Category: Insights

We have a little terrier mix and she is very scared of the thunder and rain. She knows when the rain is coming in advance. One rainy day, I was sitting down and my little dog, Tanya, came up to me and got right under my feet. She was shaking like a leaf, very scared. I reached down and started petting her gently, speaking comforting words to her. As I petted her, I said this to her, and this made me start thinking. “It will be okay, baby, daddy is always here to take care of you.” Then it dawned on me. For the times I was afraid, Jesus would take his hand, and gently talk to me and tell me not to be afraid, because He would always be with me. 

I faced death when I was younger, having leukemia, back when there was no cure. Jesus came and touched me, telling me I would be all right, He would always be with me. I was asked to take part in an experimental program. This started with whole body radiation once a day for three days. Then I was given experimental drugs, along with a bone marrow transplant from by brother. I was in reverse isolation, meaning that anyone who entered my room, had wear masks, so I would not get an infection, since all my immunity had been destroyed.

I cried every night in the hospital bed, seeking God’s healing. Psalm 6:6 was a comfort to me. 

“O Lord, don’t rebuke me in Your anger or discipline me in Your rage. Have compassion on me, Lord, for I am weak. Heal me, Lord, for my bones are in agony. I am sick at heart. How long, O Lord, until you restore me? 

Return, O Lord, and recue me. Save me because of your unfailing love. For the dead do not remember you. Who can praise You from the grave? 

I am worn out from sobbing. All night I flood my bed with weeping, drenching it with my tears. My vision is blurred with grief; my eyes are worn out because all my enemies. 

Go away, all who do evil, for the Lord has heard my weeping. The Lord heard my plea; the Lord will answer my prayer. May all my enemies be disgraced and terrified. May they suddenly turn back in shame.” (NLT) 

I was one of four people at Emory University Hospital with leukemia and the only one who survived and was cured. Many other times, the Lord took care me in the face of adversity and physical illnesses. 

(My husband told me his story and I have relayed it here)

I recently purchased a bag of mandarin oranges. The first one I selected for my snack had some discoloration on the outside. I considered throwing it away. I decided to peel it but was skeptical about the condition of the inside fruit. To my surprise, the slices were plump and sweet. I was glad that I did not judge the orange by its outward appearance.

This reminds me about the story when the Lord told Samuel to find a man named Jesse in Bethlehem, because the Lord had selected one of his sons to be the king. First Samuel 16:17 says, “But the Lord said to Samuel, “Don’t judge by his (Jesse’s son, Eliab) appearance or height, for I have rejected him. The Lord doesn’t see things they way you see them. People judge by outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” (NLT)

In 1911, Charles Spurgeon referred to a man who created a wordless book. It only had three pages, black, red and white. Three more pages have been added since then. This is an excellent tool for teaching the plan of salvation to children, by remembering the colored pages and their meaning. This is available online.

The Plan of Salvation
If you died today, do you know for sure you would go to heaven?

Heaven
God Loves us an wants us to all be with Him in heaven and have eternal life.
John 14:2

Sin
Because we have all sinned, we cannot be with God.
Romans 3:23

Blood
Jesus took the punishment for our sin and died for us on the cross.
1 John 1:7

Purity
When we believe in Jesus, we will be made clean from sin, whiter than snow. Psalm 51:7

Growth
It is important to grow in your relationship with Jesus by reading the Bible and praying.
2 Peter 3:5

A psalm of David

“Hear my Prayer, O Lord; listen to my plea! Answer me because You are faithful and righteous. Don’t put your servant on trial, for no one is is innocent before You.” (vv. 1-2, NLT)

“I am losing all hope; I am paralyzed with fear. I remember the days of old. I ponder all Your great works. and think about what You have done. I lift my hands to You in prayer, I thirst for You as parched land thirsts for rain.

Come quickly, Lord, and answer me, for my depression deepens. Don’t turn away from me, or I will die. Let me hear of Your unfailing love each morning for I am trusting in You. Show me where to walk, for I give myself to You.” (vv. 4-8 NLT)

“Teach me to do Your will, for You are my God. May your gracious Spirit lead me forward on a firm footing. For the glory of Your name, O Lord, perceive my life. Because of You faithfulness, bring me out of this distress.” (vv. 10-12, NLT)

A song for pilgrims ascendant to Jerusalem. A psalm of Solomon.

“Unless the Lord builds a house, the work of the builders is wasted. Unless the Lord protects a city, guarding it with sentries will do no good. It is useless for you to work so hard from early morning until later at night, anxiously working for foot to eat; for God gives rest to His loved ones.

Children are a gift from the Lord, they are a reward for Him. Children born to a young man are likes arrows in a warriors hands. How joyful is the man whose quiver is full of them! He will not be put to shame when he confronts his accusers at the city gates.”

A song for pilgrims ascending to Jerusalem

“When the Lord brought back His exiles to Jerusalem, it was like a dream! We were filled with laughter, and we sang for joy. And the other nations said, ‘What amazing things the lord has done for them.’ Yes the Lord has done amazing things for us! What joy!

Restore our fortunes, Lord, as streams renew in the desert. Those who plant in tears will harvest with shouts of joy. They weep as they go to plant their seed, but they sing as they return with the harvest.”

[Jesus said,] “Watch out! Don’t do your good deeds publicly, to be admired by others, for you will lose the reward from you Father in heaven.” (Matthew 6:1, NLT)

[Jesus said,]”And when you fast, don’t make it obvious, as the hypocrites do, for they try to look miserable and disheveled so people will admire then for their fasting. I tell you the truth, that is the only reward they will ever get.” (Matthew 6:16,NLT)

“Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all times you can, to all the people you can, as long as you ever can.”

The Lord gave me this hymn for this Thanksgiving. Is is public domain and written by Johnson Oatman , Jr in 1897. I have posted the four stanzas first and the chorus at the end. I leave this as an encouragement for you when you are going through a season of uncertainty.

When upon life’s billows you are tempest tossed,
When you are discouraged, thinking all is lost,
Count your many blessings, name them one by one,
And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.

Are you overburdened with a load of care?
Does the cross seem heavy, your load to bear?
Count your many blessings, every doubt will fly,
And you will be singing as the days go by.

When you look at others with their lands and gold,
Think that Christ has promised you a wealth untold.
Count your many blessings money cannot buy
Your reward in heaven, nor your Lord on high.

So amid the conflict whether great or small,
Do not be discouraged; God is over all.
Count your many blessings, angels will attend,
Help and comfort with you till your journey’s end.

Count your blessings, name them one by one;
Count your blessings, see what God hath done;
Count your blessings, name them one by one,
And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.