Attack Two (Rev. 12:15-16)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 6/16/2015 10:13 AM

My Worship Time                                                                                            Focus:  Attack Two

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                      Reference:  Revelation 12:15-16

            Message of the verses:  “15 And the serpent poured water like a river out of his mouth after the woman, so that he might cause her to be swept away with the flood. 16 But the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and drank up the river which the dragon poured out of his mouth.”

            The following is a fairly long quote from my Spiritual Diary dated 08-12-05 when I looked at these verses then and what I found when I looked at that Spiritual Diary was something very similar to what I want to write today.  I will add some more comments but this quote has much of what I want to say today:  “There are times in this wonderful book that it is difficult to understand for sure whether John is giving the picture of using descriptive language that is just symbolism and that is the case here, at least, for me.  The spiritual truth that I gain from this section is that God takes care of His own people not matter how much Satan tries to destroy them, and if one looks at history one can see that the Jews have been targeted by Satan ever since they were a small family living only in the Middle East. 

            “I will give only one explanation as to what the flood and the earth opening its mouth to swallow up this flood might mean.  John could well be speaking of a flood of people, or an army that antichrist will send after these Jews, and it could be that there will be an earthquake that will happen to swallow up this army that is sent to pursue Israel.  If one looks at different Scriptures from the OT there are word pictures that describe similar things.  Isaiah 59:19 “So shall they fear the name of the LORD from the west, and his glory from the rising of the sun. When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the LORD shall lift up a standard against him.”  (AV)  Numbers 16:31 “ Then it came about as he finished speaking all these words, that the ground that was under them split open; 32  and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, and their households, and all the men who belonged to Korah, with their possessions.” (NASB)  Numbers 16 speaks of the rebellion of Korah and the results of their rebellion are seen in these two verses.

            “Satan became very angry when the Lord protected Israel, so he went off to cause much trouble with the rest of the offspring of Israel.  It is possible that there will be many in Israel who did not choose to go to this place where God will care for those who have gone there and so these are the ones who Satan will try and destroy.  It is also possible that Satan will be going after the “Tribulation Saints” too, and tries to destroy them.  At any rate Satan realizing how little time he has will try and destroy as many as he can.”  Now the last paragraph is mostly about verse seventeen which we will look at in more detail in our next SD.

 

            The reason that it is believed that this is a picture and not a real flood is that when Satan is described he is described as a “serpent” and we know that this is now the form that Satan is in at this time.  This term goes back to Genesis chapter three when Satan caused the serpent to speak to Eve, but at that time the serpent did not slither on the ground like they do now, that came as a part of the cruse that God put on the earth.  So if Satan is fugitively described as a serpent then the flood that is spoken of must also be fugitively too. 

           

            God sheltered Israel from the initial onslaught so there is no reason to think that He will not do the same with this attack too.  When we look at the earth drinking up the water of the flood that came out of the serpents mouth we can go back to the passage in the book of Numbers as I mentioned in the quote from my previous SD on these verses, and that tells of what God did to Korah.  Let us look at those verses at this time from Numbers 16:28-33 “28  Moses said, "By this you shall know that the LORD has sent me to do all these deeds; for this is not my doing. 29 “If these men die the death of all men or if they suffer the fate of all men, then the LORD has not sent me. 30 "But if the LORD brings about an entirely new thing and the ground opens its mouth and swallows them up with all that is theirs, and they descend alive into Sheol, then you will understand that these men have spurned the LORD." 31 As he finished speaking all these words, the ground that was under them split open; 32  and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, and their households, and all the men who belonged to Korah with their possessions. 33 So they and all that belonged to them went down alive to Sheol; and the earth closed over them, and they perished from the midst of the assembly.”  Now as we have been looking at the book of Revelation we have seen many earthquakes and so who is to say that this is not one of those earthquakes that will swallow up the army that antichrist sends after the Jews who are hiding in the place where God sent them to protect them.

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  The protection that the Lord gives to Israel during this time of the Tribulation increases my faith that He will care for me as long as He will leave me on this earth.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:  To love the Lord with all of my heart, soul, mind, and strength, and to live in the love of Christ so that I will love others as Christ loves me and extend mercy to others as Christ as done for me.

 

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Animal Skins” (Genesis 3:21).

 

Today’s Bible question:  “What was the mark toward which Paul pressed?”

 

Answer in our next SD.

 

6/16/2015 10:38 AM

 

  

 

Satan’s First Attack PT-2 (Rev. 12:13-14)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 6/15/2015 11:00 AM

My Worship Time                                                                      Focus:  Satan’s First Attack PT-2

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                      Reference:  Revelation 12:13-14

            Message of the verses:  “13 And when the dragon saw that he was thrown down to the earth, he persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male child. 14 But the two wings of the great eagle were given to the woman, so that she could fly into the wilderness to her place, where she was nourished for a time and times and half a time, from the presence of the serpent.”

            We looked yesterday at how the Gentiles would be helping the Jewish people during this attack by Satan, as this information came from the 25^th chapter of Matthew which was a part of Jesus’ Olivet Discourse that speaks of the Tribulation period.  In today’s SD we will look at how these verses show, (especially verse 14) how God will help the Jewish people from the attack of Satan.  “The two wings of the great eagle were given to the woman, so that she could fly into the wilderness to her place, where she was nourished for a time and times and half a time, from the presence of the serpent.”  John MacArthur writes “This is figurative language that symbolically depicts Israel’s escape from Satan’s assault.  The striking imagery of ‘the two wings of the great eagle’ is taken from Exodus 19:4: ‘You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to Myself.’  God will bring Israel to safety, just as He delivered the nation from bondage in Egypt.”

            I will now give some examples from Scripture that show that “wings” symbolizes strength:  Isaiah 40:31 “Yet those who wait for the LORD Will gain new strength; They will mount up with wings like eagles, They will run and not get tired, They will walk and not become weary.”  2 Samuel 22:11 and some others I will add speak of the wings as being speed:  “"And He rode on a cherub and flew; And He appeared on the wings of the wind.”  Psalm 18:10 “He rode upon a cherub and flew; And He sped upon the wings of the wind.”  Psalm 104:3 “He lays the beams of His upper chambers in the waters; He makes the clouds His chariot; He walks upon the wings of the wind;” Wings also speak of protection as we will see from Deuteronomy 32:9-11 “9 “For the LORD’S portion is His people; Jacob is the allotment of His inheritance. 10 “He found him in a desert land, And in the howling waste of a wilderness; He encircled him, He cared for him, He guarded him as the pupil of His eye. 11 “Like an eagle that stirs up its nest, That hovers over its young, He spread His wings and caught them, He carried them on His pinions.”

            We will now look at a series of verses from the Psalms which also speak of wings as being God’s protection to His people:

Psalm 17:8 “Keep me as the apple of the eye; Hide me in the shadow of Your wings.” 

Psalm 36:7 “How precious is Your lovingkindness, O God! And the children of men take refuge in the shadow of Your wings.”

Psalm 57:1 “Be gracious to me, O God, be gracious to me, For my soul takes refuge in You; And in the shadow of Your wings I will take refuge Until destruction passes by.”

Psalm 61:4 “Let me dwell in Your tent forever; Let me take refuge in the shelter of Your wings. Selah.”

Psalm 63:7 “For You have been my help, And in the shadow of Your wings I sing for joy.”

Psalm 91:4 “He will cover you with His pinions, And under His wings you may seek refuge; His faithfulness is a shield and bulwark.”

            John MacArthur writes “Eagle translates aetos, which can also refer to the griffon, or vulture (cf. Matt. 24:28; Luke 17:37).  These large birds with enormous wings-spans serve as a fitting symbol of God’s protection and sheltering of Israel.  This is not, of course, a reference to an actual eagle with literal wings; rather, it is picturesque language depicting God miraculous assistance of the woman, so that she could fly swiftly into the wilderness to her place of shelter and safety.”

            What I am about to write has been something that has been thought of for a long time, and that is where in the wilderness could it be where God will hide His people Israel for protection from the attacks of Satan.  First of all God could hide them in plain sight and He did not want anyone to harm them they would not be harmed.  However there is a place that may people believe that God will hide Israel during this last half of the Tribulation period, and people have even gone there to hide Bibles so that when Israel gets there they will know what is going on with them.  That place is Petra, and although the place is not told to us this one does make sense.  John MacArthur writes “Some have suggested the fortresslike city of Petra, carved into the rocky cliffs of Edom between the Dead Sea and the Gulf of Aqaba.  Approachable only through a narrow gorge, Petra was easy to defend in ancient times.  The term ‘wilderness’ does not reveal the exact location of Israel’s place of refuge, since that term is a general one often used to describe the desolate area east of Jerusalem (cf. Matt. 3:1; Mark 1:4; John 11:54).  Jesus’ warning to flee to the mountains (Matt. 24:15-16) suggests that the place of refuge will not be in the costal plain to the west of Jerusalem, or the relatively flat Negev (desert region) to the south.  More likely, it will be in the mountainous region east of Jerusalem.  Daniel 11:41 provides further evidence for that view:  ‘[Antichrist] will also enter the Beautiful Land, and many countries will fall; but these will be rescued out of his hand:  Edom, Moab and the foremost of the sons of Ammon.’  Perhaps God will spare Edom, Moab, and Ammon, ancient countries to the east of Israel, to provide a refuge for His people.”

            The rest of verse 14 speaks of God nourishing His people for “a time and times and half a time” which speaks of three and a half years as we have seen in the book of Daniel along with Revelation.  God will protect them “from the presence of the serpent.”  It is possible and perhaps highly probable that Satan will know where the Jews are hiding, but will make him nuts as he will not be able to get to them, for God is protecting them.  Why does Satan want to destroy Israel?  Well there are more than one reason, but if he could destroy them during the time of the Tribulation or even before then they would not be there to fulfill the kingdom promises that were made to them by the Lord.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I am thankful for the protection that God gives to me and to every believer as there is no place safer than being in the will of God.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  To love the Lord with all of my heart, soul, mind, and strength, and to live in the love of the Lord so that I can show love and mercy to those that need it as God brings them onto my path.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Four.”

Today’s Bible question:  “Out of what did God make coats for Adam and Eve?”

Answer in our next SD.

6/15/2015 11:49 AM 

Satan’s First Attack (Rev. 12:13-14)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 6/14/2015 10:52 PM

My Worship Time                                                                             Focus:  Satan’s First Attack

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                Reference:  Revelation 12:13-14

            Message of the verses:  “13 And when the dragon saw that he was thrown down to the earth, he persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male child. 14 But the two wings of the great eagle were given to the woman, so that she could fly into the wilderness to her place, where she was nourished for a time and times and half a time, from the presence of the serpent.”

            I think that this chapter in the book of Revelation is probably the most difficult to understand thus far in our study of this book.  When we left out last SD we mentioned that Satan was about to make three attacks on the people of Israel and in our study today we will begin to look at the first attack.  I have also mentioned that the timing of this chapter as far as when the war in heaven went on in relations to the Tribulation is kind of up in the air.  John MacArthur states in his sermon that he thinks that there is a possibility of that heavenly battle when Satan and his angels are thrown out of heaven could happen at the beginning of the Tribulation period so that Satan will then begin to bring about the career of Antichrist as he would then have three and a half years to accomplish this feat.  It is also possible that this heavenly battle happens in the middle of the Tribulation period which gives Satan only three and a half years before the return of Christ ending the Tribulation period.  There is no way to know when this will happen as far as I understand.

            In Revelation 12:6 we read “Then the woman fled into the wilderness where she had a place prepared by God, so that there she would be nourished for one thousand two hundred and sixty days.”  We see the reason as to why Israel (the woman) has to go into hiding in the wilderness from verses 13-14, which are our verses for today.  We have mentioned that once Satan is thrown out of heaven that he will be very angry and will begin to persecute Israel.  John MacArthur writes “The Greek verb translated ‘persecuted’ (dioko) means ‘to pursue,’ ‘to chase,’ or ‘to hunt.’  It is used in the New Testament of pursuit with hostile intent (cf. Matt. 23:34; Acts 26:11) and thus, by implication, can mean ‘to persecute.’  Here it describes Satan’s hostile pursuit and persecution of the Jews as they flee into the wilderness (12:6; cf. 12:4-7).”

            Jesus warned the nation of Israel to expect this when he was speaking on the Mount of Olives to His disciples in what is commonly called “The Olivet Discourse.”  He says the following in Matthew 24:15-22 “15 “Therefore when you see the Da 11:31  which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), 16 then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains. 17 “Whoever is on the housetop must not go down to get the things out that are in his house. 18 “Whoever is in the field must not turn back to get his cloak. 19 “But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! 20 “But pray that your flight will not be in the winter, or on a Sabbath. 21 “For then there will be a great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will. 22 “Unless those days had been cut short, no life would have been saved; but for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short.”

            Jesus is saying to the Jews to get out of Jerusalem when they see the Abomination of Desolation, which is when the antichrist goes into the temple and does something to cause desolation there, perhaps it could be sacrificing a pig on the altar that is found in the temple.

            When we read the highlighted words from Matthew 24:22 we see the word “elect” and this speaks of both the saved Gentiles and Jews, for we know that the nation of Israel was an elect nation that God chose and that all believers are His elect.

            The Jews will be in a desperate situation at this point of the Tribulation because of this attack from Satan, but Jesus goes on in Matthew 25:31 to describe some help that will come their way.  “31 "But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. 32  "All the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; 33  and He will put the sheep on His right, and the goats on the left. 34 “Then the King will say to those on His right, ’Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 35 ’For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; 36  naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.’ 37  "Then the righteous will answer Him, ’Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink? 38 ’And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? 39 ’When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ 40 “The King will answer and say to them, ’Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.’” Jesus is speaking of Gentile believers who will help the Jews as they are and have been persecuted by the Antichrist and his regime.  It seems to me that when Jesus judges the nations and He speaks to what He calls the “sheep” those who are saved coming out of the Tribulation period, that they will not know how helpful they have been to the Jews, but Jesus will reward them for their kindness to the children of Israel.  We will continue looking at this first attack on the Jews by Satan in our next SD.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:   I heard a wonderful sermon on mercy at our church service this morning and when we look at what Jesus tells what those Gentile believers did for the Jews in the Tribulation period we see a good definition of what Biblical mercy is all about.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  To love the Lord with all of my heart, soul, mind, and strength, and as I live in the love of Christ I desire to be more merciful to others.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Joash” (2 Kings 11:1-3).

Today’s Bible question:  “How many of Paul’s epistles were written to individuals?”

Answer in our next SD.

6/14/2015 11:27 PM

             

           

PT-2 of Introduction to War of the Ages PT-3 (War on Earth) (Rev. 12:`3-17)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 6/13/2015 7:54 AM

My Worship Time             Focus: PT-2 of Introduction to War of the Ages PT-3 (War on Earth)

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                            Reference:  Rev. 12:13-17

            Message of the verses:  “13 And when the dragon saw that he was thrown down to the earth, he persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male child. 14 But the two wings of the great eagle were given to the woman, so that she could fly into the wilderness to her place, where she *was nourished for a time and times and half a time, from the presence of the serpent. 15 And the serpent poured water like a river out of his mouth after the woman, so that he might cause her to be swept away with the flood. 16 But the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and drank up the river which the dragon poured out of his mouth. 17 So the dragon was enraged with the woman, and went off to make war with the rest of her children, who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus.”

            It is interesting to me that a few days ago I picked up a book from my bookshelf to read that has been there for some time and I had never read it before.  The book is by David Jeremiah and he entitles “I Never Thought I See the Day,” and in this book he goes through different things that he never thought that he would see in his lifetime.  One of the things he writes about is that he never thought he would see the day when Christians did not know that they were in a spiritual battle.  This is the second chapter of the book and I just began it last night.  That chapter has a lot to do with what we are looking at in the 12^th chapter of the book of Revelation as we have been looking at battles between Satan and God, Satan and God’s angels, and now looking at Satan and the Jewish people along with believers on earth as the battle now comes to the earth since Satan and his angels have been kicked out of heaven.  I certainly agree with David Jeremiah about many believers who do not know that they are in a spiritual battle, for the signs are all around the world that we are in a spiritual battle as the world seems to grow darker by the day, especially in our own country.

            We will not continue to look at the introduction to the War of the Ages (War on Earth) as we pick it up where we left off in our last SD.

            As I was listening to the message from John MacArthur that goes along with this chapter in his commentary he said that he was at the Holocaust Museum which is located in the state of Israel and one  of the reasons that the Jewish people made this Museum was the hope of there would never be another holocaust like there was in WWII, but the plain truth of Scripture shows that there will indeed be another one, and this one will actually be far worse than the one from WWII.  Let us look at Jeremiah 30:7 “’Alas! for that day is great, There is none like it; And it is the time of Jacob’s distress, But he will be saved from it.”  The KJV of the Bible calls it “Jacob’s Trouble.”  Jesus speaks of this trouble in Matthew 24:21 “"For then there will be a great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will.’”  He goes on in verse 22 to say “"Unless those days had been cut short, no life would have been saved; but for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short.”  We see from verse 22 that even though this will be the worst time ever on planet earth for God’s people that God still is in control and will care for His own.  After the trials and tribulation comes the glory.

            There are two reasons for this to be the worst time on planet earth.  The first one is something we have been looking at that is that the judgments that we have been looking at are from the Lord and we still have seven more very fast judgments to look at that will come from the Lord to judge the unrepentant sinners.  The second reason is seen in this 12^th chapter of Revelation which speaks of Satan, the antichrist, and later on the false prophet causing great troubles on the Jewish people and also on those who are true believers.  Satan will also do all possible to cause great trouble on the 144,000 Jewish evangelists and God’s two witnesses that we looked at in chapter 11 of Revelation.  However we know that his efforts will not succeed.  John MacArthur writes “His worst fears will be realized when the Jews ‘look on [the One] whom they have pierced; and…morn for Him, as one mourns for an only son, and…weep bitterly over Him like the bitter weeping over a firstborn’ (Zech. 12:10).  The believing remnant of Israel will be saved (Rom. 11:25-29), and their promised kingdom will be established (cf. Hosea 2:14-23).” 

            We will now look at a fairly long passage from the 12^th chapter of the book of Daniel which foresaw this tragic and triumphant time for the people of Israel: 

            “1 "Now at that time Michael, the great prince who stands guard over the sons of your people, will arise. And there will be a time of distress such as never occurred since there was a nation until that time; and at that time your people, everyone who is found written in the book, will be rescued. 2 “Many of those who sleep in the dust of the ground will awake, these to everlasting life, but the others to disgrace and everlasting contempt. 3 “Those who have insight will shine brightly like the brightness of the expanse of heaven, and those who lead the many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever. 4 “But as for you, Daniel, conceal these words and seal up the book until the end of time; many will go back and forth, and knowledge will increase."

    “5 Then I, Daniel, looked and behold, two others were standing, one on this bank of the river and the other on that bank of the river. 6 And one said to the man dressed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, "How long will it be until the end of these wonders?" 7 I heard the man dressed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, as he raised his right hand and his left toward heaven, and swore by Him who lives forever that it would be for a time, times, and half a time; and as soon as they finish shattering the power of the holy people, all these events will be completed. 8 As for me, I heard but could not understand; so I said, "My lord, what will be the outcome of these events?" 9 He said, "Go your way, Daniel, for these words are concealed and sealed up until the end time. 10 “Many will be purged, purified and refined, but the wicked will act wickedly; and none of the wicked will understand, but those who have insight will understand. 11 “From the time that the regular sacrifice is abolished and the abomination of desolation is set up, there will be 1,290 days.”  The book of Daniel was written sometime around 5 centuries before Jesus Christ came to earth, and the book of Revelation was written around 70 years after Jesus went back to heaven and Daniel is closed and concealed but the book of Revelation is open.  My personal belief is that we can better understand the book of Daniel because we are very close to the events that he speaks of, and as we compare them to the book of Revelation we also see the same thing.  Now as far as Daniel’s speaking of 1290 days which is 30 days longer than three and a half years it is believed that it will take those extra 30 days to prepare the earth for the Millennial Kingdom to begin.  The things that are spoken of in the last nine chapters of Ezekiel have to take place along with the judgment between the sheep and the goats as spoken of in Matthew 25 have to take place too along with I’m sure other things that we probably don’t know about at this time.

            Now we can see that Jeremiah, Daniel, and our Lord saw the same things happening that we are studying about in the book of Revelation, each from a different time period, and they all saw a future time of unparalleled distress for the people of Israel.  I personally pray for the people of Israel at least five times per week as I believe that even though we know these things are going to happen that God desires us to pray for the completion of what He has promised similar to what Daniel did in the 9^th chapter of Daniel, and we will see that John prays for the Lord’s return even after writing the entire book of Revelation with its theme of the 2^nd coming of Christ to planet earth.

            John MacArthur previews what he goes over in this last chapter of his commentary for chapter 12 of Revelation by writing “This passage describes three attacks that Satan’s forces will mount against Israel during the Tribulation.”  We will begin to look at these three attacks in our upcoming Spiritual Diaries.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I can learn from what we have been looking at today that God is always in charge even though difficult times are approaching God is still in charge.  God took the worst thing that ever happened on planet earth, the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, and made it the best thing that has ever happened on planet earth as Jesus Christ took my place and anyone else who accepts the forgiveness that He provides from His crucifixion along with His burial and resurrection from the dead.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  To love the Lord with all of my heart, soul, mind, and strength, and be ready to tell others whom God brings into my path the truth that will set them free and save their souls.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Upon the seat of the beast” (antichrist).

Today’s Bible question:  “What king was hidden in the Temple for the first six years of his life?”

Answer in our next SD.

6/13/2015 9:01 AM

 

SERVICE FOR MY WIFE

 

SERVICE FOR MY WIFE

Today is the day that we honor my wife at a service at our church along with a very small service at the place where she will be laid to rest.  The service last evening went well as many had the time to talk about the things that they remembered about my wife which was meaningful to all who were there. 

I realize that me speaking in front of a crowd is something that I am not use to, but I have to give tribute to my wife of 53 years, a wife that was one that knew the Lord and also served Him in wonderful ways.  I will now quote from how I will give tribute to her.

MY TRIBUTE TO MY WIFE SANDY

I want to talk about some of the things that Sandy really excelled in and there were many things.  I have always said that Sandy is the smartest person that I have ever known.  Let me begin by saying that the greatest thing that happened to Sandy was becoming a born-again believer sometime in April of 1974, and that met that we were both born-again believers in Jesus Christ that really caused are marriage to go in the right direction.  She was very serious about her faith as can be seen by the journals that she wrote in.  (Picture)  Sandy loved her family very much and was a devoted mom in raising our children. (Picture)  She loved horseback riding which we did on different occasions whenever we were on vacations. (Picture)  Another thing that she really liked to do when she got the chance was to snorkel and she snorkeled in some pretty wonderful places, like Aruba, the Bahamas, Mexico, and Hawaii.  (Picture).  She even took one lesson in Florida to scuba dive, but because of a problem with her ears that did not work out.  Sandy and I lived in Aruba for about nine months, and we had an apartment that was right on the beach.  I would get up in the morning to go to work and a little while later she would get up and head out into the Caribbean.  If she did not go there, she would go and take pictures of the wildlife.  It took her a while to get enough courage for her to drive in Aruba as driving down there was a new way of driving. 

Let me now talk about how Sandy would wash her clothes, and the reason I mention this is because she had clothes that were 20 years old and they looked almost the same as when she bought them.  I spoke about her taking pictures and that was another thing she did very well especially while she snorkeled as her photo albums were full of underwater pictures.  When Sandy’s parents were older, she would always take care of them in ways like celebrating their birthdays. (Picture) 

I now want to touch on her ability to take pain.  In our closet at home are many high potent pain pills that she got after her surgeries and not one pill has been taken by her.  Both of our children were born naturally without any pain medicine given to her, and that to me is amazing. 

I could go on and on about the things that Sandy could do well, things that as I look back warm my heart with these great memories, things like reading Christian stories by different authors she liked as she went to the Library and get these books and always had one for her to read.  I can hear her now when we were in the car to make sure we stop at the library to drop off one of her books.

I am thankful most for the plan that God had for our family, how he led us and cared for us, for we certainly were heading in the wrong direction after we first got married, and then the Lord changed the direction of our lives completely around, something that we really did not ask for, but something God had planned before this old world was even created.  This gives our family the great assurance that Sandy is in heaven with our Lord Jesus Christ and getting to know again those believers who passed on before her.  My hope and my prayers are for those who have not come to a saving knowledge in Jesus Christ is that the Holy Spirit will touch your heart so that you too can understand what it means to be a born-again believer in Jesus Christ, so you too can have that hope that Sandy had and not fear death but look forward to being in heaven someday. 

Now before I finish this little tribute to my wife, I want to share something that showed her selflessness. While we were living in Aruba the people we were renting from would send a cleaning lady to clean our apartment.  Well if you knew my wife you would know that she certainly did not need a cleaning lady.  This gave her the opportunity to talk to this lady.  She became well accounted with her and I know that this blessed both of their hearts.

In conclusion I have to say that I will miss my wife very much, but I know that she would not come back to this sin-cursed world even given the chance.  I know from the promise of Scripture that I will see her again when the Lord comes at the rapture or when He takes me home.

I have asked Becky Gravely to sing a song that the Lord has used to keep our family together through this very difficult time that we are going through.  “He Giveth More Grace.” 

Allow me to read 2 Corinthians 12:9 “⁹ And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.”

 

 

 

 

My wife's services

 

Today begins the most difficult two days that I will ever go through, and that is to have a couple of services to honor my wife, and my prayer that will bring glory to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  A group of family and some close friends will meet at the funeral home to do this, to tell stories of how Sandy has effected their lives, and to praise the Lord, knowing that Sandy is in heaven with her Lord Jesus Christ, as He is the One who paid for her sins when He died on the cross almost 2000 years ago.  What a privilege for her to meet the Lord and also to see other believers she knew who passed on before her.  My prayer is that these services we have for her will bring comfort to all of our family, and also will bring glory to the Lord, and even cause some to realize that they are in need of the Savior too.

I, and my family need the wonderful words that Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 12:9:  “And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness,”  Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weakness, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.”

Info On My Wife's Service.

 

INFORMATIONON ON MY WIFE’S SERVICE

I have mentioned that the reason that I am not posting SD’s on my blogs is because of the many things that are going on with the arrangements that have to be taken care of the services that will be going on with my wife’s death.  She past away last Wednesday at 936 in the morning with myself, my daughter, and my son at her side.  I will say that God has certainly given abundant grace to our entire family, and for that we all are thankful.  I will once again post the song that the Lord has given to us as we go through this most difficult time in our lives.

He Giveth More Grace

1. He giveth more grace when the burdens grow greater,
   He sendeth more strength when the labors increase;
   To added afflictions He addeth His mercy,
   To multiplied trials, His multiplied peace.
2. When we have exhausted our store of endurance,
   When our strength has failed ere the day is half done,
   When we reach the end of our hoarded resources
   Our Father’s full giving is only begun.
3. Fear not that thy need shall exceed His provision,
   Our God ever yearns His resources to share;
   Lean hard on the arm everlasting, availing;
   The Father both thee and thy load will upbear.
4. His love has no limits, His grace has no measure,
   His power no boundary known unto men;
   For out of His infinite riches in Jesus
   He giveth, and giveth, and giveth again.

8/2/2026 9:54 PM