Jacobs Thoughts and Doings

Anna Ruth has bread baking, her recipe, down pat.  Here is her latest example, on Friday.   This is her labor of love.  And my delight is to think of her when I eat it.

Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.  Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.

Galatians 6:9, 10

Paul knows the temptations that we have, don’t you think?  There are times when we are tempted to think, especially when we get older and less involved to just relax and do as little as possible to help others.  My days of helping others is probably over!  Just let me alone!  At age 90, I am right there!  My major responsibility is to look after my own soul and body but that is never enough.  I must continue to be concerned about the needs of others.

I am finding guidance in the next words, Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.   Tomorrow Anna Ruth and I hope to sit with our congregation made up of a variety of people.  I want to be aware of the needs of others.

I have my own needs, especially physically as my body struggles with getting older.  I could just sit and feel all my hurts.  But then the Spirit of the Lord speaks, do not give up, in due time the harvest will appear.  My soul will be glad.  Think of the needs of others, pray for them.

The meekness and gentleness of Christ.

2 Corinthians 10:1

I think we, me included, prefer to emphasize the strength of Jesus, his power and majesty, his authority.  There is no problem with that.

But if this is the Jesus whom we love and obey, we forget his essential character, he was meek and gentle!  He is still that.  Paul learned that as he aligned his life with that of Jesus, his Lord and friend.  How true it is that Jesus never flaunted his authority.  He did not destroy people but loved them.   How about me, how about you?

I want to whisk my enemies away, destroy them.  That does not line up with the character of Jesus who always loved, all persons.

I do not know how this fits into national disputes, such as when Japan dropped bombs on US forces in the Pacific, an occasion our nation celebrates today, Pearl Harbor Day.  I let that with others more knowledgeable than me.  I am determined to let the beauty of Jesus be seen in me, gentleness and meekness.

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4:6 – 7

The next few days will be a great setting for realizing this promise for I will be moving toward the beginning of trying to get my blood in order.  The treatments are meant to slow down the deterioration occurring in my blood.  I leave the exotic words to the experts.  I am still in the preparation stage – moving toward the monthly treatments, 7 infusions or whatever at the beginning of each month.  Hopefully as I proceed with these monthly treatments my blood figures will improve!  Pray for me and the people who treat me.

As I read the sentences from Paul’s letter to the believers at Philippi, his message is for me now.  “Do not be anxious about anything.”  How could I not be anxious as I face these treatments?  I am, after all, a human being.  The answer lies in the next phrases – “In every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your request to God.”  Prayer, petition, thanksgiving.  Three things that align me with God.  So instead of feelings of uncertainty and distress, I pray and give thanks.

So, in spite of what I am facing, God’s promise is sure, his peace, which transcends all understanding, will guard my heart and mind in Christ Jesus. 

The object of prayer is to guard my heart and mind to be with Jesus.  The results of the meds are temporary, though sought and good.  The great blessing is for my heart and mind.  I am certain of that!

Having your hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience.

Hebrews 10:22

This is the secret!  The Jews knew they were to be good, but they always came up short.  God provided them a way, the way of the sprinkled blood, not their own blood, but that of an animal sacrifice.  So, their religious system revolved around offering sacrifices.  The center of their worship was not seeking perfection, but to obtain cleansing.  Of course, the Law stood firm with its insistence that we obey God.  But, who could do that?  So, the blood ritual was given to cover us human beings, frail as we are.

Then Jesus came!  He taught that we should be good, no doubt about that, but, aware of our inability to live in perfect obedience, He also became for us the Sacrifice for sin that acknowledged our inability to keep the Law.  That does not mean that we who follow Jesus may disobey the law and willfully sin, no.  In fact, as we try to live the most holy lives possible we need the blood to cleanse us.

We read in Hebrews, “You have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace.”  That is it!  There is no other way to follow Jesus, except through obedience and cleansing. The two are not opposite, but they reinforce one another.  There is a way, the way of Jesus.

December first.  Anna Ruth, as always, is up at 6:15, had her shower and dressed, then out to the kitchen to prepare breakfast.  It was my time to stir, which I did with joy, pulling on my house coat and slipping into my slippers I joined her at the table now holding my five or so pills and toast, jams and coffee.  The toast was from Anna Ruth’s bread baking yesterday, delicious and nourishing.

Joining hands, a lovely habit, we thanked God for life, for the new day and food, of course.  The toast was especially good this morning.  Anna Ruth has perfected the art of bread-making.  While eating we got caught up on the morning news.  President George Bush died.  A great man.

As we sipped our coffee we turned to prayer, our usual Don/Anna Ruth morning prayer.  It is Saturday, so Chestnut Hill Church, as usual, is where we concentrate our attention.  And the Daily Light reading topped it off, with the assurance that the present earth will pass away but a new one will appear, so praise God that all is well even though the battle rages, for now.  At our age we are comforted by knowing that our lives are in the hands of our Lord who has all under his control.  Our prayers centered on the needs of our congregation, and our own family stretched from here to Australia, Honduras and all over the States.  We carry each member of our family close to our hearts.  May they all embrace Jesus Christ, that is our ultimate prayer for them.

After breakfast, I retire to the parlor to sip what is left of my coffee.   As I sit and look around so many memories rush in that I can barely keep up.  As I settle in for my few moments of meditation, three clocks strike the hour of 8, one the hundred-year old Charles mantle clock with old mechanical works and two more modern clocks, powered with batteries, one a gift from EMU and the other from Victor and Viola Dorsch.  So many memories!  As they strike on the hour, I am in another world – a world of humbling reflection.  I was reflecting on what the “new heavens and new earth” might be like.  Thrilling, indeed.  Revelation 21.  Each morning I focus on what God has spoken or did.

The bright morning sun did not only brighten the room but set alight the white window frames of our bay windows, an amazing sight.  I was sitting on one of the two rockers from the set of Anna Ruth’s parents.  Made about 1916.  Mission oak.  I rocked a bit in a moment of contentment and joy.  God is good, for sure.  On the window sill sat cloisonné that I brought from China, two small red vases.  On the round table there stood a marvelous crafted plover, a gift from Jeff and Heather years ago, still precious. And a few pieces from Africa, including a drummer whose haunting music was not seen but heard, in the spirit.  He beat the drums with spindly arms, expressing his enthusiasm.

The tick-tock sound of the old clock connected us with our past and future.  For now, time is important. That will be superseded by forever time!

Thank you, Lord, for your precious morning thoughts.  I embrace them with all my being.

But rejoice inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed. 

1 Peter 4:13 

But rejoice inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings of Christ.  I see two things that appear to be diametrically opposed here, joy and suffering. Is this possible – joy and suffering in one life, at one time?  I tend to think that joy is impossible where there is suffering and that when I suffer my joy is gone.  Obviously, Peter knew profound joy and painful suffering.  His life is a glowing example of both.  So how is it, do we have two ways to live?  Now I suffer.  Now I have joy.  That is one way of looking at it.

The Spirit of God has us look at Jesus, a person who knew joy and suffering.  Yes, even on the Cross where suffering should have wiped out all joy, Jesus carries in himself the joy of opening the way for all who believe to embrace God.  That joy and the suffering he was enduring set the pattern for me, for all believers.  Peter as an Apostle of Jesus Christ rejoiced and suffered at the same time!  Is this not my calling?  When I suffer I tend to get glum.  Not Jesus, and not Peter.  They somehow blended the two as though they were friends instead of enemies!

Life offers us the opportunity to choose to be joyful or resentful. I need to keep in mind that the day will come when the glory of Jesus Christ, including his sufferings, will be as clear as crystal – revealed!  He wears a crown of thorns, so to speak, and a halo of joy.

Moving forward for treatments.  Things are lining up so that I can get on with the blood work that is necessary because my red, white and platelets keep going down.  I hope to begin receiving infusions after Jan 1.

Prayers solicited!

Anna Ruth, bless her, is getting ready for Christmas by making her deeelicious peppernut cookies or candies.  Mmm.  She will cut these strips into pieces an inch or so long.   When they are baked they are irresistible.  It looks like we will have plenty this year.   Good.

The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 

For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ.

2 Cor 4:4, 6

A miracle!  The Gospel displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.  This is the work of God.  It is not within man to conjure up the things of God, like salvation through Jesus Christ.   Human thought does not embrace the atoning work of Jesus. We who have been saved and who love the Lord dearly did not make up this story.  It is the work of God, revealed to us.  People who are not born anew of the Spirit can not see Jesus in all his glory.  They may have some view of Christ, but it is believers who are blessed beyond measure by the saving work of Jesus in their lives and in the world.

Is there a more blessed truth than this – For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ.  This is astounding truth – God gave us the gift of seeing Jesus in all his attributes and beauties.  Those who are not saved cannot see that.  So, we find that we do no longer think like those who do not love Jesus.  Our minds are in a different place!

I must get used to the fact that unbelievers have no way to understand us.  If they turn to God in repentant faith, like we did, they would see like we do.  Otherwise we are worlds apart.  We cannot change that!

Let us adore Jesus for revealing himself to us!  Miracle of miracles!