"Call unto me
and I will answer you and I will tell you great and mighty things, which you do
not know". (Jer. 33:3 God's telephone number and never busy!)
Hey Gang: Did you
ever notice how many times Jesus went off by Himself to pray? The Bible makes it clear that God wants His
people to pray. In I Thessalonians
5:16-18 Paul tells those who trust and love God to "Rejoice evermore and pray without ceasing in everything, giving thanks, for this is
God's will" for each of us. Praying
Scripture and His promises unleashes the power prayer in our lives. But there is a prerequisite to praying God's
promises, you must know what they are.
Through the Prophet Isaiah God promises, "It will come to pass that before they
call, I will answer, and while they are still speaking, I will hear"
(Isa. 65:24). Isaiah followed this power
verse with another that we need to program into our hearts and souls: "But to this one I will look, To him who is
humble and contrite of spirit, and who trembles at My word" (Isa.
66:2B). And where does this humbling and
contrite of spirit and trembling come from?
His Word and relationship with Jesus.
Jesus confirms this in our hearts in His Sermon on the Mount:
"Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find, knock,
and it will be opened to you . For
everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it
will be opened" (Matt. 7:7-8).
I have spent the past several weeks reading in
Jeremiah. I have read Jeremiah many
times before but this time it has captured my whole attention. Why, because as I read each page I could see
the United States of America in each page.
And, as I read, I focused my study on two phrases that Jeremiah used: God said, "Is not my word like fire and like a hammer which shatters a rock?
(Jer. 23:29); the second phrase, which
is found throughout the book, "They
did not listen"(Jer.23:29).
I was blessed with a sainted Grandma; however, at the time,
I did not realize what a pure and true saint she was. As I think back I see her on her knees in the
local Post Office scrubbing the floors.
Having lost two husbands, six mouths to feed, and limited education she
was restricted to menial tasks. By the
time I came on the scene she had retired and was living on the third floor of
our tiny house. It meant climbing two
flights of stairs several times a day and the years on her knees on concrete
had taken its toll.
We had a swing on our front porch and Grandma spent much of
her awake hours on the swing. She was a
very avid embroidery addict and made many beautiful things. She would take the floss that was left after
clipping the end, put it in her mouth and then throw them up to the roof of the
porch. We had a very colorful porch. But
her attention was not on the sewing, for that was automatic to her. These were the prayers she sent heavenward
from the prayer list that she had with her at all times. Grandma was not known as a "prayer
warrior", but a very special saint who knew how to reach the heavenlies
with her prayers.
As I think of her this morning, I would not call her a
pastor, or even a teacher, even though she taught Sunday School for years, but
rather a ‘beamer of light’. She would
share her faith in a way that was understandable and filled with the love of
her Lord, but that was not what I remember about her. She radiated Jesus every moment of her day, not
by what she said or even her actions, but when you were around her you could
feel the love of Jesus coming through her very being. When I sing "This little light of mine,
I am going to let it shine" which I do often, I think of my Grandma sitting on that swing
with needle in hand, her lips praising her Lord and taking those who had heavy
hearts to the Throne Room of Heaven.
Sooooo, I have asked myself many times, how does one become
a ‘radiator’ of God's love without saying a word? Grandma would say, “Become a doer of the Word
and a imitator of Jesus.” When the
little children (other than family) come to a person, you know that person is
filled with the love of God - and the little children came to Jesus. I look forward to the day I can give my Grandma
a big hug.
Blessings,
Gramps
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