Author: admin

Vacation Bible School has been going on at different churches  in our town the last few weeks. Some of my fondest childhood memories of summertime were from Bible school.

“Stand up, stand up for Jesus, ye soldiers of the cross.” We started Bible school every day with that song, the pledge to the US flag, and the pledge to the Christian flag. We memorized Bible verses such as “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.” Psalms 119:105 King James Version.

We watched a Bible story on flannelgraph, a technique where the teacher placed cut-out figures on a flannel bulletin board as she told the Bible story. We drank red Koolaid and ate cookies, made by the Kinder Cookie Factory, located next door to Luginbuel’s Funeral home. Simple games like tag and red rover burned energy so we could sit quietly during our lessons.

What joy it was to stand on the stage with all my friends to sing our songs and quote our Bible verses to our parents and the church family.

I loved to memorize Bible verses. “Thy word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against Thee.” Psalms 119:11. How do you hide God’s word in your heart? The simple way is like we did as children, by repeating it over and over. As an adult, I don’t do that. It doesn’t work for me anymore, although many people memorize that way.

I memorize by studying the scripture. I take it apart, study the sentence like we did in English class, sometimes even diagram it. I look up each word in the Strong’s Concordance, and study the shades of meanings. I compare the different versions of that scripture and write it out in my own words.

“I will never forget Your precepts, For by them You have given me life.” Psalms 119:93.

The Word of God I have learned has become part of me, hidden in my heart, stuck in my memory, as I live out the Word of God in my everyday life.

Okay, so you caught me. I screen my phone calls. When the phone rings, if it’s a number I don’t know, I don’t answer it. When the answering machine cuts in, I wait to hear if someone will leave a message. Remember when we were happy to get a phone call? Do you remember before answering machines and caller id, when we wanted to actually talk to the caller?

The other day, my home phone rang, and the caller id showed unknown, so I let it go to the answering machine which kicked in and I heard a voice call my name. The voice was staticky, but I recognized my friend’s voice so I picked up the phone. We talked a few minutes and had a nice visit.

I recognize many of my friends and all my family by their voices. One voice I love to hear is one that speaks often in my heart. I don’t hear this voice with my physical ears, although some people have, but I recognize Jesus’ voice when He speaks to me. When I say, “The Lord told me…….” I usually mean I heard something in my heart.

Let me tell you how I recognize His voice. I spend time with Jesus’ reading the Bible, praying, and just thinking about what He would do or say. Also I am familiar with what Jesus would say now, because I’ve read what Jesus said while on earth. I have known Jesus for many years, since I am now 69 years old and met Him when I was about 8.

Jesus said, “And when he [the Shepherd] brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. Yet they will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers…. I am the good shepherd. My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.” John 10:4-5, 27. New King James.

Think about the Bible when you are reading, and listen inside for His voice. He’ll speak to you too.

Several years ago my 8-year-old grandson and I found empty cicada shells on the patio, split down the back, with the feet still attached to the columns.

“Oh, the poor bug is dead,” he said.

“No, he is still alive,” I told him. “He grew a new shell and slipped out of his old one and left it behind as he flew off on a new adventure.” I picked the June bug shell off the post and laid it down on the patio table for a lesson on insects. “See this split on his back? That is where he escaped the old shell.”

“Why did he do that?” Zac asked me.

“His old shell was wearing out and getting too tight, like the way you outgrow your clothes, so he grew a new shell while he was still inside the old one. When it was ready, he took off his old shell, like taking off a coat, and left it hanging here on the patio post.”

This explanation seemed to satisfy his curiosity and we went on to other things, but I couldn’t get that cicada shell out of my mind.

Someday my old shell will be worn out and too tight, just like the June bug’s shell. When my time has come, my spirit which is the real me inside will step out of my physical body.

Paul wrote to the church in Corinth, “So also is the resurrection of the dead… It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. ..As we have borne the image of the man of dust, [meaning Adam] we shall also bear the image of the heavenly Man [meaning Jesus Christ.] So when ….this mortal [body] has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: ‘Death is swallowed up in victory.'” I Corinthians 15: 42-54 NKJV. (Inserts added by Lavon for clarity. Read it all for yourself.)

When you see my unoccupied body lying there, you will know it is only my June bug shell. It isn’t me; I am off to a new adventure in my new body.