First of all, may I give a Heartfelt ‘THANK YOU’ to everyone that wrote me with thoughts of Encouragement, with Love and caring! I never wrote to fulfill my own need to be thought about by anyone, but for my Lord and Savior. I wrote because the Lord would ‘Spiritually’ tap my shoulder and say, “Did you see that or do you remember that?” And it was always something that would touch my heart in some way, even back when I was a little kid.
I remember when I was 3 years old and my Dad was stationed in Tachikawa Air Base, shortly after the War. My Mom was taken to the Hospital in Tokyo for an appointment. And one day, my Dad and I walked to the Train Station in town to pick her up. I remember walking along beside my Dad, holding his index finger, which at that time felt like a log. I am guessing it was in the Fall, or maybe just a cool day in winter, not too sure, but I was proud to be walking with my Dad.
Somewhere along the way, I saw an elderly couple walking towards us, and they were holding hands. They must have been married many years because they resembled each other, gray hair and all. They had a slight smile on their faces; and all I could do was to watch them, to stare and marvel, so to speak. Obviously, they were “In Love with each other!” I am still not too sure how I knew that, but I just did. Since that day, right up to this day and time, I would think about that couple…That is the kind of Love I want!
Of course, I learned about Love as I grew older; yet, in those days things were pretty strict on showing affection in Public. There was always a “Time and Place for everything” and that was always respected. To this day, my closest thoughts have been about Love and being Married. I Love to show my Wife that I sincerely Love and respect her. My Wife and I have been married now for 43 years this coming August, and I Thank the Lord for her every day.
I have THAT kind of Love now, and lest I forget to mention…I have the Lord and HIS Sweet Love as well. As a matter of fact, I continually Thank HIM every chance I have…I have no complaints. I also know that if there is any kind of failure in my Relationship with my Lord, it is always my fault…yet HE is always willing to forgive me and patch things back up for us.
As you can tell, it is always my own Sin that messes our relationship up – that is, until the Holy Spirit lets me know I messed up again! I hate to hurt my Lord in any way, but I am a human being.
Jeremiah 17:9 “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?“
I know it is my Sin that took my Lord to that Cross on Calvary where HE bled and died so that I could come before HIM and ask for HIS Forgiveness…of my Sin. HIS Precious blood then covers my Sin, and then it is thrown into the Sea of Forgetfulness! How Loving is that? And I know that every single Sin I have ever committed in my Life…is Forgiven by HIM. My Home is in Heaven with HIM, and I have a real hard time…waiting to get there! Now THAT is LOVE.
I know that I am older now, but in HIS Hands I am a roaring Lion, I am strong, I am confident! I know there is coming a day when I will have a Body that never tires, no more joint pain, no more eyes that don’t want to work correctly. I will run and jump, maybe as well as I did when I was a kid, I can only dream of that now.
I also believe all of my Pets will be there as well. HIS Love for us never wavers, never gets tired, never dwindles or becomes faint. In my old mind, because of this Love, I can see all these things, I innately know what things will be like; and so I look forward to each and every one of them! I will be excited to see all those of my Family there…as well as many of you too! Like I said earlier, I have a hard time waiting.
One must take the time to consider why this life here on earth is the way it is. You must also remember this: 2 Corinthians 4:4 “In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.“
There it is in Black and White, from Gods own Lips to your and my ears! Our lives here on earth are influenced by Satan and his Ilk…Yet Jesus Christ lives today and brings us a way out, to Life Eternal with HIM in Heaven. Once again…THAT is LOVE. I want THAT Love!
Years back, many of you will remember this as well: we had “Love Songs”…real LOVE SONGS. I was with a Band once; we would turn the Blue Lights on as the Dance would begin to end for the evening, and we would sing 4-5 Love Songs – “Surfer Girl,” “Blue on Blue,” “You are my Special Angel,” and the like. The girls would almost faint at the thought of THAT kind of Love.
As the Holy Word of God says, God IS Love! Sadly, today there are NO Love Songs like back then…does that tell you anything?
Matthew 24:12 “And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.”
I must admit, that is the case with this world today. Thing is…it doesn’t have to remain that way; there is a way out…Jesus Christ! I must confess, I am a True Romantic; weddings still make my Heart skip a beat…
Jesus Christ is alive today, and HIS Love is still available to anyone. That truly shakes up my Heart!
I still listen to all those Old Love Songs; they’re recorded on my Phone. So every morning, I make a special cup of coffee for my Beautiful Wife and me, and we sit on our Country Front Porch. We talk and spend time together, chit-chatting and Praising the Lord for every new day and all HIS Loving Blessings! If you spend all your time Praising and Thanking the Lord, there is never any time for complaining. Getting Old on this earth IS Tough. I keep thinking to myself…I am getting closer to my Home in Heaven…that always makes everything better!
Before I was Born-Again to my Lord, I was a very angry and hostile man. The Military taught me that, along with a time in ‘Nam. I had bad nightmares and was always paranoid around people, always watching for the ONE that would come up against me once again. I was stressed out all the time, because somewhere, someone would attack me; I had to be ready! I would never trust anyone except my Wife.
My existence was bleak and foreboding, to say the least. I hated everyone! I was an excellent shot, knew Martial Arts and weapons, and I was always giddy for the fight, if you will. I was punched, stretched, tired and sore all the time…and then one day…something special happened!
I KNEW I was wrong; I was back in the world, and all these people were my people. Why should I fear them? Most of all, I was simply Tired and I couldn’t find a way out. The Sun never shined in my world; I was capable of a fight, yet my war was already over. What was I doing; why was I this way?
My Mom and Dad popped into my head once again, and what little I was able to remember…was the Lord and everything they taught me. I was afraid to sleep, fearing the dreams of all that I had endured overseas. I finally began to Pray. The Lord and I got on my little Train (My Mind if you will), and it was full of bags. Each bag was filled with my Sin!
At first, I watched as Jesus opened and pulled out my Sin from the Bag. I quickly became horrified with each and every bag HE opened! I began to cry and begged HIM to stop…HE was looking at all MY SIN. Then I noticed that HE was crying…but HE was crying for…me. I cannot remember how long this took, but finally HE had thrown each and every bag of MY SIN out the door, and it was gone! All I could mutter was, “I am so sorry Lord!” HE turned to me and put HIS arm around my Shoulders and held my Head to HIS Chest, and the Tears began to be wiped away. “I Love you Son; I am always here for you.”
The next thing I knew, I was back in the night; my face was wet with my own tears, but my Heart was light and I was light. “Thank YOU FATHER for saving me!” I have been Praising and Thanking HIM ever since, and I will continue that into Eternity. Now THAT is LOVE From HIM to my Heart! From my Heart to HIM!
My Friends, do I get tired and worn out? You bet I do, as you have seen in my Articles. I am now re-invigorated, refreshed and ready for whatever task the Lord has for me. It was your Emails that showed me HIS Love once again…your strength became my Strength! LOVE is everything!
So with this article, I want to say Thank You so very, very, much! I am not alone; I have my Lord and Savior always…and I also have y’all! I will continue to write for my Lord, and I will always remember your outpouring of Love and concern. I have thanked the Lord repeatedly for those Emails. May the Lord Bless and Keep each of you in HIS capable hands!
With LOVE…
Dontwobears
John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.“
All Scripture comes from the King James Version of the Bible