A CALL TO WAKE UP AND REPENT – Scripture reference corrected

October 17, 2015October 20, 2015 | lindamowles

I suspect that the question of how long our life will be is far from our normal conscious thought, until something happens to jar us out of our lethargy and into the reality that none of us is as big, as strong, as indestructible, or as far from leaving this life as we believe ourselves to be.

These thoughts are on my mind today because we just came back from the memorial service for a dear lady in our church who died this week after an extended illness. While it was difficult to learn of her passing, we were relieved that she was no longer in pain, that her husband was no longer watching her suffer, and that he and the rest of her family could rest in the knowledge that she was with her Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Family at my grandfather's grave — Family at my grandfather’s grave

Unlike our friend who suffered the ravages of disease for many years, the picture above is of the family after my grandfather suffered a premature, and unexpected death in 1956. As I recall, his death was sudden, without an extended illness. There was no way for the family to prepare themselves, one day he was with us, the next he was gone.

I know this is true of my own mother. She died when I was 21. I was living several states away so we communicated by phone. I spoke with her on Sunday and we expressed concern about my father’s cancer. He was in the hospital preparing for surgery, but we were not sure what the outcome would be. (Back then, you did not prepare for cancer surgery by sitting at home, you waited in the hospital bed for multiple procedures in preparation for surgery.) She was comforting me about my father, telling me that the Lord was with her and with Daddy and that He would take care of both of them. I was not to worry.

That was the last time I heard my mother’s voice. Two days later, on Tuesday, I received a phone call that she had suffered a massive stroke. She never came out of the coma and on Thursday she went to meet her Lord and Savior. She was only 54 years old when she was called home.

Hard to concentrate on trivial things when your life is turned upside down by a sudden death of a loved one.

No one has an answer to the multitude of questions that are raised when death comes like a thief in the night nor are there answers when we watch a loved one die a slow, excruciating death. That simply is not within our sphere of knowledge.

Like it or not, we are the creation, not the Creator.

Mountain view in Alaska with caribou rack in foreground

God is sovereign in all things, even in the length of time his creation exists. Even before we are born, God knows when we will arrive as that bundle of joy and when we will leave this earthly existence.

Proverbs 90:12 says –OOPS — CORRECTION: Proverbs only has 31 chapters so clearly this is an incorrect reference. Thanks to my dear friend Claudette Starr who noticed this mistake. I do apologize for this error; my proofreading will have to improve in the future! Now, back to the thought. If you look at PSALMS 90:12 you will find the following text:

“So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.”

There are numerous lessons that can be learned when we attend a funeral, or when we learn that a loved one has died suddenly, not the least of which is that we are reminded that we need to be ready for “our own personal end of days” as well as “the end of days,” when Christ returns.

He sent His Son to be our Savior. His Son, Jesus, died as an atonement for our sin, all of it. Because he died for us, we no longer have to suffer the punishment that our sin places on us. He rose from the dead and, because He lives and is interceding on our behalf, those who believe in Jesus’ Name will live eternally.

In 2 Corinthians 6:2, the Apostle Paul says it as clearly as possible:

“I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation.”

That Tuesday, my mother had no idea that such day would be the irreversible beginning of her “last days”.

As Reformed Christians, we believe that Jesus Christ will bodily return one day. Indeed, Paul affirms this in 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17:

For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.

Then, there will not be any more time to repent. The die, as we say, will have been cast and the game of this world will be abruptly ended. There will be no more time. Even if Jesus does not return during our lifetime, we know that we will all have to face death, some sooner and some later; but it is inevitable.

It is a certainty that time will run out – whether it is when Jesus returns or at our own personal “end of days” — and there is absolutely no way that you or I know when that day will come.

The Apostle Paul was right – Repent, for today is the day of salvation!

Father, often we live our lives as if we will continue on for decades before anything major will happen, certainly before death knocks at our heart’s door; forgive us for being so callous and foolish. Forgive us, Father, for thinking of salvation as a type of fire insurance. Forgive us when we have marginalized Jesus’ work on the cross rather than bowing in humble obedience to Him. Forgive us when we have ignored the Holy Spirit’s prompting for a living, dynamic relationship with the Almighty Sovereign Creator God. Father, forgive us!

THE HORRIBLE/WONDERFUL CAMPING TRIP!

July 9, 2015July 9, 2015 | lindamowles

We are getting ready to go on a short camping trip and in considering the things to take, I remembered a camping experience in March 2014 where I thought I had covered all the bases, but, the Horrible/Wonderful Camping Trip was the result!

One month earlier we had adopted Cuddles, the first of our two miniature pinchers.

Cuddles is showing her “I’m so small, but so cute” expression!

She was just getting used to us at home when we took her on a camping trip with our then 7-year old grandson who wanted to go camping for “Spring Break” which happened to be toward the end of a very cold winter.

While our grandson had been in the RV before, Cuddles had not. (Picture of us on the way to the RV … excitement and anticipation oozing out of every pore!)

The response of our canine daughter was much less than enthusiastic when the sounds of travel in the RV began, and when she was harnessed into a seat which she did not particularly appreciate.

When we arrived at the huge campground we found only one other RV and it was being stored, not used. (This shows a big campground that is not filled with campers … picture this with rain and mud, then you get the idea!)

Another clue that this was going to be a memorable (?) trip was the weather – not only was it cold, we drove through heavy rain all the way to the campground. But Grammy and Papa persevered because they had promised a camping trip and, by golly, we were going to produce on our promise!

Cuddles, on the other hand, was not as excited since she was a bit more realistic … going to the bathroom in freezing cold rain, on wind-swept frozen grass is just not her cup of tea. (Here she is shown shortly before this trip in our backyard with her coat on, standing at the window while looking at the snow … “do I really have to get in that? I am, after all, a member of the family!”)

And the 7-year-old grandson anticipated, correctly, that it was likely going to be his job to walk Cuddles at the campground, with his jacket on and hood up, until she went to the bathroom since Grammy and Papa were old, or rather “seniors”!

We, however, dismissed the bad weather outside because we were ready for inside recreation. We came armed with games, DVDs and video games to play since the rain would prevent us from doing much outside – but within minutes the [new] DVD player developed a thumping sound that permeated the heart and mind of all of us. It was a pitiful sight to see us viewing Wallace and Grommit when we missed every 4^th word or more because of the persistent pounding.

When the movie failed, we decided to run some water in the sink for hot chocolate — and the frozen hose burst. Same held true with the shower hose, so our entertainment became a trip to a delightful RV supply store with Papa and the grandson installing replacement hoses and faucets.

Thinking, perhaps, that a rest might have helped the DVD, we tried the movie again but Wallace and Grommit still thumped their way through missing words.

We noticed a “dog park” when we pulled into the campground, so we promptly took off for that once the rain had ended. When we got there, we saw all the elements of a doggy playground … teeter/totter, tunnel, low fence to jump, ramp up to a trestle and a ramp down on the other side, with a lot of room to run and all of it was fenced so no leash was needed. Just what the doctor ordered after confinement in the RV. But, it was MUDDY after all the rain … no grass, just mud. When our grandson started to run to entice Cuddles to run, both the dog and the boy rained mud and neither of them liked it!

We marched back to the RV with one very dejected young man. But then he cheered up when he remembered that we always had a campfire to make s’mores. (Note, this is the campfire our grandson was dreaming of!)

But, Papa correctly said no campfire that night because the wind was blowing far too hard: a campfire would not burn as it was too windy and too wet, not to mention cold! Dejection reigned supreme!

But Dejection had met its match when it encountered Grammy!

I had seen a “portable s’more maker” advertised in a catalog. It looked interesting so I purchased it. When it came, I described it to a coworker and she said: “A portable s’more maker? That’s a pile of wood and a match!”

Well, no one really took me seriously, but my time to shine had come … I looked at my grandson and said “We don’t need a campfire because we can make s’mores inside where it’s warm with Grammy’s portable s’more maker!”

While he was a bit of a doubter at first, when I brought out the box, the potential promise of s’mores was too strong — he was willing to open it, just in case I was right. The ceramic pot with sterno fuel provides the heat to cook, or burn, the marshmallow, as your discriminating taste may prefer. He loved it and we had fun making s’mores that evening, even if it was blustery outside in the frozen, virtually empty campground. Papa even joined in the fun although it was a bit crowded around the small “campfire” in the RV.

We left the campground early the next day and returned to the warmth of the fireplace at home and talked about our camping trip … laughing about the broken hoses, the dog park mud, the empty campground, and the inside s’mores.

I had planned for a camping trip because it was something that our grandson said he wanted – what he really wanted was time with us and memories that were unique to our experience. Those he got in abundance.

How like our relationship with God. In Deuteronomy 11:13 we are commanded

“to love the LORD your God, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul”.

This commandment did not end when Jesus arrived because He reiterates this as the greatest commandment for us in Matthew 22:37.

In fact, Jesus promised that His Spirit would be with us, enabling us to do that which He commanded. See John 14:16-17:

“And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.”

How do we show our love? Think about your first love, your spouse, children, or parents. The ways love can be expressed are as many and myriad as there are people.

Papa and grandson playing hotwheels — Papa and grandson playing with Hotwheels

Multigenerational family playing football

But one of the prime characteristics of love in action is that you spend time with the object of your affection. This love does not ignore the many obligations that we have on a day-to-day basis; nor does this mean that all the time together must be at play. But spending time with the one you love is paramount, just as is your desire to do so.

Grandfather and grandson working together to fix yard equipment

So, we say we love the Lord. Do we desire to be with Him? How do we show our love for God?

Psalm 106:1 says:

“Praise the LORD! Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever!”

In Psalm 77:12, David says:

“I will ponder all your work, and meditate on your mighty deeds.”

So:

Do you meditate on Jesus?
Do you contemplate His worthiness for praise and glory?
Do you read His Word and feed upon it?
Do you worship Him privately as well as in corporate worship with other believers?
Do you praise Him for all His marvelous works?
Do you joy in your relationship with Him?

The camping trip certainly could have been better from a camping perspective … but the time we spent with our grandson was wonderful as well as memorable.

Now, remember that the Lover of your soul, the omnipotent, creator God, the One who has loved you since the foundation of the world.. it is this God Who desires to spend time with you!

Make yourself available and see what He will do!

HAPPY 239TH BIRTHDAY, AMERICA – WE ARE PRAYING FOR YOU.

July 5, 2015July 5, 2015 | lindamowles

Yes, I know that today is July 5^th and I am one day late for posting about our national celebration of independence – I should have posted this on July 4^th. But I couldn’t do it for a variety of reasons, the most significant of which was that I could not come up with a way to express my thoughts this Independence Day.

As a family, we have a proud heritage as Americans. My paternal ancestors came from Germany, and my maternal ancestors originated in England. I am a Daughter of the American Revolution, meaning that one of my ancestors fought in the war for our freedom from the English King. My mother’s sister enlisted in The Marine Corps Women’s Reserve during World War II and both of our fathers fought in that war, surviving by the grace of God so that we, their progeny, would have life and freedom from tyranny. Our son is currently serving in the USMC as well.

When I was a child, there was no need to discuss whether we could talk about God in school or in public arenas – America was identified as a Christian country; thus it was understandable that we would communicate with God, in the name of His Son, Jesus Christ. Today, if you hear the name of Jesus on the television, in music on the iPod, on YouTube, or out in public areas, it is likely being used as a curse and not as the name of our Lord and Savior.

The opening lines of the Declaration of Independence declares that “all men are created equal” and “endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights,” and we were taught that this foundational document recognized that God was the underpinning of our nation. Today, the “all men are created equal” is much talked about by advocates for change and in the media, but the role of the Creator in our country’s founding is ignored.

I fear that this 239^th birthday finds our country’s Christian foundation in serious trouble. Indeed, it seems as though we are trying to eradicate all vestiges of Christianity from its conscience so that America will be turned completely away from Christianity. The argument, in very simple terms, seems to be that, since the Constitution guarantees separation of church and state, the church and especially the Christian’s God must not enter into the equation for resolution of any issue, consideration of any question, or discussion of any policy for the nation, or even for the individual or family. Thus, there can be no prayer to God in schools or at the athletic competition; there are no Ten Commandments in public buildings. The Bible is not taught as a book containing the Word of God … it may be moralistic but so is Aesop’s Fables.

The argument continues that the Christian’s God is not necessary because we are Americans … we can go to the moon or create babies in test tubes. We are independent, fully sufficient for anything … God is simply irrelevant and a waste of time. He is not necessarily dead (a philosophy popular several decades ago) but we certainly don’t need Him around and we really don’t need to worship a deity that is irrelevant.

The building for the Supreme Court of the United States

The catastrophic shift in the accepted point of view was illustrated by the Supreme Court’s recent decision about gay marriage. The decision was hailed as a progressive move by some and was received with saddened hearts by many others.

Symbols of Justice at The Supreme Court Building

I am an attorney, and I know that a single fact can change the result of a case or the fashioning of the appellate argument can focus the bench in various ways, depending on the argument. Thus, I am not going to analyze or comment on the decision itself.

My difficulty in fashioning my thoughts about Independence Day is based purely on what appears to be the systematic removal of God from our nation’s life.

In an article published on July 4, 2015 in the Washington Post and various other media, including The Commercial Appeal of Memphis, Tennessee, Newt Gingrich countered “Five myths about the Founding Fathers.” The first myth noted is that our Founding Fathers wanted to have a secular nation. Gingrich cites several of our Founding Fathers who firmly believed that God was the foundation upon which this country rested.

Jefferson who asked: “Can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are the gift of God?”

George Washington who thought that religion was essential to supply a higher authority for the rule of law. In Washington’s Farewell Address he stated that “of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports.”

Alexander Hamilton wrote, “The politician who loves liberty … knows that morality overthrown (and morality must fall with religion), the terrors of despotism can alone curb the impetuous passions of man.” [My own translation of Hamilton’s quote is “when morality and religion are gone, so is freedom because we will have traded freedom for rule by a despot.]

I hate “gloom and doom” thoughts – I know my Lord is Sovereign. Even when I am confused and at a loss for words (which does not happen often, as you can see by the length of this post), He is in control and He has me in His hands, so I don’t have to worry! But, watching my country turn its back on God is distressing.

In Jeremiah 11:14, when the people were being disciplined for trading God for the idols of the heathen societies around them, God instructed the prophet: “Therefore do not pray for this people, or lift up a cry or prayer on their behalf, for I will not listen when they call to me in the time of their trouble.”

It appears that this is what America is in the process of doing/has done. So, what as Christians can we do?

PRAY!

This is not a cop-out or platitude – it is a call to action. In 2 Chronicles 7:14, God says:

“if my people who are called by my name 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.”

In James 5:16, we read:

“Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.”

Prayers by the Christian sons and daughters of our Heavenly Father, through His Son and our Lord, Jesus Christ, will accomplish much for our country.

For your prayer effort on behalf of our country, I would highly commend to you the Internet organization entitled Presidential Prayer Team. It is not a church and membership in their website is free. Here is a quote from their web page about PPT:

We are a national ministry dedicated to a focused mission of encouraging, inspiring and practicing PRAYER on behalf of our President, nation’s leaders and our troops. We also seek to be a catalyst in the development of a robust prayer lifestyle. We do this by finding and PROVIDING tools to encourage prayer – through email, web, mobile phones and other communication tools. Ultimately, we believe that prayer will TRANSFORM our nation, one heart at a time.

The website address is http://www.presidentialprayerteam.com/index.php. Please take some time and look at this website – it offers many historical insights about our country and God, and it identifies specific people and issues to be in prayer about for each day. If you feel led to pray for our country, you can sign up on this site and you will receive information to remind you to pray for America.

The Presidential Prayer Team notes that the Founding Fathers were not all Christians, but they “were firmly committed to biblical morality, to public prayer and praise, and to the conviction that God is the Creator of liberty.”

I challenge you to be a 2 Chronicles 7:14 praying Christian.

Blessings to you and our country. May God bless America!

MORNING AND NIGHT – TOGETHER!

June 13, 2015June 13, 2015 | lindamowles

Have you ever noticed how people are different? Of course I know there are gazillions of differences between people. But, consider a very mundane, but personally relevant, distinction – Morning People and Night People. I have conducted a non‐scientific survey of many couples who are paired together in marriage even though they fall on the opposite ends of what I will call the “clock spectrum”. In other words, it seems that often Morning People are married to Night People and that these marriages are successful despite this fundamental difference between the partners.

Case in point: My Beloved Husband (a Morning Person) and Me (a Night Person). My Husband will arise no later than 6:30 a.m. whether he needs to do so just because it is the morning and that is when you should get up! He LOVES the sunrise – He loves to stand on the porch, listen to the birds awaken and then hear them serenade the sun as it comes up over the trees while he drinks his cup of coffee that he brewed before the sun lit the way to the coffee pot! I don’t know what all he does between when he gets up and when he wakes me up just before he leaves the house … I’m asleep! By the time I am aware of anything, he has been up for hours.

Getting up that early is simply foreign to me. I can get up early if I have a meeting in the morning; in fact I am more than capable of getting up at 6:30 a.m., washing, dressing, getting papers together, doing the breakfast thing, and getting out the door to get to the meeting, even with time to spare. I certainly won’t like it, but I can do it. But, if there is no deadline staring at me, I would be content to continue resting until …. Well, we really don’t need to state an actual time; suffice it to say that it would be past 6:30 a.m., that’s for sure.

At the other end of the “clock spectrum”, I love looking at the moon and the night sky. When we are camping, I can sit outside with a cup of decaf and look to the heavens watching the stars for hours … Night, now that’s my time of day.

How that plays out on a day‐to‐day basis in our home, for example, is something like this. We will be watching television and my husband will have fallen asleep in the recliner about 10:00 p.m. I, on the other hand will be knitting or reading recipes while watching the 11:00 p.m. news. When the news is over, I will get him to bed and then do some work on the computer, or read, or continue knitting, or do whatever else is beckoning, but it will be at least midnight and more likely 1:00 or 2:00 a.m. before I am ready to sleep.

We have tried to “normalize” our time schedules by my awaking at 7:30 and his “sleeping in” to 7:30 but it doesn’t change anything at the end of the day. He is still asleep in the recliner at 10:00 p.m. and I am still awake at 12:00 a.m.

Simply put, he is a Morning Person and I am a Night Person – there is no way around it. He explains that he had a paper route when he was a child so he had to get up early. I don’t have any other explanation, but his paper route was over 50 years ago … I don’t buy it!

Interestingly, we are not the only ones. I have spoken to many others and more people than not tell me that they, too, are involved in “mixed marriages” – night and morning people are united in the holy bonds of matrimony! We are like this for some other reason.

Is this an example of God’s sense of humor? Perhaps.

In fact, I have made that comment in the past. But upon reflection and leadership of the Spirit, I expect God is doing something much more important here.

What if this is God’s way of providing each marriage partner some “sacred time” – a time when they can focus on being with God while not taking away time from their partner? Wouldn’t it be just like God to, in His sovereign grace, give us a partner who checks out physically at a time when we are still awake, or who remains asleep when we awaken, so that we can have time to meditate and “be still and know” that He is God, even while we hear the steady, comforting breathing of the one God has given to us as our mate?

Whether it is in the morning or at night, if your spouse is asleep and you are awake, why not spend that “alone” time with your Lord? After all, He is the Bridegroom Who has given His Life for you and Who has an everlasting Love for you. Perhaps His plan in uniting you with your opposite Morning/Night Person was to create some free time in your schedule so you could spend quality time with the Creator of the Universe. If He created the opportunity for this appointment with you, don’t waste it!

Cherish it and let Him fill your Soul, Beloved.

[If you want to “take part” in my non-scientific survey, let me know in a comment whether you are a Night or Morning person … and, if you are married, whether your spouse is the same or different! If you just agree with the thoughts, hit the Like button and there is no need for further comment! Remember, it really makes no difference because we are all loved by our Savior and He created us to be as we are! Thanks.]