THE MORNING STAR

Posted on December 17, 2011 by Wendy Kleker

                                                                      

THE MORNING STAR

by Wendy Kleker

“Now the dwelling of God is with men, and He will live with them.  They will be His people and God Himself will be with them and be their God.  He will wipe every tear from their eyes.  There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”  Rev. 21:3,4

           

            A dare.  A gauntlet thrown down.  A challenge to a duel of words. That’s how I took an article by Brian Doyle in the 2011 Daily Guideposts. Let me quote his last couple of lines after giving a wonderful tribute to a friend who had gone on to Glory.  “I believe she lives.  I believe that out of the darkness she has danced into an incomprehensible light.  Do you believe?” 

            How could I NOT answer that!

            I have always believed with my heart that there is a Heaven.  Light and love, God and wonder, paradise and perfection all rolled up in one glorious place.  Or is it ONE place and not many places?  Does it encompass more space than the universe?  Go on forever and ever?  It’s hard to imagine a place that never ends.  Maybe time going on forever, but a concrete place?  But then I’m not sure God’s glorious home IS concrete.  I am certain there’s no concrete and asphalt there.

            Like I said, I’ve always believed with my heart but now I see a tiny bit with my eyes.  Or I should say through the eyes of a little boy who visited eternity in the book “Heaven is For Real” by Todd Burpo.  A great book that will open your eyes to Glory and indeed help you to really know that Heaven IS real.

            My late husband, my sister, my mom and dad, my mother and father-in-law, numerous aunts and uncles and many dear friends who have passed on are for sure in a concrete place.  Not made of concrete and asphalt but a real place of light and color, magnificent, vibrant colors everywhere.  Why even the animals may be of different colors.  And yes, there are animals, all kinds and lots of them.  Many dogs all over and they, like the humans will never die.  No death in Heaven.  Oh, Praise God!  No sickness, no tears, no pain, no goodbyes, not even with our animal friends.  Hallelujah!

            I believe we will have jobs in Heaven, maybe something to do with what we did or who we were on earth, I mean using our talents, gifts and passions.  Someone has to take care of the animals, up there.  Right? Well maybe not in Heaven.

            The ones gone on ahead have not forgotten whom they left behind.  Even if they or we have changed or they never met us on earth, they will know who we are and love us in Heaven.  But then everyone loves in Heaven.  There’s no hate, no jealousy, no greed, no pride, no misunderstandings, no anger, no selfishness.  All those things that cause trouble here on hearth are gone.  Can you imagine?  A place with only compassion, joy, peace, kindness, respect and long suffering.   Imagine not needing to watch your back, as in lock the doors, carry a weapon, or take self defense classes.  No protecting our children, fighting for our rights, worrying about what someone is saying behind our backs, struggling to fit in or be good enough, and no more needing to be “politically correct”.  Can you just see someone in Heaven telling you, “We don’t say Merry Christmas any more.  You must tell people Happy Holidays.”  Not going to happen!  I’m sure there is a fantastic celebration of rejoicing for the birthday of the Prince of Heaven up there.

            Oh and about that “up there”, where exactly is Heaven and how big is it and how many folks will be there?  I mean I don’t like crowds.  I need my space, my room to roam.  Well I don’t know about those kinds of things, but I’m sure we won’t be uncomfortable, unhappy, discontent or any of those unpleasant things we deal with down here. 

            I do know with deep certainty we will be walking and talking  in bodies very much like the ones we now have, but not old, injured, diseased or impaired.  And we will see Jesus, talk to Him, and touch Him.  We will visit with God at His throne.  We will have homes and be surrounded by loved ones.  We may even watch God give power and abilities to folks on earth.  Or we may talk to Jesus about why things happened as they did or see the future.  We may get to pet Jesus’ rainbow horse or ride into battle with Him.  A battle we know Jesus will win, of course.  But now I’m getting into areas that are foggy indeed and hard to understand. 

            However, I’m sure folks we love who went on to Glory are right now dancing and skipping in unimaginable light and color and beauty.  In a world much like ours with trees, grass, mountains and lots of flowers, yet so much better.  Vibrant and bright, like a clear sunny spring day yet, with no imperfections.  Fresh and perfect like the very first day after creation.

            It’s a place where each person has a touching, loving, face-to-face relationship with the Prince of Peace and open access to the God of the Universe.  The Creator of all things! 

            Nothing will come between my Jesus and me in Glory.  No distractions, no sin, no earthly or selfish desires will keep me from seeing my Savior’s face.  For ever and ever!  And that is the best thing of all! 

            So, YES, I believe!

            But I won’t end there because I believe I’m going there some day.  Oh, I haven’t and won’t do everything perfect here on earth.  In fact, I’ve done some things terribly wrong, but the One whose eyes I will gaze into, whose hand I will hold and whose voice I will hear with my ears, the One who is the Morning Star, is the One who paid the price.  He covered the debt that I had no hope of ever paying.  His life on earth filled the bill and His death on the cross paid for all the wrongs and imperfections I have or ever will have in my life.  And yours too.

            You can walk in Glory with Him and see His face.  He is your Savior, every one of you, if you ask, if you invite Him into your life, He will cover your debt.  He will take your hand, He will walk with you on earth, He will talk with you in Glory. 

            Do you believe?

“Behold, I am coming soon! My reward is with Me, and I will give to everyone according to what he has done.  I am the Alpha ad the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.  Blessed are those who wash their robes that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city. 

Outside are the bad people who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murders, the idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood. 

            I Jesus, have sent my angel to give you this testimony for the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright Morning Star.” Rev. 22:12-16

Posted in Encouragement, Heaven | 4 Comments

TOO HEAVY TO FLY

Posted on November 29, 2011 by Wendy Kleker

TOO HEAVY TO FLY

by Wendy Kleker

Jesus WAS with me

Jesus IS with me

Jesus WILL BE with me!

In His strength, I will walk through all things.

I do not walk alone.

Today and forever and ever!

 

            Instead of clinging and controlling, I need to let go and let God.  Release.  Drop.  Unload. 

            I have a picture in my mind of a bird, a big white and gray hawk, struggling to carry a heavy weight, perhaps a fat prairie dog.  Flapping his wings wildly as he tries to gain elevation.  Fighting to fly.  Gaining some altitude then dropping.  Tipping this way, then that way trying to find the updraft.  Wings beating the air.  Striving upwards.  Losing altitude.   Determined to keep its catch.  Eyes intense, darting here and there searching for danger.  Sinking.  Flailing of wings.  Fighting the weight.  Trees approaching. 

            Talons open the prairie dog falls.  Wings beat.  Lifting.  Rising.  Ascending over the trees.  Gliding above the prairie.  Effortlessly soaring on the updraft.

                        What am I grasping, clinging to, trying to control?  My health, of course.  I shudder at the thought of being sick, weak, bedridden, hospitalized, in surgery.  I hate going to doctors, hate tests, hate decisions, hate sorting it all out, what actually needs to be done and what the doctors feel they have to tell you needs to be done. 

            I desire to be in my cozy, farmhouse home, wondering the prairie and hills, enjoying my dogs and loving my husband.  Visiting my kids is good and I don’t mind doing the jobs He would have me do. 

            I’ll follow you God, anywhere you want me to go. EXCEPT to the hospital!

            I’m like that hawk grasping my prize for dear life.  The catch.  What I think I need to survive.  What I want. 

            Lord help me to let go.  To soar on the Updraft.

            “Trust Me,” He says over and over.

            Does that mean I should not have medical tests and procedures done?  That I should just let You take care of  it? 

            “No, but give it to me,” comes the answer in a whisper.  “You once asked that I would take away the terrible pain in your heart and I said, ‘No, give it to Me so I can use it for My glory.’  And so you did.  Like you once gave me your hurting heart, your grief, your loneliness, now give me your physical problem that I may also use it for My glory.”

            In the silence that follows, as I sit holding my breath, comes, “Can you do this?”

            NO! NO!   I cry at first and like that flailing bird flapping its wings wildly I sink.  I loose altitude.  I am weighted down.  I’m going to crash. 

            “The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear?”

            Oh yeah I can fear all right.  Sickness, pain, weakness, surgery, hospitals.  You name it and I fear it.

            “The Lord is the strength of my life, of whom shall I be afraid.”  Ps. 27:1

            Once when I was destitute, when my heart was ripped apart, when I had fallen into a dark hole of despair and grief, I released it all into His hands.

            Did He take it away?  No, but these enemies, despair, loneliness, grief, that came against me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell and God lifted me up.  Above my enemies, free, unencumbered, liberated.  Soaring above the trees.

            So though an army encamp around me, I shall not fear.  Though war arise against me, even in this I will be confident.  In my God, I will trust. 

            “Can you do this?”  God asks.

            Can I go through the war?  Can I face the great number of enemies surrounding me?  Can I give Him my health to do what He desires for His glory?

            Oh, God in Heaven, can I do this?

            “TrustMe.” Comes the answer.

“Wait on the Lord.  Be of good courage, and He will strengthen your heart.  Wait I say on the Lord.”  Ps. 27:14

Amplified Translation: “Wait and hope and expect the Lord to answer.  Be brave and of good courage.  Let your heart be stout and enduring.”

Wendy’s Translation:  Rest, rely, depend on the Lord.  Be brave and courageous and He will strengthen your heart so you can be stout and enduring.  Hope, I say, always on the Lord.”

Read Ps. 27

SOARING

For in the day of trouble He will keep me safe in His dwelling.  He will hide me in the shelter of His tabernacle and set me high upon a rock.  Ps. 27:5

           

            David faced great enemies.  Can you see it?  His king, his employer, his one-time friend, his best friend’s father, his mentor had turned on him, marching against him with thousands of men, striving to kill him, to tear his flesh , to string him up, to slash off his head. 

            And David had done nothing.  Nothing but face a mighty giant with only a sling and a stone.  Nothing but soothe a distressed Saul with his harp and singing.  Nothing but kill many of the enemy with skill and cunning.  Nothing but befriend the kind who was reportedly a bit crazy and come into his household with joy and peace.  Nothing but have the spirit of God with him continuously.

            David was the Golden Child.  The one God had anointed to be the next king overIsrael, the one God blessed, the one God led with His Spirit.  Everyone loved David.  He was handsome, athletic and cunning.  He was a hero on the battle field and a charmer in the king’s courts.  Woman sang about him in the streets.  Men admired his strength and savvy.  His enemies fell before him like flies.  Then all went south and his life turned sour.

            War rose up against David and his enemy came for him in great numbers to eat up his flesh.  David ran.  David hid.  David was afraid.  He wrote in Ps. 102:

            “For my days are consumed like smoke, my bones are burned like a hearth.  My heart is stricken and withered like grass so I forget to eat my bread. 

            My enemies reproach me all day long; those who deride me swear an oath against me.  For I have eaten ashes like bread and mingled my drink with weeping.”  

            David hid in a cave in the wilderness called, Rocks of the Wild Goats for many days because he had heard Saul was once again coming after him.  With 3,000 men.

            How long had this been going on?  The running?  The hiding?  The fear?  David was at the bottom of despair.  He thought for a moment that God, even his God had abandoned him. 

            “Have you forgotten me Lord?  Cast me away from your side because of Your anger towards me?”  David cries in the darkness of the cave.  “My days are like the shadow that lengthens, growing darker and longer all the time; I am withering away like the dying grass!” (from Ps. 102:10-11)

                The Golden Boy of Israel spent his days in the darkness of the cave afraid to step out in the light of day for fear someone would report him to Saul.  How long those days must have seemed.  How deep his soul must have tumbled into the pit of despair.  But then David remembered.

            “When the wicked came against me to eat up my flesh—“

            Could this be the lion he killed with his bare hands?  Was he thinking about the bear that tried to get his father’s sheep to no avail?  Maybe he was thinking of the huge, fierce giant who roared his indignation at a boy coming to fight him, then fell with a mighty thud as a stone flung from a shepherd’s sling sank deep into his forehead?  Or it could be all those Philistines the inexperienced shepherd boy had slain on the battle field? 

            “—my enemies and foes they stumbled and fell.”  (Ps. 27: 2,6)    

            God delivered me then, He is with me now!

            However the days went on and still he hid in the dark, dank cave, the old sheepfolds maybe known only to David.  In desperation and anger, he poured out his heart to God.

            “I cried out to You oh Lord and to the Lord I made supplication.  What profit is there in my blood?  When I go down to the pit will the dust praise You?  Will it declare your truth?”  (Ps. 30:9)  

                “Will I do You any good dead, God?  How can I serve You then?  Who will then be your next king?”

            David called out to his God for help.  Many times, in fact.

            “Hear, O Lord, and have mercy on me, Lord my helper!” (Ps. 30:10)

            “God help me please, I’m dying here!”

            So David remembered what God had done.  He poured his heart out to God, all his anxiety, all his fears, even his anger, and David asked God for help.  Did God hear his prayers?  Did He listen?  Sure thing!  You betcha! (that’s Nort’ Dakotan for Yep).  Out of the blue, God delivered David’s enemy into his hands.  Literally.

            Evening was drawing close, the sun setting in a burst of glory behind the rocky hills.  Saul’s army was setting up camp for the night.  Saul, weary from a long day of commandeering his army from his chariot went into a quiet, private cave to rest.  Just for a moment, he thought, as he stretched his tall frame out on the ground and closed his eyes with a sigh, a moment to relax, to enjoy some peace and quiet. 

            Meanwhile, David and his company could not see the glorious colors dancing across the sky or feel the cool evening breeze kiss their foreheads.  They were buried in the dark recesses of a cave.  The very cave in which Saul took a nap!

            David and his men peered around the rocks and watched unbelieving as the source of their misery and fear fell into a deep sleep.

            One of David’s men hissed in his ear, “This is it!  God said He would deliver your enemy into your hands. Well here he is, take him out!”

            David crept forward, his sword in his hand.  He could hardly believe it!  His enemy, the one who had hounded him for months lay on the cave floor snoring away.  Totally at David’s mercy.  He could end all the misery now.  In one swipe of his sword.    Had God truly delivered King Saul into his hands?  Could it be that easy to get rid of his problem?

            David must have whispered a prayer since he always sought the Lord’s direction, “What should I do, Lord?  Should I kill Your anointed?”

            Saul snored on, beat and tired out, not moving a muscle, completely unprotected,  totally unaware of his predicament. 

            David crept closer, until he was at the foot of Saul’s robe.  He raised the sword, Goliath’s sword, in fact, above his head. Glimmering light from the setting sun shimmered off the great blade as it slashed downward.  David grabbed the end of Saul’s robe and cut it off.

            “Why did you not kill him?” David’s men asked when he rejoined them in the back of the cave.

            Indeed no one would have blamed David if he had because in those days, it was an “eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth”, but David was troubled that he should even  cut Saul’s robe.  So he restrained his men from attacking the defensless king.

            Later in the dim light of evening, as Saul left the cave, David went out alone and bowed to the ground.  “My lord, the king!” he cried and Saul turned startled.

            “You see God delivered you into my hands,” David held up the piece of robe, “and someone urged me to kill you, but I will not stretch out my hand against God’s anointed leader.  Let God be the judge between you and me and let God avenge me. But I will not touch you.”  (from 1 Sam. 24)

            David could have taken care of things his own way, the easy way, the fast way.  He could have killed Saul more than once.  Instead, he gave it to God.  He let God take care of it in God’s way in God’s time.  David let go.

            Now God says to me, “Can you let go?  Can you let Me?”

            Can I give Him my health to use for His glory?

            Like the hawk struggling to fly, I hang on to the catch. I cling to what I think I need.  Good health.  Strength of limbs.  Life on this earth.

            Oh, God please do not make me weak! Do not shorten my days!

            The answer comes, “I will build you up, My child, for My glory.  I will hear and consider your prayer and will not throw away your request.”  (from Ps. 102:16-17)     

            “Release your troubles into My hands.  Drop the burden.  Trust Me and you will soar.”

            When David walked away from that encounter with Saul, he must have felt like he was flying on eagle’s wings.  How joyful he must have been when he wrote, “Therefore I will offer sacrifices of joy in His tabernacle!   I will sing, yes, I will sing praises to the Lord!”  (ps. 27:6)

            Granted there were many more problems after that and the struggle with Saul went on, but God did eventually deliver David.  Soul ironically died by his own hand and David was lifted up to becomeIsrael’s second king.  God himself said that David was a man after God’s own heart. 

            It seems so much harder to relinquish my health than my heart.  I struggle.  I give it to Him.  I take it back.  I cry out.  I beg for help. I want to run.  I try to hide.  I fight to gain altitude.  I beat my wings in the air.  I glide for a bit.  I fall. Then I open my hands and release the burden. 

            God take my life.  Take my health, use it for your glory.   Use it the way You see fit.  Like David, I want this to be over.  I want to go back to normal life, but like David, I will allow You to handle it Your way in Your time.  I will let go.  I will trust You.  I will soar on the Updraft.

                        “Bless the Lord, O my soul,   And forget not all His benefits:  Who forgives all your sins,  Who heals all your diseases,  Who redeems your life from destruction,   Who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies.   Who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.  (Ps. 103:2-5)

Read Ps. 103

Posted in Encouragement, Hawk and it's load, Letting go, Soaring on eagles wings, Trusting God | 3 Comments

Author God

Posted on October 26, 2011 by Wendy Kleker

AUTHOR GOD

by Wendy Kleker

 UNBEEELIEVABLE!!! Fifty Five years on this earth.  I can’t believe I have been around that long!  Yet really when I think about it, 55 years of my life is barely a blip in God’s scheme.  Only a split moment in eternity.  Inconsequential, unsubstantial, insignificant.  As in, puny, microscopic, meager, trivial.

            Oh but that is where I am wrong.  My life, although I’m only one in millions upon millions, even if fifty five years is not much time in the whole scope of eternity, even though my life has been worthless in the eyes of the world; my existence, my being, my soul was fearfully and wonderfully made.

            My days on earth planned out and numbered. 

            Even before my body was formed.       

            “Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed.”

            You pictured me, Lord, what I would look like, how I would be before I was even created!

            “And in your book they were all written.  The days fashioned for me, when as yet there were none of them.”  

            Oh my God, even before my days began, even before I was started in my mother’s womb, You took out your book and wrote my story.  You knew where I would go and what I would do and who I would marry.  You knew it Lord and You planned it out.

            You wrote the story.  You know exactly how many days I have on this earth.  You know the plot.  You thought it up.

            You know and understand exactly the path I walk and the words I utter even, Lord, every thought that passes through my mind every single day of my life.  Not only here on earth but for eternity.

            Imagine that!  God created the plot, wrote the story and watched the movie of my life.  In fact He has memorized every word I have uttered for these fifty five years of my existence!  And knows every word I will say and thought I will think for all eternity!

            Not only that, He is in the story!  He surrounds me with His presence.  The Author, the Creator of life, the Master of all that exists holds me in His arms!

            Unless I choose to turn away from Him, there is no place on earth, in Heaven or even in hell where I can escape His Spirit.  There is no fleeing His presence.  Flying away on the wings of the dawn is not an option.  If I hide in the deepest sea He will be there. Even the darkest night of my life will be illuminated by His light piercing the darkness.

            Through it all, in it all, with it all, He is with me.

            Always.

            Almighty God leads me, holds me, keeps me all the days of my life, through eternity, for ever more.  THAT is unbelievable!

            Search me, oh God.  I open my life to You.  Look into my heart, try my every motive and know my anxieties, my worries, my concerns.  Show me, oh God if there is any wicked way in me.  Oh Father God, cut out and prune anything in my life that is between You and me.

            I want to walk close to You all the days of my life.  Lead me in Your way for ever and ever.  Amen.

(taken from Ps. 139)

Falling for FALL!

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Posted in Encouragement, Following God, God knows my life, God numbered my days, God the Author, He wrote the plot | 7 Comments

Liberating the Frogs

Posted on August 11, 2011 by Wendy Kleker

LIBERATING THE FROGS
“He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire, he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand. He put a new song in my mouth and a hymn of praise to our God.” Ps. 40:1-3

Frogs! Lots of them in the basement window well. One was sitting like a statue, staring longingly at the spider that reclined happily on its web on the inside of the glass. Stupid frogs! I said to myself as I went back upstairs to finish the dishes. Don’t they know they’ll die in that hole? Eventually when the bugs run out and there is no water. Don’t they know they are caught, imprisoned, captured and trapped? Stupid frogs.
Well, they were just frogs after all so I wasn’t going to worry about them. Let them take care of themselves. However, my mind wouldn’t let the frogs go. I kept thinking of it from their point of view.

Fiona Frog says, “Dear, maybe you should go out and catch a few flies for our dinner. Our supply seems to be getting low.”
Fred Frog answers, “If only I could get to that big juicy spider, but something seems to be blocking my tongue. Maybe I’ll try again. It looks so juicy and good just hanging there.”
SPLAT!
“Ahhh! Hard on de tongue!”
Fiona hops over to Fred, “Goodness sakes Fred, you’ve tried a hundred times to snatch that spider! It’s not going to work, can’t you figure that out! I’ve looked all around this joint and there isn’t one bug left to be found. I think we should take the kids and hop outta here. Move on. Find another pad, a lily pad would be nice.”
Fred keeps his buggy eyes on the contented spider, “Fiona, doncha know I’ve tried to hop out, there’s no way. We can’t leave, we’re trapped.”
“Trapped!” Fiona gasps, “You mean like, as in a fly trap! Stuck! Caught! What are we gonna do?”
Fred never takes his eyes off the reclining spider, “Don’t worry yourself now, Fiona dear, something will come up. This is such a nice cool place I’m sure food will come our way soon. Like this spider now, why any time he might get within reach. There he moved I’ll just—“ SPLAT!

“Okay! Okay! I’ll go help the frogs!” I threw down the dish cloth and searched for my gloves. After removing the window well cover, I looked into the hole and saw several pairs of beady eyes looking up at me.  So I don my gloves; after all these aren’t your cute, petite, green frogs, no these are toads, brownish, burly, bulgy, bumpy and so ugly they’re cute; and I begin scooping up frogs, big ones and little ones and depositing them into the flower bed where they can hop to freedom. They hop here and there in a panic and some even try to hop back into the hole. Stupid frogs, I say as I put the cover back on the window well.

Stupid frogs we might say, but aren’t we a lot like those frogs? We think we’re safe, in a nice place, getting along fine, but one day the last curtain falls, the shades are drawn, the death bell tolls, the bugs run out and we kick the bucket. Are we okay? Do we know Jesus? Is the Lord of the universe Lord of our lives? Do we fly to Glory or plunge into the lake of fire?
Do we sit staring at something we can’t ever hope to attain? Or if we do get it, there’s only a small morsel, a juicy bite that might hold us for a day but won’t carry us for eternity. Are we banking eternity on a fat spider on the other side of the glass?
Jesus is your Liberator. He will save your sins, heal your soul and give you eternity in His garden, if you ask Him into your life.

A week later I was in the basement and saw movement in the window well. The other one this time. Oh No! I thought, Not the frogs again! Sure enough closer examination revealed frogs. Lots of frogs once again in the window well. Captured, caught, trapped. Staring up at the light, climbing on the screen, staring at me pleadingly through the glass.
Stupid frogs. But aren’t I a lot like those frogs? Jesus sets me free and I jump right back into the hole. Maybe it’s a hole of sin or fear or worry. That’s my big one, worry and fear; fretting, stewing, not trusting, not relying on my God, but hoping around, vainly trying to jump out of the hole. When I can’t. But Jesus can.

This time I decide to let the frogs stew for awhile. No not frog legs! As John suggested. Or stewed toads. Gag a Rag! But let them figure out they are on a dead end road; in a paradise that is no garden of Eden; that their hideaway will turn into a cemetery. There’s grass so they have shade. There’s crickets so they have food. There’s dew so they have water. However one of these days the grass is going to whither, the crickets will run out, the dew will freeze, and the frogs will be, should I say, in a hole with no ladder. They’ll see that their life of ease was not such an easy street after all. Maybe they’ll be happy for the helping hand out of their hole and the garden to live in. Do ya think?
Probably not because the frogs are a lot like me, they don’t see beyond the spider on the other side of the glass.

So I waited a couple of days then I got the gloves again, and a bucket this time with a lid on it.  I scooped out toads again, but this time I put them in the bucket.  Then I carried them to the garden, a nice cool place with water and shelter and lots of bugs.  Bugs I hoped the toads would lap up hardly.  I dumped them in my garden, little toads, big toads and in between toads.  They hopped around finding leaves and vines to hide under.  As far as I know the toads are still in my garden, haven’t seen them back in the wheel well hole.

Jesus is my liberator! When I am worried about our country and the future, about finances, about health issues and growing old and my grandkid’s future I just hop into His hands. His capable hands can carry us all to safety in His garden.

“It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.” Gal. 5:1

Posted in Encouragement | 4 Comments

The Risen King!

Posted on April 19, 2011 by Wendy Kleker

THE GATE

by Wendy Kleker

         The sun sank below the distant hills.  The air was turning chilly, the coyotes howling not so far away, the frogs starting their night song. Somewhere near by on a rock ledge a mighty lion yawned and stood up stretching his tawny length.  Scanning the valley below, he licked his lips as he watched the grazing sheep.  He knew they posed no problem. An easy meal.  No danger.  Very little effort.  The lion would satisfy his hunger soon.

             The shepherd, with long robes billowing in the evening breeze, thumped his staff on the ground three times and sounded a long whistle, then turned to march over the hill.  The white and black sheep dotted in the valley lifted their heads and quickly fell into line to follow the shepherd.

            They came to the fold before darkness had fallen and the sheep filed by the shepherd through the open gate, gladly seeking the safety it provided against prowling lions and sulking bears in the blackness of night.   The fold was dug into the hill with one side being a rock wall, tall enough and strong enough to keep even the great cats at bay. 

            The only vulnerable place in the fold was the opening.  Having no hinges or wood, the shepherd could not make a gate to bar the way.  So, after building a fire and preparing a simple meal, the shepherd stretched himself out in that opening to sleep.  Nothing in the night could go into the fold without rousing the shepherd.  Inside the sheep were safe and the next morning they would be led to good pastures.

            The lion on the rocks above twitched his tail and snarled his anger to the night.  If only the shepherd would leave his post at the gate for a moment, if only he would leave the sheep alone.  But he never does.  He’s always there. 

            Jesus says, “I am the gate, whoever enters through Me will be saved.  He will come in and go out and will find safe pastures. I am the good Shepherd.  The good Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.”  John 10:9

            Do you follow the Good Shepherd who laid down His life for you?

            Have you come into the fold through the Gate?

Now is the time, today, before darkness falls, before the lion stalks.

THE LAMB

         A lion was stalking the Lamb.  Emmanuel–God with us—turned to face the lion.  His lion was death and Hades and the Prince of Darkness.

            Jesus went to the Mount of Olives in great fear, with much trembling and feeling such anguish that he cried tears of blood.  He wept for Himself, for the pain and separation from His beloved Father, for the great load of sin He must bear.  He wept and he struggled, He cried and he sought another way, but yet He knew there was no other way for the lost to be found.  For sheep to come into the fold.  For you and for me to see the light of Gory.  He is the Door. 

            Jesus is the truth. 

                        The way. 

                                 The life. 

                                         No man comes unto the Father but by Him.

            No one could have made Him do it.  Even the Father would not have forced His Son to lay down His life.  Even though He knew He faced great pain, tremendous suffering, and utter darkness Jesus surrendered to His Father as he whispered, “Not My will, but Thine be done”.

            The Son of God left the garden in chains under Roman guard, destined for the cross.  But he left with His head up and His back straight.  No more trembling, no more tears, no more fear.

            He walked that torturous path of pain.  He carried the tremendous burden of sin.  He existed in utter darkness of evil. 

            Jesus is the Prince of Peace, the Morning Star, The Everlasting Light, The Lamb of God.  He shut the lion’s mouth and parted the sea.  He smashed the walls of Jericho and wiped out an army as numerous as grasshoppers with 300 men.  He walked on water and fed ten thousand people with one fish and two loaves.  He turned water into wine and called his friend from the grave.  

            Jesus burst from the tomb!

                      He is victorious!

                               He defeated death and overcame evil!

                                         He rent the veil and opened the door of Heaven! 

                                                      He is Victorious!

            He stands with open arms and beckons you to His wounded side.

“Come to Me,” He says, “all who are weary and heavy burdened and I will give you rest.”

The Victory is WON!

The price is paid.

Your way is bought.

Take the gift,

Grab His hand.

Fall into His arms.

He is the Door walk through!

Jesus!  The Risen King!

Posted in Encouragement | Leave a comment

The Sewer Stench Saga (by who knows!)

Posted on March 26, 2011 by Wendy Kleker

Guard dog Happy telling me to "Stay Grounded!"

Okay, time for a little humor.  Just for chuckles for your reading enjoyment—or disgust.

The Sewer Stench Saga

            NEWS FLASH:  All across the Great state of North Dakota households and businesses are smitten with the same malady!  An odiferous, foul stench is seeping in the cracks, seams and crevices of houses everywhere, whether in cities, on farms, in small towns or remote rural areas.  Folks, we are nearing a state of emergency!

            As quoted from one women living in the sticks in western North Dakota, “I woke up in the morning with my nose just a twitching.  I sniffed and sniffed again, then wished I hadn’t.  Stunk to High Heaven!  For a minute there thought my hubby had died and gone to High Heaven.”

            “Woke me up in the middle of the night,” reports a farm wife, “sat straight up in bed.  Checked under my pillow for a dead mouse.”

            “I followed my nose to the back porch,” says the woman from in the sticks, “when I opened the door I was almost knocked off my feet by the reeking, fetid emanation emanating from the sewer vent pipe.”

            So there you have it folks, the affliction that is affecting all of North Dakota.  The rank foulness of an offensive malodorous fetor.  The very rankness of the offensive, putrid sewer stench filling the houses of North Dakota. 

            What is to be done about this horrible problem?  What can folks hope to do to eradicate this infirmity?  A local radio program gave some well researched, technical advice on the elimination of the rotten aroma filling many houses this winter.

  1. Whack the vent pipe with a stick, thus knocking the ice out
  2. Climb up on your roof and pour hot water down the vent pipe.  This is not advisable since no. 1 could be hazardous to your health due to a slick roof and  no. 2 once hot water is poured down the vent pipe, ice will more readily form, for what ever mysterious reason.             

            To better understand this problem and it’s affects on the life styles of fellow North Dakotans, we braved blinding snow, frigid temperatures, wild winds, deep drifts and vicious animals (in the form of Pheasants lined on the sides of the road ready to peck our tires) risking life, limb and vehicle to interview a woman living way-in-the-heck-and-gone, in the middle of nowhere, in what is often referred to (by non-locals) as a chicken coup.  Translated: “a small ramshackle house, with obvious add-ons, tilting this way and that and looking like a strong wind may blow it smack over, when in actuality it has stood firm in thousands of gale force winds, against deep snow drifts and in fierce rain, hail and sleet for the hundred years it has been shelter against the storms for hard working folks.”

            Following is the amazing story that we heard with our own ears and was witnessed, in part, by the eyes of our own brave reporter, as told by Wendy Kleker of Garner Creek, North Dakota:

            Well I get to smelling a stench, it has this certain dead-mouse-like smell, you see, and I follow it to the back porch.  In opening the door I’m hit full in the face by the foulness.  My eyes water and my mouth puckers and my nose scrunches.  “It’s time.” I say and don my snow pants, boots, hat, parka and gloves for my venture up into the great, wild blue yonder.

            Once out on the back porch with my purex jug of hot water I look behind me and notice the reporter feller passed out from the awful stench.  Had to drag him outside to revive him before I could accomplish my mission.  These city folks just don’t have the constitution for this kind of thing. 

            So anyway once the reporter is revived and although looking a bit groggy, tips his head back, and shields his eyes to watch my brave climb into the sky on the ladder that is tied to the side of the house so it won’t slide sideways down the eves.

            With the wind whipping, for you see these things always happens in gale force winds and freezing temperatures, I clutch the purex jug in one gloved hand and climb the ladder, one rung at a slow time, until I am perched far above the ground at the top of the ladder clinging with one arm around the sewer vent pipe. The wind whistles and tears at my clothes and threatens to blow me off my precarious perch. 

            The vent pipe has an elbow on the top to keep the wind from blowing down it, which only works when the wind is not blowing.  Actually when it is blowing in the right direction.  When the wind switches directions the elbow must be moved also.  Since I have not figured out a way to do this remotely, I have to climb the ladder and turn the elbow every time the wind switches directions, which can be several times in one day or possibly in one hour.

            However at this time the vent pipe is iced up, the common cause of the odiferous aroma leaking into houses all over this wonderful state, according to the misled, misunderstood, or misinformed media.  Happens when it’s cold, usually below freezing and about once a day I must perform my administrations.  The elbow is frozen on so I pour hot water over the elbow as the wind blows much of it in my face on my hands and soaks my coat sleeve.  I hope my glasses don’t freeze since then it would be difficult to see where to pour the water.  I tap on the elbow, which is full of ice to knock it loose then lift it off.  All the time clinging to the ladder for dear life.  Then while hanging onto the elbow with one hand and fighting to stay aloft in the strong winds that buffet my body, I pour the rest of the water down the vent to melt the ice that blocks the pipe.             

            This is usually done in accompaniment to Happy, my fierce guard dog, barking his head off.  He barks from the moment I touch the ladder to climb until my foot comes off the last rung at the bottom.  I wonder what message he is trying to get across.  That I am plumb nuts, have really lost the cookie, flipped the pancake, smoked my goose.  Maybe he’s telling me it’s plumb dangerous, not a good idea, shouldn’t go there, you’re walking on thin ice, or rather climbing the BIG one. Could be he’s saying, “If you think I’m going up there to protect you, you’re for sure barking up the wrong tree!”

            However, today Mr. Reporter fella is down there (Happy being safely tied up to the shed is barking and frothing at the mouth to get to the fiend who is threatening his mistress. Or maybe he’s growing and drooling to get to his mistress for tying him to the shed.) Anyway this city dweller, reporter fellow is standing at a safe distance (I’m not sure if to be safe in case I fall or to be out of the downdraft from the sewer stench) still peering up at me from under shielded eyes. 

            I often wonder what would happen if the ladder should slip, which could only happen if the rope which ties it to the house would break or the ancient siding on the house should pull loose, and I would be left dangling from the vent pipe.  Of course in the event that this should happen I am technologically prepared to the max and always carry my cell phone, which I have zippered safely in the pocket of my snow pants so it won’t fall into the snow drift below the ladder.  Also in case the ladder should careen down the eve of the house, I always keep one arm securely locked, or in this case frozen, around the vent pipe.  So there I would be clinging to the pipe, legs dangling over the eve, yelling my head off, which would do no good since the nearest neighbor is almost two miles away and Happy’s barking would surely drown out my desperate cries for help.  So there I’d be flapping in the wind on the eves way above the ground, at least 10 feet or so, and trying vainly with one hand to dig my cell phone out of my carefully zippered pocket.  And in the event I should get it out, while the fierce wind buffets my waving body, I fumble with the buttons to locate a phone number and push send if I am so lucky to see it. Then when I manage to slide the phone under my parka hood and ear muffs to my ear, I part my frozen stiff lips and mumble as clearly as I can possibly manage, “Rick (all names are of course changed to protect the innocent) do you think you could send someone out here?  I’m kinda at the end of my rope.  Literally on the roof top, eves dropping you might say, about to take a header.  Actually in over my head, hangin’ in there, holdin’ on fer dear life.  You could say in a precarious, jeopardous, chancy, ticklish, risky, unhealthy and dire situation.  In other words HELP!” 

            Okay back to the story at hand–When I have all the water, all of it that did not end up in my face, poured down the vent, I drop the now empty purex jug thinking it would drop straight to the ground.  Now I’ve been in North Dakota over a year so I should know that nothing short of an iron ball drops straight to the ground.  The jug being carried on the wind wings east and smacks the reporter fella smack-dab in the face. 

            “OH!” he cries as he staggers back a few steps.

            “OH!” I cry grabbing the sewer vent as I jerk my head around, “Sorry ab—“  just then the full-of-ice-elbow slips out of my  hand that was locked onto the ladder, careens down the roof, bounces off the dormer below, ricochets from the edge of the eve and whacks with a loud THUD, on the very top of the reporters head.

            “Ahhh,” he mumbles, as he crumples to the ground.

            I wince and carefully feel my way down the ladder.  I say feel cuz my glasses are by this time pretty much iced over.  However, I am able, after a careful search of the surrounding drifts, to find the elbow, much to my relief.  I then preceded into the house to not only de-ice the elbow, but also remove the layers of ice from my glasses.  This is accomplished after the sleeve of my coat thaws enough that I am able to straighten my arm from the bent position it was in when clinging to the sewer vent. 

            With this all done I venture once again, into the sky to accomplish the second part of my mission, which is, of course, putting the elbow back on the pipe and positioning it in just the right place so the wind will not blow down the pipe and fill the house full of putridness.  I call this the “Sweet Spot”.  One never knows where that spot is until one has first computed the direction of the wind.  Which is accomplished by pulling ones glove off with ones teeth, then sticking ones finger into ones mouth, then pointing that finger to the sky.  This complicated procedure simply concurs that the side of the finger that freezes first is the direction the wind is coming from. 

            Therefore, with the wind direction carefully calculated I rotate the elbow to the sweet spot.  Then I make my slow descent down the before-stated-hazardous ladder.  By the time my feet touch the snow banks below, the a-for-mentioned reporter is stirring, which I’m glad to see since if he hadn’t come to life, I wasn’t sure what I’d have done with him since the ground is way too frozen to burry a body at this time. 

            So I was a bit relieved when said body moved and a long groan escaped the poor fellows blue lips. I was also relieved to smell no stench when I helped the groggy guy through the porch.  I wasn’t too sure I could handle him passing out again.  I have just poured the befuddled fellow a cup of reviving coffee when a malodorous, noisome odor sifts its way to my wrinkling nose. 

            “Oh, oh,” I expel disgustedly.

            “What?” the reporter gasps, sounding rather panicked.  “What’s happened now?”

            “Wind’s changed,” I sigh, “Gotta go back up the ladder and find the new sweet spot.”

            “Oh my!”  The reporter exclaims, as his eyes grow wide and his chest heaves with gasping breaths.  Very quickly he gathers his equipment and while mumbling something about having to get back to the office he rushes out the door, jumps in his rig and roars through the drifts with snow flying in his wake.

            “Well I never!” I exclaim, as I make my way through the once again fetid-foul-rank-reeking back porch.

The "Chicken Coup"

Notice vent pipe complete with ladder in back!

Posted in Uncategorized | 3 Comments

Face The Lion Parts 1-6

Posted on February 5, 2011 by Wendy Kleker

Part One

BLINDSIDED

by Wendy Kleker

           Jacob shivers from the desert night air.  Or is it the cold that brings goose bumps on his skin and makes him rub his arms?  Fear snakes up his back and makes his hair stand on end as he gazes across the moonlit wilderness.  He looks at the stars and thinks of the promise given by God to his ancestors and the blessing passed on to him by his father Isaac.  A blessing he had connived, schemed and tricked to receive.  A blessing his brother should have had since Esau was the oldest, if only by a second. Because of the miss-placed blessing and his fraud, he was forced to leave his homeland and family many years before.  Maybe that blessing wasn’t worth all the strife, stress, fear and doubt he’d dealt with all these years and especially now that he was going home.

             Perhaps God was going to give Esau his just rewards and take His revenge on Jacob.  After all, he had received a report of the many hundreds of men his brother had with him as he came out into the wilderness to meet his long-lost brother. Maybe it would be better if he just left now, let Esau have his two wives and children and all his worldly wealth that Jacob had sent ahead across the brook.  Perhaps he should just disappear, run away into the desert.  Maybe he could sneak back later and steal away his favorite wife, Rebecca and her two sons.

            Wham!  Out of the night, something blindsided him, knocking him to the ground. His face hit the dirt and sand filled his mouth.  The wind was knocked out of him, he couldn’t breath, couldn’t see, couldn’t move as a heavy weight was on top of him.   Too late now to run, Jacob found himself fighting for his life. 

            In a night suddenly turned dark as clouds covered the moon, he struggled, strained, sweated and strived.  With whom, he wasn’t sure.  Someone big, someone strong, someone with whom, it became apparent, he wasn’t going to win. If he could just get loose he would run, flee, hide like he had been doing all of his life when he didn’t have the upper hand.  Nevertheless, there was no getting away this time. The hands that held him were like iron and the strong arms threw him this way and that. He became weary; he wanted to give up, but stubbornly he fought on. 

            Suddenly, in the middle of the night, Jacob realized God was the one he fought and God wasn’t going to let him go. Jacob wasn’t going to win this one.  Suddenly he didn’t want to get away from God.  After all God was his protector, his helper, his provider.  Why should he run from God?

            But wasn’t that what he had been doing most of his life?  Oh, at one time, after a wonderful dream where he saw God, he had vowed to give God his unending loyalty and service, which he did to a point.  But, did he linger in his father-in-law’s country all those years to keep from doing what he knew God wanted him to do?  The one thing he feared most; the one thing he just couldn’t trust God to handle; go back to Canaan and face his angry brother who was out to kill him.  Face the lion.

            Oh, granted when God told him to go, he headed back, but he drug his feet and made a few stops along the way.  However, when it came down to facing his brother’s mighty army, he reverted right back to his evasive, deceptive tactics.  Send gifts to buy Esau’s forgiveness, split his family and stock in half so if one company was attacked he could get the other group away.  Why earlier that evening Jacob was shaking in his boots, but God wanted Jacob to face his greatest fear. So God blindsided him.

            Jacob clung to God so tightly God could not shake him off.  He clung and he cried while clasping God around the neck and maybe shaking a little, “God give me a blessing!”  Jacob desperately sought reassurance that all would be well, that his brother wouldn’t kill him and his family.  “Give me power, God, make me mighty to fight Esau and win!”  (Blessing means Power in Hebrew)

            I feel as if I’ve been blindsided with some health issues.  Oh they don’t seem too serious or severe, just a nagging uncomfortable pain that is not resolved and questions that go unanswered.

            I thought I had given everything to God, but I find myself in a wrestling match with my Maker over this one issue, this one thing in my life that I’m not willing to relinquish into His mighty hands.

            I would run if I could.  I try to bargain, “I need to be strong and healthy for my husband, my son and my grandkids, God, just give me a few more good years.  Please.” However, there is no bartering with God.

              Maybe try a little trickery, “God, I’d love to go live with You, I really would, but what about John and my dogs? After all, you gave them to me, so I need to be here to take care of them. Right?”  But there’s no scamming the Almighty.

            Suddenly I don’t want to run.   I don’t wish to get away from The God of the universe.  He is, after all, my protector, my mighty fortress, my shelter.  I cling to Him, I hang on with all my might, I shake Him a bit, and I cry for assurance, “Give me peace of mind. Let me know, God, it will be okay!”  I beg for His power to heal and deliver,  “Lord, Take this away, make me better.  I want to be whole, healthy and strong!”

            “Trust in Me, Child, at all times, pour out your heart to Me.  For I am your Refuge.” From Ps. 62:8

            An ever present help in trouble, though the earth shakes and the mountains shall fall into the sea, God is with me.  Always.  

            “Cling to Me,” He says, “Grab hold and hang on, NEVER let go, for I will be your strength.” From Ps. 62:5 & 8

                With my arms around His neck, I hold tight.

 “Because You are my help I sing in the shadow of your wings.  My soul clings to You. Your right hand upholds me.”  Ps:63:7-8

 Read Ps. 62 and Gen. 32

Part 2

LIMPING

 “Lift your eyes and look to the heavens.  Who created all these?  He who brings out the starry host one by one, and calls them each by name.  Because of His great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing.  Why do you say, O Jacob, and complain, O Israel, ‘My way is hidden from the Lord.  My cause is disregarded by my God’?” Is. 40:26-27

           Jacob clung to God like a small child, who does not want to be left, clings to his mother.  Griping with all his might he cried, “No! No! Don’t leave me!” 

            Jacob clutched so tightly, God could not shake him. Like that child, Jacob hung on to his security.  He so desperately wanted God’s protection and assurance that he couldn’t let go long enough to face his fears, to walk the path down which God had directed.  To face the lion.

            God said, “The dawn is breaking it’s time for you to go.  Do this for Me.”

            And Jacob cried, “No!”

            Just as the mother must painfully pry her child’s hands apart from around her neck, God lovingly touches Jacob’s hip with pain.  Lovingly because He knows He must do it for Jacob’s sake, and painfully since that is the only way to get a panicked Jacob’s attention.

            Jacob’s hip is out of joint.  Searing pain.  I imagine he is on the ground moaning, but in the pain, he sees himself and he sees his heart.  When God asks him who he is, Jacob says, “I am deceiver.” (Jacob)  So Jacob repents and lays on his face before God truly submitting to His way.

            Then and only then does God bless him and He gives Jacob a new name.  No longer is he Deceiver, but now he is Israel, Prince of God and he is ready and willing to walk God’s path.  Even if it is littered with difficulty, even though there’s pain, even with a limp. 

            “I have seen God face to face!” Jacob cries, “and I live.  I have been blessed.”

            Just as the sun rises in a burst of red over the desert, Israel takes a deep breath, squares his shoulders and limping painfully sets out to face the lion.

           I was clinging to security and crying for assurance.  “No! No!  I don’t want to be sick!”  A healthy strong body able to walk miles, climb hills and ski over drifts is my security.  One thing I was not willing to put in God’s hands, the one thing I tightly held on to with all my might, the one area in my life where I could not give God complete control was my health.  This one thing is my lion.  And I did not want to face it.

            I cling to God as tight as I can and I cry, “Please God not this too!”

            And God says, “Even in this, Child, let go and let Me.”

            Surrender is what God wanted from Jacob. Complete surrender is what he requires of me.  He had to touch me lovingly, although with pain to get my attention.  You know hit me over the head with a 2X4 sort of thing.  He had to blindside me, touch me with pain and give me a limp before I was willing to fall on my face before my God and give Him the thing I most dread.

            “Lord, even this thing I greatly fear, I give to you.  I will walk down the path You lead me on.  I will cross the brook, limping; yes, but definitely blessed.  I will go and I will face my fears.  I know you will hold me tightly in Your mighty hand.”

            “Oh my child,” God says, “I will provide for you like a shepherd does His sheep.  I will gather you in my arms and carry you close to My heart, and I will gently lead you.    When you are weary, I will give you strength and when you become weak, I will increase your power.  If you hope in Me, if you rest on Me, if you wait for Me, You shall mount up with wings as eagles.  You shall run and not be weary.  You shall walk and not faint.”   From Is. 40:11, 29-31

            Therefore, I walk down the path He leads. Limping maybe, trusting always, waiting definitely and leaning on His everlasting arms.     With wings, I will soar.

 “Do you not know?  Have you not heard?  The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth.  He will not grow tired and weary and His understanding no one can fathom.”  Is. 4:28

Read Gen. 32  Is. 40:26-31

Part 3

STAND STILL

“Strengthen the weak hands, and make firm the feeble knees.  Say to those who are fearful-hearted, “Be strong, do not fear!  Behold your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God, He will come and save you.” Is:35:3

           Moses stands on a bit of high ground and gazes East over the desert towards Egypt.  His eyes are on a huge, billowing cloud of dust in the far distance.  A dust cloud so big that only a very large army could be on their trail. 

            “Pharaoh.” He gasps, then he looks to the west to where the Red Sea stretches.  Trapped!  Fear clutches at his heart.  After a mighty battle of the wills with Pharaoh that lasted for weeks and resulted in many plagues and deaths, had God led them to this place to be rounded up like cattle and driven back to slavery?  “No God!”  Moses yells, “I do not believe it!”

            He hears voices behind him and whirls.  A crowd of men are approaching from the camp, they are grumbling among themselves and gesturing wildly with their hands.  Even before they get near, Moses can see the anger in their faces and feel the tension in the air. The fear that strangles his throat surrounds the men like a living thing.

            “Why did you not leave us alone?” One cries, “We told you from the first this would happen.  Now Pharaoh and his mighty army are coming and he is greatly angered and he will slaughter every one of us!  It would have been much better to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.”  When he finished, there was grumbling and yelling that it would be better to give themselves up and go crawling back even if it meant punishment and harder labor. 

            No!”  Moses bellowed over the din, “Do not be afraid! Stand still and see the deliverance of the Lord which He will accomplish for you today.”  He moved in closer and spoke with great authority that he had never had before.  “These Egyptians whom you see today, you will see no more forever!  The Lord will fight for you and you shall be still and trust your God.”

            Doesn’t this sound a lot like what God was telling Jacob?  “Stand your ground!  Do not run!  Do not go back!  Face the lion!”

            “ Trust in Me”, is what God  says to me just like Jacob and Moses.  “Do not run, do not worry and fret, do not rely on anything but Me.  In quietness and trust is your strength.”

            Doctors and an ultra sound didn’t answer the questions, only eliminated some things.  A CAT scan was the next medical step and it sounded like a good idea for reassurance that my nagging digestive problems were not something serious.  Then we found out the CT scan would cost nearly five thousand dollars, with blood work and the doctors visit.  That’s awful expensive assurance even with insurance.  Okay so we regroup.  I’m not having severe pain, not sick or feverish, it does seem to be improving slowly, maybe we should wait awhile see if I get better or worse.  See if it’s a condition that will improve with diet and medicines.

            Have I really given this to Him?  Am I still clinging to assurance that would come from a CT scan?  Yes I still want to know it’s going to be okay and hear that assurance from a medical test that nothing is seriously wrong.  I’m not saying tests and medical procedures are wrong in any way and many times, I believe God uses these to heal, but I feel right now that God is telling me, “Stand still, Child.  Be calm.  Wait for My deliverance. I will fight for you.  Strengthen your weak hands and make firm your feeble knees.  Be strong and do not fear, for I will come and I will save you.” (from Ex.14:13, Is.36:3-4)

            Only stand still and trust Him.

“In returning and rest you shall be saved.  In quietness and trust is your strength.”Is.30:15

Read Ex. 14:1-14   Is. 35:3-10

Part 4

GO FORWARD

 The Lord your God in your midst, the Mighty One, will save.

He will rejoice over you with gladness. 

He will quiet you with His love. 

He will rejoice over you with singing.” Zephaniah 3:17

            All of Pharaoh’s chariots, horses, horsemen and troops, thousands of them, were on the horizon.  A great army marching upon the children of Israel.  And they were coming fast.  In fact they were gaining ground and overtaking the Israelites where they camped by the Red Sea; where God had told Moses to stop; where they were trapped.  Terror ran rampant around the camp.  People cried and ran to gather their things, but there was no where to go.  They cried out to Moses and to God. 

            God said to Moses, “Why are they crying out to me? Tell the children of Israel to go forward.”

            Go forward!  Moses thought, But where?  God’s next words took his breath away.

            “Lift up your rod and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it.”

            Do what you say!?  God that’s a big body of water, you know.  The rest of God’s words are even more impossible.

            “So that the Israelites can go through the sea on dry ground.”

            Holy screaming cow!  That must have boggled Moses’ mind.  But what God did next boggles mine.

            The Angel of God, which had been traveling in front of Israel’s army, went to the rear guard and the pillar of cloud, which had also been in front moved to the rear, coming between the armies of Egypt and the Israelites.  The cloud became a dark fog to the Egyptians. 

            Can you imagine it?  Dense fog hanging low on the ground so thick they couldn’t see six feet ahead, and so confusing they had no idea which direction to go.  In the dark of night, there was no seeing anything, so the Egyptians were unable to go near the Israelites.

            In the mean time, the cloud shone a bright light ahead for the people of God.  Moses stretched out his rod and a strong east wind blew driving the waters back and drying the bottom of the Red Sea.  Now I know all about wind and I’ve seen some mighty ones but I don’t think I’ve ever seen a wind that could blow the waters of a deep sea into a wall.  Amazingly, the waters on the other side stood in a heap too.  With an east wind, how did that happen?  So the Israelites went over on dry land.  No mud, no puddles, no wet feet, but dry ground!  Not only did God cover their backs but He also showed them the way of escape.

            I love this!  What a picture of God putting Himself between the enemy and me; any disaster, all evil, every sickness, or absolutely every bad thing.  He’s a thick dense fog covering my back side that won’t let anything get through that He does not allow. If He does allow something, well all I can say is He’s God and He knows what He’s doing.

            He’s my rear guard to keep away the enemy, but He’s also my light to show the way of escape.  Sometimes God takes me through the thick of things.  He could take me around, as He did the Israelites when He guided them into the wilderness instead of going the direct route to Canaan through the land of the Philistines.  He said they were not ready for war and would be afraid. (Ex. 13:17)  Sometimes we’re ready to fight and sometimes we’re not.  If He takes us right down the middle where the enemy is the thickest then He knows we can handle it.  And He always has our escape route planned.  Even if that escape is to go to Glory to be with Him.  We have the victory. 

            God will show me the way through. There’s always the other side of the sea and there’s always a song to sing when we get there.  He will be my light so I can walk into the midst of the deep broad sea on dry ground.  Sound impossible?  It is, but when God says, “Go Forward”, the waters stand in a heap on my right and on my left, and the ground under my feet will be dry.  There will be a way of escape.

            “I’ve got your back,” God says now as I face the lion and the great army descends upon me, “I’ll illuminate your way Go Forward and follow My light”.

            He is Mighty to save!

 “And though the Lord gives you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction—your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, ‘This is the way walk in it.’ Whenever you turn to the right hand or when you turn to the left.”  Isaiah 30:20-21

Read Ex. 24: 15-23  Is. 30:18-21        

Part 5

IN THE LION’S DEN

By Wendy Kleker

“Three times a day he got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to his God, just as he had done before.” Daniel 6:10

          He didn’t rant or rave, or protest or carry signs around or get people to sign a petition.  He didn’t scream and holler or fret and stew or ring his hands in worry.  Instead, Daniel prayed.

            A new law was passed by King Darius that no one could pray to any god or man except the king for 30 days.  This law had been pushed through by the king’s cabinet, his advisors who wanted Daniel out of the way.  Trampled.  Gone forever so he couldn’t stand in their way to gain power.  They knew Daniel was faithful.  They knew no fault could be found with him.  They knew he prayed every day.  They knew he would not stop because of the King’s decree.  They set the trap.

            Daniel heard of the decree after it was passed and published.  A done deal.  There was nothing he could do.  The hungry lions awaited and drooled for their feeding.  The hairs on Daniels neck stood up and he could feel the lion’s foul breath on his throat.  Did he plead with his king?  Did he cry out, “No!” to his God?  Did he angrily confront the men who were responsible?  I don’t think so.

            Calm.  Daniel was absolutely calm.  He went home, knelt before an open window, and prayed.  But on the inside, his heart must have been racing.  Sweat must have beaded on his brow.  His hands had to have been sweaty.  The lions, who were kept half starved, were waiting with great anticipation for someone to be pushed into their midst.  The trap was baited.

            Surely, Daniel’s friends must have told him, “Just keep quiet when you pray.  You don’t have to pray out loud for God to hear.”  Or, “It’s only thirty days, surely God will understand if you don’t pray for thirty days.”  “Avoid the lions at all cost.  Do what ever you can to save yourself.  You aren’t any good to God dead, after all.  Fight.  Don’t give in.  Stand up for yourself.”

            He had to have heard the whispers from Satan in his mind that he would die a terrible, painful death.  The fear crept up his back, clenching his stomach and paralyzing his limbs. His mouth was so dry he could hardly get the words out, his voice croaked, but still he was on his knees before his God.  Not only did he pray, but he gave thanks three times a day as he had always done.  Facing Jerusalem.  Before an open window.  Out loud.

            The trap was sprung. 

            You would think God would’ve made Daniel’s enemies blind, put a cloud over Daniel to protect him, or kept the men away, but he was caught red-handed as they heard him asking his God for help.   

            The king was greatly distressed to hear that Daniel would be the one to feed his hungry lions. He tried all day to find some way to save Daniel’s reputation and his hide.  But no one would help him, there were no loop holes anywhere, no strings could be pulled and his senate reminded him that the written word of the king could not be changed.

            Daniel was absolutely quiet as he stood convicted before the king, he didn’t even try to plead his case.  He was found guilty as charged.  The king, however, declared, “May your God whom you serve continually rescue you!” 

                        Talk about fear!  Daniels heart must have been racing like a herd of horses pounding down the race track.  His knees were like wet noodles as he stood before the king.  His insides rolling like a bowling ball.  His teeth clenched and his spin stiff.

            Then they pushed Daniel into the den.

            Cat-like he landed on his feet in the dark cave.  He could hear their panting.  The  dripping of their drool on the rocks.  He could feel the breath on the back of his neck.  With a thud, the stone door fell into place.  In the darkness, the stink of lion filled his nostrils.  Slowly Daniel turned to face the lion.

            My heart is pounding just writing this story, and my stomach is clenched tight. Can you imagine being dumped into the midst of hungry lions?  Yeah, you say, because that’s exactly how I feel right now.  Maybe it is.  I know with my health issues continuing on for months, I felt backed against a wall with the lion’s stinking breath panting in my face and his drool running down my neck.

            I know God said to be still, not run, not fear but to hold my ground and to go forward, trusting Him to provide the way of escape.  But how long do I have to wait?  When the mouth of the lion’s den is yawning large and black before me, when I am pushed inside and the door is slammed shut with a thud, when I hear the hungry lions panting and their drool drip, dipping on the rocks, when I feel their breath on my throat and see the whites of their eyes, when I am backed up against the rock wall and have no place to go,  I’m not like Daniel.  I’m not silent and steady.  I shake and tremble and panic. 

            “Be calm.”

            Oh easy for you to say, God, You keep the stars in place and control the wind and rain and snow. A little lion is nothing to You.

            “Be calm.”

            I have a tendency to get a bit excited.  Calm is not my normal mode of operation.  Not when trials come or difficult situations happen.  My first reaction is to run wild eyed away, fight swinging my fists at whomever or whatever is threatening or rant and rave against the situation.  Even when things are going smooth, I get angry easily.  Oh not at people, but at situations or things that don’t work right.  The anger flares up, bursts into flames, then dies out quickly.  When no one is around, I can do a lot of yelling and stomping. A friend of mine used to call it a brush fit. That’s exactly what I do, throw fits and I throw them well.

            “Be calm”

             I keep hearing this message over and over.  “Be still and know I am God.”  “In quietness and trust is your strength.”  “He will quiet you with His love.” “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything present your requests to God.  And the peace of God which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Is. 30:15, Zeph. 3:17       Phil. 4:6-7

            Suddenly I realize this anger causes tremendous stress on my body.  Repeated, daily stress whether from anger or anxiety can cause physical problems one being digestive imbalance.  Ahh!  Light bulb goes on!   Okay so when anger flares I take deep breaths and repeat, “be calm” over and over and refuse to give in to anger.

            I can do that, but God, what about when anxiety climbs high and pressures move in and the lion stalks near?  Like Jacob, I want to run and I fight your will.  Like the children of Israel, I grumble and complain because you took me out of my comfort zone where it seemed safe. 

             “As the lion growls, a great lion over his prey, and though a whole band of shepherds is called together against him, the lion will not be frightened by their shouts, or disturbed by their clamor. You can do whatever you want, you can run, you can fight, you can hide, you can try all kinds of things, but the lion will still be there. I, God will do what I will do.”

                Daniel was calm.  How can anyone be that calm in the face of such adversity and danger?  To walk into the lion’s den without so much as a word or a tremble? Was there something he knew that I don’t?

             “ So, I, the Lord Almighty will come down and do battle.  Like birds hovering overhead, I, the Lord Almighty will shield you.  I will shield you and deliver you.”(from Is. 31:4-5)

                The Lord my God is with me and He is Mighty to save!  He will do battle.  He will hover and he will shield me.  Does this mean he will always heal and preserve life?  No. God will do what God will do.  But what God does is good and loving.  He has the way of escape already planned out.  If God wants me to live, He will keep me here on this earth.  If not the way of escape is Glory.  Either way all will be well.  This is what Daniel knew.  This why he could face the lion’s hungry teeth with such aplomb.  

            Daniel prayed.  He poured his heart out to God, giving Him all his troubles, so with peace, that passes all understanding, he could calmly face the lion.

            And Daniel thanked God in the face of great adversity.  In the midst of turmoil and great stress, he blessed the mighty name of his God.

             Help me to praise Your name, oh Lord, in spite of the pain.  Help me to always roll my troubles into Your hands.  Help me to hide under the shadow of Your wings.  Help me to be more like Daniel.

            “Be calm, Child. And trust Me.”       

            God will come and He will do battle.  He will deliver.

“Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, Yet I will rejoice in the Lord.  I will be joyful in God my Savior.  The Sovereign Lord is my strength. He makes my feet like the feet of a deer; he enables me to go on the heights.”  Habakkuk 3:17-19

Read Daniel 6:1-18  Is. 31

Part 6

MIGHTY

Jacob

“I saw God face to face and yet my life was spared.”  Gen. 32:30

            As the red ball of the sun rises above the desert, the man picks his way across the brook using the staff in his hand to steady himself.  He is limping, but his head is up, his back is straight and his shoulders are held back.  There is a smile on his face and fire in his eyes.  He has just seen God! He talked to God, wrestled with God, was blessed by God.  God has called him Israel, Prince of God.

            Jacob heads east and shades his eyes against the glare of the rising sun.  In the distance, not far away he sees a great cloud of dust and many men walking. 

            Esau approaching with 400 men.  Did Esau march to get his revenge on his wayward, conniving brother?  Was he still angry and bitter for the terrible trick that Jacob played on him many years earlier?  Would Esau wipe them all out?  Kill every one of his family and servants just to be spiteful?

            Jacob quickly went to his family, his two wives, two maid servants and 11 children, and positioned them so his favorites, Rachael and Joseph, were in the rear.   

              Then straightening his back and lifting his head, he set out with long strides to meet the unknown.  No longer is he hunched over by fear.  No more running.  No conniving and swindling.  No sneaking around. No hiding and sulking in the rear.  Now Jacob goes with God.  He is God’s child.  Now Israel stands tall and walks strong in the very front of the procession, as he sets out to face the lion.         

            God, however, has a surprise in store for Jacob. As Jacob is bowing to the ground to show his submission, Esau comes running with robes flapping and throws his arms around Jacob’s neck.  Esau kisses his long-lost brother and both of them weep. 

            Jacob must have been stunned speechless.  All those years of hiding, running, and dreading and here, the reunion with his brother was nothing as he thought it would be.  Instead of angry words and the sword, Esau showers him with hugs and kisses.  The angry man who had threatened to kill Jacob years earlier had definitely changed.  But then God is in the business of changing hearts. And circumstances.

            “Then Jacob set up an altar and called it El Elohe; mighty is the God of Israel.”  Gen. 33:20

            Mighty to deliver!

 

Moses

“The Lord will fight for you and you need only to be still.” Ex. 14:14       

      The wind blasts against Moses nearly knocking him over.  There is a loud roar as the gale thunders across the Red Sea.  Waves stand tall and the sea boils.  The robes of Moses are nearly ripped from his body, as he holds his staff over the Sea.            

     That’s when it happens.  With a mighty shriek, the wind bombards the waters. The sea howls, as the waves rise into the air.   All the way across the great Red sea, the waters heap up on the right and on the left, until they stand in two towering walls.  Between the two muddy walls of water is a narrow alley of ground reaching all the way across the sea.

     Moses can barely breathe as his eyes take in the amazing sight.  His heart is pounding against his ribs.  God’s words echo in his mind, “So that the Israelites can go through the sea on dry ground.  I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they will go after them and I will gain the glory through Pharoah and his army.”  What does this mean? Will the Egyptians win?

     Moses glances behind him and sees the pillar of fire that illuminates the path across the sea bed.  Loud shouts and curses could be heard behind the pillar where a dark cloud has descended on the Egyptian army making it impossible for them to pursue the Israelites.  God’s presence standing between the Israelites and their enemies. The Mighty One was lighting their way of escape.  He would not abandon them now.

            “Let’s go!”  Moses shouts to God’s people and with his face set in determination, he strides to the sea-shore. 

            Aaron falls in behind him and then Miriam their sister and their families.  Moses climbs over rocks and drops into the very bottom of the sea, where, amazingly, the ground is dry.  The thousands of Israelites march behind and form a long line that will soon extend all the way across the bed of the Red Sea. 

            As Moses marches on dry dirt around boulders and across dips, he is awestruck.  All is silent. Only the footsteps and the thud of the animal’s hooves can be heard.  The very air is eerie.  Charged with excitement. Something great is happening.  Something beyond all human understanding.  Something super natural.

            Moses looks up at the waters towering like high cliffs above him. They are muddy and green.  He sees a dim outline of a long body, then, in a flash, it’s gone. A fish?   What if the waters fall?  His people would be wiped out forever.  Is that God’s plan?  Lure them into the sea and then let the water come upon them? A whole people group annihilated?  Was this how God would be glorified through Pharoah?

             “No! No!”  Moses stumbles, and then steadies himself with his staff. God would never do that to His people whom he had gone to such lengths to deliver from the hands of the Egyptians.  He looks over his shoulder and the pillar of fire is still there, still lighting the way in the dark night. No, God is still with them, He will not forsake His people. 

            However, what about the Egyptians?  How long will they be confused by the dark cloud that surrounds them?  Will they break free and come after them with their horses and their chariots?  After all Moses and his people are mostly on foot.

            Then Moses sees the far shore ahead and soon he’s clambering up the rocky bank.  He stands and watches the amazing sight.  Across the sea stands the pillar of light, so bright he has to shield his eyes with his hands.  The walls of water are towering, dark and muddy as they hold back the roiling sea on both sides.  In the deep canyon between file his people. God’s people, in a long line reaching nearly to the other shore.  There are children leading dogs, cows and donkeys.  Old people stumbling and falling with the younger ones lending their hands and even carrying some on their backs.  Some older or very young ones ride donkeys or mules.  All wagons and carts have been left behind because of the rocky, rough ground. 

            Moses watches through the night and the end of the line passes the half way mark.  Suddenly there are great shouts on the other shore and he can see the army of the Egyptians as it pours into the sea bed.  Many chariots lead the way followed by hundreds of horses and horsemen and behind them are the foot soldiers.  All of Pharaoh’s army charges over the rocks towards the defenseless Israelites. 

            “They are coming!”  Moses yells in a great voice and it is passed down the line, “Hurry!  Hurry!  Pharaoh comes!”

            The people move faster, carrying old people and young, tugging on ropes of animals, dropping belongings, as they frantically glance over their shoulders and concentrate on not falling in the rocks.  

            Moses suddenly sees the chariots falter, as wheels fall off chariots tumble and men sprawl on the ground. There is great confusion as the horses and soldiers are blocked by fallen chariots.  Some horses begin to panic, heads up, eyes wild, they try to turn and run.  Then men, sensing impending doom, flee for the following shore. 

            Moses watches with held breath as the sky in the east becomes lighter.  Then Aaron says, just as the sun breaks over the horizon, “They are all across.”

            “Stretch your hand over the sea, Moses”, booms the voice of God and Moses reaches his hand towards the Red Sea.

            Suddenly there is a great roar as the walls begin to fall.  The waters rush by and the alley way is gone.  The sea roils and boils and all of Pharaoh’s army is covered with water.

            The people of God stand on the shore and gape with eyes wide, and mouths open.  Within minutes all of the sea fills in and smooths out to a glassy sheen.  Not one of Pharaoh’s army is left to be seen.  Their entire enemy is gone.  Destroyed in an instant by the God of their forefathers.  The God of the universe!  The God above all gods!

            Suddenly a great shout from thousands of throats burst upon the morning.  Moses and the people all along the shore raise their voices in song.          

            “Sing to the Lord for He has triumphed gloriously!  The horse and rider He has thrown into the sea!

            The Lord shall reign for ever and ever!”  Ex. 15:1, 18

            Mighty to fight the battle!

Daniel

“May our God, whom you serve continually, rescue you!”  Dan. 6:16

            Darkness surrounds him.  The pungent reek of cat fills his nostrils. He hears the dripping of drool on the rocks and feels the hot breath on his face. His heart pounds in his chest.   Frozen in place where he crouches, he waits for sharp teeth to rip into his neck.  In the dim light that filters through the vents he catches a glimpse of light reflecting in eyes.  Hungry lion’s eyes.  He is left alone to face the lions, forsaken it seems even by his God to whom he has been always faithful.

            The man who prays can see the dim outline of big cats sitting near him.  Slowly he turns his head.  They surround him and more wait in the background.  Tongues slurp out to lick drooling lips.  Eyes pierce him with the intentness of the hunter closing in on its prey. 

            Daniel sucks in a ragged breath, closes his eyes and clenches his jaw.  This is it then, the end. Shuddering, he waits for the teeth and claws to rip him apart. 

            Nothing happens.  There is only the puffing breath of the lions and the occasional drip of drool.  He opens his eyes and peers into the dimness.  There is a glow in the cave, a presence.  A faint outline of a huge man-form with flowing wings moves among the lions.  One by one the big cats lie down and fall asleep.

            Daniel is amazed, but he too is over come by sleepiness.  So he lays down right where he is and falls into a deep sleep.

            When Daniel opens his eyes to the light of dawn filtering into the den, the angel is gone, but the lions are still asleep. 

            “Daniel,” booms a loud voice outside, “servant of the living God has your God whom you serve continually been able to rescue you from the lions?”  It’s King Darius who had not been able to sleep all night, but paced the floor of his chambers worried about Daniel’s fate. 

            The lions yawn lazily, but Daniel is not worried.  “O King,” he yells through the stone door, “My God sent His angel and he shut the mouth of the lions.”

             Then the king ordered men to lift Daniel out of the den and not a single wound was found on him because he trusted his God. 

            The king proclaimed to all the people in the land, “For God is the living God and He endures forever!  His kingdom will not be destroyed, His dominion will never end.  (from Dan. 6:19-26)

            He is Mighty to save!  

            Three impossible accounts.  Jacob’s pleas go unanswered for years.  Moses’ cries for help seem only to lead him farther into deep waters.  Daniel’s daily petitions seem to bounce off a stone ceiling even though he prays before an open window.

            In each situation there is no hope of escape.  An angry brother, a huge army, and hungry lions drooling for blood, how much worse can it get?  Right?  No hope, no escape, no solution.

            Just when it’s down to the wire, just when the blade is about to fall, just when it seems God has forsaken us, when it seems He never answers prayer, when all is dark and the lion drools down our neck, all mighty God steps in and with one look makes the great cat go to sleep.

            When will I figure out God will do this for me.  Every time!  It may not be the answer I want or in the timing I think it should be, but He always hears and He always answers.  In His time.  In His way. 

            Why do I doubt He hears my prayers?  Why do I think for even one minute that my God would abandon me?  Why do I think the All Mighty would let me be devoured by the lion?  When will I believe? 

            The God of the universe, the Might One is victorious!  All the time!

God changes hearts!  His love endures forever!

            God comes between my enemies and me!  He is mighty to save!

            God defeats our enemies!  He has triumphed victoriously!

            Our Great and Glorious God shuts the mouth of the lion. 

“He rescues and He saves!  He performs signs and wonders, in the Heavens and on the earth.” Dan. 6:27

 

Posted in Encouragement, Following God, God is faithful, He shuts the lion's mouth, Mighty is our God, Mighty to save, Trusting God | 5 Comments

Winter Wonders and Woes

Posted on January 13, 2011 by Wendy Kleker

WINTER WONDERS AND WOES  

 “O LORD MY GOD, YOU ARE VERY GREAT; YOU ARE CLOTHED WITH SPLENDOR AND MAJESTY”. 

           Fog hanging low over the country, dismal, dreary and damp.  The big tree a few yards away is shrouded in the clinging mist and even the snow and sky are bleak gray.  I have no desire to go out in this gloomy world where the cold sinks clear through to the bones and frozen particles in the air sting my cheeks. 

“HE WRAPS HIMSELF IN LIGHT AS WITH A GARMENT; HE STRETCHES OUT THE HEAVENS LIKE A TENT”

            A few hours after dawn, the fog begins to lift, and as tendrils trail along the tree tops and across the buttes, the sun shines through the gray mist lighting the world in a golden glow.  Victoriously the sun breaks free and before my eyes, the gloom is transformed into a glorious wonderland.  Sparkles everywhere, long fingers of hoarfrost holding prisms of color, crystals glistening on trees, grass, and snow, blinding, beckoning and brilliant.  A dark day changed in a moment by the brilliance of the sun. 

            Wind blowing forever.  Relentless, howling and screaming around the house seeking an entrance, furious and wailing like a woman scorned. Like a live thing it pushes, shoves and tugs, then pokes through layers of clothes to chill the bones.  The wind never fails to carry the new fluffy snow away and pile it in hardened drifts, only to move those drifts to another spot the next day.  The wind is forever against us, battling our every effort, filling the driveway with drifts after being plowed, covering a path that’s been tramped down, piling snow in front of a door that’s been shoveled clear. Walking or skiing into it is like climbing a steep hill or pushing against a giant hand.  When skiing with it I glide without effort on the level, sometimes pushed along faster than I want to be.  With a cross wind my ski pole tangles with my ski, pokes my boot and is tugged from my hand.  On hard, icy snow, I am shoved helplessly sideways. 

“AND LAYS THE BEAMS OF HIS UPPER CHAMBERS ON THEIR WATERS.” Ps104:1-3

            Skimming over the hard drifts on a calm sunny day without tears streaming down my cheeks, or my eyeballs drying up like puff balls or freezing in their sockets, is a wonderful gift. Snow glistening on the hills like moonlight on still waters.  Wind sculptured drifts with curves of different shapes and sizes.  Gleaming waves frozen in the fields.  A wide blue sky contrasting with a white, shimmering, wind-blown landscape. 

“THEN THEY CRIED OUT TO THE LORD IN THEIR TROUBLE”

            Rigs stuck in the snow, a tractor buried up to the frame in the ditch, frozen sewer vents, blizzards keeping me homebound, John’s tanker truck sliding backwards on a steep hill, minus 30-40 wind chills seeping into the many cracks and crevices of the house, high heating bills, wind burned lips and frost bit ears are all the woes of winter on the high plains.

“HE STILLED THE STORM TO A WHISPER; THE WAVES OF THE SEA WERE HUSHED.  THEY WERE GLAD WHEN IT GREW CALM AND HE GUIDED THEM TO THEIR DESIRED HAVEN.  LET THEM GIVE THANKS TO THE LORD FOR HIS UNFAILING LOVE.” Ps. 107:28-31 

            But oh the wonders.  John enjoys plowing snow with his tractor, that he managed to dig out of the ditch and I love winging over the drifts on my skis, my spirit soaring free in this quiet open country.  The dogs love running and rolling in the snow and chasing bunnies to keep warm.

            The gleaming eyes of my grandkids as they open Christmas presents. Their ooo’s and ahhh’s at each surprise.  The wonderful gift of spending time with Stephen and enjoying Christmas with him and the kids.  Maci and Jacob’s delight of discovering Gramma’s barn complete with straw, and cats.  But alas, no cows or horses.  I was told that every barn should have cows and horses.  Their joy at going on an adventure decked out in snow gear, Jacob well armed with his “cowboy” pistol and holster at his side.  “A cowboy,” he told me,“usually has a horse.”  Hint hint, Gramma.   Maci’s adventure included conquering deep drifts through which I ended up dragging short-legged Jacob.  To which he proclaimed, “I’m never going for a walk again!”

“YOU ARE RESPLENDENT WITH LIGHT”

            A light shinning out of nowhere on the butte; bright and blinding like a spotlight. I stood on the road in the dark of night and beheld the awesome sight.  Towering above me were the steep sides of the butte shimmering like silver in flood lights.  In fact, the whole north face of the Sentinel Butte seemed to be silver plated.  I stood in awe and stared, knowing the full moon was reflecting off the shiny crust on the snow from the freezing rain we’d had the night before.  I have never seen such a wonder. 

            I was transported back in time to a similar dark night when brilliance from a multitude of angels illuminated some sandy hills near Bethlehem.  A blinding glow bursting from the heavens, flooding the shepherds and their sheep.  No wonder the shepherds were afraid and fell on their faces, they had never seen such bright light.  And the sound, can you imagine?  Hundreds, maybe thousands of angels singing.  Raising their voices to the sky, filling the country not only with radiant light, but also with wonderful melody.  The angels at last had a chance to let their presence be known to humans, to be heard in praising their God.  I would think they took advantage of it and raised their song to the stars.  The shepherds had never seen such a wonder.

“MORE MAJESTIC THAN MOUNTAINS RICH WITH GAME.” Ps. 76:4    

            I stood on that road for a long time with the brilliant silver light of the full moon reflecting off the shiny side of Sentinel Butte. The glistening moon light reminded me of the light of God’s love and brilliance, of His glory radiating in every single heart of his children.  In my heart.  Could I ever reflect that love and glory like the big ole’ dark lump of a butte was doing in the moonlight with the help of some crusty snow?

            Could it be that I might need some freezing rain and frigid temperatures, some driving sleet and buffeting winds to be able to reflect the brilliance of God?   I’m like that butte, dark and barren, rocky and steep, hard and unmoving.  However, maybe with some grinding and bending, chipping and pounding, shinning and buffing, I can become a polished arrow hidden in His quiver, ready when He sends, to fly straight to the mark.  Displaying His splendor.  Could it be?  Oh the wonder.

 “HE MADE MY MOUTH LIKE A SHARPENED SWORD; IN THE SHADOW OF HIS HAND HE HID ME.  HE MADE ME INTO A POLISHED ARROW AND CONCEALED ME IN HIS QUIVER.  HE SAID TO ME, YOU ARE MY SERVANT,  IN WHOM I WILL DISPLAY MY SPLENDOR.”  Is. 49:2-3

Read Ps. 104

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November—Then there was God

Posted on November 20, 2010 by Wendy Kleker

                                      THEN THERE IS GOD!

“Do you give the horse his strength or clothe his neck with a flowing mane?  Do you make him leap like a locus striking terror with his proud snorting?”  Job 39:19, 20

            Ears perked, heads raised high, eyes wide with wonder and a little fear, nostrils flaring to catch the scent on the wind, strong legs poised in mid-step, they stared at us, lined up as they were at the bottom of the draw.  A colt peered around his mother.  A dark blue roan with a black mane and tail tossed his head, eyes snapping a challenge.  The stallion, I thought. I could see his tension along his arched neck and high held tail. 

            Wild horses they were, of varied colors; light grays with black manes and tails, red roans, blue roans, sorrels and bays.  Some had scraggly coats, some had flaws in their  confirmations; heads too big, necks too long, backs swayed, withers too high, yet they moved with the grace of wild things with muscles rippling and coats glinting in the sun.

            Unconcerned a colt started to nurse and a mare put her head down to graze.  As if this was a signal, the whole herd relaxed.  Some began to graze; others began to meander towards us, eyes bright with curiosity.  It seemed we were not a threat since we weren’t riding hard, swinging ropes and yelling.  Only the stallion remained alert, watchful and weary.

            When John walked towards them, they trotted my way.  As one, the small group flowed across the grassy plateau with the colors and buttes of the badlands in the background.  I was, of course, seeing the whole thing through the camera lens. 

            The stallion kept a weary eye on us but even he stopped to graze and seemed fairly unconcerned.  I have dubbed him Blue Jake, not sure why but that name came into my head as I snapped his photos and has been there ever since. 

            Suddenly without warning and for no apparent reason the herd jumped and bolted.  Muscles taut, manes flowing back, tails high they moved in a flowing mass like a rushing river. The power the strength the grace the very essence of all that is wild.  I was mesmerized, not able to take my eyes off them.

            Others filed up through the draw and took their turns to stare at us until they, too assessed we posed no threat.  There were three groups, each with a stallion, 6 or 8 mares and two or three colts.  They stayed in the same general area, but did not mingle. 

            With arched neck and high tail, Jake snorted and strutted around.  He let the others, and us, know who he was and that he was in control, of his small band.

            We mingled among them and after a bit the horses seemed to accept us.  We were fine.  We posed no threat.  We were friend not foe.  They grazed, flicked flies and wiffled softly to each other.  One group filed right by me, very grand in their posing for my camera. 

            The mares took their colts in hand—er hoof—and said, “These humans now are the nice ones. You don’t have to be afraid of them, but mind you not all are like this.  Some are loud and noisy and have snake-like things that catch us.  From those you must run like the wind.”

            The colts eyed me very carefully, from top to bottom and their nostrils flared as they memorized my scent.  Then unconcerned they nibbled at the grass and played.

                 Have you considered Job?  He lived in the land of Uz and was a very righteous, well-to-do citizen.  In fact he was top dog in all the East, with much wealth in livestock, servants and ten grown children. 

              One day he was going about his business being blameless and upright, and loving God when the sky began to fall.  Literally, when fire dropped from Heaven and burned up all his sheep and the servants with them.  While Job was still getting this dire message, another messenger came yelling that his oxen and donkeys had been stolen by the Sabeans and all the servants with them were killed.  No sooner had he heard this message and another came with the news that the Chaldeans had carried off all his three thousand camels and killed all the servants there.  The messenger was still speaking when another runner came shouting that a great wind had blown the roof down on the house his ten children had been feasting in.  And they were all dead. 

            Wow!  Talk about when it rains it pours!   Can you imagine?  Boom! In one day, in a matter of a few minutes Job was wiped out of everything he owned and held dear.  God had handed over to Satan everything that Job owned, and Satan wasted no time in taking it all.  Except his wife.  Satan left his wife alone and that may  have been the hardest test of all.

            Job grieved, he hurt, he was in shock, I’m sure, but his first reaction was to worship God.  He said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart.  The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away, may the name of the Lord be praised.”  Very admirable, but is it real?  Can anyone be that calm in the face of so much adversity?  Maybe Job was still numb from shock.

            A few days later he developed boils all over his body.  Have you ever had a boil?  I haven’t but I’ve seen one on my husband and like a very bad pimple, it pained and bothered him for a long time, so that he couldn’t lay on it or stand to even have it touched.  Job had them from the tip of his head to the bottom of his feet.  Then Job sat in the dump on the ashes and scratched his sores with broken pottery. 

            He went from the peak of the hill to the bottom of the pit, from being top dog to sitting in the dump from being the greatest to the least.  How in the world did this happen?  And then as if that wasn’t enough we see why Satan did NOT touch his wife.

            She came out to the dump where Job, being afraid to spread the terrible disease he thought he had, sat by himself in misery.  I can just picture her shaking her finger at him angrily and yelling, “Are you still claiming to serve this God of yours? Look what He’s done!  He took our children! He stole everything we had and now you’re sick!  Why you’re nothing but a stupid old man, just curse God and die!”

            Talk about heaping insult upon injury.  The one thing Job had left, the one person he thought would be on his side, turned against him.   But again, Job’s reply is admirable.

            “You are talking like a foolish woman.  Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?” It says, “In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing.” (Job 1:22)

                However, Job was not perfect. After sitting on the ashes in misery for seven days, he opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth.  Now that sounds more normal and absolutely human.     

              First we must consider his misery.  This is a man who lost, not only all his riches, but also every one of his ten beloved children.  His body burned and seared with pain and itching and his wife, instead of sympathizing and trying to comfort him, was so angry she said he should just as well give up and die.  In fact he was in such misery that his three friends who came to sympathize and comfort him, could do nothing but weep for him and sit with him for seven days and seven nights in total silence. They, who later opened their mouths and spouted off all sorts of degrading things and poor advice, could think of nothing to say for seven long days.

            Utter misery.  Complete devastation.  Black emptiness.  Deep despair.  This was Job’s life.  No wonder he cursed the day he was born and wished to die, to escape, to run.  He says, “What I feared has come upon me; what I dreaded has happened to me. I have no peace, no quietness; I have no rest, but only turmoil.” (Job 3:25-26)

            I remember feeling very much the same way.  Oh I never had it as bad as Job, but  when the person who meant more to me than anything in the whole world was taken from me, I knew exactly how Job felt.  I wanted to run, to escape, to die.  I did not want to face my pain, go through life with the emptiness, or sit in the dump the rest of my days.  I had friends and family who were there for me, who sat with me in silence, and it helped immensely, but they couldn’t take away the terrible despair or fill the hole inside my heart.

             Job questioned God,  “Why have You made me Your target?  Have I become a burden to You?  Why do you not pardon my offenses and forgive my sins?  For I will soon lie down and You will search for me, but I will be no more.”  He was almost to the point his wife thought he should be.

            Job gets a bit angry with God.  He says, “Does it please You to oppress me, to spurn the work of Your hands, while You smile on the schemes of the wicked? Your hands shaped me and made me.  Will You now turn and destroy me?” 

            He even became somewhat bitter at times.  “All was well with me, but He shattered me; He seized me by the neck and crushed me! He has made me his target.”  

            Job wrestles with questions, searches for reasons, wonders what he did to deserve all this and pounds God for answers. His friends give their opinions and advice , which isn’t so great.

            Suddenly, the skies darken with black clouds.  Thunder booms, lightening streaks the sky, the wind roars as it drives pounding rain before it.  Job and his friends are sitting in the dump.  Drenched and shivering they must think the world is coming to an end.

            With thunder in His voice, God speaks, “Who is this that darkens MY counsel with words without knowledge?  Brace yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer Me.”

            Boom of thunder.  Roar of wind.  Job looks fearfully at the skies, at his friends. Was that God?

            The voice goes on, “Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation?  Tell Me, if you understand!  Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know!”

            “Have you ever given orders to the morning, or shown the dawn it’s place?

            Have you journeyed to the springs of the sea or walked in the recesses of the deep?

            Have you entered the storehouses of the snow or seen the storehouses of hail? 

            Who cuts a channel for the torrents of rain, and a path for the thunderstorm?

            Do you know when the mountain goats give birth?  Do you watch when the doe bears her fawn?

            Do you give the horse his strength or clothe his neck with flowing mane?

            Does the eagle soar at your command and build his nest on high?

            Will the one who contends with the Almighty correct him? Let him who accuses God answer him?”

            Job is speechless, he covers his mouth with his hand and has no answer. 

            God’s voice thunders, again out of the storm, “Would you have an arm like God’s and can your voice thunder like His?”

            There is a mighty roar in the dark sky, “Who has a claim against Me?  Everything under heaven belongs to Me!”

            There is silence.  The storm passes.  Job is on his face before God. 

            Finally he whispers, “ O, God, I know that You can do all things.  No plan of Yours can be thwarted.  My ears had heard of You, but now my eyes have seen You.”

            In the power of the storm, in the glory of the sunset, in the breathtaking beauty of the sunrise, in the awesome wonder of the moon rising over a stark mountain, in the grace of the deer, in the elegance of the elk, in the strength of the horse, in the love of friends and family God showed me Himself.   During the hardest time of my life, in the storm, I came face to face with my God.

            In the midst of my grief He carried me, through the storm He sheltered me and in the healing He taught me. Out of the wind and the thunder He spoke to my soul.  In the end, I could only say with Job, “I knew of You with my mind, God, but now I see You with my heart”.

            It is enough.

“Blessed are You, Lord God, our Father for ever and ever.  Yours, O Lord, is the greatness, the power, and the glory, the victory and the majesty.  For all that is in Heaven and in earth is Yours.  Yours is the Kingdom, O Lord, and You are exalted as Lord over all.” 1 Chron. 29:10,11

Read Job

(All verses not referenced are from Job 1-42)

 

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October–Just a Jug

Posted on October 26, 2010 by Wendy Kleker

Doti

Just a jug

“But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God not of us.” 2 Cor. 4:7

           We are barely away from the Blazer when Doti points.  We know she’s getting bird scent since the wheat fields between the mile long tree rows are prime pheasant habitat.  When no bird flushes, John whistles for Doti to go.  She runs twenty feet and freezes, nose to the ground, body language saying, “Bird Here!” 

            I walk in front of her hoping to flush the bird up so John can shoot.  Happy sniffs the ground excitedly while pulling against the leash hooked to my belt.  Doti’s head raises, her eyes move up the field in front of me.  I motion to John that the bird is running and release Doti. 

            With nose down, she moves low to the ground in a fast cat-walk and zigzags into the thick tree row.  Happy is also sniffing the ground and pulls me along as Doti goes through the trees to the other side and down along the row.  I know the bird is running and is just ahead and that Doti is moving too fast.  She’ll more than likely bust the bird.  Before I can whistle her to a stop, however, she whips out into the stubble, and around some tall grass.

            The rooster runs out heading John’s way.  I motion to John to look ahead.  Then Doti zips around the bird turning him towards me.  The rooster plops down in the stubble. Doti freezes on point.   Excitedly I motion to John who is on the other side of the trees and hasn’t seen any of the action.  He makes his way to the bird and is thirty feet away when the ground explodes with a flurry of feathers and wings and a long tail.

            Doti did everything right.  It worked, this time.  You could say it was a perfect hunt except for the fact that even after John took two shots the rooster flew on. 

            Later, Doti tried the same ploy; however, the bird was in the tree row and when she ran ahead of it, he would head the other way.  They ran back and forth several times and Doti did not heed my whistle to stay put.  Finally, the bird had enough and took off a hundred yards or so out of range. 

            So she’s just a dog and isn’t perfect. She gets excited and just goes without thinking.  She runs on adrenaline and doesn’t listen to commands.  She lets success go to her head and blows the whole deal. She thinks she can pull it off by herself.  Reminds me of me.

            I was picking up sticks one day after John had trimmed the big tree by our house and a song I had heard kept going through my head.     “Crooked Sticks, crooked sticks, there aint a one that God can’t straighten up and fix”,

            If you get to looking at them, none of those sticks are straight.  None.  Some are really bent, some have several forks and knobs, some are a bit smoother and some are almost straight but none are perfectly straight.      “None of us are born perfect, no, we’re just crooked sticks.”

            No, I was definitely not born perfect, I can’t seem to live perfect, and no way can I stay perfect.  I’m just a plain brown breakable clay jug.  Not a stunning golden goblet or a shinny silver challis that doesn’t break or lose its value.  Dark with age, I crack, I leak, I even break.  Like Doti I do dumb things and try to do it all myself.  Like John, I miss the mark.  Sometimes I wonder how this weak, plain, leaky jug can be used for any good.

                        They were just old bottles that I found in homesteader dumps, dirty, dingy, some were chipped, antiques yes, and treasures in my eyes but to most people they were discarded garbage.  I cleaned them up and proudly sat them on my window sill and my mother, of all people wanted to know why I put that “junk in my window”.       Well I never! 

            One day I filled four of them with lamp oil and put a wick in each.  When I lit the wick, they glowed softly and warmly on my table.  People complimented them and said how wonderfully they brightened the whole room.  Even Mom had to admit they looked very nice.

            Suddenly those old discarded bottles glowing with light and purpose were beautiful.  It was the oil that made the difference.

            Like the bottles, I have a treasure in this earthen vessel, the light of God, the knowledge of Jesus Christ, God’s glory shinning out of my heart, the excellence of God’s power.  This treasure makes all the difference.

     “There aint a one that God can’t straighten up and fix!”

“For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”  2 Cor. 4:6

Read 2 Cor. 4

 

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