A Visit to the Dentist.

Well, what else could I call it?
For the best part of 2 months I had been making appointments to see the tooth doctor, and having to (gleefully) cancel them, for quite valid reasons. As in, my dear Joy, who is my chauffeur in stressful situations, was unavailable due to work commitments. Finally, it looked as though we had a suitable date. I had been to see him once, at which visit he told me what needed to be done: one broken tooth filled and the other, broken beyond repair, to be extracted. For which he would have to "cut your gum and then put stitches in". Stitches? How would I eat? I'm skinny enough and my appetite is poor enough that I don't need anything to make it worse! So I spent the next couple of months having nightmares about the awful thing awaiting me. On top of that, and worse, if possible, than the spectre of cut gums and bits of stitch digging into me, was the knowledge that I'd have to be lying flat on my back, with my head considerably lower than the rest of me! Oh, woe! I have sinus problems, along with an annoying, persistent cough, and I had visions of choking to death while the nurse stood there poking her little sucking device down my throat as the dentist sliced into me! Yikes! And did I mention that a 3rd tooth broke just 5 days before I went?  My appointment (the final one) was for Friday. By the previous Monday I was a basket case.
So, on Tuesday I did what any self-respecting Christian does - blurted my fears out to the ladies at the Bible study and got them to pray for me. And some of them, bless them, must have kept praying. Because, by Thursday I was feeling quite a bit calmer. Or maybe it was just a case of, well, there's nothing I can do about it, so let's just get the show on the road. Sort of like the feeling I have when we're all strapped in, the motors roar, the plane rushes forward for take off and I know there's not a thing I can do to stop it.

And now, it's all over. And wouldn't you know - more of those kisses.

 I had the idea to phone the receptionist a few days before and tell her of my anxiety about lying down. Asked her if my head could maybe be slightly elevated. She promised to talk to the dentist.  When I walked into the surgery, I couldn't believe my eyes. He had pulled the couch upright into a chair position! I blessed him for it. The anaesthetic was a breeze. Two teeth were filled in minutes, the extraction was quick and he said I didn't need any stitches! The cut closed quickly. I had been given a brochure to inform me about pain and swelling and how to handle it. From the time the anaesthetic wore off till now, 24 hours later, I haven't had a twinge of pain, or even any discomfort. 
I am so blessed and excited by the goodness of the LORD.
And it was great to wake up this morning feeling like a new person, and that a big load had lifted off me,

The Passionate Love of God for Israel.

Isaiah gives such a moving picture of God's passionate love for His people Israel. From the middle of chapter 63, are listed God's wonderful acts on behalf of His people -  He lavished compassion and extravagant love upon them, and called them His own people -  His great goodness to them, for which He deserves to be praised.
Their troubles affected Him personally. He Himself came to their aid in their troubles, time and time again. He redeemed them, and He carried them, sure that they would never betray Him.  He refers to Israel as His beloved wife. Isaiah  54 v5,6 says: Your Maker is your Bridegroom. You were like an abandoned wife and God welcomed you back.
But then, they do the unthinkable: they turn their backs on Him and run after idols. And He, in turn, withdraws from them. Our mighty God never forces His company on anyone.
As soon as Israel becomes aware of His withdrawal, she begins to moan and cry. Then she asks, almost sarcastically:
'What happened to the One Who brought His people out? What happened to His passion? His mighty acts?'
They reminded Him that He called Himself their Father. They blamed Him for their wandering and their cold hearts:  They felt sorry for themselves and begged Him to return.

Then they began to remember Who they were dealing with - a God like no other. No eye had ever seen or ear heard a God like Him. This realisation brought about a consciousness of sin in their hearts: 'our best efforts are as grease-stained rags' (TMB). They are now repentant and beg for His mercy. They are sorrowful over the destruction of the Holy Temple. Won't He please do something?
But God has been heartbroken by the unfaithfulness of His people. He had made Himself available to them, He had been there waiting for them, and they had ignored Him completely.
They had rebelled against Him and gone their own way; they had chosen to do all the things He hated. Now, He has to let them take the full consequences of their choices.
But - not all the apples in the barrel are bad. (TMB) There are still those who obey Him, the true children of Jacob. These are the ones who will inherit the land and it will be lush for them - for those who bothered to look for Him. These will receive the blessing.
For the faithful ones, He is creating new heavens and a new earth where all the pain and sorrow of the past will be forgotten. So God encourages His chosen remnant to look ahead with joyful anticipation at the blessings to come - no weeping, no death, but only prosperity and long life. No more enemies. Full satisfaction from the work of their hands. Safety and security for both man and beast.  Jerusalem itself will be a joy and a delight. And above all, the God of Israel Himself, present and dwelling with them; His ear open to their every call.
"In an outburst of anger I turned My back on you - but only for a moment. It's with lasting love that I'm tenderly caring for you." (Isaiah 54v8. TMB)


So, He is looking for those who, in simple trust, will obey Him, follow Him.
They will be persecuted for this, even by their own families. But the persecutors will be the ones who end up ashamed, when God sits as Judge. Those who love Him, He will comfort as a mother comforts her child, in Jerusalem, His residence. From every nation, His emisaries will bring those who will come and worship the King on His holy mountain.

God is love. And this is what He is like. Not sterile, clinical, distant and detached. But, as in His love for Israel, He is fiery in His passion for you; everlastingly faithful; giving everything He has, His whole self, in order to have a deep, intimate relationship with  you. How can you refuse love like that?

And the Kisses Keep Coming!

The other day I went to my support group meeting. It's for those women who are currently undergoing stressful situations in their lives. Some have family members with Parkinsons Disease or some kind of dementia, or other health issues, and for whom these women are the carers at some level. Others are grappling with different personal problems - most have a history of some kind of trauma and heartache. We usually have a visiting speaker, someone who gives her story of how she has gone through difficult times and how the LORD has helped her. Afterwards, time is given to prayer.
Last week, a lady named Mae told us of how she and her daughter cared for her husband, as he was dying at home. We sensed the heartache she had endured during those painful days, the support her daughter was to her, the times they could even find something to laugh at through their tears.
After she spoke, Mae wanted to pray for us. She prayed over each one individually, and some of the other women also joined in the prayer. When it came to my turn, I sat on the "hot seat", i.e. the coffee table, and Mae took my hands and began to pray. I was blown away by what happened. Talk about kisses from the LORD! I got a whole bunch!
In her prayer for me, Mae said, (and I'm paraphrasing - can't remember exact words): The mountains surround Jerusalem and so the LORD's love surrounds you. Point: Mae doesn't know of my love for and connection to Jerusalem.
She said: I see you as a bride under the chuppah - so beloved - the LORD delights in you.
(Again, the link with Israel).
Next, from what I remember, she said: "The LORD is your husband." She knows nothing of my life, nor could she know that this is the second time I've had this message from Him.
She said many other things I can't remember now. But at the end of her prayer, one of the other women spoke up and said that when Mae mentioned the bride under the chuppah, this lady had a picture of Jesus lifting up the veil and kissing me on my mouth. She didn't know that just the day before, I had been thinking about the subject of kissing on the mouth and how much I disliked it, because of the men friends of my father who had insisted on inappropriately kissing a little girl, leaving me feeling dirty and fearful. So now the LORD was bringing healing to me by His own gentle, loving kiss.
She also said that as He kissed me, Jesus breathed into me and I was now living by His life! Again, she had no knowledge of my experience in the hospital ICU, when He told me that "the breath of the Almighty gives me life".
It was amazing to have the LORD's confirmation, through people who had no knowledge of my situation, of things He had already told me. It was such a reassurance of His care of and interest in me.
Then, yesterday, there was a women's meeting, taking the place of our usual Bible study. After the talk, people were called up for prayer and others were called up to pray for them. I just sat in my seat, praying quietly, trying not to feel rejected because I hadn't been asked to pray for anyone. Suddenly I knew He was there! He reached out His arms and after a moment or two I realised He was wearing His tallith - His prayer shawl. He enfolded me in the tallith and held me to His chest. I could feel my face glowing with His presence - though I doubt anyone noticed it. It was a sublime few moments of being held within His wings, experiencing His love, until it faded and my face cooled down.
I don't know why He has been giving me these foretastes of Heaven, but I'm just so happy to have them. And to know I'm loved - really loved!
 

A Study in Contrasts

In the book of Isaiah, chapter 40, there is the most amazing study in contrasts.
The LORD God is giving a discription of Himself through the prophet. So we have some fantastic word pictures:

"See, the Sovereign LORD comes with power
And His arm rules for Him....
With the breadth of His hand (He has) marked off the heavens...
Before Him, all the nations are as nothing...
He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth...
The LORD is the everlasting God,
Creator of the ends of the earth...
He will not grow tired or weary."

But in the midst of all this might and power, there is another description
of this awe-inspiring God - and it's so different:

"He tends His flock like a shepherd,
He gathers the lambs in His arms
And carries them close to His heart;
He gently leads those with young."


What a contrast! So gentle, so tender.

The LORD of the spinning constellations, and the dark depths of the oceans, to Whom the nations are a drop in a bucket, stoops to the weakest ones of His creation as a Shepherd and cradles those ones to His chest.

A picture comes to my mind:
A little child runs towards her Daddy on unsteady feet.. Oops! She trips and falls, flat on the ground, where she lies with sobs and tears. Her Daddy, this tall man in the prime of his years, with powerful arms and legs and rippling muscles, strides to his child. Bending down, he lifts her up  with big, gentle hands and folds her against his strong chest.  He rocks her tenderly, whispering comforting words to her until the sobs subside and she's calm once more.

What an awesome God we have!

Kisses from the LORD.

Did you know that the LORD drops a kiss on your cheek every so often? Have you ever had one?
I had two on a recent birthday.
About a year ago I was in hospital ICU. For 3 days after surgery I had been unconscious and unable to breathe on my own. I woke up with a lot of hardware and tubes down my throat and into my chest. And every hour or two the nurse would come and check the machines to see if I could breathe on my own. But no. After a day and night of this, I began to be worried that I might not ever be able to breathe normally again. I was praying in a kind of panic. Then, at a certain point in the midst of a  "Help LORD", very clearly I heard Him say: "The breath of the Almighty gives you life." I knew it was from Scripture, and remembered later that it was from Job. Immediately the fear left, and I turned the corner. Two days later I was home.

On my birthday a few days ago, I woke up and lay listening to a local radio station. I had been becoming concerned about the state of my lung, with all the coughing I was doing lately.  Suddenly my ear caught the announcer's voice, reading a Scripture, Yes, it was THAT one.
"The breath of the Almighty gives me life."
He was reminding me that He is still the One Who enables me to breathe and I need have no concern about it.

Later that same day, I was feeling mega tired. Needing to prepare supper, I was leaning against the fridge, asking the LORD to give me His strength. Just then the phone went, A voice I didn't recognise told me she was someone I'd met some time ago at a support group. She was calling to say Happy Birthday, Then she said "... and the LORD is giving you the strength you need to do whatever you have to do."
Wow!
Two kisses on one day.
How's that?