MESSAGE FROM THE GRAVE

MESSAGE FROM THE GRAVE

Recently I read a story about a woman who gave up her life for the sake of her child. Although we’ve heard these stories before, this one is unusual, in that the woman was buried beneath the rubble of the big Japanese earthquake that occurred last March.

When workers first discovered her body in the rubble, they quickly realized she was dead so they went on to the next house. One of the workers however, couldn’t shake off the feeling that he needed to return to take a second look the woman. She was in an odd position on her knees and he couldn’t get it off his mind.

What an amazing discovery. The dead body of the woman had shielded her three month old son. He was wrapped in a flowery blanket and sleeping soundly.


Upon examining the baby’s body to see if there were any injuries, the doctor discovered a cell phone with a text message. “If you can survive, you must remember that I love you.” There was no doubt; the message was written by the woman for her little baby.


The message, intended just for him, has resounded around the world. “If you can survive….remember that I love you.” We don’t know if there were other messages written for loved ones, but this is a shining star in a terrible tragedy that took nearly 16,000 lives, injured close to 6,000 and damaged or destroyed 125,000 buildings.

Seven months after the March 11th earthquake 4,000 people are still missing. One little boy, because of the sacrifice of his mother is not in that statistic. There is no doubt in my mind that he will treasure the special message his mom left behind.

Magnified many times over is the supreme sacrifice that Jesus Christ made for all of us. As the woman curled over her child to protect and save him, so Jesus Christ gathered us under his mighty outstretched arms on the cross and gave His life that we might live!

The story of this Japanese mother reminds me of another story that I used to teach during my Child Evangelism years.

“A forest fire burnt down a farmhouse in western Canada. As the embers cooled, the devastated farmer was walking over the ruins and noticed a burned lump on the ground. He prodded it with his stick and saw that it was a hen, burned to death. The farmer turned the hen over and, to his surprise out ran three chirping baby chicks. The hen had died in the flames even as it saved the lives of her helpless brood.”

Interestingly in the Scriptures, Jesus compared himself to a hen eager for the safety of her brood. “How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings…” (Matt. 23:37)


In the same verse He lamented that all would not avail themselves of this place of refuge. “…but you were not willing!” God doesn’t force His will on anyone. The sacrifice has been made, now it is up to us what we do with this knowledge. Will we be like the religious leaders in Jesus day and walk in ignorance and unconcern?

Jesus chided them for their ignorance. Here was one before them who was the sinless Son of God. He healed the sick, caused the blind to see and raised the dead, but they would not receive Him. He said destruction would come upon them, “because they did not know the time of their visitation.”

After Jesus died and rose from the grave He left a much clearer and detailed message than the Japanese mother left her son. He left us the entire Bible so there would be no excuses on that dreaded day of the Judgment at the Great White Throne. (Revelation 20:11-15)

When the unbeliever refuses to say, “Thy will be done” to the Almighty God, He will say to them, “THY will be done!” If you don’t want God in your life, He honors that choice. For eternity you won’t have God to bother you. If you reject the light here, you will have darkness for eternity.


The message GOD has sent from the grave is… “Remember that I love you!” (John 3:16)

MESSAGE FROM THE GRAVE

MESSAGE FROM THE GRAVE

Recently I read a story about a woman who gave up her life for the sake of her child. Although we’ve heard these stories before, this one is unusual, in that the woman was buried beneath the rubble of the big Japanese earthquake that occurred last March.

When workers first discovered her body in the rubble, they quickly realized she was dead so they went on to the next house. One of the workers however, couldn’t shake off the feeling that he needed to return to take a second look the woman. She was in an odd position on her knees and he couldn’t get it off his mind.

What an amazing discovery. The dead body of the woman had shielded her three month old son. He was wrapped in a flowery blanket and sleeping soundly.


Upon examining the baby’s body to see if there were any injuries, the doctor discovered a cell phone with a text message. “If you can survive, you must remember that I love you.” There was no doubt; the message was written by the woman for her little baby.

The message, intended just for him, has resounded around the world. “If you can survive….remember that I love you.” We don’t know if there were other messages written for loved ones, but this is a shining star in a terrible tragedy that took nearly 16,000 lives, injured close to 6,000 and damaged or destroyed 125,000 buildings.

Seven months after the March 11th earthquake 4,000 people are still missing. One little boy, because of the sacrifice of his mother is not in that statistic. There is no doubt in my mind that he will treasure the special message his mom left behind.

Magnified many times over is the supreme sacrifice that Jesus Christ made for all of us. As the woman curled over her child to protect and save him, so Jesus Christ gathered us under his mighty outstretched arms on the cross and gave His life that we might live!

The story of this Japanese mother reminds me of another story that I used to teach during my Child Evangelism years.

“A forest fire burnt down a farmhouse in western Canada. As the embers cooled, the devastated farmer was walking over the ruins and noticed a burned lump on the ground. He prodded it with his stick and saw that it was a hen, burned to death. The farmer turned the hen over and, to his surprise out ran three chirping baby chicks. The hen had died in the flames even as it saved the lives of her helpless brood.”

Interestingly in the Scriptures, Jesus compared himself to a hen eager for the safety of her brood. “How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings…” (Matt. 23:37)

In the same verse He lamented that all would not avail themselves of this place of refuge. “…but you were not willing!” God doesn’t force His will on anyone. The sacrifice has been made, now it is up to us what we do with this knowledge. Will we be like the religious leaders in Jesus day and walk in ignorance and unconcern?

Jesus chided them for their ignorance. Here was one before them who was the sinless Son of God. He healed the sick, caused the blind to see and raised the dead, but they would not receive Him. He said destruction would come upon them, “because they did not know the time of their visitation.”

After Jesus died and rose from the grave He left a much clearer and detailed message than the Japanese mother left her son. He left us the entire Bible so there would be no excuses on that dreaded day of the Judgment at the Great White Throne. (Revelation 20:11-15)

When the unbeliever will not say, “Thy will be done” to the Almighty God, he will say to them, “THY will be done!” If you don’t want God in your life, he honors that choice. For eternity you won’t have God to bother you. If you reject the light here, you will have darkness for eternity.

The message GOD has sent from the grave is… “Remember that I love you!” (John 3:16)

SECURITY SYSTEM

SECURITY SYSTEM

My quiet morning was interrupted with the loud ringing of our doorbell. I couldn’t imagine who was at the door at 8:30. To my surprise (and chagrin) it was the pest control man.


I rarely, if ever, leave a sink full of dirty dishes before retiring at night. Wouldn’t you know, this would be one of those times? At least the bed was made. Charlie had gone into the den sometime in the wee hours of the morning and was snoozing in his recliner.

Since the doorbell is in the back hallway, I was just sure it had awakened Charlie. Fat chance. He was sawing logs and didn’t hear a thing.

Instructing the exterminator where to begin spraying I went into the den to tell Charlie we had company and maybe he better get up and get dressed. He was snoring away so I decided to let him sleep a little longer.



Finally, every room was sprayed with just the den to finish. I told Dana, the service man, to just spray around Charlie…which he did; still no movement other than Charlie’s breathing and his snoring.

Our little dogs were very aware of the presence of this intruder. With shrill yips and loud barks, they were doing their best to earn their dog food; still no movement from Charlie.


Several hours went by and by this time the pest control man was long gone. I was sitting at my computer when Charlie came in the room to give me a good morning kiss. “Sleep well?” I asked.

He told me he had a restless night and didn’t sleep good at all. “Funny,” I laughed. “The pest control man was here and sprayed all around you in the den.”

Charlie looked a little shocked, but always one with a comeback, he grinned and said, “Sleep well. Your husband is on guard!” Right! Hmm.


I’m sure glad my security is in God’s alarm system and not in Charlie Tuck’s! The burglars might carry me away, along with all my worldly goods and maybe our dogs too, before Charlie heard anything. Of course the fact that he sleeps without his hearing aids just might have something to do with his not hearing the pest control man today.

Isn’t it a comfort to know that the Lord never slumbers or sleeps? (Psalm 121:3-4). I’m reminded of this Scripture when I’m tempted to lie in bed, worrying about a problem. After all, there’s no sense both of us staying awake all night. God has all my problems under his control. So I just turn over and go to sleep.

Not only is God aware of everything that concerns us, He’s in perfect control of all our circumstances. His thoughts toward us are more than can be numbered. He’s thinking more about us and our situations than we are. (Psalm 139:17-18). He knows the plan, even if we don’t.

In Psalm 138:8 we are told, “The Lord will work out his plans for my life; for your faithful love, O Lord, endures forever.” It doesn’t get any better than that!

When our granddaughter Amber was only five years old she was spending the night with us. Our bedroom was strange to her and in her little mind, everything was a bit scary. I brought a little teddy bear to her and tucked him next to her. “Grandma, I’m scared.”

I assured her that nothing could hurt her and that Jesus was with her. “I know that Grandma, but I need some skin.” I had to suppress my laughter, but I gave her more hugs and kisses, staying with her for awhile until she drifted off to sleep. Grandma’s skin sufficed and she slept through the night.


We, that are grown, sometimes battle fears like Amber. However with adulthood our fears have grown from bogeymen to “How am I going to pay the light bill; afford rising gas prices; find a job; fix my kids; solve my friends dilemma?” And the list goes on and on. There’s never a shortage of things to worry about, including the bogeyman!

Know that the God of Israel, who neither slumbers nor sleeps will keep a guard around you today and throughout the rest of your life. His presence is better than the skin of any human being. With God you can rest assured that He is taking care of you. (I Peter 5:7)

ARE YOU DRIFTING?

ARE YOU DRIFTING?

My husband Charlie has several reading passions; two of them being Civil War history and World War II history. He was delighted when I went to a local consignment shop and obtained an entire set of World War II encyclopedia’s in mint condition for only twenty dollars.

The 24 volume set is prominently displayed in our living room bookcase. He enjoys perusing the black and white photos and information contained in each volume. I guess his penchant for this period in history goes back to his remembrance of that time period.

Always one to enjoy reading, Charlie told me he was reading Hans Brinker or the Silver Skates when the announcement came over the airwaves that Pearl Harbor had been bombed. Much like, “Where were you on 9-11?” the World War II generation has the date of the Pearl Harbor bombing etched in their memories.

One of my personal favorite accounts of this time period is that of Louis Zamperini. I first heard Zamperini speaking at a Billy Graham crusade back in the 50’s. Zamperini is a fascinating individual and today at age 94 is still going strong!
(Zamperini still going strong for God in his latter days!)

Laura Hillenbrand, the #1 NYT bestselling author of Seabiscuit, has written a book about Zamperini entitled UNBROKEN. (If you haven’t read it, I heartily recommend this book for your library.) I wasn’t able to put this book down. Her literary style, coupled with her knowledge of the facts of Zamperini’s life, as well as her close friendship with him, makes for a great read.

What intrigued me most about Zamperini’s story was the account of his amazing survival for 47 days on a raft in the Pacific Ocean. Zamperini, a former Olympic runner, had the stamina and the determination to beat the odds against him as he and several others were shot down in their B-24 while on a rescue mission.


Zamperini’s plane, the Green Hornet, crashed in the ocean on May 27, 1943. Eight of the eleven aboard were killed. The raft the survivors were on had no supplies. They actually survived by eating small fish and by catching rain water. One of the men died on the 40th day. (Zamperini shows where his B-24 plane was shot during WWII)

While on the raft Zamperini made a bargain with God. (I’ve always heard there are no atheists in a foxhole!). Unfortunately, many who make deals with God have short memories and all bets are off when they survive and are back in the land of the living. Not so with Zamperini.

The raft drifted into enemy water. Zamperini and his companions had no idea where they were. It was only when the Japanese Navy captured them on the 47th day of their ordeal that they realized capture was infinitely worse than what they had been going through on the raft.

Words can’t describe the torture that Zamperini and his fellow airmen went through. For over two years Zamperini was physically tortured and subjected to psychological abuse. His success as an Olympic athlete seemed to be one of the main reason a sadistic guard, whom the prisoners nicknamed “the Bird”, had singled him out.
(Zamperini on right, returns after the war to view the Japanese P.O.W. camp)

After completing the book I couldn’t get the poignant fact about the drifting of Zamperini’s raft. I remembered a scripture in the Bible that says, “We must pay the most careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away.” (Hebrews 2:1)

This verse does not say anything about being careful not to sin, watch your language, don’t wear revealing clothes, don’t drink, smoke or steal…no, it says we need to be careful that we don’t ‘drift away’.

Drifting doesn’t take any thought or effort. Just relax…drift. How many today are getting farther and farther away from God by drifting? They’re not doing anything particularly wicked and sinful…they’re just doing nothing but drifting.

We are instructed to pay careful attention to what we have heard. This word of caution by the writer of Hebrews is designed to prod us, to keep us from disaster.

Zamperini drifted into the enemy camp, where deprivation and torture awaited him. Just as he was singled out by Mutshurio Watanabe, aka ‘the Bird’, we too will be singled out by the enemy of our soul if we drift away from God! Make it your goal today to stay close to the Lord!