Stay alert...be in prayer

I just finished reading the gospel of Matthew in The Daily Message and I was especially moved by the three prayers of Jesus in Gethsemane (26:36-46) and the disciples that He had taken along that could not stay awake. Verse 41 in The Message was a special reminder to me:

“Stay alert; be in prayer so you don’t wander into temptation without even knowing you’re in danger. There is a part of you that is eager, ready for anything in God. But there is another part that’s as lazy as an old dog sleeping by the fire.”

I can sure relate to that. Temptations can be so subtle that I need to avoid that “old dog” syndrome, keeping alert on a moment by moment basis. We see all too frequently, examples of lives turned upside down due to the failure to keep alert to temptations that regularly cross our paths.

Tomorrow I plan to leave early in the morning for our Indiana lake house, and from there I will travel on to Chicago to meet grandson Jeremy who will be flying in from Israel. This has been a tremendous semester of learning for him and I am anxious to catch up with him in more detail than we could manage by his blog and email. Our Indiana grandchildren Gavin and Calli plan to go with me which will add to the enjoyment. Daughter Sue will be coming in also from Michigan so we will have a fairly good welcoming committee on hand for his arrival. Do pray that Jeremy’s connections and that his flights will work out as planned. Also for safety for him and the others that will travel by road.

I am thankful to the Lord for the health and strength that He continues to provide. It is always a blessing to be together with family members when we live so many miles from each other.

I am thankful for each one of you too that continue to hold me up in prayer and keep in contact with me. You are a blessing! My adjustments would be much more difficult without you.

Love to you all,

Chuck

Jeremy's incredible day

As most of you are aware, grandson Jeremy has been living in Jerusalem doing a semester of study as a student at Moody Bible Institute. I have been thrilled with the occasional blogs that he puts up to show some photographs about what he is seeing and doing as well as making some very insightful comments about what he is seeing and learning. His last blog was a thriller! The following are a few excerpts:

"Saturday was one of the best days of my life. Seriously, it was incredible...We went to the Coptic Church...and after walking around for awhile, guess who shows up? Ole Sammr...He just shows up in random places. But I talked with him, realizing that God had crossed our paths miraculously for a reason. God helped me to lay out the gospel for him one more time, telling him that he HAD to make a decision, he couldn't wait because Satan would snatch the gospel from his heart if he waited. We talked, we prayed. The spiritual war inside of Sammr was visible on this face...And he made his choice, he decided to follow Jesus for the rest of his life! (HALLELUJAH!) We prayed together, I gave him a big hug and was able to point him to other Christians in the area that would help him in his walk. It was so humbling! I DID NOTHING. God worked in everything..." To read the whole story and view photographs, go to http://hemustbecomegreater.blogspot.com.

This evening friends are picking me up for a concert. Saturday I am having a group in for a Low Country Boil dinner which is my first attempt. I have warned everyone that we may have to send out for pizza if I goof. Sunday I will be joining some friends at their home for dinner. What a blessing to have friends!

Love,

Chuck

Good reminders

I awoke this morning with the words of several hymns going through my sleepy mind. The only one that I could reconstruct in part was God Will Take Care of You. A good reminder for me when those moments of anxiety creep in.

In my daily reading I completed Deuteronomy with Moses passing leadership responsibilities on to Joshua after having a glimpse of the Promised Land, but unable to enter himself due to his disobedience. Today, coming to the end of the book of Joshua, I was challenged by Joshua’s final words to Israel in chapter 23. As I read the chapter I asked myself if my final months and weeks of conversations will be as intentional? The next question was; will I be given advance knowledge of the time of my final breath here on earth? Carol was given a 2 ½ year indication and then a final knowledge to within days, so that she was able to be certain everything was in order and all goodbyes were said. It was a very special time to be with a very special lady! We can learn much from the last day experiences of those who pass through that curtain of death ahead of us.

A few random thoughts from chapter 23 (The Message) that challenged me: “I’m an old man, I’ve lived a long time. You have seen everything that God has done to these nations because of you. He did it because he’s GOD, your God. He fought for you…Now, stay strong and steady…Hold tight to GOD, your God, just as you’ve done up to now…Now vigilantly guard your souls: Love GOD, your God…As you can see, I’m about to go the way we all end up going. Know this with all your heart, with everything in you, that not one detail has failed of all the good things GOD you God, promised you. It has all happened. Nothing’s left undone – not so much as a word.” Challenging thoughts that hold tremendous promise in very challenging days!

I trust that you will have a blessed weekend with family and friends.

Love to you all,

Chuck

Delightful time!

It was a long but an uneventful drive back home from Indiana. Grand daughter Calli packed me a wonderful lunch which included many healthy snack items that kept me chewing much of the way. There were several showers along the way but nothing that was heavy enough to cause any delay and I was able to get through Charlotte before the five o’clock rush got under way.

It was delightful being with many of our family members for the Easter weekend. Great conversation, delicious food, and some challenging games filled our days and evenings. Easter morning there were greetings of “He is risen” with the response “He is risen indeed.” We heard a wonderful message at church about the empty cross, the empty tomb and the empty burial clothes and following dinner had an egg hunt for the grandchildren that were there. With our clever hiding places, I suspect that we may continue to find a missed egg now and then around the yard this summer.

I thank God for the health and strength that he continues to give me to be able to make these trips to be with the family. I appreciate so much your prayers and the phone calls checking on my progress as I travel. It will be an early bedtime tonight.

Love to you all,

Chuck

Safe trip

My trip to Indiana went well with beautiful blue skies all of the way and a little heavy fog in the West Virginia mountains which slowed me a bit. It is wonderful to be here and see evidences of spring. The lake is at the highest level we have seen, floating off two sections of one of our piers which need to be retrieved. One swan came out to greet me, so I suspect that mother is sitting on the nest. We will be getting boats and the canoe out this weekend and I will go out to locate her. It is always fun to see the little family swimming by later in the year.

Presently I am here alone, but Karin, Keith and Calli will soon be arriving and Gavin will return later in the day from a ski trip in Colorado. Sue and Jeff along with Justin and Laura will be coming for the weekend also. We will miss Lisa, James, Liz and family, Jeremy who is still studying in Jerusalem and Julianna. Hopefully I will be able to catch up with them later this spring.

In preparation for Easter I have been reading a book by Erwin Lutzer, Cries from the Cross. What an ordeal of trials Jesus endured before Annas and Caiaphas, nights in a dungeon, more trials, and flogging then forced to carry his own cross. Then the hours nailed to that cross struggling to take a breath, experiencing unbelievable pain. As I read the chapters visualizing his suffering, his anguish and yet his compassion toward everyone around him, I am amazed. The love that He expressed is beyond my imagination as his focus was upon the outcome, the victory that would be accomplished. Not his discomfort!

As I listened to CDs of messages and song on the trip, my mind kept going back to how focused upon the result Jesus was in spite of the jeers and pain that He experienced. I was reminded of the importance for me also. It sure is easy to get all wrapped up with the challenges of the moment and forget my real focus.

I trust that this will be an especially meaningful Friday for each of us and that you will have a blessed Easter as we celebrate the risen Jesus.

Love to you all,

Chuck

Blessed to be a blessing

Thanks to all of you wonderful friends that continue to pray and encourage me. I was amazed at the number of responses I had from my last blog. I am doing well thanks to a loving Lord and encouraging friends.

Thinking ahead to Good Friday and Easter I was reading Isaiah 53. Referring to Jesus, verses 3-5 tell us that “He was despised and rejected—a man of sorrows, acquainted with bitterest grief. We turned our backs on him and looked the other way when he went by. He was despised, and we did not care. Yet it was our weaknesses he carried; it was our sorrows that weighed him down. And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God for his own sins! But he was wounded and crushed for our sins. He was beaten that we might have peace. He was whipped, and we were healed!” How amazing that He was rejected by those around Him, but then I am reminded of how often I too have rejected Him in numerous ways during the busyness of my day.

I believe that Richard Foster said it well: “Today the heart of God is an open wound of love. He aches over our distance and preoccupation. He mourns that we do not draw near to him. He grieves that we have forgotten him. He weeps over our obsession with muchness and manyness. He longs for our presence.”

I trust that this Easter season will be a time of drawing nearer to Jesus for each of us. My plans are to spend a long weekend at our lake house with as many of the family members as can make it. It seems like an extremely long time since we were all together at Christmas!

Please continue to pray for dear friend Ross. Major surgery is scheduled for April 9 to remove a large tumor wrapped completely around his colon and attached to the top of his bladder. Pray that the six weeks of 24-hour chemotherapy and thirty radiation treatments have reduced the tumor, simplifying this delicate surgery. Also pray that biopsies of lymph nodes will be negative and that recovery will be complete.

How blessed we are to have such a loving and caring God! Freely work in and through me I pray!

Love to you all,

Chuck