Monday Morning Memo: Being Ready

Last Monday I shared with you about a dear friend of mine, 66 years old, who had lost her battle with cancer…but had gained her much deserved eternal reward.  Little did I know that several hours later, after I wrote those words, we would receive the shocking news that another friend of ours, Jill, only 61 years old, suddenly had a massive heart attack and was in the presence of Jesus. This dear woman had no prior heart problems or conditions that would have given any indication that there was a problem.

Thursday afternoon, I stood with Jill’s husband beside her casket and his words amazed me.  He said, “LuAnn, I’ve always wondered how I would react if something like this happened.  Would it shake my faith?  How would I feel?  I can say today that this has not shaken my faith one bit.  I know, beyond a shadow of a doubt that she is in heaven with the Lord, and I’m so thankful that I have that assurance.  My faith will not waiver.”

That my friends, is what having faith in your heavenly Father is all about.  Is there sorrow?  Of course there is.  Will he, his family and friends miss her terribly?  Of course they will.  But, when tragedy strikes and things happen that make absolutely no sense, we know that we have a Rock to lean on…a Rock to trust…a Rock that will never let us down. 

Tears are falling as I write these words today, because I am SO thankful that a babe was born in Bethlehem, taking on human flesh so He could understand what I experience, was crucified on a cross for me and then rose again so that I can spend eternity with Him.  All of that just blows me away…that my Jesus loves me that much.

And do you know what?  Jesus did all of those things for YOU too.  He endured more pain and suffering than we can even imagine…and He did it for YOU.  What is even more incredible is that He did all of that knowing that you and I might reject Him.  He knew that we might think we can handle things on our own…that we don’t need a Savior…or that He would never want us because of our past.  He knew that we might think that we aren’t good enough…that we have to get our bad habits whipped first…that we somehow have to clean up our past before He would want a relationship with us.  Jesus knew all of that…but still loved us more than we can imagine.

Yes, He still loves you, even with your bad habits and past issues.  Jesus loves you today with a full understanding of your struggles because He’s been there.  You don’t have to clean up your act before you accept Him as your Lord and Savior. All you have to do is ask Him to forgive you, cleanse you and then He will walk with you every step of the way until you meet Him face to face in heaven for all eternity.

If you are reading this and you haven’t asked Jesus to be your Lord and Savior, I want to urge you to do so today.  Jesus is the reason I get up every morning, pen every devotional and urgently pray for those such as you who need to know that there is hope!  Accepting Him is not difficult; you can come to Him just as you are right now…today. All you have to do is say a prayer such as this:

“Dear Jesus, I believe that you died on the cross for my sins, were resurrected and that you are alive and well today.  I believe that you are the Son of God and that you deeply love me.  I confess that I am a sinner and I need you to forgive me and cleanse me from my sins.  I accept you as my Savior and want you to create a new and clean heart in me.  I now want to live every day for you and I know that I will have eternal life with you because of what you did on Calvary’s cross for me.  Thank you Jesus.  Amen.”

If you have prayed this prayer, I would love to know so that I can be praying for you as you begin your walk with our Jesus.  I’m confident that my friend Jill, had no idea that she would be taken from this earth at just 61 years old, but I’m so thankful that she was ready to meet her Jesus.  You and I are not promised tomorrow, so it is so important that we make sure we have accepted Christ as our Lord and Savior today.  God loves you and so do I and I so want to spend eternity in heaven with you! 

 “For this is how God loved the world: 

He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.”

John 3:16 

Monday Morning Memo: Who?

Four and a half years ago, I was sitting with my father-in-law, Carl, at his doctor’s office when we were given the unexpected news that he had leukemia.  In an instant, we were all thrown into an unknown world…the world of cancer.  Carl would only live another seven weeks, but during that time we had to have a crash course on this dreaded disease as we learned a whole new vocabulary.

A month after he passed away, my mother-in-law, Alberta, was told she had multiple myeloma.  Once again, we had to learn a whole new set of words and procedures. We are so blessed though that after these four years, she is doing well.  Currently we spend one day a month at the cancer center as she has an infusion to keep the cancer at bay.

We have had numerous blessings during this time and back on June 29^th, 2015, I shared with my readers about a friendship that had been formed between a woman and me at the oncology center (see http://luannfulton.com/blog/mmm-monday-morning-memo-62915).  Marty was also a patient there and was sitting across from us during one of our day-long infusions.

To say that the love of Jesus exuded from Marty would be an understatement.  When she smiled, her face just lit up and if anyone was having a bad day, she could change that fairly rapidly.  Marty loved people just like Jesus loves people…unconditionally.  Even though she was fighting cancer herself, she would often come in to the cancer center on days when she didn’t have a treatment scheduled, just to sit with someone who was alone.  She hated to see anyone having to face chemo without someone to talk to.  

Marty and I continued our friendship following that day.  We have emailed back and forth to keep up with what each of us are doing, and I have continued to see her at the cancer center.  Whenever I have seen her in person, she always has worn that big smile on her face and always wanted to know how I was doing…even though she was the one fighting for her life.

You can imagine my sorrow then, when I received an e-mail from Marty’s friend recently telling me that Marty’s fight was over.  She has no more need for chemo because her body is now completely healed.  She is receiving her eternal reward, which she so deserved.  I just can’t imagine how big of a smile her Jesus had when He said, “Well done, my good and faithful servant.”

Since hearing of Marty’s passing, I’ve just kept wondering, Who will take her place? Who is willing to pick up where Marty left off and continue spreading the love of Jesus to those they meet?  Marty is leaving a huge hole for the rest of us to fill and there are so many people who still need to feel Jesus’ unconditional love.  Will they see it in action through us or are we too busy? Does our own pain and suffering take precedence in our day, or are we willing to reach out to others to lighten their pain?

Who will take her place?  If I’m honest, it’s so much easier for me to hope and pray that you take her place so I don’t have to…but I’m wondering if maybe both of us should step up to the plate and try to fill Marty’s shoes.  Trust me, I think it will take a group of us to accomplish what this powerhouse, Spirit-filled woman did on her own.  But we need to try…because people’s eternal destination is on the line.

“Your love for one another will prove to the world

that you are my disciples.”

John 13:35

Monday Morning Memo: Selective Hearing

A mother shared with me recently her frustration with her children not listening when they are told to do something.  She said that she and her husband usually have to repeat themselves over and over again before their children do what they are told to do.  She thought it would get better as her children grew older, but that hasn’t been the case.

Her dilemma brought back memories of when our three children were at home and I doubt there is a parent that couldn’t relate to this problem.  Unfortunately, children tend to have selective hearing skills and often only hear what they want to hear.  One way to see if your child has chosen to have selective hearing skills is to say to them, “Hey, who wants ice cream?”  If they immediately say, “I DO!” you can be pretty sure that they are probably making the choice not to hear you when you tell them to do something!  Very few children have to be asked over and over again if they want something that is a delectable delight or is a fun adventure.

We came to the realization with our children that they usually did hear us the first time and so we decided that there would be a consequence if they didn’t obey the first time.  We had to figure out what the one thing was that each child really didn’t want to lose and then if they chose not to obey, that one privilege was taken away.  For example, if one of our children loved electronics and made the decision not to obey us, those electronics were taken away from them for an undisclosed length of time.

The reason we didn’t tell them how long they would be without their “privilege” was because we realized that if we told them a week, that child would behave beautifully for a week until they got their privilege returned to them and then their bad habit would return.  So, we told them that when we saw a consistent change in their behavior, they would regain their privilege.  I can remember being asked, “How much longer?” several times because it really was hard on them to not know when their privilege would be returned.

Do you know what?  All three of our children survived and soon learned to listen the first time they were told to do something.  We didn’t even have to count…which is a huge pet peeve of mine. I will probably get flack for this, but it really bothers me when I hear a parent tell their child to do something and when they choose not to listen, the adult starts counting. “One…two…three…four…five…and I’ve heard some go up as far as ten and many times nothing happens at that point. The adult stops counting and the child still chooses not to listen.  Why? Because that little darling is smarter than you think and they know that you will tire of counting!  

Parenting is hard…really hard…and you will face many challenges along the way.  I know that it isn’t always easy being the “bad guy” to your children because we all want our children to think we are the greatest and be our friend.  But we need to remember that children are actually happier when they have boundaries and limits and that one of our jobs as a parent is to make sure they learn to respect and honor those who have authority over them.

Ephesians 6:2-3 tells us, “Honor your father and mother” – which is the first commandment with a promise– “so that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth.”  Most children are not going to automatically learn to honor their parents and those in authority without our guidance.  We must be consistent and loving in our discipline because we know that this is what God wants for them.  Learning this will become a life skill that will go with them the rest of their lives.  If we can keep that in mind now when they are young, there is a higher probability that as adults they will have a positive influence on our world in the years to come.  And that will make these trying days oh so worth it!

Monday Morning Memo: Divine Intervention

Our pastor is currently sharing with us a sermon series entitled, “Uncomfortable: Being the Church is Difficult”.  As always, his sermons are so timely with where we are personally, as a church, as a community and as a country.

Every sermon in this series has been great, but the one a week ago on September 30^th, really spoke to me.  He talked about the believers in Acts when the Holy Spirit came upon them.  He shared how Peter then spoke to all who came to see what was going on and he told them that they needed to repent.  He said, “Each of you must repent of your sins and turn to God, and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins.  Then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.  This promise is to you, to your children, and to those far away – all who have been called by the Lord our God.”  Then Peter continued preaching for a long time, strongly urging all his listeners, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation!”  Those who believed what Peter said were baptized and added to the church that day – about 3,000 in all (Acts 2:38-41).

Wouldn’t it be awesome if this happened today? Can you imagine if 3,000 were added to our church in one day?  Many churches are doing good to add a handful of people in a year…let alone 3,000 in one day!

The question then becomes…why aren’t we seeing “scenes” like this today?  What was going on then with Jesus’ followers that isn’t going on today?  Could it be that we are just not willing to be that committed?  Do we wish it would happen, but yet show with our actions that it just isn’t a priority?

Our pastor then reminded us that if we expect to experience God’s power, as they did in Acts, we have to be committed to sustained prayer.  We can’t just throw up a prayer when we finally find a spare minute and expect to experience the Holy Spirit to work within us and through us.  It made me think of the times when I have done just that. Those times when I’ve tried to do things on my own, not allowing Him to be in control, and then throw up a prayer when I get things all messed up asking Him to fix it.  I’m doubtful that acting this way will allow me to see the Holy Spirit work in a powerful way in my life.  

Pastor Gary then closed with these questions:  “What if we lived in such a way that we were constantly and desperately crying out for Divine intervention?  What if we got serious and prayed, ‘God, we can’t do this on our own.  We need You. We need the filling of your Spirit.’” I haven’t been able to get those questions out of my mind and I decided that morning that I would be committed to praying this way.  Since then, I have been constantly and desperately crying out for God’s Divine intervention in many situations in our government, our church and in my own family. I want to see Him work in a mighty way in and through my life so that others will see Him through me.  I want to see thousands added to His Kingdom.  I want to see miracles happen on a daily basis. I want to be so filled with His Spirit that I am overflowing with His strength, wisdom and power.

How about you?  Are you satisfied with the status quo, only praying and seeking Him when you need Him to do something for you?  If not, I urge you to begin to constantly and desperately cry out for God’s Divine intervention.  I believe you and I will see His Spirit work in a mighty way, like we have never seen before.  There are thousands and thousands of people that need to accept His amazing grace and they need to see Him in us.  I’m expecting great things as we realize that we can’t do it on our own and we rely on Him to work in us and through us in the days ahead! 

Monday Morning Memo: Thankful. Grateful. Blessed.

Last week marked one year since I headed in for my fifth back surgery, thinking it would be the “easiest” one of all of them…only to wake up and find out it had been the most extensive one.  I’ll never forget my surgeon standing at the foot of my bed after it was over, shaking his head and saying, “I am sorry LuAnn.  It was so much worse than I imagined.  I can’t even tell you how long of a recovery this will be…but it will be a long one.” 

Unfortunately he was right.  It has been a very long recovery, with an unexpected knee replacement thrown in the mix.  There have been good days and there have been some very bad days, when it took every ounce of fortitude I could muster, just to get out of bed.  But when I look back over the past year, there is one word that just keeps coming to my mind: BLESSED.

Through it all, I have been blessed.  Now before you start thinking that I am writing this just to sound spiritual, let me assure you that I am not.  I’m not trying to paint a picture of being such a strong, devoted follower of Jesus that I didn’t ever whine, complain or become discouraged…because I did all of those things (just ask my husband).  I even had times when I was pretty ticked at Jesus for making me go through all of this.  So since I’m usually pretty honest with my readers, I have to admit that I haven’t always walked a righteous, sinless path during this time of recovery.

But regardless of my actions or reactions, Jesus has never left my side.  Not once did He throw His arms up in disgust and decide that I was just too much of a bother to Him.  I have never felt like He wanted me to just pull myself up by my bootstraps and march on, because I know that when I’ve hurt…He has hurt.  When I’ve cried…He has cried.  When I’ve rejoiced over steps forward…He has rejoiced with me.  

When I look back over the last year, I am so very thankful, incredibly grateful and unbelievably blessed.  Over and over again, Christ has shown me that His timing is perfect and His ways need to be my ways.  It is usually when I try relying on my strength alone, that I find myself in the valley of discouragement.  

On the anniversary of my back surgery last week, I had the privilege of speaking at the Palestine Christian Church in Wolcott, IN. The evening was a wonderful reminder of Christ’s faithfulness and His many blessings.  I’m not sure I have ever met a more welcoming and loving group of women as I did that evening.  As I drove home, I felt so blessed that my health has been restored enough that I was able to share with these sisters in Christ.

The following morning, Ezra John Yue Tan, our 9 lb 14 oz third grandson, joined our family.  Again, his arrival showed me how God’s timing in my life had been perfect leading up to his arrival, since I’ve had time to recuperate from my knee surgery so I could help my daughter and her family.  Even when things made no sense to me…they made perfect sense to God. 

  

Isaiah 41:10 tells us, “Don’t be afraid,for I am with you.  Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God.  I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand.” These are such encouraging words for us to read, especially when we are going through times of trials.  No matter what we are going through, He is with us and He will never leave us to fend for ourselves.  

If you are in a valley of discouragement right now, you may want to reflect on the past year and make a list of those times when you saw God’s hand at work in your life.  You just might be surprised at how often His timing proved to be perfect for you.  As a result, even in the darkest times, you may realize how very thankful, incredibly grateful and unbelievably blessed you are.