Tribute to a Very Special Person

 

Friday, February 13, 2015

"Call unto me and I will answer you and I will tell you great and mighty things, which you do not know". (Jeremiah 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" (Isaiah 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" (Isaiah 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" (Matthew 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"(Jeremiah 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 an 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