Wednesday, September 30, 2015

Perseverance, Encouragement and Hope - What More Could One Ask For?


“Now may the God who gives perseverance and encouragement grant you to be of the same mind with one another according to Christ Jesus” (Rom. 15:5).  “Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit” (Rom. 15:13).

Hey Gang:  Wow!  We visited and walked the campus of Eagle Village once again last night.  When we arrived on campus there were kids in the swimming pool, some just sitting by the pool talking, a few on the basketball court and another group down on the athletic field involved in an intense game of some sort.    

Our reason for being there was to be interviewed and taped on why and how the Village came into being. When one walks the campus today, with its more than thirty-five buildings and hundreds of youth  involved in programs on any given day, the tendency is to forget the miracles that God provided on a daily basis in the early days and every day since.

The easiest of all the questions asked was “What was the greatest of all the miracles?”.  My answer, “You are looking at it”.  When God called us to leave our jobs, sell our home and move our four children cross country to develop a home for hurting children and families, we did not have a clue what that meant.  As my bride often has said, “For two years I was the only unemployed director of a non-existent boys home.” 

If one were to make a list of qualifications needed to do what we were going to do in the next 27 years, we would not have passed muster in the interview process.  I have asked God many times why he chose us when He could have chosen a Harvard graduate with all the head knowledge needed to complete the task.  His answer has always been the same – Because you were willing.

I have learned, along the way, that God is not interested in the most intelligent and gifted people in the world to do his biddings. He is more inclined to find one who has cracks and fissions; He smash them and then puts them on the potter’s wheel and molds them into the image of the person He wants them to be. 

If I were asked what was the second greatest miracle that, too, would be a very easy answer. We were so busy in those first several years I did not have time to visit other facilities and pick the brains of other folks who had gone down this road before.

Now why would that be a miracle, because I was totally dependent on God to spoon feed me each and every day.   I admit that I do not have a lot of patience with people who tell me they felt a call to do something beyond their experience level but rejected the call because they did not feel they were equipped to accept the challenge.

 Paul wrote in his letter to the Philippians “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me” (Phil. 4:13) and “MY God will supply all your needs according to His riches I glory in Christ Jesus” (Phil 4:19).  In Malachi 4:10 we read “Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house, and test Me now in this”.    “I can do”, my God will Supply, and “test Me now in this” became my contract with God.

Soooo, I would like to share each of the questions that was asked of us last evening but that would require a sizeable book for there were very few days when God did not bless us with a miracle   There were paydays when the sun came up and there was not enough money in the bank to cover the paychecks -but that was before the mail came in.

I ask you, have you had a miracle in your life recently?  If you answered  ‘no”, I would suggest you look around for our God is a miracle giving God who loves to give miracle to His children.  James wrote, “You do not have because you do not ask” (James 4:2).  

Do you need a miracle?  Ask God for one and then watch and see how He answers your request! Me and my house are praying for a gigantic miracle in our family, please join us!

Blessings,
Gramps




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