Prairie Wind

Memories of My Son part 5

Posted on March 11, 2017 by Wendy Kleker

THE LAST ELK HUNT

I told you about my first elk hunt with my son, now I will tell you about the last.

The early September morning was clear and chilly. As Stephen drove up the road on the ranch where John worked, north of Livingston Montana, the dark sky was turning steely grey. I directed Stephen to park overlooking a timbered ridge and I told him at one time we had seen the hillside below covered with elk. Talking softly we waited for a little more daylight.

The large ranch, located so close to the east side of the Bridger mountains you couldn’t see the tall peaks, was mostly open country with deep coulees, pasture land and hay fields. The property did run up into the timber, however, bordered with Forest Service, giving the elk and deer an excellent habitat of cover and nearby feed. In the summer and fall the elk were abundant on the upper sections of the ranch. I often drove the three miles to where the prairie met the timber to walk and would see elk most times. Come rifle season most of the elk moved to a ranch that did not allow hunting.

Just a few days before this I had been walking on the ridge we now looked at, only I had approached it from a different direction. I decided to see if a bull was in the area, so I sat down in front of a small bushy fir tree and using my mouth only, let loose with a bull elk bugle. Not having a grunt tube or diaphragm, the call was without volume so wouldn’t carry far.

As soon as my high whistle call with low grunts at the end died off, an answering call rang through the timber. I tried again and sure enough there was the spine-tingling answer winging its way up the mountain side. My border collie, Happy, who was sitting beside me, growled low in his throat. I knew a bark would follow, so I told him to lay behind me and admonished him to be quiet. Then I tried a few cow-talk squeals and bull grunts.

Soon I heard crashing and twigs snapping and knew a bull was attacking a small tree to demonstrate his strength and intimidate the other bull who was trespassing on his territory. I heard cows talking, then silence. Below me about 40 yards I saw movement, light colored antlers turning. He came into sight moving slowly, silently, not a large bull, a rag horn with four points.

Cautiously he moved closer peering through the timber, searching for the other bull. He stood in the open facing me, dark, regal and completely wild. Even though I held a camera instead of a bow, my heart tried to pound its way out of my chest. Happy emitted a low growl and I laid my hand on his head, hushing him.

I held my breath and snapped a few pictures with my old 35mm film camera and its 300mm zoom lens. The bull cautiously stalked closer to within 30 yards and turned sideways in the open presenting a perfect bow shot. I shot away with my camera.

Happy growled again and in glancing at him I saw he was looking to my side. I peered through the trees and saw cows milling. The bull moved around to join his cows and not wanting the “other bull” to steal them, he rounded them up and moved them out; quickly and silently.

I was ecstatic! Not only was it a grand experience to be so close to Wapiti, the Ghost of the Timber, but to observe their natural behavior was a rare treat. And I had found the place to take my son when he came bow hunting.

So as the eastern sky lightened, Stephen and I quietly shut the pickup doors and moved out towards the very timber that bull had come out of. We hiked down a sagebrush covered slope to the bottom of the coulee where we leaned against a couple of trees at the edge of the timber, waiting for more light. In the silence of the dawn our ears strained for sound. The snap of a twig, a high squeal of a cow or maybe a low grunt from a bull. My nerves zinged with anticipation and my senses were on high alert. The scent of fir, spruce and sage mingled in the nippy air. Birds began to twitter, streaks of red and orange streaked the eastern sky, and soon we could make out tree trunks in the gloom of the forest.

I motioned with my head and we moved higher on the slope, stepping quietly and soundlessly in the forest duff. I thought I heard the cat-like call of a cow elk and grabbed Stephen’s arm.

“Did you hear that?” I hissed.

“Yeah,” he whispered back, “A cow, but not sure where.”

I made the cow call and waited. No answer. We moved through the timber, farther up the slope.

Suddenly a high whistle split the silence, followed by a guttural growl and low grunts. My heart pounded and Stephen looked at me his eyes wide. Adrenaline flooded my veins and I instinctively raised my camera. Stephen took an arrow out of his quiver on his bow and knocked it. The bull was above us and slightly to the left, perfect for the wind which was coming down the slope.

Putting my mouth right up to his ear, I said in a low whisper, “I think they’re in a meadow about hundred yards.” I pointed up the hill, “You go ahead, when you reach the edge of the meadow and are set up against a tree, give me the signal and I’ll bugle.”

He nodded and moved up the slope. I watched him go, he was silent, no sound what so ever. His every movement was slow, every step precision, he moved from tree to tree like a spirit, his eyes roving the dark timber. The military had trained him well. He was a hunting machine.

I stayed about 40 feet behind him and tried to move as carefully and silently as he did. When he stopped at the edge of the meadow, I stood behind a tree. At his signal I put the diaphragm in my mouth and tipping up the grunt tube, I sent the high toned call winging through the morning air.

Two breaths after my low grunts died off, an answering whistle sailed into the sky. Before I could answer another bugle sounded farther up the mountain. My heart kicked into triple time. Two bulls! For awhile we stood there and listened with held breaths while the two bulls blasted intimidating calls to each other. In between the bugling, we could hear cows mewing and talking to each other. I cow talked now and then.

I saw movement to the left and a shadow appeared out of the gloom. A cow elk stalked on silent feet. How an animal that size can move, even run through the timber silently I have no idea, but I’ve seen it many times. The cow slowly moved in closer, stopped and peered at Stephen. Then she turned sideways, stopped and watched him some more, searching for that bull. I waited for the twang of the bow, since it was legal to take a cow with a bow, but none came. I knew why. When you hear bulls bugling near by, no way will you settle for shooting a cow! The cow turned away and slowly melted back into the timber.

Stephen was glassing the meadow and I wondered if he could see the elk. I sent up a call now and then, but soon it became apparent the bulls were not coming closer to our location. In fact the closer bull was moving farther up the mountain. Knowing this country, I knew as the morning warmed up, the wind would begin to blow uphill, taking our scent right to the elk. I moved up to Stephen.

“We have to move, get above them or at least to the side,” I whispered and explained about the wind. I could see dark forms at the edge of the timber across the meadow and glassed them for horns. They were all cows, but Stephen told me excitedly, he had seen a rag horn bull when he first came up. He’d watched the bull bugle and rub his horns on brush.

We started moving around the herd, but as we moved the bulls moved farther up the hill. We could tell their location from the bugling they still did now and then. If they stopped bugling I would send a call out and one would answer. After about an hour or so of hiking, stopping to listen and glass, we were at the same altitude as the elk and four hundred yards across a draw from them.

We sat side by side on a log with binoculars to our eyes, glassing the thinly timbered mountainside. The elk seemed unaware of our presence, but since I had bugled some, they evidently were staying a distance from what they thought was the new bull in the woods. The herd bull evidently did not want to fight and was moving his cows away from the interloper.

“I see a bull,” I whispered. “There’s another one. Second one’s bigger, probably the herd bull. They’re not far from each other.”

I explained where they were and Stephen soon spotted them. “Yep,” he whispered back, “big enough to go after. What do you think is the best approach?”

The breeze by this time was funneling straight up the mountainside so the best thing to do was to keep circling above them. So we tried to do that, but the wily Wapiti just kept moving ahead of us, keeping several hundred yards away. I could see that I was not going to be able to get around them, but I knew Stephen could move much faster and quieter than I could. So I suggested he go on by himself and move up through the thicker timber until he was above them.

So he moved out while I bugled and cow talked trying to fool the elk into thinking the “bull” and his herd were staying put. I prayed Stephen would get a bull, and watched the mountainside through my glasses. I caught glimpses of elk as they fed on the sparsely timbered slope. Once I saw a spike and once again a bigger bull. After quite awhile I heard a bugle farther up the mountain and figured it was Stephen letting me know he was above them.

I sat for awhile longer then made my way to the pickup and waited until Stephen came back. He didn’t get a bull, he had a spike come into his cow talk and had a good shot, but he chose not to shoot a spike. Later that evening we went up another drainage where we bugled until dusk without hearing one answer.

That was our last elk hunt together. We did have other adventures hunting antelope and pheasants and camping with John and the kids.

Even though no animal was taken it was a successful hunt. In bow hunting success is not, in my book anyway, measured by how many elk you stick, but by the spine-tingling adventure you experience.

Also for my son and me it was successful because of the memories. Every detail, every stalk, every turn of the head, every word, I will remember for this life time. Both of us, I believe, will have the memories for eternity. I thank my God for that last great elk hunt together and for the memories.

small rag horn

These photos did not scan well since it was a film camera, but they are of the bull in the story.

Memories of My Son part 4

Posted on March 9, 2017 by Wendy Kleker

Jim and Stephen, 4 mo.

ANGEL UNAWARE

“Keep on loving each other as brothers and sisters. Don’t forget to show hospitality to strangers, for some who have done this have entertained angels without realizing it!” Hebrews 13:1-2 NLT

We tend to remember all those heart-stopping, hair-raising moments with our children. Don’t we? Such times when remembering, even after 40 years, still makes our heart stop and our breath catch. And yet we may never know when we have Devine help or protection in our lives.

It seemed the year that Stephen was two there were several of those incidences that made his father and I get on our knees and pray earnestly for the safety of our small son. Good thing there are guardian angels!

Just before Stephen’s second birthday Jim, his father, and I moved from Alaska to Trinidad Colorado so Jim could go to gunsmith school. The only place we could find to live was a small apartment in the upper story of an old house; complete with a turret in the living room no less. I was not fond of living above another family in a house that was not very sound proof, sharing a yard and worrying about how much noise a two year old and our Golden Retriever, Kinji was making. However it beat living in a small three man tent pitched in a barren, completely gravel camp ground, with not even one single tree. So we took the apartment and moved in with our meager belongings.

There was a fenced in yard with good chain link gates that the owners assured me were always closed and an outside set of stairs we could use. Even though we tied Kinji up at night and when we were gone, I always made sure he was loose when Stephen played in the yard, since he was Stephen’s buddy. The house was situated in a hilly residential area on a fairly well traveled street.

One day I heard the outside door slam shut and Stephen’s slow steps as he climbed down the steep stairway to play in the yard with Kinji. I was on the phone so didn’t pay too much attention, knowing he was safe and secure in the yard. Ten minutes later I finished my phone call and looked outside for the inseparable pair. Peering out every window in the one bedroom apartment, I did not see either dog or boy. Not too worried, I started doing some cleaning.

Often Stephen would go into the house below and visit our landlords who loved him and fed him tortillas with butter and sugar. He called them cookies. I usually could hear him below calling, “Cooookie, cooookie” and chatting away with the elderly lady and her daughter and son.

However, I soon realized I was not hearing a childish voice or a slamming screen door from below. A bit concerned I ran down the stairs and searched the yard. No little boy. No golden dog. Knocking on the lower back door I asked if they had seen him. No, they said, he had not been down.

Now really concerned I looked around the yard again and noticed the front gate off the street was open. My heart fell to my knees! And fear surged, making me light headed.

Running out to the sidewalk I yelled, “Stephen! Kinji!” I looked up and down the street and saw no little boy and no dog. I ran up the hill and looked down a side street. I saw nobody. Where to look? I ran down the hill a couple of blocks looking down side streets.

“Jesus please keep them safe!” I prayed as I ran. “Help me find them, please Lord!”

My heart was pounding out of my chest. I broke into an immediate sweat. Dread filled my heart. What to do? Should I call the police? Try to get Jim? Jim had our only rig, so I decided to go back and call him at the school, then get on my bike and ride around searching.

I had stopped and was going to turn around when I noticed a lady walking up the hill towards me, several blocks away. She held a small boy by the hand and beside the boy was a big golden dog.

“Praise the Lord!” I yelled and took off running.

When I ran up to them, Stephen was grinning at me sweetly. I could do nothing but grab him up and hold him close for a long moment.

The lady was smiling gently. “I saw these two walking on the sidewalk a few blocks down.” She pointed down the hill. “I figured they broke out from somewhere.” She laughed then patted Kinji’s head. “This guy was right by his side, staying between him and the street. Quite a dog you have here.”

I thanked her and squatted down so Stephen and I could give Kinji a big hug. I talked to her a bit then walked back home. I asked the landlord if we could put a chain and clasp, something Stephen could not get undone on the gates, which he promptly did.

It wasn’t until later, I realized I hadn’t gotten the nice ladies name or found out where she lived. I would have liked to get to know her more and thank her again. I thought, well surely I will see her around the neighborhood when I was walking or riding my bike.

So for the couple of months that we lived in that house, I walked often, pulling Stephen in his wagon, with Kinji beside us, hoping the lady would see us and come out to visit. But to no avail. I never saw that kind lady again.

Could it be this kind stranger who had helped my two year old son as he wondered down a busy street with only his dog by his side could have actually been an angel? Did I actually look into the eyes and talk face to face with an angel without being aware? Could be.

Jim, Stephen (2) me and Kinji

Posted in Angels, Angels to guard you, My son, son, Stephen | Tagged Found, Guardian angel, Guardian angels, Lost, Memories, My son, Stephen, young Stephen | 2 Comments

The KINGS part 3 Joash

Posted on February 15, 2017 by Wendy Kleker

THE CONSPIRACY

King Joash

“The Lord directs the steps of the Godly, He delights in every detail of their lives. Though they stumble, they will never fall, for the Lord holds them by the hand.” Psalm 37:23-24 NLT

Once upon a time, there was a baby prince. His name was Joash and he lived in a large palace built by Solomon, called the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon. He had many brothers and sisters of which he was the youngest. He had a nurse who cared for him and loved him. There were many servants to see to the prince’s every need. There was a grand nursery with many children and wonderful things to watch and play with. This little prince also had a very wicked grandmother.

Athaliah was the mother of the Ahaziah, king of Judah, who was Joash’s father. Athaliah encouraged her son, the king, to follow the ways of her very evil father, King Ahab of Israel.

“He (Ahaziah) did what was evil in the Lord’s sight, just as Ahab’s family had done. They even became his advisers after the death of his father and they led him to ruin.” 2 Chron. 22:4

So after reigning only one year in Judah, the Southern kingdom, God decided that a visit to the king of Israel, Joram, son of Ahab, would be Ahaziah’s downfall. While in the capital city of Israel, Jezreel, Ahaziah was killed by Jehu who was appointed by God to destroy Ahab’s dynasty and become the next king of Israel the Northern Kingdom. (from 2 Chron. 22:6-7)

When Athaliah heard that her son was dead she systematically began to murder her grandchildren and the rest of Judah’s royal family. You might say she was not the grandmotherly type! This evil woman, caught in the clutches of Satan, ordered the execution of her own grandbabies! What crying was heard in the palace! The nurses and servants were horrified as the children they had loved and cared for since birth were ripped from their arms and carried off screaming to their execution.

All but one. Amongst all the crying and screaming and mayhem, Jehosheba, wife of the priest, Jehoiada, and sister of late king Ahaziah, slipped unnoticed into the nursery and grabbed the youngest child, baby Joash from his crib. Wrapping her robe around the infant, she beckoned to his nurse and the two women calmly walked out of the nursery of horror.

Jehosheba led the nurse down many corridors in the great palace and slipped silently into one of the hundreds of bedrooms where they would hide until a hidden apartment could be readied in the Temple of the Lord.

Jehosheba knew the temple of God was the last place Athaliah would look since she would not want to step foot into the worship place of the one true God whom she had rejected. So when it came time for prayers, brave Jehosheba carried baby Joash under her robe, with the nurse following, into an inner room in the temple where she would hide her nephew from her mother for 6 years.

Can you imagine going against your own mother in a conspiracy that would ultimately end in her death or yours? Taking a stand like that against evil took a lot of courage and strength, no doubt given to her and her husband by God.

Six years the baby would be kept in an inner room in the temple, probably with no windows, where his cries would never be heard. Can you imagine? A child who could not run free in a meadow of green grass or feel the fresh air on his face. He would not feel the strength of a powerful horse beneath his legs or run and play with a devoted puppy. Unless maybe they were able to slip him out now and then disguised as a peasant boy to run and play in the country. I would hope this is what happened. However if he resembled his father in any way he had to be completely kept out of sight of his evil grandmother, Athaliah, now Queen of Judah.

It seemed Athaliah was getting away with her dastardly deeds. You would think God would strike her dead immediately, but He didn’t. She reigned for 6 full years over Judah and did much evil in the sight of the Lord worshiping Baal and other false gods.

In the seventh year of Athaliah reign, Jehoiada, the priest decided to make his move. Summoning his courage, he made a pact with five army commanders, and together they carefully planned out the conspiracy against his mother-in-law the queen of Judah. The 5 commanders traveled secretly throughout the southern kingdom, Judah and summoned the Levites and clan leaders in all the towns to come to Jerusalem where they all gathered at the Temple of God.

Jehoiada led the 7 year old child, Joash out of the temple into the courtyard where all the people were gathered.

“Here is the king’s son!” He cried “The time has come for him to reign! The Lord has promised that a descendant of David will be our king.” Then he laid out the plan for the great take over.

The commanders took charge of the men and supplied them with spears and small shields that had once belonged to King David and had been stored in the Temple of the Lord. Perhaps the prince Joash had played amongst those very shields. Now they were being used to defend him as the palace guards formed a line around the boy with their weapons ready. Armed guards formed lines to the south and to the north of the Temple and around the altar.

All was ready. Jehoiada brought the young prince out of the Temple. Joash was clothed in purple robes of royalty and he held his head high. If you were to look in his eyes you would see a glint of grit and steel there, for the blood of his great, great, great, great grandfather King David ran strong in his veins.

With much pomp, Jehoiada placed the golden crown upon Joash’s head and presented him with the copy of God’s laws. They anointed him and proclaimed him King of Judah. The crowd broke into clapping and shouting, “Long Live the King!”

Meanwhile back at the palace, Athaliah, the wicked grandmother, heard the loud noise and she hurried over to the Temple. What she saw caused her frozen blood to run colder. There in the courtyard of the hated Temple was a very small boy wearing purple robes and a large golden crown, which tilted on his small head. The boy, who resembled her son, stood in the place of authority by the pillar as was the custom at times of coronation. Around him were many guards bristling with spears and holding shields. There were trumpeters and many people from all over the land who were rejoicing and blowing the trumpets.

In despair Athaliah tore her clothes and cried, “Treason! Treason!”

Jehoiada ordered her to be seized and to kill anyone who tried to rescue her. She was a bad queen, not liked, I’m sure by her subjects, so no one made that attempt. The priest said she must not be killed in the Temple of the Lord so she was taken to a gate of the palace grounds and was killed there.

Jehoiada made a covenant between the Lord and the king and the people that they would be the Lord’s people. Then all the people went over to the temple of Baal and tore it down. They demolished the altars and smashed the idols to pieces, then killed Mattan the priest of Baal in front of the leveled altars. No toleration there!

With this taken care of the guards and commanders escorted the king from the Temple of the Lord to the palace and King Joash took his seat on the royal throne. Which, I’m sure, dwarfed the small boy.

So all the people of the land rejoiced and the city was peaceful because the wicked queen had been killed. Joash was seven years old when he became king.

I wish this story had a happy ever after ending. But unfortunately it does not. Joash did what was pleasing in the Lord’s sight throughout the lifetime of the priest Jehoiada. He did many good things, he restored the Temple of God and all the items of worship that had been stolen. He followed God and worshiped Him with burnt offerings and sacrifices during the lifetime of Jehoiada the priest, who must have been like a father to the young king.

However when Jehoiada died at the age of 130, the leaders of Judah were able to persuade the king to abandon the Temple of the Lord. So King Joash led the people to worship Asherah idols instead of the God of their ancestors.

The anger of the Lord fell on Judah and Jerusalem because of this sin. However the Lord sent prophets to warn them and bring them back to Him, but the people would not listen.

Then the Spirit of God came upon Zechariah, son of Jehoiada, the priest and he stood before the leaders and said, “This is what God says: “Why do you disobey the Lord’s commands and keep yourselves from prospering? You have abandoned the Lord and now He has abandoned you!” 2 Chron. 24:20 NLT

The leaders and King Joash, the brave boy king who at one time stood tall for God, ordered Zechariah stoned to death in the courtyard of the Lord’s Temple. The very place Zechariah’s father had defied Joash’s wicked grandmother, risking his life to make a stand for God and crown Joash king.

Not long after that, the Aramean army marched against Joash. They invaded Judah with a small army and killed all the leaders of the nation.

“Although the Arameans attacked with only a small army, the Lord helped them conquer the much larger army of Judah. The people of Judah had abandoned the Lord, the God of their ancestors, so judgment was carried out against Joash.” 2 Chron. 24:24

Joash was severely wounded. But his own officials conspired against him for murdering the son of Jehoiada. He was assassinated in his own bed.

His life was saved by a conspiracy and he was taken out by a conspiracy.

“With blinding speed and power the Lord destroys the strong, crushing all their defenses!” (from Amos 5:10 NLT)

So the child king, Joash, who started out so strong and brave, who was brought up in the mentorship of a godly priest, who was saturated with God’s laws and word, ended up almost as evil as the grandmother who killed all of his family. What happened?

Sin is what happened. He abandoned his God. He turned his back on the very God who had saved His life. You might say, he was young, he was led astray, he was left without guidance and was persuaded. Yes he was, but he had a choice and he chose to turn his back and walk away from the God of the Universe.

God in His righteousness brought judgment on Joash and upon the nation of Judah. This happened time and time again with Judah, who did have a few Godly kings. Out of 20 kings in over 300 years, there were SIX kings who were righteous in the sight of the Lord! Six! Fourteen kings did evil in the sight of the Lord.

In Israel, the Northern Kingdom there were 19 kings in 250 years. How many were godly? NONE! God sent judgment on Israel in the form of enemies overcoming them and oppressing them time and time again. For 250 years God was patient and He sent many prophets to warn Israel to turn back to their God.

Through the prophet Amos, during Uzziah’s reign in Judah, two generations after Joash God, warned His people:

“I brought hunger to every city and famine to every town, but still you would not return to Me, says the Lord.

I kept the rain from falling when your crops needed it the most. I sent rain on one town, but withheld it from another. Rain fell on one field while another field withered away.

I struck your farms and vineyards with blight and mildew. Locusts devoured all your fig and olive trees.

But still you would not return to Me, says the Lord.

I sent plagues on you, like the plagues I sent on Egypt long ago.

I killed your men in war and led your horses away. The stench of death filled the air!

But still you would not return to me, says the Lord.

Therefore I will bring upon you all the disasters I have announced.

Prepare to meet your God in judgment, you people of Israel!” Amos 4:6-12 NLT

Finally, His patience was no more and He sent the Assyrians to defeat them and take all the people except for a few poor farmers into exile to a far away land. And the Northern kingdom of Israel was no more. A little later God also sent judgment on Judah when the Babylonians captured them and took them into exile.

So I ask you, is God the same today?

Is God still a just God?

If you read the prophets you will see many more such warnings to both Israel and Judah that ring very true for America today. Still through Amos, the shepherd prophet, God said:

“How you hate honest judges! How you despise people who tell the truth!

Do what is good and run from evil so that you may live!

Hate evil and love what is good, turn your courts in to halls of justice!

I hate all your show of pretense the hypocrisy of your religious festivals and solemn assemblies.

Away with your noisy hymns of praise! I will not listen to the music of your harps!

Instead I want to see a mighty flood of justice, an endless river of RIGHTEOUS LIVING!

What sorrow awaits you who lounge in luxury in Jerusalem, and you who feel secure in Samaria

You push away every thought of coming disaster, but your actions only bring the day of judgment closer.

You drink wine by the bowlful and perfume yourselves with fragrant lotions.

You care nothing about the ruin of your nation!

Therefore you will be the first to be led away as captives. Suddenly all your parties will end.” (from Amos 5-6 NLT)

Does this sound familiar?

I ask you again, Is God the same today?

Could we not put the United States in the place of Israel and Judah in these passages?

I believe this is a warning to our nation. We need to become a “Nation under God,” once again. We need to follow God and only the God of Heaven’s Armies as a nation. Our people need to have Godly values and strong moral beliefs. We need to get back to the word of God and follow His truths, not every whim of the world. We need to have prayer back in schools and teach our children about the one true God. We need to stop worshiping other gods, bowing to idols and putting technology, gadgets, tv, wealth and other things before our God. We need to stop the lies and deceit, and the dishonest judicial system. God calls for a “FLOOD OF JUSTICE” across our nation!

We as a nation need to listen to the warnings of our God. We need to pray like we have never prayed before. We need to stand before our God in repentance. We need to stand for our God in defiance to sin.

O people of Israel (America) I am about to bring an enemy nation against you says the Lord God of Heaven’s Armies. They will oppress you throughout your land.” Amos 6:14 NLT

This also speaks to me and you as individuals. We need to examine ourselves and ask God to purify our hearts and lives. Are we just singing empty songs and noisy hymns? Are we hypocrites with our religious doings that mean nothing? Are we going to church and saying the right words but only for show and pretense? Are we spending the rest of the week trying to get back at our fellow American? Are we drinking much wine and having parties instead of living in righteousness? Are we worshiping idols and putting other things before our God?

“The Lord is a jealous God, filled with vengeance and rage. He takes revenge on all who oppose Him and He continues to rage against His enemies.

The Lord is slow to get angry, but His power is great! He never lets the guilty go unpunished.” Nahum 1:2-3 NLT

Do not be deceived! God is the same today as He was yesterday. He is a loving God, yes, He is a patient God, but He is also a just God. He can not tolerate sin for long. He waits for hearts to turn to Him, but He will not wait forever.

He says in Amos 9:9-10 “For I will give the command and will shake Israel along with the other nations as grain is shaken in a sieve, yet not one TRUE kernel will be lost.

But all sinners will die by the sword—all those who say ‘Nothing bad will happen to us’.

In that day I will restore the fallen house of David. I will repair its damaged walls. From the ruins I will rebuild it and restore its former glory.”

This is a bleak message, is it not? The prophets go on and on with doom and gloom, do they not? But wait, there is a glimmer of hope! There is light in the darkness. Jesus is the Light! Jesus is our hope. He gives the gift of Eternal life. Not something hoped for, which is just out of our reach, but something to grasp and depend upon.

By His shed blood, His sacrifice of His life on the cross, Jesus brought about a way for us to have a close relationship with our God once again. A way for us black sinners to be made pure and as clean as white snow by believing in Jesus as our Savior and Lord of our life.

Believing is not just believing it is true, or that God exists. Beleiving is clinging to, trusting completely, relying on totally, leaning on, and following Him with all of your life. Making Him the focus of your days. Following Him with all your life. Loving Him with all your heart.

It is time to make a choice. The time for wavering is done! There is no more fence to walk. You will be either for God or against God. Like Joash you must make your choice. And like Joash, if you choose to go against God, you will pay the price.

“Not one TRUE kernel will be lost.” But those against God will die, the death of the soul, which is separation from God and torment for ever and ever.

Jesus says, “Look! I stand at the door, of your heart, and knock. If you hear My voice and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal together as friends.

Those who are victorious will sit with Me on My throne, just as I was victorious and sat with My Father on His throne.” (from Rev. 3:20-21 NLT)

“Turn from evil and do good, and you will live in the land forever.

For the Lord loves justice, and He will never abandon the Godly.”

Psalm 37:27-28NLT

From 2 Chronicles 22-24 2 Kings 9-12 NLT

Note: I am sorry if this offends anyone. I wrote something completely different for the lesson to this story, but I felt a check in posting it. The thought, “this is not what I want you to say,” kept coming to my mind. So I prayed about it many days and this is what I feel God led me to write. So if it offended you or if I stepped on toes, maybe you need to sit up and take notice of your relationship with God. Or maybe there is someone else you know who needs to hear this message.

It made me stop and think, “Am I doing what God would have me to do? Am I living the way God wants me to live? Are there rivers of Righteousness flooding my life? Every day we need to pray and ask God what He wants us to do for that day. And ask Him to help us live righteously. Not weeks ahead but for that day.

Posted in boy king, Following Jesus, God is God of the Earth, God is good, God is in control, Jesus is the Light, Jesus knocks at the door, Joash, king Joash, Light, Righteous living, rivers of righteousness | Tagged bad king, boy king, good king, Jesus is our hope, Jesus is the Light, king Joash, rightouse living, rivers of righteousness | 4 Comments

THE KINGS part 2 Solomon

Posted on January 26, 2017 by Wendy Kleker

ALL THE KING’S MEN

Solomon’s Fall

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall. Humpty Dumpty had a great fall!

Once upon a time there was a great king. This king followed God with all his heart. God blessed him with great wisdom and many riches. He sat himself upon a high throne in his great throne room called The Hall of Justice. His huge throne was decorated with ivory and overlaid with fine gold. Picture it—a huge, pure white chair, glimmering with gold’ so high there were six steps up to the base. The throne had a tall rounded back and large arm rests. A stone lion stood on each side of the throne and there were two lions on each end of the 6 steps. Can you imagine?

On the throne sits a tall regal man with a golden crown on his head. He wears purple robes of the finest silk and cloth. There are jewels, red, green, purple and gold, sparkling on his fingers, around his neck and studded on his sandals.

Besides the Temple of God, he built a great palace called the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon which had cedar pillars and cedar beams and 45 side rooms arranged in three floors of fifteen each. Wow! I would love to see that building! He also built the Hall of Pillars, living quarters for himself and living quarters for his wives. The construction of the temple and other buildings took 20 years.

All the utensils and drinking cups in the palace were made from solid gold. There was so much silver in the land that it was considered worthless at this time. King Solomon built a fleet of trading ships that sailed away only to come back every three years loaded with gold, silver, ivory, apes and peacocks. Why apes? Of all things!

Solomon had 12,000 imported horses, 1400 chariots, 200 large shields made of hammered gold weighing 1500 pounds each, 300 small shields also made of hammered gold which weighed 400 pounds each and many wives. Ah yes, his wives. We will get to that later.

This king was known to be richer and wiser than all the kings in the world. You would see in a given day, nobles from all around the world, wise men coming to the foot of his throne to listen to his words and gain knowledge. Of course all those who visited brought many gifts, maybe each trying to out do the other.

Even the great Queen of Sheba heard of his fame so she traveled to Jerusalem to test Solomon with hard questions. She arrived with many gifts of gold, spices and precious jewels and she spent much time talking to Solomon about everything she had on her mind. Solomon had answers for all her many questions and the regal queen was overwhelmed at his knowledge and great achievements. And so his fame spread to all the world.

This mighty king sat himself high on a huge throne, but he soon started to slide down the slippery slope of selfishness, pride and conceit. At first, the slide is slow, we can see his shift from doing it for God to doing things for Solomon. God gave him all these resources, but did He mean for Solomon to use them in such extravagance? To seat himself on a throne high above any other in the world? To drink from cups of gold? To live in huge mansions? To import apes for no reason? To make shields of gold that were useless?

Were there other ways Solomon could have used his God-given blessing of wisdom and riches? Maybe to help people, perhaps provide for the poor or support the widows and orphans. It says later that Solomon taxed his people heavily and was a hard master extracting harsh labor demands on his people. (1Kings 12:4 NLT)

Why would a man who desired nothing but the ability to rule God’s people with wisdom and compassion fall to such levels of cruelty? Why would a man who loved God with all his heart and desired nothing but to follow in His ways, do evil in the sight of the Lord his God? What would cause a man who received amazing blessings, to slide so fast and fall so far down the slippery slope of sin?

After all Solomon had been warned twice, once by his father David, and once by God Himself, to always follow God and obey His commands and decrees or dire consequences to the nation of Israel would follow. So why would a king who had everything he could want and desire turn his back on the God who had promised to always be with him?

I’ll tell you why! Disobedience to God’s word. He did something God had clearly told the people of Israel NOT to do. He loved something God warned him to stay away from. And he refused to give it up.

God said “You must not marry foreign women for they will turn your heart to their gods. Yet Solomon insisted on loving them anyway.” (1Kings 11:2 NLT)

It started with just one. Just one woman, the daughter of an Egyptian pharaoh. The people who had held his ancestors in captivity for 400 years! He must have thought, “Just one won’t hurt. After all, I do everything else God’s way.”

Or maybe he didn’t think at all.

It didn’t stop at one, however, soon he had wives who had royal blood, princesses, from Moab, Ammon, Edom, Sidon, and the Hittites. Sound familiar? All Israel’s old enemies. The enemies Joshua conquered and chased out of the land. Enemies that David fought hard to trample and vanquish from the country. Maybe Solomon thought he was being diplomatic in foreign affairs. Maybe like a politician he was trying to keep peace with the world. I think he just loved women, lots of them, exotic women, different women, beautiful women. And he decided he would do it his way. Not God’s way.

He had 700 wives from royalty and 300 concubines! One thousand women! Wow! No wonder he fell. He didn’t just slip a little on that slippery slope, he shushed all the way to the bottom!

These women did indeed turn Solomon’s heart away from the Lord God almighty. “In Solomon’s old age, they turned his heart to worship other gods instead of being completely faithful to the Lord his God, as his father David had been.”(1Kings11:4 NLT)

He worshiped many false gods and even erected shrines to these detestable gods on the Mount of Olives in the city of David for all his wives, and using burnt incense, he sacrificed to and worshiped these gods.

“The Lord was very angry with Solomon, for his heart had turned away from the Lord, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice. He had warned Solomon specifically about worshiping other gods, but Solomon did not listen to the Lord’s command.”

So the Lord said to Solomon, “Since you have not kept my covenant and have disobeyed My decrees, I will surely tear the kingdom away from you and give it to one of your servants.” (I Kings 11:9-11 NLT)

And this is exactly what God did, eventually. But He also raised up three adversaries to trouble Solomon. No more peace for this peaceful king. No more easy street for this wealthy man. All of a sudden, there was rebellion in the land. Trouble and turmoil came against Solomon until he died.

God set it up so Solomon’s servant, no less, would become King of the Northern kingdom of Israel, but the descendants of David continued to reign for a time in Jerusalem in the Southern kingdom of Judah. The nation God had built for His own people, who were as numerous as the sands on the sea shore, would soon be torn in two, never to be so great on this earth again.

It says many times that “David followed God completely.” Now we know that David sinned, but he always repented and turned back to God. David was a man after God’s own heart.

Do I worship God exclusively? Or Do I let things, people or money turn my heart away from my God?

Have I put myself on a high throne? Or is God ruler of my life?

Am I following God’s ways completely? Or am I doing what is pleasing in my own eyes?

One toe dip into the world, just one act of disobedience, starts the slide. One unconfessed sin is grease to the slippery slope. More sin added to the scale will unbalance even a king. Disobedience to God will topple the greatest king. How about you?

In the end it didn’t matter how many great buildings Solomon built or how many riches he had, what really mattered was how much he loved his God.

God doesn’t really desire grand buildings or gold or even great service, what He wants most is our devotion and our obedience. What God really desires is our hearts.

All the king’s men and all the king’s horses couldn’t put Humpty Dumpty together again.

“Come My children, and listen to Me, and I will teach you to fear the Lord.

Does anyone want to live a life that is long and prosperous?

Then keep your tongue from speaking evil and your lips from telling lies!

Turn away from evil and do good.

Search for peace and work to maintain it.

The eyes of the Lord watch over those who do right, His ears are open to their cries for help.

But the Lord turns His face against those who do evil, He will erase their memory from the earth.

The Lord hears His people when they call to Him for help.

He rescues them from all their troubles.

The Lord is close to the broken hearted.

He rescues those whose spirits are crushed.

The righteous person faces many troubles, but the Lord comes to the rescue each time.

For the Lord protects the bones of the righteous, not one of them is broken!

Calamity will surely overtake the wicked, and those who hate the righteous will be punished.

But the Lord will redeem those who serve Him.

No one who takes refuge in Him will be condemned.” Psalm 34:11-22 NLT

Posted in disobedience, Following God, King Solomon, slippery slope, Solomon's fall, Worship God only | Tagged disobey, Fall, King Solomon, Sin, slippery slope, Solomon, throne, wise | 1 Comment

THE SON part 3

Posted on December 19, 2016 by Wendy Kleker

THE SON

part 3

MORNING LIGHT

“Because of God’s tender mercy the morning Light from Heaven is about to break upon us, to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death and to guide us to the path of peace.” Luke 1:78-79

The stable that was under the living quarters of the house was quiet. Now and then an animal shifted in the straw and dim light shown throughout. Mary’s father sat leaning against the far wall and dozed in the stillness. Joseph sat by Mary holding her head in his lap and every so often wiping her sweaty face with a cool cloth.

Joseph had no idea that birthing would be so hard, but Mary labored much and once in awhile a soft moan would escape her drawn lips. He was happy Mary’s mother was there to attended to her needs. He would not have known what to do. It was all he could do to watch her in such pain. In between the contractions she would look at him and smile assurance while he wiped the sweat from her forehead. His heart swelled with love for this young, strong woman who God chose to deliver His very own Son to a dying world.

In the wee hours, when the night is the darkest and when the evil one is prowling the earth to see what havoc can be wreaked, a soft light bathed the house where Mary lay.

In the dark sky a great star burst forth, with bright light upon the black night. The evil one screamed in anguish and ran from the legion of angels surrounding the house.

In the dim room filled with the smell of cows and donkeys and musty straw, a lusty infant cry broke the stillness. Mary’s father jerked as his head came up. Joseph stared as his mother-in-law held the kicking baby boy in both her hands.

“Here he is, Mary,” she said with a grin, “healthy and ready to face the world!”

Joseph helped Mary to sit up, then her mother placed the squirming baby in her arms. After examining fingers and toes, and wiping his tiny body clean, Mary wrapped him in the swaddling clothes she had brought. Then she grinned at Joseph who couldn’t take his eyes off the tiny baby in her arms.

“His name is Jesus,” he said and Mary nodded as she leaned against her husband, content with her baby secure in her arms.

Mary’s exhausted heart swelled with love, as she gazed at the tiny face and hands. Was it true? Would this baby of hers really grow into a mighty king? Would those tiny hands really save the nations? And was He truly the Son of Almighty God? But He had to be, how else could it have happened that she would have been with child before knowing a man?

This miracle baby of hers seemed so normal, like so many other babies she had seen. She glanced around the dim, dirty room that housed the family’s animals and realized for the first time that she had delivered her baby in a stable, on the dirt floor, and the only place to lay him was a straw filled manger. Not a fit place for the King of Kings to enter the world. What was God thinking?

Mary laid back on the straw and robes that had been put on the floor and snuggled the baby close to her breast. Joseph tucked robes in around his son and wife then huddled near by to shelter them from the cold draft.

Just outside Bethlehem a group of shepherds who kept their flocks of sheep together in a fold at night for protection, slept around a fire. Two or three were awake, sitting by the fire trying to stay awake to keep the night watch. Their heads dropped between their knees in the wee hours of the night as sleep overtook them.

Suddenly a bright light shone all around them. The watchmen sprang to their feet. The sleeping shepherds sat up and looked around befuddled. The light came out of the sky and was so bright they covered their eyes. They had never seen such light, it pulsated with brilliance. Terrified of what this could be, they lay prone upon the ground.

Out of the light they could just make out a figure. The tall, commanding being that seemed to be made of the light spoke.

“Don’t be afraid!” A voice boomed out of the light, “I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people! A Savior–yes, the Messiah, the Lord–has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David! And you will recognize Him by this sign: You will find a baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth lying in a manger.”

Suddenly the dark sky was filled with many angels, the armies of Heaven, all glowing in great light and singing this heavenly song.

“Glory to God in highest Heaven and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased!” Luke 2:14 NLT

The glory of God illuminated the night and the hills surrounding Bethlehem. The shocked shepherds stood with their amazed eyes turned upwards to the glorious sight of thousands of brilliant angels singing and praising God. Their mouths hung open and their hearts swelled with joy.

The shepherds were the lowly of the working men. They lived in the hills with their sheep, they had no homes, no beds, eating only what they killed or found. They were hard working men who preferred to be in the open country rather than a warm house. They would rather have the company of their sheep and dogs and sometimes each other instead of other people. They were considered outcasts, socially inept, poor and downtrodden.

Yet God chose these men to be the first to see His Glory that night. He chose the lowly and humble, not the high and mighty, to be the first to welcome His Son. God chose a peasant girl and a common carpenter to be the parents of His only cherished Son. He decided the Prince of Heaven would be born not in a palace warm but a cold drafty, dirty stable with cows and donkeys and maybe goats to witness the birth.

Every year when I read this story it amazes me that the God of the universe would use such common people and simple surroundings to execute His great plan. Why God even planned for His Son to born amongst the very animals He had formed with His own hands! Animals who warmed His tiny body with their heat and gave Him their own bedding. Did the cows look on with wide eyes and moo softly as the birth took place? Did the donkeys and goats and maybe a dog or cat know who was in their midst and eagerly try to get a glimpse?

This whispers to me that God will use me, a common person living in a simple humble home surrounded by His creation and even the animals He put on earth, to bring about His glory! If only I, like Mary and Joseph, have a willing heart. If only I am eager to follow His will, even if the road leads up steep, difficult mountains and things seem to go all wrong.

Tired and worn the shepherds came. The light of the star marked the house. The back country men filed silently inside and stood reverently looking down at the sleeping Mary with her baby snuggled close to her side.

Mary’s mother and father, wrapped in robes by the other wall, slept on undisturbed. Joseph, who lay beside Mary, jerked awake and jumped to his feet. The shepherds smiled and softly told him of the angel’s visit. Joseph, who wasn’t surprised at all, motioned for them to sit and they knelt on the dirt floor. Mary’s eyes fluttered open and after a startled glance at Joseph who nodded, she held out the sleeping baby. As the rough, crusty shepherds took turns holding the tiny newborn, Joseph and Mary shared their stories of visits from angels.

In the cold dawn of a new day, the rough, dirt-crusted, outdoor men bowed their heads and worshiped Heaven’s Prince, the Savior of the world.

The Morning Light had come!

The Morning Light from Heaven burst upon a dark and dying world over 2000 years ago. The world we now live in is still dying, and dark. Evil reigns.

Blackness is creeping into every crack and extinguishing all light. So it seems.

Nevertheless, the Light from Heaven has not been put out. The evil one could not extinguish the Flame of Grace. Jesus who lived and walked on this earth and who died for you and for me, now lives!

He is a Light that is brighter than that star that shone down on Bethlehem that night. He is a song that is sung sweeter than Heaven’s armies singing in the night. He is more radiant than God’s Glory shining bright in the Bethlehem sky.

He is the Prince of Heaven, the Morning Star, the Commander of Heaven’s armies, the great I AM! He is the Lover of your soul. The Light in your darkness. The cleanser of your heart.

He will wash away your sins. He will give you new life and life eternal forever and ever in Glory with Him. He walks beside you, He lives within you, He stands between you and the evil one.

He is my strength, my shelter, my everything. I can not walk a single day without my Jesus by my side.

When darkness comes, He is my Morning Light. When a storm blows into my life, He is my Refuge. When all else fails, He is my Strong Tower.

He supports me. He carries me. He puts me on the Rock that is higher than I.

He will never leave me. He will never forsake me. He is my Savior, my Friend, my life.

He was born a baby in a stable. He died as a criminal on a cruel cross. He is now the Prince in Glory. He will return to Earth as the King of the nations.

Jesus Christ our Lord.

He is the Son of the Almighty God.

He came as Light, bursting upon a dark night.

He brings Hope to a cursed, sin filled planet.

He gives Salvation to mankind, who live in the shadow of eternal death.

He is the Morning Light in your heart.

His light illuminates sin.

Yet He washes them all away.

All you have to do is ask.

He stands at the door of your heart and says,

“Look! I stand at the door and knock. If you hear My voice and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal together as friends.” Revelations 3:20 NLT

Posted in Angel Gabriel, Angels, Birth of a Savior, Birth of Jesus, Celebrate the King, Jesus is the Light, King of Kings, Light, Mary, Mary and Joseph, Merry Christmas, Refuge, Shepherds, Uncategorized | Tagged Angels, birth, hope, Jesus, Joseph, Light, Mary, Salvation, Shepherds, stable | 1 Comment

THE SON part two

Posted on December 12, 2016 by Wendy Kleker

THE JOURNEY

“Dear friends, don’t be surprised at the fiery trials you are going through, as if something strange were happening to you. Instead be very glad for these trials make you partners with Christ in His suffering, so that you will have the wonderful joy of seeing His glory when it is revealed to all the world.” 1 Peter 4:12-13 NLT

Mary:

I draw in a deep breath of the fresh morning air as I walk beside the donkey Joseph is leading. It is a fine day. The sun, not far on its journey, shines brilliant in a bright blue sky. The friends and family we travel with, sing a merry song as we march, only a few hours into the journey to Bethlehem to register for the census.

The heavy robe I had worn at the start of our journey in the chilly predawn hours is now tied to the pack on Josephine, my father’s borrowed donkey.

I chuckle remembering the teasing I mercilessly gave Joseph as he was tying our belongings to the pack. “Well, guess we have two Joes now,” I said with a smirk referring to my pet name for Joseph, who only grunted and hid a smile. “Well guess I could call you Joey instead, but that’s what I usually call Josephine.” I chuckled at his disgusted look. “Not a good idea, huh?” Laughing out loud, I made my waddling way back to the house for another load of meager belongings.

Joseph had said I could ride Josephine, and he would carry the pack. He is perfectly capable of doing that, he said. I assured him that I was perfectly capable of walking and should be able to make the three day journey on foot, if we didn’t go too fast.

Now, even though I am extremely heavy with child, there is a spring in my step and I feel vigorous and strong. My eyes scan the surrounding open countryside with scattered scrub brush which is mostly in the bottoms of the arroyos the trail occasionally dips into. Leaves are changing on the occasional trees that grow along the Jordan river we follow most of the way, causing a splash of orange or yellow in the brown landscape.

When Joseph first told me we must make this journey, I was afraid and positive that at nine months pregnant I would not be able to make it. However, he did not want to leave me behind since he knew the child would come while he was gone. Not only that, if I was away from the village at the time of the birth the discrepancy in the time of pregnancy would not be so obvious to anyone keeping track. And I am quite sure there are those who are counting months since Joseph and I were married. Was this order from Augustus, the Roman Emperor, to register for this census in our ancestral towns, actually God’s hand at work?

As the time drew near and I packed things needed for the baby, I was filled with fear. What if I gave birth on the trail? What about the dirt and what if there was no water to wash or fire to heat the water or shelter if it should rain? My hands shook as I folded the swaddling clothes and tears threatened.

Arms came around me as Joseph covered my abundant belly with his strong capable hands. “Don’t worry Little One,” he whispered in my ear always sensitive to my moods. “God will be with us. He will take care of us all, especially this child. ”

Of course, I knew this, but still the fear threatened to overcome my good senses. Then the night before we left, as I lay awake next to my snoring husband I prayed to God to take away the fear and give me strength for the journey.

Suddenly my heart was filled with warmth and quiet stillness.

All will be well, My child. Have no fear.

Amazingly the anxiety fled and in its place was–how do I explain it? Peace, assurance and an enveloping love that seemed to fill every crack of my heart. I am sure that the strength I feel now even after hours of walking is only from my Father God.

Once the sun goes down, we make camp beside the river. There are several families, some with young children traveling together, since it is not safe to travel alone. Joseph sees to Josephine, leaving her in the care of some young boys who watch the animals while they graze before night, and then he starts a fire. I bustle around pulling out food that was prepared ahead that can be warmed by the fire.

I am tired but not exhausted, my feet do hurt a bit and my lower back aches. Pretty normal for a women in her ninth month of pregnancy who has walked all day, Joseph assures me, as he rubs my back under the cover of our robes before we fall asleep. I fall into a deep dreamless sleep instantly and hardly move until Joseph is holding me and whispering in my ear that it is time to wake up.

A hasty cold breakfast is eaten, gear packed and loaded on Josephine and we are on our way before the sun shows its face. Streaks of pink and gold stripe the eastern horizon and the sky is turning to a light gray as I once again trudge beside Joseph. I am a bit stiff this morning, not feeling quite as vigorous as yesterday. But as the sun peeks out and the birds sing from the trees, I feel my muscles loosen and my spirits lift.

It was a tough day. The country grew more rugged and there were many coulees, which meant going down steep hills and climbing back up on often loose gravel and rocks. One time going up a hill my feet slipped out from under me and I landed on my hands and knees. Joseph was immediately beside me, helping me to my feet.

“You can ride the donkey,” he quickly said.

But I was stubborn and after catching my breath and rubbing my knees, I insisted I was fine and could walk. And walk I did but every step was an effort of my screaming muscles and my dragging steps slowed us down so that Joseph and I came into camp at dusk. Joseph’s brother and cousin stayed with us to make sure we got there safely.

That night I had no energy to even get food out and I wasn’t sure how I would go on for one more whole day. Joseph, bless his heart, insisted I lay on the bedroll and rest while he did everything around camp. I fell asleep soon after eating a little and drinking some tea and was barely aware of my husband wrapping robes around me.

The next morning I was sore and stiff and the ache in my back was worse and very low. I walked for awhile but soon started getting cramps in my midsection that radiated to my back. Some of the older women in our group, my mother included, said it was the first stages of labor, but it would probably be many hours before I would deliver.

Joseph insisted I ride but after a while the jarring and swaying of the donkey’s gait along with cramps tightening in a band across my stomach, became unbearable. I would walk for awhile, often stopping and leaning on blessed Josephine’s side when a contraction would hit. We made slow time and most of the party went on ahead at Joseph’s insistence. Only my parents, his brother, Jesse, and cousin, Obed, stayed with us and as the sun set behind the distant hills, I knew Joseph was getting tense.

He thought we should stop and set up camp for the night, but I insisted we keep going. I knew it was unsafe for such a small party to be out after dark and not only that, I did not want my child to be born out in the open countryside with no protection or shelter. I wanted a bed to lie in and a warm fire to take away the chill, which I was sure would make a tiny newborn sick.

I was near panic as the night came on and darkness fell around us, but I gritted my teeth and said not a word. The cramps were getting so intense that I barely could hold back a groan and my mother walked beside me with her hand on my leg murmuring soft words of encouragement. I could see Joseph’s mouth moving in silent prayer as he walked on the other side and his brother led Josephine in a fast walk.

I thought we would be stuck in this dark world of pain forever as Josephine’s short quick strides jerked on and on.

“Hang on my sweet, we are almost there,” Joseph’s words penetrated the pain fog and when I looked up I could see lamps burning in nearby windows.

“Oh thank the Blessed Father above,” I murmured, not even carrying now if it was the ground I lay on as long as I could get off this blessed donkey.

We made our way to Joseph’s distant relatives, people we didn’t even know, but who would surely give us shelter. They only shook their heads saying there was no floor space left, even in the stable, which was, below the living quarters of the house. We trudged through the small village to a house of distant relatives of my father’s but they too said there was no room. None at all. There was no room for my baby to even lay his head.

“Why oh why, Father are You letting this happen?” I screamed silently, “Why is there no place for your Son to be born!”

Another cramp hit me, harder this time than ever before and I swayed forward and moaned. “I must get off,” I groaned. My mother said that my time was coming near.

Joseph reached up and lifted me gently off the donkey, but my legs would not hold me and I slumped against him. Joseph picked me up in his strong arms and told Jesse to go to the nearby house and tell them we would take any space they had to spare. I could feel Joseph’s fear in his tense muscles.

“I can walk, Joseph,” I whispered, even though I barely had strength to lift my head, “you can put me down.” But he carried me towards the house.

I saw a man open the door his brother knocked upon and peer out. After listening to Jesse’s plea, my heart dropped when the man shook his head. Then, as Joseph approached the door, the man’s eyes met mine.

“She is about to give birth,” Joseph pleaded.

The man’s mouth fell open, “Oh Father God,” he said, then opened the door.

Joseph ducked into the lower level of the house where the animals, a couple of donkeys, a milk cow and some goats were bedded down in straw. My father led Josephine in with my mom and Obed following and the small space was crowded indeed.

The man scurried around getting straw to make a soft bed in an open space near the wall where there was a manger full of hay. Joseph let my feet sink to the ground but he kept a firm hold around my back. Jesse and Obed murmured that they would find another place to stay and quickly went out.

When the bed of straw was ready, Joseph helped me to it and I sank down into its blessed softness. Oh, the bliss of stretching out and letting my tense muscles relax. Until the next contraction hit, that is. Joseph asked for hot water and rags. My mother knelt beside me and Father brought in our pack. The animals shifted to make room.

I was too tired to worry about the dirt or animal manure, only very thankful for the warmth from the robes tucked around me and the soft light from the lamp that the man brought, along with food for the others.

Through the fog of pain, I was aware of a warm glow that seemed to fill the small stable. The animals stilled and it seemed the whole earth waited in the cold darkness.

The angels held their breath and all of creation seemed poised for the dawning of the new age.

Sometimes our journey through life is a difficult march through a cold dark desert. Like Joseph and Mary, our trip through the wilderness is no lark. We have many steep hills to climb and sometimes we fall. We get up and trudge on, one weary step after another. The journey drags on and on in the cold and one thing after another goes wrong.

We wonder if this trip we’re on is really God’s will. Surely if it was His will, all would go smoothly and be a walk in the park. There would be flowers and birds and blessings along the way. Wouldn’t there be? You would think God would smooth the bumps out and make the road easy. Wouldn’t He?

But wait! How did He orchestrate the birth of His Son? Who would have thought that God of the universe would allow the Emperor of Rome to make such a decree just before His Son was about to be born on planet Earth? You would think that a God who controls everything in His creation would have caused an easier way for the parents of His Son. You would think that the Almighty God of the universe would have gone on ahead and prepared a clean, comfortable place for His only begotten Son, the Son who stood by Him when they created the world, to be born. Wouldn’t He?

Oh but He didn’t! He allowed it to be tough and dangerous for the ones He used to fulfill His most important plan. He let Mary be in pain and discomfort. He let everything that could go wrong, go wrong. Yet not quite. He was there. He strengthened, He indeed prepared, He protected, and in the end He provided.

Mary and Joseph grew strong in their faith, they learned to lean on Him, they depended on His guidance. They learned to trust Him no matter how hard the journey.

So friends, He works the same in our lives. Does He not?

“Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for GREAT joy! For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.” James 1:2-4

Let it Grow!

Posted in Birth of Jesus, Endurance, God's plan, God's Son, Hardship and trials, Hope dawns, I will rejoice, Journey to Bethleham, Mary, Mary and Joseph | Tagged Bethlahem, donkey, Endurance, hardships, Joseph, journey, Mary, trials | 2 Comments

THE SON part one

Posted on December 6, 2016 by Wendy Kleker

THE SON,

part one

We tend to glamorize the birth of Jesus. To romanticize the betrothal and marriage of Joseph and Mary. To think of the journey to Bethlehem as a walk in the park or should I say wilderness. To whitewash the stable with clean straw and lovely smelling cows. To recreate a beautiful sparkly night with twinkly lights and a balmy breeze and Heavenly music.

Where I believe it was all of these things to some extent, it was also reality for Mary and Joseph. It was the real deal, where the rubber meets the road, so to speak, and their lives were turned upside down by one short message from God. A message delivered by the mighty angel Gabriel to a young peasant girl in a small out of the way village in Galilee.

Have you ever wondered what it was really like for Mary? That blessed, glorious experience of giving birth to the Savior of the world. How did a young peasant girl really see it? This is how I imagine it might have been.

The Message

One day I was washing dishes after breakfast and singing one of my favorite Psalms, when suddenly there was a tingling down my back. You know it’s when you get goose bumps on your arms and you know something great is about to happen. But what? I can’t imagine since I’m just a plain peasant girl from a small village in Galilee, of unimportant birth. Except that it is said my family line has come down from David. Does that mean anything? Not that I know of. My betrothed Joseph is also from the line of David so when we are married our humble house of a simple carpenter will be of Noble blood. Ha! Something to tell our children when we tell them the stories of our ancestors. Of Abraham and Jacob and King David and all the glorious things God did back then.

Oh I think it would be so grand to hear from God or see Him work in a mighty way. Don’t you? I mean we talk about it, we see the memorials, we remember the stories. Like the stones Joshua placed near the Jordan after the Children of Israel crossed over to the promised land on dry ground. But that was so long ago and God has been so silent and they seem like fairy tales that are not real. I would just love to feel God’s presence and know He is real!

Just as I was dreaming about this with my hands in the warm soapy water, suddenly there was a bright light filling our small humble living space. A light like I had never seen, brighter than the brightest sun rays and I covered my face with my arm, as I turned around. Slowly lowering my arm, I saw a bright, glistening being, tall and commanding. Dare I say an angel of God? My heart began to pound, yet for some reason I was not afraid, only filled with such awe I could not move or speak.

“Greetings, favored woman! The Lord is with you!” The angel’s voice filled the room and my mind.

I was confused. Favored woman? God is with me? Me? What could that mean?

“Don’t be afraid, Mary,” the angel said, and I wasn’t sure if he really spoke or the words were only in my head. My mother who was in the back room at the time, said she never heard a thing. “For you have found favor with God! You will conceive and give birth to a son, you will name him Jesus. He will be very great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give Him the throne of His ancestor David. And he will reign over Israel forever. His Kingdom will never end!”

I stumbled back against the counter. This was too much to take in! “Wait a minute how can this happen? I have known no man, I am a virgin!” I cried.

“The Holy Spirit will come upon you,” the angel explained, “and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the baby to be born will be holy and He will be called the Son of God.

Then he went on to explain that my cousin, Elisabeth, who was in her old age and had been barren all her life, was also with child, given to her from God for His purpose.

“For nothing is impossible with God.” The angel firmly stated.

My surprise knew no end. I was shocked and could only stammer the first thing that came to my mind. “I am the Lord’s servant. May everything you have said about me come true.” I mean what can you say to an angel? Right? Then the angel left. (from Luke 1:26-38)

My legs felt like the dishrag I had dropped in the dishpan and I had to sit down. I sat on a cushion and putting my elbows on the table I buried my face in my hands.

Was this true? Did this really happen? Was I really going to have a baby? But I had no husband! Just my fiancé Joseph, and we were only engaged! What will happen to me if I become pregnant?

Those tingles I talked about before, spread down my back and across my arms. I felt suddenly warm all over and funny, like I was being pulled from my body. A glow came before my closed eyes, and I was filled with great peace. I breathed slowly and felt a deep assurance that all would be well. God, my God, the God of my ancestors, would take care of everything.

Great joy filled my heart. I, just plain Mary, had heard from the Almighty God of the universe!

I floated for days on this feeling of joy and assurance. Sometimes I felt as if I was floating above the ground. I went to visit my cousin, Elizabeth, in the hill country of Judea and was so excited to find it all true. She was indeed with child!

I hadn’t know for sure, before seeing her, if what the angel said was true. But it is! Elizabeth called me the mother of her Lord! She knew I was carrying a child, even before I told her about the angel’s visit. Wow! I am amazed!

This feeling is nothing like I had ever felt before! I can only call it exhilarating! Like standing on a mountain and seeing a vista of grandeur and majesty spread at my feet.

“Oh how my soul praises the Lord! How my spirit rejoices in my Savior!” I said to Elizabeth. “For He took notice of His lowly servant girl and from now on all generations will call me blessed. For the Mighty One is holy and He has done great things for me.

He shows mercy from generation to generation to all who fear Him. His mighty arm has done tremendous things!” (Luke 1:46-51)

I am just so amazed and blessed to see God working and to actually hear from His angel! I am so greatly humbled that He would choose lowly me to carry out His great promise to His people.

So I stayed with Elizabeth about three months and by then I knew I was indeed carrying a child. Of course I had been with no man so I knew without a doubt this child was indeed the workings of Almighty God. However what would I face when I returned home?

Soon after getting home I told my parents all that had happened. At first they didn’t believe me. My mother swore up and down that she never saw or heard an angel that day. Surely, she said, she would have since the house is not large. Well I couldn’t explain that but I told them again and again that I had not known a man in an intimate way.

Finally my father traveled to Elizabeth and Zechariah’s village and found out for himself that a miracle had indeed happened to his aged niece, who was about to finally give birth to a child. Also Zechariah could not speak because he had not believed the angel, Gabriel, who had given him the message of the son his wife was carrying. This Zechariah wrote out explaining all, with great excitement, to my father. So having heard this with his own ears, he and my mother were more inclined to believe me.

However it soon came time to tell Joseph my betrothed that I was with child. Oh my! What a time. We took a quiet stroll outside the village and I explained all that had happened. His expression was incredulous.

“What?!” he cried in his calm controlled manner, “Let me get this right. You are with child, but you say this child came from God not a man?”

I nodded, “It’s true, really!” I explained about Elizabeth and her child but I didn’t really expect Joseph to believe me. I mean who would? Joseph is a simple man, a practical man who believes in God and the scriptures, but to swallow such a wild tale from your young fiancé, I mean that would be hard for any man. In these days we don’t expect visions of angels and messages from God. Who would since none have been known in such a long time. How long since anyone has heard from God, we do not know.

Joseph was silent for along time, walking along with his head down and his hands folded in front of him, inside his long sleeves. I walked beside him, my stomach sick and not due to the pregnancy either, and prayed that God would please talk to Joseph’s heart. I wasn’t sure if I loved Joseph. I had known him for a long time, and he was a good man. I would need a man by my side to raise this child. Without a husband the child would grow up in disgrace and how could God’s Son do that?

Before we entered the village again, he stopped and looked at me with sorrow in his eyes. I knew he thought I had betrayed him and my heart broke for him.

“Oh Joseph!” I cried, “Please don’t think I would hurt you in any way! Oh please believe what I say is true!”

He lowered his head but before he did I saw the sheen of tears in his eyes. “I will have to think on this, but believe this, I will not disgrace you publicly. I will probably break our engagement, but will do it quietly. How you will explain a child, I don’t know, but I just don’t think I can accept your story.”

Then he walked away, his head bowed, his steps dragging. My heart broke into a thousand pieces. It was then I knew I loved this man who had been more like a big brother to me than anything. “My God!” I cried, “Please make him see the truth.”

I made my way home and later fell into bed but not into sleep. My soul and mind were troubled indeed. I felt sick to think I had hurt such a gentle, caring soul as my Joseph.

“How can you do this God?” I cried. How could He bring such turmoil into my ordered life? Everything was going so good, just as it should. I am of a good age to be betrothed. The engagement would last a year or two until I am more mature and better able to handle being a wife and have children, so my mother explained. Joseph and I would see each other often, every day usually, and get to know each other as friends. It’s the way it should be. The way it usually is with our people. But now!

“Now God my life is all messed up! Joseph is hurt and feels betrayed and I will be disgraced and the child, God your Son will have such a hard time!”

“It is ok, Child, I will take care of you and Joseph and my Son. Nothing is impossible for Me.” These words came into my head and I felt such peace fill my heart. I knew it would indeed be ok. God was in control and He would handle everything. With that I fell into a deep sleep.

That night Joseph lay in his bed and tossed and turned. Thoughts of what Mary had told him going around and around in his head like a butter churn. He just couldn’t believe an angel had actually spoken to her. Had she gone daft? He knew she was given to fanciful thinking and romantic day dreaming, but this was far beyond anything normal for a young woman. Wasn’t it?

He could hardly pray. His befuddled mind could only find the words, “Help me God to know what to do!” As he was whispering these words over and over he finally fell into a troubled sleep.

He had a dream where a shinning angel stood before him and spoke to him, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. For the child within her was conceived by the Holy Spirit. And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus. For he will save his people from their sins.”

And in a half sleep state Joseph remembered the words of the prophet: “Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son, and they will call Him Immanuel, which means God is with us.” (Math. 1:20-23)

When he woke up, Joseph whispered, “The Messiah! Mary is giving birth to the promised Messiah!”

Jumping out of bed, Joseph donned his robe and sandals and rushed over to Mary’s house. He burst upon her family’s breakfast and rushed over to Mary. Her parents were surprised at the behavior of this stoic man but Joseph ignored them and knelt before Mary.

Taking her hands in his he said, “Mary forgive me for not believing you, but I have had a dream and God has confirmed all that you have said. I will marry you, if you will still have me.”

Tears sprang to Mary’s eyes and she threw her arms around his neck nearly knocking him over backwards. “Oh yes! Yes I will marry you! Thank God! Thank God!”

This was not, I’m sure, how Mary had dreamed her marriage would be. A quickly planned affair brought on by an unplanned pregnancy! Her world was turned upside down and inside out with Gabriel’s message. One little message from God.

Yet, God used the miracle of Elizabeth’s pregnancy to confirm for Mary and others that what He was working in Mary was indeed from Him. He usually does this in my life. If He gives me a message, or a direction, it is always confirmed by other means.

Turmoil and trouble came into Mary and Joseph’s world all because of God’s plan. Because of God working His will in their lives they experienced confusion, doubt, stress and pain. But through it all I’m sure they had peace. God was with them and He gave them the strength and all that they needed to go through it.

In the same way, God’s will, His plans don’t always make my life great! In fact, sometimes God’s will brings turmoil and trouble. Often times when God works in my life there is confusion, stress and pain. However, God is working for my good and for the good of others around me. This I know, this I trust. He always gives me His peace, His joy and His strength through it all. I just need to trust and lean on Him in the worst of times. And, like Mary, I will praise my Lord!

“Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy! I look to You for protection. I will hide beneath the shadow of Your wings until the danger passes by.

Be exalted O God, above the highest heavens! May Your glory shine over all the earth!” Ps. 57:1, 5

Posted in Angel Gabriel, Birth of a Savior, Birth or Jesus, God's plan, Mary, Message from God | Tagged Angel message, baby, birth, birth of Savior, dream, Gabriel, God's plan, Jesus, Joseph, Mary | 5 Comments

THE KINGS part 1 Solomon

Posted on October 11, 2016 by Wendy Kleker

ALL THE KINGS HORSES

Solomon’s Reign

Humpty Dumpty Sat On a Wall

“Those who trust in the Lord are as secure as Mount Zion. They will not be defeated but will endure forever!” Psalm 125:1 NLT

Once upon a time there was a great king This king was the most powerful ruler in all the land and the greatest king to ever rule Israel. He had a vast kingdom from the Euphrates river in the North to Egypt in the south and as far west as Gaza.

David, his warrior father, had conquered all this great kingdom and the peoples of the land served King Solomon and sent money to him all of his life time. His subjects, the people of Judah and Israel, were as numerous as the sand on the seashore and each family had its own garden and home. There was peace in the land and the people lived in security and safety.

On his death bed, David told his son to always walk with the Lord and obey God’s commandments and God would bless him and his descendents forever. This king was a good son and obeyed the words of his father, even after the mighty David had gone on to Glory. Solomon loved the Lord and followed all the decrees of his God, and he offered sacrifices at the local places of worship.

One night God came to him in a dream, “Solomon,” God said, “What do you want? Ask and I will give it to you!”

Without hesitation young Solomon answered, “You showed faithful love to your servant my father, David, because he was honest and true and faithful to You. Now O Lord, You have made me king instead of my father, but I am like a little child who doesn’t know his way around. Here I am in the midst of your people, a nation so great and numerous they can not be counted and I am lost! I don’t know what to do. So, Please give me an understanding heart so that I can govern Your people well and know the difference between right and wrong.”

God was very pleased that Solomon had asked for such a wise and selfless thing when he could have asked for all the riches in the world.

God replied, “Because you have asked for wisdom in governing My people with justice and have not asked for long life or wealth, I will give you what you asked for. I will give you a wise and understanding heart such as no one else has had or ever will have! And I will also give you what you did NOT ask for, riches and fame! And if you follow Me and obey My decrees and My commands as your father did, I will give you a long life.”

So the young king began to rule with much wisdom and understanding so much so that his subjects began to nod their heads and feel confident in their new king.

One day two women who were prostitutes, came to the king to have him settle an argument between them. “Please my lord,” one of them began as they kneeled before the king, “this woman and I live in the same house. I gave birth to a baby while she was with me. Three days later this woman also had a baby and there was only the two of us in the house. Her baby died during the night when she rolled over on it. Then she got up and took my son from beside me while I was asleep. She laid her dead child in my arms and took mine to sleep beside her. You can imagine how I felt in the morning when I woke up and my child was dead! However when I looked at him closely I could see it was not my son at all.”

“It certainly was your son!” The other woman interrupted, “this one who is living is mine!” She rocked the baby in her arms.

“No!” cried the first woman, “I know the living one is mine, I know my own son. The dead baby is yours!” So they argued and shouted back and forth to each other.

Oh my what was a king to do! “Lets get this straight,” King Solomon said, “both of you claim the living child is yours and each says the dead child belongs to the other.”

Amidst the clamor of their shouting, the king raised his hand, “All right, bring me a sword!”

Suddenly the two women became silent as with round eyes they watched a servant bring the king a big sword and at the king’s command take the child from the woman.

The king’s voice rang in authority as he said, “Now, cut the living child in two, and give half to one woman and half to the other!”

The first woman gasped and tears began to roll down her face, “No! No! My lord!” she cried, reaching both hands to the king. “Please don’t kill him! Give the baby to her.”

The other woman merely nodded and said flatly, “Fine then, he will be neither yours nor mine, divide him between us.”

“Do not kill the child!” The king commanded, “Give him to the woman who wants him to live, for she is his mother!”

When the people heard of this they were in awe of the king for they saw the wisdom God had given him for rendering justice.

So King Solomon set up his kingdom and his government. He amassed much wealth and power. He owned no less than 12,000 horses and many chariots. He was richer and wiser than any other king on earth! God gave Solomon very great wisdom and understanding and his knowledge was as vast as the sands on the seashore. In fact his wisdom even exceeded all the wise men of the east and the wise men of Egypt.

Solomon composed 1,005 songs and wrote 3,000 proverbs. He could speak with authority about all kinds of plants, from the great Cedars of Lebanon to the tiny hyssop that grows from the cracks in a wall. He also knew about animals, all creatures great and small, and fish of the sea. Since there was no Google, the kings from every nation sent their ambassadors to learn from the wisdom of Solomon.

David, Solomon’s father, had said, “I live in a fine house, but the Almighty God dwells in a tent.” He wanted to build a temple for his God. But God told him since David was a man of war, he could plan the temple, but his son, who would be a man of peace, would actually build the temple.

So 480 years after the people of Israel were rescued from their slavery in the land of Egypt and actually became a nation, King Solomon began construction on the Temple of the Lord. It was a great temple, very large with complex rooms that were three stories high. It was constructed of cedar beams, stone and marble and the inner rooms were paneled with cypress and cedar. All of the interior was overlaid with solid gold including the altar and the floor. The walls, doors, doorposts, beams, and columns were decorated with many intricate carvings. I really wish I could have seen that building!

The temple took seven years to complete and was a sight to behold. When it was completed, the king of all the people of Israel dedicated the Temple of the Lord with burnt offerings. The bronze altar in the Lord’s presence was too small to hold all the burnt offerings, grain offerings and the fat of the peace offerings.

Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in front of the entire community of Israel and lifted his hands toward Heaven and prayed, “Oh Lord God of Israel there is no God like You in all of Heaven above or on earth below.” And so on for a long prayer. Then Solomon and the people celebrated 14 days and afterwards the people went home joyful and glad because the Lord had been good to his servant David and to his people Israel.

All was well in the land.

Later God appeared to Solomon a second time and said, “I have heard your prayer and your petition. I have set this temple apart to be holy, this place you have built where My name will be honored forever. I will always watch over it for it is dear to my heart.” 1 Kings 9:1-3 NLT

God was pleased with the great building Solomon had built to honor His name. However the hearts of His people meant more to him than this great tribute.

He said to Solomon, “But if you or your descendants abandon Me and disobey the commands and decrees I have given you, and if you serve and worship other gods, then I will uproot Israel from this land that I have given them. I will reject this temple that I have made holy to honor My name. I will make Israel a mockery and a ridicule among the nations.” 1 Kings 9:6-7 NLT

No one in the world would know more about building a house than Solomon. No one had more wisdom and understanding than Solomon. When reading this story in my One Year Bible, I saw the parallel Psalm was about building a house and it was written, no less by Solomon!

“Unless the Lord builds a house the work of the builders is wasted.

Unless the Lord protects a city, guarding it with sentries will do no good.

It is useless for you to work so hard from early morning until late at night anxiously working for food to eat, for God gives rest to His loved ones.” Psalm 127:1-2 NLT

I ask myself, “Am I building my house or is God?

Am I guarding my gates or is God?

Am I anxiously working from morning till late at night for food to eat?

Or am I resting in My God?

“Just as the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the Lord surrounds His people both now and forever.” Psalm 125:2

Story taken from 1 Kings 2-9 more about Solomon coming up!

Posted in Build God's Temple, Following God, King Solomon, Obey God, Unless God build the house, Walk with God, Wisdom, Wisdom from God | Tagged builder, King Solomon, temple, understanding, Wisdom, wise king | 2 Comments

Where Mountains Sing

Posted on September 15, 2016 by Wendy Kleker

WHERE MOUNTAINS SING

“And my God shall provide all your needs according to His riches in Glory by Christ Jesus.” Phil. 4:19

Wow, this verse says a lot. God will meet my needs all of them according to His great riches in Glory. Do you know what His great riches in Glory are? I don’t. I can’t imagine, but He owns the cattle on a thousand, million, trillion hills. He created Heaven and Earth. How big is Heaven? I can’t imagine. The glorious sunsets are but a taste of the wondrous beauty we’ll see in Heaven. Why in Heaven gold is so plentiful they use it for pavement! His riches are far beyond anything I can see or imagine.

Have you ever had Him meet a need before you asked? Or prepared the way before you had the need? Oh yes I have, every time we’ve moved. But the best story is about the time we moved from Montana to North Dakota.

God had provided a nice little farm house 11 miles south of Chinook when John took a job with Sanjel working on gas wells. With the nearest neighbor being a mile away, the place was almost perfect for us, over a half a mile from the highway, nestled in some trees with lots of pheasants running around the crop fields. The house had come open just when we needed it and we knew it was His provision. We loved the small, friendly town of Chinook and we fit into the Alliance church very well.

However, after two years Sanjel laid off all employees in the area and John wasted no time in going to the North Dakota oil fields to get a job driving truck with MBI. So it looked like we were moving to North Dakota. Not my destination of choice!

Leave Montana where I had lived for nearly 30 years? Leave the cozy house and nice farm where I had room to roam? Leave our little church where I had friends? Leave my dear friend who was dying of cancer right when it seemed she needed me most? No leaving Chinook was not in my plans.

“A man’s heart plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps.” Proverbs 16:1

So John and I sat down and made our plans. We came up with a list of requirements for the place we would look for in North Dakota. We agreed, since we were renting such a nice place in Chinook, that we would not move bag and baggage until we found just the right place.

My List of requirements:

Secluded and Remote
Nearest neighbor at least a half a mile away
At least a half a mile from any road with traffic (more than two cars a day)
Room to roam. Lots of walking space, acres and acres to run my dogs, preferably from the house.
Fenced yard or able to build a fence
Some grassland, not all farm ground
Good water
Preferably able to hunt
Lots of game birds
Preferably a pasture for horses

John’s list:

A heated shop
In his price range

I was pretty solid on the first 5 requirements, the rest were negotiable. The house? Didn’t matter so much. I suppose there needed to be a house.

John had been in North Dakota a month working in the oil patch, when I first drove over with the dogs. When I arrived at the campground where John had our camper, he started telling me about houses in town he had found, and that he hadn’t been able to find any place out of town that wasn’t snatched up quickly. John then proceeded to show me houses in Beach and Wibaux that were for sale fairly cheap. My heart clenched and my stomach rolled. What happened to our list? I asked. He countered that maybe I was being a bit stubborn and needed to compromise.

Compromise! I thought I was compromising by moving to North Dakota! Where I always said I would NEVER live! However, for the sake of John’s job I was willing to leave Chinook, leave my cozy house, leave my friends, to live on the North Dakota prairie, but I needed my space. Ok, that’s compromise. Wouldn’t you say?

He said these were small towns, couldn’t I put up with living in a small town? No! I said. A town is a town.

When I saw the badlands, rolling hills and buttes, I felt better. I never knew such beauty and wonder could be in North Dakota. But living in town! No way! Not an option! If a neighbor can see me in my own yard then they’re too close. And I thought that’s what John also wanted. After all he had agreed to “the list”. Evidently I was wrong.

For the first time in our married life there was terrible friction between us. We did not agree on a very important issue. The air was thick and tense in the pickup that day. I was very close to tears.

His idea was to rent or buy a place in town then take our time and look for a place out of town. I didn’t like the idea of moving twice and I know how such things go. They usually don’t.

The next day was a bit better as it seemed John had resigned to the fact that I had compromised all I was going to and was not going to live in town. A realtor showed us properties for sale near Wibaux, in Montana no less, but with the cost of developing, they were out of our price range. We also looked at a few houses but none met the requirements or fit the budget.

The next day John went to work and rain had me and the dogs captured in the camper, so I opened my Bible.

“Seek the Lord while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near.” I read in Isaiah 55:6

That punched home. “Have I not been seeking You, Lord? Haven’t I been calling on You for help in finding a place to live.”

“My thoughts,” God said through His Word, “are not your thoughts. My ways are not your ways. My ways and My thoughts are far above yours, yet you seek to do it your way.”

Okay maybe I had been a bit stubborn, as John said. Maybe I was a bit demanding with the list, but was it wrong to look for a place we liked?

“You forget, Child, I take care of you always. I do nothing in vain. That with a word I will do what I please and it always prospers. I always work for your good.” (from Is. 55:8-9)

Oh no I hadn’t forgotten. “I know Lord that you take care of my needs. You always provide. But what about my wants? Will you take care of my desires as well?”

“Oh you of little faith!” The words seemed to echo in my mind and through the small camper. I even checked to see if the dogs had heard.

“For you shall go out with joy! And be led out in peace. The mountains and hills shall break forth into singing and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.”

“Sure, Lord, mountains in North Dakota! And trees? All I saw yesterday was wide open prairie.”

“Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress tree and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree. This I will do for you in My name.” (Isaiah 55:12-13)

So I had my doubts about trees and mountains in North Dakota, but I had also doubted His provision. I had forgotten that He knows what I need and what I want. He always takes care of me, this I know. He has never yet left me stranded in the desert. Even though I may feed along the road and in the desolate heights, I never have hungered or thirsted. Yes I forgot. He loves me beyond my understanding and He will never leave me alone in the desert heat. He will lead me. He will even lead me beside springs of water where I long to be. (from Isaiah 49:9-10)

“Oh Lord forgive me for my unbelief, for my stubbornness and my strong will. Lead us in the way You want us to go. To the place You have for us. I will not strive any longer but will leave it in Your capable hands.”

That afternoon, with my dogs, I took a walk on the National Grasslands near the campground and I was amazed at the vibrant red and gold of the rolling hills. The next day I drove out in the badlands and the gorgeous beauty took my breath away. As the dogs and I walked amongst mini mountains, pointy hills and crazy shaped formations, it seemed they broke out singing all around us.

That night I had a little talk with John and it came out that because of a misunderstanding about something I had said on the phone, he thought I was demanding we move right away, yet wanted the perfect place. That I wasn’t willing to wait until something came available. I assured him that was not what I had meant and that I had put it into God’s hands and I believed God would provide a place for us.

With that settled, things were much better between us and I told him my plan. Which was to go to Beach in the morning, do laundry (ahh the Beach Laundromat, another story all together!) then drive to Golva, then stop in Sentinel Butte on my way home and ask around in the small communities for houses that farmers may have to rent. Eventually I’d go to Wibaux and other small places in the vicinity. I had my map in hand, my route plotted, my plan in place. The next day I would begin to execute it. However, God had a different plan.

The next morning, with the dogs in the back of my outfit, I was nearing the exit for Sentinel Butte. I had admired the green hills and red-topped buttes in this area the several times we had passed by on the interstate. I wanted desperately to explore Camels Hump Lake and check out the large flat topped mountain I assumed was Sentinel Butte, but that would come later in the day. First things first!

However as I was approaching the exit, I heard a very strong and audible voice in my mind saying, “Go there now.”

But–but I had planned—”

“Go now!” It was as if my car turned on its own and I found myself driving off the exit. Well ok, I thought I’ll go to Sentinel Butte first.

Two miles off the interstate, I topped a hill and there before me was the sweetest little town I had ever seen nestled between two buttes. Two church steeples tipped the sky, a handful of houses in a haphazard grouping, green fields, mowed lawns and a little old fashioned gas station on the corner. Stopping at the station and getting out, I took a big breath of sweet alfalfa scented air. Now this town I could almost live in. Almost. It certainly seemed like a nice, quiet community to live near.

Inside the station I met the very friendly proprietor, who promptly answered my questions by telling me of two houses south of town that were for rent. John had heard of them both and one was already taken, the other was not an option since dogs were not allowed in the house. I was telling Rick our story when a kind-looking gentleman walked in and listened for bit.

Then he said, “So you’re looking for a place to live?”

“Yeah,” I told him “A place out of town.”

“Well, I have one,” he said with a small grin, “rent free.”

“What?” He had my attention now. “How far out?”

“It’s south of the Butte about 6 miles.”

“How far off the main road?”

“Oh about a mile, I’d say.”

“Any neighbors?” I rapid fired my questions.

“Yep. A couple.”

“How close are they?”

“Oh I’d say about a mile and a half, maybe two to the nearest.”

“Can I walk on the property? My bird dog needs lots of running space.”

“Oh yeah,” he said, “it’s a big place, lots of room and you can do anything you want as long as you take care of it.”

“Is it farmland?”

“Nope mostly grazing, right in the Red Hills.”

“Do you allow dogs in the house?”

“Don’t think it really matters with this house.” He said grinning.

“And you don’t charge rent?” I knew there had to be a catch here somewhere.

“Nope, just take care of the place is all I ask.”

“Oh, is there a shop my husband can use?”

“Two of them.”

Okay to make a long story shorter, the gentleman asked if I would like to go see the place right then since he was leaving town that afternoon for a few days. And I said “You betcha!” (probably came out more like, You bet, since I hadn’t been in Nort’ Dakota long)

He just happened to drop by the station, he told me later. He knew not why, hadn’t been planning on stopping. Just felt he should. Also I know now if I had gone to Sentinel Butte in the afternoon, as I planned, I would not have found the station open since it closes by 2:00, and I would not have talked to the friendly proprietor or met the fine gentleman. Ok, coincidence? Not on your life.

So, south of Sentinel Butte we drove around The Butte. My eyes clung to the rugged, rim-rocked cliffs of the big flat topped mountain and the varied shaped buttes at its base, with scattered trees no less. Then I saw a plain surrounded by hills on every side, where there was a large clump of trees all by itself, not another house in sight, a long ways off the road.

“That’s where we’re going,” he said pointing to the trees.

“And the mountains and hills shall break forth into singing before you, and the trees of the field shall clap their hands.”

While we were driving the gentleman asked if we liked to hunt. “You’ll see deer and antelope on the place,” he said, with a twinkle in his eyes, “and plenty of pheasants.”

“Oh by the way,” he asked turning towards me as I drove, “do you have horses? There’s a nice pasture I would like to have grazed.”

“”For you shall go out with joy! And be led out in peace.”

We drove up the long driveway and my eyes widened. Green fields, a lush creek bottom, rolling red-topped hills, a big barn, metal shops and yes, trees met my astonished gaze. I thought I was in paradise!

“Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress tree.” Well cedar will do. “and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree.” Russian Olive is fine. (Is. 55:12-13)

“Now the house,” he said as I pulled up and stopped, “I don’t know what shape the house is in, its been empty for a couple of months.”

I realized the ramshackle building beside us was not one of the many outbuildings, but the house. My eyes registered white chipped siding, a broken upstairs window, the back screen door hanging off the hinges, the screen on the front door flapping in the wind, tall grass in the yard and the roof with very weathered shingles.

“Oh my,” I said, “but I would live in our camper to be able to live here.”

“I’ll put a new roof on it,” he said right away.

So the house was not in real good shape, but it was workable. As we walked through the house, I could see it needed lots of work, paint and cleaning most of all and some repairs.

“I’ll take care of the major repairs,” the kind man said, “and you take care of the small things.”

Sounded like a deal to me. He was willing to replace old windows, put on a new roof and install new carpet. We spent a month cleaning, painting and repairing. Later he did many other major repairs and we continue to do a few improvements every year. Seven years later, the house barely resembles the one I stood staring at that first day.

That night, which was John’s birthday, I told him I had found the perfect place. I proceeded to list the requirements from “the list” that the place met and it was ALL of them!

“And it’s rent free!” I said.

His mouth fell open. “Sounds like a fairy tale to me.”

More like a God-tale.

“And my God will liberally supply (fill to the full) your every need according to His riches in glory, in Christ Jesus.” Phil. 4:19, Amp

My every need and desires too, filled to the full, prepared and planned before I even had the need. According to His GREAT riches in Glory. Wow!

So I had the audacity to tell God there weren’t mountains or trees in North Dakota. God with His humor put us right in the high country, surrounded by rugged buttes and with the badlands a stone throw away. He must have been chuckling when He orchestrated this place, nestled at the foot of the second highest point in North Dakota, to be available just at the right time!

Not only that, I discovered mini mountains, peaks in the bottoms, sandstone hills and formations whose song of many colors rise to the sky in every season. And trees? Oh yes there are trees, not a lot but the few around are full of birds in the summer. Birds singing and trilling at the top of their voices, singing praises to their God above who looks to their every need. Trees glistening with frost in the winter morning sun. Trees clapping their hands and swaying to the song of the wind!

October 2nd will be 7 years since that day I first came out here and we’re still praising God for His provision of this place and a generous man I just happened to run into. It amazes me that here in North Dakota, a place I NEVER wanted to come, God brought us to a place we love to be!

No we don’t know how long we will be able stay here, we hope a long, long time. We have no written contract, no real security for the future, except that we know God holds us in His hands. And He prepares our way and directs our steps.

“I will turn all My mountains into roads and My highways will be raised up.” He will make a way where there is no way.

“Shout for joy, O heaven! Rejoice O earth! Burst into song, O mountains!

For the Lord comforts His people and will have compassion on His afflicted ones.” Is. 49:11, 13

This is before, but with the new roof

Now

Barn, before

Barn now.

Where the mountains sing!

Posted in God provides, He makes a way, Moving to North Dakota, Put it in His hands, Trust God | Tagged God's provision, provided for, provision, Trusting Him | 4 Comments

The Armor of God part 3

Posted on August 20, 2016 by Wendy Kleker

The Helmet and Sword

“Put on Salvation as your helmet and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.” Ephesians 6:17 NLT

Can you imagine a soldier in hand to hand combat going into battle with all his armor on and not the helmet? Like a snake the enemy would strike. One swipe to the head and it would be all done. End of battle. There is no way we can make it without Jesus. Jesus is the way, the truth and the life.

God sent His Son to pay the price for our sins because there was no other way. No other way that we can be saved but by the blood of Jesus. Accept Him as your Savior, ask Him to forgive your sins and you will have the protection of the helmet of salvation.

“If you confess with our mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.”

Believe that Jesus is the Son of God, that He died for your sins and ask Him to forgive your sins and be Lord of your life.

“For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by confessing with your mouth that you are saved.” Romans 10:9-10 NLT

The Helmet of Salvation is also the certainty that we are washed clean, justified in God’s eyes and redeemed by the blood of the Lamb.

“No guilt in life, no fear in death”, the song, “In Christ Alone” says. I don’t have to fear the here-after, cuz I know where I’m going after here. I know I am redeemed. My Savior has sealed me and keeps me for the day of Salvation, the day I fly away to my home in the sky! He holds me in His hands. Nothing can take me out of His hand.

No guilt in life. I am washed in the blood of the Lamb. He has clothed me with a garment of salvation and covered me with a robe of righteousness. (Is. 61:10) When my Father looks on me, He doesn’t see the blackness of my human heart, but a dazzling white robe. Because of the blood of Jesus, because of the price He paid, I am pure and clean in God’s eyes.

“Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean. Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.” Is. 51:7

With the helmet of Salvation in place, Satan’s darts of guilt and fear can not penetrate my mind. Guilt is something the enemy uses to smash us in the dirt of discouragement. He likes nothing more than reminding us of our past sins and how terribly black our hearts really are and how far we are from the dazzling white of God’s righteousness. And filling our hearts with hopelessness.

But the blood of Jesus flowing from the cross washes all our sin and filth completely away. He gives us a garment that is spotless and white as snow!

“He has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west.” Ps. 103:12 NLT

He remembers them no more. He sees them not again. Ever. They are gone from His sight. We are made as white as wool. Praise to Jesus our Savior and Lord! Praise His Holy name!

“Take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” The Bible is the only defensive piece of armor. Every other piece is for protection, God’s word is for fighting back. Don’t hesitate to use it! “Fight the devil with the Bible!” Is what our pastor loves to say.

The Living Word of God is our only weapon in this war we are fighting against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world. The super natural. Mighty powers in this dark world, that we can not see. And evil spirits in the heavenly places that hate our guts! It’s real. It’s true. Satan wants to take us out. He is prowling like a roaring, hungry lion seeking whom he may devour.

His flaming arrows are many; pleasures of this world, sin, lust, guilt, discontentment, depression, disillusionment, discouragement, worry, anxiety and fear. To name a few. He knows where our weaknesses are, he knows just when to shoot the arrows and his aim is sure. Satan is the master deceiver and he has many strategies. He is stalking God’s people. I see it all over. How can we fight such a foe.

God’s word says, “Be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power.” Only in Jesus and God’s mighty power can we even hope to stand against the devil. “Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil.” Eph. 6:10-11

Only with our armor in place can we stand our ground.

With our weapon, the sword, in our hand we must stand on its truth only, nothing else. The truth of God. Stand on His promises, rely on His words, follow His instructions for Godly living.

Godly living, righteousness, or right living, protects our vitals. One step in the wrong way, one slip down the slippery slope of sin and Satan’s arrows will find a crack and make its way to our heart. There is no middle ground. No walking the fence. We are either all in for God or on the other side. We can not stand in both worlds.

We must be prepared with sturdy shoes. We must be ready to climb that mountain. We can only be prepared with a sturdy foundation by being saturated in the gospel of peace. God’s Word. The teachings of Jesus. The promises of the Psalms. Then and only then will we be able to make the grade. Being saturated in His word and continually in His presence so that with His power and strength we will be able to climb that rocky mountainside. And cling to His safety rope of redemption.

ABOVE ALL. Most importantly take up the shield of faith. Trusting Him even in the dark valley of the shadow of death, even when we are surrounded by evil and blackness. Even when we see no light. Even when there seems no way to climb the sheer wall before us. Even when the waters rush over our heads. Trusting that even when there is no way, He makes a way. Trusting Him to get us through to the other side. Putting our hearts and our lives in the hands of the great Healer. Resting in His peace. Rejoicing in His joy. Because in quietness and rest is our strength. Even when turmoil and terrible trouble is all around us. Especially then.

Holding up our solid iron shield of trust will surely block those devastating darts of worry, discouragement, fear and despair the enemy flings our way. With a ping they will sheer away and fall harmless by the wayside.

Trust in a God powerful enough to create worlds, strong enough to hold stars in place, loving enough to send His son into a cursed world to save the likes of me. That’s what it takes.

Put on the certainty of your salvation so your mind will be protected and take up your weapon, the sword of the Spirit, the word of God. Walk by the Word. Wield it against the enemy. Beat the devil with the Bible! Carry it. Read it. Remember it. Live it.

Soldiers of the Almighty God everywhere here are your marching orders:

“Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere.” Eph. 6:18

“So humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and at the right time He will lift you up in honor. Give all your worries and cares to God, for He cares about you.

Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. Stand firm against him, and be strong in your faith. Remember that your Christian brothers and sisters all over the world are going through the same kind of suffering you are.” 1 Peter 5:6-9 NLT

Posted in Almighty God, Armor of God, arrow, Be strong, Belt of Truth, Darts, Faith, Fiery darts, Living right, Resist the Devil, Salvation, Satan's darts, Shield, Shoes, Stand Firm, Truth | Tagged Armor of God, devil, devour, God's word, helmet of salvation, prowling, sword of the Spirit, Trust, weapon | 1 Comment

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