Wednesday, July 29, 2015

Daddy's Graduation

(Tonight I came across a file of my writings I had tucked away, and decided to post a copy of what I wrote when my dad passed away over twelve years ago.)
~~~

On Saturday, March 29, 2003 at 1:30 in the afternoon, Barb called to say Dad was being taken to the hospital because his lips were purple and he was very weak.  I assumed he'd be given oxygen and sent home with a supply to help his breathing.  He had been feeling ill and tired for some time, but no one knew how sick he really was, and I wonder if he even knew.

The doctor said Dad was very ill and they would keep him for a few days.  He was put into a regular room, but by the next morning, Dave and I received word in church that he'd been moved to the critical care unit. We left the church service immediately and drove to the hospital.  I felt physically cold inside, and it began to dawn on me that he may never come home again, and never see our new home being built next to their back yard.  Sometimes I felt like I was in a robotic be-numbed state as reality happened around me.

For ten days our family lived through the process of watching Daddy slip away to Heaven.  I am grateful for the time we all had with him.  I found myself feeling wounded inside, wondering how I could again pray with faith for anyone who was sick, and I wept because of that too.  The Holy Spirit brought Jesus's words to Peter to my mind:  "I have prayed for you that your faith fail not..."

I distinctly experienced the heart of Jesus when I heard Him speak into my heart that He cries with me.  That was such comfort to me.  Death is God's enemy too, the last enemy to be put under foot, Scripture says.  Jesus was a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.  I wondered if perhaps Jesus buried His earthly father, too.  In this life, we can't live forever, but resurrection is on the way, praise to Jesus our Savior!  As long as satan is roaming to and fro throughout the earth seeking whom he may devour, death will be a reality in this life.  We await the consummation of all things in Jesus Christ our conquering King, but until then we live and believe by faith the best way we can with the knowledge we have.  No more is asked of us.

Jesus Cried with Me

We swabbed his mouth and kissed his head,
We children stayed around his bed;
Helped Daddy hug our mama's neck
As Mama kissed her love, and wept.
And Jesus cried with me.

When Daddy couldn't eat or drink
Or even make his eyes to blink,
We stroked his limbs, massaged his feet,
Sang songs to him that were so sweet.
And Jesus cried with me.

In tears we bathed his heated brow
Until he needed it no more.
When breath grew shallow, heartbeat faint,
God was there, and saw His saint.
And Jesus cried with me.

Remembered words, remembered deeds,
When Daddy tended to our needs.
We told him "thanks" for all he'd done,
Then released him to go home.
And Jesus cries with me.



Copyright © 2015 Elaine Beachy

Tuesday, July 21, 2015

Thankful


The soft swish of the dishwasher, the barely-audible hum of the refrigerator, and the steady click-click of the battery-operated kitchen clock on the wall surround me as I sit down to write.  My husband sleeps, and a secretive darkness covers the windows as I sit at the kitchen table, savoring the gift of quiet solitude.

Water gurgles out of the dishwasher and down the sink drain as I sit in reflective silence.  My eyes take in the comforts of my home—the home my husband and I built twelve years ago.  I am surrounded by the blessing of order, peace and tranquility, and I am deeply thankful.

Others live in constant fear
Of bombs and missiles coming near.
Children wail and parents cry.
Heaps of rubble meet the eye.

Isis mows the Christians down,
There’s much trouble all around.
Racial hatred, great offense—
None of it makes any sense.

William hides beneath his bed
As angry words his father said
To his mom brought such a fright
He cringed at sounds in dead of night.

Hopeless hoarder wades through trash.
In her house, there’s just a path.
Angry, broken, in despair,
Life weighs too much to even care.

I’m thankful for our country dear
In spite of all the wrong that’s here.
To live in freedom—oh how blessed!
May families live in godliness.

I’m thankful that I have a home,
A quiet place to call my own—
Not homeless, wandering around.
I count my blessings: they abound!




Copyright © 2015 Elaine Beachy

Monday, July 20, 2015

The Twelve


As I read the Scriptures in my quiet time with the Lord, I am reminded time and again of His humanity during His time on earth. Though He was and is God, Jesus laid aside His divinity and came to earth to live in a human body, to live as a man, showed the heart of God to the world through the power of the Holy Spirit before He suffered and died for our sins on the cross and was raised from the dead by God's power.  He is our example of how the righteous can and should live by the power of the same Holy Spirit.  I wrote this free-verse poetry after reading Mark chapter 6 today.  I like to imagine myself there in the scene with Jesus and the disciples and how things are likely to have happened.  Today I saw things I'd never thought of before.  What is God saying to you?  I invite you to share comments below.


 The Twelve

The sad news spread quickly.
“John has been beheaded, Jesus.  He’s dead.”
The Twelve
Had gathered around Him
To tell of their success
In teaching, healing,
And casting out devils
As He had sent them to do
Two by two.
Grieving for His cousin,
And tired from ministry,
Jesus planned a getaway
For all of them.
 “Come away to a deserted place
To be alone and rest awhile,” He said.

Clamoring crowds watched them leave
And ran on foot ahead of them
From cities all around.
As Jesus’ boat landed,
His tired eyes saw a multitude
Waiting for Him.
Denied a respite,
But moved with compassion,
He knew these sheep had no shepherd.
Sheep who were spiritually tired,
Hungry, beaten, bruised and sore,
Uncared-for-sheep
With matted hair and infestations.
Physically sick and afflicted,
They needed a Teacher.
So He taught them.

Disappointed by change of plans,
The Twelve became
Disgruntled and hungry
As the day wore on.
When would they get to eat the food
They had brought with them
In the boat?
It wasn’t polite to eat
In front of hungry people.
And evening was upon them.
“Jesus, send this crowd away
“To buy food for themselves.
“They’re hungry in this deserted place. 
“It’s late, and time they all went home
“Where they belong.”

 Knowing their selfish motives,
Jesus said, “You feed them.”
The Twelve retorted,
“You want us to deplete our money bag
“By four thousand dollars
“To go buy food for this horde?”
Jesus paused, looked at them and asked,
“What do you have on hand?  Go see.”
The report was grim: five loaves of bread
And two fish.
Food The Twelve
Had planned to parcel out
Among themselves
Once the hordes left.
After all, it’s not polite
To eat
In front of hungry people.

Patiently, Jesus instructs The Twelve.
“Divide the people into orderly groups
“Of hundreds and fifties
“And tell them to sit down.”
After they obeyed,
The Twelve watched as Jesus
Laid his hands on the loaves and fish
Held out in front of Him.
He looked up to heaven,
And declared the food blessed.
The Twelve watched as loaf after loaf
Was broken into serving pieces
And handed to them to distribute.
As they served one hungry person
After another,
A fresh piece of bread appeared
In their hands
To take the place of the one just given!
Same with the fish!
Amazing!  What was this?
Would it be enough for five thousand
Hungry men?

Yes, it was, and then some.
When all had eaten their fill,
Twelve baskets full of leftovers
Were gathered—
One for each of The Twelve.
Jesus ordered them back across the sea,
But He went up the mountain to pray—
Alone.
He needed to hear from His Father
How and what to do and teach—
Not just the masses—but
The Twelve.

Based on Mark 6 and John 12:49 in the Holy Bible, NKJV


Copyright © 2015 Elaine Beachy

Tuesday, July 7, 2015

Giants and Grasshoppers

Over July 4th weekend, some of our family went to the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum in Chantilly, VA.





As I looked at the many aircraft on display, either on the concrete floor in the dome-shaped building or suspended from its ceiling, I marveled at the mind-boggling ingenuity of inventors who created such flying machines.  It indeed proves the adage that what the mind can conceive, the man can achieve.




In the museum, we stood under the Discovery Shuttle, gazing up at the twenty thousand tiles that covered much of the space craft.  My daughter looked at me and remarked, “You know, Mom, every one of those tiles has a number; each tile has a specific job to do; each tile is like a puzzle piece; it’s made only for a certain spot.  It’s like the body of Christ; God fits us together, too.  Each member has a certain job to do that no one else can do, a certain spot to fill that no one else can fill.” 

The analogy was profound.  I said, “You are so right, Deb; and if a tile gets damaged, it affects everything.  It’s the same with the body of Christ.”  I thought of the Scripture in I Corinthians 12:12-27 that says the body is made up of many parts, and one part can’t say to the other parts, “I don’t need you.”  There should be no division in the body, but each part should have equal concern for the others.  “If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.”


The impressive reconnaissance spy plane, Lockheed SR–71A, was nicknamed “Blackbird.”  Flying at an incredible altitude of 88,000 feet at more than three and one half times the speed of sound, it was coated with a special paint containing iron ferrite that absorbed radar energy instead of returning it to the sender, and made the SR-71A impossible to detect and shoot down.

Speaking of reconnaissance, you’ll remember the account in Scripture of how Moses sent spies into the Israelite’s promised land, Canaan, but fearful men spread a bad report about the land and said, “There are giants occupying the land and there’s no way we can take them.  We felt like grasshoppers compared to those giants and we looked like grasshoppers to them, too!”  God was quite angry with them for being fearful, and those who were afraid died off in the desert and never did get to enjoy the land the Lord intended to give them.  Of all the original group of Israelites, only Joshua and Caleb got to enjoy the fruits of God’s promise. 
    
God has sent the Church on a reconnaissance mission as well, to win souls for His Kingdom.  Our culture can look big, bad, and scary as the foundations of our society crumble around us.  Truthfully, the Church has been too self-absorbed, too passive, too easily intimidated by loud voices that tried to discourage and silence us from speaking out on moral issues.  The Church has let too much of the world creep in and take over its thinking.  Little by little, we have retreated with the hope that the world will finally “like” us if we keep quiet.  To me, the expression, “Can’t we just all get along?” is like saying, “Just agree there’s no absolute truth.  And for Pete’s sake, don’t cause dissent.”  My friend, the truth is, someone’s values and decisions will always prevail.  No, phrases like the preceding one are calculated to shut up the righteous, cut out their influence from society, and promote an agenda contrary to the Word of God.  Jesus said, “In this world you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer: I have overcome the world.”  (John 16:33)

It may seem like the devil’s side is winning the day, but make no mistake: God has already won.  I love Revelation 11:15: “Then the seventh angel sounded: and there were loud voices in heaven saying, ‘The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!’” 

My friends, let’s not be passive or retreat from the truth.  In our spiritual warfare, we fight from a place of rest in the finished work of Jesus and the authority He has given us.  Let’s run toward the battle; let’s invade the darkness!  How do we do that?

  • Prepare for spiritual battle: read the Word of God daily and make it the priority for your life. Pray and fellowship with Jesus every day.  Submit to God, resist the devil, and he will flee from you.  (James 4:7)  Ask God for boldness.  Ephesians 6:10-18 tells us to “Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil,…above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one.”    
  • Make God’s love a priority everywhere you go.  “Love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you.”  (Matthew 5:44)
  • Pray prayers of blessing over people; imagine hugging them as you bless them.
  • Be a friend of sinners as Jesus was.  He associated with them, and always loved them, but always from a foundation of truth.  Look for ways to be kind to everyone, just like our Heavenly Father is kind to all.  (Matthew 5:45)
  • Stand up and speak out for what is right; don’t hide your light under a bushel.   
  • Stay salty. In other words, keep your flavor; don’t go “flat.”  Be a preservative of righteousness in our culture.  Perhaps God will ask you to run for public office. 
  • Obey the Holy Spirit’s promptings. 
  • Read the gospels and see how Jesus ministered; He’s our example of how to live by the power of the Holy Spirit.  Of Himself, He could do nothing.  He laid aside his Divine power while on earth and relied totally on the Holy Spirit’s power, just as we need to do.  In John 14:12, Jesus said, “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father.” 
  • Read good books by fellow warriors such as Bill Johnson who wrote the book, “The Supernatural Power of a Transformed Mind: Access to a Life of Miracles.”  You will learn from one who lives a life of miracles like Jesus did.       
 Beginning with ourselves, the battle we believers are engaged in is an enforcement of the devil’s defeat by Jesus, the Son of God.  We are not only to preach the truth, but demonstrate Jesus’ victory by doing His works.  We, the Church, need to keep our focus on the words of our Commander in Chief: “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”  (Matthew 28:19-20)  And Luke 9:2, “…Preach the kingdom of God and… heal the sick.”  

When we know who we are in Jesus, we won’t feel like grasshoppers next to a big, bad, scary, giant of a decaying culture.  Let’s search for the souls of men and women, boys and girls, and rescue those who are perishing.  Let’s bring life and freshness, hope and healing!  My heart’s desire is to learn to love more perfectly, and do the works of Jesus by putting action to my faith in His gospel: “As you go, preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’  Heal the sick, raise the dead, cast off demons.  Freely you have received, freely give.”  (Matthew 10:8)  Let us give Jesus the reward for His suffering!  As this simple child’s song says so well, “Be bold; be strong, for the Lord our God is with you!”


Note:  All Scriptures are taken from the New King James Bible unless otherwise noted.


Copyright © 2015 Elaine Beachy

Thursday, July 2, 2015

Blessing Others

My heart responded with a heart-felt “Yes” to what I was reading in the book, “The Grace Outpouring,” by Roy Godwin a few weeks ago.  He talked about how God taught him to bless people rather than pray against them.  Here are some quotes from the book: 

“What exactly should we bless people with?  What should we say?  First we ask the Holy Spirit to help us with the words to bless before we begin, so that the people receive the blessing that the Father wishes to pour out on them: his insight, not ours; his words, not ours.

We want to bless the whole person, and many people find the well-used blessings acronym helps them be creative in blessing.

  • B      Body: health, protection, strength
  • L      Labor: work, income, security
  • E      Emotional: joy, peace, hope
  • S      Social:  love, marriage, family, friends
  • S      Spiritual:  salvation, faith, grace

So for instance, we may bless someone as follows: ‘I bless you in the name of Jesus that the fullness of his peace may flood your heart and mind, sinking deeply into every part of your being and life.  I bless you that your body may be strengthened and healed so that you are free to walk in the joy of the Lord.’

We need to be clear at all times that we are blessing in the name of Jesus with his authority and anointing. All power and authority resides in him, including the power and authority to bless. 

Blessings can be spoken over people, whether present or absent; home, towns, areas, regions, nations, land, businesses, livestock, schools, etc.”

As I read these things, it felt so good to begin blessing everyone in Jesus’ name that came to mind: my children, my husband, my church, my pastor, our president, our government leaders, etc.  Rather than griping and complaining, being fearful, or lashing out in anger and outrage at people living in spiritual darkness, we believers in Jesus Christ must begin to bless them, asking that they will experience the goodness of God.  We never bless wrong behavior, but we bless the person, for whom Jesus died.  We must view them with God’s heart.  For doesn’t the Holy Spirit say that the goodness of God will lead people to repentance?  (Romans 2:4)  

Other scriptures came to mind as I continued reading the book.  For example, I Peter 3:10 says, “He who would love life and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips from speaking deceit.”  James 4:9-10 (NIV) says, “With the tongue we praise our God and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God’s likeness.  Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing.  My brothers, this should not be.”   Remember the Golden Rule: “Do to others as you would want them to do to you.” And Luke 6:38 says, “Give and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom.  For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.”  Which measuring cup do you use: the cup of blessing or the cup of cursing?

We need to keep on speaking blessing over others in spite of what life throws at us.  It may seem like all hell tries to break loose against the saints of God to wear them out.  The enemy of our souls wants to steal the Word from our hearts so we will use our tongues to give him license to do his dirty work.  He uses the curses we speak over people—curses like simply saying, “He’ll never amount to anything,” or “She is a wretched example of humanity.” Sneering and speaking abusively against someone is a curse over them.  Curses are works of darkness, and the devil is the ruler of darkness.  Stay out of his territory, or you’ll get your robe of righteousness filthy and he’ll clobber you!  The more we say how awful people are, the more they will stay that way, and we help the devil enslave them.  People are not the enemy: the devil is!  Speak words of blessing over others (and yourself) so God can set them free!

Although there are days when life seems to assault us, there are days when one senses, with gratefulness, the Lord’s presence and blessing in profound ways.

One day the other week, I had to run some errands, and was feeling tired and achy.  I didn’t feel like walking more than necessary, so I prayed for a good parking spot as I drove into the parking lot at WalMart.  To my surprise and delight, another car was just leaving a perfect parking place near the front door and next to a cart return!  I eased my car into the vacant space as he left. It was almost too good to be true!  I felt the Lord’s kindness and favor and thanked Him from the bottom of my heart for the never-before-attained parking spot! 



It looked as though it would rain, so I grabbed my umbrella and headed inside.  I exclaimed to myself with wonderment how my shopping cart felt like it floated along effortlessly, free-wheeling and quiet—just perfect!  I had strength to do my shopping, and fellow shoppers were extra-nice to me, helping me reach items on top shelves as I engaged them in conversation.  

It was raining steadily as I wheeled my cart with purchases to the car, holding the umbrella aloft.  Suddenly a tall, handsome black man appeared at my left, smiled at me so nicely, and asked, “Where is your car?”  As I pointed to the 2003 champagne colored Chrysler 300 M a few feet away, he said, “I’d like to put your groceries in the car for you.”  For a split second, I wondered if he was for real—if I could trust him—but his face was beautiful and he looked so clean-cut that I replied, “Oh thank you; that’s so kind of you!”  He set his own 2 small bags down on the pavement in the rain (imagine that!) as I popped the trunk.  I help my umbrella over myself and the cart as he unloaded my purchases.  After he closed the trunk, I looked at him and said, “I bless you in Jesus’ Name!  Thank you so much for your kindness!”  He replied with a warm smile, “My pleasure!”  The stranger put the cart away for me, then picked up his own bags, now dripping wet.  Before I got in my car, I saw him walk down the row of cars, and I thought I saw him turn right toward one of the cars, but I don’t recall seeing him get in.

As I drove out of the parking lot, I was suddenly overcome with weeping and could hardly see to drive as the realization of the kindness and goodness of God engulfed me.  It was as if Jesus Himself had helped me, had taken notice of me.  And who’s to say it wasn’t Him?

Then I drove to Staples and was immediately greeted warmly at the door as the assistant promptly directed me to the correct aisle.  I selected my merchandise, and came to the register to pay.  The girl who had greeted me at the door was now at the register with a girl in training.  The cashier enthused, ‘I really like your top with the purple butterflies; you look so cheerful and sunny.  Even your umbrella is pink!”  Turning to the trainee, she remarked, “Look at her – she’s all smiling and happy!  I want to be like her!”  I was slightly taken aback, and the question crossed my mind as to whether they saw something of the previous God encounter at WalMart on me.  I smiled back and answered, “It’s Jesus in me!”  The two quickly got busy doing something else, and I turned and exited the door, praying silently, “Holy Spirit, I bless those two and the seed that was sown in Jesus’ Name.”

After that, I went to Hancock fabrics and it was still raining.  The lady measuring some cloth greeted me right away and said, “I just finished mulching last night, and now God is watering it for me to settle it into place.”  I told her how happy I was for her, and agreed that God was indeed doing the watering for her, and then added, “I just love Him!  He is so good!”  Later, I paid for my purchase and told her, “I bless you in Jesus’ Name!”  I walked to my car with my cup of blessing overflowing.

God bless you, dear reader; may you sow seeds with a cup of blessing everywhere you go!

* All Scripture references are from the New King James Bible unless otherwise noted.

Copyright © 2015 Elaine Beachy