling in love, love, love

Deeper and deeper

It was love that made

Me a believer

In more than a name, a faith, a creed

Falling in love with Jesus brought the change in me

CHORUS

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


What is a "submissive rebel"?  Isn't that an oxymoron?  Well, yes, but what a descriptive term!  My youngest daughter calls herself a "submissive rebel," and I can so totally understand what she means.  I believe that I am one also.  (Shhh, don't tell her!!!)

Webster defines submissive as "submitting to others."  Submit means to "yield to authority."  So, I would say a good combination of those terms to describe submissive would be..."yielding to the authority of others."  "Rebel" on the other hand, would be "opposing a ruler" or authority.  Truly opposites!!  Submit or oppose.

How could one be a "submissive rebel" then?  The way I see it in me is a deep desire to submit to the Lord and do His will (submissive part), which is always battling with that rebellious side of me that wants to go my own way (rebel).

These verses come to mind regarding that constant war we battle with our flesh:

Romans 7:15-20:

15 I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. 16 And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. 17 As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. 18 For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. 19 For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. 20 Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it. 

So I wonder, are there other "submissive rebels" like my daughter and I out there?  I put the song by Jason Gray at the beginning of this post because I hear in it the cries of a "submissive rebel."  Wanting to do what is right and believe, but still struggling...

Have a blessed day!
~Amy