Over at the Colley House right now (www.thecolleyhouse.org) we’re featuring a special on the Hannah’s Hundred series. It’s four CDs of memory verses set to music. That’s 4OO verses in all and your kids (and you) will be singing them in no time. A few minutes each day in the car or as they are falling asleep at night puts the Word in their hearts for a lifetime. This is how our kids memorized scripture and your kids can, too. Coincidentally, my daughter Hannah sent me a sample this week of some kids she baby-sits as they are learning the verses. They may be a bit fuzzy on the tune, but they’ve got the scripture down!

There is a fear of God that is counter-productive.

Obviously, the one talent man let his fear of the wrath of his lord inhibit his faithful service to him. While the scriptures clearly teach that our God is a God of wrath in the presence of rebellion, the scriptures plainly teach that He is longsuffering to those who obey him and not willing that any should perish (II Peter 3:9). (It’s interesting that this passage about God’s longsuffering nature is in the context of one of the descriptions of the last day.) I recently studied with a friend who obeyed the gospel with a tender penitence and a will to learn and grow. One night not long after her baptism she asked me this question: “What do I do when I sin? …I mean I am trying, but, truthfully, I mess up a lot. Do I need to be baptized again?”

I had unwittingly failed to teach her the important concept from I John 1:7 about the assurance of continual cleansing given to those who walk in the light. I’ll never forget how relieved she was when we studied this teaching from this and other passages. I’m so thankful that she asked the question when she did. Had she gone very long without knowing this assurance she, like the one talent man, would have just thrown in the towel, knowing that she could never attain the sinless perfection she thought was required. God was pleased with the five talent man and the two talent man, not because they were perfect, but because they were faithful. He was displeased with the one talent man, not because of a low-yielding investment of talent, but because he failed to invest the talent at all. In fact, the lord described him as wicked and slothful. We must strive to be perfectly holy in his sight (forgiven Christians walking in His holy light), for we can never be wholly perfect.

This week I finally took the time to sort and mail all of the wonderful cards of encouragement that you sent to women during the holidays. I was possibly the woman who was encouraged most of all because I now know that you are out there, you are reading and you really do care about our great sisterhood. There were stacks of this mail and it was a bit reminiscent of the courtroom scene on “Miracle on 34th Street.” It made me really believe. Of course, it wasn’t about Santa Claus, but it made me believe in our power, as God’s women to bring glory to Him. It made me sure of the reality of your spirit of compassion. I cannot recall being so blessed by a show of support for each other as sisters. Thank you for responding so generously of your time and effort. Entire congregations of women participated. Lone women in remote places participated. I cannot imagine a way that such an outpouring could fail to bless the lives of the ten women to whom the mail was, at last, addressed. If you are one of the women who received a stack of letters,  you do not have to respond, but in the case that you would like to do so, please feel free to let me hear from you and I will post your message here on the blog. You can choose to continue to remain anonymous if you wish to do so. You may email byhcontest@gmail.com.

Next. let me say to those of you who have been wanting to purchase a “bundle” that includes all four Hannah’s Hundred CDs  and only those CDs, we’ve made that available on www.thecolleyhouse.org. It’s called the “Memory Special” and, for a limited time, you will be able to purchase any four CDs for the price of three. It’s a nice gift for each of four children in your life or a great family Bible time helper for your home.

I hope we are all back on track if we lost our quiet times during the December rush. Whether you are Digging Deep or studying on your own, get with it. If you are digging, we are into some amazing lives in the Old Testament. We can’t help but grow as we look at these sanctified  men.

Now, back to the series on the Parable of the Talents. This is part four.

Responsibility increases with growth.

The five talent man and the two talent man, upon being found faithful in a few things were made rulers over many things.  The application for us is too glaring to overlook. Ladies, when we have been Christians for decades, we are responsible for growing, protecting and sanctifying the kingdom!  Let me just list a few examples of responsibilities that grow and evolve with time and maturity.

• Just as a new baby does not have the ability to ingest and digest solid food, those who are new sisters may easily trip up over teachings that are foreign to the culture from which they came.  As a mature Christian, I need to be watching for the things that make them stumble. I need to be looking for them at all the services, checking on them when they are absent, constantly asking if they have concerns or questions with which I can help. I need to be asking them to lunch and constantly showing them the happy spirit of Christ and making them feel a part of the family. This is a responsibility that should be happily shared by all the sisters in any congregation. It is even a good idea to keep a small class going for new sisters. This special time that they have together to ask questions of a seasoned veteran in the Lord’s cause can be of immeasurable help to them in their new walk with the Lord.
• The fourteen year old girls in my congregation may not fully comprehend the importance of modesty in dress. After all, I would not want them to fully understand the workings of a normal man’s mind when he views a scantily clothed girl. But I’ve been married for years. I understand.  I must be constantly forging friendships with them, so that they know that I love them when I tell them to wear a camisole under that blouse or advise them not to attend the pool party.
• Certainly the Titus two admonition for older women to teach younger women falls into the category of responsibilities that grow with maturity. This is not a suggestion to older women. It’s a command with a stated result: “that the word of God be not blasphemed” (Titus 2:5).  That’s a powerful burden for mature Christian women. Are we serious about this command?

My responsibility to help the elders of my congregation becomes evident as I mature.  I used to think that the elders were the ones who had all the responsibility to bring back the lost sheep.  Galatians 6:1 says it’s those who are spiritual who share this responsibility with the elders.  When I am troubled by the unfaithfulness or infidelity of a sister in Christ, I often go to one or more of our elders and say, “I would love to help Laura to come back to faithfulness. Can you think of something I can do?” Often I am commissioned by the elders to go to lunch with her or to confront her about a particular attitude or action. Sometimes the information she may share with me as a sister is valuable in helping the elders bring her to full restoration. Sometimes when her heart is hardened, my attempts help the elders know the best course of action to follow in purifying the body and protecting it from her leavening influence.

The dividends of the investment are not always direct and immediate.

It’s interesting that the unfaithful servant stated that his fear was born of his understanding that the Lord expected to reap where he had not sowed (v.25). His lord went on in verse 26 to acknowledge the accuracy of that statement. What does it mean to reap where you have not sowed and to gather where you have not strawed?

I’ve often thought about the many unexpected blessings that daily come to me because I have chosen to give my abilities in His service. Sometimes the avenue of opportunity that I see may not be the one the Lord chooses for His greatest glory. I remember a time in my life when I desperately wanted more children. My husband and I went to fertility specialists and spent large sums of money on procedures and drugs to enhance our chances of conception. But it was not to be. Then we proceeded with the process of adoption. We again spent a sum of money, planned for the promised arrival date, and even planned with my doctor about how I could breastfeed this baby girl. Our house was filled with excitement. But again, the plan went awry at the last moment and, again, I was devastated. I just knew that surely the Lord wanted me to raise more kids who would one day be in heaven.

Looking back now, at age 48 (my age at this writing), I see things differently. There have been countless opportunities to reap where I have not sowed. I think of four children who are being raised by godly Christian parents today in the state of Mississippi. I could not raise these children to have a great faith in the Lord, but I was able to be instrumental in teaching their mother the gospel as my teenage daughter got to know them through baby-sitting and my son became their family’s piano teacher and they began to frequently visit my home for these lessons. Their mother and father can raise them to be great in the kingdom. Perhaps if I had been raising that house full of kids that I wanted, I would not have taken the time to study and talk with this young mother every week. Perhaps I would have been raising my kids for Him, but maybe these four precious children would be lost. Sometimes I think about my own two children. While the credit is surely not mine, I am very thankful that, by the grace of God, they walk in the truth. I could never have imagined that my son would be preaching powerful sermons and that my daughter would, through her writing and speaking, be influencing hundreds of young ladies to seek first the kingdom. While, in my younger years, I was just thinking about getting my own children to heaven, but the Lord was planning to reach others through them. I’m so amazed at His ability to multiply the seeds sown and to truly reap through me where I did not sow. His ripple effect is always larger than I could imagine.

Now I pray daily for the seeds of our teaching. I pray that He will take those tiny seeds that we plant when we write and speak and produce a harvest far greater than anything we could imagine. He is the Lord of the harvest and I stand amazed at the places where He can reap.

Who would have thought? Here I am on Halloween day with a big red bloodshot eye sitting in an urgent care office in Jacksonville, Alabama. The pharmaceutical rep at the window was dressed in a witch’s costume. I’ve seen all sorts of goblins already today, but the very first was when I looked in the mirror upon awakening. I believe I am about to receive a diagnosis of pink-eye!

You never know what a day may hold. A few days ago, some faithful people in Bremen, Georgia woke up in a near-perfect world, only to end the day hoping against hope that their near perfect 18-year-old son would survive what appeared to be a fatal car crash. He passed away two days later. Two young children in Michigan awoke a few days ago in fairly normal circumstances in a Christian home. By the end of the trauma that began that day, both parents had been placed in facilities in which they could receive care for mental breakdowns. The ravaging storms that have blasted our eastern seaboard in recent days found some coastal families on cruise ships. They have yet to return to find out whether or not the homes left behind have safely survived the tempest. In all of these situations, emergencies surprised families and there was absolutely no way the individuals involved could have been fully prepared.

Emergency preparedness is a common catchword among government service groups and volunteer organizations of all kinds. It has applications in situations of terror, war, natural disasters and ecology. Have you ever considered that the most important sort of preparedness is spiritual emergency preparedness?

Jesus described several spiritual emergencies in His parables and accounts. The rich man of Luke 15 certainly found himself in a situation of dire emergency after his passing –a situation about which he could do absolutely nothing “for there was a great gulf fixed.” Others were given opportunity to respond to emergency situations. Think of the prodigal son and the desperate condition in which he found himself as he became famished in the pigpen. Although, his situation was self-imposed, his response, in the end was a self-imposed emergency response that led him home and back to the father’s table.

We all come to grips with a spiritual emergency during this life. The catalyst of the emergency (the storm) is our own sin and the dire situation (life in the balance) is the prospect of eternal hell. Sometimes we wake up in the morning and we have no idea how the devil is going to try to take us down on that very day! Our emergency response is critical to our eternal safety. What’s in your spiritual emergency preparedness kit?

Do you have water? The living water about which Jesus spoke in his conversation with the woman at the well (John 4:10) is a staple of any spiritual preparation as is the Bread of Life (John 6:35). Do you have it? What about necessary medications, balms and bandages? Do you have the prescriptions of the Great Physician at the ready (Luke 5:31)? Have you included the Balm of Gilead (Jer. 8:22)? Have you procured a place of shelter–a refuge–and have you notified your family and friends of the location of this shelter (Heb. 6:18)? What about a means of communication so that you can receive important instructions for survival (Ps. 119:50)? What about a means by which you can speak to your support system (Ps. 55:17)? Do you have a plan of escape or recovery (I Cor. 10:13)?

See, if you and I wait until the day of judgement, we will have sinned away the time of hope. Judgment, for the unprepared, then, will be the ultimate emergency and there will be no survivors amongst them. We must work, study, pray and grow now–in the time of relative ease, for the day of emergency does not come upon invitation. It comes unexpectedly (II Peter 3:10). One day, you will get up in the morning to what appears to be a normal day. But it will be the judgement day. Are you prepared?