“Yet once more,” denotes the removal of those things which
can be shaken, as of created things so that those things which cannot be shaken
may remain. 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” (Heb. 12:26-29).
Hey Gang, James wrote, “Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you
encounter various trials (when you are in the shaker) knowing the
testing of your faith produces endurance and endurance the perfect result so
that you may be perfect and complete lacking in nothing” (James
1:2-4).
Now, I confess I am working through
James’ words at this moment and also confess that I am in the ‘act-of-the-will
stage’ of recovery from a tragic event yesterday. I really want to be angry and
throw the computer down the basement stairs, but at the peek of my anger, my
many hours of planting seeds of the Word into my heart, kicked in.
The bride-of- my-youth had answered
the call to go north and speak to a Women’s Retreat and, since it was raining,
I decided to spend the morning preparing and put the finishing touches in
preparation for our coming class on Preparing the Saints For Action. All went wonderfully well. I was in the wrap-up
stage, page sixteen in my notes, when suddenly the screen went blank!
For the next hour I searched every
nook and cranny of the computer, but to no avail. While searching my grandson who is a guru on
a computer called and he, too, walked through the various modes of recovery -
but still the blank screen stared back at me.
This was not the first time this has
happened to me, so I had learned the lesson to make sure everything I prepared
was backed up on the hard drive. I had diligently followed these words of woe
for those who failed to do so; within the previous hour I had taken a coffee
break and had backed up all that I had completed.
Now, I m not a computer guru. As a mater-of-fact, I am not electronically
gifted. I do not even have a cell phone! I am totally dependent on those with a gift
of ‘compurese’ and one thing that I had been taught many times is back up your
materials, for once on the hard drive they will not be lost.
Well, I could go on and turn this
epistle in a gigantic pity party. But,
you see, the material lost was a review of the Plan of Salvation and one
section included how to deal with adversity.
I really had no excuse to yell and scream and throw the computer down
the steps. So, I shut the machine down
and went out and cut some wood, and while my hands were busy, I had a
conversion with God!
This morning I began the rewrite of
the materials. I am anxious to see if He
takes me down a different road. Somehow,
I suspect He will.
Yes, my young friends, we are going
to go through increasingly more difficult shakers, as the end of the Age of
Gentiles - described so clearly in the Prophets, Minor Prophets and
Revelation, The writer of the Hebrews and James also knew that but they
also had the words of Jeremiah in their computer banks. Notice the power
verse in Jeremiah 29:12 where God said, “For
I know the plans that I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and
not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.” Keep in mind he
was addressing a people who were in bondage in Babylon.
So, my young friends, when it feels
that God has you in His shaker, turn to Isaiah 25:1 and shout to the heavens:
“O Lord, You are my God; I will exalt
You, I will give thanks to Your name; For You have worked wonders, Plans formed
long ago, with perfect faithfulness.” Even if you do not
feel like it!
Blessings,
Gramps
PS Pray for Gramps. Today he begins 5 weeks of Radiation and Chemo to counter Esophegal cancer.
We will tell more about this journey on Thursday 4 and Saturday 6 of this same week.
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