Toddler Avoids Tragedy

It was a warm, dark night in St Petersburg, Florida in January of 1973. He was only two years old when his dad left him in a running car just for a minute as we waited for friends to go out to eat. We never knew if he did it on purpose or if he accidentally fell on the gear lever. But all of a sudden the car began to move forward with this sweet little boy inside. In God's providence, the driver's window was partially open and his dad was nearby and jumped into action. He couldn't reach the keys in the ignition but he could somewhat steer the car as it careened into the parking lot of the camp where we were staying.

As the car continued on it came to an electric pole that had a guide wire going down to the ground at an angle. The car, with Dad on the outside and the boy on the inside, went through this inverted v-shaped opening. The pole must have been weak (or maybe it was an act of God!) but it gave way, causing the area to lose electric power. Then the car soon came to rest against a big bush. Dad was able to lift his son, Steve, out of the car. Someone who had been following, took the toddler and brought my son to me.

While this was all transpiring, I was standing nearby with a group of ladies and I began to pray out loud and “plead the blood” for protection for my son and husband. And God was faithful. The dad had a few bruises and brush burns and the toddler was unharmed. I am so thankful it didn't have a negative outcome.

There are stories in the Bible of God's protection. And one of them is about a baby! Moses was born at a time when the pharaoh of Egypt was concerned that the Israelite slaves were becoming too numerous. He made a law that all the male babies born to a Jew had to be killed. When Moses was born, the midwife who delivered him could not bring herself to kill the little boy. Moses' mother and older sister made a small boat for him and placed him among the bulrushes in the river so that he would be hidden. They prayed that he would be found by a family who could care for him.

The daughter of the Pharaoh was at the river to bathe when she found the child and she took him home to the palace to be her son. But the interesting thing is that she needed a mother to nurse her new son! And God arranged that Moses own mother was asked to care for him. What a story of God's protection and also of grace that Moses' mother had the blessing of nursing him! Before Moses stood before Pharaoh demanding that he release God's people many years later, Moses grew up in that same palace under the education and protection of the Egyptian leader. God's ways are awesome!

God has not promised a life devoid of difficulties and trouble but he has promised us His protection. Isaiah 41:10 tells us, “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.”

Psalm 34:4, “I sought the Lord, and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears.”

When I was in Bible College, I wrote a term paper on Psalm 91. It was such a blessing then even as it is today. I have to include the entire psalm because there isn't a verse I want to cut.

So whether you are a toddler in a runaway car, or a baby with a government wanting to kill you, or whatever situation you may be in today, God is your protector. I thought of this old hymn that was such a comfort after my father died – Be Not Be Dismayed Whate'er Betide. You can listen to the hymn here.

Be not dismayed whate'er betide,

  God will take care of you!

Beneath His wings of love abide,

  God will take care of you! 

    God will take care of you,

    Through every day o'er all the way;

    He will take care of you;

      God will take care of you! 

Through days of toil when heart doth fail,

  God will take care of you!

When dangers fierce your path assail,

  God will take care of you! 

All you may need He will provide,

  God will take care of you!

Trust Him, and you will be satisfied,

  God will take care of you! 

Lonely and sad, from friends apart,

  God will take care of you!

He will give peace to your aching heart,

  God will take care of you! 

No matter what may be the test,

  God will take care of you!

Lean, weary one, upon His breast,

  God will take care of you!

Climb that Mountain One Step at a Time!

 Sometimes life gets difficult with a myriad of things happening all at once. The temptation is to get overwhelmed and feel defeated. Have you ever felt this way? Whether it is losing a great amount of weight or packing up a house to move or scratching your way out of a deep grief - the answer is to take baby steps – conquer one tiny portion of your mountain, one step at a time.

This scenario can also be used in the spiritual realm. When a person comes to Christ, he or she is a new babe in Christ. They don't understand or comprehend the fullness of living the christian life. So they take baby steps in obedience. Jesus calls us to “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” II Peter 3:18

Philippians 2:12-13, “What I'm getting at, friends, is that you should keep on doing what you've been doing from the beginning. When I was living among you, you lived in responsive obedience. Now that I am separated from you, keep it up. Better yet, redouble your efforts. Be energetic in your life of salvation, reverent and sensitive before God.” That energy is God's energy, an energy deep within you; God himself willing and working at what will give him the most pleasure.” -The Message

Romans 5:12, “The free gift is not like the trespass (sin). For if many died through one man's trespass (Adam), much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ, abounded for many.” Verse 17, “ . . .much more with those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.”

Philippians 6:1, “Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! Verse 11, “So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.”

The burden of my heart is for people that think they are a failure in obedience. What should they do? Just give up on God? Give up on themselves? But there is grace for all of us when we fail to live the Christian life. You are not the only person held hostage by the quiet whispers of self loathing and guilt. Jesus is right beside you, calling you back to himself. If there is a pattern of ups and downs, it is the enemy (the devil) speaking lies into your mind. He is the one telling you to give up, that you are a hopeless case. He wants to hold you hostage in fear and defeatism.

But God calls us dear children in I John 2:1 when he says, “My dear children, I write this to you that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.”

Romans 5:20 tells us, “Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased grace abounded all the more.”

Kara Tippetts wrote in her blog, “I believe we all hold onto the lies we believe, we protect them, we use them to confirm the loathing we feel in our lives. We protect the hurts instead of exposing them to light and enjoying freedom in Christ. If I am a child of the King, I need to live in the light of His goodness, His grace, and His truth. I need to live in community that helps me expose the lies I hear and live in the love that has been lavished on me. I get to share honestly my weakness, I get to repent my pride, I get to be reminded of the gospel: the passionate, reckless love of Jesus.
Think on the whispers, the lies, the untruth that tag along in your day. Shine the bright light of the truth on them and seek the freedom you were meant to be set free for this day!

And my question: what are the lies you are holding onto? What would shining light of Jesus on them and letting them go mean for you? Can you admit to enjoying the lies and walking in unbelief to confirm the lies you enjoy believing?" Mundane Faithfulness blog

Mark 1:15,” The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.” The gospel is the passionate, reckless love of Jesus!

My dear friend, are you trying to live the Christian life in your own strength? Ephesians 2:8 tells us, “by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God.” And as we continue in our walk with the Lord we need to remember it is a gift. And we need to comprehend the heart of God who is constantly within us and by our side, ready to help us to live for Him. And if we fail, he “is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” I John 1:9

So if you have been fearfully looking at a mountain too hard to climb, take one step toward Jesus and He will meet you! James 4:8 tells us, “Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.” Hebrews 10:22 says, “Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.”

My prayer is that you repent, believe, trust in faith for the grace freely given by Jesus and that you will then be able to say with the psalmist, “for me it is good to be near God; I have made the lord God my refuge, that I may tell of all your works.” Psalm 73:28

“The flood of grace will always far surpass the flood of sin and darkness.” Kara Tippetts

The Two Lane Highway to Happiness

Someone recently told me that they were “not going to be unhappy anymore.” It sounded to me like they were going to take control of their life to the point where nothing would happen that would make them unhappy. I don't think we have that kind of control. Life happens!

This statement concerned me because happiness is fleeting, especially if based on people, whether it be a spouse, a girlfriend, or a friend. Other things we sometimes base our happiness on are children, a career, a house, money, your retirement or even unrealistic expectations. These set us up for failure, or at least a let down. It is dangerous to think we will never be unhappy in this life. But it is imperative for us to be ready for life's hurts and have a foundation to rest upon when those times come.

At first I thought of a happiness equation as a two way street to be happy. But a two way street is two lanes going in opposite directions. I would rather picture a two lane highway going in the same direction. As Martha Washington said in this quote, “ I am determined to be cheerful and happy in whatever situation I may find myself. For I have learned that the greater part of our misery or unhappiness is determined not by our circumstance but by our disposition.”

So one way to be happy is by our disposition – a person's inherent qualities of mind and character. Synonyms include: temperament, nature, character, constitution, makeup, mentality. Not everyone has this type of disposition, so where do they find happiness? And what happens to the person blessed with a happy disposition when they are bombarded with the trials and disappointments of life? Sometimes they can talk themselves into soaring above the nasty things that happen. But occasionally even these fortunate people get knocked down to the bottom.

There is a better way! It is found in what the Apostle Paul said in Philippians 4:12-13, “I know how to be brought low and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me.”

Jesus' disciple, Peter, wrote this in I Peter 1:3-9, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a loving hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith, more precious than gold that perished though it is tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Though you have not seen him you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.”

The second (and best) way to be happy is through Christ. The above portion of scripture tells us that God the Father has caused us to be born again to a loving hope. This is the basis of happiness in our heart. It includes the lifting of the burden of sins by the blood of Jesus washing them away into the sea of forgetfulness - Micah 7:19. And Jesus comes to abide with us in our heart: Ephesians 3:17, “that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, that you, being rooted and grounded in love may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

This is real happiness! This happiness will remain with you no matter what befalls you here on this earth.

Jesus never fails! Deuteronomy 31:6, “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.”

I Peter 5:7, “Cast all your anxiety on Him because he cares for you.”

Isaiah 41:10, “So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with the righteous right hand.”

Proverbs 3:5, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.”

“Happiness cannot be traveled to, owned, earned, worn or consumed. Happiness is the spiritual experience of living every minute with love, grace, and gratitude.” -Denis Waitley

Note from Anita:  I am so sorry for the odd sizes of print near the bottom of this blog post.  I have no idea how it happened or how to fix it.  If you do, please private message me! I will be grateful

The Cost of Freedom

As a little girl I would watch as my mother cut her beautiful flowers from her garden. Fragrant Peonies and Hyacinths, colorful tulips, and tall and stately Iris were the most common flowers blooming at the end of May. She would wrap them in newspaper and place them in a tub of water and put them in the trunk of our car. We children would be excited as we traveled over the mountain to McConnellsburg to the cemetery where a lot of my relatives are buried. But we were there on Memorial Day to honor all the veterans who had given their lives in service to our country. I was raised in a patriotic home. I learned to appreciate the sacrifice given by our service men and women, whether they lived to come home or died in the field.

A large group of gathered children would be given bouquets of flowers to lay on the graves of the veterans signified by the American flag. I enjoyed doing this with the other children. There would then be a short service including the singing of the national anthem, The Star Spangled Banner, and at the end, the playing of Taps.

My own father, John Franklin Stenger, was only seventeen when he lied so he could join the Army and serve during WWI. When I look at a picture of him in uniform, I see a young boy. But his childhood had made him grow up into a man too soon. And off to war he went, like many before and after him. Over the years some have served willingly and some were drafted. But we are grateful for their sacrifice so that we can live in a free country.

Here in the United States we have many freedoms that not all people in other countries enjoy. We have freedom of speech, religion, the press, right to bear arms, freedom to congregate, freedom against unreasonable search and seizures.  We are a blessed people, especially here in our country.

Our Memorial Day celebrations include parades, picnics and play! Nothing wrong with that. It has become a family day of gatherings with babies and grandparents and all those in between enjoying each other in relationship. From time to time as I sit in a group of people of all ages and from many walks of life I look around and see them having a good time. But my heart looks deeper and I wonder how many of them have a concept of eternity without Christ. How many even know the plan of salvation? How many do know and are running away from God?

On Memorial Day evening after we returned home from a lovely day with our family, I saw a picture on Facebook of a cemetery with an American flag standing in the breeze at every graveside. My heart could have wept when I thought of the hundreds of thousands who are represented in pictures just like the one I saw. And then I thought, “But there is One who died to give all of us a much better freedom”.

Romans 5:7-8, “For one will scarcely die for a righteous person, though perhaps for a good person one would even dare to die – but God shows his love for us in that while we were sinners, Christ died for us. Verse 9 – “Since therefore we have now been justified by his blood, even more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.”

A short outline of what we receive through Christ:

1. We are reconciled.
2. We are saved by his life

In Romans 5:10 we learn that “while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.

Romans 5:12 – “Therefore just as sin came into the world through one man (Adam) and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all have sinned.”

3. Free gift brought justification

Romans 5:17, “For if, because of one mans trespass death reigned through that one man (Adam) much more will those who receive the

4. abundance of grace and the
5. free gift of righteousness reign in life through one man, Jesus Christ.”
   Romans 5:19 – one man's disobedience (Adam) – many were made sinners (and sinful nature)
   one man's obedience- through Christ, many will be made righteous.

6. Romans 6:18 – You have been set free from sin and have become slaves of righteousness.

7. Romans 6:22 – wages of sin is death but the free gift of God's eternal life is Christ Jesus our Lord.

Christ died so that we can have these seven things: We are reconciled, we are saved, we are justified, we have an abundance of grace, we have the gift of righteousness, we are set free from sin and we have the free gift of God's eternal life! We have all this because Jesus gave his life for us on the cross.

Heb 9:28, “So Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for Him.”

Have you been set free from sin?  Have you accepted the gift of salvation that was paid for by Jesus shedding His blood on the cross?  If not, do it today!