Last Christmas with Dad

The winter sky last year at Dad's.

I looked through my pictures from last Christmas and was reminded that my husband and I spent the day with my parents at their home, bringing them a meal and presents. I didn't know it would be my last Christmas with my beloved father. The picture tells me otherwise. Just a quiet Christmas with the four of us there.

Mom and Dad were going to  Arizona that winter, but in early December 2015, Mom fractured her tailbone and was in extreme pain. That trip, meticulously planned out by my father, was cancelled when we heard the news. Bedrest, pain meds, and physical therapy took the place of travelling in the sunny southwest.

This winter, Dad again had carefully planned for wintering in Florida. The weekend after Thanksgiving Dad would take an Amtrak train with their car and Mom and I were to fly down the following Tuesday. That highly anticipated trip, also, was not meant to be when Dad fell while deer hunting just a few weeks before.

Instead, Dad has blazed the family trail, being the first one in our family to be at home with Jesus this Christmas. We never would have dreamed it, but it happened.

Life happens while we make our plans and dreams. God knew that my parents would not make it to Florida. Looking at last year's Christmas pictures, I have no regrets. Instead, I have happy memories of spending that last Christmas of his with him, loving him and Mom.

II Cor. 5: 1-4 says, "For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed with our habitation which is from heaven, if indeed, having been clothed, we shall not be found naked. For we who are in this tent groan, being burdened, not because we want to be unclothed, but further clothed, that mortality may be swallowed up by life."

I want to be thoughtful, not necessarily sentimental, in thinking about Dad's absence this Christmas.  Dad is no longer groaning, but rejoicing in his new heavenly home. Dad has put on his uniform of light, never to be shrouded by darkness again. In this I can rejoice this Christmas.

I thank God for memories of happy times. I rejoice that I felt closer to Dad in these last years than ever before in my life, that I was able to be an important part of his life.

Life happens while we make our plans. If you love someone, show them now, for you never know what day, or what Christmas even, might be their last.

Thank you God, for wonderful memories of Christmas' past. Thank you for the parents you gave me, who loved me the best they could, and that one day soon, I will see them again and never have to say goodbye again.

Pour Out Your Heart

Arise, cry out in the night at the beginning of the nightwatches! Pour out your heart like water before the presence of the Lord! Lift your hands to him for the lives of your children who faint for hunger at the head of every street.

Lamentations 2:19

 My children aren't fainting from physical hunger and I thank God for it. Yet last night, I brought them before God in the wee hours of the night.

Apart from physical hunger, there's another kind of famine in our land. A famine that's destroying the generation we live in. Amos the Old Testament prophet talked about it in Amos 8:11:

“Behold, the days are coming,” declares the Lord GOD,
“when I will send a famine on the land—
not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water,
but of hearing the words of the LORD.

Sleep eluded me, and I couldn't help but think about them, for the younger generation as a whole. God laid on my heart the necessity of praying for my children, and my children's children, that they might hunger and thirst for the living words of God. What blessing could be more important than to desire God's highest and best ?  The blessings come from having His Word dwelling richly within our hearts. 


 Sometimes we say, as if in despair, that the "only thing we can do is pray." How can we say that when prayer is our secret weapon, our greatest weapon, the only offensive weapon in the spiritual armor? If it does not represent much on our part, then why did the Lord allow the parable of the persistent widow in Luke 18:6?  The story of bothering an unjust judge who finally relents reminds us to never give up in prayer, no matter how hopeless it seems.

Then He spoke a parable to them, that men always ought to pray and not lose heart,

 I will pray and expect to see answers coming. How futile it is to stew and worry when it accomplishes nothing. The enemy doesn't want us to pray, he wants us to throw up our hands in despair. Meanwhile, the world grows darker and more defiled, like in the days of Noah.

It is an exciting time to be alive. It is a dangerous time to be alive.  The enemy is on the prowl for anyone he can catch off guard. All we need do is give a little inch, and the enemy comes in like a flood, taking a mile. Anxiety does nothing to quell it, but persistent, believing prayer can. Our families are worth fighting for!

When I pray lately,  I might say to God, "Here I am again, Lord. Just like that persistent widow who did not stop bothering the unjust judge until he gave her justice from her enemy. But You are not unjust, You are righteous and want me to come to You. I am putting _______ before you. I am waiting to see You get  glory from this situation. I know it will be a great testimony when the answer does finally come. Cover my children and grandchildren with the precious blood of Christ and grant them repentance in any area where they may need it. Amen."

The fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.(James 5:16) 


 Many are enduring extreme difficulties. We must not faint nor lose heart. Jesus is coming back  soon, and the night is always darkest before the dawn. I can almost see His rays of sunshine breaking in on this dark old world.

New Mercies Each Morning

This I recall to mind, therefore I have hope. It is of the Lord's mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; great is Thy faithfulness. The LORD is my portion, saith my soul, therefore I will hope in Him.

Lam. 3: 21-24

These are more than just nice sounding words on a page . These are absolute truths. Every day can be a new beginning, no matter how bad we blew it the day before.

Pride is so sneaky. Sometimes I think I'm doing well. It's easy to think of others and how they might be failing in one way or another. But the Spirit pulls me up short and I realize in this thick skull of mine that I am no better than any of them. We all need God's mercies.

If I do well, it is because He helps me to avail myself of His neverending supply of mercy and grace. If I fail, He is not surprised, He  wants me to come back to Him. Could we really think that God is surprised by any of our failures when He knew every day that was appointed to us? (See Psalm 139.)

Christian, do you, or could you, really believe these gracious words?

Come to Me, all who are growing weary to the point of exhaustion, and have been loaded with burdens and are beneath their weight, and I alone will cause you to cease from your labor and take away your burdens and thus refresh you with rest. Take at once my yoke upon you, and learn from Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and you will find cessation from labor and refreshment for your souls, for my yoke is mild and pleasant, and my load is light in weight.*

* The New Testament, An Expanded Translation by Kenneth S. Wuest, Teacher Emeritus of NT Greek, The Moody Bible Institute, 1956.

A. T. Robertson, in his Word Pictures of the New Testament, Volume 1, Kregel Publications, 2004 Revised and Updated by Wesley J. Perschbacher, says this of Christ's yoke:

Jesus promisess that we shall find his yoke greatly lightens the burden, "Easy" is a poor translation of chrestos ( χρηστός  ); Moffatt puts it "kindly."... We have no adjective that quite carries the notion of "kind and good." The yoke of Christ is useful, good and kindly (cf. Song 1:10). 

So, if you think living the Christian life is hard, think again. It was hard for Him, so it could be easy for us to receive a new start and His mercies each day. 

 Christianity isn't a list of rules but a relationship with the Living God. And He is the One who accomplishes it in us as we simply let His Word dwell richly in our hearts.

Faithful is He that calleth you, who also will do it. I Thessalonians 5:24

For it is God that worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure. Phil. 2:13

Finally, remember Jesus' gentle rebuke to Martha when she was so busy trying to serve Him. He simply said:

...Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things: But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her. Luke 10: 41-42 

Jesus did everything necessary to make me good before God. He is a good and kind Master. When I fail Him, I come again to His throne of grace and receive abundant mercy.

Who His own self bare our own sins in His own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness; by whose stripes you were healed.                 (*my emphasis) I Peter 2: 24 

 

 

Giving Thanks for Dad's Legacy of Faith

For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. Hebrews 4: 12

It will be the first Thanksgiving with one less person around our family table. The patriarch, my dear father, will be sorely missed. Last night, I cried as I gazed at the stars and thought of him at home in heaven now with his Savior. I am sad for me, but am happy for him.

Yesterday, I pulled Dad’s Bible off the shelf in his office. I choked up and felt the tears come as I looked at his precious engineer’s handwriting in that Bible. It is a legacy of faith that can be passed down to the generations that follow. It was like a window into his spiritual life, the invisible part that he shared with God demonstrated by the notes and musings in his Bible. In it he made notations by Bible verses he loved, he had stuffed in the back a couple devotionals and sermon notes. My Dad had a spiritual life. He realized he was here for a purpose bigger than himself. It was the greatest gift he could ever share with us all: his wife and daughters, and our families.

Yesterday marks one month since his tragic accident. But, according to Dad, maybe it wasn’t so tragic after all. He told me we should be happy for the home-going of believers in Jesus. Maybe Dad was telling me it would be OK when he was gone just a few short weeks later. For my own encouragement and help, God put it on his heart to tell me that.

Looking through his Bible is more precious to me than looking at his woodworking pieces or his tractor ribbons. Or looking at the house he built does not compare with looking at Dad’s Bible. I know that if he could see me sitting down here in his office, he might say, “Megan, look at the Bible and ignore all the rest of the 'stuff' of this life. There is One Book, One Person that is important. Everything else is vanity and like grasping the wind.”

Dad has the secret now. He passed on from this vale of tears and would not want to come back no matter how much you paid him. He is with Jesus. Jesus, the One who makes our heart finally to rest, the One who sees all our failures and yet loves us so much.

We have to learn that we are not here for this life and what it offers. We are here for one reason, “That I may know Him…” as the Apostle Paul wrote in Philippians 3:10. I love how Luke describes the apostle’s experience when they walked on the Road to Emmaus with the Risen Jesus, yet they did not know it was Jesus. They said to one another, “Were not our hearts burning within us while He was speaking to us on the road, while He was explaining the Scriptures to us?" (Luke 24:32) Burning hearts, filled with the knowledge of the One True God and His Son Jesus Christ, that is what every soul longs for deep down. The unbeliever just tells lies to himself all his life and say that his life is full without God but deep down in their soul they know it's not true.

I wonder how precious it is now for Dad on the other side of eternity, far beyond the stars I gazed upon last night. As I have learned, all my capacity for eternity is filled only in this life. If we want to know Him here, we will know Him there. If we say, “See ya later, I want to live my own life,” He will sadly, let us live our own life. As we lose our own lives, we find what our hearts are really longing for. It is a great paradox, Jesus tells us to lose our own life. Now that sounds like a very hard and difficult thing to do. But actually, when we find out that Jesus is not a cruel taskmaster but the Lover of our soul, it is not hard. How can it be hard to walk in love? It is much harder to walk in hatred, bitterness, and un-forgiveness.

Dad would agree with all these things now. When I look at a picture of his face, how I long to see him again. But it won’t be long. When I do, there will no more goodbyes, no more tears. Just peace and fellowship around the Lord’s Table forever. What a hope we have in Jesus, and what a Redeemer too. Because He is our Redeemer,the one in whom we must trust, I will see my father’s smiling face again. When I get there, it will like I have been there all along. All our hearts are waiting for resides in that place, and it will just be a “moment,” and I will see him again.

Tomorrow, as we give thanks, I will especially give thanks to God for that.

An Appointed Time

My late beloved father, John Murphy, on one of his beloved tractors. 1932-2016

To everything under heaven there is a season, A time for every purpose under heaven.

A time to be born, And a time to die.

Ecclesiastes 3: 1-2a

I have been putting off writing this post. I mean, how could I even begin to convey what a  whirlwind of a month it has been? I feel ten years older and when I look in the mirror, it seems confirmed.

A phone call, a race to the emergency room to a major trauma center, days and nights in the waiting room, listening to the doctor's rounds as the prognosis becomes grimmer and grimmer...and then, making the excruciating decision with my family that according to his wishes we should let him go and not continue to suffer. Finally, after singing, kissing, rubbing his hardworking hand I watched his chest rise one final time and not breathe out. Dad's time under heaven was over, and he was transferred to his heavenly domain.

One minute my Dad was an energetic, even vibrant 84 year old man. The next time I see him, he is telling me he is dying. I said, "Daddy, no you're not," But in my heart, I knew he was right.

In a moment our lives have been turned upside down. I had so much admiration for him and was proud to have been his daughter. His wonderful career as a Professional Engineer, all the accolades for his  pulls, and pristine antique tractor restorations suddenly became unimportant in the light of life and death.

Mom is having trouble comprehending why this happened. If only he had not insisted on going out to hunt for that deer. She tried to tell him not to go, but he went anyway. He didn't mean to fall off the tree stand or to shatter his spine and break just about every rib. Sure, he would not have gone if he knew that was going to happen.

But the Preacher of Ecclesiastes said there is a time for everything under heaven, even a time to die. No one wants to think about our future date with this event, but unless the Lord calls us up in the rapture, we each will have our own individual appointment with this time under heaven.

The most important thing was not that Dad could have avoided falling, but he had made sure that his soul was ready for that appointment, whenever it would come.

In just one single moment of time, Dad placed his faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, trusted that Christ had paid for his sins and that Christ was the risen and triumphant Son of God.

In that second, Dad had a heavenly hope. Sure, Dad rose from poverty to a life of ease in the life he built for us all in his successful career. But he knew that there was something beyond this life, something beyond having a comfortable life, a life in eternity with the Lord Jesus.

Once, when I was a little girl, Daddy and I talked about salvation and I knew he wanted to talk to his aging mother about his faith. His mother lived far away in a nursing home in Iowa. He stopped there on the way home from a business trip. That night, as we sat on our old red couch together, he suddenly trembled, with tears welling up in his blue eyes and said, "Megan, we shared words about God," and broke down crying. I never felt closer to him in all my life at that point than I did at that moment.  I'd never saw him cry before, my world travelling father with such a demanding career.  I started to cry too as we hugged each other, realizing this life is only a temporary stop on our way to a permanent home in the heavenlies with our Savior. 

He realized what was really important in life. As time wore on, Dad became more and more outspoken in his prayers and sharing with others. In retirement years, he and my Mom started each day with devotions and prayers and he donated generously to the Gideons, knowing the great importance of sharing God's Word with a lost and dying world.

I know that nothing, nothing, would make my Dad happier than knowing even one person would also come to believe in Christ as their Savior as a result of hearing this sad, but hopeful story. Though it was my dear father's own appointed time, if the story of God's free gift of salvation is shouted forth to the world, he and the angels will rejoice.

Verily, verily I say unto you, he that heareth My word, and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation, but is passed from death unto life. John 5:24*

And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him who is athirst come. And whosoever will let him take of the water of life freely. Revelation 22:17*

(*emphasis mine) 

Cosmic Loneliness

"For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly... because the creation itself also wil be delivered from bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the sons of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now."   Romans 8:19-22

The other night I was tossing and turning in bed. I spent the evening scanning the internet for news of the upcoming election and then did some reading which was secular as well. It was a novel that had me thinking how lonely the pursuit of riches really is. As I laid there, I realized things that thrill the world only serve to make me "cosmically lonely." I felt a check in my spirit. I couldn''t go off to sleep that way.

There is a constant battle being waged. Two voices vie for their right to be heard, so to speak, in my little old head. One says, "Come on, can't you just chill and relax and enjoy life. Do you have to be thinking about Him all the time?" The other voice says, "If any man would go after Him, let him say no to himself" (paraphrase of Mark 8:34). I can't forget that verse, even though sometimes I want to.

The days are short. Christ could come back at any time. There is a special reward for those who are "loving His appearing." II Timothy 4:8 But what does it mean to "love His appearing."

The three words are agapao, autos, epiphania that make up the phrase "love His appearing." The meaning of love (agapao) in that verse means: "to welcome with desire, long for." The word autos is translated "his," meaning Christ, in this verse. The word for appearing is "a manifestation,  ie, specially the advent of Christ (past or future), appearing, brightness."

(definitions derived from: https://www.blueletterbible.org/kjv/2ti/4/8/t_conc_1129008 )

If I get too comfortable with my life the way it is I will not be longing for Him. If I do not take in the Word daily I will not grow in my awesome respect for Him. When He appears, one of two things can happen: I will either love His appearing or I will shrink back in shame. There is no wiggle room there for a happy medium in between.

It is not worth it then to get sidetracked by worries of this life, of trying to make a name for myself, of "grabbing all the gusto" I can get in my short stay on this planet."But if I only think about Him I will have no fun," I can hear some saying, I can hear it in my own mind. That is a lie. For:

"the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance, against such there is no law." Gal. 5: 22-23

Think of it! No law must be legislated against the fruits of the Spirit. The very things we long for, the very things that the human heart desperately desires, are all contained in the fruits of the Holy Spirit. They are all there as we walk step by step with our Faithful Master every day.

One day He will crack the sky. I will not listen to the naysayer in my own head. He really is coming quickly, and I want to be ready. How about you? It is as simple to decide to come once again to the Great Shepherd of your soul.

"For you were as sheep going astray, but are now returned to the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls." I Peter 2: 25

Which Cup will you drink?

In a moment,in the twinkling of an eye, at the last 

trumpet...

I Corinthians 15:52




I got knocked down the last week or two, but I'm not out. Preparing  for a craft show, running around helping people, and lack of taking good care of myself and suddenly I found myself nearly out of commission from a cold which turned into a sinus infection which turned into an asthma flare.  I shouldn't take good health for granted.

I did some thinking between blowing my nose and sleeping on the couch. Just why am I writing anyway? Does it even make a difference? Maybe just quit while I'm ahead.

This morning, though not better, I rethought that. Current events are downright depressing, if looked at from only a secular viewpoint. Current events through my life seemed to go along as they always had but not anymore. They are reaching a point of no return.

Without Jesus, without the Bible, how could I live with what I see happening on the news every day?
I would fall apart. How do people live without Jesus?

And so that is why I write. To tell people that there still is time to believe in Jesus before the things prophesied come quickly to pass.

Most if not all people who might read this already believe in Jesus. Great! But maybe, just maybe there might be one who does not? This blog is just a little thing, but if God could use it to reach one person it would be such an awesome privilege for me.

Because, if you don't know Jesus, let me tell you, things are about to get really bad on this earth. No matter who is elected America is in grave trouble. We can't deny it anymore. Nowhere is safe: not Europe, not America, not the Middle East. All the money in the world cannot fix the problems of hatred and man's inhumanity to man.

But there is really good news in spite of this bleak picture. Jesus came and made Himself available to do something about the tragic mess we are in.  2,000 years ago, He obliterated sin that ruins everything it touches. He paid for all the sins of all mankind, even the ones of those who don't believe in Him. Why? Because He was perfect love, and He made the perfect sacrifice.

We are out of human solutions. It is time to take the only one that works: the Divine one. It cost Him everything to give it to us, but He did it willingly because He loved us all so much.

For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. II Cor. 5:21

 Some may say that to believe the Bible is old-fashioned and doesn't keep up with modern science. I for one choose to believe it above what man's theories say. I believe it because it gives me hope for the future in heaven, a sense of destiny and especially it helps me today:

...to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, even Jesus, who delivers us from the wrath to come.       I Thessalonians 1: 10

So dear friend reading this, wherever you are, why not take the cup of salvation the Lord is offering you? Then you too will not be looking for any kind of human way to fix the problems all over this earth. Instead you will look to Jesus, and in Him you will find all that your heart is longing for, all that you will ever need. Like the Psalmist so long ago, you can also say:

I will take the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the LORD. Psalm 116: 13

After all, I would much rather have to drink from God's cup of salvation than the cup of wrath that will be poured out on the Christ rejecting world.

Two cups, two destinies. Which one will be yours?

If you are not sure if you have a home in heaven waiting for you, you can think something like this toward God in your heart: Father, I believe that Your Son Jesus came to earth to pay for man's sins and not just all men's, but my own ones too. I want to be with You in heaven so I believe in what He did for me that day, and that You raised Him from the dead. I take the gift of salvation and new life that He alone offers me. Amen.