Alzheimer’s and Mom

It has been just two years since my mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, and she does not know me anymore. Her disease keeps her in perpetual motion, walking and “cleaning” continuously in the nursing facility where she resides. A couple of the Faith Bible Church deacons visited her recently and read Scripture with her. She was completing the verses as they read them. What a joy for me to hear that! Her life has not been easy here on earth. Her father died when she was twelve, and her mother withdrew into emotional immobility. As I was a child my parents were in a bad car accident, and she spent years in continual pain. She outlived two husbands. It is so encouraging that the one thing that she can recall is God’s Word!

Psalm 119.11.2

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Thinking about 1 Thessalonians 5:16-22

The last few weeks I have been reading and re-reading 1 Thessalonians 5:16-22. I’m supposed to “rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks” (NASB). And then Paul says that ‘this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus” (NASB). I’m supposed to have continual joy. I’m supposed to be talking to God, expressing my dependence on Him all day, throughout the day. I’m supposed to thank Him for everything that enters my life. Why do I so oftenSteve on trail fail? For me, I am not walking ‘by the Spirit’ as Paul says in Galatians 5:16. The Holy Spirit is the one who replicates the life of Christ in me. The Spirit produces joy and thankfulness in me that is not contingent on my circumstances. So again, this morning I come to the Lord and confess my self-dependence instead of God-dependence. Lord please fill me with your Spirit. Instead of me thinking that I need to figure out the path, You know the path. Help me trust you. Father, please replicate the life of Jesus in me today.

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