Dancing With Jesus

Yesterday morning, another party broke out in Heaven. Didn't you hear it? I was certain I felt the earth vibrate with the noise of trumpets and the rumble of a million dancing feet.

She's there at last--twirling, leaping waltzing with Jesus, allowing only her husband, Waddie, to cut in. Her limbs don't have eighty-four years worth of wear on them anymore. Her feet are lithe, quick on the turn as she spins again, her laughter echoing through another universe.

They're all there, waiting their turn to hug her: the ladies she drove when they couldn't, the poor she donated clothes to, the hungry she fed,the sick and dying she tenderly cared for. They can't wait to celebrate with her.

"It's party time!" the cry echoes from a thousand excited voices. "Dixie's here!"

Well done, Dixie McCombs. Enjoy the party.

If My People...

What can Christians do to reclaim our nation? Is this land of excess and debauchery what our founding fathers had in mind? How horrified those first Pilgrims would be to see what this "land of the free" has become.

Scripture is filled with examples of God's people turning away from Him and reaping the results. They were always quick to wail and demand that God give them answers for their problems, but not so quick to humbly follow Him from the start.

God gives a simple prescription for healing the wounds of a nation. "If My people, which are called by my name, will HUMBLE themselves and PRAY, and SEEK My face, and TURN from their wicked ways...THEN, will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sins, and will heal their land."

We're usually quick to do one or two of those requirements. We'll pray--but not repent. We'll seek his face--but not humble ourselves. We're all for talking about what God should do, but very short on what he tells us to do.

There is a strong remnant of people left in this country who strive to live Godly lives, but we must let our voices be heard. If God's own people won't do what he requires, how can the world do better? It is his own people he makes the request of, not the wicked.

Is God about to judge America for the sins of His own people?

But If Not...

Those three words are some of the most powerful words of faith in the entire Bible and for me, have come to represent real, living faith in its purest form.

What is faith? How do you trust that what you believe needs to happen will happen? When it doesn't, what do you do? Is God asleep? Are you alone in your suffering? How do you have faith in something that very well might not happen whether you pray or not?

You're up against the wall. The tests came back positive. Your job suddenly disappears. Your loved one is dying. The bills keep coming and you have no way to pay them all. What do you have faith in? Where is God?

Three very courageous young men set a shining example of what attitude to have when they faced certain death for not giving in to powerful pressures. In the book of Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego stood nose-to-nose with the king and refused to bow down to his idol.

"Will your God save you?" the king smirked.

"He's certainly bigger than any fire you could build, king," they answered. "And yes, He could save us."

Without blinking, they plunged on into the real heart of faith. "BUT IF NOT, O King..."

They acknowledged God's power to rescue them, but in doing so, acknowledged that He had the freedom not to if He so chose. And that is the essence of faith. Not commanding God to do our will by invoking some mind game we have named faith-prayer. It is in submitting totally to His control, no matter what that means for our immediate situation.

It is my goal to pray in faith believing God hears and answers and can send immediate help. But I want to go that one step further and say, "But if not, O Lord, I still trust you."