Tuesday August 26, 2014

Posted on August 26, 2014 by Don Schmidt

To God be the glory great things He hath done!  45 years ago – Continued from yesterday…

After my thunderous conversion the previous fall, I received some wonderful advice about praying for my wife.  The leader instructed me, “I want you to pray for your wife – but don’t pray, ‘God, send me a wife’.  I want you to pray for her like this.  Lord Jesus, I thank you that you have the girl I am going to marry.  I pray that she will come to know you – that you will protect her and bless her.  Thank you that you are preparing us for one another.  I acknowledge that in your time and in your way, you will bring us together.  I commit her and our relationship to you.”  So I regularly began praying in this way for the unknown girl who would be my wife.  This was the framework of my declaration of “THAT’S HER!”

When we finished dinner, David asked Donna to go with him to take some film to be developed.  Great was my relief when she said no.  After he left, I asked if we could go for a walk and she said yes.  Even though I was beside myself with what was going on within me, I wanted to tell her about Jesus and how I met Him.  She wanted to find out what was the glow that was around my head in the meeting.

I was telling her about Jesus while we walked but my mind was in a whirlwind.  There was a popular song at the time with the line, “Then I went and spoiled it all by saying something stupid like I love you.” And it was running through my mind.  We walked to a stone bench under the pines next to a stone chapel and sat down.  What was going on within me was so consuming I finally couldn’t continue talking.  So I said to her, “There is something I have to tell you.”  Donna said, “Go ahead.”  I replied, “I love you.”  She replied, “I love you too.”

At that point, I said, “Let’s pray.”  My prayer was simply this, “Lord Jesus – If this is not of you, stop it.  But if this is of you, please confirm it.”  And “heaven landed with a thud!”  That is how I have described it for 45 years.  We were immediately surrounded and embraced by a manifestation of God’s presence!  He imparted (downloaded) everything into both of us – the knowledge, the thrill, the excitement, the affection, the commitment, the utter joy and the complete settledness.  It was done!!  We knew, sitting on the bench praying, that God had chosen us for each other and we were to be married.  We belonged to each other.

From that moment, there has never been any doubt that God chose us for each other – not the slightest doubt – ever!  I always knew that I was capable of loving someone.  I never dreamed that anyone could or would love me the way Donna does.  This was and is something beyond my wildest dreams.  Later I discovered that Donna had been proposed to by a friend the weekend before but had to tell him no.  She was unable to say she loved him.

God impressed on us we were to be married – He didn’t say get married.  I still had my senior year of college to go and He knew that I needed to be loved not married.  Now I was able to focus on my studies.  We were married 13 months later just following my graduation from college.

Tomorrow – Donna’s vision of Jesus on the cross….

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Monday August 25, 2014

Posted on August 25, 2014 by Don Schmidt

To God be the glory great things He hath done!  45 years ago today!

Thanks to what can only be described as the miraculous intervention of God, we were engaged 2 hours and 15 minutes after we met!  We’ve joked that the reason it took so long was the first hour was in a meeting and the second hour was at dinner.  God supernaturally communicated, independently to each of us that we were His choice for each other and were to be married.  It’s as though we had been betrothed to each other without ever knowing it.

God imparted (in computer terms, think “downloaded”) knowledge, understanding, wisdom and a passionate affection for each other – into each of us.  He not only imparted this to us, but He gave us the incredible experience of a manifestation of His presence as confirmation to us as we sat on a park bench together in prayer.  He gave us in a moment what many don’t experience in a lifetime.

“But what exactly happened?” is a response we have received when friends and acquaintances hear about this.  Neither one of us knew that we were coming to this Christian camp in Georgia until the last minute.  Donna, from North Carolina, was invited by a college classmate to go with her to a “dumb old Christian camp” that her folks were making her go to.  Donna, on the other hand, was excited to come because God had been wooing her to Himself.  I received an invitation to come and be one of the youth counselors just one week before the camp began.

On the second day of camp, as I approached the auditorium for the afternoon meeting, I saw David, a young man I had met there the day before.  As we were talking, up walks this lovely young lady named Donna.  She didn’t know hardly anyone there either, but like me, she had met David the day before as well.  So she joined us and we went in to the meeting.

After sitting down in the auditorium, I asked Donna if I could ask her a personal question.  She said yes, being curious what I would ask.  I asked her, “Are you saved?”  She replied, “If you tell me what you mean, I’ll tell you what I think.”  I then said, “If you were to die or if Jesus returned, would you go to heaven or to hell?”  She gave me the answer when she said, “I’d probably go to hell because I haven’t done anything good enough to go to heaven.”  I knew I wanted to tell her about Jesus.

During the course of the meeting, the speaker said something funny and everyone laughed.  While we were laughing Donna looked at me and there was a bright glow around my head.  She was startled by it and wondered what it was? I was totally unaware of this phenomenon.

The three of us went from the meeting to the cafeteria to have dinner.  David sat to her left but the thought struck me to sit across from Donna so I went around the end of the table, put my tray across from her and sat down.  As I looked up, our eyes met and my heart exploded with “THAT’S HER!”  I was beside myself, not knowing what to do – except play with my food for the rest of the meal because my appetite was sure gone.  A stunning, tumultuous event was going on inside of me.

The rest of the story tomorrow….

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Sunday August 24, 2014

Posted on August 24, 2014 by Don Schmidt

Colossians 4:5 Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity.

This morning I’ve been thinking about the amazement I still have over my experience of becoming a child of God forty-six years ago.  The encounter I had on that day where Jesus became my Lord and Savior was so beyond imagining – so radically life changing, that I am still in awe of it.

The thing about it that struck me this morning is that I didn’t see it coming.  I wasn’t aware that I was seeking God or that I was ‘lost’.  The only reason I went to the retreat was to honor my parents.  There was nothing going on at school (Western Michigan), the camp was nearby and I knew it was important to them for me to go.

The message of the evangelist was unlike anything I had ever heard.  I had never heard anyone talk about Jesus like they had met and knew Him.  As I listened, I was struck by the thought that he described Jesus in a way that, if He were real, it was what He would be like.  I had no idea that I was about to meet Him too!  It’s like I was a ripe fruit ready to pick and just didn’t know it.

The question this morning is how many people that we interact with are in a place similar to where I was?  They are going to having a life-changing experience with the Lord but might not even have an idea that they are searching?  God is simply working in their lives to prepare them for that moment.  We need to understand the impact our lives have in that process.  If our lives are Christ-centered it will be positive; if not, we have missed an opportunity – or worse, created an obstacle to be overcome.

Jesus said we are salt and light.  Our very lives are to reveal Him and His love to others.  All of our encounters and interactions in life are opportunities.  When we live our lives wisely we are going to be a significant influence for Christ in the lives of people around us.  God will use His richness in our lives to draw others to Himself – and sometimes we get to be there when it happens!

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Saturday August 23, 2014

Posted on August 23, 2014 by Don Schmidt

Philippians 4:6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

Whether it is one task or situation or a slew of them, it is not unusual to find ourselves confronted with anxiety.  Our situation can be so daunting we feel like the disciples in the boat in the midst of the storm:  we’re overwhelmed and Jesus is asleep.  Their focus was on the storm, the wind and the waves – rather than Jesus being with them.  Then when they did cry out to Jesus, they were frantic.  How often do we do the same?

It’s clear that God knows about our tendency to become anxious.  From finances, to illness, to family issues, to jobs – our lives are ripe with opportunities to choose the wrong way to go when a ‘storm’ of anxiety comes.  But it’s important that we recognize that His prescription isn’t intended to be a ‘fire alarm’ – pull in case of fire – although it can still work that way.

God prescribes a way of life and the establishment of a relationship with Him that will enable us to live in peace in the midst of stormy situations.  We are to live the verse day by day.  Think of a college student who doesn’t really study all term and then crams like crazy for the final, versus the student who has faithfully studied day by day throughout the term. Both might do well on the final, but one has chosen wisely and the other hasn’t.

Each day, the Lord wants us to be looking to Him.  He cares about us and the situations we face and wants us to become confident of that.  A very helpful illustration comes from nature.  Waterfowl have a tiny oil-secreting gland located at the base of their tail known as the uropygial gland or ‘Preen Gland’.  When a duck is preening, as we have all seen, its head and beak are spreading this oil over its feathers. This oil helps to maintain the luster of the feathers – but more importantly it makes the outer feathers waterproof.  Without this protective barrier, a duck’s feathers would become water-logged.

Praying and presenting our requests to Him daily with thanksgiving is His wisdom for us.  Doing this develops a protective barrier for us and is an antidote to becoming ‘water-logged’ with anxiety.  Through these actions He also enables us to become so much more aware of His working in our lives.  Our confidence in Him becomes strong resulting in appreciation and gratitude.  Thankfulness becomes the reality of our lives.

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Friday August 22, 2014

Posted on August 21, 2014 by Don Schmidt

1 Corinthians 14:1a  Follow the way of love…

This morning I woke up thinking about one of the more important and useful concepts that I became aware of in Grad School.  God has used it ever since to give me insight and help me in my daily life.  It involves tasks and relationships – two things that fill our lives.  Each day is filled with tasks to do and many of them involve working or interacting with people.

In a class, we grad students took a test that measured our personal orientations to tasks and to relationships.  When the scores were graphed we each discovered a picture of how we functioned in such situations.  At one end of the spectrum were those whose pre-eminent concern was the task.  Whether big or small, it had to get done.  If it meant sacrificing relationships, so be it.  Relationships were irrelevant to getting the job done.

At the other end of the spectrum were those who placed pre-eminence upon relationships.  No task was so important that it would warrant sacrificing relationships.  When these individuals are confronted with situations where they have to choose between a task and a relationship(s), the task won’t get done.  They don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings or create an unpleasant situation for themselves or anyone else.  They back away from tasks where they perceive a risk to relationship might exist.

Then there was everyone in between where they reflected a mix of task or relationship priorities.  The goal was to be in the middle where both tasks and relationships are important.  Such individuals find ways to get tasks done while preserving and strengthening relationships.  They don’t sacrifice the task for a relationship and they don’t sacrifice a relationship for the task.  Both are important and vital.

This seems to be the way of love that we are called to walk in.  God’s Word and the leading of His Spirit enable us to find the balance that preserves relationships while getting tasks done.  Sometimes they might be painful even when done wisely in love, but the way of love produces righteous fruit – both in us and in others.  Think of the Golden Rule, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”

In all situations we want to glorify the Lord.  We want our lives to accomplish His purposes and reflect His life within us.  The way of love enables us to do that day by day and His Word tells us how to do just that.  It’s up to us to embrace it.  The way of love enables us to transform situations that seem to be ‘Lose-Lose’ or ‘Win-Lose’ into Win-Win’.  Tasks get done and relationships are strengthened.

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Thursday August 21, 2014

Posted on August 21, 2014 by Don Schmidt

Psalm 43:4  Then will I go to the altar of God, to God, my joy and my delight.

What are your favorite things?  What brings you joy and delight?  Remember this song that Maria sung in The Sound of Music?

 Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens
Brown paper packages tied up with strings
These are a few of my favorite things

Cream colored ponies and crisp apple streudels
Doorbells and sleigh bells and schnitzel with noodles
Wild geese that fly with the moon on their wings
These are a few of my favorite things

Girls in white dresses with blue satin sashes
Snowflakes that stay on my nose and eyelashes
Silver white winters that melt into springs
These are a few of my favorite things

 When the dog bites
When the bee stings
When I’m feeling sad
I simply remember my favorite things
And then I don’t feel so bad

What things come to mind when you list your favorite things?  The first thought in my mind this morning when I think of my favorite things is my darling Donna.  I think of playing with my grandchildren and seeing them laugh; in beautiful sunsets; seeing flocks of Canada geese; being with our children; walks on the ocean shore; being with good friends; seeing the Ohio State Buckeyes football team win; talking about the Lord with young men and women.

Our favorite things bring us delight.  ‘Delight’ is far beyond being merely satisfied or pleased with something.  It is truly something special.  Think of the pleasure, the joy, the warm feelings – the satisfaction – the sensation of not wanting the moment to end.  These sensations are so characteristic of our favorite things.

In making this list that reflects our own personal reality, is God one of our favorite things?  Does He make the list?  Not the list that is supposed to be true of us – but the list that really describes the reality of who we are.  Is He, and our relationship with Him, a source of joy and delight?  When ‘the dog bites and the bee stings and when we’re feeling bad’ do our thoughts go to Him?  Is He at the top of our list?

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Wednesday August 20, 2014

Posted on August 20, 2014 by Don Schmidt

Proverbs 3:5, 6  Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not rely on your own understanding;  6 think about Him in all your ways, and He will guide you on the right paths.

Have you ever considered the idea that ‘trusting the Lord’ is a learned skill?  The more we do it, the better we can become at it.  Trusting the Lord comes through making daily choices as to where will we place our confidence.  It frequently involves outward decision making, such as tithing or giving when finances are tight.  We might be faced with situations that appear to require a ‘small’ inappropriate compromise in order to prevent a larger negative – like loss of a job, a sale or a relationship.

Doing the right thing is important, but trusting in the Lord offers so much more.  Think of the verse where we are commanded not to be anxious over anything (Phil 4:6).  We can do the right thing while struggling with anxiety and concern.  The children of Israel could have chosen to enter the land in spite of the giants and the negative report of the 10 spies.  They were frightened but they could have still obeyed the Lord.

A most vital component in this process is the relationship we have with the Lord.  The closer our walk is with Him, the greater is our freedom from anxiety and worry in difficult situations.  Consider the following situations and what you are likely to experience internally in each of them:

  1. You are lost, driving in a city you’ve never been in; you are in an unsavory area and your cell phone is not working; you have an important appointment to keep – if only you can find it.
  2. Same as #1 but your cell phone begins working; so you call your friend you’re meeting with – and get his voice mail.
  3. Same as # 1 but you ask someone for directions and they sound a bit confused as they give them to you.
  4. Same as #1 but you remember you have a GPS.  You plug it in; enter the address of the appointment; push the go button and you immediately know how to get there and how long it will take.

The point isn’t to go out and buy a GPS – but to recognize how different our state of being can be in different situations.  The more we learn to trust in the Lord, the more we are able to have the peaceful heart response of situation #4 while in situations like #1.

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Tuesday August 19, 2014

Posted on August 19, 2014 by Don Schmidt

2 Corinthians 5:7  We live by faith, not by sight.

Isn’t it amazing how different life can appear when seen through the eyes of faith?  I look back over my life and see so many situations where things happened that I struggled with at the time.  But later events would prove that those experiences were blessings not curses.  In fact, some of the greatest experiences I have ever had came about because of earlier disappointments where I was prevented from doing what I wanted to do.

In the midst of defeat, despair and disappointment comes hope because of faith.  In the midst of opportunity, blessing and prosperity comes gratitude and acknowledgment of His blessing because of faith.  When we read the Bible we see so many examples of people experiencing life – its ups and downs.  Some respond well – others don’t.  The constant is that God is at work in and around them.  The Lord wants us to understand that He does the same things with us.

He wants us to ‘see’ Him in everything.  This is not due to eyes of sight, but of eyes of faith. I find that when everything starts going wrong, I immediately know that God is somewhere in the middle of it, and begin to look for Him.  An initial negative reaction is replaced by the realization that God is there; we are not alone and things are not at all what they seem.

Faith leads to prayer and seeking Him to provide wisdom and understanding.  Faith causes us to use His word as our guide in how to respond whatever the situation.  Faith affirms our desire to trust the Lord and glorify Him in any way that we can.  Faith is not static – it is like a muscle that can be exercised.  The more we use it, the stronger it becomes.  Faith is the antidote to defeat.  Without it, we cannot please God.

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Monday August 18, 2014

Posted on August 18, 2014 by Don Schmidt

Revelation 1:17-18  When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. 18 I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.

Have we ever thought of what our response would be if the Lord took us to heaven in the Spirit as He did the Apostle John?  I imagine the nature of the encounter with Jesus could take on many forms.  I wonder if John ever thought about such a thing happening – and if he did, did he think that his response upon seeing Jesus would be to fall at his feet as though dead.

Of all the apostles, he is the one identified as having a special relationship with Jesus.  He is repeatedly described as the ‘one whom Jesus loved’.  That doesn’t mean that Jesus didn’t love the others; it’s just that John’s relationship with the Lord had a special love element of closeness in it.  For me, that is what makes his response in this encounter with Jesus so stirring and provocative.

We tend to think along the lines of Jesus warmly embracing someone (one of His own) who goes to heaven and encounters Him.  Sort of a welcome home, like the father greeting the prodigal son.  Joy and gladness just overflowing – and that might be the way it normally occurs.  But here we have something very different.  Does our understanding of God and the relationship that we have with Him include the aspect of what is revealed in this verse?  Can we see ourselves responding to Jesus as John did?

The fear of the Lord and the love of God are two sides of the same coin.  Jesus’ first words to John after falling at His feet as though dead were “Do not be afraid.”  It’s vital that we understand that although we are recipients of God’s love and are His children through faith in Jesus, He is the Lord of Lords and King of Kings.   In Revelation 5:11-12 John gives this glorious description:

Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders. 12 In a loud voice they sang:

“Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain,
to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength
and honor and glory and praise!”

This is our Savior and Lord.  He is the One who died for us and rose from the dead.  He is the One who loves and treasures us so; the One that we have the incredible privilege to love each and every day of our lives.  May we fully embrace His ways so that our lives do just that!

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Sunday August 17, 2014

Posted on August 17, 2014 by Don Schmidt

Mark 14: 61-62  But Jesus remained silent and gave no answer.  Again the high priest asked him, “Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One?”   62 “I am,” said Jesus. “And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.”

When we think of Jesus, what images come to mind?  Depending upon the time of year we might think of the baby of Bethlehem or Jesus upon the Cross.  Possibly we think of Jesus upon a mountain side teaching multitudes or Jesus as the Good Shepherd with a flock of sheep.

We might think of Him driving out the money changers in the temple; walking upon the water; entering Jerusalem to the cheers of the crowd; or at the Last Supper with His disciples.  There are many different images that we have of Him from Scripture.  All of them are rich in meaning and present wonderful aspects of our Lord.

This morning I was struck by the image of Jesus as He describes Himself to the high priest.  He is the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One.  When He told the high priest that they would see Him as the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven, they would have recognized His description as it appears in Daniel 6:13-14,

“In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. 14 He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all peoples, nations and men of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.”

John describes Jesus as he encountered Him in Revelation 1:12-16

“I turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me. And when I turned I saw seven golden lampstands, 13 and among the lampstands was someone “like a son of man,” dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest. 14 His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire. 15 His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters. 16 In his right hand he held seven stars, and out of his mouth came a sharp double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance. “

What a glorious picture of our Lord!  He reigns on high!  He is Lord of Lords and King of Kings! He is coming again!  No matter what is going on around us; no matter what the enemy of our souls tries to bring against us – Jesus triumphs over all!!

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