“Steve from Berkley” was what everyone called him. I’ve written about him before. He has left an indelible mark on my life.

His long stringy hair was oily and gray. His beard was scraggly. We usually met in the dining room, but when I arrived at the nursing home to see him near the end of his life, he was unable to get out of bed.

When I first met him a couple years prior to his death, he was in a federal prison hospital. Thirty some-odd years before, he had robbed a bank. Though behind bars and confined to a wheelchair, his heart had soared in freedom. Freedom of the Spirit. Freedom from sin.

Now, on this visit, he was out of prison on compassionate release, but he was bedridden and near death. When he saw me, his smile grew from one ear to another. He sat up a little and stretched out his hand for a hug.

I don’t remember of what we spoke, not that particular day, but I do know that it was typical of him to brag of God’s grace and mercy. Even near death, Steve from Berkley was full of joy. In fact, his joy, while always full, now seemed to flood the entire nursing home.

I hope and pray that, when my time comes to leave this world, my joy grows by leaps and bounds. In fact, Why wait? — Lord, let the joy that you gave me overflow to those around me.

The Gospel of John seems to have more red font in it than any other. It is chocked full of the words of Christ. Reading through it this morning my heart stuck on three of the countless things that Christ says in chapters 14 and 15… The promises. It is those promises that compelled me to remember Steve from Berkley.

John 14:18 “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.”

John 14:27 “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.”

John 15:11″These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.”

Joy, from what I can see in John, is not a decision we make, not a discipline, and not an attitude. It is a gift from Christ all we have to do is receive it.

There is no doubt that death is scary, even for Christians like Steve from Berkley. It is a lone journey; no one may join us.

Yet Christ promises us that we shall never be alone. Always. Even until the ends of the earth, Christ is with us, holding our hands, gently leading us along, sharing His joy.

God Leads His Dear Children Along

In shady, green pastures, so rich and so sweet,
God leads His dear children along;
Where the water’s cool flow bathes the weary one’s feet,
God leads His dear children along.

1. • Refrain:
     Some through the waters, some through the flood,
     Some through the fire, but all through the blood;
     Some through great sorrow, but God gives a song,
     In the night season and all the day long.

2. Sometimes on the mount where the sun shines so bright,
   God leads His dear children along;
   Sometimes in the valley, in darkest of night,
   God leads His dear children along.

3. Though sorrows befall us and Satan oppose,
   God leads His dear children along;
   Through grace we can conquer, defeat all our foes,
   God leads His dear children along.

4. Away from the mire, and away from the clay,
   God leads His dear children along;
   Away up in glory, eternity’s day,
   God leads His dear children along

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For several years I’ve been reading stories of the miraculous things happening in the persecuted Church: stories of Christ appearing to Muslims in dreams and visions; stories of Christians protected by angels; stories of lions appearing to rescue Christians about to be beheaded. Many more such stories have been told. Are they believable? I believe that God is working in miraculous ways.

I have communicated with a handful of Christians native to persecuted areas. Many have now vanished from social media and email. I know this about them: they felt abandoned by the Church in the West, if not by God; they felt alone.

It is in our nature to sometimes feel alone in the struggle of righteousness, even here in the US. It is both easy and self-serving to believe we are the only ones standing against the post-Christian version of Baal worship. In truth, the Church in the West may be fooling itself into believing we are a part of the Church at all. Our faith paddles in comparison to the faith of Christians in Africa.

We in America may be a type of Church of Pergamum while the Church in Africa and the Middle East is the Church at Smyrna (see Revelation 2:8-17).

Yet, know matter how often or to what degree any of us feel abandoned, we never stand alone. God always has a remnant. Just as Elijah knew nothing of his 7000 contemporaries who had not bowed down to Baal, Christians worldwide are refusing to bow to the false gods of this world. We are not alone, even when we stand unto death.

Christ said, “For I am with you always, even into the end of the earth.” He is with us, and there is always a remnant.

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In 1 Thessalonians chapter 4, Paul speaks to Christians – those who have believed on and followed in the footsteps of Jesus Christ. He tells them they need to be sanctified. They need to live a holy life. He emphasizes that they should turn away from sexual immorality. Today, we see that he encourages them to love one another (and others) more and more.

You see, love is what sets Christians apart from the rest of the world. For mortal man, it may be difficult to love someone outside our immediate family (sometimes, it is not easy to love those within our immediate family). For Christians, love – even love for others and love for our enemies – should come as natural as love for our own children.

If loving others does not come natural, then you should prayerfully and persistently seek sanctification. Ask God to rid you of worldly love, lust, selfishness, pride, and hatred, and fill you with His Holy Spirit. He will. He will perfect His love within your life. When one is filled with the Holy Spirit, one is surprised by love… a deeper love than you thought possible.

We seem to be living near the end of days and Satan has begun one final offensive in the battle against the saints of God. As a result, many Christians have ducked for cover, and are not reaching out to others in love as they should; instead many are looking out only for themselves and their closest loved ones.

We must resist fear. We must stand up to evil and call it by name. We must look evil in the eye and expel it in the name of Jesus. And we must do it all in love.

Remember, Christ sacrificed His life for the sins of the world, not just for you and me (and not just those who agree with our viewpoint). That person that we think is so evil… that one who is causing so many problems in the world…he or she may be the next Saul who finds Christ on the road to Damascus and becomes the next Apostle Paul.

We must love our enemies. Pray for those who threaten us, abuse us, and persecute us. Remember, they, too, need to know God and His love.

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An old story circulates throughout Southeast Kansas about a family that lived on the frontier in the days immediately after the Civil War. The family, named Bender, were infamous. They lived on a major trail that connected the Frontier to Indian Territory and took in boarders, some of which they robbed and murdered. When exposed, they slipped out of Kansas and onto Indian lands without ever getting caught. Their misdeeds were so notorious that they were mentioned in a novel of Rose Wilder Lane.

Father Paul Ponziglione, a Jesuit missionary, once encountered that family at their inn. The Benders were hospitable, offered food and a place to lay his head at a reasonable price. The weather was turning, and a storm threatened from the horizon. Thunder rolled across the sky, sounding like a barrel rolling off a moving wagon. The night promised to be frightful. At first, he agreed, for home was a day’s journey away. As the storm brewed, a voice whispered in his heart: “Leave this place. It is not safe.”

Embarrassed, the priest made his apologies and steered his covered wagon with its team of oxen up the road. An hour or so later, he made his way off the road and into a secluded grove, out of sight of the Bender family. Later, when recounting this story for a historian, he testified that he knew the voice he heard was the voice of God.

It is not always easy to hear the voice of God, especially in the midst of a storm, but it is possible if we train our hearts to listen. We read of a storm in the Gospel of Mark, chapter 4. Jesus and His disciples were on the sea of Galilee when a storm blew in. Some of the disciples were professional fishermen, from a long line of fishermen, and they were scared for their lives. The shallow-drafted, flat-bottom boat was nearly swamped. They cried out to Jesus, who was sleeping near the stern. With the words, “Peace, be still,” he calmed the stormy sea.

God does not always calm the storm when we cry out. Sometimes, he wishes to speak to us through the storm, as he did to Elijah in 1 Kings 19:11-13. God’s voice is often heard in the midst of a storm. In my own life, I often hear him best when I have taken refuge from a storm, holed-up in a shelter of my own making, on a sea with fishermen who are in uncharted waters, or flat on my back, with nowhere else to turn but to the heavens. I cry out in desperation to God, “Please, Father, calm the storm before I am drowned.”

In the midst of every storm, without fail I hear my Savior speaking, “Peace be still.” In. Every. Single. Storm. I hear His precious voice.

Sometimes He says them to the storm. Other times, He says them to me.

“Steve, peace… Be still,” he says. Upon hearing His words, I no longer worry about the storm that rages around me.

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Sheltered in the Arms of God

So let the storms rage high
The dark clouds rise
They don’t worry me
For I’m sheltered safe within the arms of God

He walks with me
And naught of earth shall harm me
For I’m sheltered in the arms of God

-Jimmie Davis and Dottie Rambo

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As part of the treatment, they placed our boy under an oxygen tent to keep him cool, something that he was too young to understand. He was afraid. As parents it was difficult to watch him cry and reach out to us and not be able to hold him. 

We neither one could resist; our son wanted us… needed us. One at a time, we would crawl under the oxygen tent and into bed with him. We held him and reassured him until he was ready to come home a week later. 

If we, as fallible human parents, possess the irresistible urge to treat our children with such loving care, can we ever begin to imagine the loving care of our perfect Heavenly Father?

Reach out to Him, and he will comfort you and hold you. 

Fear Not. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. 

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Why do I think that is a possibility? One reason is this passage from Romans 8:15-16

The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.”

When the Prodigal Son repented, he had made up his mind that he would be content to be a slave on his father’s estate. His father, though, would have none of that. This was his son, and he would remain his son. This concept of slave versus child is presented both by Paul and by Christ.

So what distinguishes a slave from a child? Why is it important enough that both Paul and Christ use the theme?. A slave in the Roman Empire had limited rights. He or she was property and could be bought or sold. A slave was at the mercy of the master, for better or worse.

A child, however, not only had far greater rights under the law, but was also loved. To the child, the head of the house was not named Master, but Father.

We’re you ever scared as a child? I remember being scared and crawling in bed with my parents and clinging to their side. I remember calling out, “Mommy” or “Daddy!” That’s what Abba means… Daddy (literally, papa). The loving protection of the Father is what distinguishes the child from the slave.

Isn’t it great to know that because we are children of our Heavenly Father that He loves us and will protect us? We don’t need to fear, but if we do, He wants us to call to Him, take His hand, and cling to His side.

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Have you ever been afraid? I mean really afraid? Afraid for your life? Anyone of a certain age has likely been afraid of dying. Most everyone has been afraid of failure at some point. Everyone is afraid at some point in his or her life.

I have recently been afraid, deathly afraid, dealing with health issues. Tonight, I went to bed afraid, thinking about things eternal, regrets, and failures. Tuning in to “Night Sounds,” as I do most every night at bedtime, I heard the late Bill Pierce quote the verse above.

I have heard many preachers say that fear is a lack of faith and others that proclaim fear an evil spirit, but I don’t think I have ever heard a sermon based on the verse above.

According to John, fear is the result of imperfect love. Am I afraid? Then, it is because I don’t love Christ enough. Hmmmm… This is something to ponder.

One of my goals in life is to perfect my love for Christ, family, and others. Perhaps, as I draw nearer to Christ, my fear will dissipate. I hope so.

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