WellWithMySoul

Yesterday, I went out to sit with Dorothy for about two and a half hours.  I had prayed and prayed in advance that I would know and be sensitive to the leading of the Spirit and the wisdom and discernment as to what to say and what not to.  Once again and with sadness, the doors were still closed to speak of spiritual things with her.  How can that be?  I so much desire that Dorothy would be saved!  I am reminded yet again that the Lord loves her much, much more than I and is not willing that she perish.  His thoughts and ways are also much higher than mine...and His timing and His way...are crucial.  He is omniscient and I am very fallibly limited...so even though I was so greatly saddened that I didn't get to speak of spiritual things with Dorothy...I continue to entrust her to Him.  Prayer is so very powerful, and to pray for a lost soul is immense.  Aww, but for dear Dorothy and Billy to be snatched from the clutches of the evil one is greatly desired for, and sought through much prayer.  I appreciate your prayers for her, and in His name...they carry a lot of "weight". 

Update:  this morning my husband and I went out to Billy and Dorothy's house.  An Hospice fellow and friend of ours, my husband, and Billy were going to fall a huge oak tree on their property.  Hospice as well as the rest of us have been quite concerned about Billy, and so falling this tree was a way of distraction and a break for Billy to get out of the house for awhile.  I sat with Dorothy.  The cancer is rapidly ravaging her body.  I sat there next to her for about an hour and a half.  She talked with me just for about 5 minutes, and then she fell asleep.  My heart is breaking for her.  I watched her labored breathing.  I looked at her face.  She looks so frail.  Indeed, she is.  I felt so helpless and powerless for I couldn't even speak to her of my Saviour, but I prayed.  I prayed and prayed.  Tears hovered.  O how the Lord Jesus does not want Dorothy to perish.  He loves her so.  Even though she is not totally aware, she is scared.  This is a grief that is so heartbreakingly powerful; so unlike that of grieving for a loved one that is Heavenbound.  Dorothy had sent me a card before she was hospitalized the first time, and she had signed it...."Forever Friends".  Tears.  I cannot see her heart, but from the outside...there is no evidence that she has seen her need for the Saviour.  I so much pray even if by "the skin of her teeth or as by fire", that she would be saved...so that indeed, we could be "forever friends".  Hospice "guesstimates" that Dorothy will pass on within the next couple of weeks.

My dinner is ready, but I'm just so thrilled...that I had to come online first to let all know that this afternoon....the Lord was indeed with Debbie!!!!  She called to let me know that the Lord gave her a tremendous boldness and strength and she didn't mince words with Dorothy about salvation!  Dorothy had, had some pain med and so was a bit out of it, but it was made plain to her that there is only one way to Heaven...and that's thru the Lord Jesus Christ!  She said that she believes that Jesus died on the cross for her sins, but then she would ramble off to something else.  However, EVERY single time....Dorothy herself would return to the subject of God and Jesus.  Debbie doesn't know how much actually pierced thru to Dorothy's heart, but we both know Heb. 4:12....and that the Word "speaks for itself"; it stands alone, and needs no help from us (and morphine can't even deter the power of God's Word).  I'm just so amazed at how the Lord answered all of the prayers....YOUR prayers....that Debbie would have that boldness.  Dorothy cried a few times, so we know that perhaps combined with the Gospel that I had shared with her some time ago, coupled with Debbie's bold conversation today...that the Lord is working!!  Praise God from Whom ALL blessings flow!  Please keep praying, dear OLB people, that both Dorothy and her husband would truly realize their need for the Saviour.  O how exciting it is to see the Spirit working!!!

Dorothy is home now, but is on Hospice.  I talked to her on the phone today, and at times she had a little confusion, and she slurred her words a bit.  She is on some heavy duty pain medications, which would explain some of that.  My heart is heavy, except that I have great hope for Thursday.  Thursday -  the other gal, Debbie, will be going to sit with Dorothy for a couple of hours while Dorothy's husband goes to an appointment.  We are both feeling the urgency to speak boldly now.  For those who feel so led, please pray especially for Debbie this Thursday afternoon between about 1:00-3:00 PM PST.  Please pray that the way would be paved without interruptions, that Dorothy and her husband would be receptive to the Gospel, and that Debbie would have all utterance to speak boldly.  It's especially difficult for Debbie because her own mom passed away about 3 yrs. ago from lung cancer.  I told her that I would be praying that she would be led so clearly by the Lord to be focused on Dorothy's need for salvation, that her own grief would not deter her.  I am praying for her to have strength, and also peace as she tries to reach dear Dorothy.  There is so much power in prayer...and though we cannot be gathered together...we can still be praying in His name, and our Lord will hear us.  Thank you for joining me in prayer, and for your compassion.

Thank you to all who have prayed for Dorothy!  Orval, I also appreciate the encouragement to be more bold to present the Gospel again to her!  Time truly is of essence, and there just isn't time to build anymore of a "rapport" with Dorothy.  She was moved to the hospital up here thankfully, and so I went to visit her a few times...as did the other saved gal.  It was interesting to experience the "closed doors" of time that the other gal and I had with Dorothy.  However, the last time that I went to visit her...I went softly right thru the "door" and told Dorothy that I would love to share my faith with her!!  She was very positive about that, though I'm not sure that she truly understood what I meant.  She replied that I should "Go ahead, I'm faithful!"  I also told her that the other gal shared the same faith as I did.  I wasn't able to say anymore with Dorothy that day, but I certainly called the other gal and told her, "The door is OPEN!"   Since then, Dorothy has been moved back home again, and I presume that she will be starting on the Hospice care.  Please keep praying...  I appreciate it very much, and YOUR prayers could be helping to make the difference in where Dorothy spends eternity!!

Jim...we have a lot of cloth bags that we keep in both of our vehicles for shopping.  We also have several plastic bags that we've ended up paying for because at times we've forgotten to take our cloth bags into the store.  What I don't understand is...why are the stores now "making" us also pay for paper bags?  It's pretty easy to "recycle" a paper bag!  It doesn't make sense.  Are we being taken advantage of?  Sigh...

Thank you so very, very much for praying for Dorothy and for me too, NN and Alan!  It is a comfort to know that the Lord is being sought to sustain Dorothy's earthly life that she might be saved!  She is finally starting to eat after almost two weeks in the hospital, and because she is showing some improvement it is hoped that they will be able to move her to the hospital here!  By the way, the one thing she used as her "excuse" to hinder her salvation was that she had an uncle who was a Baptist preacher, but was an "hypocrite".  Sigh... Today, another saved gal that loves the Lord is going to go down to visit Dorothy, and she has also requested prayer that she might be able to speak about spiritual things with her.  Thank you again for praying!

I am so delighted that your ministry is with so many Hispanic people!  Here in far northern Calif., we have quite a population of Hispanics (we live in an agricultural area).  In this dinky little town where cattle are driven down Main St. periodically, we particularly have many, and the Lord has given me a tremendous love for them!  Indeed, most of them here are of the RCC.  I shall pray for your ministry!

My heart is so very heavy with burden, but I'm thankful that I don't have to bear it alone.  I'm so glad that I can cast all to the Lord, and that there are others joining me in prayer.

For several years now, I've been the assistant to a local museum's curator.  Not long after I started volunteering there, I shared the Gospel with her.  Seemingly, nothing came from that...but thru-out the years I've been trying to say a little here and a little there, and to always live my faith.  Every time I would head to work, I would lift her up in prayer.  Now...it has turned into a very dire situation.  In March she was diagnosed with lung cancer.  She'd already had a 4-way bypass, and she has 7 "old fractures" in her back.  Not long after she was diagnosed with the cancer, she contracted pneumonia.  She'd had one chemotherapy treatment, but was then immediately whisked into the hospital because of the pneumonia.  Hospice is now being discussed.  I've been "storming" Heaven that the Lord would let her live long enough to be saved.  It rather slays me.  A Christless eternity.  Please join me in praying for Dorothy.  She is in a hospital about 80 miles away, and I just can't get down there to visit her as I'd like to, plus having been her assistant....now much responsibility has fallen on me at the museum.  I beg of you to please pray for her very soul; her eternal salvation.

What a wonderful thing, Dave...that your children are walking with the Lord!  Yes, they all grow up, and time flies so swiftly!  I couldn't resist posting this 2012 "note" from our #3 grandson who is now a teenager.  Prayer for my kiddos and grandkiddos is such a great comfort to me!  I praise my precious God for the message of this note!

Thank you so very, very much for sharing your testimony with us here at OLB!  It is such a wonderful thrill to see how God has worked in a life!  Also, every single time the Lord has worked in the life of a saved one (growth, victories, etc.) is thrilling!  I LOVE to read or hear the testimonies of others!  To see and witness in the life of another the genuine zeal for the love of and praise for God is a treasure!  Your testimony was truly a blessing!  Thank you!   

Thank you for your kind words, Alan...and those verses are just so fitting and applicable and encouraging.  I long to take "advantage" of all of the sadness in my life with thanksgiving;  to embrace it to God's glory, and to be used as a vessel full of compassion to bring comfort to others (at best, to point others to the greatest Comforter).  As I mentioned in my testimony...all of the gaping and painfully empty voids in my heart left all the more room for God's love, mercy, and grace to fill!  My precious Saviour has taken all of the wounds, and has brought great healing to my heart.  Awww....but the gentleness of that wonderful peace, and the sweetness of that ever "hovering" joy has made all of my history worthwhile!   Yes, I long to encourage others with how mighty and gracious and full of loving kindnesses our dear God is!!  I could shout it from the mountaintops!  I could whisper it in the valleys, and I can silently sing it in my heart!  O what a Saviour!

                                                                                                                                                              I Was There

I was there when this little baby girl was born. I saw that her mommy and daddy didn't really want her because they wanted a boy. The little girl was ever so lonesome knowing somehow that she didn't make her parents happy. She sat on the meat-market steps and watched the cars go by on the highway. She tossed pebbles and played catch alone with a little rubber football. As I watched, I saw an elderly gentleman come along. There were few words exchanged between the little girl and man, but somehow a lot was said as the man took the time to play catch with the little girl.

She was like a shy little fawn, quiet, and never wanting to cause trouble for anyone. Animals brought the little girl comfort in her sadness, and she truly loved them. Curled up at night in her bed on the top of a triple bunk, she loved each of her little stuffed animals; not wanting any of them to ever feel left out or unloved. She'd pray for all the animals of the world and she would weep silent tears, as she pleaded with God to be merciful to them, so that they wouldn't suffer. She was indeed comforted imagining the stuffed animals loving her back. I can only imagine the size of the jar that God holds, full of this child's tears.

I continued to watch as this little girl grew. She had Jesus with her, I knew, but I also knew she didn't feel like she was special even to Him. There were times when I'd see the young teenage girl waiting all alone, praying for the phone to ring, desperately hoping that someone might be thinking of her. I could see too, though I'm sure she didn't realize it, that she would always do her best to treat and love others in the way she herself needed to be loved.

I was there when this young woman got married. I was there when her babies were born. The love she had for each one of them was such that none of them should've ever felt unloved or not special. She adored those children, and worked ever so hard to be a mom that would bring blessings to her little ones. She taught her babies all she could about her Jesus, and how He loved them each one as precious, valuable, and special beings...unique in their own way, with a special purpose and job that no one else could do. All the while, I could see her starving and so hungry to know that someone loved her. As I watched, I knew she needed to be gently enveloped and cradled in the arms of her loving Saviour, but I knew too that she didn't know how to accept that love.

My heart broke as I watched her lonesomeness even though surrounded by her precious bundle of a family. I watched her pray for joy and peace, so that she could in turn give it away. I sat and listened as her fingers stumbled over the keys of the piano, and as she softly sang a favorite song of hers (Make Me A Blessing). There were times that she wanted to just be in Heaven because she felt her life was so empty of being a blessing.

Through the years I knew she prayed for a miracle; a miracle from God that her life would be worthwhile for others. When no one else could see, I saw the silent agonized tears that she wept in the dark.

Then one special day, near a holiday season, I have the very special privilege of saying that I saw that miracle tiptoe ever so quietly and gently down from Heaven and blessedly enter her heart. Even now I am stunned to remember how the miracle began seeping through her until it literally radiated out of her with rays like Heavenly sunlight. Her prayers were being answered as her heart and mind finally accepted the outstretched arms of her Creator God. What joy it gave me to see her allowing herself to be cradled and filled by His awesome, eternal, and perfect love. I could see too that she was beginning to find rest, hope, and purpose for her life as she realized that she was chosen and created and accepted just the way she was.

As I continued to watch this miracle unfolding, I so much wanted to reach out and encourage and reassure her; after all, I had "skin on". So, after all those years of watching her, I finally reached out to hold her. As I began to wrap my arms around her precious frame, I was very surprised to find....HER arms around ME.

You see, I was there, and she was ME!

Through the windows of memory, I could finally see the way God saw me. I could see that all along He had wanted me whether anyone else did or not. So with the arms that He gave me and with His Spirit within, I hugged my heart ever tighter returning His love, with mine!

I was there.     -    WWMS

Our pastor's brother-in-law pastors a church on the east side (Queensland).  I believe it is an IB church, and when they come back to visit here, it's always a blessing to hear him preach.  I believe all 6 of our pastor's brother-in-law and sister's children are Aussie born.  Thank you for sharing about your country; fascinating!

Praise the Lord!  How wonderful that our sweet Lord has granted rain to you in your area!  I love it!  The Lord always responds to us in His time, and what a special joy it is when the answer is evident and visual!  I had a whole post in this thread written last week on my tablet and went to submit it....but was booted out and lost the whole thing. I figured that the Lord allowed that to happen for one reason or another, but indeed I kept praying for your situation.  I'm very glad that you arrived safely home as you drove through it too.  What a glorious God we have!

PS ... Dave, thank you for sharing about the dryness and fires in your area.  We have forest fires here, but there are lots of grass fires in southern Calif.  I will whisper prayers for you and for your area likewise with empathy.  

I had never heard of "preterism" or "replacement theology" until coming to OLB.  Thank you for your quotes and comments about them.  Spending the majority of my time reading and studying just the Word (plus preaching) certainly makes it easier to clarify the difference between what is truth and what is erroneous.  I'm not sure how to verbalize what I'm thinking, but I am greatly saddened with those that twist the Word and lead others astray.

Thank you again, Alan....for another informative lesson concerning what is to come!

Rosie...several years ago I wrote in my own words the story (which I can't find in print) about the "Shepherd and the Lamb".  It was in my heart to write it and it does not fail when I read it to have tears well up as I see the absolute love the Lord has for us with both the rod and the staff.  What I wrote in my own words is too long for posting here...I think...but I would be willing to email it to you if you'd like?

I'm still praying, N.N.!  Thank you for posting the picture of the "trickling river" in your area.  When we were in the drought situation here in northern Calif., and as Alaska Jim can attest to...on the volcanic mountain between us, one of the glaciers started melting underneath and it caused quite a mud flow.  We have pictures of where that flow went over a small creek bridge and greatly widened the banks of the creek.  It's all just so amazing to me, yet also quite glorious...to witness the vast power of "nature"...and that we KNOW the very one who created and is in control of it!  I will continue to pray for your need for rain back there!

There were three things that especially stood out to me in this lesson:  1.  Jesus made Himself of no reputation to come down to bear a cross - and at that time, not a crown.    2.  there has not been a "king" (that title) since after the Babylonian captivity (didn't realize that before)   3.  the glorious picture of the Transfiguration and the change that is to come to us!    These 3 things are really a blessing for me to ponder on!  Thank you again, Alan!

I have a very basic understanding of prophecy, but excited to learn more and more.  It is especially exciting when I see the consistancy of God's character with the scriptures.  My personal relationship with Him, and desiring to love Him with my all...opens up so much more understanding.  I truly appreciate it, and praise the Lord for working through those who likewise desire to be glorifying and pleasing to Him....and take what they teach very seriously before Him!  Yes, it is very exciting when I recognize God's wondrous character in what is being taught.  Thank you, Alan...and awaiting the next lesson.

Yes!  Thank you for clarifying Rev. 20:5 for me!  I'm sure learning a lot through these lessons, and I really appreciate them!  With your clarification, I was greatly blessed to see once again how the number "3" represents yet another significant thing - first fruits, harvest, and gleaning.  I just love how the Word comes together in such wonderful consistency and with such order.  It is so very exciting when something truly "hits home" in my heart bringing me not only knowledge, but understanding!  With each little bit of understanding that the Lord grants me, I love and appreciate HIM all the more!  Thank you, Alan.

"...For we have heard that God is with you." (End of Zech. 8:23)  Oh that, that could be said of His own today!  Can people see that there's something about our faith worth having?  Are we peculiarly different than the world?  Are His light and work being manifested outwardly from within?  Sigh...

Alan, if you could briefly clarify Rev. 20:5 for me a bit more, I'd sure appreciate it.  Thank you again for another great lesson.

I had a whole two paragraph reply all typed up and it simply wouldn't send on this tablet.  I tried to save it, but now I can't find the clipboard where it is supposedly saved.  At any rate...my reply included my very sincere gratefulness to all those that prayed concerning my health issues and the outcome....Jim, Rosie, and Alan - thank you!  Jim...I was saddened to read about the pinched nerve that you have causing the numbness in your lower legs and feet. I still haven't figured out why this time of our lives is called the "Golden Years" - physically speaking, that is, especially when one has been very active in life.  I'm so glad that the Lord knows our frames; aw, but to have the same mind with the many experiences we've had - only with a younger body!  I shall be praying for you, Jim.  It must be difficult living in the beautiful area that you do, and be limited with being able to be out walking and enjoying it.  If I can find my clipboard on this tablet, I will try to post my other response.

The ultrasound and appointment with the cardiologist has come and gone, and I am absolutely rejoicing!  After the testing, the cardiologist came in and told me that he had good news and bad news.  My heart lifted and then it dropped!  He told me the good news first.  The circulation in my right leg gets an "A+", and the circulation in my left leg gets an "A-" (a slight reflux)!  He said that I have the circulation of a nineteen yr. old! Yay!  Then he got more serious and said that the bad news was that he can't help my feet.  I have Raynauds Syndrome and neurapathy in my feet (the latter from all of the surgeries).  I had already been diagnosed with those issues, and they are lifelong....and so I will continue to deal with them with much gratefulness that there aren't any added problems.  The Lord responded very affirmatively to my prayers...and to all of YOU that prayed for me!  Thank you!