Pleasant Grove This Spring

Speech Given to Pleasant Grove First Baptist Church Last Spring:

There are a lot of voices out there. The world tells us it’s all about us. You deserve a break today. You’re worth it. Do whatever you feel like. Nobody will ever know. Isn’t that what they mean when they say “What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas”?

And Satan, himself, will tell you all kinds of lies like “Well, you’ve blown it now. You’re not good enough. You’re not worthy. What would God want with the likes of you?”

Or, sometimes, “You’re good enough. You don’t need Jesus to be saved. There are many ways to heaven, and besides there’s no hell anyway.”

Lucifer became Satan when he came against God, because Satan means adversary. To justify himself, he accused God, thus becoming the devil, because devil means accuser, and that accuser is out to steal, kill, and destroy that which does not belong to him, us, for we are God’s workmanship. We are His creation.

In the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve chose to listen to the voice of Satan, God’s adversary. God had clearly told them not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, one commandment, just one, and they couldn’t keep it.

Do you realize we never had to have the knowledge of evil? If Adam and Eve would’ve obeyed, none of us would have ever seen evil, destruction, or despair. If Adam and Eve would’ve obeyed, we would have known only that which is good. And, if they had obeyed, none of us would have ever had to die, not Bronner, not Nick, not even Jesus.

God had said to his creation, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”

You shall surely die, not maybe and not probably, but surely.

You idiots! How could you mess up perfection? How could you mess up in the Garden of Eden? You got to walk with God everyday in the cool of the day. You knew God. It’s not like you didn’t know Him. You knew and had seen God, and you listened to a stupid serpent?

None of us would have ever done that, would we?

Or, would we?

Isn’t that what we do all the time? We know God, but we choose to shut Him out. We won’t listen. We think we know better than God how to live our own lives, and so we choose our own way.

And the world goes right along with us. It says, “Don’t limit yourself to Jesus. That’s old fashioned. Try something new and hip from the eastern religions like Budhism, and if you’re really daring, why not even Islam? God is God, right? Doesn’t matter what you call him?”

People will say, “Homosexuality isn’t a sin. You were born that way.” Or, “What man can stay faithful to one woman his whole life? Everybody has affairs; you shouldn’t feel so guilty about it. And to his wife, “girl, you know I wouldn’t put up with that. You need to just go on and leave him.”

So many voices.

And in the midst of it all, there’s a still small voice deep in our hearts beckoning, “Come. Come to me and I will give you rest.” “Cast your cares on me, because I care for you.” “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink.” “I am the bread of life. Take and eat of me and live forever.” “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”

“Seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.”

“Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.”

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on our own understanding, and in all thy ways, acknowledge Him, and He will direct your paths.”

Listen. Listen for God’s voice. He will help you. He will direct your paths. Listen and trust Him. You can trust him, no matter what life throws at you. Don’t let Satan tell you to give up. Press on. Fight the good fight. Run your race, and in the end you will be more than conquerors in the fight. You will win, if you do not give up, the crown of righteousness and gain eternal life.

What is not worth that? Nothing. I can endure. I can stand. I can because of Christ.

Abraham was a man who trusted God even when God asked him to sacrifice his own son, the same son God had promised to establish his covenant through. Abraham didn’t wait either. He knew God’s voice and he trusted Him, so he got up early in the morning, the bible says, to go and do exactly what God had told him to do. He didn’t want to. He loved Isaac. He had waited a lifetime for him. Isaac was the son of promise for Abraham, yet he was willing to bind his own son, lay him on an alter, and draw up his knife to slay him.”

Rick said, “God didn’t ask us before he took Bronner, and it’s a good thing too, because I don’t think we would have been so faithful.”

God says, “Trust me.” “It won’t always be like this.”

Satan will come to sift you like wheat here in this world. But there’s someone praying for you, one who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, Jesus. Jesus is praying for our endurance. That we will be able to stand against Satan’s scheming and when his fiery darts come our way, that we will hold up the shield of faith and fight, that we will press on even as the pangs of Sheol encompass you.

Jesus said, “In this world, you will have trouble, but take heart, I have overcome the world.”

An angel stopped Abraham from sacrificing his son on the alter, but there was no angel there to stop the hand of God from pouring down his wrath upon his own son with whom he was well pleased, the son he loved. No angel stopped the Roman soldiers as they beat and mocked and nailed Jesus to the cross. No angel stopped the plan of God that was formed before the foundation of the world.

God, himself, was the one who made skins for Adam and Eve in the garden, killing an animal to clothe them. The first sacrifice was made by God himself, and so was the last. Jesus offered himself up on the alter of sacrifice as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.

Jesus said, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.”

When God took my son, my sweet baby Bronner, I kept saying, “But we were so happy. We were so happy God.” And He said, “But I want you to be holy.”

God wasn’t so interested in my happiness here on earth but in my holiness forever. He lay this cross upon me to test me, to try me in the furnace of affliction. He wanted me to suffer as Christ has suffered. But why?

The bible tells us in Romans 8:17 that anyone who is to be glorified with Christ, at his second coming, must also suffer with Christ, now.

And 1 Peter 4:1 says, “let those who suffer according to God’s will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing so.”

Then in 1 Peter 5:10, God’s word says, “And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.”

“In this world you will have trouble, but take heart, Jesus has overcome the world.”

Now let’s go to 1 Peter, chapter one, and read together verses 3-9:

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith--more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire--may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Though you have not seen him you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls."

God in taking my baby wanted me to see the world for what it really is, fallen and cursed, but that one day the curse will be lifted. This world, as it is, is not heaven, no matter how hard I tried to make it that. Life here on earth isn’t perfect nor can it be, not now. God didn’t want me to set my hopes on what I could see but rather on what I couldn’t see.

I can’t see Bronner anymore, but I know him. I had touched him and loved him and kissed him. I know he’s real. I’ve seen him with my very own eyes, and because I know Bronner’s real, that makes the place where he is and the person he’s with that much more real to me too.

God wants us to know He’s real, and that His inheritance far outweighs any suffering we experience now, and that his abode, heaven, is worth waiting for.

The heroes of faith from Hebrews 11, Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Joseph, Moses… "all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better county, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city."

The Apostle John said, “I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, 'Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.' And he who was seated on the throne said, 'Behold, I am making all things new.'”

It won’t always be this way. Jesus is making all things new.

So we wait for it with patience knowing that although God won’t always shield us from the storm, he’ll be there waiting it out with us, and when the wind and earthquake and fire are gone, we’ll be ready to listen for the sound of a low whisper.

I heard God speak to my heart so many times in the days and weeks and months following my life’s most terrible storm. That very night he assured me that this was his will. I heard him pray through me, not my will but thine, oh Lord, be done. I didn’t pray that, but it came just the same. It was the Holy Spirit within me because all I wanted was my baby. And I was begging, prostrate, laid bare before the Lord, begging for my son’s life to be restored as Isaac’s had been, and then I heard within my own soul “Not my will but thine, Oh Lord, be done."

God had a purpose and a plan in my baby’s dying, and no plan of God’s can be thwarted. I knew this was God’s will, and I had listen for what He was going to teach me through it.

The next day I heard him say to my spirit, “Rick is not your helper. You’re his.” I had not even thought about that. But God came before me. See ’cause He knows me, and he knew that in my flesh, I was going to start blaming Rick for not being there to help me with our three boys that night. But God was taking me to a new place with him, a place led by the Spirit, who knew this had nothing to do with Rick or with me or with anyone else I might try to blame.

God had plan and a purpose in my baby’s dying, and no plan of God’s can be thwarted.

God gave Rick a dream and in it, he was battling a demon. He was screaming scripture at what looked like a woman dressed as a gypsy, and she was screaming back at him. And he fought with this demon for what seemed like hours before he grew tired and had to sit down, but when he sat down, I stood up, and started battling the demon in his place.

God was showing us that Rick and I are a team, and when one of us gets tired, the other will be there to pick him up. Our marriage is stronger than ever and God is using us together to fight against evil.

One day, I received a book in the mail, and on the back, there was a bio of the author. It said he was pastor at such and such place, he went to such and such seminary. He had a wife. I can’t remember her name, and four children, one of whom has gone on to be with the Lord. His son drown just like mine had.

I read that and burst into tears, and I started pleading with God to tell my why. "Why the children? Why so many children? Why do you take the children of people like this pastor who had given his life for you, God, and why Bronner, a baby who couldn’t have been more loved or more wanted in this world. Why? Why the children?" And I said, “God, there is nothing worse than losing a child. Nothing.

I know you lost your son, but you got him back after three days. Three days!"

And he said to me, “But what about the others? All my children I have to send away from my presence for eternity. You’re going to get a glorious reunion with your son, but not all of my children will I see again except on that day when they rise again only to die a second death.”

We’re all God’s creation. It’s His breath that gives us life. We’re all His, and God saw fit to take my happy life away from me - for a time - in order that many lost souls would be turned to Him, that he wouldn’t have to send them off to die a second death but that through the testimony of a small child named Bronner they would live forever.

See ’cause death has a way of waking people up to the reality of itself. And they start asking questions like “What if that had been my child? Or, what if it had been me? What would happen to my soul if I died today?"

God had a plan and a purpose in my baby’s dying, and I had to get on board with it, so I could help carry on to completion what God had started.

I had a dream of Bronner swimming through the water. All I could see was Bronner and water, water above him and water below him. But he was swimming through that water with a huge smile on his face and he was beautiful. He didn’t have on any clothes, and he looked like a little Valentine cherub with his milky white skin, red hair and red lips. And he was happy.

I had that dream on a Saturday night. And on Monday, I received another book in the mail. It was from a woman from Dothan whose little son Luke had drown the day Bronner was born.

I started reading Within the Gates, a little book written over a hundred years ago, and there I read about a woman getting her first glimpse of heaven and she was swimming through the River of Life... water above her and water below her and she felt exuberant.

I knew what God was saying. He was saying "Bronner came to me through the water, not the water in your backyard, not the water in your pool, but he came to me through the waters of the River of Life, and he’s alive just as Jesus is alive and they are in a place where the River of Life flows through and no unclean thing can ever enter there."

Bronner’s more than o.k. He’s exuberant. He’s surrounded by the glory of God and he is filled with joy. And I know he’s running though heaven with reckless abandon, because that’s how he is. He was my runner. He loved to run.

Still, our family wanted to reclaim that water in the pool in our backyard. We wanted to overcome evil with good, so we planned a baptism in the pool in our backyard. Our son, Brody, was six almost seven at the time. He had already asked Jesus into his heart and wanted to be baptized anyway. So we planned a ceremony for April 26, 2008 in the pool where his brother had gone to heaven three months before.

That morning as I was preparing everything, I blew up about 50 balloons and in each of them I placed bible verses and prayers or praises. We were going to release the balloons at the end of the ceremony to lift our eyes heavenward. We hoped that Bronner could see them. But as I was taking them through the door to take them down to the pool, one of the balloons popped, just one, and a bible verse fell at my feet. It said, “I will fight for you, you need only be still.”

I felt God had given me that verse to tell me He was there and he was fighting for me. He wanted me to be still, to rest in him. He is for me, so who can be against me? Nothing can separate me from the love of God in Christ Jesus, my Lord.

After the ceremony, I found another little scrap of paper that had fallen from where one of the balloons had popped in a tree, and all it said was “love.”

About that time, I started noticing dragonflies everywhere, and they were always this baby blue color that made me think of Bronner. I saw them at his grave, around the pool, at our farm, everywhere, not just a few but hundreds of baby blue dragonflies so close I could reach out and touch them.

I felt like God was trying to say something to me through those dragonflies, but I didn’t know what. I thought maybe he was letting Bronner come sit with me for a while. I didn’t know, but my friend, Brenda, told me that after her dad had died, she kept seeing these little yellow butterflies. She didn’t know why either until one day she was walking into a church and she saw a little caterpillar crawling around in the grass, and it hit her why God kept sending her the butterflies. “We, here on earth, are like the caterpillar, but her dad in heaven is like the butterfly.”

"That is an awesome message, Brenda, but why does God keep sending me dragonflies?" She didn’t know, but she did know it was the Lord’s comfort, meant to show me and teach me something.

I didn’t know anything about dragonflies, so I looked them up on the internet, and I found out that a dragonfly goes through a metamorphosis just like a butterfly does, but dragonflies start their life out in the water.

Now that made sense. God wanted me to know that Bronner’s life didn’t end that night in the water. It began.

A dragonfly lays its eggs in the water, and when they hatch they’re a little nymph that lives in the water for up to three years, and when they’re ready, they climb out of the water on a reed or a stick and when their skin touches the air, it begins to breath and through a little slit on their backs out comes the full grown dragonfly, wings outstretched in the shape of a cross.

I also found out that there are about 500 different kinds of dragonflies, but the one I kept seeing, the baby blue one, is called a blue dasher. How appropriate for my little runner, my blue dasher! Isn’t God cool?

Then, we started noticing sevens. Bronner was the seventh member of our family. He had seven letters in each of his names, William Bronner Burgess, 777. He was born May 27, 2005. May’s the fifth month, so numerically, it’s 5-27-2005. Add the five and the two in front of the seven and the five and the two in the back of the seven, and you’ve 777. He lived 2 years, seven months, and 23 days. You already have one seven. Add the 2 two’s and the three together and you have another seven. The last full year of his life was the seventh year of this century, 2007. He even had three sevens in his social security number.

Seven is the number in the bible that represents perfection, fullness, completion. It stands for the seven days of creation, and it’s mentioned upward of 50 times in the Book of Revelation, the completion of God’s plan and purpose for the earth as it is and ushers in the new heaven and the new earth.

God wanted us to know that Bronner’s life on earth had been complete and perfect at 2 ½ years. He had fulfilled the purpose for which he came. God himself had formed the days for Bronner when as yet there were none of them.

I talked about the sevens in a speech I did that August, the year of Bronner’s heaven-going. It was my home church, Shades Mountain Baptist, and I got a call that afternoon. They had taken up an offering for Bronner’s Memorial Fund that day, and they had collected $7,777. One woman had written a check for $1.23. Do you realize what a miracle that is? How God had to work in the hearts of everyone there to come up with that amount.

God’s confirmation…

But, you won’t believe when I tell you. It happened again. Betty Bussey and I spoke the next August, August 2009, at Frazier Memorial United Methodist Church in Montgomery. They took up a collection, and Betty and I were still there having some lunch after we talked and the Women’s Director came and told me that they had collected more than $7,000 for Bronner’s Memorial Fund. She was excited because she thought that was a large amount, and I said, “Seven thousand what?” She said, “I don’t know exactly, but I can find out.”

I told her the reason why I was asking. She had no idea what had happened at Shades. But she left the room, and when she came back, she said, “The collection was $7,777.77.” And 77 cents. God is real. God is real and He is working among his people. Look around, you’ll see him. Listen for his voice, and He will speak.

Tune in. He has something to say to you.

You’ll know when God speaks, and you’ll know the other voices, too. We know who’s speaking to us. We’ve eaten from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. We know the difference. We know the difference between good and evil, and we have the same choice to make that Adam and Eve had to make. Are we going to listen to the voice of God, or are we going to listen to the voice of the serpent?

Every day we choose to live either by our flesh and the desires of the flesh or to live by the Spirit of God which brings peace and power and wisdom.

Jesus said, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.”

Follow Jesus to the cross right now. Cast your cares on him, because he cares for you.

Jesus came not to condemn the world but to set it free from the law of sin and death. He brings life and light. He is Jacob’s ladder to heaven. He is the door of heaven. He is the narrow way. The Spirit of God testifies with our spirit that Jesus is the only way no matter what the world says.

And we are called to follow Jesus no matter where He takes us. Follow Him. It’s not easy road that Jesus traveled. No, The Lamb of God was slain, and He tells us to be slain also. Die to yourself; live for God. Love not your life so much as to shrink even from death.

I’m studying the Revelation in Community Bible Study right now, and I see it over and over and over again in that last book of our bible. People choosing what is temporary over what is eternal. The world offers a lot right now, wealth, fame, education, entertainment, and sometimes even happiness.

Choose holiness. Choose the eternal. Choose God. He’s already chosen you.

Come to Jesus, right now. Listen to his voice calling you. Come. Come to me all you are weary, and I will give you rest. I am the bread of life. Take and eat of me and live forever. I will never leave you nor forsake you.

Some of you may need to say to God, I’ve accepted your free gift of salvation, but I want more of you, God.

Some of you may be in the midst of a great trial yourselves and want to fall at the feet of Jesus and give it all to him.

So, I’m going to ask all of you to come and pray at this alter. As many as can, come and pray. Whatever God has laid on your heart today, tell him, talk to him. Pray to him and listen for his answer. I’m going to give you a few minutes alone with God at the alter, and then I’ll voice an audible prayer including a prayer of salvation to close us. So, come, pray at this alter right now.

Sometimes, I know it’s not easy to take that first step alone, so here’s what I want you to do, look to the person sitting next to you and say, I’ll go with you. I’ll go with you.

(Time of Silent Prayer)

Lord God, thank you for your presence here with us today. Thank you for loving us and sending your son to pay the penalty for our sins on the cross. We know that the penalty for sin is death and that Jesus died for us so that whether our bodies are asleep or awake we might live together with him. Let us not be content with the things of this world, but let us have a passion for what is to come. Let us be eagerly awaiting the day you come for us, Lord Jesus. Set our minds on things above not on earthly things, and give us peace that transcends all understanding, and we will rejoice in you, Father. Lord, I pray that if there are any here today who aren’t sure of their salvation, who have never accepted the atoning sacrifice of the blood of Jesus for the forgiveness of sins, that today will be the day they make their salvation sure. Pray with me right now: Lord, I know I am a sinner and all my righteousness is like filthy rags compared to you. I confess my sins before you and ask for forgiveness. I believe that you, Jesus, are the Son of God, that you bore the wrath of God upon yourself, and that you died and were raised on the third day. I pray to receive you as my Savior and my God. I pray for the gift of the Holy Spirit, the comforter, to help me abide in Christ always and that when I come to die, I will be with you forever. In Jesus name I pray. Amen.

With every head bowed and every eye closed, if you prayed with prayed that prayer with me just now, just look up at me for a second. Acknowledge Christ before men, and He will acknowledge you before His father. So, look up.

Know that this is just the beginning of your journey with Christ, and you’re going to need help. Get involved in church. Get involved in bible study. And never cease to praise Him. Praise guards your heart from losing its joy. Sing praises to him. Get some cd’s and sing in the car. And pray. You can’t establish a relationship with someone unless you spend time with them. Spend time with the Lord in prayer and reading the bible everyday. I would recommend getting to know the person of Jesus Christ first through the gospels. The Gospel of John would be a great starting point, and then I’d go on to Romans which is the most complete statement for the basis or foundation of our faith, a very important book of the bible.

Now, lift your head if you have determined today to listen for God’s voice and His leading in your life, that you will trust him no matter what life throws at you, and that you will walk the path that Christ lays for you knowing that life with Christ brings joy and peace but that sometimes it brings sorrow as well and when it does you are determined to endure it, to stand, and press on, running your race until it brings you to the gates of heaven.

That should be everybody…

Let’s commit together today to listen more, to not run aimlessly through life checking off boxes in a to do list, but stop and listen and look around for what God has for us, that we will be still more before the Lord and that we rest in the hope of his salvation.

God bless…

Seasons

Just before Thanksgiving, I was driving along on a familiar stretch of road near my house and was captivated by the beauty around me. The colors I saw were bold and bright in their rustic and earthy tones as the leaves of the trees had morphed into what many believe is their most magnificent hue. I began to wonder about the season we call “The Fall” and how it so represents that infamous biblical event with the same name.

When Adam and Eve chose to disobey God in the Garden of Eden, they “fell.” And, from what heights they did fall! They were created for relationship with God and with each other. They were created for eternity. But, our sovereign Lord knew the choice they would make and also what He would have to do to rectify their sin. God sent them out of Paradise into a world filled with thistles and thorns, with heavy labor and pain, but… not devoid of ALL that is good.

Even in this fallen world, we see beauty. It isn’t constant, and it is never perfect, but there are glimpses of Eden here and now. And, with every little glimpse of goodness and light, color and joy, the warmth of the sun or the crispness of fall, we see God. He reminds us everyday, “You’re not alone.” He screams it in the sunset, “I’m here!”

“I’m with you!”

“I love you.”

He sends us gifts like snow in winter to cover the nakedness of the leafless trees and lifeless fields making what is barren beautiful. God is good and mysterious and wonderful. I’ve sung about white Christmases all my life but never imagined that it might really happen here in Alabama, but it did. Life is so like that, unexpected. On Christmas Day in Alabama, it snowed. It didn’t cover the ground, and it was mixed with rain at times, but it snowed! The first snow in my 40 Christmases spent in Alabama. I wondered all day about it. Why is it snowing? What does it mean, God?

My Bronner had gone to heaven on the day of the first snow in Alabama in six years, January 19, 2008, and now it was snowing on Christmas Day 2010. Another friend of mine buried her adopted daughter on a snowy day in February 2009, and the snow comforts her. She has always seen it as symbolic of the purity, the innocence, and the goodness of her sweet Emme. Snow is never comforting to me. It’s beautiful to me, and as I have watched it fall, I have felt so many emotions from peace to melancholy to even joy.

I truly believe that everything matters, everything, and that God is speaking to us all the time and in every possible way. I, for one, want to listen. I want to know what God is saying to me through the snow mixed with rain. Maybe He was saying that the cold, dark days I’ve spent here on earth since Bronner’s been in heaven won’t last forever and that the many tears I’ve cried have all been kept in His bottle. Maybe He was saying that goodness and light can fall on a fallen earth and that something else is on the horizon, the dawning of a new day when tears will never fall and winter will not bring death.

God has a plan for redemption, for restoration, for life.

Fall becomes winter, and winter… becomes spring. And, spring brings life. If all was not lost in the fall, then all is not lost in winter either. The cold, dark winter of our souls bears a seed that in springtime will awaken. If fall represents the dying (and we all are, both fallen and dying) and winter represents death, spring is the resurrection of all that is good. Spring is life and brings life. And, we know that it is coming, so in that, we take comfort, and we bide the fall and the winter with the hopes of spring.

But, the seasons are not only for biding. There is a purpose for every season under heaven just as there is a season for every purpose under heaven. So many people say that fall is their favorite season, and rightly so in a way. It is the here and now. It is what we can see, feel, and touch. It is a reminder that all is not lost. There is so much to be thankful for in the fall. Here is the harvest, a time to bring in the crops, a time to work. Most of us aren’t farmers, but even in my little garden, I found that there is so much work to do when the “crops” come in. For instance, corn comes in all at once. You have to either eat it, dry it, or freeze it right away, because it doesn’t last long. Time is imperative with a crop like corn.

We must remember to work in fall, to help bring in the harvest for God, the harvest of souls searching for the seed to resurrect their spirits in springtime. Everyone wants to live. We were created that way. We were created for life, for God, for something each one of us knows deep inside is there… Eden, Paradise. We’ve never been there, but we remember it somehow. It’s deep within us, and all of us are searching for our way back. Some have found the way, the truth, and the life, and those who have, have to show the others. It’s required. It is not suggested, but commanded. But, even this is a gift.

What are we doing with the time God has given us to live here in “The Fall?” Are we bringing in the harvest of souls put before us? Are we praying for spring? Are we working as if time was of the essence? Are we reminded of God’s plan and purpose for man and the earth with each coming season? Do we take time to reflect on and ponder God’s goodness and grace?

Every night is dark, but every morning is the dawning of a new day! Everything in nature and in time testifies to the resurrection. As the caterpillar inches his way into his own tomb only to come out a new creature, more vibrant and beautiful than before, so will we. Just as dying brings death and winter brings the cold, Jesus brings life. Jesus walked out of that tomb on Easter morning. He was dead, and behold, He is alive forevermore, and He is making ALL THINGS NEW.

So, when springtime comes, dance, and when summer is here, rejoice! Work in the fall, and reflect in winter. It is all from the Lord, and He is perfect. He has made everything beautiful in its time. Drink in every new day with expectation, the expectation that God will speak, the expectation that there are gifts around every corner and that with every new year, there is growth within the Kingdom of God. Grow your gifts in this New Year, seek the holiness and mystery of God Almighty, and challenge yourself to see what could be. Spring will come. Let us prepare ourselves for it, for Him who is coming to revive our souls, to wipe away every tear, and to make all things new.

Happy New Year, my friends!

With love,

Sherri

Speech to Christian Women Job Corps (given Nov. 8, 2010)

Hi, I’m Sherri Burgess, and I am thrilled and honored to be here in Huntsville today. May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be upon us all.

Well, my story is story of hope. As a young girl, I remember looking up into the sky and wondering what life was all about. I had the same questions I’m sure many of you have had. “What am I doing here?” “Where are you, God?” “Why can’t I see you?” “Do you see me?” “Do you love me?”

I knew Jesus had died for my sins. I had heard that for as long as I could remember, but I didn’t understand why He had to die. Couldn’t God forgive us of our sins without having to crucify His son? And, a big question I had even as a young adult was “Is Jesus the only way? Would God really send all those other people to hell?”

See, I didn’t know God, so I didn’t understand Him, but thankfully, the bible tells us that if you seek God with all your heart, you will find him. All those questions I was asking weren’t stupid. They were good, because the bible also tells us that if anyone lacks understanding he should ask God. I can’t tell you how many times I prayed for wisdom. I wanted to know the answers, and I found them and I keep finding them… right here.

This Word is truth. It’s the only truth… and it is absolute. The God of the Bible is God. How do I know? Because, now, I know Him. I’ve talked with Him, and He has talked with me. He has given me of His Spirit, the Holy Spirit, who searches and reveals all things.

Have you ever seen someone at a potter’s wheel when they have the wet clay and they start shaping with their hands something from the clay? Well, God is that for us. He molds and shapes us into what He wants us to be.

For a long time in my life, I think I just sat there on the wheel, this big lump of wet clay. The potter’s wheel may have been spinning, but God’s hand wasn’t upon me, so I was being made into nothing. And, I sat there a useless lump of clay for a long time.

But, then God’s hand touched me, and that lump of clay that was my life started to take shape. He smoothed out rough edges. He added vibrant color and precious gems, and anyone could see that what God was making was very beautiful. But God, in His infinite wisdom, looked at the vessel of clay he was making, and said, “I can do better.” So, he took all that he had been building and smashed it back down to the wheel. The life that had been was no more. It had been crushed, taken back down to nothing, but…

God’s hand gently touched the clay once more and He started sculpting something else, something very different from before… something sure, something useful, not quite as vibrant or beautiful anymore… just a humble pot filled with tears and marked with sorrow, but a pot who now knows who is doing the building in her life.

When you come face to face with death, you realize you have no power over it. You realize that you are in control of nothing and that God alone gives life or takes it. He is power. He is might. He is sovereign Lord above all things, and we… are clay in His hands. He does what He will among men. And once you realize and understand how great God is, then you’ll have gained a real jewel in your crown, humility. You’ll understand as Job did that naked you came from your mother’s womb, and naked you shall you return. The Lord gives, and the Lord takes away.

On that day when God took my baby, Bronner, I knew God, and I knew him to be good. I had tasted and had seen the Lord’s goodness. He had lifted me up out of darkness, out of the miry clay, into the light. I could see, and I knew where my help comes from. So, I ran to my Father, and that little girl in me came out again and asked those same questions I had asked so many years before.

“Where are you, God?” “Why can’t I see you?” “Do you see me?” “What am I doing here when my baby is there?” “Don’t you love me, God?”

And, He had to answer those questions all over again for me.

And He said, “I am on my throne, and you will see my face. I love you with an everlasting love. Those I love I discipline and reprove. I don’t give as the world gives. But, I bind up the brokenhearted and comfort all those who mourn. I give them a beautiful headdress instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit, that they may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.”

“Truly, truly I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If anyone serves me, he must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.”

I said to God, “But, we were so happy. We were so happy, God.” And, He said, “But I want you to be holy, set apart for my good purposes.”

And, again, I said to God, “There is nothing worse than losing a child. Nothing! I know you lost your son, but you got him back after three days. Three days!” And He said, “But what about the others? All those I have to send away from my presence for eternity. Those who breathe the breath of life I have given them. They are all mine. You are going to get this glorious reunion with your son, but not all of my children will I see again except on that day when they rise only to die a second death.”

Then I understood from God’s perspective, and I had compassion for God. He loves each person and desires a relationship with us all. I could see that God saw fit to take away my happy life, for a time, so that some others of his flock could come home. I could also see that I was losing my life here on earth, so I could gain it for eternity.

Jesus said, “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.”

Jesus is coming again. He’s coming for us. And, I believe that it’s soon. No man knows the hour or the day, but Jesus Himself said, “Behold, I am coming soon.” “Surely I am coming soon.” “I am coming soon.”

This is our great hope. Do you realize that? Our hope is in eternal life with God. If this is all there is, then we are to be pitied. But, it’s not all there is. It’s not. We do have hope.

Romans 8:24-25 say, “Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.”

Does that mean we just sit around and wait for Jesus to appear in the clouds?

No… we are to be about our Father’s business until that day.

And, just as John the Baptist was a herald of his first coming making straight the way of the Lord and crying out for people to repent because the kingdom of heaven was at hand, we should be shouting from the rooftops the same thing. The kingdom of heaven is at hand.

If John the Baptist was a herald of his first coming, we who are His children now are to be heralds of his second coming.

John the Baptist said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”

Let us also say, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world, the one who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”

Jesus is alive, and He is saying to us in this generation, “Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and Hades.”

Wake up from your slumber and behold the living God.

Behold Him, have him in your sights, and Trust Him no matter what life throws at you.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding, and in all thy ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths. I have said that to myself over and over and over again. Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding, and in all thy way acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths.

We’re all going to trials and tribulation in this world, but in this we rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, we have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of our faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

“And after we have suffered a little while,” the bible says, “the God of all grace, who has called us to his eternal glory in Christ, will Himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish us.”

So, stand firm. Fight the good fight, run your race, and in the end you will be more than conquerors in the fight. You will win, if you do not give up, the crown of righteousness and gain eternal life.

What is not worth that? Nothing. I can endure. I can stand. I can because of Christ.

I say with Job, “Though He slay me, yet shall I hope in Him.” Even if He kills me, I will still hope in Him, because God is our only hope. We live in a world of hurt, of sickness, of pain, of turmoil and strife, but it won’t always like this.

The heroes of our faith from Hebrews Chapter 11, Abraham, Sarah, Moses, Joseph, Noah, all these died in faith, the bible says, not having received the things promised but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.”

John saw that city. He said, “I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away. And He who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.”

Jesus will make all things new. I will see my baby, Bronner, again. I will hold him in my arms, and I will raise him up on a perfect earth where there will be no sickness or pain or even sin.

And, when that happens all my suffering, all these days without Bronner, will fade into a distant memory as this slight momentary affliction will have prepared for me an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison.

And, since I know what’s coming, I have the strength to hold on until that day. I can endure this life, because I know in whom I have believed. And, not only can I endure it, I can be useful in it. I can be used of God. My son, Bronner, the baby, the one that brought us so much happiness was taken from us for this purpose, to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ, that all who believe in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

That is our great hope, eternal life there with Him. Even though we die, we live. That’s the gospel. And I am ambassador in chains for it.

“And the rain fell, and floods came, and winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall for it had been founded on the rock.”

Let’s pray:

“Father God, thank you for being with us today, and thank you for the hope we have in Jesus. I pray, Lord, that if there are any here today who don’t know that kind hope, that today will be the day they find it. Your word tells us to seek and you will find. Knock and the door will be opened unto you. It is my prayer that your Holy Spirit will convict each of us of our sin and that we will turn from it and seek a life fully devoted to you, Lord. Let us walk as children of Light and as heralds of Your return. We know that you are coming for us, and we welcome you, Lord Jesus. But, until that day comes, God bless our state and our nation in order that we may shine Your light to ends of the earth. In Jesus name, Amen.”