To Good To Be True
Scripture
“Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.
~John 14:27, NKJV
Quote
We can rest in peace not because our work is done but because God’s work is finished: Jesus said it on the cross, “IT IS FINISHED.”
~Charlie Kirk
My Thoughts
Francis Ridley Havergal was an extraordinary English poet, singer and hymn writer. Her most famous hymn was TAKE MY LIFE AND LET IT BE. Francis could write the lyrics and the music, plus she was a very talented singer. So beautiful was her voice that she sustained herself financially by singing secular music. Then the LORD convicted her and she gave up secular music and devoted the rest of her life to the gospel ministry. She did mission trips, worked with children, small groups and continued her hymn writing. She was also a sought after speaker.
Francis was frail and battled health issues all her life. At the tender age of 42 she got a chill that lead to pneumonia. After being confined to bed, the doctor made a house call. He examined her. Matter of fact, she had more than one doctor examine her; the last to see her had a great bedside manner {not}. He said, “Goodbye, I shall not be seeing you again.” “Then you really think I am going,” said Francis. “Yes, today probably,” said the doctor. “Beautiful” said Francis, “this is too good to be true.” She looked up at her family and said, “Splendid to be so near the gates of heaven.” Her brother sang a hymn for her and her response was elation and pure joy. “Splendid,” she replied, “I thought He {God} would have left me here a lot longer but He is so good to take me now.”
She was promoted that same day and the expression on her face was so glorious that the family didn’t leave the room for a long time. They were astonished at the glorious smile on her face. I do not suppose we will understand until we get to heaven why God calls the extremely good home so early. Someone said it is like a gardener who picks his finest roses first.
- Good king Josiah—39
- David MacArthur —37
- Jesus—33
- John the Baptist—32
- Charlie Kirk—31
- David Brainard— 29
- Robert Murray McCheyne —29
- Jim Elliot— 28
- William Borden— 25
- Rachel Scott—17
Isaiah 57:1-2
Good people pass away;
the godly often die before their time.
But no one seems to care or wonder why.
No one seems to understand
that God is protecting them from the evil to come.
For those who follow godly paths
will rest in peace when they die.
Extra
Mrs. Edith Bennich has had a stroke, a bad one I am afraid, and she is in CRMC. Ken and I visited her yesterday and it was a shocking visit in more ways than one. She was glad to see us both but wept the entire time we were there. No one was with her. Mike and Sheryl are going to visit her this morning and I will be going by also later in the day. Pray for Mrs. Edith.
Going to Cullman to see Dr. Thomas and get a steroid shot in my back {hopefully}. I suppose the little ladies who use to live here bought a beautiful iron gazebo and planted a wisteria vine on each side. Of course their goal was for the vine to cover the iron work and they would have a place to get out of the sun. BAD IDEA! Wisteria is a beautiful flowering vine but it is the most aggressive plant I’ve ever seen. It will run underground, right about the surface, under the grass or in the air. I have seen it reach several feet to grab hold of a fence, building or tree. Given time, it will choke a giant oak to death. It is very difficult to kill. The underground roots retain life even when severed from the stump. It makes a good metaphor for SIN: hard to kill, relentlessly aggressive and appears attractive until you get to know its true nature: it is a killer.
Have a great day and thanks for reading the blog.