September 10th, 2019

Three thousand five hundred miles. That's a long road trip, even for road warriors like us! We needed to make the trip to come to the aid of John's sister and help her get placed in good hospice care down in Georgia.  It was tough to see her in the condition she was in, her words unintelligible, her legs a deep red with swelling and wounds due to congestive heart failure. We ministered to her in worship and the Word.

It has been hard also to watch a dear friend of mine here at home remain confined to a nursing home after a severe stroke last March.  The left side of her body is paralyzed and although, by God's miraculous hand, she regained her speech and cognizance, she is unable to walk or use her left hand and she lost much of her vision.

While we were driving the long, winding highways home through Alabama, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Kansas, the Lord began encouraging me; and I felt like there are others out there who need these words of encouragement He gave me.  We MUST stay fixed on the Glory of the Age to come! We must not get stuck looking at the world in its present state of chaos and violence, confusion and illness!

For God, who said 'Let light shine out of darkness,' made His light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Messiah. (2 Cor. 4:6)

The song kept reverberating in my spirit:  "Turn your eyes on upon Jesus! Look full in His wonderful face. And the things of Earth will grow strangely dim, in the light of His glory and grace."

Therefore, we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are working for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is ETERNAL! (2 Cor. 4:16-18)

This past year and a half has, to my great surprise, turned out to be a time of much ministry to the dying and to their families. But more and more I see the lesson God is giving me from all this ministry. He is training me to literally keep my eyes fixed on HIM and to let HIS light shine in my heart so that I can share this light with those who are losing heart as they outwardly waste away. ALL of us have earthly tents we dwell in, and all our tents are, to some degree, wasting away. But oh, when we turn our eyes fully upon Yeshua, we see the light of the knowledge of the glory of God shining in His face, and we are suddenly transported to a place where the things of Earth grow strangely dim and no longer have a hold over us. These illnesses, strokes, pain, and suffering are working for us an ETERNAL GLORY, that is not temporary and does not fade. It is FOREVER!  Forever with Him.