Jacobs Thoughts and Doings

Just a quickie!  It is over 24 hours since my surgery on my scalp and left ear.  The anesthesia was quite strong but is pretty well out of the picture now.   So I feel more of what is going on.

Anna Ruth is a great caretaker, or nurse, so to speak, at least for me.  She is the very best, as were Jane and Glenn who were with us the entire time that I had my surgery at Hershey yesterday AM.  Family is hugely important, I am realizing that more and more.

What next?  Not sure but in the next couple of weeks they will want to remove the bandage that I sport on my head!  I think the concern now is that the wound will stay clean and heal.  I plead for your prayers.

And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.

Romans 8:27

The truth of this word came to me this morning with considerable force.  The thing that struck me was that the Holy Spirit intercedes or prays for me, for us.

I must get used to this truth.  I am not alone when I turn to God in prayer but the very Spirit of God is in me praying!  Wow.  I am struggling some right now trying to embrace the fact that I am 91!  My strength is miniscule.  I am facing an operation on my scalp and ear!  I need help, even to pray.  Try as I can, I can not demand anything.  It is the Spirit who does the work.  I rest on Him!

This is the best good news a person can receive.  Looking to the Spirit of the Lord to help me is not only a way but the only way.

Today is Monday.  My op is scheduled for Wednesday.  Lord, teach me to be a thankful child of yours, always, even when or maybe especially when in trouble.

Friend, if you wish, join me in this prayer for healing.

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.

Galatians 5:1

What a verse, what a revelation, what food for the soul and spirit, and body!  I am freed by Jesus Christ, and by no other.  I cannot do that.  It is the work of God.  I simply receive it and conform my life to it.

He sets me from the law of sin and death! My new life in Christ Jesus is a life of perfect freedom because the work of Jesus has not only fulfilled all the Law, but reigns in my heart through grace!  I am a free person, freed by the Spirit of God alone!

It is clear.  I am free in Christ, free from the yoke of slavery, a yoke that bound me to my old life and couples me with Jesus to live the new life in Him!

The beginning of a new week.  Please pray that the medical hoops through which I must pass on Wednesday and beyond will not weaken but strengthen my faith and hope.

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. 

I Corinthians 1:3, 4

What is the Spirit of the Lord saying?  As I see it, first, followers of Jesus will suffer.  Their commitment to God will result in some kinds of trouble. The Word of God, Old and New Testaments, assume that the followers of God will face troubles.  Is this not the theme that runs through the entire story?  So the point is not, “follow Jesus and your troubles on earth are over.”  No, following the suffering Christ will mean suffering for us.

What is the way of Jesus in this?  I think it is something like this, “the Father of compassion comforts those who will follow Him.”  They definitely need comforting – it is theirs by the grace of God.  That comforting they receive enables them to comfort others around them who need such comfort.

This is a view of what it means to follow Jesus in any age, even ours.  I would like to have an easy, trouble-free walk in the world as a follower of Jesus.  I discover that Jesus knew what suffering means for he himself suffered that I and you might live.

In summary, we discover that our comforting comes from God.  So, while receiving this comfort we comfort others with that same comforting spirit.

The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let the one who hears say, “Come!” Let the one who is thirsty come; and let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of life.

Revelation 22:17

The Holy Spirit says, “Come to the water and drink freely.”

Jesus, the Bride says, “Come.”

The one who hears the invitation, like you and me, says, “Come.”

Let all who are thirsty say “Come.”

“Come“, it is a free gift for all who will believe!

I am the Lord that healeth you.  

Exodus 15:26

I was touched this morning by these words found way back in Exodus.  I found myself among those who needed healing!  It is less than a week when I enter Hershey for major surgical work on my head.  So when I read this promise my Spirit is bathed in divine grace.

Yesterday, Tuesday, was an important day for us.  It set the direction for the treatments through which I will be passing.  They are planning a one-day event to do major work on my scalp and ear, September 18.  That is the next big thing.  They will take it from there.  The 18^th op is rather extensive and will require some hours to do.  How things go will help to determine what next.  There may be complications.  I pray not!

We were so blessed to walk with Jane and Glenn through all this.  With Glenn’s medical expertise and Jane’s loving care we felt the loving arms of people we love!  That helps us to face the challenges of the future.

Thank you for your prayers, dear friend.  You can imagine our intense desire to allow the medical people to do their work, and we will do the praying and the praising.

Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them.  The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.

I John 2:15, 17

The “world” is ruled by the enemy of God.  As we read here, those who are so ruled do not have the love of Father in them. They continue to try to live without God at all.  Their destiny is, according to these words of John, to “pass away.”  This contrasts clearly with the destiny of those who do the will of God – they will live forever!

I tried to absorb the truth of this in my heart this morning.  I am reminded of my frailty and the futility of trying to follow my way rather than the way of God. I am his, bought by the precious Blood of Jesus, and kept by his grace.  That is my eternal resting place!  I have no other.

At ager 91 it is such a blessing to realize what God has in store for me and for those who love God.  Eternal life! I embrace the truth – those who do the will of God live forever.  Soul, that is God’s sure word.  Bless God forever.

Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.” 

John 6:35

Believe!  That is our part, my part.  The door to all the provisions of God is entered by belief, not obedience.  That follows.  Believe!  Why is it so hard to believe?  This meditation is in today’s Daily Light which quotes Revelation 3:17 – 19

You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.  I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see. Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent.

Our meditation for the day opens with a typical picture.  “I am rich …and in need of nothing!”  Horrors.  We all need the most precious thing – God’s marvelous blessing.  Without that it is like working against God Almighty!

I am struggling with health issues just now, a reminder that I am needy.  But how is that need to be met?  Certainly not with my demands that I have rights!  Rather, that my life has not changed, I am safe in the hands of the One who loves me, saves me and all the rest.

Lord, keep teaching me!