A Lament for the Siblings of My “Only” Child

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I am sharing this poem I wrote several years ago as a protest against abortion. None of my daughter’s siblings were aborted, these were miscarriages that resulted in disappointment and pain. It is hard to imagine the pain associated with having lost a child to abortion, a temporary fix to a problem that doesn’t really go away. The guilt… Only Jesus can take away that kind of pain.

A Lament for the Siblings of My “Only” Child
© 2004 by Janice Green

Joni,
So perfect,
So right,
Such a Joy,
Would soon be big sister
To a girl or boy.

Terry,
Grew too slow
And then was no more.
Emptiness
Sadness
Then resentment sore
Tore at my heartstrings
As time went on.

Karen seemed right.
She tumbled and grew
And stretched out my womb.
I felt life and promise
That someday soon
A brother or sister would share
Joni’s room.
But the movement stopped
And hope turned to pain
Home from the hospital
Empty again.

A lifeless baby girl
Was left behind.
Her father said she looked like Joni.

Shannon was a whisper
A mere spark of hope
Snuffed out within hours.
A tiny thread
In a bubble-like sac
I held in the palm of my hand.

Why, I screamed!
Why???
No answer came.

Their lives were minutes
Their eyes ne’er saw light
No air filled their lungs
So they could cry.

Did they know they were loved?
I wonder bitterly
While some choose death
So selfishly.

New life has a price
Some un-willing to pay
They cast off their young
And go their own way
Not suspecting the pain
That will never leave
Or their burden of guilt
As forever they grieve.

Did they know they were loved?

 

A teen friend shared the following video with me today about abortion. It is long but very powerful: “180” – an award winning documentary

Did God REALLY say…? Genesis 3:1

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Satan's questionThe serpent was the shrewdest of all the wild animals the Lord God had made. One day he asked the woman, “Did God really say you must not eat the fruit from any of the trees in the garden?” Genesis 3:1 (NIV)

From the beginning of time Satan has deceived gullible people with the same question, “Did God really say…?” He tempted Eve to question God’s one and only rule, and she and Adam both ate fruit from the tree God had commanded them not to eat. Read this story for yourself in Genesis 3:1-24.

The Bible is full of examples of people who decided to make their own rules, and then suffered the consequences. Sarah brought her servant girl Hagar to Abraham because she didn’t believe God was going to honor his promise to give her a son. The servant girl bore a son, Ishmael, but he was not the son God had promised. (See Genesis 16.) The Ishmaelites were among the enemies of the Israelites in the years to come, and many consider Ishmael to be the Patriarch of Islam today.

The Israelites spent an extra 40 years wandering in the desert before they could enter the Promised Land because they didn’t believe God’s promise to help them conquer the land. (See Numbers 13 & 14.)

Satan still deceives people with the same basic question today:

    • Did God really say “Thou shalt not have any other Gods before me…?”
    • Did God really say “Abstain from sexual immorality?”
    • Did God really say “Love your neighbor as yourself?”
    • Did God really say “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your strength and all your mind?”

We must affirm every day whether we believe God’s Word or Satan’s lies.

Father God, help us to recognize our disbelief for what it is, as it is nothing less than rebellion against you. Grant us wisdom to see through Satan’s lies and to recognize your truth as you have expressed it in your Holy Word.

 

Growing in Christ – 2 Peter 1:5-8

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Image by Already Answered (www.alreadyanswered.org)

Image by Already Answered (www.alreadyanswered.org)

Would somebody give me a handle on what a Christian is supposed to be like or to do? I remember when I was a youth – everyone had a different take on what it meant, on what Christians did and didn’t do.

A couple of years ago this passage, 2 Peter 1:5-8, popped out at me. as I read the verse, I noticed a distinct progression in the qualities Christians should possess.

For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control;and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. (NIV)

I don’t suppose this verse will answer all of anyone’s questions about this, but I found it very insightful, and something even new Christians might understand.

The first step anyone must take if they are sincere about following Christ is to have faith in him, to believe he is who he says he is, and that he died on the cross to save each of us individually for our sins. We have to at least begin to recognize our sins before even that first step will make sense, and as we do, we will begin working at goodness – at getting the sin out of our lives.

But we can’t stop yet, we need to add to goodness knowledge – and this comes from seeking to know Jesus through the Bible, through learning what he says for us to do. Jesus promised us the gift of the Holy Spirit to help us to understand the Bible, so don’t let this overwhelm you at first. God knows when we are trying, and he doesn’t expect instant perfection. He will be patient with us.

And guess what we will find as we study his Word – we will discover areas in our lives that displease Jesus that we didn’t even know about when we first began to trust him. That’s where self-control begins to be needed as we work to shed those sins as well. Besides that, we will probably have friends who will want to pull us back down to where we started from, making self-control all the harder to achieve.

Perseverance is what it takes to keep at it when the going gets tough. But the more diligent we are at walking with Jesus, the more godly we will become.

As we make improvements in these areas we will be better at showing brotherly kindness to those around us, and loving others the way Jesus taught – love that puts others needs ahead of our own.

Everything won’t happen in exactly this order or all at once. Many, probably all, of those steps will pop up again and again for us to work on, but they all lead to a closer walk with Christ and closer harmony with our Christian brothers and sisters. After all, would you ever want to be “ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ?”  Re-read the passage and especially note verse 8.

Father God, fill us up with your Spirit as we work our way through these steps so we won’t become discouraged. Keep our love strong for you so we can take each step with joy.

 

 

Overcoming desperate feelings

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7208272_s Teen BR BibleMy teen friend sent the following question to me in a text message last week. I am attempting to answer it here…

“My friend has always been a good Christian but then she dated this guy. She never could get guys to like her and she started doing some sexual things with him. Now she will take anybody just because she wants love and attention and shes a very desperate girl. I think you should do a blog post about girls and how they should love themselves and not lower their standards.”

I can so relate to this question. I may be a granny now, but those years are burned into my mind because of the mistakes I made along the way.

I was the squeeky-clean goody-goody-two-shoes in high school, mostly because nobody asked me out. My dad was a former pastor and  a teacher in my high school. I was timid and lacking in confidence.

In college I was involved in a Christian group so with solid friendships to support me, I was able to keep my standards up when I finally started dating.

But things fell apart when I graduated without my MRS. degree. Even though I was past my teens, those desperate feelings were one and the same.

A major part of my downfall was that I didn’t have a strong faith. My trust in the Bible as God’s Word had been undermined with seeds of doubt that had been planted by my Christian group in college. They had taught that the Bible was full of errors. So I picked and chose what parts I wanted to believe – or rather listened to my friends in the hippie generation.

I got married during those five crazy upside-down years and soon learned that there was something worse than being single the rest of my life – and that was being caught in a miserable marriage. After trying hard for almost 20 years, that marriage eventually ended in divorce.

God never meant for marriage to be like that. Nor did he mean for me to be lonely. But I was looking in all the wrong places for love. I needed to fill the empty God-sized hole in my heart with Jesus and to take time to talk to him every day. I needed to learn to trust him to bring the right person into my life when I was ready for that kind of a relationship.

I hadn’t been ready. I was a mixed up kid – yes even past my teens – because I didn’t believe in myself. Jesus helped me to get my head on straight as I got into his Word and I saw myself through his eyes. I gained new confidence in what I could do, and my world began to make sense.

That probably doesn’t make sense to you if you’ve never tried searching God’s Word for answers. I only pray that you will try it for yourself. Trust God with your life if you want a life without regrets.

Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. (NIV)

Lord, help us in our feeble ways to learn to trust you more every day. Give us the courage we need to stand up against peer pressure so that we may live lives that please you – lives with no regrets.

Image credit: designpics / 123RF Stock Photo

 

Christ the only way? John 14:6

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6216761_sHow can you say Jesus is the only way to get to heaven? Isn’t that arrogant and conceited?

How many of you have been challenged with that question, or have asked it yourself? Many people have been going around saying there are many roads that go to heaven or that all religions lead to the same place. But only those who choose not to dig deep enough to know what they are talking about can be convinced that it is true.

I haven’t read about all of the religions, so you could legitimately demand to know how I could be so confident of this. But I have read the Bible and I know that Jesus said “I am the way, the truth, and the light. No man can come to the Father but by me.” Read this in several translations here: John 14:6.

So, if Jesus made this claim about himself, we are left to either believe him or to call him a liar. It is as simple as that.

Now some may argue that Jesus’ Father, God, is not only one way to get to heaven. There are other gods. Again, God has already put that into perspective with the first of the Ten Commandments. Read it for yourself in Exodus 20: 3-6 or in Deuteronomy 5:6-10. In a nutshell, God said to have no other gods before him. Don’t bow down to worship them because God is a jealous God who will not tolerate your affection for other gods.

So the bottom line is that you believe God is who he says he is, or you believe he lied. There is no middle ground to dance around on with other gods. The only dance partner on that dance floor is Satan and his cohorts.

Are you wrestling with this issue? If so, I challenge you to pray this honest prayer confessing your indecision which leaves you open to hear from God:

Father God, are you really there? Do you really expect us to believe what the Bible says? I’m having a tough time with this, so if you are real, please find a way to let me know and to believe. I’m willing to watch and listen through the days ahead to see how you might show yourself to me – if you are really there. Amen.

That may sound like a daring prayer, but God respects our honesty. We can’t come to God any other way. My prayer is that you will reach out to God. He promises us that if we seek him we will find him if we seek with all our hearts. This prayer is a step in that direction. Read this verse for yourself in Jeremiah 29:13.

A teen choir sings this beautiful song: If You Search With All Your Heart