Tag: God’s love

Can I Get a Cat?

On By LindaIn short stories4 Comments

“Can I get a cat?” Rachel asked her parents yet again.

And yet again her parents  tried to explain to her that it was impossible. They already had a cat-hating dog. If they adopted a cat, it wouldn’t be able to live safely with them in their tiny trailer. It would most likely become dog food.

But she couldn’t understand that. Dogs and cats can live together. She had seen and read enough to know that was true. But then, that was probably in someone else’s world, not her’s.

“God, someday, can I get a cat?”

Things changed when they moved to their new house.  A two-story house! Surely there was lots of room to add a cat!

“Can I get a cat now?” she asked.

“No, we told you. We can’t have a cat while Spike is around. He doesn’t like cats.”

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Not the answer she wanted, so she went over their heads once again.

“God, will You give me a cat?”

 

So it was with great delight that she found a kitten while on a bike ride with her family.  It was so tiny and so alone and so scared. This had to be her cat!

“It looks sick,” her dad said.

“We can’t leave it here. She needs to go to the vet,” her mom said.

Rachel added her voice to her mother’s, and secretly thanked God for her kitten.

They made a bed for it in the garage, and Rachel spent as much time with it as she could.

“Can we keep her?” she asked her parents.

“No, we’ve already explained. We can’t have a cat with Spike. He will end up killing her. We need to find this kitten a home.”

As her parents tried to find a home for this kitten, Rachel intensified her prayers to God.

“Don’t let them find a home. Don’t let them find a home. Don’t let them find a home.”

As the days became weeks, Rachel’s mom couldn’t understand why she couldn’t find anyone who wanted a kitten. But Rachel knew why.

And so did God. He knew that Rachel was going to need Cassi  to help her through some very rough teen years. So He protected Cassi as she went from living in the garage to living upstairs in Rachel’s room. And over next 15 years, Cassi became a symbol to the whole family of His love and compassion and how He sets things in motion, often years in advance, to take care of needs that only He can see. What an amazing God!

What If Statues Came Alive?

On By LindaIn short stories4 Comments

“Really?” She raised her eyebrows at him with disbelief. “You mean, for real?”

“Yeah, for real. Want to?” He smiled at her playfully.

“It’s storming outside!”

“No, it’s just raining now. The lightning is gone. It’ll be safe.”

“But it’s…” she looked at her watch, “two in the morning!”

“So?”

She didn’t answer.

“You afraid of the rain?”

“No. I love the rain.”

“So, let’s go!”

” But what if there’s someone else out there? Someone who might hurt us or rob us or something?”

“No one is going to be out there. It’s raining!”

“We’re going to be out there.”

“Yeah, but we’re crazy.”

Reluctantly she agreed. This was probably going to be one of the stupider ideas he’s had. Walking  down a street, in the middle of the night, in the rain?

But as they walked, hand in hand, hair and clothes plastered to their bodies, she had to admit it was fun. Way more fun than saying good bye to him and driving that long drive home.

Laughing with delight in the experience, they made their way to the end of the road, where they came to his church.

“Hey, let’s go inside,” he suggested.

“Won’t it be locked?”

“Nope. They never lock the door.”

“What if someone sees us? We’re a mess!”

“Who’s going to be there in the middle of the night? Besides us, that is.” He laughed again.

So she agree and they went inside.

“We should leave,” she said, looking at the floor. “We’re getting the floor all wet.”

“Don’t worry. It’ll evaporate.”

They walked down the center aisle and looked around at the stained glass and the large statues all around them.

“Just imagine if these statues came alive,” he said.

“That would be spooky.”

“But what if they did? What would they say?”

She shrugged. “I don’t know.” She wasn’t so sure she liked this game.

As they turned around to head back out, a large statue of Jesus caught their eyes.

“I have an idea,” he said. “Let’s imagine that statue of Jesus coming alive and coming down the aisle to stand right in front of us. And let’s listen to what He would say.”

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“He’d probably say we’re being stupid for being here instead of at home, considering tomorrow is a work day, and…”

He cut her off. “Let’s just see, OK? Close your eyes and listen.”

She sighed, but did as he asked.

Within seconds, an image filled her mind. An image of Jesus standing in front of her, looking at her with so much love all she could do was gaze at Him. Then He put His arms around her encouragingly, and walked her out of the church saying, “Let’s do it together.”

“Well, anything?” he interrupted her imaginings.

She shared what she had seen, and he smiled. “That’s pretty much what I got too.. Jesus loving me and holding me in His arms.”

As they left the church,  awed at His response to their silly game., she was filled with thankfulness to the amazing God who loved her and promised to do life with her.  Even in the rain.

A Rose of Affirmation

On By LindaIn short stories2 Comments

She was feeling down. Again. Seems she was always feeling down these days.

Her first year walking with Jesus had been amazing. Full of surprises  and discoveries. This second year so far has not been like that. She seemed to be frequently plagued with self-doubts and confusion.

This latest doubt centered on the baptism experience everyone seemed to be talking about. The Holy Spirit baptism. One of incredible joy and power. Or so she had been told. She had yet to experience that for herself. She knew the drill. Ask for the baptism. Get someone to lay hands on her and pray along with her. Yield to the Holy Spirit. Then He comes in with all His glory. Or at least as much of it as humans can take.

She had done all that. Several times. She never felt any of the joy people spoke of. In fact, she never felt anything, and she didn’t feel any different now than before all those prayers. So, what was the problem? Certainly it couldn’t be with the Holy Spirit. It had to be with her. She must be defective somehow. So how could she be an effective witness for God if she was not even capable of receiving this baptism? And how could she pray or worship God if she was this defective? How could He even be even a little pleased with her when she was so broken?

She was desperate to talk to someone about this. To open up and share her doubts and feelings. But she was alone. She asked the Lord to bring someone into her life who she could discuss this with her, help her make sense of it all, but no one came.

So on this night, she went to bed with her thoughts and doubts and feelings swirling around in her head.  As she thought about everything that had happened to her since her encounter with Jesus the year before, she fell asleep. When she awoke, she was surprised to find a pleasant feeling of relief had replaced the confused desperation of the night before. It was as if she had talked out her doubts and fears with someone while she slept.

“You did. With Me.” But she didn’t hear the quiet whisper as she prepared for the day.

A little while later, her eyes grew wide as she saw the rose one of her students was carrying. The rose was the biggest and prettiest she had ever seen. And it had just been handed to her! She was speechless!

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In the past, in that first year of exciting experiences, many times  after she had struggled between God and her doubts and had chosen to believe God, she would receive a gift from someone the next day. She had come to see those gifts as a pat on the back from God for making the right decision.

So she knew this amazing rose came from her amazing God! The student may have handed it to her, but she knew it was really God Himself handing her the rose. And in her spirit, she could hear Him say, “How can you say I am not pleased with you? You are my daughter! I am well pleased with you. You are OK just the way you are!”

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Just Like… The Kitten in the Woods

On By LindaIn short stories14 Comments

“Let’s try this trail!” My son pointed to a narrow trail through a little piece of woods that bordered the street we were bicycling on.

“It looks hard,” I answered. “Maybe we should get off our bikes.”  Inside, I was picturing riding down the steep slope, hitting that hump at the bottom, and flying off into the trees.

“Nah, we can handle it,” my husband said as he took off, my son right behind him.

My daughter and I watched the boys disappear over the hump, then turned to look at each other.

“You go next,” I told my daughter. I still wasn’t sure this was a smart thing for a middle aged lady to do.

After watching her navigate the path as smoothly as the boys, I cautiously started off. Gaining speed, I almost screamed when I hit the hump but managed to stay on the bike even as I made the turn that lay right behind it. When I came to a stop, the others cheered. We walked our bikes a few more steps around some branches when my daughter stopped us.

“Do you hear that?” she asked.

We listened quietly a few minutes before we heard it too.

Just like I heard you when you called to Me.

“It’s coming from over there.” My husband pointed across the little stream that ran by the trail.

It took a few more minutes before we spotted the tiny gray form. It was on the other side of the stream, meowing pitifully. It would look at us, then try to cross the cold water. After several unsuccessful tries,  it gave up and paced up and down the edge of the water, looking at us as it continued to cry. She couldn’t get to us, so we decided to find a way to get to her.

Just like I did when I went to the cross for you.

It wasn’t until we got back home with the tiny kitten that we discovered just how bad a shape she was in.

cassi - CopyShe was very young, probably less than a month, wet, cold, covered with fleas. One eye was closed, covered with a brown crusty film, and her other eye wasn’t that much better off. There was a smelly discharge coming from her ears, and she had a kind of wheezing cough.

Just like you were when I found you.

Even so, we fell in love with her immediately. We saw past the disease and filth to the vulnerable and sweet kitten that she was.

Just like I see past all your sins and failures to the lovely treasure you are.

Even though we couldn’t imagine loving her any more than we already did, we knew we couldn’t leave her in that condition.

Just like I couldn’t leave you in your condition.

“She’s going to the vet first thing tomorrow,” my husband said. “She looks pretty sick.”

“She must be hungry. What can we feed her?” I asked. We had some dog food in the house but no cat food.

“We can ask next door,” my daughter said. “They have a cat.”

“Good idea!”

Our neighbor was generous but the kitten couldn’t eat any of the dry cat food.

“Maybe she’s too young. What else can we try? She has to eat something before tomorrow.” I said.

“What about tuna fish?” my son asked.

“Sure, we could try,” my husband replied. He went inside, and returned a moment later with a small dish of tuna.

As soon as the kitten smelled it, she attacked it like she hadn’t eaten in days. Mostly likely, she hadn’t.

Just like I feed you what you can handle.

Over the next week, her health improved dramatically as we applied the medicine the vet had given us. She didn’t like it and fought us at times, but we knew it was necessary if she was going to return to full health.

Just like how you are healing as I work in you, even if you resist at times.

After a month, you couldn’t tell that she had ever been sick. Cassi was healthy in every way, and had became my daughter’s best friend!

Just like you,  My friend!

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Your Car Could Explode!

On By LindaIn short stories6 Comments

“I wouldn’t drive it again,” the man at the gas station told her. “It could explode.”

She looked with dismay, mixed with fear, at her car’s exhaust pipe. She had filled her tank with gas earlier that day and noticed when she got home that some gas was leaking from her tail pipe. She waited until it had quit leaking, then drove to the nearest gas station for advice and noticed gas had started leaking again.

“Don’t drive it.” was not the advice she wanted to hear. She needed to leave town within the next hour. Could the man fix it by then?

“Nope,” he answered when she asked him. “It’s just the overflow tank that was filled too much.”

She shook her head. No, that couldn’t be right. She had filled it like she always had and this had never happened before.

“So what do I do?” she asked him.

“Wait for the gas in the exhaust to dissipate or drain before you start the engine again. Any spark could cause your car to burn. Maybe even explode if it got bad enough.”

“But I have to leave town soon.”

“Guess you’ll have to cancel whatever plans you have.”

“I can’t. My parents are expecting me tonight. If I can get to their house, my brother can fix my car before I drive back home.”

“You really need to have this repaired before driving long distance. If it leaks while you’re driving, and it got too hot, it could explode.”

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She frowned. Was she stuck here at the gas station? She used the office phone to call everyone she knew in this very small town, back in the day before cell phones, but no one was home. She assumed they were all at the high school homecoming. What should she do?

She considered her options but didn’t like any of them. So she turned to the One with all the power.

“God,” she prayed. “This is Your car, remember? I gave it to You when I gave You myself and all that I had. Your car has a problem and I can’t find anyone here to help me. I’m going to go ahead and go to my parents’ house so my brother can fix it.  Please keep me safe as I drive. Amen”

With the faith of a new believer, she ignored the objections from the gas station man, and began the hundred mile drive. She drove very carefully, believing it could explode at any time. It was a long drive. A very long drive. Had it always been this long?

Finally she reached her parents’ driveway, pulled in, and, with a sigh of relief, shut off the engine. “Thank You,” she said as she climbed out of the car.

It was too dark, and the car too hot, for her brother to look at it right away. So he waited until the next day.

“All four gas hoses are cracked,” he said. “You’re lucky it didn’t start burning, or even explode on your way here. But I can get that fixed for you before you go back home.”

She knew it wasn’t luck that had kept her safe. She also knew her decision to go ahead and drive the car after being told not to was not very wise.

She looked up and said, “Thank You, Lord, for protecting me even when I’m doing something stupid. Your love and care for me is simply amazing!”

Hey, God! Will You Show Me You?

On By LindaIn short stories3 Comments

Hmmm…  I wonder what God is really like. She thought about all the different ways she had heard people describe God. From an old man sitting on a throne to a hippie Jesus to a vague force in the sky, it seemed everyone had their own idea of what God was like. Maybe I should just ask God what He’s like, she thought.

“Hey, God! Would you show me You – who You really are?”

She closed her eyes and waited.

Would He show Himself as the Jesus she always pictured – a kind looking man in a white robe and wearing sandals? Or would He be an older man with a long white beard? Or maybe He’d be more like a ghost, transparent and floating through the air.

It didn’t take long for her mind’s eye to see the room where she was sitting. In through the door came a great big ball of fire, only she knew somehow that it was a great big ball of love. It hovered there for a few minutes, then disappeared.

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God is a ball of fire? A fiery ball of love?

As she thought about it, she remembered reading in the Bible how He revealed Himself as fire to the Israelites. And that He called Himself a consuming fire. And in Song of Songs, love is described as a blazing fire.

Wow! God is a ball of fire!

And she thanked God for loving her enough to answer her request is such an unexpected and amazing way.

 

 

Scripture references:

Ex 13:21 The LORD led the Israelites by night in a pillar of fire.

Ex 19:18 the LORD descended on Mount Sinai in fire

Ex 24:17 to the Israelites the glory of the LORD looked like a consuming fire on top of the mountain.

Deut 9:3, repeated in Heb 12:29  the LORD your God is a consuming fire.

Song of Songs 8:6 for love… burns like blazing fire, like a mighty flame.

Mark 13:11  What Should I Say?

On By LindaIn short stories4 Comments

“I can’t do this.”

“Yes you can.”

“I don’t want to do this.”

“I know.”

“I don’t know what to say.”

“I am with you.”

She remembered what Jesus had told His followers in Mark 13:11: “Whenever you are arrested and brought to trial, do not worry beforehand about what to say. Just say whatever is given you at the time, for it is not you speaking, but the Holy Spirit.”

But did that assurance apply to her in this circumstance? She was not the one on trial. And this certainly had nothing to do with her faith. She was here because of a custody battle over one of her students.

She didn’t know much about the family. The only time she saw them was when one or the other dropped off their son. They were both friendly in different ways and the child was a delight. She had no idea there were problems until one day when the mom had come in her classroom with a large bruise on her face. Tears streaming down her face, the mom had accused her husband of beating her and said she was going to divorce him. The mom had been concerned how it would affect her son and asked to be alerted to any changes in his behavior.

A week later she was served with a subpoena. And here she sat, waiting to be called before the judge to… say what? She didn’t know anything!

She had no idea what to expect and was terrified that she would be asked who she thought would make the better parent. How could she choose? Because she had seen the bruise on the mom’s face, she was siding more with the mom, and it had been the mom’s lawyer who had subpoenaed her  – but what if the story she had been told was not the whole truth? What if the mom was crazy and blaming her husband for something he didn’t do? After all, she hadn’t been there. And she had heard enough stories over the years to know things are not always what they seem. She was scared she would say the wrong thing and the cause the boy to go to the wrong parent.

“God, help me,” she pleaded over and over again. “Don ‘t let them ask me that question.”

“Don’t worry,” the mom’s lawyer had said. “The judge never allows that question. He knows teachers only have limited information.”

“God, help me,” she pleaded again, too nervous to feel His presence, or even to trust that He heard her.

“I am here. You will be fine.”

Finally it was her turn. Facing the judge, the mom, the dad, and two lawyers was nerve racking just in itself. But then the lawyers started firing their questions until her mind was swimming. She got confused more than once and had to ask the dad’s lawyer to slow down. When she didn’t think she could handle any more questions, the dad’s lawyer asked her one more. “Who do you think would make the better parent?” She stared at him, then at the judge. Before she could say anything, the mom’s lawyer objected. He told the judge she wasn’t qualified to answer that because of her limited contact with the family.

The judge turned to look at her and said, “In my experience, teachers are pretty good at making intuitive judgments about their students’ families. I’ll allow the question.”

There it was. THE question. What could she say? She took a deep breath, then told the judge her impressions as the parents had taken turns dropping off their son in the mornings. “I don’t know who would make the better parent,” she said. “But because the mom always talked about her son, and the dad always talked about himself, I would have to choose the mom.”

All the way home, she kicked herself, remembering what she could of the interview, and realizing she could have done a better job. If only that lawyer hadn’t kept confusing her!

The next morning, when the mom arrived with her son, she hung her head and apologized to the mom. “I’m so sorry if I messed anything up.”

The mom shook her head. “No, you don’t understand. Your answers were perfect!” She handed a pencil to her. “Thank you so much!”

Atop the blue pencil was a large rubber eraser, shaped like a sun, with the words “God’s Love Shines On You.’

 

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And she knew that God has sent that pencil to her. It was like getting a hug from Him, assurance that she had done a good job regardless of her fears. Not that she believed for a minute that her answers were all that wise in and of themselves – but the Holy Spirit had guided her in what to say, and God had used it for His purpose, standing behind her and filling her words with His power and light. And that’s what everyone else had heard. Just like He had promised in Mark 13:11.

What an amazing, faithful God!

Love in the Sky

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Head down, she walked outside. Not one of her better days. She needed some time with God but He seemed to be quiet recently so she wasn’t expecting much.

She had begun standing on her back deck for a few minutes each morning for her quiet time, looking up into the sky at her invisible Father and asking for His blessing on her day. It had been working well enough – her family had not interfered – but lately it had seemed more of an exercise than an intimate moment with Him. Why was He so quiet sometimes?

On this morning, she spent a few minutes with her eyes closed, just trying to be in His presence. Nothing. Giving up, she looked up to ask His blessing when she saw a cloud. Just one cloud. A white, heart shaped cloud in a wide blue expanse. And she heard, “I love you.” So quiet, so gentle.

Her heart overflowed with love and gratitude. “I love you, too.” she responded as she gazed at the cloud until it had dissipated.  Then she went inside, carrying that amazing touch of love with her, to begin her day.

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Lost Puppies

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While she was sleeping, she dreamed…

The brown woven basket was filled with puppies. Cold, wet, shivering puppies. Not knowing any different, they stayed in that basket, huddling together in an attempt to get warm but without success.

Suddenly a hand reached down and gently picked up one of the puppies. As the puppy was held snuggly between two warm hands, the warmth flooded over and into her until she was infused with life. Her brown fur, once wet and plastered to her skin, became soft and fluffy.

The hand carefully place her back into the basket with the other puppies. Warmth spread from her and radiated into the cold puppies. As they got warmer, their fur dried and fluffed just as hers had done. The basket of cold, wet puppies transformed into a basket of warm, lively, happy puppies!

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She woke, the dream fresh in her mind. What did it mean? Somehow she felt it was from God so she spent some time thinking about it. Then she understood. She was the cold puppy that had been picked up. God had warmed her and then put her back into her family where His warmth, His life would spread to her siblings.

And that’s exactly what He did, she thought. He reached into my family, picked me up, warmed me spiritually, then returned me to my family. I didn’t have to do anything but allow the love He had given me to radiate to them. Over the next few years, she watched as one sibling after another warmed up and connected with Jesus. And she was deeply awed at God’s love and concern for a bunch of lost puppies, and how He had chosen her, through no merit of her own, to help bring about this amazing change.

Am I Saved Yet?

On By LindaIn short stories6 Comments

After her amazing encounter with Jesus, she read every book she could find about Jesus. From those books, and from some new friends she had made, she learned that, although she was in love with Jesus and told Him that daily, she had never actually responded to an altar call or repentance prayer. So was she saved?

She had been taught at an early age the importance of following rules. There were rules for everything. And now she learned there were rules for being saved. It didn’t matter that she spent time with Jesus every day, talked about Him to everyone she met, and doodled His name in her books.  If she never responded to an altar call, was she saved?

Her church didn’t do altar calls. So she found a friend’s church that did and made plans to attend it. When the altar call was given, the thought of everyone looking at her caused her to panic inside and she froze, unable to make herself get up and walk down that aisle. The preacher said that not going down the aisle was the same as saying no to the Holy Spirit. Full of remorse, she asked God to forgive her.

She talked with her friends and decided to try a smaller church.  Maybe it would be easier with less people. But the same thing happened. And even though she said the sinner’s prayer in her heart as the preacher said it out loud, she knew it wasn’t good enough because a book she had read said that it wasn’t good enough to just think the sinner’s prayer, she had to say it out loud in front of a witness. So she wept silent tears for her weakness, wondering if she would ever be able to get saved.

But she didn’t give up. She continued going to churches and reading books until one day she finally got the courage to make the walk to the front. Trembling so hard she thought she might faint, she repeated the sinner’s prayer with everyone else and went back to her seat.

IMG_20180307_111959575Was she saved? She had read how everyone in the books described all the peace they felt when they got saved. She didn’t feel any different.  Maybe a group prayer wasn’t good enough after all. Maybe that new book she was reading was right – that people should be led to Christ individually.

“Jesus,” she cried out. “Help me figure this out! I want to be saved. I want to be Yours. But I just don’t know how to do it!”

Beginning to get discouraged, she continued reading books, finding more rules and prayers, and following each one each time.

Respond to an altar call. Check.

Repeat the sinner’s prayer. Which one? She had repeated several so maybe she was covered.

Ask Jesus to live in her heart. Did she do this. Quickly she did and checked it off her mental list. Was she saved yet?

Give her life to Jesus and tell Him she would go wherever He wants to send her. OK, this one was harder, but she did, even if that meant moving to Africa and eating bugs. Was she saved yet?

Making Him Lord of her life. What did that mean? Maybe this was the hang up. “Whatever it means, Lord, I agree with it.” Was she saved yet?

Eventually she was so confused, she gave up. Salvation was just not for her, she thought. If God wanted to save her, He would. She wasn’t going to try anymore.

One day, months later, she was singing a praise song, about a group of people who rejoiced in belonging to Jesus, and the realization bloomed inside her that she was one of those people! She had been saved! When – she didn’t know. But that didn’t matter. She now knew who she belonged to. And she had the peace that came with that.

A gentle voice whispered unheard, “Silly girl. Don’t you know you were Mine the first time you told Me you loved Me? The words don’t matter. The place doesn’t matter.  Feelings don’t matter. What matters is your heart. You were saved on that day, and I’m glad you finally believe it.”