Isaac - the son of the promise.

As we return to our look at some of the best-known, and most important, of the characters from the Tanakh (the Jewish Scriptures; the Old Testament in the Christian Bible), we turn to Yitzchak (Isaac). Avraham, you may recall, was promised by El Shaddai, that he would be the father of a mighty nation, whose numbers would be as the stars of the sky - and that at a time when there was none of the light pollution to which most of us are subjected, and that hide the majority of stars from our sight. All very well - except for the fact that, at that time, Avraham and his wife, Sara, were childless! It is difficult to be the progenitor of a nation if one doesn't have even one child with which to start!

Avraham did what many of us try to do - he decided (or, to be more accurate, Sara suggested, and he acquiesced!) to give God a helping hand. In what was culturally acceptable at the time, Sara gave him her handmaid to bear a child on Sara's behalf. Hagar, the maid, did bear a son to Avraham - a boy who was named Ishmael, and from whom the Arab peoples are descended. 

Some fourteen years later, El Shaddai appeared to Avraham, and assured him that, in the following spring, Sara would bear a son. At this time, Avraham was 100 years old, and his wife was ten years younger. She was, to put it mildly, sceptical! "I am old, and so is my lord; am I to have pleasure again?" (Gen. 18:12). Well, who could blame her?! However, "... with God everything is possible." (Matt. 19:26) and, in the spring, Sara did, indeed, give birth to the boy who was named Yitzchak.

The most important part of the story of Yitzchak is, surely, the command of God, to Avraham, to sacrifice this son of the promise. Not only was the command given, but it was given in such a way as to, metaphorically, "twist the knife"! "Take your son, your only son, whom you love, Yitz’chak; and go to the land of Moriyah. There you are to offer him as a burnt offering on a mountain that I will point out to you." (Gen.22:2). Not just your son, Avraham, but your only son! Not just your only son, but the son whom you love! And in case there is still any doubt, his name is Yitzchak.

This is an episode with which the Jewish world has wrestled. How could a loving God ask any human father to sacrifice his own son? One key to understanding this event is to recognise the way in which what are called "types" (or "foreshadows") are used in the Tanakh to point us to events that would take place in future time. 

Avraham and Yitzchak set off to climb Mount Moriah

Early the next morning, and having made the appropriate preparations, Avraham sets out, with Yitzchak and two servants, on a three-day journey to the land of Moriyah - possibly the treeless ranges of Sinai down near Kadesh.  When they arrived at the foot of the mountain, Avraham and Yitzchak set off up the mountain, leaving the servants behind. As they climbed, Yitzchak asked: "I see the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?" His father immediately answered "'God will provide Himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son'; and they both went on together."

On the mountain, a stone altar is constructed; the wood is laid out; and Yitzchak is bound and placed on the wood. It is worth remembering that Yitzchak, by this time, was a young man so, while we consider Avraham's obedience, we must also note that Yitzchak was willing to be bound and offered.  Avraham slowly takes the knife, placing it at Yitzchak's throat, ready to make the fatal cut. It is only at this point that El Shaddai intervenes by sending "... the angel of YHWH ..." (often identified as the Son)  to stop him from sacrificing his son. “Avraham? Avraham!” He answered, “Here I am.” He said, “Don’t lay your hand on the boy! Don’t do anything to him! For now I know that you are a man who fears God, because you have not withheld your son, your only son, from Me.” (Gen.22:11-12).

Avraham looks behind him, and there is a ram, caught in a thicket. He takes the ram, and sacrifices it instead of Yitzchak.

In the next post, we shall look at this concept of "types". I shall try not to have you wait for too long!!!

Abraham - father of the faithful (3)

One theological movement goes under the title of "Replacement Theology". It's basis is a belief that the church has replaced the Children of Israel in the plans and purposes of Almighty God. So, have the Chosen People been replaced?

The ministry of Yeshua to the House of Israel led to the missionary work of the first Jewish belivers, who spread the message of God's love, and God's Kingdom, to the Gentiles. That message resulted in an explosive - even exponential - growth in the number of Gentile believers in the early centuries, A.D. However, possibly from a feeling of superiority , or of jealousy, or of religiosity, members of the early church claimed to be the "true Israel", effectively evicting El Shaddai from His established identity as the God of Avraham, Yitzak, and Yacov. This loveless condemnation of the nation of Israel for rejecting Yeshua as HaMashiach led, ironically, to much of the church discounting El Shaddai as Israel's God!

However, in spite of what some who claim to be disciples of Yeshua claim, even today, El Shaddai has not disassociated Israel from His promises, or abandoned His covenants with His Chosen People. He is a covenant-keeping God, true to His Word. That, of course, is good news for those of us who claim to be the followers of Yeshua because if God was willing to break His unconditional covenants, or any of His promises, to the Children of Israel, then He might break them with us as well! We may be grateful, therefore, that "God is not a human who lies, or a mortal who changes his mind. When He says something, He will do it; when He makes a promise, He will fulfil it." (Num.23:19; CJB)

Those who claim that God is done with the Children of Israel point to the covenant at Mt. Sinai, when God said: "Now, if you will pay careful attention to what I say, and keep my covenant, then you will be My own treasure from among the peoples, for all the earth is mine; and you will be a kingdom of 'cohanim' [priests] for me, a nation set apart." (Ex.19:5-6; CJB). Of course, as history records, the Chosen people broke their promise to El Shaddai, to do everything that He had told them to do.

This leads some to claim that it is patently obvious that the Children of Israel forfeited their right to be a holy nation! What they forget - or ignore! - is that God also promised that however disobedient Israel became, and no matter how cursed they were because of it, He would not forget the other covenant that He made - to Avraham, Yitzac, and Yacob.: "... in spite of all that, I will not reject them when they are in the lands of their enemies, nor will I loathe them to the point of utterly destroying them and thus break My covenant with them, because I am YHWH their God. Rather, for their sakes, I will remember the covenant of their ancestors whom I brought out of the land of Egypt - with the nations watching - so that I might be their God; I am YHWH." (Lev.26:44-45; emphasis added). 

Avram guarding his sacrifice. (Gen.15)
by James Tissot

The covenant with Avraham was unconditional. No "if ... then" aspects. In fact, Avram was asleep when God 'cut the covenant' (Gen.15:7 ff). Many other promises involve ownership of the land, and its heirs. Regardless of anything else, YHWH assured the Children of Israel that He will keep His covenant that He made with Avraham, and that continued through Yitzak and Yacov. Paul dealt with the same question in Romans 11 - a chapter well worth reading, and studying|!

Of course, if the Creator God has chosen a people to be His ambassadors and, ultimately, to bring forth the salvation of mankind, then we may be certain that the enemy of our souls is working overtime to make God appear to be a liar, and to make His people appear to be racists who want to conquer mankind, and rule the world. As we watch the demonising of the modern State of Israel (which is not synonymous with the Children of Israel!), and the open claims of a desire to annihilate the Jewish people, by the modern media, Iran, Hamas, Hezbollah, the 'Palestinian' Authority, and organisations such as the United Nations, we need to realise that, whether or not they realise it, they are but pawns in the hand of the satan - the adversary.

If people would but open their hearts wide enough to see that YHWH, El Shaddai, used Israel to bring monotheism to the world, along with an enduring system of ethics and morals that influences many cultures worldwide, the sooner they would understand what a great debt of gratitude they owe the Jewish people. The world has clearly been impacted through God's choosing of Israel, and continues to do so through Yeshua, and the promise - the unconditional promise! - to bless those who bless His Chosen People. (Gen.12:3).

Well, that's all for now. Next month, D.V., we'll look at another character from the Tanakh. I wonder if you can guess who it might be?!

Abraham - the father of the faithful. (2)

So, there was Avram, setting off on the greatest 'mystery tour' in history! He set off, not knowing his destination, but in obedience to the command of El Shaddai, and with His promise ringing in his ears: "... I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.  I will bless those who bless you, and him who curses you I will curse; and by you all the families of the earth shall bless themselves." (Gen.12:2-3).

The promise was not only to Avram's descendants, but to all of mankind - "... all the families of the earth ..."! Almighty God, the Creator of all that exists, chose to reach out to the entire world, by choosing Israel to represent Him - and He started with Avram.

On Sunday, I was preaching on Paul's description of disciples of Jesus, as given in II Cor.5:20, where he writes: "So we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us." One of the points that I made was that an earthly ambassador is important, not on his own merit, but because of the monarch, president, or emperor who has chosen the ambassador to represent him. With such "chosenness" comes the great responsibility of correctly expressing the ideas, and carrying out the plans, of the one represented. However, this is not done solely for the benefit of the ruler. The ruler and his many ambassasdors work together to serve all of the peopleof the country.

Likewise, El Shaddai choosing Israel was not God favouring one nation (as yet not even in existence!) oveer another. It was about the Creator manifesting His love to the entire world - and He chose Averam as His first ambassador to carry out His plan.

God longs to have a relationship with each and every person individually. That is why we were created. El Shaddai longs for each of us to have a personal knowledge of Him. His plan for communicating His identity to the world, and how to repair the relationship that was broken in the Garden of Eden, would be through the nation of Israel - the descendants of Avram, Yitzak, and Yacob. Within that larger scope, His plan has been working out through many people and events: Moses; the Torah; the prophets; and, in the fulness of time, through Yeshua haMashiach (Jesus the Messiah, or "Anointed One").

Israel became a conduit of God's blessing to the world, and the path for the world to reach Him. A Son of Israel, Yeshua, would manifest this blessing further as "... a light that will bring revelation to the Goyim (Gentiles) and glory to Your people Isra’el." (Luke 2:32; CJB). Israel reveals both the heart of God, and the ways and depth of His love. This unique relationship with Israel draws mankind to Him. "Adonai-Tzva’ot (the LORD of Hosts) says, ‘When that time comes, ten men will take hold — speaking all the languages of the nations — will grab hold of the cloak of a Jew and say, “We want to go with you, because we have heard that God is with you.”" (Zech.8:32; CJB). With His identity forever linked to Israel (the nation!), God's reputation is wrapped up in Israel's destiny!

Biblically-aligned believers, defined by their personal relationship with Yeshua, understand that "... salvation comes from the Jews."(John 4:22; CJB). That salvation would come through the One Who spoke those words - haMashiach, for Whom the Jewish people have been wating for millennia. Jewish people pray, on a daily basis, for the coming of Messiah as foretold in the Tanakh (the 'Old Testament'). Israel has already had the privilege of her Messiah's coming - to Bethlehem, as prophesied by Micah: "But you, Beit-Lechem near Efrat, so small among the clans of Y’hudah, out of you will come forth to Me the future ruler of Isra’el, whose origins are far in the past, back in ancient times." (5:1).

Yeshuah made apublic declaraion that He was the Anointed One when He read, in the synagogue in Nazareth, this prophecy from Isaiah; "The Spirit of Adonai Elohim is upon me, because Adonai has anointed me to announce good news to the poor. He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted; to proclaim freedom to the captives, to let out into light those bound in the dark;" (Isaiah 61:1; CJB).

God's message of salvation and redemption, which Yeshua (Jesus) taught during His three years of public ministry, was directed specifically, to the Chosen People. He was fully conscious that He "... was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Isra’el." (Matt.15:24; CJB). Yet, He ministered to all who put their faith in Him, as Messiah, and instructed His Jewish followers to reach out to all mankind: " Then He said to them, “As you go throughout the world, proclaim the Good News to all creation. Whoever trusts and is immersed will be saved; whoever does not trust will be condemned." (Mark 16:15-16; CJB).

God's plan of spiritual redemption through Yeshua HaMashiach, is available to all who repent and believe that Yeshua paid the penalty for our sin. He paid a debt He did not owe, because we owe a debt we cannot pay! His followers now await His second coming, when He comes to defend the Children of Israel, and reign from the Holy City - Jerusalem. Are you ready?!

Abraham - the father of the faithful.

As we move on in our monthly look at the Tanakh (the Hebrew Scriptures: the Old Testament in the Christian Bible), we come to one of the most significant figures in Biblical history. Over the next three (!) posts, we shall be looking at a man who was named Abram, but had that name changed, by Almighty God (El Shaddai), to Abraham (Avraham).

I am currently reading through the book of Deuteronomy in my personal devotions, and read these words a couple of days ago: "For you are a people holy to the Lord your God.  The Lord your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be His people, His treasured possession." (7:6).  

The Jewish people are  often referred to as "The Chosen People". This has caused many to accuse El Shaddai of favouritism! Indeed, "chosenness"is so strongly associated with favouritism and arrogance that even some modern Jewish people reject the concept. Yet the idea of El Shaddai choosing the Hebrew people runs throughout the Tanakh. For example (emphases added):

"But you, Israel, My servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen, you descendants of Avraham My friend.”  (Isaiah 41:8)

“You His servants, the descendants of Israel, His chosen ones, the children of Jacob.”  (I Chronicles 16:13; see also Psalm 105:6)

“For YHWH has chosen Jacob to Himself, and Israel for His peculiar treasure.”  (Psalm 135:4)

In fact, contrary to feeling smug and favoured, observant Jews are keenly aware that "chosenness" deflates any sense of significance! Indeed, those words already quoted, from the book of Deuteronomy, continue: "It was not because you were more in number than any other people that YHWH set His love upon you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples; but it is because YHWH loves you, and is keeping the oath which He swore to your fathers, that YHWH has brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you from the house of bondage, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt." (vs.7-8; emphasis added).

Understanding El Shaddai's choosing of the descendants of Avraham, Isaac (Yitzac) , and Jacob (Yacob/Israel) is central to having a firm foundation in His providential plan! And the record starts with Abram.

In Genesis 18, we read these words of YHWH: "Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him? For I have chosen him, that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of YHWH by doing righteousness and justice, so that YHWH may bring to Abraham what He has promised him." (vs.18-19).

Only 400 years had passed since the great Flood in the time of Noah, so that the world was not yet populated by a great variety of peoples living in powerful nations. "Nations", at that time, were more like city-states, rife with paganism and polytheism. A mere four centuries after the Flood, mankind was still lost. It was still the case "... that every imagination of the thoughts of [man's] heart was only evil continually." (Gen.6:5).

El Shaddai called Abram out of one of those city-states - Ur of the Chaldees - and told him to go to a land that He would show him. The people of Ur were Moon-worshippers, but El Shaddai spoke to this one man. "Now YHWH said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who curses you I will curse; and by you all the families of the earth shall bless themselves." He didn't know where this land was located, but he trusted the direction, and promise, of this One Whom he recognised as the Almighty God. He believed God, and headed for the Promised Land. Please note that this was millennia before the founding of the very Islam that lays claim to that Promised Land, today!

This,then, was the start of the Chosen People. God chose one man - and that one man chose God! We are not told if God had called any other person before Abram. We are told that Abram chose to accept God's promises, and that he put feet to faith! That, surely, is a salutory lesson to all of us!

More in a couple of nights. Do keep an eye out for the next "instalment"!

Walking the walk, not just talking the talk!

It's been a while since I posted on the subject of marriage. It is, however, a very important subject - perhaps more than ever in these days when its God-ordained status is being increasingly downgraded - not least by the fact that, Biblically, it is used as a picture of the relationship between Almighty God and His people: El Shaddai and the Children of Israel under the Old Covenant; and the Lord Jesus and the Church under the New Covenant.

The 'Minor Prophets' are a group of Hebrew prophets whose writings are gathered together, in English-language versions of the Bible, at the end of the "Old Testament". However, this is not the case in the Hebrew Old Testament (the Tanakh). One of these men, whose book is at the beginning of the Minor Prophets, is named Hosea, and his message is more than interesting! The book that is named after him commences with these words:

"The word of the Lord that came to Hosea the son of Be-eri, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel. When YHWH first spoke through Hosea, YHWH said to Hosea, “Go, take to yourself a wife of harlotry and have children of harlotry, for the land commits great harlotry by forsaking YHWH.” So he went and took Gomer the daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son." (Hos.1:1-3).

Read those words again - carefully! Did you catch on what Hosea was commanded to do? Not simply to get himself a wife - nothing unusual in that - but to be married to a prostitute!

Hosea came into prominence some 700 years before the birth of the Lord Jesus, during what was a period of stability in the northern kingdom of Israel (Ten tribes; Judah, to the south, was composed of the other two tribes). Indeed, it was known as the "Golden Age" because of Israel's military, political, and economic strength: the greatest since that of the united kingdom under Solomon. Morally, however, she was rotten to the core! She had turned her back on the one thing that made her unique - her faith in the Covenant God Who had redeemed her from bondage in Egypt.

I suspect that I was not unusual when I proposed to the young woman who became my wife. I had high expectations for our marriage, and anticipated that any problems we encountered would be met by the two of us together.  However, when God spoke to Hosea at this point in the nation's history, and commanded him to marry a woman who would be unfaithful to him, he "proposed" knowing that, right from the start, his marriage would be plagued with deep and disturbing problems. 

Why would God lead one of His chosen prophets into a marriage of such a kind?! The answer is provided in those opening words: "...  the land commits great harlotry by forsaking YHWH." or, as another translation puts it: "... for like an adulterous wife this land is guilty of unfaithfulness to the Lord." (NIV). In Exodus 24:3, we read that, after the Children of Israel had been delivered from Egypt, they entered into a covenant relationship with YHWH (the Lord) that they would be faithful to Him. The vow that they made to Him was similar to a marriage vow. However, by 'flirting' with other gods, the nation was guilty of adultery. So, in effect, God is saying to Hosea: "I need your help! I have marriage problems. Stick to Gomer, no matter what happens, and perhaps the nation will understand, through you actions, something of my undying love."

Hosea faced an astonishing request from God - not only to preach His message, but also to live it!

"Words", the old adage has it, "are cheap!". A similar proverb reminds us that "Actions speak more loudly than words!". Personally, I have to be honest and confess that, if God had given me a challenge similar to the one He gave Hosea, I would have had great difficulty in meeting it! Yet Hosea's is the level of faith to which all who own the name of Jesus are called - a faith that trusts Him, even although it cannot see the way ahead. Indeed, that is the only true faith. William Barclay states, somewhere, that for the disciple of Jesus, "faith is spelled R.I.S.K."

Are you willing to stake your all on Him today? Are you willing to walk the walk - or merely talk the talk? 

Abraham - the father of the faithful!

Paul's words, in Gal 3:7 - "... it is men of faith who are the sons of Abraham." - are among those that have given rise to Abraham being described as in the heading to this post.  But, having recently completed reading about Abraham in my personal devotions, I found myself thinking on Abraham's own faith.  What kind of example has he left to disciples of Jesus today?

Well, the first thing we may note about Abraham is that he was saved through faith.  Paul, this time writing to the believers in Rome, makes the point: "What then shall we say about Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the scripture say? 'Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness.' Now to one who works, his wages are not reckoned as a gift but as his due. And to one who does not work but trusts Him Who justifies the ungodly, his faith is reckoned as righteousness." (Rom 4:1-5).  Abraham could not have been saved by the keeping of the Law - because that Law had not yet been given.  He could not have been saved by the ritual of circumcision, because God declared him to be righteous before he was circumcised (see Rom.4:9-12).  He was, like everyone else who is saved, saved through faith - faith in the Living God. (see also Heb.11).

But he was not only saved through faith, he also lived by faith.  Wherever he went, we read, he pitched his tent and built an altar to El Shaddai.  He let people know that he was a pilgrim and a stranger - even in the land that God had covenanted to give to his descendants.  His willingness to sacrifice Isaac, the son of promise, proved his trust in God - "He considered that God was able to raise men even from the dead; hence, figuratively speaking, he did receive him [Isaac] back." (Heb 11:19).  His works did not save him, but they proved that his faith was genuine.

Saved through faith; living by faith; and Abraham walked in faith.  Of course, he had lapses - some of them serious - but his general manner of life was one of faith.  "Now the LORD said to Abram, "Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you. ... So Abram went, as the LORD had told him;" (Gen.12:1,4).  That great eleventh chapter of Hebrews has more to say about Abraham than about any other of the individuals who are named there!

So what has all of that to do with you and me, so many millennia later?  Well, if we have no interest in the things of God - absolutely nothing!  However if, like me, you claim to be a disciple of the Lord, Jesus the Christ, descended, after the flesh, from this same Abraham, then his life must be a challenge to you, as it is to me. 

I must remember that my salvation is only by the grace of Almighty God to which I, too, must respond through faith.  "For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God - not because of works, lest any man should boast." (Eph. 2:8-9).  I am not saved by my "good works" - and any service that I do render is only because I am "... His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works , which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them." (Eph. 2:10). I must learn to walk by faith - and that means walking in obedience. It means, as the hymn-writer put it, "Standing on the promises".  A friend of many years ago would often state that "God said it; I believe it; that's it; period!"  That's not a bad way in which to live!

I've been challenged, afresh, by the life of Abraham.  Perhaps you will be, as well!

A personal testimony.

Some time ago I discovered that, although I had enabled "Comments", none were showing up.  I decided that no-one wished to make a comment about any of my posts!!!   However, one of my brothers wondered why I had not allowed a comment that he had posted to be published!  It appears that I have simply not being advised of comments that may have been made.  If you have made a comment that has not appeared, please accept my apologies - I wasn't ignoring you, or refusing to publish - I was simply unaware of your comment!

Anyway, the comment from my brother is longer than most of my posts.  It is extremely personal, but reminds us that what we see on the surface is not always the whole story!  It also reminds us that Almighty God is interested in each one of us; but that we need to place our trust in Him, regardless of the outcome!

"Growing up with multiple seizures was no picnic. At the age of seventeen, it was 'tough' to say the least. While I had resigned myself to never being allowed to drive, when all my peers were learning and then began driving and talking about their cars, I felt SO isolated. It was just as hard when my friends  three or four years younger than me began learning to drive, and also years later, when my nephews / nieces were learning while I was still depending on public transport or my bicycle. I was a 2nd class citizen, I felt shunned by many of my peers, EVEN in the Church youth group, of which I assisted in leading.

It was at a time like this that I almost ended it all.

I was working at a dead end menial job, listening to my peers talk about their careers and big wages. I was in my mid twenties, still single, living with my parents, many of my peers were dating - well they had their cars, they could find people from different churches; who was going to be interested in someone who had to rely on public transport all the time?.

To try to counteract being side stepped when my peers were talking about their cars or careers, I busied myself with preparing the coffee and tea we served and cleaning up afterwards. I then went out to the church hall to find a chair at one of the tables I had previously set up

On one evening I had come out and sat at a table, only to be told by a peer that someone else was going to be sitting there. Moving to another seat, another person asked me why I was sitting in their seat. This happened a third time, and I got the message; and walked out. Fortunately, the other assistant leader noticed  me and followed enquiring what had happened. I explained everything that had occurred. He persuaded me to return back but that he was going to speak to the group prior to me going in. All concerned did apologise profusely.

The evening I am alluding to, I am not sure if something similar had happened at the church youth group or even whether it was that same night, but I, who normally slept very soundly, was having a struggle getting to sleep. I was tossing and turning reflecting on my existence and various instances that had occurred.  It was so bad that, knowing my mother had sleeping pills that were readily available, I contemplated going downstairs, getting the pills and downing them all. 'Everyone would be better off not having to worry about me', or so I thought.

THEN I heard that "still small voice" saying to me "What will your father think when he comes in, in the morning, to get you up for work?" "What will your mum think when she realises it was her sleeping tablets that you used to end it all? She will blame herself for having them readily available and they will blame themselves for not realising anything was wrong. Their lives may be cut shorter than would naturally be, due to the stress of losing a child" Now I loved both my parents and just couldn't put them through that pain, so I decided not to pursue the matter.

For someone whose mind was in such turmoil less than an hour beforehand, I was able to turn over and fell into a deep sleep. Only HE could make THAT happen.

The second encounter was much different and occurred about 6 years later and just twenty one months after I had been married. I had been offered the chance of neurosurgery. HIS timing, not mine. I contemplated the pros and cons of having the surgery and thought "what if?"

What if I DONT go for it.? I would still be taking over 6,000mg of medication per day, I would still be having, on average one seizure every two weeks, I would still be working in my dead end job and still relying on public transport. THEN, in about five years time, I would be thinking "what if?" - what if I HAD gone for it. So, I started to think "what if?"

What if I DO go for it.  There were seven things that could have occurred.

1- As in all major surgeries, I COULD die

2- At the other end of the spectrum, I COULD come out 100% healed

3- I COULD end up paralysed on one side while still having the seizures. (they had to see if they could shut down my brain and restart it again. - had it not restarted I would have had the same effects as someone who had a 'stroke')

4- I COULD end up in a vegetative state.

5- I COULD end up with a vast reduction in the number of seizures

6- I COULD end up with memory loss.

7- Hmmmmmm I can't seem to remember what the last one was. :D

Friends and family, - even strangers to me, were praying about it, and I went in for initial tests to see if I was a suitable candidate, after all, if I wasn't, at least I tried and no harm in seeing the outcome It was while I was in for the tests, that my daily Bible reading was Judges 6, where Gideon feared that he was going to die because he had looked on the face of an angel. I came upon verse 23, and felt that God was speaking directly to me. This verse says "And the Lord said, My peace I give unto you, do not fear, you will not die"

In the hospital ward, I just put my Bible on my lap, and with tears in my eyes, looked Heavenward and said "Thank you Lord"

I started looking at the passage closer and the first thing I noticed was WHO was speaking; It wasn't my dad, it wasn't my neurologist, it wasn't even my surgeon, It WAS however the HIGHEST authority you could get, The LORD, "El Shaddai".

I then started to look at what HE was saying to me and there were three things:

'My peace I give unto you' and when God gives His peace, it's the peace that passes ALL understanding  Phil,4 v 7  "And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."

From that moment I could feel calmness about the whole ordeal, just as I had felt years earlier when I didn't go for my mums pills and fell into a deep sleep.

The next thing He said was "do not fear"

Well, if I wasn't to fear, then I presumed that I was NOT going to come out of the surgery any worse than I had gone in, SO, 3,4, and 6 (above) were not options to be considered.

Since Phil 1 v 21 reads  "For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain." I had three possible positive outcomes.  However, I then read the four words "you will not die" - number 1 was out of the running, leaving 2 positive outcomes.  I could end up with a vast reduction in the number of seizures or, I could come out 100% healed.

I was informed that I was a suitable candidate by my neurologist, was sent home until they were ready for me. I was actually looking forward to having it performed. A few weeks later, I was called back to the hospital.  I was at such a peace, that on the morning of the surgery, when the orderlies were bringing the breakfast around for the fellow ward buddies, I started joking with them, acting out a parched man in a desert "water, water" They couldn't understand how I could be so upbeat minutes before going under the scalpel.

Ten hours later I came out of surgery, was transferred back to my ward, then released from hospital 11 days later - which just happened to be 'Mother's Day'.

Now, 24+ years later, not on any meds, driving and in a career I love, - being able to help people, some of whom have seizures, have had strokes or acquired brain injuries. I love my work but all this would have been missed if I hadn't had that initial 'still small voice' experience and had ended it all, or if I hadn't gone in for the tests and received the assurance from El Shaddai."