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THROW ASIDE YOUR GARMENT

When the weather gets warmer, we can finally not wear our coats. I love that time of year! The coat is such a burden to wear, keep track of and put back on to go outside. In Mark 10:46-52, we read of a blind man who had an outer garment and he threw off his garment. It is lengthy but bear with me. Notice the underlined sections. There is a lot we can get out of this passage of scripture about the garment or garments that we are wearing.

“Now they came to Jericho. As He went out of Jericho with His disciples and a great multitude, blind Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, sat by the road begging. And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, ‘Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!’ Then many warned him to be quiet; but he cried out all the more, ‘Son of David, have mercy on me!’ So, Jesus stood still and commanded him to be called. Then they called the blind man, saying to him, “Be of good cheer, Rise, He is calling you.’ And throwing aside his garment, he rose and came to Jesus. So, Jesus answered and said to him, ‘What do you want Me to do for you?’ the blind man said to Him, ‘Rabboni, that I may receive my sight.’ Then Jesus said to him, “Go your way; your faith has made you well.’ And immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus on the road.”

This poor man was a blind beggar who sat by the side of the road. Can you even begin to imagine how he must have felt? There are four things that I want us to think about from this scripture.

1. He was begging by the side of the road. When he heard Jesus was coming by, he cried out to Him. He addressed Jesus as the “Son of David.” I wonder why he did not say Son of Joseph? This man had heard of Jesus and believed in Him being the Messiah, the promised deliverer. It is amazing that this man could clearly recognize Jesus even when he was blind. This blind man has spiritual insight, while many who could see, including religious leaders, were spiritually blind! Which one are you like? Are you blind to the fact that Jesus is our Savior? Or are you calling out to Jesus?
2. The crowd warned him to be quiet. They felt like he was making a scene. They did not see him as being important or worthy enough to have Jesus’ time. These people felt like he was a nobody. But then when Jesus stopped and told them to bring this man to Him, I think it is kind of funny that they change their tune really quickly! Jesus recognized this man as truly “getting” who He was and what He was here on this earth to do. No matter who he was or what he was doing physically, Jesus saw him as important and worthy of His attention. Do you feel unwanted, not important, tossed aside, beyond help, or do you realize that God loves you and He knows how many hairs are on your head? He puts your tears in a bottle. (Psalm 56:8) Like everyone else, you are important to God.
3. Jesus asked him what he wanted. Jesus already knew who he was and what he wanted, but Jesus wanted him to vocalize it. He needed to put some action into his physical healing. We, also, need to put action into our physical and spiritual healing. We need to reach out to Jesus, just like Bartimaeus did. We can’t just sit blinded by our lack of faith. Our faith requires action. Did you see in the passage that Jesus immediately healed him? Do you have the faith that God can take care of you, that He just wants us to reach out to Him in faith and meditation of the scriptures? God is always just a thought away from us. He is ready to get you out of those earthly things that are holding you back from your purpose! We just have to ask.
4. Bartimaeus threw aside his garment. In Bible times, the government gave a person a special garment to wear if they were legitimately disabled, showing that he was approved to sit and beg. This was kind of like the special attire worn by a nurse or policeman that identifies who they are. This garment was important, valuable to a beggar like him. He had to get rid of that garment in order to move forward. Do you wear a garment like this blind beggar did? We have to throw off our cloak of feeling sorry for ourselves-that we are not good enough-we will never amount to much-offended by someone and we have become bitter-we had a bad childhood and use that as an excuse-we cannot get out of that bad relationship or addiction-stuck in that job that is taking you down mentally and physically-we are stuck in the past thinking that we cannot throw off those barriers of our past in order to move forward to our future. We need to put action and throw off those “garments” that are holding us back from our God given purpose!

Do you have a “garment” holding you back from your God given purpose? Do you hang onto it and not throw it off like Bartimaeus did? Are you as a family member or friend, enabling them to hang onto their past and telling them they are ok to hold onto that, instead of helping them throw it away? We need to get away from those negative voices that are keeping us stuck in the past and not reaching out for the future! Rather, listen to Gods’ words in scripture, that with Him we can accomplish anything-we are important and good enough-we can change and move forward not backward-we don’t have to be stuck in the past. It is possible, we just have to reach out to Him. We have to put action into the healing. We need to be so thankful that we can go to God in prayer, talk to our Father and let him know specifically what our heart desires.  

2 Corinthians 5:7 tells us that “For we walk by faith, not by sight.” Bartimaeus truly did that didn’t he? Don’t let negative voices tell us that we cannot get out of the happenings of the past! We have to have faith, even when we cannot see, that God can help us throw off those heavy “garments” that hold us down from getting up and going forward into our future. Our faith can open doors we never imagined for our future we just have to press forward!

At the end of the scripture above, it tells us that Bartimaeus followed Jesus. We have to stand firm in our faith and know that God is there for us, we just have to reach out to Him and keep Him in our hearts.

Do you have a “heavy garment” holding you back from the future? Throw it off and walk into your future following God! Throw aside your garment!

Till next time!

                                            Keela

TOOLS IN GOD’S TOOLBOX

TOOLS IN GOD’S TOOLBOX

My grandfather had a wooden toolbox that he and my dad made. I remember as a child getting tools out of it and taking to my grandmother or grandfather. When my grandmother moved, after my grandfather passed away, that toolbox was unfortunately lost.

We all have a “toolbox” to get tools out of to live a Christian life on this earth. It is always there for us. It does not get lost, unless we leave it stuck up on a shelf gathering dust. It is strong and has been there for us through many generations and will still be here for future generations. Of course, you have figured out what the toolbox is that I am referring to: the Bible. Psalm 100:5 & Psalm 102:18 read “For the Lord is good, His mercy is everlasting, and His truth endures to all generations.” & “This will be written for the generation to come, that a people yet to be created may praise the Lord.”  We have that “toolbox” handed down from generation to generation. Do your children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, know about the Bible? Do they understand how important that “toolbox” is for their future and it has everything they will ever need in it?

If you go to a hardware store, you can find about any kind of tool that you might need for a project. My son works at a hardware store chain. He knows that different tools are for different jobs. The Bible tells us, in Ephesians 4:11-16, “and He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ…but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head-Christ-from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.” Also, in 1 Corinthians 12, verses 12 thru the end of that chapter, the Bible tells us that there are many members in the body, the church, and we all work together for the same goal. It compares the different parts of our body, to the fact that we, as Christians, all need to work together. We are all individuals in the church and have different purposes and works to fulfill.

Just like the tools in my grandfather’s toolbox, there are many different “tools” who make up Christs’ church. There are: elders, deacons, preacher, men in the audio and video booth, people who get the video working for the people listening from home, men who stand at the front doors keeping us safe, teachers of the children and adults, people who get the class room tools ready for the teachers, those who keep the building clean and ready for the next service, people who get the bulletin ready to print and folded, people who order the classroom material and get it printed, people who send encouraging cards, those who make food for the ones in need, those who take the collection to the bank and so many other tools, through His children, that God has given, through His word, to fulfill. There are so many different people, who work for the Lord in His church and in this world. Sometimes, especially through this two-year pandemic, we have not been connected person-to-person, but we still have had tools we have needed to stay connected as Christian brothers and sisters.  

There are so many who have not been able to get out and attend services, especially the elderly and those at high risk of catching covid. I love how the verse above says “joined and knit together by what every joint supplies.” In other words, we as Christian brothers and sisters, are all a part of fulfilling God’s “toolbox,” the Word of God. We are connected in a special way that is so strong, so encouraging. A family who has different abilities to further God’s message. There is a special strong connection to those who are our brothers and sisters in Christ. We are all headed to and have a goal-a focus, of a future of living in heaven together one day. If you don’t have that in your life-if you don’t feel connected, it is time to wake up and remember what a special bond there is between those different “tools” or different Christians in His church. It is time to get back together, use our different “tools” and serve the Lord.

We are the “tools” that work together in the church, to fulfill all the talents, God gives us. The church is an important part of the “toolbox” of the word. We make up and work for the church, therefore we are fulfilling God’s word.

Tools! Who would have thought that hammer, I was looking for last week, could hold so much significance? Just like all the tools in that toolbox, the many different people who make up the church work together for His glory and fulfillment of the “toolbox,” God’s word. The words or “tools,” in the Bible, guide us to work together for the same goal, heaven. We also need to use those “tools,” to hand down from generation to generation. Are you using your God given “tools,” for the Lord? If not, then you need to dust off your “toolbox” and start using it. We need to give future generations the tools they need to be the “tools” within the church to further God’s promises. Are you using your toolbox to further God’s will? Are you fulfilling your God given purposes, by being a “tool” in Christ’s church? If not, become more active in Christ’s church-study your Bible and see what “tools” you are and then, start furthering the gospel by working within His church and those around you.

God’s “toolbox” is the key to eternal life. I am so thankful we have so many different “tools” who work for the Lord and we all work together for the same goal. Are you using your tools and are working together for the Lord? Don’t let that toolbox be lost for future generations! Thank you, God, for giving us the tools in Your toolbox to work together to spread your good news of salvation!

Till next time!

                           Keela

FIERY TRIAL

Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-Nego. Now, those are names you don’t see every day! Try to say them ten times really fast. God had special plans for these young men in the Bible.  If we turn to the book of Daniel, you will find these young men and the fiery trial they went through. Bear with me as I give you a little history lesson and then an application of the story of these three young men.

Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, came to Jerusalem and captured the city. He instructed that “…they bring some of the children of Israel, young men in whom there was no blemish, but good-looking, gifted in all wisdom, possessing knowledge and quick to understand, who had ability to serve in the king’s palace, and whom they might teach the language and literature of the Chaldeans.”

There were four that they chose and brought to the king for this purpose, Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah. Nebuchadnezzar ordered that these  names be changed from, their Jewish names, Daniel to Belteshazzar, Hananiah to Shadrach, Mishael to Meshach and Azariah to Abed-Nego. (1:7) There are so many lessons we can get from this book of Daniel, but we are going to focus on the third chapter that tells us about the three young men, Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-Nego.

King Nebuchadnezzar, ordered an image, a god, be built. The image was built of gold and stood 90 to 100 feet tall. (I imagine you could see that when the sun shone on it!) The king ordered that whenever the people heard a (3:7) “…symphony with all kinds of music, all the people, nations and languages fell down and worshiped the gold image which King Nebuchadnezzar had set up.”  The king ordered “…whoever does not fall down and worship shall be cast immediately into the midst of a burning fiery furnace.”

Our focus will be on chapter 3. (Daniel is not in this chapter.) Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-Nego refused to obey. The king was furious and asked them if they were refusing to obey his order and they said yes. The king immediately ordered that they be thrown into a fiery furnace. He ordered that the fire be made seven times hotter than normal. Usually, when someone was thrown into this furnace, they were stripped. But the king immediately ordered they be thrown in. The fire was so hot that it burned up the men who put these three in the furnace. (23) They “…fell down bound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace.” Then, something amazing happens. King Nebuchadnezzar said (25) “Look! …I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they are not hurt, and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.” Verse 27 says “…they saw these men on whose bodies the fire had no power the hair of their head was not singed nor were their garments affected and the smell of fire was not on them.” Then the king ordered in verse 29, “Therefore I make a decree that any people, nation, or language which speaks anything amiss against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego shall be cut in pieces and their houses shall be made an ash heap, because there is no other God who can deliver like this.”

Now, let’s think about a few things. This fire was so hot. It should have immediately turned them into ashes. The three were bound, they had all their clothes on. When they came out of that fire, the ropes were off-there was no burn marks on their clothes-not a hair was singed-they did not even smell like smoke. Wow! (This made me think of my husband and two boys, who went to Boy Scout camp. When they came home and I was doing their laundry, I just loved that smell of smoke from their campfires.) The king knew that this was done by the only true God!

Let’s think about four things that I see from this story in the Old Testament.

First, I started thinking about those ropes that bound these young men. They are the only thing that was taken off. That is the same way with us. When the things of this world bind us and hold us captive, God can lose them from us. God has given us the Bible to read and thru the Holy Spirit, we can remember special verses that can help us when we go through a trial. I know that I usually turn to the Psalms or my favorite verse of the Bible, Isaiah 40:31. These verses help me to center my heart once more on God and thru them God loses the ropes that have bound my heart!

Second, there was a fourth person in the fire. We need to remember, and believe, that God sends us people at the right time and the right place. Has there ever been a time in your life that it has been evident that God sent someone to you? Years ago, when my husband and I lost our home to foreclosure and we had to take bankruptcy, we were looking at some trailers to rent or buy. We found one that we really liked, which sat up on a hill, and we were going to purchase. We walked around the trailer on the outside. As we came around the side by the road, a car pulled up and the lady asked if we were going to purchase this trailer. My husband said yes. Then, she told us some amazing things. She asked who was selling this trailer. We told her and she said he was a swindler and we should not trust anything he said. She then told us she was the original owner of this trailer! She said that every winter the pipes froze under the trailer and burst because it was up on a hill. She also said that no matter what they did, the roof always leaked. She said to really think before we purchased this trailer. She then left. My husband and I just looked at each other and ended up getting a duplex instead. Which was much better, as I and my kids would have had to try to sell an old trailer that had issues, when my husband passed away. Is there any other explanation other than God sent someone our way to take care of us? God could see in the future and knew that this trailer was not the best for our future.

Third, God took care of them in the middle of this fiery furnace. I started thinking about the fiery trials I have gone through. I always would pray that God would get me OUT of that trial. Make it go away. But instead, I should have been asking God to come INTO that trial with me. Matthew 5:45 reads “…He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.” This verse tells me that even though we are trying to live for the Lord, we will have trials. We have to live in this world which is full of sin and hardships. We are assured we will “go thru the fire.” Of course, we ask God to make these hardships go away. But instead, maybe we should ask God to come into that trial and help us maneuver thru it. Help us know what is the next step we should take. Hold our hand when the pain and heartache come our way. Help us feel peace in the midst of the pain. The only way we can do any of those things is to invite God in the middle of our trial to help us.

Fourth, when the king asked these young men if they were refusing to bow down to this image, this is what they said. Verses 16 thru 18 read, “…O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter, if that is the case, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from your hand, O king. But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will be worship the gold image which you have set up.” They had total faith in God! Of course, God was able to bring them out of this trial. Snap His fingers and make it all go away. But even if God did not, they would still cling onto their faith and not bow down nor worship this manmade golden god. Do we have that much faith when we are presented with a fiery trial of our own?

Hebrews 13:8 says “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.” Thattells us that God is the same always. He helped these young men who were following the old law and He will help us today. Also, it is comforting to know that God will help generations in the future, thru their trials.

We need to remember that God will lose those “ropes” that are trying to make us fall into sin-that are trying to take us down into depression-an addiction that is controlling our lives-anything of this world that is trying to take us away from obedience and service to God. God has a purpose for each one of us in this life. We, also, need to remember, that God sends us help when we are making decisions for our life. Even, when we are making choices that will affect our future. And, we need to reach out to God and ask Him to come INTO this trial with us. We need to realize that because we live in this sinful world, we are going to face “fiery trials.” God will take some of those trials away, but He will also hold our hands while we go through that trial.

God’s promises are today, just like they have been for so many years. We have to cling to those promises, because God is the same as He has always been. God will take care of us when we go through the “fiery trials” that this life sends our way, either by helping us to figure out a way out of it or by holding our hands while we go through it.  Hold onto God’s promises! He is the only answer! Thank you, God!

Till next time!

                                        Keela

OUR ANCHOR

There is nothing magical about changing the calendar to a new year. We are now on the starting line of new hopes and dreams. Everyone makes new years resolutions. A few months in, we can’t remember what we had told ourselves we were going to do and make excuses why we had not achieved those we can remember. We get busy-life happens-our focus is off our resolutions and we realize that our resolutions are not as easy as we had hoped. Did we make resolutions that we really did not have hope, that we would actually attain?

In Hebrews 6:19, we are told that “…hope is an anchor of the soul. Both sure and steadfast, which enters the Presence behind the veil, where the forerunner has entered for us, even Jesus, having become High Priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.” This verse tells me that my hope should only be in Jesus. He gave His life for us on the cross, shedding His blood so that we have the hope of heaven. This anchor is not in the sand. It is not in earthly goals. It is sure-will not cause us to sink. Jesus is “behind the veil” which means Jesus is with God, in the dwelling place of God. That is the only hope that is secure.

The only hope for our future is living our lives for the Lord and one day we will go to live with Him in heaven, if we have served Him through obedience. We can’t have hope in this world and the people who live here. At times this world lets us down, even when we are doing good. We get tired and want to quit. But God tells us to “…let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith.”  We don’t have to see the results of our good deeds. We don’t have to be recognized by this world. This world’s recognition is not the important thing. Doing good deeds, recognized or not, brings us even closer to our eternal home of heaven.

What if we feel like we don’t know what to do and we don’t know how to reach our goal, our purpose, for our lives? Romans 15:13 says “Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” God is never too early or too late. He is always right on time. We need to live our lives with the hope and assurance that God has a plan, a purpose, for our lives. We just need to continue doing good and maybe in that happening, God is working through that trial or through that other person that we are praying for, to accomplish that hope in our lives. God tells us that we need to have joy and peace in believing that whatever our future holds, we know who holds that future. Our hope comes through searching the scriptures and filling ourselves up with the Holy Spirit by putting those scriptures into action. We have to hold onto our faith and the hope that God is going to provide us with the “instruments” we need to have, so we can accomplish that hope we have, if it is according to His will. Maybe it is not the time in our lives that is best for us to accomplish a plan we have for our future.

A few years ago, my daughter and son in law, wanted to foster children. They took the courses. Fixed their home to welcome a child in. They got the call that there was a fifteen-year-old girl that needed placement in a home. She came and seemed to “fit” in well. My daughter felt like they were helping her along her journey. But then something happened, that my daughter and son-in-law realized she was not going to be able to stay with them. A few months later, my daughter found out she was pregnant. This season in their lives, was not in the plans God have for them. There will come a day they will foster. They have giving hearts. But it will be the right timing in God’s plans for them.

Jeremiah 29:11 says “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you says the Lord, thought of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.”

When a person feels hopeless, they don’t have anything to hold onto when the trials come into their lives. Maybe that is why having a new year’s resolution is so important to them. They need a visible tangible happening. But then what happens when their resolution is not fulfilled or forgotten? They have nothing. When we believe in God’s goals for us and hope for them, then we can be assured of a good year ahead. May not be what we have in our earthly vision but God has a better vision-future for us. That is where and by whom we have our hope. The assurance that God is always there for us and we can have a firm hope in Him.

Sure, make goals for yourself for this new year! But don’t just put your hope in that goal. If it is a goal that is to be accomplished, be sure that it is in God’s will not your own. We cannot see what God is doing for our good. Maybe you are to be a part of hope for someone else! Maybe your unseen goal is to minister to someone-pray for someone-find a silver lining of hope for someone else-be there with your shoulder to cry on. During the hard times, I have had so many people who helped me through that and reminded me of the hope I have in God’s goodness. But many of those people have gone to be with the Lord or have moved away. What if I am to be that person now, to give others hope?

Don’t be hard on yourself if you have forgotten or have not fulfilled your goal for 2022 already. God has a plan for you that is so much more important than these earthly goals and hopes we promise ourselves on January 1 of each year. Remember, we need to put our hope in God’s goodness not in ourselves to fulfill those goals-that hope!

Have you already forgotten or have chosen not to continue, what you promised on January 1? That is ok! Just don’t forget obedience and our promised hope, should be in God. He will help you find your hope for your future! He is our anchor!

Proverbs 3:5-6  “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding, in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.”

Till next time!

                                      Keela

COUNTING DOWN THE DAYS

What does the phrase, counting down the days mean to you? I have heard that phrase several times lately, especially coming to the end of another year. People cannot wait till this year is over, hoping that 2022 will be rid of this covid and hope of better days. They hope that their finances will improve-they will find a job-the cancer will be gone-the mental and physical pain will be better-their addiction will be controlled-an upcoming wedding-a new baby will be born-retirement is coming. After having my total knee replacement surgery, I am counting down the days that I can maneuver around without this crazy walker and the painful exercises will be done.  I am, also, counting down the days till December 19^th. My daughter and family get here on that day! I have not seen them since last Thanksgiving and that is way too long. My little ones grow up way too fast for me to not see them but once a year. I usually, until covid, have gone twice a year, in the spring and in the fall. But I am hoping, counting down the days till next year, that I can get back on that schedule.

There is another counting down of the days that we should do. When God will come to bring judgement to us all and we can go to heaven to be with Him forever. I admit I am not wanting that to happen until I see my grandbabies. But, as I prayed before I went under anesthesia with my surgery, that if it was God’s will and I passed away during it, that God would take me home. (I will admit, though that I said, but I really want to see my babies one more time. Well, evidently, I made it!) We have a precious older soul at church that is definitely counting down the days. He has wanted to leave this painful earth and go to be with his Lord for so long. He does not understand why God has not taken him yet. He is definitely counting down the days, looking forward to that day with fervor.

We count down the days to be able to go home to heaven with our Lord but do we really want that time to come? Are we ready for that to come? Do you have that hope of heaven if you pass away today, maybe within the next second? If the answer to that is no, then it is time to stop counting down the days and actually become a child of God, so you can shine your light to others so they will see your love for the Lord and they want that too. None of us know when it will be our last breath.

The Bible is just full of verses about this subject. I will only quote one series of verses here to make you think about time and that we should be counting down the days till we leave this earth and go to live with our Father. We need to be prepared. God has promised us this eternal life with Him, if we are obedient and live our lives for Him. When God promises something will happen, you can be sure that it will!

2 Peter 3:8-13 “But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat?  Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.”

Am I looking forward to happenings in the future? Of course! That is our human need to see the future in a positive way. But I also, without fear, need to look forward to the day the Lord comes to take me to heaven. We are not assured another second. But we are assured of heaven, “a new heavens and a new earth”, if we shine our lights to others and serve the Lord. God wants us to come to live with Him when we die. He is so patient with us. But we make choices that will determine our future after we die.

I always count down the days till New Years Eve. Right at midnight, we are into another year. We make promises to ourselves, that we will lose weight-stop drinking or smoking-stop the events that are standing in our way towards the Lord-we will read the Bible more-go to church more-talk about Him more-anything that we had been amiss the year before. This year, when midnight hits and all the fireworks are going off, we need to look at whatever has been amiss this last year and make changes, better choices.

This is the last blog of 2021 that I will write. I wish there was something profound that I can say to help you as the reader realize, that God is giving us time. He is patiently waiting for us to turn away from the world. We do not know how many days we have on this earth but we do know that when we die, we are going to a place ruled by the devil or ruled by the one and only King. Make better choices. Make changes in your life. Don’t just say you will but really mean it, so that you can be counting down the days when we are just barely a memory, a breath on this earth. God is waiting for you and me! He is waiting for us to fulfill our God given purpose.

Counting Down the Days. I had not thought of them in the context of waiting to go live with the Lord. You just can’t cross out the days on a calendar until your death. But rather fill those days with work for the Lord-being an example, shining your light!

I was counting down the days till my surgery. I was so glad to finally get it over with. I have been babying this knee about twenty years and using a walker for the last six months. It was time. I will be so thankful when my days on this earth are numbered that I will be Counting Down the Days till the Lord calls me home!

I am sure next time I write, that I will share adventures that my grandkids and I will have enjoyed. Am I counting down the days till I see that car door swinging open and I hear “Nana! Nana!”  Absolutely!! As a grandparent, there is nothing better!

Thank you for all the prayers, calls and emails I have gotten wishing me luck with my surgery. It is over and now I am in the process of the grueling exercises and therapy. I am determined to feel better and come “out the other side” of this recovery.

Fill this next year and the years to come, holding onto God’s promises of a new life one day.

I am Counting Down the Days. Are you?

Have a happy holiday season and enjoy its beauty. See you next year!

Till next time!

                       Keela