Excerpt: The Pursuit of God, The Human Thirst for the Divine, A.W. Tozer

O God, I have tasted Thy goodness, and it has both satisfied me and made me thirsty for more. I am painfully conscious of my need of further grace. I am ashamed of my lack of desire. O God, The Triune God, I want to want Thee; I long to be filled with longing; I thirst to be made more thirsty still. Show me Thy glory, I pray Thee, that so I may know Thee indeed. Begin in mercy a new work of love within me. Say to my soul, "Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away." Then give me grace to rise and follow Thee up from this misty lowland where I have wondered so long. In Jesus' name. Amen
Excerpt: The Pursuit of God, The Human Thirst for the Divine, A.W. Tozer

Monday, June 5, 2017

I'll Fly Away!

Romans 8:9-11
9 But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.
10 ¶ And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.
11 But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.

1 Thessalonians 4:17-18
17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
18 Wherefore comfort one another with these words.

In reading these verses my thoughts went to Tim's flesh of cancer.  Yes, Tim's cancer is in his flesh, not his spirit.  Your health, or lack thereof, is in your flesh and my flesh.  The flesh and the spirit are separate from one another!  The cancer of the flesh cannot affect Tim's spirit!  His spirit, which is of Christ, will not die.  His diseased flesh will, but not his spirit!

I know that eventually the cancer that is in his body is going to end his life here on earth, unless the Lord intervenes with that miracle lots of people are praying for.  But, that won't be the end of Tim.  Because his spirit is of Christ, he will live forever in the glorious presence of His Savior God!  And, those of us who love Tim and also have the Spirit of Christ dwelling in us, will see him again!  The only way to have the Spirit of Christ in you is by trusting in His sacrificial death on the cross as payment for your sins.  No amount of good deeds that I or you have done will suffice to take us to heaven!  Good works outside of Christ is works of man, filthy rags in His sight!  His righteousness is the only thing that will get you and me to heaven!  When we accept His sacrifice, His righteousness is transferred into our account and marked PAID IN FULL!  The sin debt I owed has been paid!  I wish I could make you understand that.  But, only God can do that!

Knowing Tim is going to heaven and will be completely healed doesn't mean I'm ready for him to leave me!  Actually, I'm trying to figure out a way to hitch a ride with him when his time has come.....and so shall we ever be with the Lord!  It has been something we have talked about.....wanting to leave this world at the same time and enter the presence of the Lord together!  WOW!  Gives me goose flesh just thinking about that!  What would be better than that?  How about, oh, say the Lord bursting through the eastern sky and taking all of His blood-bought saints home to live with Him forever.....today!  Are you ready?  I am soooo ready!  I know I will have things to answer for that I've omitted or committed, but I am still soooo ready!

There is a story of a preacher saying, "How many of you are ready to go to heaven, raise your hands?"  One man didn't raise his hand.  The pastor said, "Don't you want to go to heaven?"  The man said, "Yes!  But I thought you were getting a load together to leave now!"  Well, I might have been like that man at one time, but not any more!  I am ready ANY TIME the Lord says COME!  I'm tired of this sin-filled, wickeder-than-wicked world!  One of these days, sweet Christian family and friends!  One of these days!

I'll Fly Away

Some glad morning when this life is o'er,
I'll fly away;
To a home on God's celestial shore,
I'll fly away (I'll fly away).

Chorus
I'll fly away, Oh Glory
I'll fly away; (in the morning)
When I die, Hallelujah, by and by,
I'll fly away (I'll fly away).

When the shadows of this life have gone,
I'll fly away;
Like a bird from prison bars has flown,
I'll fly away (I'll fly away)

Chorus

Just a few more weary days and then,
I'll fly away;
To a land where joy shall never end,
I'll fly away (I'll fly away)


Today, Tim's fever was gone.  He got up a little bit earlier, ate his breakfast and got dressed.  We made a trip to Walmart.  About half way through, he was ready to go back to the car.  But I needed him to tell me what frozen foods he wanted for lunch, so I got one of the wheel chairs with a basket on the front and had him sit down while we finished the grocery shopping.  When he got home, he was ready to rest.  He wants to spend some time in the office this afternoon to prepare the devotion for the Mallard Ridge Assisted Living service on June 12th.  He rested for a couple of hours and I got him up to eat.

I walked him over to the church office and came back to the house to work on the new toilet seat we got at Walmart.  I worked for an hour on one bolt that is rusted.  Plus it is in an area that I cannot see, so I don't even know if I was turning the bolt the right way or not.  I had to call Calvin to the rescue.  He will be able to help me tomorrow.  What would we do without Calvin?!  Lord, please bless him in a mighty way for his willingness to serve You at a beckon call!

When I walked back over to the church to see how Tim was doing, he was just sitting in his chair.  He said nothing in his database suited his fancy for the Mallard Ridge service.  He will probably try again tomorrow.  I really think he was just too tired to wrap his brain around anything.

Some good news in his double vision.  Last night before bed he had his patch off and noticed as he looked around that he didn't have double vision, even though things were still blurry.  And again after his nap this afternoon he noticed there was no double vision.  But, it came back at one point.  I am praying this is the beginning of the double vision going away!  No double vision again tonight!  Thank You, Lord!  I would love to go to the doctor on Wednesday with the news that the double vision is gone!  If it please You, dear Lord, I would be so grateful!

A couple of our pastor friends stopped by tonight to visit with Tim.  He was so encouraged and loved their visit!  Thank you, Brother Dale and Brother Bill!

Today I swept and mopped the linoleum floors.  I put up a new church sign. Worked in the checkbook and mailed some bills and birthday cards. I actually cooked a meal  tonight!  Tim requested sweet and sour chicken, rice and veggies.  So that is what he got!  He ate more than I thought he would!

After supper, I cleaned up the kitchen, ran the dishwasher and cleaned my bathroom since Calvin will be working in there tomorrow on the new toilet seat.

Well, I think I am going to do some reading before bed tonight.  It has been about a month since I've  done any pleasure-reading.

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