God honors faithfulness

Well its been a while. So to start this post I first want to say thank you to all who read it on occasion. I have yet to see anyone's post or comments so don't be shy. Now let me start by saying that this is in no way tooting my own horn. This is all for the glorifying of God. I was just thinking how God looks after us when we're faithful. Sometimes God puts tests in our path to see how we'll respond. I think if you'll view life from this prospective then the trials of life will be just a little more meaningful. We've never had much money and there was a short time when I was in between jobs a couple of years ago. Now I didn't say I was poor just never had much money.....there is a difference. I've always been very blessed and rich beyond belief....just not money wise. So with bills bearing down and no income we prayed for enough money to pay the light bill. There seems to be a life lesson and re-occurring theme among all my posts......we always use prayer as a last resort...shameful. Anyway we prayed for the money to pay the light bill. The next Sunday at church there was an envelope in our mailbox. It had a nice little note in it and said "God laid it on my heart to give you this" but it wasn't signed. Of course we had told no one about being in need so we both just looked at each other in disbelief and started to cry. It wasn't enough to cover the light bill, it was more than enough. One little prayer with a quick answer just for my spiritual growth. Who am I that the creator of the universe would take time to be so personal with? Better yet who are we that He would come down from glory and suffer and die for?God has never been more real to me than He is today. Psalms 8::3-4 / 1st Thessalonians 5:16-18

My Dad meets My Father

First of all Happy New Year. I'm going to start this entry with some back story. My uncle (dad's brother) was a rough man. Trust me, I've got stories. But I cannot and will not badmouth my uncle. I loved him very much and have tons of fond memories of him. Anyway, he had gotten very sick. He had lung cancer and already had some of each lung removed a couple of years before. With all this he never quit smoking. He knew his time was coming to an end. We visited with him frequently his last few months witnessing to the point of being shunned somewhat. We would walk in and he would start tearing up and tell us he didn't want to hear that mess today (talking about the gospel). He said there was no way God could forgive him for the things he had done. He was on oxygen and stayed alone. He would often fall asleep on the couch watching westerns. One night he woke up and lit a cigarette with the oxygen still in and boom. It caught fire and almost made it back to the machine. It severely burnt the insides of his throat all the way to his lungs. He had always told his brothers and sisters to make sure they didn't put him on any tubes to keep him alive. We were in UNC hospital in Chapel Hill sitting in a room with my dad, stepmom, 3 aunts and uncles, one doctor, and a lady "Chaplin" (read 1 Timothy Chapter 2). I didn't want to let him go without me knowing he was saved. As I argued with the doctor the "Chaplin" tells me that there are many different ways to get to heaven. I blurted the only thing that came to mind. John 14:6 Jesus said I am the way, the truth, and the life no man comes to the Father but by me. Anyway I lost the argument and the family honored the wishes of my uncle. I held his hand right up until his last breath. We had gone over the way of salvation earlier and before he died I could almost see a peace in his eyes and he acted like he wanted to tell me something right up until the end. I guess we'll see someday. Now to the point. I had been planting seeds with my dad for 10+ years beginning at my wedding. After the funeral, about a week later, on a Monday evening after getting home from work my wife tells me there's something my dad wants to tell me. So I called him and asked what's up. He says guess what I did last night. What I asked. My dad proceeds to tell me how he went up to the alter and got saved. After his brothers death he had been secretly attending church services at a church over by his house. He's been a different man ever since and I feel closer to him than ever. I'm so thankful that our God is a retroactive God that's not bound by time. Thank you Jesus.