Category: Quotation and Citations

The Way to Life

On By vickleaIn Quotation and Citations, Scripture10 Comments

Have you ever been following directions from your GPS and realized that it was leading you incorrectly? That happened to me and my husband a few months ago when we were in NC for an author signing. The GPS had us turn right out of our motel and head about fifteen miles away, but when we got where the GPS said “You have arrived at your destination” there was nothing there except a lot of houses and a small convenience store. We stopped in the store to ask directions and were told that the GPS had been sending a lot of people to this small town instead of to the bookstore where we needed to go. We got directions back to the correct place. Guess what? It was a left out of the parking lot and less than a mile from our motel! We were definitely misdirected!

God gives us clear directions about the road to eternal life, but we can only follow those directions if we keep our focus on Him and His Word. That’s where the clear directions come from.

The problem with a lot of people today is that they don’t want to hear about God. Like the Israelites, they want to steer their own course and go their own way, never counting the cost of moving in the wrong direction. Their choices are skewed by the fact that they think that their internal GPS will take them on the right road and eventually, one day, whenever they are ready, they will go to Heaven and meet God. Unfortunately for them, God’s plan doesn’t work that way.

I like this quotation from my devotional. At first, I thought, “Well, I’m okay, because I hardly ever call a bunch of people to tell them my problems.” In today’s world, you don’t have to call people to be more reliant on your phone than on God. You “google” whatever your problem is and then follow the advice that you find online. Instead of going to the phone and all of its technological advances, it would be a lot simpler to go to God’s throne and just ask for His guidance and help in whatever you are going through. True, I don’t call, but I do “google” and I am reminded to stop and pray not scroll and read the phone. It has few if any answers to the way that I should follow to life.

The “HE” is God…He has put us on the exact road that we need to be on to go straight to eternity with Him. That is the good place where we will end up if we follow His directions, His plan. Instead, we (including me at times) have followed my own way, my own GPS or even the google master and ended up frustrated and lost. Thank the Lord that He does not leave us in that place where we insisted on going! He picks us up right where we are and tells us the right way to go, putting us once again on the pathway to life. We just have to stay focused and be willing to admit that we messed up and need His help.

God will show us the way of life if we just ask Him. We don’t need a GPS or Google or our own internal voice telling us which way to go. We need to just listen to God so that one day we will have the pleasure of being in His presence forever.

A Word about Words

On By vickleaIn Quotation and Citations, Scripture9 Comments

Communication consists of putting words together into thoughts and then speaking them to others. Over and over again, we are warning in the Bible to be careful what we say with our mouths because we are either speaking death or life. I try to be aware of what I am saying and to whom I am saying it, but oftentimes, my emotions get ahead of my tongue and it just follows along that path of spewing what I’m feeling instead of thinking before I speak.

I don’t mean to or want to crush another person’s spirit, but I have seen it happen. I watch the person’s face change from happy delight to see me to overwhelming disappointment that they did. I must say that once I notice, I apologize, but wouldn’t it have been better to think first? I’m getting better at this skill, but I have not perfected it yet.

Maybe one of the reasons people walk around just looking down or with such sour faces is because of all of the ungracious words that have been spoken into their lives all day. I was very aware of what I said to my students when I was teaching because I wanted to point out that what they had done was a poor choice but that did not make them a bad person. In today’s world, we think nothing of going online and attacking someone’s character, whether we know them personally or not or whether they truly deserve the attack or not. Since I have not reached a state of perfection yet and God has not made me a judge over anyone except myself, it is much better for me to pray for a person who is in error than for me to take on the duty of pointing out how wrong they are about something, attacking their character because it doesn’t suit me. No one is served when the attack of words begins. The person you attack begins to avoid you and you lose a possible friend and you lose the witness to the Lord that you are supposed to be at all times.

I have seen this on line, many years ago and reminded my students of it when they were talking to each other. High school students especially seem to think that they become a bigger person if they can tear another person down. What I told them is that cutting people up with your words is not building yourself up but rather tearing yourself down in the eyes of others who watch what you do and say and lose trust in you. We would do well to follow this acronym when posting online.

I always enjoyed Audrey Hepburn movies and I had no idea that she had such wisdom as this quotation demonstrates. She was considered a beautiful and poised woman. Perhaps this motto was a real part of her life and that is why she was so lovely.

Anyone can make one of these graphics by using a site called Wordle. I happened to find this one online and each time I looked at it, a different word stood out. What strikes you as an outstanding word here? Words mean something, on paper and out loud. We have to remember that. We can take back words and apologize for them, but we cannot heal broken or damaged hearts. That takes a loving God and a person ready to forgive.

May each of us be more aware this day of the effects of our words on others and speak words of life and love into the needy world. Have a blessed day!

Faith in What We Don’t See

On By vickleaIn Quotation and Citations, Scripture8 Comments

I remember that when I was very young, I would get up from my bed in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom, but I wouldn’t turn on any lights. I knew the way because I had done the same trip so many times and was confident that I could make it into the bathroom, two doors away, just by walking straight. Then there was the night that I heard my father whooping in the bathroom and my mom asking him if he “got it yet.” Got what? It seems that there was a big rat (yes, a rat) in the bathroom tub and daddy was intent on killing it with his boot. That night ended my dark rambling to the bathroom because now I had an absolute belief that there was possibly, maybe, likely could be, a rat between me and the bathroom and I wanted to see it before it saw me. Or at least that was my thought. So, instead of walking confidently in the dark, I turned on my bedroom light, the hall light and the bathroom light before I would go in, use the facilities and return to bed.

Faith is like me before my father found the rat, only the confidence isn’t supposed to go away. You believe because you know in your heart that God is taking care of you and will work it all out. Stepping into a dark room or stepping out in faith? With God walking before you and providing a rearguard too, we have nothing to fear.

The last week has been a test of faith since our grandson got injured. On Thursday, Tyler went to the orthopedist to have his fractured clavicle checked. We had prayed for good test results and fully expected that would be the case. But…the doctor said that his clavicle is not aligned correctly, put him into a brace and a new sling and said he had to return in three weeks to be checked again to see if he will need surgery. Oh, dear! That was not what my faith was expecting, so just like the child turning on the lights, I started wondering what I could do to change the outcome. However, there are no lights to turn on, no place to run and hide. There is God and my belief that He has the situation under control That is what I was praying this morning as I awakened and showered, for God to work things out for Tyler and his family. Now, I wait for the answer.

God’s promises didn’t stop when Tyler got injured. Tyler is still his beloved child and He is still watching over and caring for Him. I anticipated that the orthopedist would tell him a few months in the sling and he would be as good as new. I have no doubts that he will one day totally heal, but I have to wait for the news that it has happened. Just as my mom was saying in the hallway, “Got it yet?” Well, good things may take a while but God’s timing is perfect. I have no idea what God’s plan is in all of this. I know that Tyler is going to go back to college this week and has to make some major adjustments in order to be able to attend classes and do his work. For example, he has to have help taking off and replacing the brace when he showers. That requires dependence on a helper and Tyler is not one to ask for help easily. (Isn’t that true of most of us?) He cannot carry a backpack, so he will need someone to carry it for him. He may have difficulty taking notes in class, so again, he will need a helper. He can’t carry a tray in the cafeteria…help. So much that he has been used to doing alone, now he will require assistance. My prayer is that the Lord will prepare the way before him and have the helpers there that he needs when he needs them. I just have to wait to see how everything works out. My daughter, his mom, has done all she can to clear the path for him, calling student services and alerting them to his needs. Now, we wait.

Waiting is not easy, but it is necessary. Abraham anticipated that God would provide a sacrifice instead of Isaac, so he waited. I suppose he could have gone off into the bushes and looked for a ram or a lamb to sacrifice, but that is not what God had told him to do. So, he believed in God’s provision, knowing that no matter what God had the situation under control. I am not sure how that would have felt, climbing up the hill with the understanding that at the destination, your only child is to be sacrificed. And yet Abraham climbed the hill anyway. I would like to think that I would do likewise, but I just don’t know how big my faith is until I get to the point that it’s the only thing holding me up.

That’s where I was last week when we first heard that Tyler was in an accident and seriously injured. He was unconscious, with blood pouring out of his ear. I could only cry out to God for mercy and grace, asking that his brain and skull be okay. And you know what? After multiple tests, the physicians declared that there was no brain bleed, no fractured skull, no injury to his brain at all other than being shaken around and concussed. Good news! Now, as a loving grandmother who is trying to have faith take over instead of doubt, I am trying to believe and anticipate that God will take care of Tyler’s clavicle, his ear drum and his needs at college. I’m anticipating all of the great testimony that Tyler will have about God’s provision and healing. Do I know with one hundred percent certainty that all will be just as I would like it to? No, of course not! But I trust God absolutely. That means that I am absolutely certain that He will take care of Tyler, heal him in the way that is best for him and take care of him on this arduous journey. God promised and I believe! He loves Tyler much more than I ever could and He has the best plan for him. I can’t see down the road that far, but I know wherever the road takes him, God is already there.

May each of you be blessed today with a faith that hopes, anticipates and even waits if necessary.

Of Worry and Shoes

On By vickleaIn Quotation and Citations, Scripture14 Comments

My husband and I are approaching our fiftieth year together and when people see us joking around and laughing together, they usually ask how long we have been married. When we tell them, they want to know our secret. Well, our first secret, which isn’t so secret after all, is that we have built our marriage on the Lord. He has always been our foundation and we have taken our vows before Him seriously. That is not to say that there have not been times when I wanted to throw in the towel, walk away and start a new life without Harry in it. But God just wouldn’t let me do that. He knew that the feelings were fleeting but the commitment was forever.

As I read my devotionals this morning, I realized that one of the reasons that we have been together for so long is that we bear each other’s burdens. When Harry was working on his Master’s degree and having difficulty writing his papers, I had him write them longhand and then typed them for him, editing the grammar errors as I read aloud to him and changed the wording so that his meaning was clear. I did that for two years, complaining some but also realizing that I was helping to make things better for both of us and for our family. Then, many years later, when I had a stroke, Harry took over all of the cooking duties and has continued that to this day. I can still cook and do so when the urge hits me, but my loving husband shouldered the responsibility to make sure that I am getting the nutrition I need for my brain to function as well as possible. We have been partners in raising three children, partners in our many moves and in finding churches. We encourage each other and when one is down or upset about something, we can tell the other and know that we have immediate understanding, concern and prayer.

We know each other well and can sense when something is not quite right and when the other person needs prayer, some time together or an encouraging word. Just a smile helps sometimes. You know, it works for strangers, too, the people you meet out in the world who just need a smile and an encouraging word. I try hard to notice what people are doing well when we are out doing errands and make it a point to compliment them about something, no matter how small. People in the service industry especially get a lot of flack and grief from customers, but I don’t think they hear a lot of positive feedback. It only takes a few seconds to notice how carefully someone is bagging your groceries or how attentive they are to putting in the right cost or even how friendly they are in spite of how tired they must be. Take time to comment and watch how their face lights up, from the inside, because you touched their hearts.

I always used to tell my own children and then my students to be careful not to judge others by the standards we set for ourselves because we don’t know what they are going through. That is another reason that Harry and I have been together for so long. We understand how difficult life is for each other and have worked together to lighten the load instead of adding to it. We have shared our history before we met and we know each other’s story for the last five decades. The hard times…we were there to hold each other up. The fun times…we were there to laugh together. Laughing, crying, embracing, always together. What about those you meet briefly? Do you instantly dislike them because of an outward appearance of a first impression? Do you judge them because of the way they live or the car they drive? Maybe we should all just take a step back and realize that where that person is now is perhaps not where they want to be, but neither is it where they once were. Instead of walking away and being glad that we are not like them, maybe we need to imagine if we were like them and be more compassionate towards them. Jesus never met a stranger that He did not seek to understand their needs and to show them love. How can we not choose to do likewise?

Yes, almost fifty years have passed. Actually, we met on my birthday fifty years ago and got married the following April. But the time seems short to get to know each other, to walk in each others’ shoes and to encourage each other. There are many whom I meet for only a few minutes who need me to understand, to look them in the eyes and to appreciate them for the unique creation that God has made them to be. Why have we been together for almost fifty years? Because of sharing worries and shoes.

Going to Church

On By vickleaIn Quotation and Citations, Scripture6 Comments

My husband and I really missed attending church during the pandemic. We hardly went out except for shopping or errands, so church was our way to see friends, to associate with other believers and to get spiritually fed. In my devotional on Sunday, I read a quotation that I want to share with you that made me think deeply about the motivation for attending church.

The question we should ask is not ‘What am I getting out of church?’, but ‘What am I giving out at church?’ They did not come just to receive but also to help others.~Nicky Gumbel, One Year Bible, August 21, 2022

Giving instead of getting is an awesome responsibility, but it is the real reason to attend church or to meet with other believers.

If we meet together with an attitude of encouraging each other, then we end up being encouraged ourselves.

The hearts of the believers in the first church were happy just to be meeting together. This gives me reason to think. Is church a chore or duty or is it the place where I am happy and I am there to spread happiness to others?

May your day be richly blessed as you encourage others the way you would like to be encouraged.

Quotations from Dr. Denison’s Forum

On By vickleaIn Quotation and Citations2 Comments

August 11, 2022 issue

But when we conflate our subjective opinion with objective reality, we step across what Francis Schaeffer called the “line of despair” into a world of chaos and nihilism. We deceive ourselves into believing that if we do not believe in God, he does not exist. If we do not believe in hell, we cannot go there. If we do not believe that the Bible is true, we can ignore its truths.

Theologian Julian V. L. Casserley illustrated this delusion by observing that a man who jumps from a tenth-story window does not break the law of gravity—he illustrates it.

Evangelism comes with risks in our anti-Christian culture, but when we share the gospel with the people we know, any cost to us in this world is worth their eternal life in the next.

Each morning, I pause beside this cemetery and pray, “Help me be ready for you to come to us or for me to go to you.”

This message from Dr. Denison that arrived in my inbox yesterday resonated with me and I hope that it speaks to you, too. The prayer especially spoke to my heart. He walks in the cemetery daily and this is his prayer. May it be the prayer of each of our hearts as the day draws closer for us to go to be with Him or for Him to appear to take us all home.

What is a Church?

On By vickleaIn Quotation and Citations, Scripture1 Comment

Is this your image of what a church is? Well, honestly, it shouldn’t be. We are the church!

In the Old Testament, God dwelled AMONG the people, with them as they traveled and went about their daily lives. He often spoke to the people through the prophets. That changed in the New Testament.

The Holy Spirit dwells inside each of us. We are His temple.

“Creator God, keep me mindful that those of us who love You are the church. The building is a bonus.
—Gail Thorell Schilling”

Excerpt From
Daily Guideposts 2022
Guideposts
https://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewBook?id=1559463724
This material may be protected by copyright.

Being Quiet

On By vickleaIn Quotation and Citations, Scripture7 Comments

Less than a decade ago, I shared my thoughts about everything that matters to me: life, death, politics, abortion, etc. I spread my thoughts everywhere, thinking perhaps that I was giving others the benefits of my vast knowledge and experience. No, what I was actually doing was being shortsighted and setting myself up for failure when I tried to share the Gospel with others.

Now, don’t get me wrong. I was not trying to start a quarrel, but that is usually how things went. My liberal family members had met their match in having the last word with me since I was determined to have it. Fast forward a decade or so and I have learned the hard lesson to just be quiet. Yes, the other person may think that I know that my point of view is wrong so I’m not defending it. Or, they may be thinking that they have won an argument that never got started because I refused to participate. What really happened is I got wiser with age and just don’t want the drama of arguing just to win a point. In gaining that point, I may be destroying my witness to that person, and it’s not really wroth it. Thus when friends or family pontificate about how wrong I am about current issues, I just listen. I don’t nod in agreement or smile or anything. I just listen. Did you know that after only a few minutes, they cease to lecture me on their worldview, seeing as I am not being at all argumentative and thus cutting off the water supply to the dam of their outrage that is about to break?

We would all do well to remember this adage from Abraham Lincoln. I have sat in the company of what I would call many foolish people determined to prove that their point of view is the right one, in fact, the only one. I figure that eventually, either on this side of Heaven or the other one, they will be proven wrong by the One who is greater than they. Jesus never argued His points; He should stated them and people could accept them or not. Then He moved on. That’s a good example to follow, don’t you think?

May your day be filled with wonder and blessings!