Day 160 Sheltered

 

6/9/2025

 "He has shown you, O man, what is good;

and what does the LORD require of you but to do justly, 

to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?" 

Micah 6:8 

 

Lord, I feel so protected by You over the years, as if I am still that little kid who accepted Your love and forgiveness all those years ago. The one who looked up into the clouds hoping to see Your face. The same young woman who saw You at my door that fearful night, not understanding at the time why You were there. I am still the one who heard You ask "Do you trust Me?" before my daddy died, and my world was turned upside down again. How many times have You spoken to me through Your word, confirmed by another person, or another writer, always three times. I imagine You wanted to make sure that I got the message. How many times I have doubted that it was actually You speaking to me, even when I audibly heard Your voice.

Over these last few days I've been trouble by some things I've learned, Abba. With all that is happening out in the world, in the western nations, and in the streets of America particularly, I see so much hatred and discord. I've been writing about it in my daily blogs, but I still don't understand the response or lack of response I see. What causes a person to hate so badly, and why can't people see Your love? Why do church members fight against each other, rather than contending with the evil one who is behind it all. There are so many voices out there in the Christian influences, but quite honestly, Lord, I don't see unity. I see everyone doing their own thing, trying to do it better, or just do what they feel You have laid on their hearts without concerning themselves with what is happening in the world or right on the streets in front of their homes. Just as long as it doesn't enter into the church doors, but then what happens if it does? It makes me think of the movie, Shenandoah, starring Jimmy Stewart. He'd tell the officers who came to draft his sons into the war that it didn't concern him. Finally, when the younger son was taken by the union soldiers mistakenly as a rebel soldier, it became his fight. There seems to be many paradoxes in this life, and movies tend to address them. I know You told me to keep my eyes on You, Abba, but sometimes I feel like I'm all alone out here. 

In our morning calls with Israel, I am learning things I already knew in my heart, but I wonder why I never heard them taught in the church. So, how did I learn the truth without a teacher? A human one, that is. I know that as I read the word, wrote to You in my journals, prayed and just talked to You, so many things became truth to me. The light bulb turned on. I was talking to Daniel about this, Lord; please keep working on him. He still has a sensitive spirit towards You. But, I was talking to him about all the hatred towards Your chosen people. When I first moved back here to be a support to him, he said he hated the Jews. I asked him where he got his opinions, so my response was to ask if he'd bothered to seek an answer for himself, rather than trust the beliefs of someone else. From that time on, he does what he was taught to do when he was younger. Read the Book! I don't understand why people prefer commentaries rather than sitting down with You and the word and studying themselves. I've known pastors who form their sermons based on the thoughts of another. Someone once confided to me that he had used my blogs in his sermons. That's scary, who am I to quote. But then, I do quote You from Your word all the time, so that's acceptable and right, as Yours is the ONLY word that matters. I love the way Pastor Greg says that if we have opinions or behaviors that are opposite or opposed to what Your word teaches that we have to change. 

When I was growing up I don't recall my family speaking negatively against another race, and a lot has happened historically since 1950. I'm sure there was an occasional ugly remark about someone in a certain situation, but my family taught me to care about everyone and to help as much as I could. I learned to love older people when I was very young. Back then we could cross a country highway or walk in the woods without fearing someone would hurt us. Mama used to tell me to stay away from the railroad tracks, but she knew I was up a tree near the tracks, watching, hopeful I'd glimpse a hobo. My grandparents lived in a rented home, and the Puryears, Tom and Mary, owned it and the little grocery across the road from the house. I loved that little store, so typical of what a Walton's country store would resemble. Mary's mama, Mrs. Slate, whom I've mentioned in previous writings, was ill, so I'd visit her. Perhaps that's why I am good as a caregiver. I have acquired much compassion and patience for another's infirmity. Maybe that's why You led me into case management. It was obviously why I cared so much about missionaries, from early childhood. You taught me well and gave me a mama and gram who cared too.

I don't recall much about the sermons as a child or teen, especially anything against the Jewish nation. I remember watching the movie Exodus with Paul Newman made in 1960, and I have remembered it all these years. In fact, when the war broke out, I watched that movie, sang with Pat Boone, and cried, not understanding how it could happen over and over again. Maybe back then I asked questions, because I never doubted what You said in Your word. As a child I was taught stories from the Bible, and I taught my children and worked with children in churches. You tended to move me around a little - from Baptist, to Nazarene, then Pentecostal, but the influence I received was from special speakers or events. When I met Joy Dawson from Youth with a Mission, and read Loren Cunningham's books and Joy's, got involved in a Bible study out in Powhatan at a castle, I was ready to serve with them. But, my husband said no way. It seems as if every door always closed for me when it came to missions. Up until I became a case manager and taught at risk kids. I sat under the ministry teaching of Kenneth Hagin, Oral Roberts, David Wilkerson, among others, and I don't remember being indoctrinated into any school of thought. I just heard Your word. I was never taught that the Old Testament was replaced by the New Testament, although I remember hearing a word about dispensations. I guess it didn't register, and I'm glad, as Your word clearly speaks. 

There's so much I don't understand, and I don't want to, unless it helps clear up the wrong thoughts of others. So, Father, please lead me on the straight path. Create in me a clean heart, renew a right spirit in me, set a guard on my mouth and hide my heart in Your love. Keep me humble, and may I love all people as You do. 

Thank You for listening, Abba. We'll talk more later. I love You. Amen for now.