Category: Devotionals

My sister and I had our children just 6 weeks apart. Her twins were born in June and my son in July so we called them the triplets. Mother bought three little matching outfits several times to dress them in for pictures. We didn’t live in the same town but we were frequently at our mother’s at the same time.

One week I stopped in Tulsa and picked up my sister, her older son who was 5, and the twins, and took them home with me since their dad was working out of town and the kids were all sick. My own son was sick too, so we called Mom to see if she could come down and help us. She took off work the next day, hopped the bus, and was there before I got off work.

At that time I was commuting 40 miles one way, carpooling with some other girls, to Tulsa where we worked for the phone company. Mom stayed at my home with my sister and all 4 sick kids, 3 of them 18 months old. One of the twins was diagnosed with pneumonia, but since they didn’t have insurance, we took him home and turned one bedroom into a hospital room, complete with a makeshift tent for the humidifier.

The baby was sleeping on a roll-away bed, and while the women were out of his room thinking he was asleep, he was hot so he crawled back under the bed into a corner where it was cooler. The doctor had given him a new medicine, and Mother joked that she needed some of that medicine to keep up with all those kids. And of course, through it all, Mother was praying for each child. She still does.

Our kids are all grown now and we have grandchildren  and great grandchildren now. Mother at almost 97 years old even has a few great great grandchildren.  Do you know what she is known for in this family? Her hugs and kisses. Her helping hand.  Taking care of all the grandkids while we worked. Her great home cooking.

Proverbs 31:28, 30, “Her children rise up and called her blessed. . . .Charm is deceitful, and beauty is passing, but a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised. Give her of the fruit of her hands, and let her own works praise her in the gates.”

“If I ever won the lottery, (I don’t play the game or gamble) the first thing I would do is…….” Quite a question. Most Christians will say, “The first thing I’d do is pay my tithes.” Others say they would travel or buy a new house or car. I’d love to travel.

I’ve always wanted to go to Jerusalem and the Middle East. Walking where Jesus walked, going to the place where he was probably born, and being baptized in the River Jordan—all places I would love to visit.

I’d love to go to Ireland, the motherland some of my ancestors. I’d love to walk the hills and valleys of the old homeland.

Or Alaska—especially the Inside Passage, which is the waterway along the shoreway where the ships travel along the coast. I’ve heard that passengers traveling the  cruise lines often see whales and dolphins cavorting in the water.

But what we say we would do if we won a million dollars is really what we would do if we don’t.

Many of those who go on cruises haven’t won the lottery. The ones who give a tithe of their paycheck also would give a large amount if they came into money.

^“And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.” Colossians 3:17.

Either way, whatever we do should be done in Jesus’ name, so that the credit goes to Christ Jesus and not to the lottery.

 

I had my dna tested for genealogical purposes at ancestry.com and you’ll never guess my background. 38% Irish was the highest reading. No surprise there. Little strawberry blonde girl with freckles on her nose with white skin that sunburns easily and green eyes. Yes that’s me.

Then there is the 25% Scandinavia, 23% Western Europe, followed with Italy/Greece, Britian, Finland/Russia, and a tiny amount of less than 1% Native American, which is after all some Native American.

I am very sentimental about things like this, and I am not the only one. It was very important to the Jewish people to be able to trace their own genealogy. Now when you bring up the subject of genealogy, there is always one person who mentions the quote from the Bible about endless genealogies.

Paul tells Timothy in First Timothy 1:4, “ nor give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which cause disputes rather than godly edification which is in faith.”

As I understand this scripture, Paul is not saying we can’t trace our family tree, but that we shouldn’t base our salvation on our genealogy, as the Jewish people did. They traced their family tree back to the Patriarchs, as descendants of Abraham, and looked to that ancestry as the basis of their salvation.

On what are you basing your salvation? Do you consider yourself a Christian because you live in what has always been considered a Christian nation? Do you believe that because your family has belonged to the same church or denomination for generations then that means you are a Christian? Perhaps you consider yourself a Christian because you were born into a Christian family and reared in a Christian home.

However we must consider what Jesus had to say about it. A man came to Jesus at night and asked, “What must I do to be saved?”

Jesus answered and said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” John 3:3.

You were born into an earthly family and that is your genealogy; you must be born again into the family of God and that is your salvation.

Have you ever been driving along through town and had a thought, “I should turn here”? Perhaps you did turn and found out later that there had been a wreck on the main road and you would have been tied up for hours.

That happened a while back on I-44 between Vinita and Tulsa, around Claremore. There was a semi-truck wreck in the section of construction where it narrowed to 2 lanes and some of the people were trapped on the turnpike for several hours. Some cars ran out of gas as they waited. A few people were near exits and able to get out, but most were just trapped, bumper-to-bumper, till the truck could be moved to one lane.

God is trying to lead us to safety all the time. I am not saying that the ones who were trapped on the turnpike were not led by the Spirit and the ones who took the other road were led by the Holy Spirit.

What I am saying is that His Holy Spirit is speaking to us, softly, sweetly, by impressions and thoughts. He wants to show us the correct path. Most of the time, the Holy Spirit is leading us in spiritual things, but sometimes He wants us to stay on a certain earthly path for a reason.

Most churches have some prayer for safety. We call it “traveling mercies.” If not for the mercy of God, we would all be consumed. The Holy Spirit is always speaking to me. I will listen next time He says, Turn here.

“Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever, Amen.” Matthew 6:9-13.

Father God, deliver us from evil. A good prayer to pray anytime you start the car.

I looked out the window at a foot of snow in my yard. Snow that hadn’t been stepped in. Pure snow in sweet drifts. The snow covers the dead grass, fallen leaves, wilted potted plants, upended sandbox, ruts and bare spots on the lawn. The fresh blanket of snow makes everything look perfect.

The blizzard of the century! That is what they were calling that snowstorm in Oklahoma. Before the weekend was over the whole United States had some kind of change in the weather, because of El Nino or something or other.

I remember working at the Glass House Restaurant during the winter of 1968 when we had a similar snowstorm. The Glass House is built over the Will Rogers Turnpike outside of Vinita and because of the storm, the turnpike was shut down and many people were stranded at the Glass House. There were people wall to wall. We sold out of food. The hot water heater went out and the dishwashers were running cold water. We employees worked many long hours and when I finally left, I drove an hour to make it two miles back into town. I was dog-tired but I felt fulfilled, because what I was doing benefitted a lot of people.

Over the years, I had to drive in all kinds of weather because of my job. One of the greatest benefits of my retirement is that now I can hide in the house in bad weather and not have to get out and drive.

In the Bible, snow is symbolic of forgiveness. Psalms 51:7, 10 says “Wash me and I shall be whiter than snow. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.”

Isaiah 1:18 says Come now, and let us reason together, says the Lord, though your sins be like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow.” Theologists call this the great exchange.

Jesus came to take away my old black evil heart and give me a clean, pure, white-as-snow heart.