Southern Porch Extension

[Verna]

I think I've caught up on links, mostly. I'll sit here with my coffee (tehee) and add a few comments about heaven. My mother said she used to watch neighbors hanging out diapers on the line for their babies and cry as she prayed for God to watch out for Little Paul, my two year old brother who had been poisoned by a safety pin he'd swallowed and died.

When my mother died, my daughter brought my grandson (age 3 or 4) to the viewing at the funeral parlor. Drew looked around at all the flowers surrounding the casket and asked, "Is this heaven?" Deb had told him her grandma had gone to heaven, and the flowers caused him to wonder.

I like the suggestions of heaven I've read here. I can only imagine God smiles at our awe of His wonderful creations on earth (I think Don read my mind for one of his articles!): sunsets, sunrises, oceans, waterfalls, mountains, new snow, etc., as He knows we cannot truly realize how beautiful heaven is. I don't think we'll miss the pain and partings and sadness and fear that we have here, but we'll rejoice in the welcome we'll receive there. I pray for each of my porch friends the joy of heaven at God's appointed time.

[Green Leaves]

Just so there is no misunderstanding, I am doing great. I wake with twinges in my kidney area but really haven't suffered since they put in the stent. (I just wanted to make sure I was covered for the long weekend if the pain increased, not knowing where my doctors might be. I really don't want a repeat of that kidney pain!). But thank you for the prayers.

[forHIM]

Do any of you have days when Satan pry's his way into your thoughts and sends you messages that should have been deleted years ago? What's with that . . . today I was just minding my P's and Q's when something from the past came flooding into my P's and knocked my Q's right out from under me.

An old fear came back and I started feeling all kinds of anxiety. My first thought was how Jesus dealt with Satan when He was temped . . . Get thee away from me . . . along with a few quoted scriptures the great accuser fled and the anxiety went with him. But knowing him . . . he will be back!

What scriptures do you use when he comes attacking?? Here are the ones I used today . . .

Romans 8:15

"For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father."

2 Timothy 1:7

"For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind."

James 4:7-8

"Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded."


Hope everyone is having a good enough day.

[Edy]

What a delight to swing by the Porch and find my friends chatting so sweetly together. We have a great privilege in "bearing one another's burdens," don't we - and we often haven't a clue how much our momentary encouragement can mean to another hungry soul.

Speaking of heaven, here's a cute memory I have from my combat-zone days. I was bent over the foot of an army cot, checking the circulation in the toes of one of my sleeping GI patients. That involved a gentle pinching to blanch the tissue to see how long it would take for the capillary blood to refill. I glanced at his face, to see if I were doing okay without waking him. His eyes fluttered open sleepily and back shut, then shot wide open. He lifted his head and grinned.

"Ma'am! I thought you were an angel!" I think he must have been dreaming he had died in combat and I was his first glimpse of heaven. And, I'm not even a blond!


Here I am with another patient, checking fingers, this time.

[Carole L]

An old fear came back and I started feeling all kinds of anxiety. My first thought was how Jesus dealt with Satan when He was temped . . . Get thee away from me . . . along with a few quoted scriptures the great accuser fled and the anxiety went with him. But knowing him . . . he will be back.

I had never heard this before last week, but have since heard it many times:

When Satan knocks at the door say

"Jesus, get that for me, will you!"

[Edy]

Debby - we were composing posts at the same time. Yes, I'm sure the accuser looks for any opportunity to sneak in an attack when we are especially vulnerable. And, just as Jesus made good use of scripture when the devil tempted Him in the wilderness, the Word is our weapon of offense (sword of the Spirit), and the shield of faith our sure defense.

Those are good selections you posted. My first inclination is to stamp my foot and growl "Get thee behind me, Satan!" even though he isn't omnipresent and can only send one of his sinister underlings to try and attack.

One vivid memory of mine - in the room, just after my dad died, I sensed an invisible presence just behind my right shoulder, and it was a pair of them, not just one. I "heard" a rather lighthearted mocking voice whisper, "Well, you've lost him!" and, in my mind's eye I saw myself as if hanging onto my dad by his jacket over the edge of a dark cliff, trying to pull him back up, only to have him slip out of it, leaving me holding on to empty sleeves.

Even though I was startled by what I'd "heard," I was comforted to "hear" my own reply. "That just isn't so. Dad is safe in the arms of Jesus!" The defeated foe was instantly gone.

As followers of Jesus, I'm convinced that we already have one foot in the spiritual realm (seated with Christ in the heavenlies), and sometimes we're permitted glimpses of His glory, as well as a peek at the spiritual warfare going on behind the scenes. Thank God for giving us His Word and the Comforter present with us, so we know we are never alone, no matter what!

[Edy]

Mariane, I still have that Warsaw Concerto playing on my computer, it's so grand (dittos to a poster above who wrote what a perfect match with your poem). Do you have to "pay extra" for this nice feature, if someone like me takes such an advantage of it?

[BeachGrandma]

Edy those musical selections are all free for the taking on the internet. They're called "Midi" and nearly every hymn or classical piece or popular music is put on a Midi by someone for the rest of the world to use. All the music on my website are from Midis. I love the Warsaw Concerto too and when I was in high school I memorized the first few bars of it. At a party, someone would ask me to play and I'd really let go and play those few bars with all my strength. Then I'd quickly stand up and say "Well, I don't want to bore you and besides, it's time to eat!" If they had pressed me to continue, I'd have been up a tree. LOL

[BeachGrandma]

Debby, I once physically opened the kitchen door and kicked the enemy of my soul out the door and slammed it behind him. Of course, I did it in Jesus' name.

Edy, I love that picture of you bending over your patient. I imagine every man envisioned you as the girl they wanted to marry. You were and are such a beautiful person, with those high cheek bones that models woud die for.

[forHIM]

An old fear came back and I started feeling all kinds of anxiety. My first thought was how Jesus dealt with Satan when He was temped . . . Get thee away from me . . . along with a few quoted scriptures the great accuser fled and the anxiety went with him. But knowing him . . . he will be back.

I had never heard this before last week, but have since heard it many times:

When Satan knocks at the door say

"Jesus, get that for me, will you!"

I like that one! I will diffidently use it next time. It's perfect . . . why should we even mess with him when we have Jesus who has defeated him.

Amen and Amne

[forHIM]

Debby, I once physically opened the kitchen door and kicked the enemy of my soul out the door and slammed it behind him. Of course, I did it in Jesus' name.

Those are good selections you posted. My first inclination is to stamp my foot and growl "Get thee behind me, Satan!" even though he isn't omnipresent and can only send one of his sinister underlings to try and attack.

Well, if i use Carole suggestion then I won't have to stomp my foot or slam the door on him. But, this is good advice. i think we need to be forceful as I know he likes to hang around.

He has many good Christian's trapped in fear and anxiety causing them to be depressed and I know a fearful, anxious, depressed Christian can not glorify the Lord . They have been robbed of their joy.

Satan has them bond up in their own minds with his accusing thoughts. But great is He who is in us and Jesus will cut the bindings and free us from this emotional warfare if and when we cal on His name.

Amen and Amen

[Laurie]

Debby, thanks for sharing those very fitting scriptures with us. I'm so glad you turned to them when you needed them most. Good for you for recognizing it was the enemy at work and sending him on his way. You're an example to us all.

Carol, I'm glad the pain is under control for the moment, and I think you're wise to stay home, though I'm sorry you're missing time with family. May you have relief soon. And thanks for sharing the verse you shared.

Edy, I've always loved that picture of you.

Thanks, folks, for sharing your further thoughts on heaven and how we can, in a way, perhaps stay connected, with loved ones. I know we'll know very little about heaven until we get there ourselves, but I'm sure thinking of it a lot more now that my dad is there. I picture him walking, and I picture him worshipping.

I went to Myron's funeral today. I'm glad my brother came for the visitation and went there with my mom and I last night. I think the funeral would have been especially hard for my mom. It was a very nice service, very personal, two of his kids spoke about him, the gospel was clearly presented, and there were a lot of people. Area firefighters and EMT's (Myron did both on top of his job as an RN) as well as law enforcment took one section of the church. After the service, they lined up on each side of the exit area out of the back of the church, and a gentleman playing the bagpipes led the way between them. The casket was placed on a fire truck and an announcement was made that this was the final call for him. That truck led a procession of fire trucks, ambulances and law enforcement vehicles that went through town. He will be cremated so there was no grave side service. I'd never been to a funeral of a firefighter before so I didn't know about the Honor Guard and everything. All of that was appropriate and nicely done, but also heartwrenching.

Myron was a man who served others. What an example to us all.

[Edy]

Mariane, you're a sweetheart. I got the cheekbones from my mom, and the chin from my dad. Did I ever post (probably not, since I just learned how!) my dad's family photo? He had some gorgeous sisters. He's the youngest of 14 and was always so proud of that belt that he pointed out made the sign of the cross.

[For some reason, the preview shows the sister on the far right cut off. Dad really did have nine sisters.]

[cdawson41]

My husband and I have found that Satan really likes to attack us in our sleep when we are ill prepared to deal with him. So each night before we go to bed we say our prayers together. We also add in for God to put a hedge of protection around our minds and to evict satan should he try to show up and cause us issues. It is amazing to me that on the nights we say that prayer, most nights we have no issues. There have been a few nights when I've not been feeling good that we don't get the prayers done. I've actually had John get up so that we could say our prayers so that satan will go and leave us alone. He does indeed like to pull things from your past and make you wonder and ponder them and get you all worked up about it. I detest him and am so happy that through the power of God we can tell him to go and he must flee, he has no choice. Praise God!

[forHIM]

Laurie,

How sad for Myron's family to be without such a wonderful man, husband, and father. Sounds like his life made an impact on many. I will pray for the Lord's peace to fall upon all who love him and for all the hearts that need His healing touch.

How are you doing? This must have been hard on you so soon after your dad. I will keep you in my prayers along with your mom. Are you still needing to spend a lot of time with her getting things settled? I pray it is coming to an end soon and that things can get back to normal . . . if there is such a thing!