Monday Morning Memo: Under the Covers

The world lost an amazing man of God last week when Billy Graham was called Home.  He will no doubt be remembered as one of the most influential men in our history. 

This past weekend, I watched once again Graham’s last message to the world that he shared when he was 95 years old.  What struck me was that in all his years of sharing the gospel, his story never changed.  I never heard him waver on Biblical principles.  He never softened his words to make sure that he didn’t step on anyone’s toes.  He didn’t preach just to make people feel good.  Rev. Graham loved those who heard his voice so much that he was willing to say what they needed to hear so they would know how much God loved them.  He wanted to make sure that everyone was told, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).  You see, he was more concerned about where others would spend eternity, than tickling ears with his message.

I don’t have to tell you that we are living in a crazy, mixed up world.  I find it sad that just listening to the news can make a person feel sick to their stomach and want to hide under the covers and not see the light of day.  What I find even more disheartening is that as Christians, many of us are hiding “under the covers” so to speak, and not sharing the answer to the chaos all around us.  Friends, the answer is not in more guns or less guns…in more or less legislation…or even in one political party…the answer is in Jesus Christ.  Billy Graham knew that and spent his life making sure that others knew it also.

We are dealing with a heart issue that only Christ can repair, but the question is are we willing to pick up where Rev. Graham left off?   Are we willing to stand firm on Biblical principles even when it won’t make us popular in society?  Are we willing to tell others about our Jesus even if we might step on someone’s toes?  In other words, are we more concerned about where others will spend eternity, than tickling ears with our words?

Time is of the essence and it is imperative that our focus is on reaching those who need to know about our Jesus.  If you need inspiration, I urge you to listen to Graham’s last message.  You can watch it at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b4TMuee7Ir8. 

If you are reading this and you aren’t sure if you will spend eternity with Jesus, make sure you watch Rev. Graham’s last message today.  Jesus Christ was willing to die on a cross for you and He loves you more than you can even imagine.  Today is the day for you to pray the prayer that Billy shares at the end of his message.  Will all your problems disappear?  No they won’t.  But you will have a new beginning…a fresh start…and your past will be forgiven.  I love how 2 Corinthians 5:17-20 is worded in the Bible version, The Message, “Because of this decision we don’t evaluate people by what they have or how they look.  We looked at the Messiah that way once and got it all wrong, as you know.  We certainly don’t look at him that way anymore.  Now we look inside, and what we see is that anyone united with the Messiah gets a fresh start, is created new.  The old life is gone; a new life burgeons!  Look at it!  All this comes from the God who settled the relationship between us and him, and then called us to settle our relationships with each other.  God put the world square with himself through the Messiah, giving the world a fresh start by offering forgiveness of sins.  God has given us the task of telling everyone what he is doing.  We’re Christ’s representatives.  God uses us to persuade men and women to drop their differences and enter into God’s work of making things right between them.  We’re speaking for Christ himself now.  Become friends with God; he’s already a friend with you.” 

Today, we have a choice to make.  We can either pick up where Billy Graham left off or we can hide what we know “under the covers”.  I’m asking Christ to help me be a bold representative for Him and love others enough to tell them about my Jesus.  How about you?  Will you join me?

Monday Morning Memo: "Simon" Says

Do you remember the game, “Simon Says”?  To refresh your memory, Simon Says is a child's game where one player takes the role of "Simon" and gives instructions to the other players, which should only be followed if prefaced with the phrase "Simon says".  If Simon doesn’t begin the instructions with those words, the players are not to comply, and if they do they are out of the game.

I had not played this game for many years, but our three-year-old grandson is currently fairly obsessed with it, so he recently wanted to play it with us.  There Grandpa and I were, patting our heads, waving our arms like we were flying and doing whatever “Simon” told us to do.  After we had played for quite awhile, Simon (aka Elias) suddenly told us to “tell everybody about Jesus!”  I’ll be honest, it took me by surprise and so I looked at our grandson and he nonchalantly said, “That’s what we’re supposed to do grandma.  We’re supposed to tell everybody about Jesus!”  I responded, “Yes we are Elias.”

Elias’ statement has been going through my mind ever since that day and it has taught me a few things.  First of all, it is so important that we are intentional on teaching our children spiritual principals at a young age. Children’s minds are like sponges and they can easily absorb Biblical truths.  They may not understand it all at this point, but having it in their young thoughts is so important.

Secondly, I think we often make sharing about our Jesus too difficult.  I haven’t been able to get out of my mind how matter-of-factly Elias told me what we are supposed to do.  To him it was just a given that we are all supposed to tell everybody about Jesus.  Plain and simple.  We don’t have to prepare a sermon…study a stack of theological books…practice pronouncing big words.  We are just supposed to tell others about our Jesus.  We are living in a lost world and so many are searching for answers and we have those answers in Jesus Christ.  But if we don’t tell them, they may never know, and that could make the difference as to whether they spend eternity in heaven or hell.

Last, but not least, it is so important who we listen to each and every day.  It is easy to listen to the world as it is screaming at us to do our own thing and neglect to listen to our  “Simon” – Jesus Christ.   If we are spending time in His Word and in prayer every day, we are more likely to hear Him as He directs our steps.  It is imperative that we make listening for His voice a priority.

As we go throughout our week, let’s remember that we are on this earth to teach, share and most of all, listen to our Heavenly Father.  I believe that if we are truly in tune to His promptings, He will give us the opportunity to let others know how much He means to us.  Again, we don’t have to have a long speech memorized; we just need to be willing to share.  Very few of us have a hard time telling others about our kids, grandkids, job or our vacations…we ought to be willing to tell about the One who gave His life for us.  And, if you are leery about sharing, don’t forget that “Simon says…tell everybody about Jesus!”  So you better obey because you want to make sure you get to stay in the game!

 “Sing to the Lord; praise his name.
Each day proclaim the good news that he saves.

Publish his glorious deeds among the nations.
Tell everyone about the amazing things he does.
Great is the Lord! He is most worthy of praise!

He is to be feared above all gods.”

Psalm 96:2-4

Monday Morning Memo: In My Creator's Hands

“Should we call 911?”  That was a question I never dreamed I would be asked this past week.  If there is one thing I can say about my life, it is that it is never boring, but a question such as this isn’t one that anyone plans on being asked.

Let me explain.  For the past two weeks, we have been in North Carolina helping our daughter move into her new home.  While my husband did lots of painting, I cooked the meals and helped do some of the cleaning.  It was a joint effort, much was accomplished and we felt good about returning home this past Wednesday.

Then, Tuesday night happened.  I was already in my pajamas, sitting in the recliner watching my favorite TV show, completely relaxed.  I began feeling nauseated and my first thought was that I sure hoped I wasn’t coming down with the dreaded flu that has been going around.  With a 12-hour drive ahead of us the next day, being confined in a car didn’t sound like great surroundings for being sick.

Then it became more serious.  I suddenly had sharp pains in my jaw and then in my chest.  It felt like ropes were tied around me and I could feel my pulse increase rapidly.  I have had many things go wrong with my health over the years, but I had never felt anything close to this before.  I sat in the chair, thinking that it would just go away on its own.  But as the symptoms increased in intensity, I finally realized that I better let my husband and daughter know what I was feeling.

I calmly said, “Dan, I think I might be having a heart attack.”  In an instant, he flew off the couch and was by my side.  My daughter was immediately at my feet and had her phone poised as they asked the question, “Should we call 911?”  As much as I wanted to say no, the pain, along with my heart beating wildly in my chest told me that I should say yes.  Within minutes, I had first responders around my chair taking my vitals.

I won’t bore you with all the details, but I did get to take a “fun” ride in an ambulance and spend hours in a very busy emergency room.  The tests that were run didn’t show signs of a heart problem, but it was suggested that I see a cardiologist before we returned home.  The last thing any of us wanted was to get halfway to Indiana, in the middle of nowhere, and have something like this happen again.

We returned to our daughter’s home around 4:30 am Wednesday morning and decided that we would at least wait until Thursday to head home.  After a few hours, our daughter called and said that her boss, who is an orthopedic surgeon, agreed that we should see a cardiologist and knew of someone who might be able to work me into his schedule.  By the end of the day, we had an appointment to see this doctor on Thursday.  

We found out after we arrived at the cardiologist’s office, that it wasn’t even a day in which he was seeing patients.  He was doing procedures in the hospital, but as a favor to Erica’s boss, agreed to see me during his lunchtime.  He was such a kind, caring man and didn’t make me feel like I was interrupting his day at all.  He checked me over and said if we were willing to stay a couple more days, he would make a phone call to see if he could get me in for a nuclear stress test on Friday.  Before we left his office, we had the appointment scheduled for the following day, which our daughter’s boss said was almost unheard of…getting an appointment on such short notice.

As we walked out of his office, these words just kept going through my mind, “I am in my Creator’s hands”.  The One who knows the number of hairs on my head, knew at that moment what I was feeling, both physically and emotionally.  None of this was a surprise to Him and whatever the outcome, I knew that He was in control.  That didn’t mean that I wasn’t nervous.  Believe me, I was.  The unknown is often unsettling, but it makes a huge difference when you know the One who does know our tomorrow.

I had never had a stress test before, so I didn’t know what to expect.  But those who walked me through it at UNC were awesome.  They took such good care of me and three hours later I walked back out and then just had to wait until evening for the results.  Around 7:30 pm, my phone rang and it was the cardiologist himself.   He said that everything with my heart was just perfect and that I didn’t even have an ounce of calcium build-up in my arteries.  They were completely clear.  So while he didn’t know what had caused my episode, he did know that there was nothing wrong with my heart.

What a relief.   I felt so blessed at that moment because I knew that not everyone gets positive news after a test such as this.  For some reason, my Jesus had chosen to spare me any more heart tests and I was so thankful.

I’m sharing this with you today because maybe you are in a very stressful time also.  Maybe life has hit you with an unexpected health concern, job loss or family issue and your nerves are also on edge.  I want to urge you to remember that you are in your Creator’s hands.   He is holding onto you tightly and nothing that is happening is a surprise to Him.   Whatever the outcome, you can rest assured that He will see you through.  We saw Him work in such a mighty way this past week, as each detail fell into place, so we can attest to the fact that He won’t let you down.  So take a big breath and lean on the One who loves you more than you can imagine.  The One who created you and has you in His hands!

“Fear not, for I am with you;

be not dismayed, for I am your God;

I will strengthen you, I will help you,

I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”

Isaiah 41:10