A Gramps’ Morning Message To All of You Who Feel You Have Nothing to Give to God. (Con’t)

“And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect” (Romans 12:2).

Hey Gang, After graduating from high school - which was by mutual consent, (the Junior Hi guidance counselor, upon meeting my mother for the first time said, “Are You the Mrs. Hainley – not knowing my Dad was on of 7 brothers! )”- I trudged off to college.  I have no idea why I chose to go to college; my academic achievements, up to that point were less than dismal  

My confidence level that I would be more than a janitor or painter, like my dad, was engrained deep in my mind.  I was truly locked into “I was what I thought I was” -a nothing burger that would never reach the next step in the ladder.  But I need to make a point here: my attitude had not one iota the attitude that God had of me; however, that would become abundantly clear to me later in my life.
 

Like many young folks today, I was totally ill equipped to handle being on my own on a college campus.  In my two-year tenure in college I went from probation, to double probation and finally the dean called me in and said “Son, at the rate you are going, it will take you seventeen years to graduate. 

For the next two years I did what I had learned to do very well, “floundered” but God was in the process of getting me ready to enter into that phase of my life called “Don’t get to comfortable”. I fooled him and accomplished that goal in twelve years!   Steps one and two came fairly close together;  I met this girl, a Cadillac kind of girl, and I did not feel I was worthy to even consider a relationship.

But, when God is doing the programming, one should never not at least see if the door is ajar.  A lesson I learned during this tenure was open every door of opportunity and let Him shut it, if it is not His will for your life.  

  

The second door was a second major change. In 1955 I received a letter from my friends and neighbors that said, “Your help is needed in the United States Army.”  But coming from a flying family, I chose to by-pass the two- year hitch and joined the Air Force for four years!  It was during this time that my attitude began to change and began to feel that perhaps I had some value on this earth.  

Now this epistle could turn into a book so let me cut to the chase and free you to go about your day.  In the Air force they did not ask me or beg me to step up to the line to become a productive airman, they said, “You will do it!   You will use your God-given talents and become an Air Traffic Controller- the top of all career fields that opened the door for a career job after my AF Service days ended.

The doors were now open, and it was up to me to walk through them.  I proposed to that Cadillac I mentioned above and amazing to me, she said yes.  We married in 1957.

  After we completed my tenure as an airman the door opened for a career job with the Federal Aviation Agency.  But remember the statement, “Don’t get to comfortable?”   By this time we had two little ones and changes were being made in FAA and I did not feel they were in the best interest of my family to adapt to the new changes.  Sooo it was to that place the Dean said it would take me seventeen years to graduate - but this time it was with a different attitude!   Kermit and father in law 1963      One month later      

Now, let me wrap this up, the message I am trying to give to you- who feel you have nothing to offer God.  Your worse enemy is the person who greets you every morning on your bathroom mirror.

When God wired you before birth He installed His wiring system unto you and that wiring system consists of the plateaus  He wants to give you in your life.  But as mentioned above, we can lock ourselves into a low rung on the totem pool by believing “We are what we think”.  It is like the principle of the Seed Planter! Doctor Luke wrote, “If we give, God will give back to us” (Luke 6:33).  Does that mean just giving to others?  I do not think so, for it is like the speech that the Flight Attendance give on every aircraft:  “If oxygen fails in the plane, put on your oxygen mask on first- so you will be able to put the mask on others”.

Kermit before leaving CA

One last point before I close: In that same verse given to us by Luke, he goes on and uses a wonderful word not once but three times.  That word is ‘”measure”’. Luke says, “If you give, I (God) will pour into your lap in the good measure running over.”  Now zero in on the next phrase: “But, by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return” (Luke 6:38). 

Do you get the point?  When I realized God was ready to move me to higher ground, I had to be ready, willing and work hard to follow the way He prepared for that climb!   I know this works because he took my raw protoplasm – the person who was locked into the cellar and broke me free from the bondages that I had placed on myself!  Go thou and do Likewise!

                                                           Kermit and Jean 2018

Blessings,

Gramps, President Emeritus Eagle Village, Writer of more than 1100 Gramps Morning Messages.

Where Are Your Roots Anchored?

Hey Gang:  The past year has been very hard on our beautiful majestic pine trees.   When we first arrived on this property we were truly blessed with seven great grand- daddy pines and a dozen or so grands.  But we have learned that very old trees are much like very old people, they do tend to weaken and one day can stand the winds no more and succumb to their pressures. 

      

Several years ago, on arrival home from a Conference in the south land, we found the first victim of old age and wind.  It was on its side with roots sticking up toward the sky.  The first thing I noticed about the tree was the root system.  I was amazed that the roots seemed very inadequate to support a tree of this magnitude. 

From all outward appearances this magnificent tree survived in spite of its very limited root system.   I have mowed around it for nearly 20 years and each time enjoyed the majesty and beauty of this massive creation of God, but never realized the power that God had placed in this meager root system. 

As I walked around the cadaver God seemed to speak to me and remind that many Christians are like that tree-they look wonderful on the outside but when the rubber-hits-the-road their root system cannot stand against the winds of wilderness experiences.

Paul had something to say about roots  “That God would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man, so that Christ may dwell in our hearts through faith, and that you, being rooted and grounded in love” (Eph. 3:16).

He added “Having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him, and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, and I, overflowing with gratitude,” in his letter to the Colossians. (Col. 2:7).

Paul goes on to tell why it is essential that we establish roots grounded on the word of God: “See, to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ” (Col. 2:8).

It is interesting that when training the Treasury Agent to recognize a counterfeit bill they do not show them counterfeit bills, but the real Mc Coy. Perhaps they learned that method of recognizing the real from the phony from the Bible.  Never in the history of mankind has being grounded in the Word of God been, not only important- but an essential ingredient in recognizing the pure Word from the interpretations of men, who think they know better what God said and meant than God himself! 

So, my friends, I keep pounding the need to be in the Word and in your prayer closet, for within that Word are the prophecies.  Many have come true in my life time and many are in the process of being fulfilled, and others still those down the road that will end the chaos of this world and establish God’s perfect kingdom on earth for all eternity.  Remember Jesus’ Words;  “Do Not Be Deceived!”  Matthew 24.

Blessings,

Gramps

Gramps Morning Message to All You Who Feel That You Have Nothing to Give to GOd!

“And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect” (Romans 12:2).

Hey gang, A confession, I feel very qualified to address the title of the day for Slue foot reminds me of my shortcomings on a regular basis.  Now what triggered that in my mind?  I mean, when we give our lives to Jesus should we not put the past in the garbage can and move to higher ground/  Did Paul not say, “When you were dead in your transgression and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all of our transgressions” (Col. 2:13). 

I recently came across the following statement that got my attention; “You are what you think you are”.  That kind of brought a whole barrelful of thoughts, questions and even memories out of the cedar chest of my past. As I stood in front of the bathroom mirror and asked, “Is that really true?” I had to agree that was partially true in my life.

I was born the son of a coal miner who had an eighth-grade education and very limited social skills.  My mother was also an eighth-grade graduate and equally lacking in social skills.  You might say, we lived in a coal miner’s environment, where education and advancement were not topics of discussion.   It was said that my mother had the potential to be an accomplished pianist and my dad the unique ability to be able to fix just about anything.

 Their hearts’ desire was to move up the social ladder but there was a huge yoke around their necks - eighth-grade educations -in a period when the depression was like a hammer in the lives of the masses.  

And then one day an injury in the coal mine ended his coal shoveling days.  There are times when adversity can be a dictatorial motivating power to seek higher ground.  After moving his family from deep in the mountains (they used to say we lived so far back in the sticks even the hoot owls carried knapsacks and they had to pump sunshine to us) he pounded the streets until he ran into a painter who needed a painter who was fearless and willing to climb radio towers and paint them by dipping his gloved hand in a bucket of paint and using it as a paint brush as he descended down the tower.

Shortly after we arrived in the city I was enrolled in school.  They placed me in a class with more kids than I had ever crossed paths with in my first six years.  On the first day of school I gained immediate attention because my name was Kermit, I had large front teeth that resembled “buck teeth”, wore knickers and brogan shoes, which placed an immediate target on my back.

Due to our economic woes, it was deemed by the school district that I should receive milk twice a day- which only added to my harassment as the ‘milky kid’ who had to go into the bowels of the school and drink my two pints of milk each day.  

To say I was a very bad student is to put it very mildly.  I learned very early to detest walking up Fourth Street to that place of pain called Fairview Elementary School, which set the stage for my twelve years in the educational system of Altoona, Pennsylvania.  Now I tell you this to set the stage for what is to come which I will pick up on in the next Tuesday morning message. 

As Paul Harvey often said, “Tune in tomorrow and get the rest of the story”.  Keep in mind the focus of these messages is to give hope to those who believe they have nothing to offer to God. 

Blessings,

Gramps

What's Next, Lord?

 

“For thus says the Lord of hosts ‘Once more in a little while I am going to shake the heavens and the earth, the sea also and the dry land” (Haggai 2:6).

In the New Testament, the Lord gave us the following warning: “See to it that you do not refuse Him who is speaking. For if those did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape who turn away from Him who warns from heaven. And His voice shook the earth then, but now He has promised, saying, ‘Yet once more I will shake not only the earth, but also the heaven’….Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude, by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe; for our God is a consuming fire.” (Hebrews 12:25-29)

Hey Gang: Have you noticed the weather?  Can you believe our kids missed their twenty-fifth day of school today?  As I was siting this morning watching the weather man read off the school closing I racked my brain back to the time I was in school and recalled only one time when school was called off for weather reasons.  My only recollection was of a severe ice storm that made the roads virtually in-passable.  But keep in mind that Altoona, Pennsylvania is a city of hills. I loved it because I worked in a gas station and we had a steady diet of putting on chains which reaped a harvest of tips.   

Do you think that perhaps God is trying to get our attention? Bible prophecy is clear: the Lord shakes individuals and nations that we might let go of all of the flawed political, philosophical, intellectual and religious notions we cling to. These won’t give us true peace, don’t give us real hope, can’t bring us any security, AND can’t provide forgiveness from our sins, much less eternal life for our souls.

The God of the Bible wants to shake us loose of such things that we might turn to Him, and to the life He offers through faith in His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord isn’t letting us be shaken because He hates us, but rather that none should perish.

So, be advised: He’s letting us be shaken precisely because He loves us and wants us to repent and call out to Him as individuals, as families, and as a nation. Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?” (John 11:25-26).  If there was ever a time in our nation’s history for the believers in Christ to bow their hearts to Him, it is right now, all believers in one accord. Are you in the unshakable Hand of God, our Rock and Fortress?

 Blessings,  

Gramps

Do You Think It Is Possible to Have a Fifty-One Year Miracle?

“Now the Lord said to Abram. “Go forth from your relatives and from your father’s house, To the land which I will show you; And I will make you a great nation, And I will bless you” (Gen. 12:1-2).

Hey Gang:  When is a gift more than a gift? But, is the fulfillment of a prophetic word that was laid on my heart more than fifty years ago.  It came at I time I was struggling with a huge failure in my life.  I was a counselor in a Juvenile Hall in California where I encountered a young lad who begged for help on each of his eight previous trips through the Center. I, the system, had failed him.  And now he faces a life of being locked away from society because his frustration led him to take the life of a Godly woman, who reached out to him.

On that rainy night when the police brought this fourteen-year old into Juvenile Hall and I locked him into his cell, I made a promise to myself - I would either find a way to be a light in the hearts of some of these lost kids or I would become a ‘Plumber’s Helper’!  I could no longer continue on the path of doing nothing but warehousing these youth.

But what Lord?  I am a nobody in this world.  My prayer was very simple, Lord, I have nothing to offer.  I have achieved no great plateaus in my life, nothing that stands out on my resume.  My name means nothing to anyone but my family and friends.  All I really have to offer you is me and the promise that if you will guide me and show me the way to help even one, I will be obedient. 

As I look back on that time in my life, I believe the one word that God heard was “Obedient”.  To tell you what happened in the months and years that followed that commitment would take many pages and that is not my intent of this epistle.  A trip to Michigan to lick my wounds.   Rainy day with four active kids in a small cottage. A visit with friends in their home. The sharing of the frustrations I felt in my heart. A seed of a pipe dream that was growing in my heart was planted.  But was it a pipe dream? or the answer to a prophetic dream?

My Michigan friend shared my frustrations with a judge, who then shared the message with other judges and all agreed they needed someplace to send the increase number of kids, who were showing upon in their courts,  a place that was not going to warehouse them, but lead them into a path of positive success.

Shortly after our return to California, I received what I thought was a dream; but now, after the fact, I believe it was a prophetic word of what God would do through me, if I was obedient.  He showed me a wagon wheel of services that one day would consist of a main campus for those who needed full time care could receive quality services.  But there would be spokes leading out into the communities with offices and support people for youth and families who were struggling and in need of a push in the right direction.

There is no way to explain the rapid growth of the Village Campus and the excellent programs that are available today on campus, it is a miracle!  It truly has been a miracle from the Throne Room in heaven.  This past week another miracle was completed. A friend of the Village donated an office building in a city, Big Rapids. It was dedicated and officially brought into service.  It is but the first of others that are also in the plan.  How do I know this, because God showed me a completed wagon wheel of services and this is but the first step to completion of that prophetic word.

When I have had the opportunity to share this tremendous miracle that He allowed me to play a tiny part in its development, I always address my words to those who are pew- sitters and believe they have nothing to give to God.  If you happen to be one of them, I challenge you this very day to read Matthew 25:31-46.  

“Truly, I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.”  (Matt. 25:40).  So, get your antenna up and be prepared to be used- today and every day- by the Lord of lords.

Blessings,

Gramps