Digging Deeper

Yesterday I received a call from my mom that my grandmother was in the hospital. She will be 75 in April and has pre-alsheimers. She forgets to take her medicine and sometimes takes it twice.

Yesterday morning she started coughing and couldn’t stop. Her neighbors called the squad and they rushed her to the hospital and the Doctors thought she might have pneumonia. The x-ray came back clean and they decided to do an EKG. She has spent the night in the hospital and they say she is in congestive heart failure.

This isn’t major right now because a lot of people walk around with this condition for a long time. But here’s where thing spin out of control for me.

I lost my other grandmother just before Christmas. She was struck by a car going into church. God taught me so much during those weeks. I found my strength in Him and He showed me a way to rejoice in her passing. She was a Christian and had gone to be with her Savior and her husband.

But today, when I received the phone call, my mind raced with terrible thoughts. This is my last grandparent. How can someone who is 32 lose all her grandparents? This consumed my thoughts all day. I prayed and worried and prayed and worried and prayed.

Just before dinner I heard Kutless’ song “Strong Tower”. I wept over the steamed broccoli. How could I have been so selfish. I was praying and worrying over something that I didn’t have any control over.

Proverbs 18:10 says “The name of the Lord is a strong fortress; the godly run to him and they are safe.” I need to remember that God has total control over my life. His plans are not to do harm to me. When I run to Him and let Him wrap his arms of protection around me, I am safe.

When life is spinning out of control, let God wrap His arms around you and protect you from all the world is throwing at you.

Lisa Caupp

Today, let’s focus on the things God has done in our lives.

Psalm 146

 ¹ Praise the LORD.  Praise the LORD, O my soul.

 ² I will praise the LORD all my life; I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.

 ³ Do not put your trust in princes, in mortal men, who cannot save.

 ⁴ When their spirit departs, they return to the ground; on that very day their plans come to nothing.

 ⁵ Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the LORD his God,

 ⁶ the Maker of heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them— the LORD, who remains faithful forever.

 ⁷ He upholds the cause of the oppressed and gives food to the hungry. The LORD sets prisoners free,

 ⁸ the LORD gives sight to the blind, the LORD lifts up those who are bowed down, the LORD loves the righteous.

 ⁹ The LORD watches over the alien and sustains the fatherless and the widow, but he frustrates the ways of the wicked.

 ¹⁰ The LORD reigns forever, your God, O Zion, for all generations. Praise the LORD.

The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised. Job 1:21

This week we watched a video of a young boy who wasn’t given much hope for life. Honestly, I tuned out the minute it started. I couldn’t bear to watch. But when I got home, I looked up the video on the computer and watched it with my 5-year-old son, Noah. I pointed out all the problems the baby was having and how the doctors didn’t think he would even live.

My heart broke for that couple as I watched the screen. I smiled as they celebrated all of his accomplishments. I felt their pain when his time ended.

While we watched, Noah was full of questions, “Who is this baby? Is this happening right now? What’s wrong with him? Why does he have a birthday every day?” As we talked I saw Noah begin to smile. Then he said, “Mom he must have been a special boy.” When I asked why, he said, “God needed him to come to heaven. God must have had some baby work that needed to be done.” When I asked him if he understood that the parents were very sad, he said, “No, they got 99 days with him. They could have had 0. They are happy for that.”

My 5-year-old son was living out this verse in Job. When I saw pain and heartache, my son saw purpose in God’s plan.

Lord, help me to understand Your ways. And when I don’t, help me trust in Your purpose.

Lisa Caupp

Day 5

For God has said, “I will never fail you. I will never abandon you.” So we can say with confidence, “The LORD is my helper, so I will have no fear.” Hebrews 13:5-6

On Saturday, January 23, 2010 in Port-au-Prince, French rescue workers pulled a 24-year-old man alive from the rubble of a Haitian hotel. It was eleven days after an earthquake devastated much of the country. Wismond Jean-Pierre, who had no visible injuries but was severely dehydrated, was immediately loaded into an ambulance and taken to a hospital for treatment. Lt. Col. Christophe Renou, a rescuer with the French team, called the three-hour effort “a miracle” as he was briefly overcome with emotion. Other members of the team — assisted by American and Greek workers — were seen weeping with joy following the rescue. “This is God,” Frank Louvier, the chief of the French rescue team, said as he pointed to the sky. Where was God when Haiti was destroyed?  When will realize He never, ever leaves us?

Bible Reading: Hebrews 13:1-6

You, my Mighty Father, are clearly visible in the gentle hands, the tears of joy, and the undying hope of your people.  Thank You for never failing me.

Dianna L. Brisco

Day 4

Obadiah 17

“But Jerusalem will become a refuge for those who escape;
it will be a holy place.
And the people of Israel will come back
to reclaim their inheritance.
18 The people of Israel will be a raging fire,
and Edom a field of dry stubble.
The descendants of Joseph will be a flame
roaring across the field, devouring everything.
There will be no survivors in Edom.
I, the LORD, have spoken!

In Haiti the people cried out for help.  They desperately needed food and water, medical supplies, shelter, and rescue teams.  Meanwhile in Los Angeles, California a star-studded “Hope for Haiti” telethon raised a record-breaking $58 million, as more donations continued to pour in from around the world. The preliminary figure set a record for donations made by the public through a disaster relief telethon.  84 million people were watching the telethon that night.

We can show God’s love when we reach out to others.

Dianna L. Brisco

Day 3

Beside the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept as we thought of Jerusalem. Psalm 137:1

Our telephone rang incessantly and our email boxes were overloaded with frantic questions about our daughter.  Was she in Haiti when the quake struck?  Was she safe?  Anitra’s flight was scheduled to depart for Haiti just two short days after the earthquake.  And now almost two months later, her trip is still being postponed.  As I watched Haitian parents mourn for their children, I didn’t know why Anitra was spared.  If she would have been there, she would have been staying in a guest house which was utterly destroyed.  I felt guilty praying for her safety when thousands of other children were gone. Why were some alive while others didn’t even have a chance?  Some answers aren’t ours to know this side of heaven.

As we watched the tragedy unfold on the news, we saw rescue teams from New York and Virginia dig carefully in the ruins.  After nearly eight days, hope of finding any survivors was dying.  But then a small seven year old boy was discovered.  The rescuers burrowed after him.  The little boy was terrified and didn’t want to come out, but then he saw someone he knew standing nearby.  A rescuer reached down and scooped up the little survivor.  He looked around and then flung his arms open wide flashing everyone a brilliant smile of joy.  The crowd gathered around him cheered.

Bible Reading: Psalm 137:1-9

When I’m frightened by the violence and chaos of this world, I will focus my eyes on a familiar Face…the Face of my Savior, Jesus Christ.

Dianna L. Brisco

Day 2

Psalm 121
1 I look up to the mountains—
does my help come from there?
2 My help comes from the LORD,
who made heaven and earth!

3 He will not let you stumble;
the one who watches over you will not slumber.
4 Indeed, he who watches over Israel
never slumbers or sleeps.

5 The LORD himself watches over you!
The LORD stands beside you as your protective shade.
6 The sun will not harm you by day,
nor the moon at night.

7 The LORD keeps you from all harm
and watches over your life.
8 The LORD keeps watch over you as you come and go,
both now and forever.

With their churches flattened, their priests killed and their Bibles lost amid the rubble of their homes, desperate Haitians prayed in the streets on Sunday, raising their arms in the air and asking God to ease their grief. Haitians dressed in their Sunday church clothes stepped through the rubble of the destroyed National Cathedral to attend a small outdoor Mass nearby in downtown Port-au-Prince.

God is watching over them, even now.

Dianna L. Brisco

Day 1

And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. Romans 8:28

I helped our daughter, Anitra, collect and pack the 220 pounds of donations given generously by the Ridge family.  She was excited about her upcoming trip to Haiti.  She even packed bright colors of fingernail polish envisioning the little girls she would cuddle and love.  Then the devastating earthquake rocked the city of her destination.  We watched in horror as the news came across our television screen.  Oh Heavenly Father, some of the Haitians have nothing but their families and they have lost them now as well.  We prayed for rescuers to reach them soon.  Would the falling buildings crush the Haitians’ spirits as well as their bodies?  We prayed for the strength and courage that only God can provide when disaster strikes.

Then on January 18, six days after the earthquake, a bank worker’s voice was heard under the rubble.  Her husband began digging with his bare hands as tears streamed down his face.  His wife, Jeanette, was still alive! The situation seemed hopeless.  Then firefighters from Los Angeles, California showed up with equipment and water.  They worked carefully for three hours talking to the trapped woman.  Finally she was removed from under the concrete slabs onto a back board with only some broken fingers!  Her first words were, “Thank You, God!”  Then she raised her beautiful voice to the heavens and sang a song about not being afraid of death.  Where was God that day?  He was with the husband and each handful of debris he lifted off his buried wife, He was with the firefighters, and He was under the rubble comforting a woman who didn’t give up hope.

Bible Reading: Romans 8:26-30

When my world comes crashing down and I am completely engulfed in its rubble, hold onto me, Father.  Never let me go.

Dianna L. Brisco

I’ve never really liked the phrase “I found the Lord”. This implies He was not there. Maybe a more appropriate phrase would be “I opened my eyes and saw what was there all along”. One of the best ways for this to happen is for those of us that have opened our eyes to show them that light in everything we do. In Exodus 34:29 it says “When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the Testimony in his hands, he was not aware that his face was radiant because he had spoken with the LORD.” If we are spending quality time with the Lord we should have that radiance Just like in verse 35 “…they saw that his face was radiant. Then Moses would put the veil back over his face until he went in to speak with the LORD.”

I think the problem we have sometimes is that we put that veil on before we encounter others. The veil may be fear, anger, hatred, addictions, other commitments, but it all comes down to sin. Sin is a veil to the light of the Lord and all too often the sin is what we show others through our actions instead of the radiance.

Now I know as well as the next person that it is impossible for us to not sin. One man did and we’re not Him. But, we should always strive to be like Him and let the light outshine the darkness. After I opened my eyes to the Lord, I encountered many people from my past that said “what’s going on with you?” They could see a difference, not only in my behaviour but also by the radiance given to me from my time with God. At times it saddens me to look in the mirror and see that radiance has faded. I urge you as a believer and follower of Christ to recharge those batteries and light up! Also, I challenge those that may be on the fence to step up, and light up! You won’t regret it.

Heavenly Father, forgive us for letting the blessing of Your radiance be veiled through our sin and for allowing it to fade through our inattentiveness to our relationship with You. Lord, use us, today and every day as a beacon for your light so that others may see the way out of the darkness. Amen

-Rick Phillips

(Matthew 18:20 NKJV) “For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.”

(Matthew 28:19-20 NKJV) “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, {20} “teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.

(Luke 15:10 NKJV) “Likewise, I say to you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

(Acts 3:19-21 NKJV) “Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, {20} “and that He may send Jesus Christ, who was preached to you before, {21} “whom heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began.

(Acts 17:26-28 NKJV) “And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, {27} “so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; {28} “for in Him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also His offspring.’

(Colossians 1:17 NKJV) And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.

(1 Thessalonians 2:19 NKJV) For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Is it not even you in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at His coming?

(Hebrews 9:24 NKJV) For Christ has not entered the holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us;

(Hebrews 13:5-6 NKJV) Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” {6} So we may boldly say: “The LORD is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?”

(James 4:8 NKJV) Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.