ORPHANS AND O-R-P-H-A-N-S

          
"When my father and mother forsake me, the Lord will take me up." Ps. 27:10

I woke up this morning on the verge of tears. I am not an orphan. My mother is still alive. I still have remaining family members in different parts of the nation, whom I very seldom see.

There are of course "technical" orphans. They are born helpless and defenseless with no one who loves them to take care of them. Their parents may have died, or they may have been given up by their mothers. Even worse, many are made orphans by the ravages of war, in countries where families cannot live in peace, and many die leaving starving children behind. My heart goes out to them.

I am sure that not knowing who you really are or where you came from can be a lonely existence even if you have loving adoptive parents to care for you. Really you are very lucky that someone plucked you out of the crowd and wanted you all for their very own.

Yet...I feel very much like an orphan. Alone and forgotten.

I work with the elderly on a daily basis. I try to make their lives brighter and full of joy. So many of them are completely forgotten by their families. No one comes to visit them. Perhaps some families are too poor to make the trip. Others though, I know, have been written off by their children. Some have successful children who could afford to come make the trip, but they don't have the time to invest in their long-forgotten parent, as they live their busy daily lives.

Then I come home after a long day to my dark apartment, without a dog or cat to greet me. No husband. No warm hearth. No warm embrace.

Yes. I have the Spirit of God with me. But sometimes a person needs real human comfort: a hug, a smile, a kiss on the cheek.

When you tried as hard as possible to raise your child or children to want to know and serve the Living God, and they insist on going their own, selfish ways...there can be no real understanding. Sometimes not even real communication.

A mother may go out of her way to reconnect with long lost family members. She may move thousands of miles away from friends and established business connections to be near her children and grandchildren.

But if the grown child doesn't appreciate all that its mother has done, raising them on her own, without the benefit of child support - then what more can a mother do?

When screamed and shouted at, belittled and having abuse heaped on her, should the mother keep setting herself up for more hurt?

If a child had to live with an abusive father, even though the child doesn't remember, the imprints of that devastation have been written upon his or her personality. The child may blame the mother instead of the father for the male parent's abuse.

Even with psychological counselling, treatment for PTSD, without the treatment of the spiritual aspect of this blight, no lasting remedy can be achieved. Only a personality healed and changed by the power of Jesus Christ can overcome this hardship which happens to so many people in our society.

The resulting children, especially males, seem compelled to repeat the vicious cycle of abuse. Sometimes they unconsciously adopt the absent, abusive father's attitude toward women and children:  to be "seen and not heard", to "speak only when spoken to", etc.

So even adults can be orphans. Orphans don't have to be technically "orphans" to be isolated and alone in this world.

To top it all, we are living in the "last days". The Bible says:

"And because iniquity shall abound the love of many shall wax cold" Matthew 24:12

It also says:  "And a man's foes shall be those of his own household." Matthew 10:36


And yes. It is important that the Church at large help the widows, divorcees (who are often widows not by their own choosing), and the true orphans.

        "Pure religion and undefiled before God and the father is this, to visit the fatherless and the widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unspoiled from the world." James 1:27

Yet, the Church needs to be cognizant of Christians and others who have been jettisoned out of their families by prior family break-ups. Sometimes people are relegated to memory only, by rebellious and toxic children, and sometimes by other uncaring family members.

One thing about the deep, prophetic, spiritual walk is that most people will misunderstand you. If you are engaged in the prophetic, seer realm, you own family may reject you. Often your actions may be interpreted by "mental illness", or some other such title they try to attribute to your uniqueness. This family isolation certainly sets one up for mishaps and traps of the enemy, due to lack of family support.

For that reason it is important to make strong connections with a church of your persuasion.

There is also a large segment of dedicated, Christian women who have no spouses, let-alone Christian husbands. The ratio of men to women in our society is very uneven. Far more women are looking for male partners than vice versa. As one ages the statistical probability of finding a match goes down even further.

According to Infoplease.com in 2014 the ration of males to females was two to one.

                  www.infoplease.com/spot/womencensus7.html

To find a mate is a miracle! Many married couples go through life not even realizing it was God that enabled them to find each other and fall in love. To have a warm, close-knit family is one of the greatest blessings God can bestow on anyone. Cherish your family.

Cherish your mother. She deserves it. You will never know how many nights she stayed up walking the floor, holding you in your arms as you cried until dawn. You'll never know the endless multitude of stinky diapers and vomit spills she cleaned up. You have no idea of the opportunities she missed or the abuse she endured for you. EVEN A MOTHER CAN BE AN ORPHAN.

But this mother is going to "DECREE" the Word of the Lord and expect Him to fulfill it as she sends it forth out into the heavenly realm. Because God's Word goes out and does not return empty. It accomplishes fantastic feats in the spiritual realm. (Isaiah 55:11)

"... but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord" (Joshua 24:15)

AND "Her children arise up and, and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praiseth her." Proverbs 31:28 

  God's blessings to you and your family in this new year of 2017! May all the orphans find families!

                   "Give Me Jesus" Fernando Ortega - Ruth Graham Tribute

SERVING FATHER TIME OR FATHER GOD?

            

         

My father was an extremely talented man. He was a tenor singer, an artist, and later in life a blacksmith and artificer in woods and metals. But his mother was sure he would be a preacher. Because his greatest gift was that of persuasive speech.

                                       

He did have the preacher or evangelist anointing upon his life. In fact, as a prayer warrior, I bet my grandmother sent to heaven many prayers regarding this outcome. But everyone has a will of their own to follow God's way- or not.

Between the times when he was heartily seeking God, he let his stubborn, carnal nature guide him instead of the Holy Spirit. I am not criticizing my father...just stating a fact.

He died an ill and broken man. He had decided to listlessly and aimlessly follow Father Time rather than the call of Father God. He ended up facing his final days in loneliness, trailing three failed marriages behind him. None of his lofty dreams and plans  had come to fruition.

Father God nudged him at every turn, yet he turned away, desiring instead to follow his own interests.

As a child growing up, I closely watched Dad to see if his actions would line up with his words.

I know he yearned for more of God's Spirit in his life. When I was ten he took us from a mainstream, traditional church to a more "seeker-oriented", Southern Baptist-style congregation.

He was usually the only one in the place who would raise his hands in worship while the rest of the singing people held their hands rigidly at their sides...entranced by some invisible edict that stated "one must not get too emotional when worshipping the Lord". Heaven forbid that someone would leap up and dance like King David once did.

That same year my Pentecostal aunt and uncle gave Mom and Dad a book called, "They Speak With Other Tongues", by John Sherrill. He was the husband of long-time editor of Guideposts Magazine, Elizabeth Sherrill.
                                        

                                

In the book, rational journalist John Sherrill observed the phenomenon in worship services the across the U.S.A., trying to determine its source, purpose and validity. It was an experience that "born-again" Christians were said to experience after asking for this Shower of Power and spiritual gifts.

Not all Christians wanted it. Not all Christians even knew about it. Many well meaning pastors and congregation-members mocked and reviled it, saying it was "of the devil", because they just didn't understand it. People always fear what they do not understand. Little did they realize, because they rationalized it away, that it was clearly stated in the Bible as an important part of the Christian experience.

Sherrill finally concluded, after much research, that the experience was indeed valid, useful and valuable for receiving all that God has to give to enable His true believers to live a victorious Christian life.

My father wanted nothing to do with the "Baptism in the Holy Spirit". He simply could not open up his mind to receive something that to him was new...to him "non-traditional"...yet it was tradition set by the very original disciples and followers of Jesus Christ themselves as sound principle, as they waited for the arrival of "The Comforter" in the upper room.

Dad wanted to go beyond the rote and repetition of a traditional denominational "service" but couldn't get past his fears in order to venture out into the depths of God's Holy Spirit.

I once heard a Bible speaker who taught this analogy:

You can have as much of God as you want. But God is VAST. You can stick your little toe into God's great ocean, or just timidly step your foot in. You can venture into His Holy Spirit realm until you are up to your knees. Don't let yourself get "spooked" by the Holy Ghost and jump out of the water. Just wait. You can dip into the liquid love up to your waist and say, "Maybe I'd better move in the direction of the Tide of the Holy Spirit."

It's hard to glue your feet to the ocean floor bottom when the waves start to carry you away. You can even go in up to your neck as you feel the warm comfort of God's protecting Spirit surrounding you. Don't be afraid of getting "carried away" with God. His waves will take you to exciting places!

In my father's failing years, after having been struck with Parkinson's disease, he lived for a brief time with my brother's family. While living in that town, he attended a nearby Assembly of God church . Finally after all those wasted years he relented to receive the Baptism of the Holy Spirit.

Yes. He had been "saved" for many years. In his youth, he even sang in Billy Graham's choir. But he allowed the traditions of man and a narrow mind-set to rob him of all that God had truly planned for his life. Until it was too late. He ran out of time.

Father Time certainly catches up with everyone eventually. They amble along life's loose and varied pathways without asking the Lord, "Father God, what is it you want for my life?"

Some people don't get an answer right away so they stop asking. Many individuals don't get an answer they like so they crawl back onto their own twisted path. Because they didn't like the answer or because of the sacrifices it might require, they run away from God, like Jonah, in the opposite direction.

Then there are quite a large number who don't even ask at all. They don't realize that Father Time will eventually take them to meet Father God. Then they realize that they wasted the precious time God gave them here on earth, circling round and round in the desert like the children of Israel, after their exodus from Egypt.

I have pursued the Lord the largest part of my life. Like many of us I veered off onto a side path now and then, got stuck in a hedgerow, and had to circumnavigate back onto His Highway. But it was all a learning experience.

In no way am I saying that I am better than my father. What I AM SAYING, is that Father God has put an anointing, A CALL upon my life. I cannot allow Father Time to take me to meet Father God without fulfilling my true calling.

If I waste my life working ten hours a day for "peanuts" only accomplishing putting a roof over my head and food in my mouth, but I'm not doing what the Lord has called me to do - then what good is it? I am just spinning my wheels and wasting the gift of time God the Father has given me.

Many famous people have chosen to follow foolish Father Time, wasting their lives on fame and fortune, when they could have been influencing millions for Father God. Elvis Presley, Whitney Houston, Miley Cyrus...to name a few. They chose to follow their own way rather than follow the path that would have brought them the most happiness.

So here I stand, at the cusp of a NEW YEAR, overwhelmed with the thought:  Do I want to end up like my father, who seeking SELF-FULFILLMENT fell far short of what God had truly planned for him?

Or do I want to enter this New Year 2017, fully convinced and ready to go full charge ahead into the ministry call Father God has place upon my life?

Here I am Lord. I surrender myself to you. My wishes, my dreams, my goals...I lay them on your altar. Here I come.

Father Time - you can't have me yet! Heavenly Father...Lead the way!