HE SAVED MY LIFE!

Right about this time of year in 1941, ten prisoners disappeared from the German death camp at Auschwitz.  In retaliation and an attempt to deter further escape attempts, the camp deputy commander ordered that ten men be starved to death in an underground bunker.  When one of the selected men, Franciszek Gajowniczek, cried out, "My wife! My children!", Father Maximilian Kolbe, a Franciscan friar, volunteered to take his place.  Father Kolbe was then 47. Mr. Gajowniczek was 41. 

After two weeks of dehydration and starvation, only Kolbe remained alive. The guards wanted the bunker emptied, so they gave Kolbe a lethal injection of carbolic acid. Kolbe is said to have raised his left arm and calmly waited for the deadly injection.  He died on August 14.  For his sacrifice, he was declared a saint in 1982, by Pope John Paul II.  Gajowniczek - the man Father Kolbe saved died on March 13, 1995, at Brzeg in Poland, 95 years old - 53 years after Kolbe had saved him.   [credit:  Wikipedia]

History is punctuated with many stories of people who made similar sacrifices for loved ones and even unknown others.  Some fell on grenades to save comrades;  others plunged into floodwaters to save drowning people.  

The 1961 movie, BARABBAS, tells the fictional account of the man who was released before Jesus was crucified.  In the story-line, he goes on to live a violent and rebellious life of suffering and misfortune, until circumstances cause him to turn to faith in Christ.  His is the proverbial story of a person who was granted life because someone else took his place in death.  

I was reading the Bible this morning and came to my psalm for the day:  Psalm 87.  Verse 13 caught my attention for more than a few moments:   [from The VOICE]

"...Your loyal love for me is so great it is beyond comparison.  

You have rescued my soul from the depths of the grave."  

I was captivated by David's (the psalm-writer) devotion and conviction that he had been rescued from death by the grace of God.  

By divine coincidence (I love that phrase), I also read Colossians 1, today.  I was stunned as I read verses 21-23a:   [also from The VOICE]

"You were once at odds with God, wicked in your ways and evil in your minds;  but now He has reconciled you in His body - in His flesh through His death - so that He can present you to God holy, blameless, and totally free of imperfection as long as you stay planted in the faith."

It hit me:  I am Franciszek Gajowniczek!  I am Barabbas!  I live because someone else died!  This person was a real, live person - even though He lived two thousand years ago.  However, He was more than just a person - He was a God-man!  This God-man, Jesus, said in John 8:51 (another chapter I coincidentally read today):  [from The VOICE]

"I tell you the truth, anyone who hears My voice and keeps My word will never experience death."  

Point taken:  I have been rescued from death by Jesus!

According to his own reports, Mr. Gajowniczek felt guilty.  The other inmates became brutal and mean to him because his outcry took away their confessor and confidant.  He lived every day with a deep sense of gratitude to Father Kolbe for his sacrificial action.  How could he not?

David seems to express that same measure of gratitude.  Nearly half of our book of 150 psalms were penned by this man-after-God's-heart!  

After thinking through the above, I have come to realize that I have not lived every day with a due sense of appreciation to the One who saved my life!  

Oh, I 

• visit His House once-a-week,
• read His Word from time-to-time,
• say a prayer before most of my meals,
• call out to Him when I have a problem,
• occasionally wear Christian T-shirts,...

Are you seeing (as I have) how pathetic this is?  

He stepped into MY PLACE!

He took the punishment for MY SIN!

He declared ME innocent!

He rescued me from death ETERNALLY!  

Is this the best I can do for someone who has given so much?  

Do I, like Franciszek Gajowniczek, think of my savior EVERY DAY?

Do I live with a sense of deep, deep gratitude to the One who took MY PLACE?
Do I talk about Him daily?  Do I praise Him to others?

Can I do better?

Oh, YES, I can do better.  And I've spent some time this morning talking with Him about my determinations to live my life more purposefully as an expression of my gratitude for what He has done for me!  

How about you?  Have you acknowledged Jesus as YOUR Savior?  If so, that means He took YOUR place, too!  Are you thinking of Him with gratitude every day?  Are you making your life count?  

If you haven't acknowledged Him as your Savior - and want to, call or text me;  I'd love to talk with you about that...   (724) 944-3881

THE BEST DAY!!!

Actually, the title should be: THE BEST TWELVE DAYS!  Or, it could be: WE LOVE OUR FAMILY!  :-)

Debbie and I look forward to July because our grandkids, Rylie and Coltin, come to join us for Family Camp in East Liverpool, Ohio every summer.  For ten days we live together in the cabin that I built (with the enormous help of my good friend, David Rose) eight years ago (mostly paid for by Travis).  It's rustic.  We eat our meals in the dining hall (except Coltin, whose allergies demand that he eat most of his meals at the cabin).  They participate in the children's programming and we all go to church together each evening.  In the afternoons, they play with their many cousins and we often go swimming at Uncle Jeff and Aunt Cathy's!  It's an amazing time - and we LOVE it!

This year, I persuaded Tracie to stay for a few add-on days at our home in Enon Valley.  Allison, our adopted daughter (and good friend to all three T's) came in for those add-on days, too.  Troy and Missy joined us for as much as their schedules would allow.  

But yesterday...wow, yesterday was awesome!  

• the weather was GREAT!
• we were all together for most of the day.
• we ate good food  (steak and peppers-filled-with-cheese-and-wrapped-in-bacon)  Mmmmm...
• we played games (including cornhole)
• we prayed together several times
• we talked
• we rode a quad and a golf cart
• we played with Shadow and Gabe
• we went shopping at Gabe's for new school shoes (and other things)

Yesterday was the best day of my year so far!  I loved every minute of it!  It was the kind of day I often dream of, with all our family gathered around us - enjoying each other!  

Most of the time now, it's just Debbie and me - and that's okay, it's the way of life.  We enjoy being together!  My love for her grows with every day!  She's a great wife and has been a wonderful, loving Mom.  Her grandkids absolutely love her!  Me too!  When she announces that she's going to sit with her Mom for a day, it makes me sad.  I miss her.

For years, our kids have lived at a distance.  Tracie and Jon have lived in Hawaii and Connecticut.  Troy has lived in Akron, Savannah and now New Middletown.  :-)   Travis lived in more places than I can remember:  Great Lakes, Orlando, Annapolis, Sarasota Springs, Savannah, Fernandina Beach, FL, Bremerton, WA, San Diego, Honolulu...

Having our whole family home at the same time has been rare.  I often envy families that are able to do so frequently!  So, when they come, we try to pack as much in as we possibly can!  Debbie makes their favorite foods.  We focus on them and enjoy them as much as possible.  I try to make sure all the 'toys' are up-and-running.  We want everything to be as perfect as we can make it.  

Yesterday, we hit the mark!  What an amazing, wonderful, special, thoroughly enjoyable day!  Thank You, Lord, for our family!  We love them so!

We missed our two sons-in-law:  Jon and Josh, who couldn't be with us this time.  We also, of course, missed Travis, but his portrait watched over all our fun throughout our time together.  

Debbie and I are...well...BLESSED!  All these precious gifts of God have added so much meaning to our lives.  We take immense joy and pride from watching them each live their lives.  Their accomplishments bring us joy.  That's the way family should be, right?  

But now, 

• Allison left late last night
• Tracie and the kids pulled out this morning
• Troy and Missy went back to work 
• Deb left to sit with her Mom for two days
• and I --------- I'm here with Gabe and Shadow, feeling the loneliness.

 
 

But, I get to see Troy and Missy pretty frequently.  :-)  And we'll see Tracie, Jon and the kids again in August.  And then, they're coming home again in October for a family wedding!  👏👏👏👏  So, I'm happy about that.  

All-in-all, I guess you could say (in spite of my temporary loneliness) that I'm feeling very, very, very GRATEFUL!!!!

Praise God from whom all blessings flow!

Praise Him, all creatures here below!

Praise Him above, ye heavenly host!

Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost!