Gathering Rubies

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
Heb 12:1-3

I’ve been guilty of starting projects only to conclude I really wasn’t interested in finishing them. I don’t make a habit of doing that, yet I’m still glad it wasn’t something for which I could lose a grade or a reward. I must also admit there have been times in my Christian walk that I have wanted to just call it quits, times when I have been so discouraged or disappointed that I just wanted to walk away.  Then I remember Paul’s goal, “to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead”. Phil 3:10-11 and again, like Paul, I press on… Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. Phil 3:13-14 I hope to finish well…

The following story from “1000 Quotes” illustrates “Finishing Well”

At 7 p.m. on October 20, 1968, a few thousand spectators remained in the Mexico City Olympic Stadium. It was cool and dark. The last of the marathon runners, each exhausted, were being carried off to first-aid stations. More than an hour earlier, Mamo Wolde of Ethiopia—looking as fresh as when he started the race—crossed the finish line, the winner of the 26-mile, 385-yard event.

As the remaining spectators prepared to leave, those sitting near the marathon gates suddenly heard the sound of sirens and police whistles. All eyes turned to the gate. A lone figure wearing number 36 and the colors of Tanzania entered the stadium. His name was John Stephen Akhwari. He was the last man to finish the marathon. He had fallen during the race and injured his knee and ankle. Now, with his leg bloodied and bandaged, he grimaced with each hobbling step around the 400-meter track.

The spectators rose and applauded him. After crossing the finish line, Akhwari slowly walked off the field. Later, a reporter asked Akhwari the question on everyone’s mind: “Why did you continue the race after you were so badly injured?”

He replied, “My country did not send me 7,000 miles to start the race. They sent me 7,000 miles to finish it.”

“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us” Heb 12:1.

In my family there are a lot of ‘builders’. My dad was a carpenter as well as several of my brothers and their sons. I can remember many times looking at a piece of land being prepared for construction and watching the foundation being poured and then watching the framework begin. At that stage many people have the ability to visualize the finished project. Not me! To this day I can’t make heads or tails out of construction in the beginning stages, and blueprints don’t help me either. Everything always looks much, much smaller too me in the beginning stages than what it actually is.

From “the” builder’s point of view, I am Painfully Under Construction. I’m looking inside of my own frame work and I’m not fond of what I see. What makes it painful is that I see way too much of me and not nearly enough of God. I see that I let fear and a whole lot of “what if’s” control who I am and what I do. I see me trying to control my path instead of trusting the one who really controls it. It seems too often that my dependence is on me instead of on God.

Painfully I acknowledge my self-sufficiency is pride. Painfully I acknowledge that looking out for me and my desires and my comfort is selfishness. Painfully I acknowledge that apart from God, I can do nothing of eternal value. Painfully I acknowledge that too often I seek to please myself instead of God.

I’m thankful God’s work in me is not complete. I am still a sinner, but I am not a slave to sin. I’m under construction.

Rom 6:16-23 All your lives you’ve let sin tell you what to do. But thank God you’ve started listening to a new master, one whose commands set you free to live openly in his freedom!

I’m using this freedom language because it’s easy to picture. You can readily recall, can’t you, how at one time the more you did just what you felt like doing — not caring about others, not caring about God — the worse your life became and the less freedom you had? And how much different is it now as you live in God’s freedom, your lives healed and expansive in holiness?

As long as you did what you felt like doing, ignoring God, you didn’t have to bother with right thinking or right living, or right anything for that matter. But do you call that a free life? What did you get out of it? Nothing you’re proud of now. Where did it get you? A dead end.

But now that you’ve found you don’t have to listen to sin tell you what to do, and have discovered the delight of listening to God telling you, what a surprise! A whole, healed, put-together life right now, with more and more of life on the way!  Work hard for sin your whole life and your pension is death. But God’s gift is real life, eternal life, delivered by Jesus, our Master. (from THE MESSAGE)

Oswald Chambers wrote – If there is even a trace of individual self-satisfaction left in us, it always says, “I can’t surrender,” or “I can’t be free.” But the spiritual part of our being never says “I can’t”; it simply soaks up everything around it. Our spirit hungers for more and more. It is the way we are built. We are designed with a great capacity for God, but sin, our own individuality, and wrong thinking keep us from getting to Him. God delivers us from sin— we have to deliver ourselves from our individuality. This means offering our natural life to God and sacrificing it to Him, so He may transform it into spiritual life through our obedience.

Even though I can’t visualize me in ‘completeness’ God knows exactly what I will be when I’m no longer “Under Construction.”

Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. 2 Cor 4:16 NIV

How does one adequately describe darkness? I am not referring to being in a room without lights;  or in the stillness of a moonless night.  I am thinking of the darkness that over takes our lives at times, seemingly for no apparent reason and usually without warning.

I am usually very ‘up’ yet lately I have been feeling gloomy and I’m really not sure why. I think it may be weather related. We haven’t had any sunshine to speak of for days, and as silly as it may sound it affects my mood. (We actually have some today)

I fight it and fight it and then I start having a war in my head. I honestly struggle when this weight of (I’ll l call it darkness, because that’s what if feels like) comes over me. I remind myself that I can choose my attitude and the answer comes back basically that I’m choosing the rotten one, defiantly daring the ‘up’ me to a battle.(I know this sounds crazy!)

Most people, including my husband don’t even know when I’m going through this. He may suspect something isn’t quite right as may those who are really close to me, but I dislike this darkness so much that I try really, really hard to keep it hidden.

I call out to God, silently of course, because the calling out in my head is very loud. I want to cry about everything and I don’t, instead I stuff it down, down, down, until the lump in my throat becomes unbearable, then I steal away to another room, let the tears spill out and reappear as if nothing has happened. I ask God repeatedly “why am I feeling like this” and “what is wrong with me”? God loves me and I love him, my marriage is good, my health is good, I have an awesome family, both physical and spiritual, and I don’t have financial stress. I can practically see heads nodding in disbelief, right along with mine…how can I be down when I have so much to be thankful for?

I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint; my heart is like wax; it is melted within my breast. Ps 22:14

Thanks for sharing my burden today, as always I desire your prayers. I know also “This too shall pass.”

Rom 5:1-5 By entering through faith into what God has always wanted to do for us — set us right with him, make us fit for him — we have it all together with God because of our Master Jesus. And that’s not all: We throw open our doors to God and discover at the same moment that he has already thrown open his door to us. We find ourselves standing where we always hoped we might stand — out in the wide open spaces of God’s grace and glory, standing tall and shouting our praise.
There’s more to come: We continue to shout our praise even when we’re hemmed in with troubles, because we know how troubles can develop passionate patience in us, and how that patience in turn forges the tempered steel of virtue, keeping us alert for whatever God will do next. In alert expectancy such as this, we’re never left feeling shortchanged. Quite the contrary — we can’t round up enough containers to hold everything God generously pours into our lives through the Holy Spirit! THE MESSAGE

Rom 5:1-5 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us. NIV

This is from the devotional Jesus is Calling by Sarah Young
When some basic need is lacking – time, energy, money – consider yourself blessed. Your very lack is an opportunity to latch onto Me in unashamed dependence. When you begin a day with inadequate resources, you must concentrate your efforts on the present moment. This is where you are meant to live – in the present; it is the place where I always await you. Awareness of your inadequacy is a rich blessing, training you to rely wholeheartedly on Me.

The truth is that self-sufficiency is a myth perpetuated by pride and temporary success. Health and wealth can disappear instantly, as can life itself. Rejoice in your insufficiency, knowing that My Power is made perfect in weakness. James 1:2; 2 Corinthians 12:9 (NASB)

Last week I received an email from fellow blogger John Dobbs. With the passing of Jack Exum Sr., he suggested that other bloggers share stories of a minister who had influenced our lives and to also invite our readers to do the same, to tell of someone who passed the torch of the gospel to us. I have been influenced by many and although for the sake of space and memory I will only list a few.

My earliest influence came when I was six or seven through Frank L. Smith. We lived in Shawnee Oklahoma and attended the Church of Christ at Tenth and Bell Streets. I remember seeing him in the pulpit with his grey suit and balding head and his ever ready smile. His sweet wife was Mary and he had two daughters and a son, F. Lagard Smith. (We knew him as Lagard at the time) I remember one sister, Sandra and sadly my memory fails me for the name of the other sister. I was too young to know or understand about the gospel at that stage of my life, still I feel I must mention him because as I look back, I remember and (understand now) the kindness and great hospitality shown to my parents, my brothers and me. We spent many Sunday afternoons in their home visiting and eating dinner with them. My mom still has a picture of me sitting on the front steps of their home. (I was baptized at the age of nine at the Tenth and Bell congregation after hearing a Hell Fire and Brimstone lesson during a revival, and later in life realized what I did was out of ignorance and fear.)

For those of you who know me or have followed my blog, you know that I have lived through some very rough years. I was pregnant and married at the tender age of 15, and had three children by the age of 23 and divorced years later. I ended up battling drugs and alcohol for several years. My path to Christianity was a long time in the making and this is where the next people who greatly influenced my life enter in. I shall briefly mention three more men and their strong and faithful wives who have taught me the way.

When I first began to turn my life from myself to Christ, I lived in the small town of Hornitos CA and began attending church in Mariposa CA. It was a very small congregation and it was there where my real roots to becoming a Christian began. Vern Godfrey was not a preacher but he was a great bible class teacher and he was a kind and gentle man. I clearly remember him teaching the book of Acts and he brought it to life. Vern and his wife Esther greatly influenced not only my life but my oldest brother Tony Tharp and his wife Pat as well. They would visit us in our homes (and believe me when I say-we were a challenge) and would invite us to their homes. To say it plainly…they loved us so much that not only were we shocked, but we learned to love them so much we did not want to disappoint them in any way and we longed to be with them and be like them.

Next are Shelby Garrison* and his wife Elizabeth. They belonged to that small church in Mariposa and they came to visit me one day after I had moved from Hornitos to Mariposa. I had given up all of my drugs at that time except Marijuana. I had just finished smoking a joint (it really pains me to write this but it’s true) and my doorbell rang. There stood Shelby, all 6 plus feet of him and Elizabeth, who wasn’t even 5 feet tall. I didn’t know what to do except invite them in. The house reeked with the weed I had just finished smoking and I was higher than a kite. I know for certain that they were aware of what was going on, but they did not condemn me or even make mention of it. They simply came by to tell me how happy they were to see me at church on Sunday and to invite me back again and wanted me to know that I could call on them if I needed any kind of help.

Lastly are Pete Casci and his wife Brenda. (It’s hard to mention great men who have influenced me in the gospel without mentioning their loving and faithful wives.) Pete was the young preacher hired by the congregation in Mariposa. Pete loved the Lord and loved the people he shared Jesus with. You could see it in his eyes and you could feel it. Being a struggling and young Christian I know I disappointed them many times and in many ways and they never, ever gave up on me. We are still the best of friends even after thirty plus years. We haven’t seen each other in several years but we stay in touch either by phone or mail. He baptized me and he married Larry and me.

In closing I must say that it wasn’t eloquence of speech that influenced me or their style of preaching. I say with all honesty it was their outpouring of genuine love and their true friendship and concern that touched my heart, that made me want to have what they had and to be like them. It was from them I first learned of Faith, Love and Hope and truly the greatest was their love.

* Shelby and Elizabeth and one of their daughters, Sarah really liked me, so much so that they all played match-maker and introduced me to their son/brother Larry. Shelby and Elizabeth ended up being my father and mother-in-law and Sarah my sister-in-law. Larry and I will celebrate our 30^th anniversary in July of this year.

Frank, Vern and Shelby have all gone on to their reward. I thank God for letting these Godly men cross my path and I thank you John for this great idea and privilege to share these memories.

About three weeks ago I became aware of a young thirty-one year old woman named Jenny Bizaillion.
My nephew’s wife posted her name on FB and was requesting prayers for her. She had pneumonia which turned into sepsis.

 
Thousands of people were  praying for Jenny and updates were posted hourly/daily on Care Pages.
https://www.carepages.com/carepages/JennyBizaillionUpdates/patient

I did not know Jenny, yet she touched my life and the lives of countless others. From what I read about her she loved God with all her heart and lived for him to the fullest. Jenny lost her battle with the illness which invaded her body. She leaves a legacy of living the example of Jesus. It seems to me, if this were in another time we might be reading of her in Hebrews Chapter 11, the great chapter of faith.

The following words are from Care Pages. I ask that you continue to pray for her family and her friends.

Posted Feb 22, 2010 5:05pm
Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?
But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!

Jenny Bizaillion passed from this world at 3:38pm.
She was the most beautiful, wonderful friend, perfect mom, devoted sister, loyal daughter, and best wife a person could ever have.

We will see her again.

Her memorial service was live streamed on Richland Hills Church of Christ. You may listen here:  http://www.livestream.com/rhchurch/video?clipId=pla_ffe7fe44-6c7b-470c-b3bf-aa3d448c9056

Posted Feb 26^th 9:25am
There are no words to describe yesterday’s experience.

You can’t describe Jonathan declaring in praise, “you give and take away…blessed be your Name!” three days after his sister was taken away…

You could use 1000 words to describe the moment Rick shouted the three words, “Lord, come quickly!” and still never do that moment justice.

And when Josh had us all bow our knees to Jesus as a declaration to our adversary that “we win!” and death has no victory…it was a feast of a foretaste of glory divine! Everyone there (or watching online for that matter) experienced the holiness; we just can’t explain it with mere words.

You can’t describe it but that didn’t stop people from trying. You usually don’t hear the following spoken about funerals…

“It was the best church service I’ve ever been a part of”
“I would have paid $100 to experience that…make that $1,000”
“I wanted to punch satan in the throat!”
“It made me want to go to heaven…right then…like I wished I could of!”
“I’m a college student at UT and drove in from Austin. I don’t know Jenny…in fact I don’t know anyone in the family. I feel like I do now. I’m so glad I came.”
“I’ll be a better wife and mom because of this…because of Jenny.”
“That felt like heaven will feel. I know it.”

Josh spoke yesterday about keeping the Carepage Community going (on a personal side note, I’d be in favor of a Bizaillion/Ross ‘reality’ show because they are about as ‘REAL’ as a family gets and as strong as any family I’ve met. But that’s a subject for a future post) and I don’t know what the family will do in the future with this virtual mega church, but I do know that there is still plenty we can do for the family.

Continue to pray for healing! Not for Jenny – she is completely healed! But pray for the family to be healed. May the hope that Jesse spoke about yesterday…the hope that Jenny walked in daily…heal the hurt, the loss, the pain, the anger, and the deep sadness that fills the family.

Continue to give! With over 12,000 members, I am confident that we can give even more than the $51,000 we’ve already given. With medical bills in the hundreds of thousands, funeral expenses and David’s loss of income due to the past 3 weeks (and the next however many as he and Malaya adjust to life without Jenny), the need is greater than ever. All money we give to the Gregg Pearson Foundation with “GPF Benevolence” in the special instructions goes directly to the Bizaillion family! Keep on giving.

Continue to share this site with friends and family and continue to post your super encouraging messages! The family can use our encouragement in the days and weeks to come every bit as much as they have these past three weeks. At some point every post and every comment will be made into a beautiful (and big!) book for the family. We can only imagine how God will use that book for His glory in the future!

This site was started three weeks ago today. We wanted to as many people praying for Jenny to get out of the hospital as possible. Josh reminded us yesterday that we didn’t get the answer we wanted. But as those of us in attendance witnessed yesterday, Jenny’s family knows that she got into heaven! May we all follow Jenny’s example. After all, she just followed Jesus!

May these words from the song, “Let the Waters Rise” by Mikeschair speak to our spirits today.

Don’t know where to begin
Its like my world’s caving in
And I try but I can’t control my fear
Where do I go from here?

Sometimes its so hard to pray
When You feel so far away
But I am willing to go
Where you want me to
God, I trust You

There’s a raging sea
Right in front of me
Wants to pull me in
Bring me to my knees
So let the waters rise
If You want them to
I will follow You
I will follow You
I will follow You

I will swim in the deep
‘Cuz You’ll be next to me
You’re in the eye of the storm
And the calm of the sea
You’ll never out of reach

God, You know where I’ve been
You were there with me then
You were faithful before
You’ll be faithful again
I’m holding Your hand

There’s a raging sea
Right in front of me
Wants to pull me in
Bring me to my knees
So let the waters rise
If You want them to
I will follow You
I will follow You
I will follow You

God Your love is enough
You will pull me through
I’m holding onto You
God Your love is enough
I will follow You
I will follow You

Ohhh

There’s a raging sea
Right in front of me
Wants to pull me in
Bring me to my knees
So let the waters rise
If You want them to
I will follow You
I will follow You
I will follow You

“Hope” is the thing with feathers —
That perches in the soul —
And sings the tune without the words —
And never stops — at all —

And sweetest — in the Gale — is heard —
And sore must be the storm —
That could abash the little Bird
That kept so many warm —

I’ve heard it in the chillest land —
And on the strangest Sea —
Yet, never, in Extremity,
It asked a crumb — of Me.

by Emily Dickinson

What is Hope? We use the word countless times a day. Hope you feel better, Hope you have a safe trip, Hope everything goes well with your surgery. Hope…hope…hope, like little prayers flying from our lips.

A Christian’s hope comes from God. May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Rom 15:13

Even when there was no reason for hope, Abraham kept hoping—believing that he would become the father of many nations. Rom 4:18 There was no reason to hope because he was already about 100 years old, yet his faith didn’t grow weak. He continued to trust in God.

I can’t help but think of the people in the news last week. One had the hope of a tour in London. Another hoped to be healed from cancer. Two others, I imagine, hoped for a “few more years.”

We hope for tomorrow, yet ‘tomorrow’ is not promised.

Life is full of uncertainties, disappointments and sometimes broken dreams. As Christians, we can be confident in our hope in God. This hope is a certain guarantee about things that are unseen and still in the future. It’s hope that will be realized if we remain faithful to God. Rom 8:22-25 We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.

This same hope separates the Christian from the nonbeliever, who has no hope. Eph 2:12, 1 Thess 4:13

Consider the following from Nelson’s Bible Dictionary…Christian hope comes from God (Rom 15:13) and especially His calling (Eph 1:18; 4:4), His grace (2 Thess 2:16), His Word (Rom 15:4) and His gospel (Col 1:23). Hope is directed toward God (Acts 24:15; 1 Peter 1:21) and Christ (1 Thess 1:3; 1 Tim 1:1). Its appropriate objects are eternal life (Titus 1:2; 3:7), salvation (1 Thess 5:8), righteousness (Gal 5:5), the glory of God (Rom 5:2; Col 1:27), the appearing of Christ (Titus 2:13) and the resurrection from the dead (Acts 23:6; 26:6-7).

So dear readers, my hope is that we will all make our “calling and election” sure, in order that we will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. 2 Pet 1:10