Walking Through the Passages of Life

“You are my hiding place; You preserve me from trouble; You surround me with songs of deliverance. Selah.

 

“I will instruct you and teach you in the way which you should go; I will counsel you with My eye upon you.” (Psa 32:7-8)

 

No matter what your struggle in life is about, the Lord will faithfully show you how to make the passage into His victory. He never writes any of His children off.

 

Every passage of life leads to the greater victory. Paul said it would be from glory to glory. 

Journal,

It happened Wednesday, August 28^th,1974.

The day earlier I had turned my resignation letter to my presbyter. I was leaving the denomination that I had been a part of both as a pastor and as an evangelist. I will never forget the words that he spoke. He said, “Brother Martin, these people will never have anything else to do with you.” 

I knew he meant these words in a kindly way. The presbyter was well aware that the nature of that denomination was pretty much to ostracize anyone who left them. I also knew that, but it didn’t matter. The Lord had already placed on my heart a directive.

Nevertheless, at my office the following morning a gloomy dark cloud hovered over me. I felt a loneliness that I wasn’t familiar with. That is when I reached for my Bible and fell to my knees. The chair in front of me became my altar.

An astonishing thing happened. My Bible fell open and my eyes looked at this one Scripture;

“Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.” (Php 1:6)

The cloud disappeared

Joy filled my heart. I jumped up, grabbed the phone to call Betty.

What I didn’t know was that at the very moment Betty was having her own struggles. And at that same moment the Lord had spoken words of life to my sweet Betty. We were in this struggle together.

Before I could get out of my mouth what the Lord had said to me, Betty said, “Honey, listen to what the Lord just shared with me!”

She began to read,

“For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ.” (Gal 1:10)

That was it! We were passing through another life gate together. God had given us life words to live by, words to face the future together.

After all, Jesus said,

“It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.” (Joh 6:63)

The Passages of Life

A life gate can be anything you face in life that could well result in a major change in your future. I call these life passages simply because it is the Lord who gives you the keys for making the passage. He gives you words to live by.

But there is one truth I really want to get across. It does not matter what you are struggling over. It could be about a divorce, about your job, about friendships, about loneliness, or a new marriage. It just doesn’t matter. The Lord has promised to help all His children make these passages through life.

A number of followers of Jesus were leaving Him. We hear this conversation between the Lord and Peter:

“So Jesus said to the twelve, ‘You do not want to go away also, do you?’ Simon Peter answered Him, ‘Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life.’” (Joh 6:67-68)

When Peter said that Jesus had words of eternal life, he wasn’t thinking of the gospel message that brings us salvation. To him eternal life had to do with a kind of spiritual life that only comes from the Lord. It is in this life that we would receive words from God to live by.

Every child of God will have life gates to walk through. You may call them something else, but the point is that it is in these times that we need to have something by way of direction from the Lord. Sometimes the need is in a desperate moment. At other times it may simply be a need for reassurance.

Words to Live By

As long as I can remember the Lord has given me words to live by. Sometimes these words come in a dream or in a vision. Sometimes I simply hear them in my heart. But most of the time they come when I am reading and meditating upon the Scriptures themselves.

One of my more recent examples had to do with my bout with cancer. I well remember when the Lord told me to ‘expect the unexpected.’ Of course this had to do with my miracle healing.

I’ve often shared my testimony of healing. But I feel that the Lord wanted me to share it again. So, here it is again:

Expect the Unexpected

 It was August 6, 2007. I had been in cancer treatment for a while. The findings were not good. Lymphoma had spread throughout my chest area and was now into my bone marrow. Our local hospital could do no more for me. They were sending me to M. D. Anderson in Houston. Everything pointed to a marrow transplant. (Pretty invasive procedure.)

Things were alright between me and the Lord. I had told the church that it was a win-win situation. The only concern I had involved which kind of bone marrow transplant would I have to go through. One was more invasive than the other. 

I hadn’t asked anyone to lay hands on me. This time it was different. I knew all this had to be just between me and the Lord. Any laying on of hands would have to be His hands. 

That day I am having my morning devotion on a hill behind the church. While reading In the book of Isaiah, the Lord spoke to my heart and said, ‘Expect the unexpected.’

When I looked up at the high wire directly over my head there sat a beautiful dove. I sat there just looking at her. The dove would look at me. She remained there until I stood up to walk home. Then she flew ahead of me towards the house.

It has always amazed me how of the Lord will speak to my heart while I am reading the Scriptures. That morning I was taking my devotion from the New Living Translation. Here is the part where the Lord spoke to me:

“Oh, that You would burst from the heavens and come down! How the mountains would quake in Your presence! As fire causes wood to burn and water to boil,

“Your coming would make the nations tremble. Then Your enemies would learn the reason for Your fame!

“When You came down long ago, You did awesome deeds beyond our highest expectations. And oh, how the mountains quaked!” (Isa 64:1-3 NLT)

I shared with the church what the Lord had said. I did not know what ‘expect the unexpected’ meant. I thought perhaps I would receive the less of the two invasive stem cell transplant procedures. After all that was the purpose of sending me to Houston.

At M. D. Anderson I was put through a battery of tests. They gave me a thorough work through. Betty and Nathan were with me.

When we met with my primary physician, he went down the line on each test that M.D. Anderson had made. With each test he said, ‘No cancer.’

At some point between Pineville, Louisiana, and Houston, Texas, the Lord had granted me a sovereign miracle of grace. It’s been over four years now. Every checkup carries the same message of ‘no cancer.’

And that is the story of my healing from the Lord

Why am I sharing these testimonies? Perhaps one of my readers will catch a spark of faith in knowing that God is no respecter of persons.

There are so many instances I would like to share with you. Here is one more.

The ‘What am I doing here’ Word

It was in 1971. Betty and I and our two sons were in Los Alamos, New Mexico, to raise up a mission work for our denomination. Once again I am facing a moment of, ‘What am I doing here?’ My heart is puzzled.

On top of everything, I am homesick. New Mexico was far removed from Central Louisiana. We were tired from having traveled a heavy road of evangelism. And now we are going to raise up a new work?

But the Lord had other plans. While reading the Scriptures again I find myself being pulled into a conversation between Jesus and Peter. Suddenly the question that Peter asked of the Lord was my question. Listen:

“Peter began to say to Him, ‘Behold, we have left everything and followed You.’

Jesus responded,

“Truly I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or farms, for My sake and for the gospel’s sake, but that he will receive a hundred times as much now in the present age, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and farms, along with persecutions; and in the age to come, eternal life.” (Mar 10:28-30)

Once again I had received my word of comfort from the Lord. And once again we were about to pass through another life gate.

It has come true – I am unable to count the blessings of the Lord that have come upon my home.

Even in our darkest trials, I can still say, ‘Thank you Lord. You have always been with me.’

It has to become real personal

Don’t ever make it about religion.

The heart of the new covenant is entirely fixed on a relationship with the heavenly Father and with His son Jesus. As Jesus was praying, we hear Him say,

“This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.” (Joh 17:3)

Knowing God means that you have a knowing relationship with Him. Jesus said,

“My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.” (Jn10:26-28)

Following in His footsteps…

Think about it.

Have you passed the major gate of life? (This is where Jesus Christ truly becomes your Lord and Savior.)

Do you know God as your Father, or is it simply religion that you know?

Jesus said,

“I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.” (Joh 14:6)

The only question that remains is,

‘Where are you taking me Jesus?’

And the Lord says,

‘Walk with Me. I am taking you to My Father’s house. Are you ready to walk from glory to glory?’

The Lord wants to minister to your heart. Listen to Candy Christmas as she sings, “I Know the Master of the Wind.’ 

Much love coming your way,

Buddy

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