Day 27

I love the poem “Footprints in the Sand”.  It reminds me that Jesus not only walks with me when I need Him but at times He even carries me.  I can depend completely on Him when I feel inadequate.

Footprints in the Sand

One night I dreamed I was walking along the beach with the Lord.
Many scenes from my life flashed across the sky.
In each scene I noticed footprints in the sand.
Sometimes there were two sets of footprints,
other times there were one set of footprints.
This bothered me because I noticed
that during the low periods of my life,
when I was suffering from
anguish, sorrow or defeat,
I could see only one set of footprints.
So I said to the Lord,
“You promised me Lord,
that if I followed you,
you would walk with me always.
But I have noticed that during the most trying periods of my life
there have only been one set of footprints in the sand.
Why, when I needed you most, you have not been there for me?”
The Lord replied,
“The times when you have seen only one set of footprints in the sand,
is when I carried you.”
By Mary Stevenson
We all need someone to be there for us in difficult times.

I woke up to the sound of the phone ringing.  I looked at my alarm clock. Three a.m.

I heard my dad talking on the phone in serious tones. He was asking about my older brother, Ervan.  When I heard him ask, “Is he going to live?” I knew something terrible had happened to my brother.

For the next few months most of my parent’s time was given to visiting my sick brother in the hospital. When he was finally well enough to come home they were busy taking care of him. They had to prepare special meals for him, and feed him, and change his dressings among other things. In time he healed and became independent again.

While my brother was sick he depended on my parents. My parents never neglected the rest of us but like a shepherd caring for a lame lamb until he is healed they had to give him a lot of extra care. During this time I’m sure my brother developed a very close relationship with my mom and dad because they spent so much time together.

There are times in our lives too that as His child God has to carry us.  We depend on him completely.  Sometimes it’s as we go through a difficult time in our life, like a divorce or an illness, or a financial crisis.  When situations are out of our control and we feel lost He comes and walks the dark hills reaching His hands out to us and carries us back to that safe place close to Him.  He cares for us as we depend completely on Him.

A shepherd has to leave his other sheep as he looks for the lost or hurt lamb, and a parent is forced to neglect the healthy child temporarily because of  their limitations. Unlike the shepherd and our parents, God isn’t limited.  He is with us 100% of the time while He is with the extra needy 100% of the time.  He never leaves us or forsakes us.
“If a man has a hundred sheep, and one wanders away and is lost, what will he do?  Won’t he leave the ninety-nine others and go into the hills to search for the lost one?”  Matthew 18:12 [The Living Bible]

“God has said, ‘I will never, never fail you nor forsake you.’” Hebrews 13:5 [The Living Bible]
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I want to walk with you spiritually this year, inviting you to read the Bible through from cover to cover; from Genesis 1 all the way to Revelation 22:21.  If that sounds too difficult for you and your kids, you can join in again after you have taken a break or join us for the days you’re up to it.  We will start on Sunday, January 18th and finish Saturday, January 16, 2010.  I promise that you will understand the Bible in a much deeper way if you read it through from cover to cover in a year’s time.

Accept my challenge to read the Bible through in one year chronologically, including the Old and the New Testament.

Day 27 Today read:
Exodus 4:1-5:21
Matthew 18:1-20
Psalm 22:19-31
Proverbs 5:15-21

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“Don’t tell lies to each other;” Colossians 4: verse 9 [The Living Bible]

There is no such thing as a little white lie. There is no such thing as a little sin. Either it is sin, or it isn’t. Either it is a lie, or it isn’t.

Cheating is a lie. When you copy someone else’s work and let your teacher think it is your work that is cheating. You are deceiving your teacher.

I admit there were times I wanted to cheat in school. The idea started with social studies. I’m terrible at learning and remembering facts; like historical events and geography. I always liked English and math because I could learn the rules and figure out the answer.

The answer to cheating is hard work. Study; ask for help from a mentor if you have a hard time understanding your school work. Make notes. Review them from time to time and especially before an exam.

Make a game of learning. Work with a friend or sibling. Have them quiz you. If you get the answer wrong, look it up. That will help you remember it better.

In the Bible there is a story about two brothers, Esau and Jacob. Esau was the older one. They were twins but they were very different. Esau was hairy while Jacob had smooth skin. Esau was a hunter and Jacob was a quiet man who liked to stay indoors. He became a good cook.

When their father, Isaac, was very old and knew he would die soon he called Esau to his bedside. He asked Esau to go hunt game and prepare it for him. Then Isaac would eat it and give Esau his very special blessing. With this blessing Esau would become the heir to the everlasting covenant between Abraham’s descendents and the Lord Jesus.

Now Isaac was blind. So while Esau went out to hunt food, his mother, Rebekah, helped Jacob deceive his father. Rebekah told Jacob to bring him two young goats and she would cook them for Jacob. She knew how to make them taste like wild meat. She also put the skins of the young goats on Jacob’s hands and neck. Then Jacob went into his father’s room pretending he was Esau.

Isaac was very suspicious and asked Jacob to come close to him so he could feel his hands. So Isaac thought it was Esau because his hands were hairy. He was still suspicious though and said he sounded like Jacob but he felt like Esau.

Then Isaac asked him, if he was Esau. Jacob lied. He said he was.

Isaac gave Jacob the special blessing for the oldest son. And then he ate his food. After he was done and Jacob left him alone, Esau arrived with his wild meat wanting his father to bless him.

So Isaac discovered that Jacob had lied to him but he couldn’t undo the blessing. It now belonged to Jacob.

Jacob paid dearly for his lie. Esau was so angry with him that Jacob had to leave home and flee from his brother. He was afraid that Esau might kill him. He never saw his mother again. You can read about Esau and Jacob in Genesis chapters 25, 26 and 27.

We also pay dearly when we lie; maybe not right away. We might think we got away with it. But somewhere, sometime later in life it comes to cause a problem in our life. The Bible says our sin (our lie) will find us out. When we lie we hurt ourselves

Memory verse for this week:

“If you want favor with both God and man, and a reputation for good judgment, then trust the Lord completely; don’t ever trust yourself.
“In everything you do, put God first, and he will direct you and crown your efforts with success.” Proverbs 3: verses 4, 5 and 6 [The Living Bible]

Going deeper for adults:
It seems to me that the lies we tell as adults have even deeper repercussions in our lives than the lies our children tell. As parents we have experienced how our mistakes can also negatively affect our families.
Fortunately God doesn’t leave us to our own devices. He says if we have wronged our brother we need to go to him and ask him to forgive us. We get a clean slate with our brother and with God.

Want to know more about how God can help you every day? Check out my new book The Lion Tree at www.ruthwillms.com.

Look for my new unpublished story, An Anniversary Surprise, at www.ruthwillms.com