This being the apple picking season, the majority of ladies that attend Bible Study decided to go apple picking this Wednesday morning. That left us stalwart men, all three of us, with some free time on our hands. And that was good because we just got a new 8 week old Rat Terrier puppy and of the three us in this house, only the puppy is sleeping well.
She, after the second night, has decided that she sleeps with us or she throws a titanic hissy fit. Being she is pretty small yet, and mostly stays still throughout the night, it’s not that bad. The bonus is that this 3 pound pup can hold her bladder all night long. That pretty much seals the deal for me.
You could call that a blessing, which I suppose it is. And as long as we are talking of blessings, let’s continue with another true blessing from our Father. Since we got this house, a 1920 Craftsman style that had fallen on hard times, one of the most obvious things about it is that it was in serious need of paint. Somebody mentioned to me that he knew the guy that painted it last time and that was 20 years ago. The house had been a rental for about 5 years and paint was not as important as the rent coming in on time. Which, from what I heard, it didn’t, so we got the house for cheap and the idea was I would fix it up, like I did last time.
Except things are different now than they were then. I was very self reliant then and did most of the work myself. I had also not fully accepted the Lord, although his Grace was still at work in me. I don’t fully understand it, but even though I had not fully bought into Jesus Christ as my Lord, there were many things that I can think of that could have only been the Grace and Mercy of the Lord and could have turned out much worse if the Lord had been not looking out for me.
What I have come to understand, by reading the Bible, is the Father chooses you, long before you were born, long before the world was born and all you have to do is accept. He gave us free will and we can choose poorly. Many people do.
Matthew 7:13-14
13 “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. 14 But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.
I would say I was on the wide path, never denying God, living as I thought I should. The evil deceiver had done his work on me and I was what you would call a Carnal Christian. Many I see today are as I was not that long ago.
So now we have another house to fix up and now I can’t do it. I still have the skill in my head and most of my tools to get the job done, but God is not about having capable people doing things on their own. No, God is about trust in Him. Weakness in you, strength in Him.
2 Corinthians 12:10
That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
My hands last year could do many things. I had started scraping the house. We actually got 30 feet of the North side of the house scraped and painted before winter.
This year, it is clear that God is in charge. He does not work on our time table and quite often does not work in our ways. As such, yesterday, my brother-in-law showed up with a power washer and tractor with a bucket. I asked what’s up? He said he and others from the Church were going to power wash the house in preparation to get it painted. WOW!
I had been praying for something to happen to get this house ready to sell. It has lots of stairs, and stairs and I are not on the best of terms right now. With the wife’s seizures and the Lord removing from me what He could not use, the self reliance, self confidence, pride and things, it seemed a good time to move to something smaller and flatter. The details of how that is going to come about is something the old me would troubled with until I had everything figured out and scheduled. In the old house, that took about 7 years.
Now, very happily, I will let God tend to the details of our lives. I have lived without worry since accepting Christ on our Father’s terms; I know all things are not mine to know but for our Lord to take care of and I truly feel blessed, in all things. If given a choice again, knowing what I know now, I would happily choose God’s way, including ALS or whatever else He would choose for me. The Blessings outweigh every other thing you would compare it to. Fabulous wealth, strength, whatever, you can keep them. What I have now is the Love of my God and his Son, who died on the cross to save me from the road that I was definitely walking on.
Blessings like this are a gift that you too can have. Not necessarily painting your house, but the internal kind. Read your Bible, find a Church that preaches the scripture, and be aware that not all Churches do. Many of them are walking the wide road that says Heaven, but leads to Hell.
Psalm 145
A psalm of praise. Of David.
1
I will exalt you, my God the King;
I will praise your name for ever and ever.
2
Every day I will praise you
and extol your name for ever and ever.
3
Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise;
his greatness no one can fathom.
4
One generation commends your works to another;
they tell of your mighty acts.
5
They speak of the glorious splendor of your majesty and I will meditate on your wonderful works.
6
They tell of the power of your awesome works and I will proclaim your great deeds.
7
They celebrate your abundant goodness
and joyfully sing of your righteousness.
8
The Lord is gracious and compassionate,
slow to anger and rich in love.
9
The Lord is good to all;
he has compassion on all he has made.
10
All your works praise you, Lord;
your faithful people extol you.
11
They tell of the glory of your kingdom
and speak of your might,
12
so that all people may know of your mighty acts
and the glorious splendor of your kingdom.
13
Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,
and your dominion endures through all generations.
The Lord is trustworthy in all he promises
and faithful in all he does.
14
The Lord upholds all who fall
and lifts up all who are bowed down.
15
The eyes of all look to you,
and you give them their food at the proper time.
16
You open your hand
and satisfy the desires of every living thing.
17
The Lord is righteous in all his ways
and faithful in all he does.
18
The Lord is near to all who call on him,
to all who call on him in truth.
19
He fulfills the desires of those who fear him;
he hears their cry and saves them.
20
The Lord watches over all who love him,
but all the wicked he will destroy.
21
My mouth will speak in praise of the Lord.
Let every creature praise his holy name
for ever and ever.