I have been asked to give my testimony for a women's Sunday School class this week. Next month I will give my testimony to a Senior Adult gathering. For some, beging asked to give your testimony is a frightening thought. They do not know the 'mechanics' of presenting a logical and meaningful story, or they cannot even really put together the facts of their own salvation experience to present it.
I have been blessed to have been trained in the proper steps to give a testimony, and I have had a significant salvation experience that it is easy for me to tell the story. I know the exact moment in time that I was born again. I rejoice in the grace of the LORD, and His forgiveness.
The "mechanics" of a testimony??? It can be easy if you remember a three step outline:
I. Before - your life before you were saved
II. During - what happend at the point of being born again - an event, a time, etc...
III. After - How your life has changed since you were born again.
BEFORE
(I was trained to know that a good testimony only takes about five minutes to tell before people get bored. On paper I can go into more detail.)
I grew up in a "Christian" home. My parentes send us three girls to Sunday School every week. Sometimes they would attend church themselves...most of the time they just dropped us off. My mother seemed like the one who wanted us to be in church.
I have fond memories of Sunday School and the summer activities of church. I don't think they called it VBS the...way back in the 50's.
At the age of 11 I was baptized. My sisters, age 9 were baptized. I know now that, I can only speak for myself, it meant nothing. My mother wanted us baptized. I remember her having a heated discussion with our pastor that we three girls needed to be baptized. He did not seem to want us baptized. I didn't understand his objection then...now I do.
We were baptized because she wanted us baptized. I really didn't understand that I was a sinner in need of salvation. It meant nothing to us. Nothing more than a nice ceremony, getting dressed up in cute little white dresses, and having a family celebration afterward. I thought I was a Christian.
My mother died about a year later. We never went back to church again. BUT....
I thought I was a Christian all my life.
I thought I was a Christian by attending church on only Easter and Christmas.
I thought I was a Christian because I kept a Bible by my bed.
I thought I was a Christian because I loved God and knew who Jesus was.
I thought I was a Christian because I prayed when I needed something. I prayed when I was afraid, or when I saw something disturbing that I didn't understand in the world.
I thought I was a Christian because I had been baptized.
I became a nurse. I went to church to pray when I saw some terrible thing happen - a patient that was very ill - a terrible accident - someone disfigured. I remember seeing a man cut in half in an accident. He had a surgical procedure called a 'hemicorporectomy' - half body. Right after the surgery I left the operating room and went to the chapel and prayed. I remember being so sad for this man. I just didn't underestand the ugliness and horror that life could bring. I felt the need to pray. I was drawn to God in my need. I didn't underestand when this man died a few days later.
I thought I was a Christian while I sat in bars and was a 'wild women' in the 60"s. I thought I was being spiritual when I would wear a large, ornate crucifix around my neck as jewelry - while I went out every night to bars for fun. As the song goes..."looking for love in all the wrong places." I went to church on Christmas and Easter...maybe. I concentrated on my job and getting advanced education...for position and a bigger pay check.
That was my life. Hard work for position and money, hard fun for...love.... I thought I was a Christian because I had been baptized.
Lots of 'fun'. Lots of men. Two ruined marriages.
I remember one young man trying to share the gospel with me. He was a new Christian. One night shift when things were very quiet he asked me.."Are you a Christian?"' That question did not bother me. I answered what I felt in my heart, "Of course I am a Christian...I have been baptized."
He then tried to explain to me that being baptized was not the issue..."was I a Christian?" I didn't get it...I thought he was some kind of a religious nut...and let it go.
I thought I was a Christian because I had been baptized.
DURING
"During" reminds me to speak of what happened at the moments leading up to my salvation experience.
I was born again on Oct. 6, 1987. I had just arrived on the the island of Guam, on Sept. 1st, for duty as a Navy Nurse. I was in a very low valley of life. Going to a job I really did not want, to a place I did not want to go...and I had just received the final papers on a divorce that I did NOT want. Life was a mess....but God had a plan.
I arrived for duty, living in the Bachelor Officers Quarters...just 300 yards from the hospital itself....and about 200 yeards from the Navy Chapel. I arrived on a Friday and was bored on Sunday morning so I decided to go to the church service. I enjoyed it. A younger nurse asked me to join her on Tues night for the weekoly Bible Study....Hey...nothing to do on Tues night...ok.
The group was studying the Gospel of John and I really did enjoy it. I decided to go back every Tuesday (only if it did not interfere with my new social life!) Through that study I began to see God's love, and my sinful life. Several weeks into the study, October 6th to be exact, we were studying how the disciples and followers of Jesus deserted Him when He was arrested. I spoke up and said, "How could they do that? They all saw His miracles and saw that He was God! They ran and He still loved them!!"
One sweet lady spoke up and said, "Why Jeanne it is like our lives. God is there showing us His love and his miracles and we just don't get it. He keeps trying to get our attention but we just ignore Him. Its like Rev. 3:20 says...Behold I stand at the door and knock, If anyone hears my voice and opens that door, I will come into him.."
Each one of us has a different salvation experience. Each one has that one special moment in time when we are born again. THIS WAS MINE. When that woman spoke that verse it was as if a light came on in my spirit. An actual light. In that moment of time I knew that Jesus had always been trying to get my attention. As Lord and God Jesus loved me. I was a sinner and wanted to submit myself to Him forever. I wanted to be obedient and a Christ follower.
In a moment of time it happened to me. I was born again. Praise God life has never been the same!!
The following weekend I was baptized at the beach in Agana, Guam. This time it meant something. It did not save me. It did not usher me into heaven, but it was my public proclamation that Jesus is my Lord and Savior...and I am His.
AFTER
My life has never been the same. I could fill thousands of typed lines telling how God has blessed me and USED me!!! He took such a sinner as I was and has honored me by directing me to teach the Word of God to other women. WOW!!!
They say that the Christian life is an adventure...and it is, if we will submit our wills to His. God does have a plan for each of us - if we will just submit to His will life is exciting. More that that...life is wonderful...KNOWING Him....TRUSTING Him!!!
God is the boss of my life....who is your boss??
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Thursday, July 15, 2010
My Three Girls...and God...
My Adele, My Lisa, My Stacy, and MY GOD
Cancer. It is all around me.
Lost people. People that do not know of the saving grace of our Lord Jesus are all around me.
Lost people with cancer are all around me.
The last few weeks have been pretty amazing in my life. Pretty stressful, but pretty amazing. I have come to the understanding that God is at work in my life, using me in the life of others. I am unworthy, but it seems that God is directing my steps to pray for, get others to pray for, and to witness to a specific group of people with cancer that do not know the Lord Jesus Christ. Amazing.
Someone close to me was diagnosed with Stage 4 colon cancer earlier this year. Lets call her Adele (for privacy reasons). She is beginning her fight against cancer. Weekly chemotherapy treatments. Fatigue. Loss of hair. God knows the number of her days.
My niece has been fighting Stage 4 breast cancer for six years. (Lets call her Lisa for privacy reasons) She is losing the fight. Today she has been admitted to a hospital for IV therapy to fight dehydration, and to help with pain relief. God knows the number of her days.
Stacy is my new friend, in fact, a stranger. I do not even know her last name, but God has put her in my path. She is a beautiful 40 year old woman who has Stage 4 bone cancer. Unless God intervenes she will probably die in a few months. The physicians have told her she has 2-3 months left to live. I met her during a visit to a hospital. This week she will be transferred to a hospice center. I have told her that only God knows the number of her days.
Adele, Lisa and Stacy with cancer. And my God. He is in control. He knows why these women are in my life
I too have had my brush with cancer. In the beginning….six years ago, a routine mammogram gave me the diagnosis of Stage 1 Breast Cancer. Months of radiation followed with bi yearly follow-ups with my physician, multiple repeat mammograms and of course, constant thoughts of possible recurrence. The cancer has not recurred, and I am cancer free. At least for today.
As I have thanked God daily for my ‘little breast cancer’ I knew sometime in the future I would be able to use my experience to the glory of God. I am seeing it now.
As I interact with "my three girls" I believe that one of the reasons that they listen to me is that they know that I am a cancer survivor and have some small idea of what they are going through, when others might not. Stage 1 Breast Cancer is a small price for me to pay so that I can witness to other women about the Lord Jesus Christ.
Adele. I have prayed for Adele very day since my life was changed, and I was born-again in October 1987. I have tried to discuss salvation with her on many occasions. I have sent her Scripture and tracts in the mail. Adele is a hard nut to crack and is pretty stubborn. She says that she knows Jesus in her heart and is going to heaven when she dies. Praise God!!! May she be right!!
My interaction with Adele is daily witness through living. She says she is praying everyday. We often talk about the power of God and how He is in control of her cancer. Any deeper discussions of salvation are met with a brush off. I pray that she does know the Lord Jesus Christ as her Savior, and these interactions with me are just earthly, fleshly responses. I have had friends praying for Adele every day since October 1987. (Thank You God for faithful prayer warriors!)
Adele was with me when I went through my radiation. She attended most treatments with me. Now when she lets me I go with her. I want to be by her side and go with her to each treatment, but she says she prefers to go alone. (She has never come to the understanding that I need to go, I want to go to help, that it would be a blessing for me to help. No. She wants to be alone most of the time.)
God knows the number of Adele’s days.
Lisa. My sweet, beautiful niece. Never having a daughter, she is like my own. The last time I visited her in Montana she honored me by saying that in life she has had two mothers. I was one. When her mother could not go to be with her over the years, I could. Through the delivery of three sons, and months to follow, I could be with her when her mom was stuck in a job situation in California. Lisa is the daughter I never had.
Lisa was diagnosed with Stage 4 breast cancer a few months after my own diagnosis. I often asked God…why do I have Stage 1, and sweet young Lisa have Stage 4, asking not in anger, but in curiosity…knowing that God has a plan for all of this.
Again with Lisa, as with Adele, because I had my own bout with breast cancer she knew that I somewhat knew what she was going through.
Does Lisa know the Lord Jesus? I hope so. I have had my friends praying for Lisa since October 1987. Several years before all the cancer started, when I was visiting with Lisa we did get to speak seriously about spiritual matters. We read through a gospel tract together and she prayed to receive Christ. God knows her heart.
Over the ‘cancer years’ I have brought up the subject many times…but with a rebuff from her. I have mailed dozens of tracts over the years. One with each card or letter. Maybe she has read some.
Only God knows the number of Lisa's days.....
(A later entry....) My Stacy. God brought her in my life…for her, and for an encouragement to me.
Stacy has cancer. Terminal cancer she told me.
We met by chance while I was sitting in the waiting room while Adele was receiving her three hour long chemotherapy. I was aware of the people around me on the ‘cancer floor.’ Thin, gaunt, people talking quietly with friends or loved ones. Able to leave their gray colored walls of their hospital rooms. Some with metal poles holding bags of various colored fluids draining into their veins.
People thought I was reading a book, but I was observing and praying. Praying for Adele and for those around me.
A tall beautiful, blond young woman sat down next to me. She was very thin, and looked a bit tired. She reminded me of my sweet LISA. I was drawn to her. She began the conversation, I don’t remember what she said, but it was a ‘divine’ appointment I am sure.
She pulled down the pink collar of the sweater she was wearing, and exposed her shoulder bone, misshaped by large tumors under the skin. Quite matter-of-factly she told me that the doctors had told her that she only had three months to live. She was a patient at the hospital for a few more days before she would be sent to a live in care center. She felt good enough today to get out and walk around the hospital…and meet me.
I asked her if she believed in God. When she responded with a “Yes.” I quickly got to the point, “Only God knows the number of your days. The doctors are not in control.” So began our discussion of salvation. She asked questions and we talked. When I began to discuss her making some kind of a commitment to God, she quickly changed the subject and asked if I would go with her to the cafeteria and get some ice cream.
For the next two hours we roamed the halls of the hospital. We ate at the cafeteria, we browsed at the gift shop, and we went outside and sat in the sunshine.
She seemed to tire and asked me to go back to her room with her. I got her tucked into bed and again spoke to her about Jesus. She asked me to go away, but to come back the next day to spend time with her.
So began my ‘mission’ for the next five days – going to the hospital to talk with Stacy about eternity and her relationship with Jesus. Each day she seemed more weak, and we never again left the room to walk the halls of the hospital. Her family always visited in the evenings, I visited in the mornings so we could have private time. Stacy seemed to enjoy my visits, and always asked me to come back.
I knew my time was running out with her. In two days she would be sent off and I would never see her again. On the forth day Stacy prayed.
She said she did want to make a commitment to the Lord, and repeated the prayer I prayed out loud with her. She was in much pain, and drifted off to sleep after our time together.
My next two visits with her were different. She was under heavy pain medication, but seemed glad to see me, drifted in and out of sleep….and always asked me to come back. I prayed over her each day with love and commitment as if she were my own, terminally ill niece.
I know that the hospital chaplain visited with her and prayed with her also. I saw several tracts that had been left on her bedside stand, beside the ones I always left with her. Praise God…Stacy was ‘getting it’ from several sources!!
The last day I came back her bed was empty. For one terrible moment I thought Stacy might have died. The nurse said she had been transferred a day ahead of schedule.
I never saw Stacy again.
God brought us together for a purpose. I pray with all my heart that she was sincere about her prayer to God, in belief and for eternal life. I do know that Stacy prayed. Only God knows her heart.
God brought her into my life as an encouragement and a balm to me to deal with the cancer all around me with Adele and Lisa. I knew in my spirit that because I had taken the time to share the Gospel with Stacy, that God would bring a stranger into the lives of Adele and Lisa to tell them what they would not listen when I spoke.
(An entry several months later.....) Lisa died in August. I do not know her spiritual condition, but I do know with all my heart that because I shared the gospel with Stacy, God sent someone to share the Gospel with her during the last days of her life. Only God knows her heart.
My Adele, my Lisa, my Stacy…and my God. God is so good. He loves Adele, Lisa and Stacy so much more than I ever could. He loves me too. God works all things for His glory. My interlude with Stacy was a divine appointment.
Thank You God in using me in a small way in Your plan to bring the offer of salvation to all people. Thank You for bringing me some comfort in my time of sorrow. Yes, I still shed tears over the death of Lisa, but I am comforted by my God and His great offer of salvation to all of us…to Adele, to Lisa, to Stacy and to me.
Cancer. It is all around me.
Lost people. People that do not know of the saving grace of our Lord Jesus are all around me.
Lost people with cancer are all around me.
The last few weeks have been pretty amazing in my life. Pretty stressful, but pretty amazing. I have come to the understanding that God is at work in my life, using me in the life of others. I am unworthy, but it seems that God is directing my steps to pray for, get others to pray for, and to witness to a specific group of people with cancer that do not know the Lord Jesus Christ. Amazing.
Someone close to me was diagnosed with Stage 4 colon cancer earlier this year. Lets call her Adele (for privacy reasons). She is beginning her fight against cancer. Weekly chemotherapy treatments. Fatigue. Loss of hair. God knows the number of her days.
My niece has been fighting Stage 4 breast cancer for six years. (Lets call her Lisa for privacy reasons) She is losing the fight. Today she has been admitted to a hospital for IV therapy to fight dehydration, and to help with pain relief. God knows the number of her days.
Stacy is my new friend, in fact, a stranger. I do not even know her last name, but God has put her in my path. She is a beautiful 40 year old woman who has Stage 4 bone cancer. Unless God intervenes she will probably die in a few months. The physicians have told her she has 2-3 months left to live. I met her during a visit to a hospital. This week she will be transferred to a hospice center. I have told her that only God knows the number of her days.
Adele, Lisa and Stacy with cancer. And my God. He is in control. He knows why these women are in my life
I too have had my brush with cancer. In the beginning….six years ago, a routine mammogram gave me the diagnosis of Stage 1 Breast Cancer. Months of radiation followed with bi yearly follow-ups with my physician, multiple repeat mammograms and of course, constant thoughts of possible recurrence. The cancer has not recurred, and I am cancer free. At least for today.
As I have thanked God daily for my ‘little breast cancer’ I knew sometime in the future I would be able to use my experience to the glory of God. I am seeing it now.
As I interact with "my three girls" I believe that one of the reasons that they listen to me is that they know that I am a cancer survivor and have some small idea of what they are going through, when others might not. Stage 1 Breast Cancer is a small price for me to pay so that I can witness to other women about the Lord Jesus Christ.
Adele. I have prayed for Adele very day since my life was changed, and I was born-again in October 1987. I have tried to discuss salvation with her on many occasions. I have sent her Scripture and tracts in the mail. Adele is a hard nut to crack and is pretty stubborn. She says that she knows Jesus in her heart and is going to heaven when she dies. Praise God!!! May she be right!!
My interaction with Adele is daily witness through living. She says she is praying everyday. We often talk about the power of God and how He is in control of her cancer. Any deeper discussions of salvation are met with a brush off. I pray that she does know the Lord Jesus Christ as her Savior, and these interactions with me are just earthly, fleshly responses. I have had friends praying for Adele every day since October 1987. (Thank You God for faithful prayer warriors!)
Adele was with me when I went through my radiation. She attended most treatments with me. Now when she lets me I go with her. I want to be by her side and go with her to each treatment, but she says she prefers to go alone. (She has never come to the understanding that I need to go, I want to go to help, that it would be a blessing for me to help. No. She wants to be alone most of the time.)
God knows the number of Adele’s days.
Lisa. My sweet, beautiful niece. Never having a daughter, she is like my own. The last time I visited her in Montana she honored me by saying that in life she has had two mothers. I was one. When her mother could not go to be with her over the years, I could. Through the delivery of three sons, and months to follow, I could be with her when her mom was stuck in a job situation in California. Lisa is the daughter I never had.
Lisa was diagnosed with Stage 4 breast cancer a few months after my own diagnosis. I often asked God…why do I have Stage 1, and sweet young Lisa have Stage 4, asking not in anger, but in curiosity…knowing that God has a plan for all of this.
Again with Lisa, as with Adele, because I had my own bout with breast cancer she knew that I somewhat knew what she was going through.
Does Lisa know the Lord Jesus? I hope so. I have had my friends praying for Lisa since October 1987. Several years before all the cancer started, when I was visiting with Lisa we did get to speak seriously about spiritual matters. We read through a gospel tract together and she prayed to receive Christ. God knows her heart.
Over the ‘cancer years’ I have brought up the subject many times…but with a rebuff from her. I have mailed dozens of tracts over the years. One with each card or letter. Maybe she has read some.
Only God knows the number of Lisa's days.....
(A later entry....) My Stacy. God brought her in my life…for her, and for an encouragement to me.
Stacy has cancer. Terminal cancer she told me.
We met by chance while I was sitting in the waiting room while Adele was receiving her three hour long chemotherapy. I was aware of the people around me on the ‘cancer floor.’ Thin, gaunt, people talking quietly with friends or loved ones. Able to leave their gray colored walls of their hospital rooms. Some with metal poles holding bags of various colored fluids draining into their veins.
People thought I was reading a book, but I was observing and praying. Praying for Adele and for those around me.
A tall beautiful, blond young woman sat down next to me. She was very thin, and looked a bit tired. She reminded me of my sweet LISA. I was drawn to her. She began the conversation, I don’t remember what she said, but it was a ‘divine’ appointment I am sure.
She pulled down the pink collar of the sweater she was wearing, and exposed her shoulder bone, misshaped by large tumors under the skin. Quite matter-of-factly she told me that the doctors had told her that she only had three months to live. She was a patient at the hospital for a few more days before she would be sent to a live in care center. She felt good enough today to get out and walk around the hospital…and meet me.
I asked her if she believed in God. When she responded with a “Yes.” I quickly got to the point, “Only God knows the number of your days. The doctors are not in control.” So began our discussion of salvation. She asked questions and we talked. When I began to discuss her making some kind of a commitment to God, she quickly changed the subject and asked if I would go with her to the cafeteria and get some ice cream.
For the next two hours we roamed the halls of the hospital. We ate at the cafeteria, we browsed at the gift shop, and we went outside and sat in the sunshine.
She seemed to tire and asked me to go back to her room with her. I got her tucked into bed and again spoke to her about Jesus. She asked me to go away, but to come back the next day to spend time with her.
So began my ‘mission’ for the next five days – going to the hospital to talk with Stacy about eternity and her relationship with Jesus. Each day she seemed more weak, and we never again left the room to walk the halls of the hospital. Her family always visited in the evenings, I visited in the mornings so we could have private time. Stacy seemed to enjoy my visits, and always asked me to come back.
I knew my time was running out with her. In two days she would be sent off and I would never see her again. On the forth day Stacy prayed.
She said she did want to make a commitment to the Lord, and repeated the prayer I prayed out loud with her. She was in much pain, and drifted off to sleep after our time together.
My next two visits with her were different. She was under heavy pain medication, but seemed glad to see me, drifted in and out of sleep….and always asked me to come back. I prayed over her each day with love and commitment as if she were my own, terminally ill niece.
I know that the hospital chaplain visited with her and prayed with her also. I saw several tracts that had been left on her bedside stand, beside the ones I always left with her. Praise God…Stacy was ‘getting it’ from several sources!!
The last day I came back her bed was empty. For one terrible moment I thought Stacy might have died. The nurse said she had been transferred a day ahead of schedule.
I never saw Stacy again.
God brought us together for a purpose. I pray with all my heart that she was sincere about her prayer to God, in belief and for eternal life. I do know that Stacy prayed. Only God knows her heart.
God brought her into my life as an encouragement and a balm to me to deal with the cancer all around me with Adele and Lisa. I knew in my spirit that because I had taken the time to share the Gospel with Stacy, that God would bring a stranger into the lives of Adele and Lisa to tell them what they would not listen when I spoke.
(An entry several months later.....) Lisa died in August. I do not know her spiritual condition, but I do know with all my heart that because I shared the gospel with Stacy, God sent someone to share the Gospel with her during the last days of her life. Only God knows her heart.
My Adele, my Lisa, my Stacy…and my God. God is so good. He loves Adele, Lisa and Stacy so much more than I ever could. He loves me too. God works all things for His glory. My interlude with Stacy was a divine appointment.
Thank You God in using me in a small way in Your plan to bring the offer of salvation to all people. Thank You for bringing me some comfort in my time of sorrow. Yes, I still shed tears over the death of Lisa, but I am comforted by my God and His great offer of salvation to all of us…to Adele, to Lisa, to Stacy and to me.
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Totally Unrelated!
Totally unrelated...but I want my voice heard!!
The new guidelines for mammograms for women "not being needed" as often...is a disaster!!! As a breast cancer survivor who was diagnosed during a routine mammogram I think this is outrageous!! A new medical standard or just cost saving???
The new guidelines for mammograms for women "not being needed" as often...is a disaster!!! As a breast cancer survivor who was diagnosed during a routine mammogram I think this is outrageous!! A new medical standard or just cost saving???
Friday, June 26, 2009
Happy 4th of July USA
Billy Graham's Prayer For Our Country
THIS MAN SURE HAS A GOOD VIEW OF WHAT'S HAPPENING TO OUR COUNTRY!
'Heavenly Father, we come before you today to ask your forgiveness and to seek your direction and guidance. We know Your Word says, 'Woe to those who call evil good,' but that is exactly what we have done. We have lost our spiritual equilibrium and reversed our values. We have exploited the poor and called it the lottery. We have rewarded laziness and called it welfare. We have killed our unborn and called it choice. We have shot abortionists and called it justifiable. We have neglected to discipline our children and called it building self esteem. We have abused power and called it politics. We have coveted our neighbor's possessions and called it ambition. We have polluted the air with profanity and pornography and called it freedom of expression. We have ridiculed the time-honored values of our forefathers and called it enlightenment. Search us, Oh God, and know our hearts today; cleanse us from every sin and set us free. Amen!'
THIS MAN SURE HAS A GOOD VIEW OF WHAT'S HAPPENING TO OUR COUNTRY!
'Heavenly Father, we come before you today to ask your forgiveness and to seek your direction and guidance. We know Your Word says, 'Woe to those who call evil good,' but that is exactly what we have done. We have lost our spiritual equilibrium and reversed our values. We have exploited the poor and called it the lottery. We have rewarded laziness and called it welfare. We have killed our unborn and called it choice. We have shot abortionists and called it justifiable. We have neglected to discipline our children and called it building self esteem. We have abused power and called it politics. We have coveted our neighbor's possessions and called it ambition. We have polluted the air with profanity and pornography and called it freedom of expression. We have ridiculed the time-honored values of our forefathers and called it enlightenment. Search us, Oh God, and know our hearts today; cleanse us from every sin and set us free. Amen!'
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Thanksgiving Prayer
A Thanksgiving Prayer
"Thank you Lord for another year. We have had our ups-and-downs, yet You have been faithful through it all. I thank you for my family. Without them I would be alone.
We don’t have the same politics
But they are my family.
We don’t believe the same spiritually
But they are my family.
Our lifestyles are not similar
But they are my family.
We don’t have much in common
But they are my family.
We are about as dysfunctional as the people next door
Yes, they are my family,
And You gave them to me.
Thank you Lord for my family.
Let me love them more,
and serve them more,
and show You to them more often, in 2009.
I thank you for my family. Without them I would be alone."
(That sure speaks to my hear...what about you?? Now go and have a Happy Thanksgiving get together with your family.)
Love, Jeanne
Pass it on... Jesus is the Reason for the Season!
"Thank you Lord for another year. We have had our ups-and-downs, yet You have been faithful through it all. I thank you for my family. Without them I would be alone.
We don’t have the same politics
But they are my family.
We don’t believe the same spiritually
But they are my family.
Our lifestyles are not similar
But they are my family.
We don’t have much in common
But they are my family.
We are about as dysfunctional as the people next door
Yes, they are my family,
And You gave them to me.
Thank you Lord for my family.
Let me love them more,
and serve them more,
and show You to them more often, in 2009.
I thank you for my family. Without them I would be alone."
(That sure speaks to my hear...what about you?? Now go and have a Happy Thanksgiving get together with your family.)
Love, Jeanne
Pass it on... Jesus is the Reason for the Season!
Monday, September 8, 2008
Anna and the Tribe of Asher
This past Sunday I had the blessing of teaching my ladies at Tierrasanta Baptist Churh about Anna (Luke 2:36-38). She was from the tribe of Asher. Now, why would God give us so much information about the background of Anna, when usually this type of desctiption is not given to us about the women of Scripture? Why mention her father or her tribe? I am in the middle of an extensive study of the 12 tribes - so this led me into further study of the tribe of Asher - and Anna.
See www.biblestudywomen.blogspot.com for the study about the Tribes.
Asher was one of the smaller tribes, located along the Mediterranian coast in the north. Those who believe that oil will be found in Israel base their intitial interest in the verses about Asher that mention "riches" and "oil." (Deut 33) Were the riches olive oil, or perhaps oil not yet found? Asher is said to be "blessed above the other brothers"...we have not seen that yet...perhaps oil will be found in Israel one day....an interesting thought.
Also after the tribes in the north had been been conquered by the Assyrians, there was a remnant of the tribes left behind. King Hezekiah sent messages to those left in the north to come to Judah to celebrate the Passover. Only three tribes went to Jerusalem in humbleness and to worship God. Asher was one of the three. This showed their loyalty to the God of the Hebrews (or that they were so very desperate they would try anything?).
Another intersting thing about the tribe of Asher is that in the New Testament, very few tribes are mentioned (do a word search/Strongs search) - Outside of Revelation 7 only Judah, Benjamin and Asher are mentioned in the New Testament. Perhaps because the tribal identity had been lost during the 70 years of captivity. (An interesting side study is Rev 7. Two tribes are left out of the listing - Dan and Simeon - why?)....thats a great study.
I am off to Israel next week. I will be re-energized and ready to hit the keyboard again.
See www.biblestudywomen.blogspot.com for the study about the Tribes.
Asher was one of the smaller tribes, located along the Mediterranian coast in the north. Those who believe that oil will be found in Israel base their intitial interest in the verses about Asher that mention "riches" and "oil." (Deut 33) Were the riches olive oil, or perhaps oil not yet found? Asher is said to be "blessed above the other brothers"...we have not seen that yet...perhaps oil will be found in Israel one day....an interesting thought.
Also after the tribes in the north had been been conquered by the Assyrians, there was a remnant of the tribes left behind. King Hezekiah sent messages to those left in the north to come to Judah to celebrate the Passover. Only three tribes went to Jerusalem in humbleness and to worship God. Asher was one of the three. This showed their loyalty to the God of the Hebrews (or that they were so very desperate they would try anything?).
Another intersting thing about the tribe of Asher is that in the New Testament, very few tribes are mentioned (do a word search/Strongs search) - Outside of Revelation 7 only Judah, Benjamin and Asher are mentioned in the New Testament. Perhaps because the tribal identity had been lost during the 70 years of captivity. (An interesting side study is Rev 7. Two tribes are left out of the listing - Dan and Simeon - why?)....thats a great study.
I am off to Israel next week. I will be re-energized and ready to hit the keyboard again.
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Women in Scripture
* Women are an important part of the Biblical story. Perhaps not specifically named, they are on almost every page. As you study the Holy Land, remember:
• So many woman! Many unnamed and unnoticed! Women are seen everywhere, “people, children of Israel, the congregation, the crowd, the multitude, town, cities,” etc…all include women and children. Where the men went, there were women. Where there were armies or navies, there were women. Women were witness and participants to all the events in the Holy Land.
• People traveled and settled where there were three key ingredients: water, food and protection (security). Women bore the children, managed the household and took care of the men. Women supported men and were their ‘helpers.’ Women complemented the men.
• Water means life, and where there was water, there was civilization, and women, children and families (pools, wells, oasis, lakes, wells, etc.)
• Wherever children are mentioned, there are women. Jesus blessed the children and healed the adults. The significant male characters of Scripture had mothers, sisters and other female friends and relatives who looked on in amazement and were often caught up in the nomadic lifestyle, the times of famine or plenty, miracles, and results of warfare through the centuries The ‘crowds’ and ‘multitudes’ included women.
• For almost every well known man there are women in his life as mother, wife, sisters and friends. Kings had hundreds of unnamed concubines. The enemies of Jesus, and Israel, had wives and daughters. Several of the apostles had wives that followed Jesus.
• What affected the men, affected their wives and families: wars, peace, punishments, plagues, and promises. As wars were waged, cities destroyed, peoples taken captive, women and children were displaced, killed, taken captive.
• Warfare meant the making of widows.
• God used women in unique and magnificent ways. Mary, the mother of Jesus, Miriam rescuing Moses from the water, Michael rescuing David from those who would take his life, Lydia the first convert in Europe, Esther rescuing the nation from genocide, Jael killing the enemy of Israel, and many more.
“From the ancient world until now, society stands or falls according to its infrastructure, that is, the family, over which the wife and mother is to preside.” (Holeman Bible Dictionary)
(*) From Jeanne's book - Women of the Holy Land: Walk Where They Walked.2008.
• So many woman! Many unnamed and unnoticed! Women are seen everywhere, “people, children of Israel, the congregation, the crowd, the multitude, town, cities,” etc…all include women and children. Where the men went, there were women. Where there were armies or navies, there were women. Women were witness and participants to all the events in the Holy Land.
• People traveled and settled where there were three key ingredients: water, food and protection (security). Women bore the children, managed the household and took care of the men. Women supported men and were their ‘helpers.’ Women complemented the men.
• Water means life, and where there was water, there was civilization, and women, children and families (pools, wells, oasis, lakes, wells, etc.)
• Wherever children are mentioned, there are women. Jesus blessed the children and healed the adults. The significant male characters of Scripture had mothers, sisters and other female friends and relatives who looked on in amazement and were often caught up in the nomadic lifestyle, the times of famine or plenty, miracles, and results of warfare through the centuries The ‘crowds’ and ‘multitudes’ included women.
• For almost every well known man there are women in his life as mother, wife, sisters and friends. Kings had hundreds of unnamed concubines. The enemies of Jesus, and Israel, had wives and daughters. Several of the apostles had wives that followed Jesus.
• What affected the men, affected their wives and families: wars, peace, punishments, plagues, and promises. As wars were waged, cities destroyed, peoples taken captive, women and children were displaced, killed, taken captive.
• Warfare meant the making of widows.
• God used women in unique and magnificent ways. Mary, the mother of Jesus, Miriam rescuing Moses from the water, Michael rescuing David from those who would take his life, Lydia the first convert in Europe, Esther rescuing the nation from genocide, Jael killing the enemy of Israel, and many more.
“From the ancient world until now, society stands or falls according to its infrastructure, that is, the family, over which the wife and mother is to preside.” (Holeman Bible Dictionary)
(*) From Jeanne's book - Women of the Holy Land: Walk Where They Walked.2008.
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