VICTORY WON!

by Kenneth and Barbara Chadwick


"Jesus has won the victory but the battle is not won yet. That's why you still have to be in the army, dad,"  Five year old Aethne said to her dad from the back seat of the car.

While militarily that's not true, there's a lot of good thought here. For Christ has won the victory and the battle belongs to Him: This is what the Lord says, Do not be afraid or discouraged because the battle is not yours but God's. 2 Chronicles 20:15  Judah still had to go out and fight but they did so with the word of God ringing in their ears and even before they entered into battle the victory was won.

But in our world today our battle is different,

For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Ephesians 6:12

Just like Judah we have to enter the battle but we have the assurance that the battle is won.

Our victory today can only be accomplished through the Holy Spirit who lives in us.

We can celebrate this Easter with full assurance that through His death and resurrection Jesus has won the victory. We can live and work knowing that the Holy Spirit will guide us in our personal battles.

We trust and pray that as you celebrate this Easter you do so claiming the victory that has been won in Christ for you.

SIGNS OF SPRING

by Barbara Chadwick

 One day recently my husband, Kenneth, brought this little twig

that he cut from a pussy willow bush on his two mile walk in our mountains. He said, “Let’s put this in water and see if
it will open up.” 
So, sure enough, about three weeks later voila!

At this time of year our eyes are always searching for signs of spring. It comes late at our altitude of 8,870 feet. We watch the lakes for the ice to thaw. We look and listen for robins. We get excited when we see the ground squirrels peeking their heads out of their holes in the dirt. As we drive down the mountain we smile when we see tiny shoots of green poking up between the dead grasses of winter.

In every area of life we look for signs:

Pain:  We either call the Dr. or we try to figure out what is causing it to know what pill to take.
Water leak: We examine the pipes.
Brakes quit: We jack up the car, examine the stuff (my word :)) underneath and go buy a part or just have it towed to the mechanic.
Flashing lights in eyes: We look on internet and discover it can be the start of a migraine or a torn retina!

Jesus told the disciples to watch for signs:  Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near.  Mat 24:32 

During winter our spirits are in a kind of hibernation or waiting, if you will. Signs of spring encourage our hearts, lift our spirits and fill us with hope. A life without Christ is quite like winter – waiting for something but not knowing what it is. When we give our hearts to Jesus Christ we are filled with  …the faith and love that spring from the hope that is stored up for you in heaven… that the Apostle Paul talks about in Colossians 1:5.

So today, at our house, even though it is snowing and 15 degrees, we see the signs of spring everywhere. We are encouraged that God sent the moisture to our dry Colorado mountains and we are excited that  warmer days and flowers are soon to come.

Isaiah said, Forget the former things; (we could say, “forget about your winter times”) do not dwell on the past.  See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up, do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland. Isaiah 43:18-19

And just as we look for these signs of spring, we also look for signs that Jesus will soon return. Hosea 6:3 says, Let us acknowledge the LORD; let us press on to acknowledge him. As surely as the sun rises, he will appear; he will come to us like the winter rains, like the spring rains that water the earth.

WHAT CAN GOD DO WITH YOU?

by Barbara Chadwick

 

 The Blue Spruce is a beautiful tree. It is one of my husband Kenneth’s favorite trees.  It has a deep penetrating root system so it is resistant to being blown over.

We, humans, need such a root system to support and sustain us through the storms of life. Life can sometimes break our lives into pieces. Look at King David after he had an affair with Bathsheba. He arranged for her husband to be killed and then the prophet Nathan confronted him. He could have rolled over and given up. Instead He called on God to forgive him and restore “the joy of my salvation.” God did not give up on him but used him as a mighty force in the Israelite nation.

Look at Peter after He denied even knowing Christ three times in one night. God didn’t say, “Well then I can’t use you anymore.”   Jesus called him again to follow.

I heard this week about one more young person who had killed himself. He didn’t have a root system. He didn’t have anything to hold on to. What a tragedy! We will never know what amazing things God could have done through this young man if only he had turned his heart and mind over to the God of the ages.

That same day I heard that people all across our country are coming out on the streets dressed and acting like Dracula. A professor said that the reason we are seeing this happen is because, “all of us are miserable.” Oh my goodness! If only these people knew that they could find joy and strength in God, the Father. God, the Rock, the source of Comfort, the Giver of Grace, Who sent His beloved Son to bring life, peace and joy into the world.

Dr. Martin Luther King said, “If you haven’t found something worth dying for, you haven’t found something worth living for.” God will not give up on you. Don’t give up on yourself.

“You can’t know what can become of your broken pieces until you give your broken pieces to God.” Nick Vujicic. Born with no arms or legs, he was a throw away; a heart with half a body. But his parents didn’t throw him away. They loved and taught and encouraged him.  He has an amazing love for people. He speaks to groups of people around the world encouraging them and urging them to give their lives to Christ. God had a plan for Nick. When Nick gave himself to God, God began to do incredible things in Nick's life.

I encourage you to go to the link below. You will see how God showed the world what He could do with these broken pieces through this amazing man.

http://www.lifewithoutlimbs.org

Well Done by Audrey Wauson

The day started out like any other. I made a post on FB about how good God is, something about how blessed I am. Then as I scrolled down I grabbed a few words from a post of another friend talking about how much she loved her husband … only …

                        what was this? …       wait …

                                                                                read it sl ow ly …

Thank you all for your prayers and support. I will cherish the love I have enjoyed of the most wonderful man I have ever known. He loved His Lord first, and that is why his life was a glowing tribute to our God. My life is so rich just to have known him. My God is good and makes no mistakes!

Oh dear God … please … NO! He’s a pastor! A father to nine. A husband, a lover, a friend! 

         What are You doing??? No explanation. No warning. 

                                   Here one day. Gone the next. 

                                           Life is short and then you die ...

My dad asked me once … I think he was the first one to ask me … What do you want people to say about you when you’re gone? What would you like for them to write on your tombstone? I’ll take it a step further … What are you willing to be held accountable for? For make no mistake, you will be held accountable. Will you have any crowns to lay at your Savior’s feet? A friend asked me once, What do you want to take to heaven with you? And another friend asked, What's your purpose?

God help me to live my life as though it mattered what I did. God help me to bring as many people with me as will listen to the call of Your Holy Spirit. God make me an instrument of peace. God help me to be faithful in the small things so that I can live with no regrets were my husband to be called home unexpectedly. God help me to search for ways to bring You glory in all I say and do. God help me to live in such a way that men could honestly place on my tombstone “She loved God and honored Him with her life.”

It is the small things that you do that add up to big things. It is the small obediences that give you the strength to handle to big emergencies. It is the minutes and hours that tick down to the months and years of your life.

… And after 
he had served the purpose of God

in his own generation,

fell asleep and was laid with his fathers.

Acts 13:36

“His master replied, 
‘Well done, good and faithful servant!

You have been faithful with a few things;

I will put you in charge of many things.

Come and share your master’s happiness!’

Matthew 25:21

Well Done: by Mariah Peters

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-p8T7InfHw

Story behind the song Well Done

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1vERlg-bQDc

THE TRIP TO TOWN by Barbara Chadwick

When I was a little girl my mother would sometimes go shopping. She would drive about five miles to town. We never felt sad that we couldn’t go because she would always bring back a little white bag of candy for us. What joy!

Today when Kenneth and I go to town (53 miles over mountain roads) we make sure the backpack (of emergency stuff that our daughter-in-law Deanna put together for us) is in the car. We make a lunch and wrap up warmly with our coats. We bring back bags and bags of groceries.

Jesus family went every year to Jerusalem for the Passover Celebration. Imagine the excitement of the preparation – the food, extra clothes, whatever the animals would need.  It is 64.43 miles from Nazareth to Jerusalem so it was a journey of two or three days of walking. They traveled in a group of other people.

Then imagine the excitement of getting near the big city with the throngs of other people coming for this gala event!

When Jesus was not found after the first day of travel home, His parents went back to Jerusalem looking for Him.  After three days they found Him in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions….   They asked Him why He stayed there in Jerusalem while they left and He replied. Why were you searching for me? Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house? Luke 2:46-49

Don’t you wish we were all that eager to read God’s Word and learn from those who have traveled with Jesus longer than we have? Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could say with David,  I was glad when they said unto me let us go into the house of the Lord. Psalm 122:1