Go Along to Get Along

Go Along To Get Along Revisited:
I am reposting this entry from last year. I feel so strongly that this message is important now as never before.

What I want to say is my opinion. Many people gave their lives so that I and other people can freely express ourselves. What I am saying is neither inflammatory rhetoric or untrue. I want us to examine what we are becoming as a nation. History could repeat itself with a new twist. I believe an old and dangerous attitude can bring our country to ruin.

In Nazi Germany, when some people became aware of what was happening around them, they chose to ignore it. Their thinking was: “Go along to get along” with those around them. As we now know, horrible atrocities were perpetrated upon innocent people at that time in Hitler’s Germany and elsewhere. Sadly, many people just went along with it. It is interesting to consider that had enough of them spoken out, the results might have been different. There would have been certain risk for sure, but if large numbers of people at all levels of society had loudly and persistently objected, who knows what might have happened? I do not presume to sit in judgment upon anyone. I was not there, and I realize that self-preservation is a very strong motivator.

I bring this history to our attention so we can consider if today the same mentality exists as an undercurrent of cultural thinking in our country. Although many people do know what the scriptures say about sin, they choose to go along with it. They sit on their discernment, afraid to use their brains and express their opinions freely. Cohabitation, sex outside of marriage, fornication ( by both hetero and homosexuals), adultery, drunkenness, gluttony, selfishness, greed, all of these behaviors are scarcely ever mentioned or objected to by preachers or anyone. Why? It is because we have to “ Go along to get along” or we will be called bigots, narrow minded freaks ,politically incorrect, homophobes, and other nasty labels. It’s easier to go along . . .It’s necessary to get along. Or is it?

Even academia does the “Get along” thing. They believe everyone has to “be a winner” so they dumb down school text books and courses and alter grading so everyone can succeed. This creates an artificial sense of acheivement for students who are, in reality, just mediocre at best. Of course, everyone’s self esteem is a top priority. In reality, everyone cannot win and some days are just hard on our esteem. People learn from failure and rise above esteem issues when they have real goals, clear values, self discipline and motivation. In other words, when they know who they are in relation to the great God of the universe who loves them and gave His son for them.

When will this trend of being out of touch with God’s truth, and out of sync with God and His commands ever stop? Who will speak out against it? The church? Christians? Peter spoke to an endangered early church when he said, “We ought to obey God and not men,”(Acts 5:29). When we ignore what God says in the Bible, we are putting ourselves, our families, and our country at risk of great destruction like ancient Rome. Will violence and wanton sexual debauchery continue to feed our minds via the Internet, movies, TV and video games? Will we be over run by barbarians who respect no one and have no rules like Rome was? There can be no other result. Are you willing to “Go along to get along”, or will you stand up for what you believe before it is too late? Doma

The Power of Gratitude

The greatest lesson I have learned lately is how being grateful can change my perspective. I have marveled at the way I now see events that have come into our lives. A great example is what before was viewed as a trial, a life interruption and a struggle, (namely dialysis three time a week), is now seen as a blessing.

A life preserving procedure, the transfer and cleansing of the blood from my husband's body and back again involves hours where he is connected to a large machine. It also means we spend lots of time traveling back and forth to the hospital and conversing with each other. I am learning more and more about the wonderful man I married and about myself too. We watch television and laugh and comment on what we see while he sits in the dialysis center's recliner.Sometimes I bring my Bible study and work on it while he doses off.

With gratitude came the humbling realization of God's great and faithful care all through my husband's medical journey. From Cancer to renal failure, to stent changes, heart and lung tests to multiple surgeries to put in a heart catheter and also to create a working fistula, our God has been so amazing in His care. In countless ways I can tell you about God's grace abounding in and for us.

Please allow me to explain a little about stents and fistulas, just so you know how fantastic God is when He works through modern medicine and doctors. The stent goes into my spouses' body at his stoma, the opening created to expel urine into a bag (urostomy). It then proceeds up into my husband's diversion, a fake bladder made from a section of the ileum or small intestine. This diversion connects to my husband's remaining kidney so that organ can drain. This stent is changed every seven weeks to keep it open. The fistula joins an artery and a vein which creates a site where the blood can be cycled out and in during dialysis. A working fistula means the heart catheter does not need to be used for this purpose. My hubby has had three heart catheters implanted, one became infected which was a real 911. Infection in a heart catheter has the potential to kill you! Using the heart cath lowers his blood pressure to a very danger level and stresses the heart, so we are so blessed when the fistula works well.

Further evidence of our gracious God at work is the fact that there was no need for the morphine pump or pain pills after my spouse's five hour cancer surgery where he lost his bladder, prostate and right kidney. He felt no pain despite a long, deep incision from his groin up to his right side. This fact indelibly impressed my mate of God's power and individual providence in his behalf. He loves to relate this fact in conversations with anyone who will listen.

So can you understand how looking at all of these events and struggles with a thankful heart can make it bearable and even more amazing, give joy because of the proof of God's love and care. I hope you will try a little gratitude. It humbles you, but it opens your eyes too. God's blessings to you friends. In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God concerning you! DB

The Morning After

I have been thinking about Mary and Joseph and what the morning after that amazing night of Jesus’ birth might have been like.

The night before must have been difficult for both Mary and Joseph. With no mother or midwife, Mary must have depended on her husband for help in birthing the child. Upon delivering a healthy boy child into the world, we know he was wrapped in swaddling cloth and put into the manger to sleep. What of Mary, did she collapse in hay or straw wrapped in Joseph’s big cloak? Did Joseph rest nearby? What about the affirmation God delivered to them both through the shepherds who came to worship the baby? They told the child’s parents of the angels and the message they had received. This visit was a wonderful AMEN to weary Mary and steadfast Joseph. Everything they had been told about this infant was repeated by the gawking shepherds staring at the Messiah, the newborn King.

What did the morning’s light find there in the stable near that Bethlehem inn? Was Mary, nursing her baby, still musing about those shepherds and their angelic message, and Joseph, stirring up the fire to warm them and their breakfast? Was this the day he was supposed to register with the rest of David’s descendants, according to the governor’s decree? Possibly the stark reality of caring for a wife and now a child, and getting a better place to stay all occupied Joseph’s mind that morning.

What of our morning after Christmas? Where does reality find us? Do we still marvel at the wonderful promise kept when Jesus was given to sinful man as our Savior? Is it part of our reality to have an on-going relationship with Jesus Christ? Do we truly grasp the truth that God took on flesh to experience bodily all we do (except sin) so we will be able to know Him and connect with the true extent of His love?

Hopefully the days and weeks after Christmas find us unwrapping God’s love through His word, through fellowship and the beauty of His creation, which declares His glory so well. His mercies are new every morning and His faithfulness is so very great. May your mornings after find you in the scriptures learning how much God has done to show you His love, forgiveness and grace through the baby in the manger. Doma

Struggling with Acceptance

While I had much to say in October 2011, there was no time to blog. My last post was about modern overcomers. This post is a change of pace for me, it is more self-revelatory. I am probing the idea of acceptance. The situation I am dealing with is my husband's diagnosis of renal failure and heart failure. We have gone through being rejected by the transplant team for my husband could not live through the procedure. So here we are with thrice weekly dialysis, frequent hospitalizations, staph infection, surgical procedures that have to be repeated, and the list goes on. This is our retirement. These are our golden years!

I have been here before, faced with having to surrender to thorny situations in my life. There have been many things to accept that were not in my plan at all. Learning whose plan is actually being worked out in my life is not easy. The thing is, I asked for it! I asked God to work out His will in my life; to do nothing more, nothing less, and nothing else. Now, here I am, face to face with acceptance of what must be His plan, His will, and I am rebelling against it in my inner being.

You all remember the serenity prayer, in particular the part of accepting the things we cannot change and changing the things we can . . .and asking for wisdom to know the difference. Believe me, I do know the difference!

Physical illness can be healed, or else, it can be treated. It can be adapted to over time. But, I confess that setback after setback wears away at a person's soul. My faith is intact, but I am so tired of seeing my husband struggle and suffer. I would do it for him, if I only could.

Whenever I pray, I am confronted by the question: Will you lay aside your efforts to cope and just accept how things are and let Me take care of things? Now, if I heard that out loud in a celestial voice, you can bet I would react much more promptly, but it is a quiet voice inside my head. I am wanting to lay down all my efforts to cope and just rest at Jesus' feet. I guess, for me anyway, that is acceptance. Doma

Modern-day Overcomers

In the book of Revelation, promises are made "...to those who overcome." If you are like me, you think back to the historical times of the Apostle John on the Isle of Patmos and all the dangers, persecutions and stresses of living in a Roman dominated world. In that context, there was so much to overcome by being an active Christian. People were "sawn asunder" (cut in half), beaten and tortured, fed to lions, etc. These people were 'real' overcomers, to my way of thinking. Today we have it so easy, especially in the United States, I would conclude.

It was not until the middle of last night that my mind came to grips with the current reality that what we as Christians must undergo daily are events and trials to be overcome, making us modern-day overcomers. When we are trying to get by on what little we can make and pay our bills, when we need to cut back on medications to see if we can deal with physical issues on cheaper drugs or do without some of them, when we work at letting go of control of everything and everyone who bugs us; all of these situations need an overcomer attitude. While our tribulations are not of the same magnitude as the early saints, they are just as important to overcome! The same power handles these trials today that fueled the zeal and perseverance of those early believers!

Trouble for a Christian should come as no surprise. The scriptures are full of warnings about tribulation. We are told "In this world you WILL have tribulation. but be of good cheer, Jesus has overcome the world." So our overcoming strength, just as the early churches' is rooted in faith in the LORD. In the scriptures we see page after page of warnings about things like "...overcoming evil with good." Receiving grace and help to be "...more than conquerors in Him who loves us."

Right now, you and I are being fitted with the spiritual garb of the Overcomer. We will inherit the crown of life and so many other promises will be ours, as the book of Revelations states. So, put your mind on the One who helps you triumph over fears, doubts and all this world throws at you. He will NEVER let you down. He wants you to be a modern-day Overcomer for sure. You give Him glory this way!

You give glory, a correct or accurate evaluation of the God you serve, by overcoming the obstacles of your life with His help. This trusting in the grace and strength of God, will directly set you apart and also put you in the throne room at your life's end to hear the "Well done, good and faithful servant." Not that your works brought you through it all, but that His overcoming grace and power held you close and led you there. He is faithful and true. "Faithful is He calls you, who also will do it." What is the "it", you may ask, it is living the overcoming way of life, pure and simple. Doma

Light and Life

"...in Your light, we see light."Psalm 36:9b. As I was reading psalm 36 I came across this phrase and the truth of it just flashed ...like a bright light! When we are walking in the light of the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, then we can see light.

Light, at the end of our long tunnel of tragedy. A glimmer of light in our seemingly endless dark night. Only in the light of a life lived in Christ can we clearly see what is true about our situation and have hope.

"In Him is light and there is no darkness at all." In Jesus Christ, that is living in conscious fellowship with Him, we have a life led by light, though darkened by circumstances often beyond our control.

No wonder I stumble and fall under a load of sin and trouble at times. I have turned away from the light and am momentarily overcome by the darkness. "Thy word is a lamp to my feet and light to my path." The psalmist knew their was no light without the truth. Jesus is both light and truth. In Him we can see how to live, where to go, what to do next. In studying His word, the Bible, we can see light and expose the darkness.

No wonder the evil one does not want people reading the Holy Bible! Read on, I say! Cherish every word of the scripture as it draws you to the light of life given to us, our hearts' delight, Jesus the LORD. Doma

Blueprint for Prayer

I recently had the privilege of explaining prayer to a friend who asked me, "How do I pray?" Because Jesus gave us the model of prayer, I could easily refer her to the Lord's Prayer, which she knew. She told me she really just thought of it as words and it did not seem like the kind of intimate prayer I had been telling her is possible.

"Oh, but it is." I told her. You see, the Disciples asked Jesus directly just like my friend asked me, "How should we pray?" The Lord's Prayer, commonly called the Our Father, is a very intimate prayer when we think about what we are saying.

At the first sentence, "Our Father, who art in heaven..." Jesus is telling us we can actually call the Creator of the Universe, the Living, Loving God, our very own father God. Jesus shares His Father with us. He could have said, "Oh, Most High God, LORD of all creation," but Jesus wanted to give us that intimacy that a child has with his/her father. Isn't that marvelous!

"Hallowed be Thy name"is the next part of the prayer. We don't use the word 'hallowed' currently. The closest we get is the term Halloween or hallowed evening, which is what October 31st was called, before it became the costume wearing, candy munching, prank filled night it now is. This term means holy or sacred. The name of God the Father is to be spoken with reverence and He is to be worshiped as the holy One. We are to use His name with reverence and awe.

"They kingdom come..." indicates our desire to see the justice, order, and righteousness of our God reign over this tired, troubled old world we live in. "Thy will be done..." With these words we are asking that the perfect, well-planned way of God Himself be what happens in our lives. These words imply trust in the will and ways of our Maker. Following the request for God's will, the exact places where we desire God to execute His plan is stated, "On Earth as it is in Heaven."

The next phrase is "Give us this day our daily bread." This request for provision is not just for food, but for the daily things that nourish us spiritually, mentally and emotionally as well. All we require to live each day is given to us ultimately from the hand of our Father in Heaven.

"And forgive us our debts (or trespasses), as we forgiven our debtors, (those who trespass against us)." With these very words, we are asking God to forgive us in the identical way we forgive others. What a sobering idea!

"And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil." No man can say he is tempted by God, but temptation exists all around us and by asking the Father not to lead us on a path where we will be sorely tempted, we are just making good sense. It is like asking God to make the way my path leads, by His grace, to be clear of obstacles that put me in a position where I may sin. The request for deliverance is so important. Since the heart of man is so often intent on evil, a request to be kept from it is vital. Only God Himself, through the blood of His Son, Jesus can provide total deliverance from evil.

Often the Lord's Prayer is ended with the acknowledgement of our God's sovereignty, "For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever and ever, Amen." So we end where we began, before the Mighty God, whom Jesus said we can call our Father, just as He does. What an amazing opportunity to pray using the very design given by our Savior! I hope you will think about what you are saying the next time you pray this wonderful prayer. Pray it well and pray it often giving your concentration to Him and giving the words the thought they deserve. Doma