Time of Celebration

September is always a month of many celebrations in our family.  We have a precious daughter, a wonderful son-in-law, and a grandson, who were all born in the month of September.

"Look at him there, on tiptoe at the gate, all ears, all eyes, My lover has arrived and he is speaking to me." (Song of Songs 2:10)

"My beloved is mine, and I am his." (Song of Songs 2:15)

September is also the Anniversary of our Wedding. Dan and I were married on Sept. 23, 1967.  So our Anniversary sometimes comes and goes with a little fanfare. But this year, as I am sure you have figured out, is the year we celebrate 40 years of marriage.

Today, as I was showing off the gift my precious husband had given me to my friends at church, someone asked, "you mean you have been married to the same man for 40 years?" Oh yes, I replied, I most assuredly have, 40 years, four children, and 6 grandchildren make a very full life.

As Dan and I sat celebrating with an anniversary meal after church, we began to talk about our years together. He reminded me that there were a lot of nay sayers, who said it wouldn't last, because we were too young to know what we were doing. And yes we were very young (18 and 20). But unlike many couples today, we were committed to our marriage and each other from the beginning.  We had spent many hours talking and sharing what we each wanted and needed from our relationship. There was no such thing as a pre-nup then, nor did Dan and I ever even think of such a thing. 

Yes, we promised to love, honor and cherish each other for the rest of our days. And I have always felt very cherished by my beloved. I believe that it is what every wife should feel and should expect to feel. The Bible admonishes a man to love his wife as Christ loved the church and gave His life for it.  To love his wife more than his own body. I can truly say that my beloved has made Christ his example. He is the Spiritual leader of our household, and has always fulfilled his responsibilities to me and his children, even at great sacrifice to himself.

But from the beginning of creation God made them male and female.  For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and cleave to his wife, and the two shall be one flesh, so they are no more two, but one. What therefore God has joined together, let no man put asunder.(Mark 10:6-9) God's pattern is clear 'til death do we part.

" Marriage starts out as like an empty box.  There's nothing in it.  It is an opportunity for us to put something in, to do something for marriage.  It was never intended to do anything for anybody; people are expected to do something for marriage.  Love isn't in marriage, it is in people, and people put love into marriage." (J. Allan Peterson, The Myth of the Greener Grass)

A Day of Rejoicing

"He will fill your mouth with laughing and your lips with rejoicing." (Job 8:21)

Today is September 22, a date that is forever written on my heart.  This is the day that God gave me a wonderfully precious gift.

 Dan and I had tried for almost 3 years to have a baby, and after 2 miscarriages, God gave us a precious pink bundle on the eve of our 4th anniversary. Yes, she was very pink. 

The day before I had driven all the way to downtown Birmingham, Ala. from the small town that we lived in then. My due date was days away.

 When I was checked by my doctor, he said,"Now when did we tell you, you would have this baby?' I responded,"Sept. 30."  He raised his brows, looked at me seriously, and said, "Sweetie, your not going to make it until the 30th. You will probably have this baby tonight. And your water will probably break." 

 At 10:30pm, just as I lay down to go to sleep.  Yep, you guessed it, my water broke.  And you know husbands, Dan says, are you sure you didn't just wet yourself?  Men!!!

After making a call to the doctor to confirm that my water broke, and to find out that he was not at the hospital where we had registered to have the baby.  We took a wild ride through downtown Birmingham to another hospital and we didn't even know how to get there!!

Upon arriving at St. Vincent's Hospital, I was taken one way while Dan went another to register me.  I remember telling the nurse that I wanted my mama, and she said well I will just go get her.  But My Mama was not there, she was in Florence, SC, waiting on a call from Dan.

  At 4:51am on Wed. Sept.22, Pamela Susanne Holladay made her debut.  They placed her on my chest so that I could touch her, and love her, and I have been loving her ever since.

She is a very special gift that her daddy and I will always cherish. She has given us much joy in her lifetime, not to mention our precious grandbabies.

Wasn't that just yesterday??

Unity and Fulfilled Prophesy

Once again I am amazed by the insight of Adrian Rogers in our Bible Study material.

Hear what Dr. Rogers says about The Bible.

A Third way we can know that the Bible is the Word of God is because of it's Unity. From Genesis to Revelation, it is a compilation of 66 books written by at least 40 authors, living in different periods of time spanning at least 1,600 yrs, and covering 13 different countries, and 3 different continents.

They came from all backgrounds,they were shepherds,kings, soldiers, princes, fishermen, scholars, historians, professional men, and common laborers. Bringing it all together it makes One Book, that has One Story.

The Bible has one theme redemption, One Hero, the Lord Jesus, One Villain, the devil, and One Purpose, The Glory Of God.

In Luke 24:44-47, Jesus tells His disciples, " This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms." Then He opened their minds so they could understand... "This is what is written, The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance and forgiveness will be preached in His Name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem."

Can you imagine taking 40 different people, over a period of 1,600 yrs, from different countries, and different occupations and telling them each independently, without having read what the other has written telling the same story.  Yet The Word of God has wonderful unity, it makes one beautiful temple of God's Truth.  Nothing needs to be added, taken away or embellished.  The Unity of the Bible is ONE of the Wonderful proofs of the inspiration of the Word of God.

The Bible has predictions of things that have happened and things yet to happen. Think about the Prophecies that were fulfilled in The Lord Jesus Christ alone. Scholars say He fulfilled more than 300 Old Testament Prophecies. His enemies will say, sure He fulfilled all these prophecies, but He rigged it!  He arranged that He would fulfill them.  If you believe that tell me how.

First, He arranged to be born in Bethlehem, did you arrange where you were born? (Micah 5:2-- prophecy fulfilled in Matt 2:1-5

Then He somehow managed for the Prophet Isaiah to record details about His life some 700 years before He was born. (Isaiah 7;9 and 53) Did you arrange to have the history of your life written before you were born?

He even arranged His own death.  Crucifixion!! Would you arrange to die like that? (Psalm 22) Centuries before His birth, David wrote a description of His death like a man standing at the foot of the Cross.  This one Psalm contains 33 direct prophecies that were fulfilled at Calvary. When David wrote this prophecy, the form of capital punishment practiced by the Jews was stoning, not crucifixion.  Crucifixion is a Roman form of execution, and they had not even come to power during David's Time.

 Did Jesus arrange to die between two thieves?  Isaiah 53:9-12 was fulfilled in Matt. 27.  The Bible prophesied Judas' betrayal (Zechariah 11:12) fulfilled in Matt. 26:1.

Jesus arranged to arise from the dead and be seen by more than 500 witnesses. Some claim the apostles were hallucination.  500 people hallucinating at the same time, having the same hallucination?

Most of the Prophecies were not fulfilled by His friends, but by His enemies.  " All this was done so that the Scriptures Might be fulfilled." (Matt. 26:56)

Fulfilled Scripture is an incredible proof of the Inspiration of the Bible.

Faith is Spelled "R-I-S-K"

"It is in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for. Long before we first heard of Christ and got our hopes up, He had His eye on us, had designs on us for glorious living, part of the overall purpose He is working out in everything and everyone." (Ephesians 1:11-12 The Message)

When we RISK, really Trust God and believe against impossible odds-- endure long periods of waiting and truly want to please God that's faith!!

"Without Faith it is impossible to please God, because we must believe that He exist and He rewards those who earnestly seek Him." (Heb. 11:6)

Faith is confidence in God-- His Word. The Creator of the Universe isn't the least bit hindered when our circumstances look 'impossible' .  Making something out of nothing is what God does best.

"Abraham believed God, no matter what he heard or saw, and it was counted to him as righteousness."  Have you ever wondered how in the world could Abraham have believe God would make him a great nation, as He had promised, if Abraham was asked to make Isaac an offering?  He believed God.  He didn't know that God was only testing him, but he knew God would provide.

"And after waiting patiently, Abraham received what was promised." (Heb. 6:15)

Live By Faith. Trust God, with all your heart in every circumstance everyday of your life. When we do-- along with God's hearty approval, we have peace and joy, which enables us to have the "Abundant Life" God promised us~

EXPECT GOD'S BEST!!!  ACCEPT NO SUBSTITITE!!

"Your road lead by a Pathway--- thru the Sea, a pathway NO ONE knew was there" (Psalm 77:19)

The Bible is Historically Accurate

Excerpts from "What Every Christian Should Know" by Adrian Rogers

The Bible is not primarily a book of history, but it is "His Story" the story of God. The Bible has been attacked because of it's history. In Exodus 17:14, 24:4,34:27-28 and Numbers 33:1-2 the Bible tells that Moses wrote in obedience to God's command what God said.

In the late 1800's Dr. S.R. Driver ridiculed the idea that Moses could have written what we call the Pentateuch,( the first 5 books of the Bible) Driver claimed that in the time that Moses was supposed to have lived, men didn't know how to write.

Some scoffed at the Bible until on day in northern Egypt, a lady spading her garden, came across some clay tablets.  They were called the Tel el-Amarna tablets and were tablets used for correspondence. This were written by people in Egypt to people in Palestine, or what we call today the Holy Land, centuries before Moses was born.  Not only did they know how to write, they also had a postal service. This proves that Moses did indeed have the capability to write the Pentateuch and also proves a learned man's opinion wrong.

Scholars laughed at the Story in Daniel about the handwriting on the wall.  Saying it was a Fabrication. It never could have happened because the records of ancient Babylon did not list Belshazzar as the last king of Babylon.  The last king of Babylon was named Nabonitus.

But one day the shovel of an archeologist uncovered a cylinder, and the name on it was Belshazzar.  More records found showed the historians were right when they said that Nabonitus was the last king of Babylon, but wrong when they said that Belshazzar was not the last king.  Nabonitus and Belshazzar were father and son and had ruled together, making them kings at the same time.

What would have happened if they had not found that cylinder? Would the Bible be any less the Word of God? The Bible has and will stand the test of time.

If you wish to understand more historical facts from the Bible, research Daniel chapter 5.

Under Construction

My Life is Under Construction.

Do you know what I mean? Really, even at 58, I'm still growing and learning.  The best part is that God, My Heavenly Father, is my Teacher.

 "Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and mighty things that you do not know."

" I will give you words and wisdom that none of your adversaries will be able to resist or contradict." (Luke 21:15)

Every day comes at us new.  We can choose to learn from what we experience, or we can just "get by the best we can." Like Carmen often says, people will often tell you that they are fine, under the circumstances, but as children of God ,we should never be under the circumstances.

Oh, believe me, I know that there are days that are very trying, and days when you just don't know if you can get up and go.  When all you want to do is just keep asking WHY???

It is at these times that we MUST do something!!! Pray, Pray, Pray, and again I say Pray!!

"Meanwhile, the moment we get tired, in the waiting, God's Spirit is right beside us, helping us along.  If we don't know how or what to pray, it doesn't matter, He does our praying for us, making prayer out of our wordless sighs, or aching groans, He knows far better than we know ourselves, knows our condition, and keeps us present before god.  That's why we can be sure that every detail of our lives of love for God is worked into something good." (Romans 8:26-28 The Message)

Easy for me to say, huh???  No, ABSOLUTELY NO!!! there are many days when the enemy knocks me down, and those are the days when I claim this scripture.

"But me, I'm NOT giving up, I'm sticking around to see what God will do.  I'm waiting for God to make things right.  I'm counting on God to listen to me.  DON'T ENEMY, CROW OVER ME, you may have knocked me down, but I WILL GET UP!!!
(Micah 7-8 The Message)

God did not intend for us to live lives of defeat.  We are called to VICTORIOUS LIVING.    VICTORY IN JESUS!!

"I will sing in the shadow of your wings." (Psalm 63:7)