I am still sick with the flu, although feeling much better than I was. Now if I can only get rid of this cold and cough…
Due to being sick I had to stay home from church again this week. If there is one thing I hate it’s missing out on being in the Lord’s House! But, I tried to make the best of it. After my family left I played one of my favorite songs, which the Marshalls sing, called “I Could Not Do Without Thee.” The house was nice a quiet and the music drew me to prayer. I prayed for a while, bringing before the Throne all the names of those who would be in our church service and all the missionaries and pastors I know who would be preaching. During the rest of the morning I listened to some music, got ready for the day, did some basic cleaning in the kitchen, and then listened to preaching.
Bro. Don Green had a great message on the subject of vows. He’s so funny. He started out his message with several jokes. This is one I thought was funny:
One day a preacher was out in the woods deer hunting with some of the men from his church. They were standing around discussing which tree stand they would be using--the tree stand being a play house for a boy in a man’s body (chuckle)--when suddenly a deer passed by. All the men shot at it. The deer was hit and fell to the ground. The men began arguing about which of them had actually shot it and who would get to take the meat home. A game warden happened along, and the men asked if he would check out the deer and see whose bullet had killed it. After a short time the game warden approached the men and firmly stated that the preacher had definitely shot the deer. “How do you know it was the preacher?” they asked. The game warden replied, “The bullet went in one ear and out the other.” (chuckle)
On a serious note, this is often the sad truth! People ask the preacher for advice, but do they follow that advice? No! I was reading in Jeremiah this morning and thinking how foolish King Zedekiah was for not listening to Jeremiah as he prophesied what would be the king’s fate if he did not humble himself and obey God’s command. If he would have listened he could have saved his life and all his house! I am reminded of Proverbs 13:15: “The way of the transgressor is hard.” Why don’t we just listen and obey?
As I was saying, Bro. Green preached about vows. He spoke of the importance of our words, especially those words that we would direct towards God. He mentioned a man, popular for his atheism, who said that if there was a God, his grave would be inhabited by snakes. Sure enough, a snake had to be removed as this same man’s coffin was being lowered into the ground. Later the man who tended to the grounds confessed that there were always 3-4 snakes on this one particular grave site. That man got his wish. God heard, and God answered!
Another man, born long ago during the great revivals, was under conviction of his sin. He approached a professor one day and begged for answers. The professor’s advice was to wait to make a decision until the emotions had passed. This man then went out into the late night, turned his face toward heaven, and told God, “You leave me alone, and I will leave You alone.” That conviction--the only thing that leads to true repentance--never returned, and the man died and entered Hell.
The scary thing is that a lost person can resist the conviction of God to the point of never being saved. A Christian can grieve God so bad that He pulls away and allows us to destroy ourselves. How very careful we must be about the things we say to God--the vows we make. He will take us at our word!
The message continued on to speak of vows…vows to tithe, vows of marriage, vows to surrender one’s life to God, vows to raise Godly children, vows be physically pure until marriage, vows to never take God’s name in vain…so many vows. Making vows is a scary thing if they are not kept, but never making a vow as a Christian also means a life of minimal spiritual growth and little victory. Whew! That was some message!
After praying for a bit I started the spaghetti sauce for dinner and listened to Scourby read the first two chapters of 1 Samuel and Psalm 56, which all had to do with the message. Then I listened to the Marion Avenue boys. Talk about music to cheer the soul! I had such a good morning. It was nice to be alone in the quietness, just me and the Lord. But, when I am well next Sunday I shall be ever so happy to return to church again!!! =)
The family came home at around 2 PM (I think) with greetings from people who asked about me and an account of who was at church and who wasn’t (sadly). Mom told me that one of the little boys in our church keeps getting beaten up on the bus by Muslim boys because he believes in Jesus. He has to sit with the bus driver and has a 17-year-old body guard. What a “peace-loving” religion!!!
Before bed Dad read to us from the Sugar Creek Gang series. I like these quotes:
DON’T SWEAR!
I HONOR THE NAME
YOU TAKE IN VAIN.
IF YOU EXPECT TO RATE
AS A GENTLEMAN,
DO NOT EXPECTORATE
ON THE FLOOR.
(Expectorate means spit.) Those are two quotes to live by! Pretty good, huh?
Well, that was my Sunday!
This morning I woke up feeling slightly better. We have all been busy throughout the day cleaning and such, because next week our very good friends the Maynards are going to be arriving from Florida. We can’t wait to spend time with them!!!
I was able to clean my room and decorate by unwrapping the one cherished fall decoration I have--a cute little pumpkin I got at a ladies’ meeting last October when my parents and I went to Dundee, Scotland, for a missionary conference. I can hardly believe it will be a year ago tomorrow since we were there! What a blessed time of heartfelt singing, storming preaching, and, best of all, the fellowship. Fellowship for a lonely missionary is something like cold water to a thirsty desert wanderer. You don’t realize how starved you are for it until you get a little. It was wonderful to talk with the ladies, especially Mrs. Terri Green. To know Mrs. Green is to love her. You just get close to her, and she radiates a loving warmth that makes you feel so at home and at ease. I love Mrs. Green! I also made two dear friends--Holly and Heather Males. Those girls are angelic! After two days of solid singing, preaching, and fellowship, I was NOT ready to go home! I wanted more! We drove 45 minutes to the airport, and tears coursed my cheeks as I gazed out at the beautiful Scottish landscape; I got a little glimpse of the glories of Heaven during that meeting. I will never, ever forget it.Later this afternoon I joined Lydia outside (she was cleaning her bunnies’ cage), and I worked in my garden. All the dead sunflower stalks and the tomato vines needed to be cleared out for winter. In case I didn’t tell you, my tomatoes did not turn out this year. They were hard and had no juice whatsoever. I don’t know what I’m doing…or not doing, rather! After 3 years of trying and failing, I give up! I think the time has come for me to admit that I do not have a green thumb. Next year I’ll just stick to sunflowers. Anyway, Lydia had fun throwing tomatoes at her bunnies when they were bad. That would account for the rotten tomatoes I kept finding in the grass and on the walkway.
Peanut and Pumpkin were being so cute. They kept playing around at my feet while I was working. I was afraid I would accidentally hit them with the shovel or rake. They had fun digging in the just-turned soil and eating the leaves and smelling the rotten tomatoes. They think they own my garden; they kept wiping their chins on everything, which means they think it’s theirs. (chuckle) I guess we all like to think we own everything, even though it all really belongs to God. I must admit that Lydia’s bunnies are very cute. She is a very good “mommy.” The two most unsociable rabbits in the world are beginning to become quite sociable! Maybe they are taking lessons from my very sociable brother. (chuckle) Josiah likes to be wherever there is a group of people he loves.
Well, it’s my bedtime. God bless!
No comments:
Post a Comment