FYI

For personal reasons I will not be posting again until July 1st.
I hope you will return and God will bless you through this blog.

The Lord bless you and keep you.
The Lord make His face shine upon you and bring you peace.

Vicky

Run to Jesus

Matt. 9:18, 23 to 26- While He spoke these things to them, behold, a ruler came and worshiped Him, saying, “My daughter has just died, but come and lay Your hand on her and she will live.”

…When Jesus came into the ruler’s house, and saw the flute players and the noisy crowd wailing, He said to them, “Make room, for the girl is not dead, but sleeping.” And they ridiculed Him.  But when the crowd was put outside, He went in and took her by the hand, and the girl arose.  And the report of this went out into all that land.  NKJV

       Where do you run to when some trouble or trial strikes you down?  Do you run away or escape into alcohol, drugs, food, television, fantasy, work, computer fun, or one of the other many ways we have to ‘get away’.  This ruler, a man from a general class of people who hated Jesus, left the side of his family and deceased daughter to ‘run’ to Jesus.  (To be honest, I don’t know if that’s what I would do.  I might just lay down in misery unable to even move.  Past experience has shown I am not the best at fully trusting the Lord… but I am working on that.)

       This ruler came and worshipped Jesus (Strong’s: like a dog kissing his master’s hand).  He was brought ‘to his knees’ by a tragedy that would humble anyone, and instead of running away or escaping, he put all his trust in the One who could, if He so desired, heal her.  His faith was so certain that he knew even death could be overcome by the Savior.  Look at what he said.  It was not a question, but a statement:  lay Your hand on her and she will live.  What confidence there is in those words.  Just touch her and she will live…  Do we have that much faith in our Lord?

       So Jesus arrives at the man’s house, sees the crowd grieving noisily and He attempts to give them some hope which they shoot down immediately.  Many of us lose hope in tough times.  It is difficult for us to put it all into God’s hands and allow Him to be in control of the situation, trusting that He has the best intentions for us and our lives.  So, instead of belief, they ridiculed and mocked Jesus.  I’m sure some of them were thinking, ‘just who does he think he is?’ 

       The ruler knew from the start.  He had faith in the only One who could heal his daughter.  He trusted that no matter how great his problem, Jesus could overcome.*  We have the same Lord and Savior to run to when trouble hits.  He will never leave us nor forsake us, (Heb. 13:5)  He is our comfort in times of trouble, (2 Cor. 1:4) and He gives us His strength to endure. (Phil. 4:13)  There is no better person in which to put our trust.**

Now we just need to remember that quickly when trouble strikes!

*John 16:33- These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”

**Pr. 3:5- Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding;

Ps. 91:2- I will say of the LORD, “He is my refuge and my fortress; My God, in Him I will trust.”

Memories

       It was a typical Sunday morning and we quickly got dressed to leave as time was shorter than we imagined.  We were visiting a friend’s church in celebration of his 50^th birthday, and so we arrived fully prepared… as requested by his wife.  Now, you might think that we dressed in the dark, or perhaps had our eyes closed at the time, but the reality is that we spent over an hour finding and choosing our outfits the night before.  This morning’s service was to be a plaid surprise, and of course, always wanting to do all things in excellence…  J  

(Okay, maybe I need to remove the space between ‘a’ and ‘typical’ lol )

       The purpose of the plaid was to bring a gift of laughter to my friend, but I think it went far deeper than that.  It gave him, his family, and all present a wonderful shared memory of a ‘moment in time’.  It was only a couple years ago I remember watching a video of a lady who said the most important thing for family is to make good memories with your loved ones.  She left a legacy of great memories with her children and grandchildren when she passed.  I try to remember her wise advice.

       I think sometimes as our children get older and schedules become harder to plan around, it becomes more difficult to make those memories.  Parental employment, tasks at home and volunteering, whether in church ministries or community programs, along with our kid’s schooling, sports, jobs, ministries and youth, it becomes a challenge to find family time; but it is surely worth it, and I believe it is vital for our kids at any age.  Those enjoyable memories won’t happen without effort on our part.

Consider these scriptures:

Ps. 126:2- Then our mouth was filled with laughter, and our tongue with shouts of joy; then they said among the nations, “The Lord has done great things for them.”

Ecc. 3:4- A time to weep, and a time to laugh;… 
Pr. 17:22- A joyful heart is good medicine,…

Job 8:21- He will yet fill your mouth with laughter, and your lips with shouting.   ESV

       Can you imagine anyone wanting to be part of a group of people who experience no joy and laughter?  “Come to me, all you that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you” hard work with no laughter and joy? (Matt. 11:28)  Most certainly not!   The Lord Jesus Christ came to give us life and in that, abundant life (John 10:10), not just totally boring, solemn hours of labour.  It certainly wouldn’t attract me and His desire is to draw us to Him.  So let us all try to make great memories with our loved ones filled with the Lord, laughter and joy. 

       Let us also remember our brothers and sisters in the Lord are loved ones as well.  We should build good memories with them also, both in and out of church ministry, and maybe, just maybe, we might find out we have some truly great people by our side.