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Psalm 21:6 “Surely you have granted him eternal blessings”

[You granted David the blessing of being an ancestor of Jesus, and along with that, eternal life. You granted Jesus the blessing of the Resurrection and now He lives forever to intercede for those who believe in Him. And You grant us a rich, everlasting relationship with you, from which flow further blessings into our lives: grace, goodness, power, protection and wisdom, to name a few—all a foretaste of what we will have in eternity.]

“and made him glad with the joy of your presence.”

[To exult in your powerful and pure presence, Lord God, is to have joy! You, Heavenly Father, restored David’s relationship with you after his adultery. And in the Resurrection, you restored the fabric of the Trinity, which was torn when you turned away from Jesus as He became sin for us on the cross. Now in the God-head there is no end to your joyful, pristine relationships–the Father, Son and Holy Spirit’s rich unity–and your joy of being in the presence of each other.

And you also brought us into your presence, into your family, into your embrace when you made us your children, giving us gladness. Jesus, after his discourse in John 15 said, “I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.”

This is His desire for us. Let us live in the light of that wonder! Like the stone wall sheltering the little dogwood tree in this picture, God shelters us in goodness]

 

Psalm 21:5 “Through the victories you gave, his glory is great;”

[David was given many victories, beginning with Goliath and spanning his whole reign.

Jesus, in His incarnation was strengthened by God’s power and had one long string of victories: no sin, no failure, no defeats, only obedience and triumph in every temptation. Even the greatest possible defeat, death, led to the greatest possible victory—the resurrection destroying the power of death, the devil and destruction.

The great glory Jesus earned in His many victories He passes on to us, giving us the possibility of being victors, too, calling us to be more than conquerors with Him in His power (Rom. 8:37). He also wants to share His glory with us, as we triumph with Him through our faith (1 Pet 1:7).]

“you have bestowed on him splendor and majesty.”

[David ruled in the golden age of Israel and now Jesus reigns in the powerful church age from His throne on high as the mighty and majestic Ruler of creation and all beyond. You, Heavenly Father, have raised Him up above all principalities and powers, above all might and majesty, above all names and titles. You have seated Him, the eternal Victor, at your right hand to reign forever and ever.

Evil can now be eliminated and a new and sinless start can be had, and then through our physical death, we will go into the new Heaven and Earth. There the splendor and supremacy of Jesus will be endlessly on display and we will be forever with Him in His wonderful, wide and wise eternal love.]

Praise be to you, Heavenly Father, for revealing these things by the pen of David, by the triumph of Christ and by bringing us into your bountiful and beautiful Kingdom. Help us to live daily in this unseen reality, rejoicing in you, in your love for us and in the certainly of what you will bring.

 

 

Well, today was a good opportunity to trust God and see Him work swiftly and just in time.

On the way home from church our car suddenly began to buck and snort and lost power (picture below). I was able to nurse it to the high point on our road and then shut the engine off, coasting the next mile home, only having to start the motor for the last hundred yards to pull us up the last little slope.

When we pulled into the driveway, our homeless friend who lives with us was just coming out of the door and came right over to look at the car. He determined that the water pump had frozen and the serpentine belt had come off after getting sprayed with antifreeze.

He went right to work on it, determined what we needed and went over to the auto parts store and got what was needed. While he was gone, we had lunch and laid down for a nap. When I woke up, I went out to see how our friend was doing. He had it all together except for getting the new serpentine belt on, which turned out to be quite a task. In the end working together we were able to get it on, start the car up, put  more antifreeze in and test it. It ran fine!

It was now 5:30, just before we wanted to leave for our Sunday evening small group meeting. Perfect timing all around! And I didn’t even have to ask our friend for help, he just plunged right in and got it done. Multiple God sightings in one big event. God is faithful to provide for us when we are helpless. The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.

 

 

Nearing the Autobio end

It was so good to arrive back in Connecticut from Germany and settle into our little house by the water. We could sit in our living room, look out the big windows and enjoy the ever-changing view of our pond.

The quietness, the rich green, the sunny days all began the healing process for Barbara. It took more than a year for her to see improvement in her immune system and physical strength, but she was able to get back to gardening, walking and enjoying her good friends here.

The first year was one of visiting all our supporting churches to report on the events of the last five years, so we did quite a bit of traveling. Then, at the end of 2012 Barbara officially retired and was very glad not to have to write any more monthly reports and do any official traveling.

Although I continue on with Christar, my role has changed. I gave over my area directorship to one of my disciples. Shortly afterwards he was asked to become the International Director of Christar, and passed on the area directorship to another of my disciples.

My new role is being a Life Coach to anyone in Christar who wants input on anything. And I will do that for anyone else, too. Sometimes people are assigned to me for counseling, which is a bit more challenging. Most of this work is done with Skype over the internet, so in any one week, I may visit several areas of the world via my computer.

Along with this I continue to teach in various training sessions for Christar, travelling to Texas, Michigan and overseas.  The Lord also brings invitations to speak in various churches, and I continue to write, working on several books and lessons at the same time.

Living on the family homestead (my boys are the sixth generation of our family to live here) adds another dimension, that of physical labor, which I enjoy very much. There is never any lack of things to do, with numerous old buildings that need upkeep after thirty years of neglect. It’s great to get my hands dirty and my muscles toned up with such work.

What the future holds, the Lord knows. I suspect more of the same as people come for advice, teaching and input. My first book, EQUIPPED!  continues to change lives and bring opportunities to speak and counsel. I suspect the other books will do the same.

So, as I look back over the last 68 years, remembering the many and wonderful things God has done in my life, two emotions stand out.

First is the wonder at why God invited me to join Him in His plans; I didn’t deserve it, wasn’t equipped or trained for it, but that’s the essence of the gospel. God calls His enemies to become His children and then His partners in ministry! And so He did with me; and so He desires to do with all who will answer His invitation to become children of God.

The second emotion is thankfulness. I am thankful for how He set me free and for how He protected and used me and my little family over the years to bring a bit more honor to His name. What a privilege to be an instrument in His hands.

Now with a few more years left to live for Him here, eternity stretches out before me: an endless time to serve Jesus, to know Him more and more, to revel in His love and rejoice in His goodness.  May you join us there, too: Jesus stands with the door open to all who will come.

Our “tribe” of four grandchildren in 2012     The view out our window

 

 

 

 

 

Today was quite an eventful day for us. We had a yard sale and spent from 9 to 4 working on that, with much success, selling the majority of what we had for sale.r

But the much greater thing is what happened after the yard sale. We have a new homeless man, D, staying temporarily in our tower. He has a tumultuous and terrible background, “raised” by a mother on drugs and alcohol, he ran away from home at 14, lived on the streets or crashed at friends’ homes. He got into drugs and alcohol, too. Married at 40, having waited for the right spouse, his turned  out to be a nightmare for him.

A month ago he was preparing to commit suicide when his dog (pitbull) jumped in his lap, licking his face and wouldn’t get down. That brought him to his senses. Since life at home was unbearable he left and is staying in our tower. He has been in great turmoil with his wife hounding him with texts; yesterday she threw all his clothes out onto the lawn and he had to go collect them before the big thunderstorm last night.

He came to me early this evening in tears. He said he almost did himself in last night, but had a desire to talk with his mother and called her. She, it turns out, has come to the Lord (!!), has had a total change in her life, has been drug  and alcohol free for five years. He said he was amazed.  He has been struggling with unbelief and I’ve been praying that God would show Himself to D—and this was it!

We had a long talk and in the end he prayed to accept Jesus as his Lord. There was an immediate change, his despair evaporated, he smiled and he asked me to disciple him, “Show me how to go forward,” he asked. Rarely have I been the “midwife” in a spiritual birth, but the Lord gave me the joy of delivering a new brother for the Kingdom.

Please pray with me for D that he will move forward in his new faith, be able to shake the chains that have held him so long and stand against the attacks of the devil. Thank you

 

 

 

Psalm 21:3 “You welcomed him with rich blessings and placed a crown of pure gold on his head.”

[You crowned David as king, after his long wait of living years as an outlaw. And you crowned Jesus as Savior, after His 30 year wait, then after His 3 years of intense work followed by his immense suffering.

And every day you crown us as children of the King with love and compassion (Ps 104:4), continually pouring out abundant, good and gracious blessings on us.]

Psalm 21:4 “He asked you for life, and you gave it to him—length of days, forever and ever.”

You gave David life on earth—you protected him in all the battles he was in; and you gave David eternal life with you.

[In his death, you granted Jesus resurrection; He rose to eternal life and then passes it on to all who believe in Him, David included.

And we, as your children, have eternity before us–length of days forever and ever–and can rejoice now in the certainty of it.]

You have given us rich blessings in Jesus: forgiveness, cleansing us for sin, adopted into the family of God, made a citizen of Heaven and equipped for special service. In addition we have an “an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.” 1 Peter 1:4,5

Help us, Lord, to live in this reality, knowing that we are passionately accepted, fully approved of and deeply cared for. To live with you is like having a bit of heaven now, like the picture here. We praise you for your rich and high love for us.

I praise you, Lord God, for your never-ending flow of grace, forgiveness and transformation in this present life.

I praise you that today is a gift from your hand, prepared and packaged perfectly so that I might walk with you through every event in the light of your presence, as your ambassador, as your servant-warrior, able to stand in the attacks which you will allow from the enemy. And attacks have come lately. But I know you will use them for good.

I praise you for the opportunities you have prepared for me to give you honor through faith responses: offering the sacrifice of thanksgiving and having a willful belief in your Word–living in the light of Truth rather than in the darkness of the human condition.

I thank you, too, that we have “all kinds of trials…so that the proven genuineness of [our] faith…may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed” (1 Pet.1:7,8).

This is life on a high and wondrous level, where every event, every interaction is filled with potential significance–if we will just join you in what you are doing.

Help me to do that today, Lord; grant me discernment so I can see what you are doing and join you in it, so that you may be honored, that the enemy may be defeated and that your light and hope may overflow from me to all those around me. Praise be to you now for what you will do in this day.

 

Every day, Lord Jesus, we grieve your Spirit, choosing to exalt our ideas and agendas over your Word. You endure this willingly, and thankfully, your suffering this pain inflicted by us does not alter the course of your love, your plans or your grace for us. You are love itself, so you can never not love. In your wisdom you take each failure and use it to chasten, teach and bring surrender.

In this reality of your perfect and powerful character, I can rest, sure that my place in your heart is secure, certain and unshakable. “My soul finds rest in God alone…for my hope comes from Him…” (Ps. 62:1,5).

I am deeply thankful for this. I am both quietly and wildly joyful that you chose me to be your child, to be your partner in your plans, to be a fruitful branch in your vine. Thank you that nothing can separate me from your love and that my place in eternity is secure. Help  me to consciously live in this rock-solid stability all day long.

Psalm 21. For the director of music. A Psalm of David.

[This Psalm has a triple message. First it speaks of David’s relationship with the Lord; secondarily it is a Messianic prophecy, predicting the victory of Jesus over death and the devil; third, it speaks truth about the life of each believer.]

“O LORD, the king rejoices in your strength.”

[In realizing how helpless we are, Lord, it is wonderful to know that your strength is at work in our weakness, that our weakness actually makes your power perfect (2 Cor. 12:9).

David struggled with his own weakness in dealing with danger on the inside from his own men (his general, Joab and David’s son, Absalom, and when his followers wanted to stone him at Ziklag), as well as those enemies who attacked from the outside.

In like manner, Jesus made himself vulnerable and weak as a human being, having to rely on prayer, the help of the Spirit in His ministry and the Father’s power to rise Him from the dead.

We, also, on an everyday basis, face enemies who are too strong for us, both human and spiritual, but we have your strength to rely on.]

“How great is his joy in the victories you give!”

[The victories in our lives are gifts from you, Lord, and we can rejoice as you help us move ahead, defeat our inner evil (the flesh), and the outer evil (the devil and the corruption of this fallen world), just as Jesus did.

To know you, Lord Jesus, to intentionally live in your Truth is to experience your power, and to receive your joy. Help us to be consistent in that for today.]

In the Fall of 2011 Barbara spoke often of how tired she was, how discouraged she was because she was unable to care adequately for her mother. For the past year Barbara had slept six nights a week at her mother’s to help her get to bed and get up in the morning. The one night a week off was not enough for her to recover.

It was obvious to me that the burden of being a care-taker had become too much. I could see that if we didn’t make a change soon Barbara was headed for an emotional break-down. The question was, what should we do?

Her mother had been on the waiting list for a single room at a local nursing home for ten years. It was not easy to find space in an aging society like Germany’s.

I went to see the director of the nursing home, who was a member of our church. He suggested I look at other options, including a new facility that had opened recently. Everyone said it was outrageously expensive, so I’d not considered it. But when I checked into it, the cost was literally only about a dollar a month more than the other one!

So I went, made application, and within a week Barbara’s mother was able to move into a large, spacious single room with a great view of pine trees in the back yard. It was God’s provision.

Barbara felt guilty because she had been unable to help her mother to the end, but I kept reminding her that I was the one who put Omi into the nursing home, not her.

Surprisingly, Omi was happier in there than she had been in her own home. She didn’t realize this, but we saw how after the move she no longer had before her all the things she longed to do but was incapable of: her sewing, cooking, cleaning, yard and garden work. Now she was focused more on the routine of the nursing home. She also now had many more visitors to keep her occupied. Her home had been in an out of the way place, while the nursing home was in the center of town where relatives and friends came to shop and would stop by.

The next big task before us was to clear out Omi’s house and put it up for sale. Being in a foreign country, there were a lot of potential pitfalls for me here, but the Lord brought along the aid needed to steer us through the process.

One great help was a “Russian-German” church. These folks had been born and raised in the Soviet Union, descendants of Mennonite farmers that Katherine the Great (a German princess who became Queen of Russia) invited to move into the Ukraine to develop farms there. After the advent of Communism, these families had been moved by Stalin to Kazakhstan and Tajikistan. Then in the 80s and 90s many were allowed to leave and resettle in Germany.

They were fine believers who had a heart for those left behind in the poverty of the former Soviet Union and would send supplies back to them. At our invitation they came and took lots of useful items from Omi’s house to send to those in great need. We were thrilled with the help and with the fact that things weren’t thrown away, but were going to be used again.

In the meantime we made plans to move back to the States so Barbara could recover from her debilitated state. That meant closing out our apartment, too, which turned into a bigger job than we’d guessed.

As the deadline of our departure drew nearer, Omi’s unsold house hung on us. However, the Lord reminded us of the need to offer the sacrifice of thanksgiving, which we did, willfully trusting Him. With only two weeks left before our departure date, the Lord brought along a Russian-German who expressed interest in the house, wanting to buy it for his parents. Although he was ill, he was able to complete the necessary formalities shortly before we left. We were so thankful for God’s provision. He sometimes makes us wait til the last moment so the wonder of His provision is greater!

Picture: Omi’s birthday about the time we left, Nat and his son Simon along with us.