YOU CAN'T GET TO HEAVEN ON SOMEONE ELSE'S APRON-STRINGS

My brother-in-law, Dick, is now a widower [since June of this year]. He and my sister, Beverly, were married over 57 years! He fit into our family wonderfully - fully accepted. Bev got him to attend church with her and he saw her dedication to God on a daily basis through all of those years. 

Dick is Italian! Early on in their relationship, God arranged for the Pearce Memorial Free Methodist Church to have an Italian pastor - Dr. V. J. Mannoia. Dick loved this pastor and they had many jokes that they shared. This moved Dick even closer to his own experience of God in his life. It was probably around that time that Dick would occasionally lead our family in prayer. He would weep as he prayed and his voice would get very high with emotion!

But, his life still had all of the color that it had exhibited before. My parents loved Dick and he loved them! We became a family to Dick and enfolded him completely! He especially loved my mom - in spite of the fact that she insisted on overcooking meat [a travesty to Dick who was a meat-cutter for seventeen years]. 😂

Over the years, Dick ran hot and cold as far as attending church was concerned. His son, Scott, has been a Christian leader since his teens when he began working with youth! Scott is still a committed layman who has the passion of a pastor! His investment in Christian ministry is exceptional! He's also been a massive Christian influence on his dad!

But Dick's faith always seemed to be dependent on Beverly. She was the spiritual leader of their home! His connection to God was tied directly to hers.

UNTIL JUNE!

After caring lovingly for Bev for over three years while her condition with dementia deteriorated gradually but distinctly, Dick was alone!

Like so many others who have faced this reality, he struggles. He weeps a lot! He banters around the house doing his chores and passing time. When I call, he cries. He maintains that he's getting along okay. He repeatedly says that he's making it "one day at a time". 

Debbie and I have been purposeful about going up twice since the memorial service. He seems to enjoy our visits and talks endlessly about his life. But this most recent visit was different.

He talked about the fact that his faith was anchored by Beverly. He recognized that he needed to have a personal relationship with God. So, he began sitting down at the breakfast table in their kitchen and reading his Bible. He tries to read a couple of chapters a day. 

He told us: "Harold, sometimes I don't even know what I read. I don't understand it at all."

[It's apparent to me that he began reading in Genesis which can be overwhelming for anyone.]

But, he has stuck with it! He says that when he finishes reading for the day, he sits there and talks to God. He tells God that he doesn't understand much of what he read. But, he observes that the people he read about seem to have a lot of problems! So, Dick turns his lonliness and other problems over to God on a daily basis! 

I interrupted him at this point by observing that a door to his garage - visible from his table - has a picture of Donald Trump on it. He laughed and said, "Yeah, Harold, I look at the picture and ask the Lord to help him with whatever he's doing today." We laughed together. But, isn't it remarkable that our president is being blessed every day by an 89-year-old, widower in Rochester, New York? It doesn't get any better than that!

Dick is managing! He is making the best of a heartbreaking situation! In spite of his loneliness, he is growing in his relationship with the Lord! He's praying for wisdom and direction about his home and his finances. He recognizes that he's blessed to have great neighbors who - for years - have helped him with his lawn, snow-removal, and leaf-gathering! They are good to Dick and genuinely care for him! He's thankful for lifelong friends who call him regularly to check up on him! He looks back on a life that was filled with abundance and plentiful pleasures! He has two precious kids in Scott and Heather, along with grandchildren and great-grandchildren who love and cherish him! He has no regrets!

Bev's death was tragic, but also a relief. He misses her dearly - as do many of us [she was my last sibling to go to Heaven]!  But, to an extent, Dick exhausted himself caring for her 24/7. He's finally getting a chance to rest up and relax. He's even making plans for his future! He still has dreams and desires that he'd like to act on. 

I share his story with you today as an encouragement! You can't get to Heaven because your parents were Christians! You can't get there because you go to church or are a member. You can't get there because you have been generous and treated people well all of your life. You won't arrive in Heaven because you lived a good life!

No! Sorry! These things don't really qualify you for entrance into Heaven - even though the world will tell you that they do...

You will be accepted into Heaven because you've developed a personal relationship with God through Jesus and the Holy Spirit! This relationship will gradually but certainly transform you into a person who genuinely and supremely loves God. God will use you to influence other people who know and relate to you! Your example may be the cause of family, neighbors, friends [even people in line with you at Walmart] to seek a deeper, more meaningful relationship with God as well! 

YOU MAY VERY WELL BE THE INSTRUMENT THAT GOD USES TO GET SOMEONE IN YOUR SPHERE OF INFLUENC INTO HEAVEN AS WELL!  

GIVE US THIS DAY OUR DAILY MANNA

2025 AD:

·         “There’s nothing here to eat!”

·         “I don’t like asparagus!”

·         “Why can’t we keep fresh bags of chips in this house?”

·         “I could go for a package of Double-Stuffed Oreos!”

1400 BC:

·         “Weren’t the cemeteries large enough in Egypt so that you had to take us out here in the wilderness to die? What have you done to us, taking us out of Egypt? Back in Egypt didn’t we tell you this would happen? Didn’t we tell you, ‘Leave us alone here in Egypt – we’re better off as slaves in Egypt than as corpses in the wilderness.’”  [Ex.14:11-12]   [All quotes are from The Message Bible, unless otherwise noted.]

·         The water of Marah is bitter, “So what are we supposed to drink?”  [Ex. 15:24] 

·         “Why didn’t God let us die in comfort in Egypt where we had lamb stew and all the bread we could eat?” [Ex.16:3]

Discontentment is always present! It seems to be part of the human condition to never be content with what we have, but to always want more or better.

Oh! If we could only master what the Apostle Paul refers to in Philippians 4:11-12,

I’ve learned by now to be quite content whatever my circumstances. I’m just as happy with little as with much, with much as with little. I’ve found the recipe for being happy whether full or hungry, hands full or hands empty. Whatever I have, wherever I am, I can make it through anything in the One who makes me who I am.

If you’ve read the early books of the Old Testament, then you know that the Israelites Moses was leading out of Egypt - across the wilderness and into the Promised Land - WERE CHRONIC COMPLAINERS!

At the least inconvenience, they complained against Moses and God! They quickly forgot the blessings that God had given them:

ü  escape from slavery and mistreatment

ü  being given great wealth by the Egyptians as they left the land of Egypt

ü  the promise that a new land would be theirs and they would inherit houses that they hadn’t built and crops that they hadn’t planted.

ü  the victory that God gave them over Amalek

ü  when God sweetened the water of Marah

Those of us who have read this part of Israel’s history tend to shake our heads as we read of the repetitive grumbling of this half-a-million people trying to find their way through a wilderness land. We wonder how they could be so obstinate! Why were they so quick to abandon ship and turn against their more-than-competent leadership! We ‘tsk, tsk’ as we read with condescension at this pathetic horde of people.

AND YET…

Aren’t we just the same?

Don’t we get upset with God when things don’t go the way we think they should?

Don’t we complain when our prayers aren’t answered; or aren’t answered in the way we desired?

Don’t we run hot-n-cold in our faith while expecting God to excuse our behavior and bless us anyway?

Do we really hold the moral high ground?

Are we doing the best that we can do?

Do we humbly submit our plans to God and then wait for His response, direction or approval?

By virtue of writing this blog, I indicate that I fall short. I complain and get upset with the way things turn out. I don’t always submit to His sovereignty. I complain. I can be a grouch – in spite of acknowledging how much God has done for me.

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God gave the children of Israel daily manna. It appeared in the early morning as the frost began to lift. The people were to gather two quarts for each member of their family. They were told not to gather more than they needed for any given day. But, of course, some gathered a lot of extra! Hoarders, I suppose! The next morning, the extra they had gathered was wormy and had become putrid!  LESSON LEARNED THE HARD WAY!

Only on Friday were they instructed to gather twice as much! This would prevent them from having to work on the Sabbath so that they could focus on worshipping God and guess what – it didn’t spoil or get wormy on the Sabbath!!  Others went out on the Sabbath to gather their manna for the day. But no manna fell on the Sabbath! You only went hungry once and then discovered the value of listening to and obeying God’s Word!

When the Israelites became weary with the manna, they complained to Moses. God overheard their complaints and promised them meat. That evening flocks of quail flew in and landed in the camp. The people killed and ate quail until they were nearly sick!

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Now let’s consider ourselves.

We live in what is described as the wealthiest nation the world has ever known. We are the envy of the entire world! When the Biden administration opened the doors to our nation and welcomed people to come, they came by the millions – flooding into our nation with the hopes of inheriting the wealth that causes SO MANY to envy us!

Yet, we never apply the scriptures that talk about the wealthy to ourselves. We reserve those passages for the exorbitant wealthy! But to the world – WE ARE THE EXORBITANT WEALTHY! Yet we register depression higher than any other nation. We consume more anti-depressants than any other nation. We observe an ever-growing rise in violence and crime especially in our cities. Our government – which is recognized as one of the best systems ever developed – is nearly deadlocked in divergent views of solving our national and political problems! Hatred for various groups is openly expressed as part of our high priority for ‘free speech’. And – except for some sign of recovery since the death of Charlie Kirk – the Church is shrinking and losing its impact on a culture that is decomposing.

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Is our situation really any different than the Israelites?  Although we feel that we deserve the global status that we hold, do we really? Have we earned it? Are we better than the people of other nations based purely on the fact that we were born in America? SURELY NOT! We hold our current position as a blessing, yet we only designate one day a year to giving Him thanks for these many blessings.

Kind and gracious God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit,

Convict us that with greater wealth comes greater responsibility.

Of those of us who follow You, help us to recognize that although You are the king of the universe, You came to serve! Awaken us to the difference we could make if we lived less focused on adding to our own wealth and more focused on helping those – near and far – who have needs that we could easily meet.

Give us a love for the poor, destitute, struggling! Open our hearts to their pain and sorrow! Catalyze us to give what we’re capable of while denying ourselves. May our compassion set us apart from the heartless and uncaring. May our generosity cause people to praise and serve You! And enable us to maintain humility as we give!

May we sleep better, live with greater joy and experience the satisfaction of knowing that others are thriving because we cared enough to come alongside them in their hour of need!

For Your Kingdom’s sake – Amen!