Sunday, October 21, 2007

A Special Bible


Michael Spencer, over at InternetMonk, has a post up today about the special Bibles in our lives. As I thought about the way God has used His Word to shape me, three copies of the Bible really stand out to me.

The first time I read the New Testament through (even before I came to trust Christ), I used a paperback copy of "Good News for Modern Man." Although I wouldn't recommend that as any kind of personal study Bible today, God's spirit really spoke to me through it and showed me my need for Christ. When I found passages that I didn't understand, I just underlined them in red and read on. Later, I joined a Bible study group that used the same version. By then, I realized that many of my first questions had already been answered. Trust God, I learned, and He is faithful to teach you.

Not long afterward, I bought my first Thompson Chain Reference (KJV, of course) Bible and read through that. That was in 1970, and I still use it. I realize that the references/categories are not infallible, but the Holy Spirit is, and I treasure the things He's taught me through my dog-eared red leather copy. I use NSAB and appreciate it, and I've read the Living Bible through, too, but always go back to my Thompson.

Those copies formed the bedrock of my spiritual education

The third Bible is unique because I've never really read it. It's a KJV, published in London in 1866. My great-grandfather received it as a gift in 1867, and it is special to me because he owned that Bible for 57 years before he came to trust Jesus Christ as his own Savior. He wrote on the flyleaf, "The Lord came into my heart January 25, 1910."

Thomas Harrison died long before I was born, but that Bible and inscription tell me that he is with Christ today. Other relatives have told me that he truly became a new man in Christ, and I am reminded again that God is faithful.

What an encouragement!

Wednesday, October 17, 2007

I Surrender All?

Some to Jesus I surrender,
Some to Him I freely give;
I will sometimes love and trust Him,
In His presence sometimes live.

I surrender some,
I surrender some.
Some to Thee, my blessed Savior,
I surrender some.

How often have you sung those words....or did you sing, "I surrender all"?

The very word "surrender" means to give up entirely, without reserve, yet so often I fail to do that. I tell Jesus that I am surrendering all, but then I keep something in reserve.

As we sang those words last Sunday, I realized that I'd not really surrendered at all. I've fallen back on providing for myself and defending myself in many of the battles of the past couple of weeks. Instead of surrendering my position to Jesus so that He can be my defense, I've been planning my own strategies, being my own general. And I've walked into Satan's ambush again. The outcome has been misunderstandings and physical and emotional pain. When will I ever learn?

Why is surrender to the Savior so often hard, and surrender to the enemy so easy?

Tuesday, October 09, 2007

Parenthesis in Life

It's been awhile since I've posted anything, due to some other issues, but now something new has arisen. Last week, my father suffered a stroke and was hospitalized. He was released yesterday, but will need speech therapy 5 times a week and he and my mom will need additional assistance. I've been staying with Mom while he was hospitalized and will be doing some of the "taxi" work to get him to therapy.
We are hoping to be able to get them into an assisted living facility within a couple of weeks.
All in all, it's been a major curve in the road here, and so blogging will probably be on hold for while. I'd appreciate your prayers for my family during these next days and week.

To get to know my parents a bit better, go here.