Did You Hear What I Heard?

Update on my dad. Friday he went to the radiation doctor (I think). Doc was not happy because his scales have shown that Dad is down six pounds. He is going for another PET scan on February 2nd. So keep Dad in your prayers.

Yesterday, our preacher had a good message on what was suppose to be El Elyon, God Most High. And it actually was, but that is not what my husband came away with as the important part of the sermon. LOL. Actually the sermon was based in Genesis 14, where Abram (before he was renamed Abraham) went to war and two kings, one from Salem and one from Sodom wanted his help. Well, actually the the one from Salem, Melchizedek, who was a high priest, gave Abram food and drink and blessed him. This made Abram feel good and he gave the high priest ten percent of all he had.

Genesis 14:17 - 24

¹⁷Then after his return from the defeat of Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him, the king of Sodom went out to meet him at the valley of Shaveh (that is, the King's Valley).

¹⁸And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; now he was a priest of God Most High.

¹⁹He blessed him and said,
"Blessed be Abram of God Most High,
Possessor of heaven and earth;
²⁰And blessed be God Most High,
Who has delivered your enemies into your hand."
He gave him a tenth of all.

²¹The king of Sodom said to Abram, "Give the people to me and take the goods for yourself."

²²Abram said to the king of Sodom, "I have sworn to the LORD God Most High, possessor of heaven and earth,

²³that I will not take a thread or a sandal thong or anything that is yours, for fear you would say, 'I have made Abram rich.'

²⁴"I will take nothing except what the young men have eaten, and the share of the men who went with me, Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre; let them take their share."

Mike took away from that sermon, that giving a tenth of all you have is an answer to a question he has had for years. Anyway, later in the day, I was telling our preacher that I appreciated his sermon and that Mike took this away from it. He made a comment about not being happy with the sermon. We talked about how sometimes, we critic ourselves and how we need that so we can do better. But what Preacher was wanting to get across to us, was lost and something entirely different was born. God totally works in mysterious ways. He always gives each of us what our heart needs to hear. I bet those of you at church with us took something totally different away from that sermon. Can you tell me what you got out of it? Email me!

Relationships

As an update...my friend, Cheryl Russell, came through her surgery fine. She text me sometime last evening and said that all went well. Then at 3:40 AM, I received another text from her. She finally got into a room and was doing okay. Thank you all for your prayers. I am going to call her later and find out what the doctors have told her.

Today, nine of our church family is leaving for Tennessee Christian Teen Convention (TCTC, for short). pray for a safe drive and that the 6 kids involved (and 3 adults) will be blessed. This brings me to my next point. This weekend is a chance for Mike and I to relax, not run the kids every which way, and to get caught up on some projects, like putting a bed together, taking the Christmas decorations down, getting the garage back in working order so my car can go in...you know the honey-do list. But it will also be a chance for us to talk. As parents, a lot of you know how hard it is to keep up with the family activities, work, and whatever else you are in to. Sometimes, it is just nice to reconnect. I am not very good at this. I try to keep him in the loop, but with his work schedule, and my brain going 50 different ways. I forgot to tell him about Beckie and Scott Sloan being pregnant (BTW, Congratulations, you two!). Luckily, he is a forgiving man.

Ephesians 5:24 - 33 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. After all, no one ever hated his own body, but he feeds and cares for it, just as Christ does the church— for we are members of his body. "For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh." This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church. However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.

So today, think about your relationships with your spouse (if you have one) or with the closest person to you and your relationship with Christ. Are you being the way you should with them? I know that I am guilty of this. I am trying harder, though. Prayer about it. God will help you through it.

"Please don't fight these hands that are holding you"

I had a little extra money the other day, so I bought two cd's at the Family Christian Bookstore. I purchased Casting Crowns and Tenth Avenue North. The first you may have heard of, they have been around for quite a while. The second, well, they have a couple of songs that I really love. One of the songs is called By Your Side. This song has pierced my mind and soul. It is sung from God's point of view and it asks you why isn't He enough for you?

Which brings me to my point today. When someone says they love you and will be there for you and want to help you, why do we resist? Why do we think we need to handle everything alone? Why aren't we willing to let someone else help us? Why do we think and feel that if we don't do it ourselves, that everyone will think we are weak? We are weak. We are frail humans that usually mess up most everything we try to fix. If we don't learn to lean on each other as brothers and sisters in Christ, then what is the point of our church family?

Proverbs 11:2 When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom.

This means, that besides us learning to receive help, we need to not judge and learn to give help. If someone comes to you and says that they needs help, most of us shy away of giving someone else the time that we selfishly covet for ourselves and family. I am guilty of this, as is many of you. No matter what situation Jesus was in, or where he was going, if someone asked him to come heal someone, he went, or miraculously, he just took care of the situation. He didn't tell them that he would do it on these terms or that he was too busy, or that he actually was thinking about "how to get out of saying yes." Now, I am not saying that if you are busy or preoccupied with some other opportunity, to say no to someone, but truly, are you that busy you can't pray with someone, or take three hours and paint a bathroom or something?

Here are the words to the song By Your Side by

Songwriters: Donehey, Michael; Ingram, Jason David; Larue, Phillip

Why are you striving these days?
Why are you trying to earn grace?
Why are you crying
Let me lift up your face
Just don't turn away.

Why are you looking for love?
Why are you still searching as if I'm not enough?
To where will you go child?
Tell me where will you run
To where will you run.

'Cause I'll be by your side
Whenever you fall
In the dead of night
Wherever you call
And please don't fight
These hands that are holding you.
My hands are holding you.

Look at these hands and my side.
They swallowed the grave on that night.
When I drank the world's sin
To carry you in
And give you life,
I want to give you life.

And I'll be by your side
Whenever you fall
In the dead of night
Whenever you call
And please don't fight
These hands that are holding you.
My hands are holding you.

'Cause I, I love you.
I want you to know
That I, I love you
I'll never let you go.

'Cause I'll be by your side
Whenever you fall
In the dead of night
Whenever you call
And please don't fight
These hands that are holding you.
My hands are holding you.

Anticipation

Are you anticipating something? I believe at the moment, most of us in the Cincinnati area are anticipating a winter storm that could bring a lot of snow to the tri-state area. While we are not on pins and needles, (most of us aren't, I think), we are making preparations for this storm. Many of us will go to the grocery store tonight to make sure we have enough supplies, such as water, bread, milk. We also need to make sure we have gas in our vehicles, and de-icer for our sidewalks and driveways.

Mike has asked that Timm go to the shed and get the gas can for the snow blower. I am going to ask Timm to put in the smoker and grill that are sitting outside the garage and maybe put the garbage cans in the garage. I want to make sure there is enough wood for the fireplace too. All of this in anticipation of a storm that is being predicted. Now let me assure you that this is not set in stone. The National Weather Service and the weathermen and women say it is coming, but they have been wrong before. We can not be sure of the promises they are making. They know that and we know that.

What we can be sure of is the promises of God. Every promise that he has put to us has come true so far. Some have not, but that is because it is not time for them to come true. When He is ready, they will be. How can I say that, you ask? Well, there has not been one promise that has been predicted by a true prophet of God that has not come true. All through December we talked about how Jesus' birth was predicted hundreds of years before he was born. You can be positive that is God said it, it will happen!

2 Corinthians 1:20 states "For no matter how many promises God has made, they are "Yes" in Christ. And so through him the "Amen" is spoken by us to the glory of God."

So anticipate this storm if you want, but mostly, anticipate and prepare for Christ coming back someday. What do you need to do to get ready?

Don't forget to read michaeldawsononline.com for your daily Bible reading!

Dinner

Last night, I watched most of a movie (I had a headache all day, so I did fall asleep for about 15 minutes of it). It was called A Perfect Stranger. It is based on the book Dinner with A Perfect Stranger by David Gregory. I really want to read the book now. This is based on the premise that Jesus invites a lawyer to dinner. They talk, the lawyer full of doubts and questions everything. The movie itself is only an hour long and definitely worth watching again.

What would you do if you got an invitation to dinner at a nice restaurant with Jesus Christ? You know, you actually do have that invitation. Jesus asked us to remember what he did for us. His body on the cross, punctured, bleeding, and his blood, that spilled down the cross, staining it as it flowed down to the ground and being soaked up by the earth. Can't you just imagine the image of what was left after they took down his body? The wood, darkened by the stains of his blood. The ground, also stained where the blood dripped from his hands. Not a pretty picture, is it? But a necessary one for each of us to have in our minds. Who else would go through that kinda of torture for you? Who else would love you enough to take sin's weight and put it upon his shoulders? Only the most perfect person in the world. So, take the invitation. Come join us for supper.

1 Corinthians 11:23 -32

For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, ²⁴and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, "This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me." ²⁵In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me." ²⁶For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.

²⁷Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. ²⁸A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup. ²⁹For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself. ³⁰That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep. ³¹But if we judged ourselves, we would not come under judgment. ³²When we are judged by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be condemned with the world.

My friend

Acts 3:1 - 10

¹One day Peter and John were going up to the temple at the time of prayer—at three in the afternoon. ²Now a man crippled from birth was being carried to the temple gate called Beautiful, where he was put every day to beg from those going into the temple courts. ³When he saw Peter and John about to enter, he asked them for money. ⁴Peter looked straight at him, as did John. Then Peter said, "Look at us!" ⁵So the man gave them his attention, expecting to get something from them.

⁶Then Peter said, "Silver or gold I do not have, but what I have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk." ⁷Taking him by the right hand, he helped him up, and instantly the man's feet and ankles became strong. ⁸He jumped to his feet and began to walk. Then he went with them into the temple courts, walking and jumping, and praising God. ⁹When all the people saw him walking and praising God, ¹⁰they recognized him as the same man who used to sit begging at the temple gate called Beautiful, and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.

Today, my heart is heavy. I have a very good friend who is undergoing surgery. I only heard about this last night. She has cancer. They think it has been caught very early, which is wonderful. She seemed upbeat, but I can only imagine what she is really feeling. Adele and I go back to my days as a kid at church camp. Her family was the caretakers and she and I were in the same room. Her first name is Cheryl too. We went to camp together whenever we could, celebrated birthdays and graduations, were in each other's wedding, have supported each other when our children were born and just kept in touch.

Adele is one of my longest-running friends. I know that the doctors and nurses are going to do everything they can for her, but we all need to pray for her. She is divorced now and lost her mother last year. Her dad is close by, and she has two teenage children who are going to help her. She says her church family is going to bring in meals too. Thank goodness for them.

Like the passage above, through the doctors, they will do everything God wants done for Adele. Hopefully it will be enough to heal her. She is in God's hands, now. Praise you, Lord!

Happy 2010

Well, 11 hours into the new year and counting. Just kidding. What are we counting? Most of us that aren't working are surely not counting the hours and minutes we have to go back to work or school. Some of us may be counting down to that special event like a vacation, wedding, birth or maybe even the Rose Bowl or Sugar Bowl (go Ohio State and Cincinnati)!

God tells us not to worry about anything.

Matthew 6:25 - 34

25"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? 26Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?
28"And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30If 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? 31So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' 32For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

So live each day for the day, not for tomorrow. If you worry for tomorrow, you may miss the blessings of today. Have a great day!