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Focus on His Power in the Turmoil of Life

Wednesday, July 14th, 2010

Sometimes in the turmoil of life we need something to focus on that shows us His power.

Ps. 42:7

“Deep calls to deep in the roar of your waterfalls; all your waves and breakers have swept over me.”

When I lived in Northern California some of my favorite times were sitting on the rocky coast listening and watching as the waves came in. The icy blue water was cold and translucent and the white caps blended through it. As the tide moved in or out the randomness of the movement kept my attention. It just seemed that the heaviness of life washed away with each crashing wave. Life seemed to soften, to soothe as the consuming ocean brought something to focus on. It was then that I could ponder,  think, and  release.

The rumbling water was at my feet and yet I couldn’t deny the depth of the seemingly endless ocean. The greatness was incomparable. I loved those times and keep them stored in my memories so that I can even smell the strange but familiar smell of the kelp seaweed on the sandy shore.

There are those times when I  feel confused or overwhelmed. I need something to focus that helps me meditate on  our omnipotent God. The ever increasing power of His greatness can shrink my  troubles into manageable segments if I allow it to.

A few summers ago I was in the middle of some of the roughest times I can remember. I was feeling overwhelmed, confused, lost and certainly overrun with seemingly unmanageable trials. Each morning I would get up with an wringing knot in my stomach and by the end of the day I was so tired from living through the anticipated anxiety. I searched and searched to find a solution but to no avail.  I struggled each day to get up in the morning and at the end of the day a great escape into an interesting TV show seemed to give me a little break. But, after far too many of those days I needed more than the temporary relief of a TV show. I needed something much greater.

So, I remember as clear as day going to my private side porch almost like I had a severe goal in mind with my bible in hand.  I was going to sit down with God. I began to talk with the Lord in an exasperated silent voice. “God, I am my end. I need something from you that is tangible and something that I cannot confuse with my own head or someone else’s words. I am desperate for hope, desperate to know you are here and that you understand. I really need to hear from you. So, I sat quietly for a moment then opened up my bible.

He took me to a passage in Jeremiah. “Oh, my gosh! God, you really heard me.” This passage was all about my situation. Not only does it describe in general terms what I was in the middle of but He even took me to a place where my heart was revealed. No one else could have done that!

Ps. 89:9

“You rule over the surging sea; when its waves mount up, you still them.”

Than as I looked further into the story at hand there were such specific details.  He used the words like, “wounds”,” injury”, “forgotten”. Then he moved on to “restored”, “healed”, “rebuilt!” As I read on he spoke of “thanksgiving”, “moving forward” and “increasing.” Then in the last verse of the chapter I was reading it said, ” In days to come you will understand this.”

It was obvious to me that I had heard from the Lord. The similarities and words in this chapter were so in line with where I was at I knew that my God was with me in my trials. Even more, He comforted me with showing me a future that was hopeful and even mysterious. The words brought me to a place of relief and yet some of the ambiguity caused me to wonder how He would fill in the details. My current trials now became more of a building project than a prison of despair.  It was so much like the crashing waves, close and sharp and yet far and mysterious like the ocean. But none the less, real, even tangible.

Uh oh, I got to a place where I stopped:

Jer. 30:11

“I am with you and will save you, declares the LORD. Though I completely destroy all the nations among which I scatter you, I will not completely destroy you. I will discipline you but only with justice; I will not let you go entirely unpunished.”

Discipline me? I didn’t like that part. So I had to think for a moment. Oh, yeah, this is the discipline of the Lord, He loves me.  He doesn’t deal with me like a human would. God is always teaching, loving, kind, and intentional. He doesn’t give me the back of His hand, rather I believe I can trust His discipline to be good. Actually, I turned to a place where I was looking forward to His discipline because I knew it would help me to grow and it would not shame me.

Ps. 25:3

“No one whose hope is in you will ever be put to shame, but they will be put to shame who are treacherous without excuse.”

Someday I’ll understand? Oh, yeah sure. Someday?  “Remember, God, I want something NOW!” But even that brought me to a positive place. I knew that in the end of life I would understand all of this. But it didn’t seem that He was talking about at the end of life.  It appeared to be a time sooner than that where I would be given some understanding.

That was several years ago and amazingly, I mean amazingly, the words in that chapter have become more true than I would have ever imagined. I felt heard and comforted by the Lord which was awesome. I received the detail that was written and kept going back to that passage over and over looking for more of the prophetic content to reveal itself to me. And it did!

So, I moved into a place of thankfulness as He said I would. I found this to be a revealing  learning process to look back to that dark time and actually say, “Thank you Lord, for showing me amazing and wonderful things.” I began to see lessons coming into my life and changes in my heart that were so strange to me and yet so wonderful to receive.

I think I am beginning to gain understanding now. As I filter the situation through knowledge, thanksgiving, and lessons learned, the clarity He promised is coming into view. It sure has been a journey, and I wouldn’t want to relive any of it! I still remember the anxiety in my heart, the emptiness in my stomach, and the extreme confusion I was experiencing. But there seems to be a blurry filter that has taken away the edge of what I was feeling. I guess you might call this healing.

I have grown in my knowledge of Him. I have gained better understanding myself and others. My faith has deepened. My heart has changed.

Jeremiah 5:17

“Blessed is the man whom God corrects; so do not despise the discipline of the Almighty.”

Something powerful to focus on? Just look around a little bit. It doesn’t have to be a mighty crashing wave to see His power.

Yesterday I looked into a ceramic pitcher sitting on our side porch. Yes the same porch where God spoke to me years ago. Deep down inside was a grassy nest. It held some hungry tiny baby birds waiting for their mama to return with their food. They were so delicate, so hidden. I thought, this mama found a great place to hide them. I could hardly hear their squeaking in the insulation of the nest and the rim of the pitcher.

But even in that I saw the power of the Lord. His power isn’t a clenched fist ready to punch the wrongdoer. Rather His power is able to crash the waves, contain the ocean and yet to hold the delicacy of these little birds in His hand without hurting them.

I think in the turmoil of my life, both are needed. The strong arm of the Lord and the gentleness of His heart. How about you? Can you feel His power? Can you feel His softened heart?

Is. 59:1

Surely the arm of the LORD is not too short to save, nor his ear too dull to hear.

 

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We can’t live in the past!

Friday, July 9th, 2010

Fearful? Questioning? Reflecting on the past? or Pondering the future?

I will trust in Him.

Proverbs 3:5-6

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all of your ways acknowledge Him and He will make    your path’s straight.

The Message Bible says it this way:

Trust God from the bottom of your heart; don’t try to figure out everything on your own.

Listen for God’s voice in everything you do, everywhere you go; he’s the one who will keep you on track.

I am often evaluating things in my life. The past, the future, they’re almost always on my mind. Did I make a mistake. Have I done something that has hurt someone? Where will this lead me to? Is my future going to be an improvement over the past? How can I make things better? And a lifetime of, “how can things be different?”

I have heard many times that we shouldn’t focus on the past and keep our eyes looking forward. Well, I agree with this to a point but I have learned a great lesson in evaluating life. Let me put it this way:

“The past isn’t the past until it is the past. The past isn’t the past if it’s still the present. The past won’t become the past until you put it in front of you.”

You can quote me on that one. When I think about the past there are times when memories come along with a little piercing in my heart. They can cause me to feel a pang of pain. It is those memories that seem to need some attention. I am tempted to just push them away, which is probably why some people tell us that we don’t need to dwell on the past. They don’t want to feel it either.

But, I have learned that when past wounds, unresolved conflicts, and hurts come to my mind I have to check to see if there is pain with them.  If there is and they are resolved with healing in my soul, they change. I think of it this way:

“When an emotional soul wound is healed it can change from being an emotional memory to an intellectual memory. That is when I know healing has taken place.”

You can quote me on that one too. Healing from past wounds doesn’t remove our memory of them, it can take the emotional sting out of them so we are free from the pain. But, if we are all honest, we don’t necessarily forget the times we have been hurt or disappointed. Rather we can move away from the present pain they bring up when we do remember them.

There was a childhood memory from when I was about 10 years old that was still painful to think about. The circumstances surrounding it were overwhelming and the exact situation was foreboding and it pulled on my heart each time it came up. And, it did come up. At times it came in prayer, other times when I would talk about that time in my life. When I was with my counselor one day, he asked me to pray with him about this situation. We found Jesus in the middle of it and there was a powerful healing time which brought a change of reference for that situation. A healing salve poured over the memory. Jesus had touched it with His hand.

Now when I think of that situation, my heart is emotionally neutral. I remember the situation, but even more, I remember what Jesus told me during the prayer time and how He changed my point of view. I no longer have a negative emotional tie to it, rather it is a memory that is purely an intellectual memory of the situation.

So, when I am fearful to face something from my past or questioning it with my soul, I seek to find out a solution through bringing Jesus into it with me. He knows my heart, he knows all of the details. And if there is someone else involved, He knows their heart too.

And when the healing seems to be far away and maybe even impossible, I continually learn more about trusting Him in the process. I have also learned that He will provide the right timing for my heart surgery. Now is not always the right time even though I may grow impatient for things to get better.

Sometimes God wants to bring someone else into the healing. Maybe He is working on their heart as well. In my selfishness I can say, “God – right now”, “I want it now!” But in the love that Christ wants me to walk in, I may need to be patient in waiting for His timing for all concerned. And in the process, God is not putting my life on “pause”, He is preparing me as well and growth continues all around.

I have a ring with a Hebrew inscription on it. I can’t read Hebrew but the paper that came with the ring says that it said, “Trust in the Lord”.

Boy, I need this ring every day in my life. I can easily get overwhelmed with impatience, fears, insecurities and the like. It is cool when someone asks to see the ring and wonders what it says, I am forced to say, “It says “Trust in the Lord”" and I can see that maybe He is using the person’s question to bring me to once again verbalize where my trust is at.

Take a deep breath – there, that’s it.

No matter what has come to your mind or your life today, make a decision. Where is your trust? Is it in Him? I often say, If I can’t trust Him today then who can I trust. If He isn’t trustworthy, that I just as well give up totally. But that is also a trustworthy place to be because I know He won’t let me go.

Heb. 13:5-6

Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” So we say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?”

Funny how this passage connects the love of money and discontent in contrast with trusting in God’s ever present commitment to us. We do try to do it ourselves when we fear He isn’t with us. His exhortation is to know that He is our helper and to remember man can do nothing to me outside of God’s hand on us.

I can trust in Him.

Trust God from the bottom of your heart; don’t try to figure out everything on your own.

Listen for God’s voice in everything you do, everywhere you go; he’s the one who will keep you on track.

 

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Does Anyone Care?

Friday, July 2nd, 2010

The quiet stillness of the slowly flowing water into the fieldside tributaries.

We may not see it but God is soaking us with His care.

1 Peter 5:7

Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you.

Take a moment and breathe this in. Cast all your anxiety – on Him – because

He cares – for you.

This passage comes to my mind a lot. Those of you who know me know that I am a pretty high maintenance person sometimes. My emotional levels can go down quite easily and when they are down I can feel pretty defeated. It’s during the down times that I have the greatest need for special comfort to help me on the course of life.

One of my negative self talk mantras is, “what am I chopped liver”. This phrase comes up when I am feeling unheard, unimportant, or just ignored. I have to pay attention when I am hearing that in my head. This is when I need to hear something to counteract the lie that comes with my self talk.

This passage is simple and yet profound. To read this scripture is to see one of the most descriptive statements on who God really is, His character, and how He relates to us. If you are anything like me you also have those challenging days where you feel fearful, anxious, or just plain needy. Where shall we turn to gain strength to keep moving forward?

The New Living version of the Bible says, cast all of your “worries” and “cares” to God. Do you worry? I certainly do. I worry about provision. I worry about relationships. I worry about doing the right thing or failing to succeed. So, in a fuller context, I would say He very much cares about my worries.

I have always heard that it was a sin to worry.  But worrying is more about what I am feeling than it is about not trusting God. I am feeling fearful, insecure, concerned and all of this translates into feeling “worried” about something that is very important to me.  If I think about God’s heart through this passage, He knows when I worry and wants to help me with the worries that I seem to often fall into.  Because He cares deeply, I feel validated when I worry.

The Message says, ” Live carefree before God; he is most careful with you.” This particular version goes a step further in this concept. Not only does it give me a sense of his desire for me to live more freely from my weakened self talk, but says He is “most” careful with me. Given my emotional sensitivities and weakness towards self pity, I can trust that God will be careful with me.

This doesn’t mean in any way that He will treat me with kid gloves, I don’t need that. Rather, He says He will take great care with me. That tells me that with great consideration and thought, He will come into my life with just what I need. And who better than God to know how to handle me?  He knows exactly what I need and the right timing to bring it.

As I look at the picture of the slowly moving river it gives me rest. The calm nature of the slowly moving tributary through the fields shows that it is providing the area with the nurturing quality of water but not so much as to wash away the foundation. It is just easing into the fields with great care. It is soaking, not with stagnant pools rather a fresh flow from somewhere upstream.

There are times when I can handle the rougher things in life and actually can be invigorated by them. But, when I am particularly fragile emotionally I really need the cautious and yet specific care of my Lord’s love.

One of my favorite scriptures is:

Isaiah 40:27-31 (The Message)

• Why would you ever complain, O Jacob, or, whine, Israel, saying, “God has lost track of me. He doesn’t care what happens to me”?
• Don’t you know anything? Haven’t you been listening?
• God doesn’t come and go. God lasts. He’s Creator of all you can see or imagine. He doesn’t get tired out, doesn’t pause to catch his breath. And he knows everything, inside and out.
• He energizes those who get tired, gives fresh strength to dropouts. For even young people tire and drop out, young folk in their prime stumble and fall.
• But those who wait upon God get fresh strength. They spread their wings and soar like eagles.
• They run and don’t get tired, they walk and don’t lag behind.

In the NIV it actually it sounds more like an announcement:

Do you not know?

Have you not heard?

The LORD is the everlasting God,

the Creator of the ends of the earth.

He will not grow tired or weary,

and his understanding no one can fathom.

When I am feeling tired, drained, worn out from life I think of the song that goes with this passage. “they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings as eagles, they shall run and not grow weary, they shall walk and not faint….they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength.”

It is something that requires me to take it in, to soak a little with it, to breathe a sigh of relief that someone is watching out for me. The immovable knowledge that someone cares. There is a powerful but tender God who is willing to breathe His life into me when I need it most.

It is during these times when I need to be specific about “casting” my cares upon Him and to know that He cares for me.

09 BE THE DIFFERENCE

(Song by Paul Berkus, used with permission) www.paulberkus.com

© John J. Smid 2010

 

Tags: anxious, comfort, God's care
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Feeling Stuck?

Friday, June 25th, 2010

No matter how frozen life can seem to appear-

God’s healing rivers never stop.

We can trust that He will complete what He has started.

Phillipians 1:1-6

I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

Paul was praying for the Christians in Philippi with Joy! Why? Because he had a confidence in the Lord’s ability to work good things within their lives. He also had another confidence. It was in the end result of God’s work in their lives through the Holy Spirit! He knew that at the end they would reach the completion of God’s handiwork in them.

One of THE most profound lessons I have gained since becoming a believing Christian is that of perspective on life.

When I was in drivers education class many years ago I remember Mr. Stribley speaking to us about a bigger picture of our driving experience. He told us that we had to keep our eyes on the horizon ahead of us. He warned us not to focus on the hood of our car because if we did we would waver all over the place. If we focused on the horizon up ahead we would gently and surely follow the curving of the road as it lead us through to where we were going.

That picture has stayed with me all through the years and I didn’t know how it would find a spiritual application in my life. I once read a book that talked about the bigger picture of our spiritual life as Christians. It brought to mind the wedding feast, or some might call it the wedding supper of the Lamb. The description of the time when we will all sit down with our Lord to enjoy the celebration feast of the new life we have with Him was indelibly written in my mind and I quickly pondered the horizon of my spiritual life.

 There will be things that are right on the “hood” of my life experience. I can be tempted to focus on them more than is healthy and begin to waver all over the place. The daily disappointments, struggles with sin, business of my daily responsibilities and family issues can all begin to overwhelm me if I forget the horizon!

I have decided that the best way I can walk in the grace of God through a very challenging life is to keep my eyes on the horizon! To keep my mind on the end during trials will give me perspective that will keep me following the road with much more ease.

I also learned a simple and profound lesson. the car doesn’t move forward with my foot on the brake. There have been times when I have felt paralyzed to move forward due to fears of failure or just plain confusion as to which direction to go in.  Well, take your foot off of the brake and press the gas!  It is really hard to see where I am going from the “Stop Sign” of life.

 

Where am I going? I am going to sit down with my Lord for a wonderful dinner and enter into an awesome eternity of joy! This will be sooner than I can imagine. Take for example the scriptural reminder that we will live 70+ years. Well, I am now close to 56 years old. That means that I may only have 14 years left. Oh, my! That took my breath away a little bit. But what if God’s grace allows me to live until I am 90? There, that is a little easier but even then, I only have 34 years left. I may have numerous challenges that come about in the next 34 years but even so, I know that my time is coming soon and I can handle 34 more years of a challenging life knowing where I will end up – soon.

 

God will complete the work He began! I have full confidence in that for myself.

Do you believe that for yourself? Have you pondered the horizon in your own life today?

 

While the challenges you are facing today seem to overwhelm you, take just a little time to think about the wedding supper of the Lamb the feast that will usher us into eternity with God! Even if only for a moment, you will see there is an end in sight and it is awesome to ponder knowing it is all good. Actually it is more awesome than you might even be able to imagine.

Imagine sitting at this table with the King of Kings.

I would imagine the current trials of our lives would pale in light of this wedding supper.  It is all in perspective. When I feel overwhelmed with disappointment it helps to look down the road. When I am discouraged and disappointed, I know that in the end, He will not disappoint me.  I can easily get lost in questions about my life and what God is going to do with my daily wrestle.  There is one answer that is certain; I will be with Him for eternity and that is a good thing.

When I realized that heaven wasn’t just a bunch of harps and clouds and it wasn’t just a heavenly choir – I started to ponder what it may be. Did you know there are more scriptures that describe heaven than there are those that talk about hell?  God wants us to ponder our eternity so He gave us plenty of “travel” brochure information about our life with Him after we die or He returns.  Spend some time pondering that and I’d bet your life will start moving forward again.

I am a curious sort.  I love to question things, search for deeper meaning than we might see on the surface.  I think of an eternity of asking questions and actually getting the answers!  In my discovery of eternity with God I will enjoy an environment full of truth.  And, I will not be bound by time so I can ask to my heart’s content.  I will finally have God’s perfect perspective on things that seem so confusing today.  Ummm. Heaven, perfection, unending joy, a life with living forever.  Wow, I’m not stuck, I have just begun.

Rev. 22:7 – “Behold, I am coming soon!

  

For the moment, your daily trials, though they may seem frozen in time, will wane just a little bit while you focus on His plans for your own eternity.

Maybe you’ll even see a little thawing occur!

(c) John J. Smid 2010

 

Tags: Website Pictures, Wedding Supper of the Lamb
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God, I need you today.

Friday, June 18th, 2010

 

 

The warm humid air of the waterside growth.

The rich undergrowth begins to draw me to breathe in God’s provision of life.

 

Ps. 10:14

But you, O God, do see trouble and grief; you consider it to take it in hand.

The victim commits himself to you; you are the helper of the fatherless.

  

Matt. 6:30

If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?

 

Matt. 7:9-11

Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him

During some counseling I received several years ago I talked about how I hadn’t felt safe in my life lately. Actually, I realized that I hadn’t felt very safe at any point in my life at all!

Relationships were very challenging at this point because I was feeling particularly threatened in some very significant places. We discussed some of the challenges I was experiencing but I didn’t know how I could deal with them because of my lack of feeling secure or safe enough to face them. So my counselor asked me to ponder some of the times in my life I had felt safe.

His request was a real challenge for me to think about. But quickly I came up with one time when I was about 5 years old and I felt warm, comforted, at peace and yes, safe. He wanted me to think about more of those times and to learn to utilize the visual memories in my prayer life. He asked me to take one particular one and to meditate on it and then to invite Jesus to come into the place with me. I went home and prayed and meditated on several places that were similar to the first one.

When I lived in Northern California I realy appreciated its beauty, and the incredible opportunities to visit nationally known places. I liked seeing the ocean on occasion and some of my best Christian growth memories come from the eight years I lived there. In response to my assignment, I was quickly drawn to some of the most awesome times I had in Northern California.

One very significant place that I enjoyed very much was spending time in the middle of the redwood forests. Oh, boy, I can almost smell the humid air right now. I think of the towering trees, and the incredibly soft “carpet” on the ground below from the softened needles that spread out to cover almost all of the barren ground under their shade.

(These photographs are from Samuel P. Taylor Park where my safe place actually came from.)

I had a particularly difficult challenge that I was facing so I wanted to use the new tool of my visual and sensory images to bring some safety to my prayer when I had something very serious to ask God about. He quickly led me to the redwood forests. I pondered them in my eyes, brought up the smells and the deafening sounds of the soft movement of the trees above. The trickling of the little creek beside me. My heart began to open up wider to go to the Lord with my needs at that time. I was really anxious and desperately needed to hear from the Lord.

“God, what should I do?” “I feel so overwhelmed and insecure about making this decision.”

So, I asked God to take me to one of the safe places I had discovered. I began to visualize taking a walk through the forest and I imagined God walking with me. We walked slowly as I looked around and drank up the gift of the forest into my heart. Soon, it appeared we sat down on a picnic table that was close by. As we sat there God began to ask me some questions.

“John, remember what you learned about the redwoods when you were there?”

“I said, “yes”, they are fed from the moist air because they have very shallow roots and they are designed for this arid climate. They only grow on the east side of the hills next to the ocean because the fog rolls over the tops of the hills onto the soft needles of the redwoods. They also grow in clumps because it is hard for a redwood to catch enough moisture by itself and it is better when there are many together.”

God replied, “John, that is the way I feed my people too. I ask them to hang out together so that they can receive my provision more easily. If you are in close community, you will do better too. You have come to me with questions about what I want you to do, where I want you to go, and what that will look like.”

“I will show you my provision through your community. You will know my will by listening to others around you. Take your requests, your burdens to them and you will find my provision there.”

It was just amazing! I felt so affirmed, I felt heard, I felt hopeful! God didn’t answer me at the moment because it appeared He wanted me to go to His people for my questions to be answered. He seemed to be more interested in my relationship with others. Sure, He could have given me a direct answer but instead He wanted to use His body to help me.

The coolest thing about it all was that my prayer life was deeply enhanced through this experience. My prayer wasn’t a litany of requests that I brought to the “Great Answer Giver in the Sky”. Rather, it was a quiet walk with my Lord in one of my favorite places in the world and I didn’t even have to get on a plane to get there. Visiting the redwood forests with Jesus became a place of comfort, solitude, a place of provision for me.

Where is your safe place? Once you find it, invite Jesus to join you.

Humm, where will I go with Him today?

(c) John J. Smid 2010

 

Tags: provision
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I Have Something Really Important to Tell You!

Thursday, June 10th, 2010

As I spend time praying for reaching out to those near to me I ponder who that might be. Who is God leading me to this week, this month? The grounds seemed to have been dry with regards to our seeing new salvations in Christ! But, much to my amazement, God is at work in ways I am not conscious of!

June 9th I was sitting in a prayer meeting with our church fellowship. We were praying earnestly for God to move amongst us. We prayed for those He has placed in our lives and hearts. We prayed for divine appointments and prayed for people by name.

During our prayer time my cell phone vibrated and I looked at it. It was my grandson calling me from Louisiana. We have talked with him some since he left after school was out but this was the first time he initiated a call. I wondered what he may have wanted. Since we talked to him on his birthday on Monday I thought maybe he is feeling the freedom now to call “just because” and I looked forward to hearing what was on his mind.

So, on the way home I called him back. “Hey Devin, did you just want to chat?”

No, Grandpa, I have something very important to tell you. (this means, set aside all other distractions and pay attention!) During vacation Bible school today we went through the Roman’s (what was it, oh yea) and we both said Road. When I got to the top of the hill I stopped by myself and God spoke to me! I asked him what He said and Devin said, “God said “accept” so I did”. I asked him if he had ever heard God speak before and he said, “yes but it was mostly gibberish” but this time it was clear”.

He then began going through things in his bible saying he never understood them before and that he couldn’t pronounce many of those words and names. Then he said, “Grandpa, when I get home, you have to go to a church”. I said, we go to a church, it is just a home group church. He said, “no, grandpa, I mean a building church”. I further assured him that we would be certain to include him in our church where he could grow in his faith.

Our new Celebration Fellowship is a great place for Devin. We have six other kids involved and potentially two more coming who amazingly are between the ages of 8 and 12. (Devin is 10) Boys and girls. We’ve talked about how we are going to put special attention on the development of the kids lives in authentic Christianity and relationship with the adults in our faith. I am thrilled to see Devin become a part of this.

He was very excited about his new relationship with God and I am MORE than THRILLED that he was so excited he had to tell Vileen and I. He knew we would relate to his new faith. After we talked a little more about it all he said, “Grandpa, when did you accept God?”. He is really personalizing this special event in his life which gives me even more hope.

He also told me, “My dad cried when I told him, and it takes a lot to get him to cry!” His dad followed up by sharing about his own experience in accepting the Lord. Devin has many who love him and are praying for him, for which we are very glad.

So, as we prayed, God was already at work in a very special place in our lives. Our Grandson had experienced a very real, significant, God ordained, Holy Spirit led, salvation! Just as we had been praying.

God loves us, hears us, answers us, and moves quite of His own initiative. It is not by our works, but by the grace of a loving God, lest any of us can boast!

(c) John J. Smid 2010

 

Tags: Celebration Fellowship, Devin, Holy Spirit, Salvation
Posted in Articles by John Smid, Get Into John's Head, Personal for the Smids, Testimonies, Website Pictures | 1 Comment »