March 2021 - keelight.net

OLD BARNS

How is that barn still standing? On my way to work, I go a back way to avoid a busy highway. One barn I see, is close to the road. One corner, that I can see, is still standing, but the rest of the barn has started falling apart all around it. I can tell that it was red but the paint has long ago started chipping away and fading from the sun. Parts of the roof are trying to cave in. Some boards are splintering away and if you were in the middle of the barn, you would feel quite a breeze! I am sure little creatures, have found their way into it and made it their home. I can tell there are things inside the barn. I wonder what treasures a person could find if they dared the hazards of going inside? But what interests me the most, is that only one corner, on this side of the barn is still holding the structure up. The barn has three other corners but I cannot see them from the road. It has no walls helping to hold it up. It is just standing there so strong and tall. Keeping the secrets and treasures it holds intact. It is built on a cornerstone, which anchors the entire structure together. That is what is making it so strong and still standing after years of wind, rain, snow, heat and cold. Through the years, this barn has weathered who knows what, but yet it is still standing, even though it is beat up-broken-falling down, thanks to the cornerstone that was poured so many years ago! The cornerstone is keeping the building standing.

There is a show on tv called “Barn Builders.” I love the fact that in the show, they tear down barns piece by piece, carefully documenting how it was built so many years ago. Then, they “put it all back together” for another owner who might be miles away. I have always liked to look at barns for some reason. I can imagine that the old barns were part of a large plot of land where farmers and their families toiled all of there lives. What stories I would love to hear about who lived there and erected that barn so many years ago. But it is evident that whoever built it originally, knew the importance of a strong cornerstone.

I started thinking that our lives are like that barn. We are broken-falling apart- been “chipped” at-feel like we will fall at any minute because of the pressures of this world on us. The year of 2020, in some ways was like that. So many family members passed away because of the coronavirus-business owners had to close their doors, some forever-families who had not ever experienced anything like this, were literally hungry, standing in lines for hours just trying to get food for their families for that day! The fear encompassed us of even getting out of our homes and breathing the same air that was so full of the virus. For months, we were not able to go to church services. Much of this made so many fearful like they had never before felt.

But guess what, the Bible tells us that WE have a chief cornerstone. That stone is Jesus. In Isaiah 28:16, Isaiah foretells about Jesus. “Therefore, thus says the Lord God. Behold I lay in Zion a stone for a foundation. A tried stone, a precious cornerstone a sure foundation.” There are many scriptures that tell us that Jesus is our chief cornerstone. But I will just have you look at, 1 Peter 2-10.

“Coming to Him as a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious, you also as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. Therefore, it is also contained in the Scripture. ‘Behold, I lay in Zion, a chief cornerstone, elect, precious, and he who believes on Him will by no means be put to shame.’ Therefore, to you who believe, He is precious, but to those who are disobedient, ‘The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone,’ and ‘A stone of stumbling and a rock of offense.’ They stumble, being disobedient to the word, to which they also were appointed. But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of the darkness into His marvelous light; who were once not a people but now are the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.”

In ancient buildings, the cornerstone was first situated on the foundation and then all of the other stones were aligned to it. The cornerstone is still today, an important part of keeping a structure secure. The Cornerstone of Jesus, is important to us to keep us secure. That Cornerstone of Jesus also keeps us standing. When the “wind, rain and snow” of this world threatens to make us fall, that Cornerstone of Jesus will keep us upright. We may be torn up, feel that all is hopeless, painful physically and mentally, fearful, we may be leaning a bit, but the Cornerstone, of Jesus, keeps us standing and is always there with us if we just reach out to Him.

Unlike the Old Testament priesthood, in which only those who were born into a certain tribe could be priests, all who are reborn into God’s family, that is, all believers and who obey His word, are priest who have the privilege and responsibility of offering spiritual sacrifices to God. There are several phrases in the scripture above that show me that we are loved by God. “A chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people.”

I always wonder if that barn is still standing when I head to work. But so far that strong cornerstone is keeping it from falling. That old barn reminds me that Jesus, as the chief cornerstone, is holding me up. When my husband, grandparents, mother, my pet, my precious friends and mentors, all left this earth, and the days are hard, He was and is strong and keeping me going. I might feel let down by this world, but my God, through His Son Jesus, has and will keep me putting one step in front of the other.

Old barns. I love them! They remind me that I need to hold onto God’s promises when times get tough. Even when we are leaning because of this world, He has a hold of us. He is helping you stand up and keep going. Put Jesus, as the Chief Cornerstone, into your life. You will be glad you did!

Till next time. Keela

LIKE DIAMONDS

On the way to pick up my dad to take him several places, I go the back way and drive by a lot of land. There is a beautiful horse ranch with horses framing the beauty of the countryside. I was also noticing the deer tracks and other animals’ tracks interweaving into the snow. The sun made the snow just glimmer, like little diamonds! A dear friend of mine had passed away the day before and my first thought was, ‘Oh, how Lillie would have liked to see all that beauty.’ That night while watching the news, they showed a little boy about 2 or 3 helping his daddy shovel the snow in their driveway. He even had a little shovel. I thought ‘Lillie would have loved that sight.’

My mother and I liked to watch several series on tv and there was one she and I particularly liked. The actual home it was filmed in is a huge mansion in England. I was born in England and I had dreamed that we could go back there to visit the places that I had been to as a child and also go tour the mansion shown on the show, with my mother. She has been gone five years now. I remember the last show of the series, thinking ‘Oh, no, mother is missing the end!’

Isn’t it funny the things that our minds think about after a death of someone we love, in our process of healing amongst the grief? I know exactly where they both had gone after their deaths. They both lived lives, shining their lights for the Lord, every day. They were an example of what a Christian woman should be, for others to follow. They both influenced so many people, including me, to be a better woman of God.

As I am writing this in my car, while waiting for my dad, I mentally called myself a ‘ding-dong.’ Then, I started smiling through the fresh grief of my friend. My friend, in heaven, is seeing such unimaginably shimmering sights that are far more beautiful than the sun glimmering on the snow like diamonds. I could picture her loving on and playing with all those children who have been murdered through abortion or other tragic ways of death. She was experiencing much more joy, than I am and will ever see!

Then, I thought about my mother in heaven and what she was experiencing. She was seeing the best “show” than we will ever see here on this earth! My mother loved to research about gemstones and loved her diamonds. She did a speech at one of my ladies’ days about gemstones and how they connected to the vision of a heavenly home. There are so many verses in the Bible, that talk about our heavenly home, but I will only show you one.

Revelation 21 shows us a view into heaven, spoken so that our earthly minds can try to understand its grandeur. Some of what is mentioned there are: “…city of pure gold, like clear glass…” “…the foundations of the walls of the city were adorned with all kinds of precious stones…” Some of the stones listed here are: jasper, sapphire, chalcedony, emerald, sardonyx, beryl, topaz, amethyst. The text tells us the gates to this magnificent city, are a huge pearl. “The city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it for the glory of God illuminated it.” “…there shall be no night there…” “And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes, there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.”

That last verse hits all of us in the year we just put behind us. 2020 will be written in history books as one of the most difficult year worldwide. Those who died of the pandemic, did not have any family to help them transition into the eternal part of their souls. But God was with them helping them to go thru the door from earthly to heavenly. The first two months of this year of 2021, have not started out as fresh and free from suffering as we had hoped. The people who stormed the capitol that day in January were painful to watch. What about the families of those killed in that horrible riot? I cannot even imagine the fear of the police, security and the people who were hiding in fear of their lives that day. Once we, who have done our best to follow God’s law, are blessed to go thru that door into eternity, we will not feel fear, pain, suffering, darkness and what it might hold, no more loosing those we love to death and all the sorrow and grief that brings us through the rest of our earthly lives.

The sinful-evil-hateful people of this world also are told what will happen to them, if they do not turn towards God and turn away from their sinful ways. There are many verses in the Bible that tell them where they are headed when they leave this earth thru death. One of the passages is in Mark 9:42-48, which gives us a picture of what hell will be like. The verses tell us that if sin tries to wiggle its way into our hearts, that it is better to cut that out of our lives. The verses are Jesus speaking and He uses the symbolism of three parts of our physical body that we should cut off if it is causing us to sin: the hand-foot and eye. They tell us that if we do not repent and get rid of what is causing us to sin, that we will be “…cast into hell, into the fire that shall never be quenched where their worm does not die. And the fire is not quenched.” It also tells us if we cause someone or ourselves to practice sin, it is “…better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were thrown into the sea.” A millstone is an extremely heavy circular stone, three to four feet across and about a foot thick, used to grind grain into flour, etc. So, in other words, if we had this around our necks, we would definitely sink to the depths of the sea and die.

Which one of the eternal places would you like to go? I know I want to strive to go to a heavenly home. It does not mean I am perfect-that my mother was perfect-or that my friend was perfect. We have all made and will make, bad decisions in our lives in the past, present or future. But the difference in one trying to live their lives for the Lord, is that we have learned, do learn and will learn from those mistakes and make a better life so that we can have joy in an eternal home in heaven!

I have shed many tears in the last few days and the grief is fresh. But as I have found after losing my mother and the fresh grief I experienced then, that the grief never totally goes away, but that grief can be changed into joy, because of the beauty they are seeing and experiencing-the sights and the “shows” that sparkle like diamonds. I will see both of them one day. I have to try to live the best life I can here on this earth, learn from my mistakes-my sin, and try to shine my light for others to see Jesus reflected in that light. I will make the choice when those sad times come, to remember the good times and the fact that I am a much better person because of the light and love they showered over me.

My first book, “Finding the Light in the Darkness,” I dedicated to my husband who has been gone for eleven years. My second book, “God’s Beauty Plan,” I dedicated to my mother. This blog I want to dedicate to my precious friend, Lillie. Thank you for your laughter and fun times we had! Thank you for confiding in me and letting me cry on your shoulder when the hard times came for each of us! Thank you for your example and strength to help me live a better life as a Christian woman! With tears in my eyes, I will miss you on this earth but will rejoice one day when we can see each other once again.

I hope you will give these words some thought. Think about your life and maybe there are some changes you need to make. Keep shining your light, like diamonds in the snow, to help lead others to Christ and the promise we have of eternal life one day when we leave this sinful world.

Thank you, Lillie, my precious friend!

Till next time! Keela