Unfading Beauty

The Art of Scrapbooking

2011-02-27T13:17:00.000-08:00

Everyone knows at least one mother who saves every little thing she can get her hands on about her child -- pictures, report cards, school essays, a lock from his hair, her first pair of shoes, a note written by the child -- even though the misspellings make it almost incomprehensible. But to that mom, indecipherable notations, snapshots taken on a bad hair day, even a worn-out barrette she used to wear in her hair take on a special significance.

My niece has two children and has seriously contributed to the effort to make scrapbooking an art form. I have never seen anything like it. Her dedication to “properly” saving and displaying such memorabilia is nothing less than phenomenal.

So does the Lord have scrapbooks about His children? In a way, yes, although you might be surprised to learn about something in particular which He saves. If you are in fact His child, if you have accepted His free gift of salvation -- made Him your Lord and Savior, guess what? He still has every prayer you ever prayed. Revelation 5:8 and later Revelation 8:3 both let us know that God has taken every single entreaty you have ever made and kept it on hand. Talk about scrapbooking!

Think of all the prayers you have every prayed. Think of those particularly that have never been answered. Even when you pray the Lord’s prayer and say “Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done on earth ...” you know that so far, that has never happened! So far at least, that is just an unanswered prayer, correct? Well yes, but I should not have used the word “just” in connection with any prayer that has ever been prayed. Sometimes we say “Well, all we can do is pray.” And yet, to God each of our prayers is far greater than a tattered bow or newsclipping of a now forgotten school play. Each one has a special significance to Him.

And as important as each little item of memorabilia is to a loving mother, our prayers are not simply something for God to keep to listen to again at a later time. Oh no -- they have a far greater purpose. Right now they’re sitting in scrapbook form, but there is a day coming when they will actually be used to usher in that coming Kingdom of God. The prayers which we have prayed over our lifetimes, even when we sincerely prayed something like “Now I lay me down to sleep” as my mother taught me, will be used in an all-out, desperate, last-gasp program for God to get the world’s attention. A day is coming when every prayer you have ever prayed, every utterance to God, even when you only had a second to say: “Help!” will be offered on an altar near God’s throne.

Picture for a moment that throne. Do you think He just sits up there drinking ambrosia, playing His harp and letting the world drift by? Wrong! He is incredibly conscious and aware of what’s going on in the earth which He so lovingly created. It’s just that we sometimes mistake His patience, His forbearance, and His long-suffering with a lack of concern. Nothing could be further from the truth!

We know from scripture that there is a golden altar in front of God’s throne. Right now, your prayers are simply being saved up, like in a mother’s scrapbook, but there will come a day when they will be burned as incense on that altar. The thought of God enjoying the smell from incense rising sounds rather strange to us in the 21st century. The Jewish worshippers in Old Testament days would have had a much better handle on this because of the daily sacrifices at the Temple whichthey experienced from their childhood days. To put it into our own vernacular, think of the effect which perfume counters in big department stores can have on us. There is clearly something powerful in that pleasant smell, no doubt done deliberately to increase sales. That pleasant odor must be something like what the Lord experiences when our prayers are offered before Him.

The angel will put the prayers into a container which the Bible refers to as a censer and fire from the altar will then be added to the mix. The censer will probably be similar to a bowl or a goblet -- something with a large, open mouth.

But God will not simply look at it and say: “Oh, that’s nice.” No, He’ll watch as the angel picks up the censer and hurls it down -- to earth! The results will not be pretty. Not at all. The containers bursting on earth will cause thunder and lightening, along with voices and an earthquake. Those prayers we pray -- and so often feel are simply unnoticed by all -- will first go to God but eventually returned to the earth -- with incalculable effects. They will shake the earth! These prayers will be transformed into high explosives with pinpoint accuracy by the angel at God’s right hand! Someday, our prayers will become like a storm -- they’ll actually produce an earthquake! In effect, as those censers hurtle their way toward the earth the Lord will be saying: “Okay world, this is your last chance. For centuries my people have been patiently believing for their loved ones to be saved. I’ve had it with you! Accept me or else! You’re out of time!”

Well, we do not necessarily WANT judgment to come. Others should know we are Christians by our love. After all, it’s not hatred which causes people to repent, but the goodness of God according to Romans 2:4. On the other hand, the ultimate judgment of God is inevitable. At some point in time, an undisclosed day which He has already scheduled for judgment will come. At that time, every prayer you have ever prayed will be a part of God’s plan which will culminate with His son ruling and reigning over the earth. Yes, it will have to get worse before it gets better -- sort of like labor pains -- but the end result will be beyond anything we can imagine or think -- and I can imagine a lot!

Until then, know that your prayers accomplish a great deal -- more than you can ever truly comprehend.

2010-09-26T13:43:00.000-07:00

Have you ever considered how God protected what Genesis 3:15 calls “the seed of the woman” through history? I can tell you that that seed was threatened many times. Although there are numerous examples, one example was that of Jeconiah. He was one of several wicked kings of Judah. When he was given a scroll containing the word of God -- which pronounced judgment on that evil man’s sins-- Jeconiah was not content to cut it up. He also burned it! As a result, God pronounced a curse on him and his descendants -- even though he was in the direct bloodline that was supposed to deliver a Messiah to the world at some future date.

So God had quite a dilemma. How was He going to let the Messiah come from David’s seed, as He had promised David, yet keep the blood of the evil Jeconiah from tainting the blood of the promised Messiah? How could that blood be worthy to later save you and me from our sins? But God is so wise! He simply let Mary carry the bloodline, biologically. Just like Joseph, Mary was also from the House of David. However, she was from the family of a different son of David, Nathan -- not Solomon, who was of the kingly line.

Yet, from a legal perspective, the king, i.e., the future Messiah, had to come from the bloodline of the son of David, and of Solomon, namely Jeconiah. Well, it was no problem to God. He caused Mary to get married to a man named Joseph. Joseph became Jesus’ earthly, legal father. Joseph WAS from the kingly line. So Jesus had the legal authority to be our coming King, but at the same time, His biological bloodline was that of Mary, from the line of Nathan, not Solomon and particularly not Jeconiah. God totally skipped Jeconiah -- from a biological perspective. Therefore, Jesus’ blood was untainted, undefiled, and uncontaminated. Only His blood was enough to cleanse us from all of our unrighteousness. Any other blood would have been a total waste.

Of course anyone else could have died on a cross, and many did in those days of Roman cruelty. But it would not have made any difference to us all these centuries later. Only the blood of Jesus of Nazareth was sufficient to forever remove our transgressions from us -- from as far as the east is from the west. Only His blood was enough to wipe out the rotten things in our past.

You may remember that I am an attorney who helps people who have experienced injuries due to car accidents. Before a client authorizes our office to file a lawsuit, I remind them that in a court of law, they will have virtually no secrets. All their “dirty laundry” will be out there -- fondled, sorted, and displayed by the defense attorney -- for all the world to see. I tell my client that there is really no one who is without skeletons in their closet. We all have things in our past which we wish had never happened -- things we wish we had never done.

While those things are still “alive” as far as the world is concerned, once we ask Jesus to come into our lives and dwell within us, to Him, it is as if they never happened. Theologians call it “justification,” or in other words, just as if you never sinned. When God sees us, He sees no dirty laundry. He sees no skeletons in our closet. He sees no faults. As Dottie Rambo wrote: “He sees us through the blood.” That perfect, pure blood of Jesus.

Oh how thankful I am for the blood of Jesus. If you have not already done so, ask Him into your heart today. Don’t go to bed tonight until you have made everything right with Jesus. Begin talking to Him, just as if He were in the room with you: “Dear Jesus. I am a sinner. I’ve made mistakes. I was wrong and I’m sorry. Please forgive me of all my sins and cleanse me from all of my unrighteousness. I give myself to you, heart, mind and soul. I pledge to serve you for the rest of my life.”

You will find the story of Jeconiah’s outrageous conduct in Jeremiah 36. I suggest you read it, perhaps even today. It shows us so many things, the importance of the blood, the importance of the Word of God, Jeremiah’s indefatigable spirit toward the things of God, and so many others.

May the world of God dwell in you richly today, and throughout eternity.

Your friend,

Roberta Potts

Out of the Abundance of the Heart

2010-02-28T14:00:00.000-08:00

If there was a “dark ages” for Israel, it began soon after Joshua died. The children of Israel had miraculously escaped Egypt. Despite wandering in the wilderness for so many years, they finally did reach the edge of the Promised Land in faith. Moses spent most of what we now know as the Book of Deuteronomy telling them what was expected of them once they crossed into the Promised Land. While he was not allowed to enter himself, he did leave the people with a well-prepared Joshua to lead them. And actually, as long as Joshua was at the helm, the children of Israel did pretty well.

Although they stopped short of conquering the entire plot of ground the Lord had set aside for them -- and although they refused to totally drive out the current inhabitants, for the most part, the children of Israel stayed true to the things of God. However, once Joshua went on to his well-deserved reward, the people were at a loss. The parents failed to teach their children about the things of God. Therefore, a new generation rose up with no clue as to the mighty things God had done for their parents. To my mind, the most haunting pronouncement in the entire book of Judges is this: “In those days ... everyone did what was right in his own eyes.” (Judges 21:25) Sounds strangely 21st century.

You may remember that when the children of Israel first conquered their land, a few of the tribes stayed on the east side of the Jordan -- tribes like Manasseh and others -- as opposed to the majority of the tribes, who crossed the Jordan and conquered lands on the west side. Clearly the most famous part of Israel -- the Israel we think of today -- is all on the WEST side of the Jordan. However in the days of the judges, Israel had lands on the east side of the Jordan as well.

The land on the east side of the Jordan was as a whole referred to as Gilead (at least during this time in Israel’s history). The tribesmen in Gilead were at this time being terrorized by the Ammonites. If you were to travel to Amman, Jordan today you would be in the center of a geographical area in what was once controlled by the Ammonites. Like many 21st century Americans, when the Gileadites saw they had no other protection from these evil Ammonites, they at least knew enough to ask God for help. The Lord -- even with the knowledge that after the disaster was resolved, the people would return to their evil lifestyle -- graciously raised up a man by the name of Jephthah to deliver them. The Spirit of the Lord came upon Jephthah and sure enough, the Gileadites were in fact victorious against the Ammonites. In that decisive battle, they captured what the Bible refers to as the fords of the Jordan. The fords were critically important because they were the places where the river could easily be crossed. Certainly in the days long before airplanes and modern warfare, these areas were quite a catch for the conquering Gileadites!

At any rate, just when it seemed Gilead’s problems were over, the plot thickens when the Ephraimites -- one of the tribes of Israel living on the OTHER side of the Jordan -- crossed the river Jordan. Sadly, the ensuing conversation between the two groups sounds more like one between ten year olds than between warriors of Israel! I can just see the leader of the Ephraimites with his hand on his hips saying: “You didn’t ask us over here to help you fight the Ammonites!” Jephthah’s response was equally mature: “Well, we asked you over here once before to help us when we were in trouble -- and you never showed up!” Believe it or not, these fellow tribesmen actually fought a battle with each other over this dispute which could be only be referred to as trivial. The Lord must have felt rather like a father watching his two sons duke it out on the playground!

Well the winner of this second battle was Jephthah and the Gileadites. So picture the scene. Now the surviving Ephraimites, probably wondering why they ever bothered to cross the Jordan in the first place, attempt to “slink back” home with their tails between their legs. Now the Gileadites faced a dilemna. They certainly didn’t want the survivors of their present enemy -- the Ephraimites -- to escape justice by crossing the river. However, how were they to tell the enemies apart from their own men? After all, they were all Israeli tribesmen. It would be similar to putting a New Yorker and a Floridian in a room together. Would you stake your life on being able to distinguish which one was from which state? I wouldn’t! The Gileadites had the same problem.

But the Gileadites quickly came up with a system which has been used in warfare and even other contexts all through history ever since. Just like Americans, different areas of Israel had come to pronounce certain words a little differently. The Hebrew word for a stalk of grain such as an ear of corn, was “shibboleth.” If you were from Gilead, you pronounced the “sh” as we would pronounce “shoe.” However, if you were from Ephraim, the word was pronounced “sibboleth” -- without the “sh” sound.”

So when the vanquished Ephraimites attempted to escape across the river, I imagine something like this occurred: the Gileadite soldier would hold up an ear of corn and say: “What is this?” If the answer was “shibboleth,” the man would be allowed to pass unharmed. However, if the answer was “sibboleth,” he was held for further questioning ... or whatever!

Up until perhaps the last sixty or so years, most Americans knew what “speaking the shibboleth” meant. Somehow, the term seems to have fallen into disuse. At any rate, it basically means something in your language or speech which quickly distinguishes you from someone else. For example, if I were invited to a party for lawyers, since I am a practicing attorney myself, I might start say in a conversation with another guest: “Last week I had to interplead one of my cases” or “You won’t believe what the tortfeaasor did in one of my cases” or “I had to settle one of my contracts on a quantum meruit basis.” If the other party responded with a totally blank look on his or her face, it wouldn’t take me very long to realize that that guest simply was not an attorney. Why? He didn’t speak the shibboleth!

But this system of recognition or categorizing others has been used more often in military situations. I found an interesting story of a former American World War II nurse who was stationed in France right at the end of the war with Germany. She received a 3-day pass into Paris. Once she arrived at the checkpoint, however, she realized that she had forgotten the password and thought she would have to return to camp, thus wasting her three days. However, the American soldier at the checkpoint saved the day. He asked her to name ten baseball teams. Thankfully, she loved baseball and was able to name enough teams to convince the guard that she just could not possibly be a German spy. She spoke the shibboleth!

I suppose refraining from curse words and the like would be an obvious application of this story for us, however, I think the meaning to our lives should clearly stretch beyond what we don’t say to what we DO say, particularly in the 21st century. While perhaps refraining from usage of certain words was formerly a marker of a Christian, I am sorry to say that may not always be the case during these last days. Further, it unfortunately no longer sets us apart even to mention to the listener that we plan to attend an upcoming church service, for our pews seem to be filled these days with “Christian lookalikes, i.e., those who may talk the talk, but certainly do not walk the walk. Speaking the shibboleth as a Christian, then, must go beyond the above.

One way to definitively distinguish ourselves these days appears to be something like the following: A co-worker looks down in the mouth. After prodding, you determine that his wife is ill with cancer. Without any forethought, your first response is to ask for the spouse’s name -- “so I can be praying for her.”

In less than a minute of conversation, you have distinguished yourself as a believing Christian who actually cares about the needs of others. Obviously this should be said with a sincere heart, but the point is that without much hullabaloo -- like carrying around a huge King James Bible wherever we go! -- we can speak the shibboleth of the Lord. People can know almost immediately who we really are and what drives us. I think the story is an interesting reminder of the truth of Jesus’ words: “Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks.” (Matthew 12:34)

BEWARE -- NOT FOR ITCHING EARS

2010-02-13T13:33:00.000-08:00

It is so incredibly easy to fret and complain about the selfishness in the world today. So many people seem so self-absorbed. Of course the moment I start complaining about such things, the Lord has a way of reminding me of my OWN selfishness! So in an effort to come up with a way to improve myself in this area, I decided to study 1 Corinthians 13 again. The only problem is that I’ve read it so many times in the past, I’ve heard the scripture recited in weddings over and over, I've heard the chapter quoted by pastors so often -- that the actual verses have almost become a litany -- without anything which actually soaks through my thick head. (Okay, I admit it. I'm a slow learner when it comes to this subject!)

Therefore, below is my rendition of that chapter -- with a twist. It’s sort of what you could call the Love Chapter “according to Roberta.” Now for all you purists out there, here's my disclaimer. (You are aware that lawyers are handy with disclaimers!) I am not adding to or attempting to change scripture. This is simply my attempt to change the wording just enough -- while keeping a Biblical thought pattern -- so that maybe, just maybe, it will have an effect on my conduct.

These days when I start to get huffy or difficult to deal with -- which my husband will tell you happens all too often -- I try to remember to re-read the following. So far, it seems to be helping. I would be interested in the comments of those brave individuals who have the audacity to continue reading from this point forward:

1. Say it in love. Otherwise, you just annoy others -- every time you open your mouth.

2. No matter how spiritual you think you are, you have little value to the Kingdom of God if you don’t show love.

3. If it isn’t based on the love in your heart, all your giving and sacrificing for the Lord is cancelled out. God is NOT impressed.

4. Be patient when you’re frustrated, something goes wrong, or you don’t get what you want. It’s not all about you!

5. Be kind even when you feel like having a hissy fit.

6. Don’t feel bad against someone who seems to have things easier than you. Trust God to work things out for you at the right time -- even if it takes years.

7. It’s okay to announce it to the people you love when you feel you’ve really done something great. However, tell the bare facts WITHOUT pumping yourself up.

8. Don’t think too much of yourself. Take a fresh, close look in the mirror often -- to see who you really are.

9. When you feel like spouting off, think of Jesus sitting beside you as you begin to open your mouth.

10. Be concerned about others’ needs more than your own. Put yourself in the OTHER GUY’S shoes.

11. Hold yourself back from flying off the handle, no matter what the provocation. Love DESPITE the situation.

12. Don’t keep a mental list of the faults and foibles of others.

13. Be happy when the truth is revealed.

14. Protect others from harm. Don’t pick on them.

15. Trust God for the faults of others to be corrected. You can’t be the Holy Spirit to them.

16. Hope for the best.

17. Keep at it. Don’t give up!

18. Grow up and get over yourself!

19. Someday we’ll understand lots of things that we don’t have a clue about today. For now though, recognize that there are all sorts of things happening that you have no way of knowing about. Let God work behind the scenes on your behalf. Focus on what YOU’RE supposed to do and not on the faults of others.

I hope this helps in YOUR quest to be full of love.

God bless you,

Roberta

You Can Take This Stuff To The Bank!

2010-01-31T11:28:00.000-08:00

When I was in college at Oral Roberts University, I majored in history. To some, that may seem like a strange choice, I mean, how boring, right? The truth is that at the time, I chose history because if I had to study anything, the most interesting and easy thing for me to learn was history. After all, if you got much beyond “2 + 2 = 4,” it was a sad story as I have always been a fuzzy, not a techie. It was not until years later, though, when I began to realize that history is incredibly more than a bunch of pointless facts and dates. The truth is that we have no hope of understanding the geopolitical, economic or even social situation of our world in the year 2010 without a decent grasp of history. If Hitler had understood European history, for example, he would have remembered Napolean’s terrible retreat across Russia in the wintertime. The Russians’ defense against Napolean in the 1800’s and later against Hitler in the 1900’s was what is referred to as their "scorched earth policy." Having apparently learned nothing from Napolean’s defeat, Hitler’s men repeated it, many dying in the snow in their summer uniforms. Hitler’s problem? He didn’t pay attention to history!

Similarly, we wonder if, due to the economic woes, we’re going to be jobless. We worry about whether or not we and our children will be safe. We wonder if we’ll have enough money to do what we need to do. Much of this could be avoided -- winter wools could be made available for us in the winter, if you will -- by studying the history of God. Consider the following:

God promised David that the Messiah would be one of his descendants, and He was!

Isaiah predicted that the Messiah would live in the Galilee, and He did!

The psalmist said the Messiah would teach using parables -- and He did!

David said the Messiah would be hated without reason -- and He was!

Zechariah said the Messiah would enter the City of Jerusalem as a king and yet at the same time appear to be gentle, riding a donkey, and He did!

The very fact that Jesus’ miracles included the healing of people who had lost their sight (as opposed to people with other maladies) was a proof in itself that when God promises, He delivers. Isaiah described the ministry of the Messiah as one in which the eyes of the blind would be opened. About 700 years later, Jesus healed a man born blind (see John 9). Even the evil leaders dared not deny this miracle when the man’s own parents confirmed it! Then look what the formerly blind man said when confronted: “Since the world began, it has been unheard of that anyone opened the eyes of one who was born blind.” The Old Testament includes some healings, for example, from leprosy, barrenness, and an individual with a withered hand. Both Elijah and Elisha even raised children from the dead. However, I cannot find any passage in the Old Testament where blind people were healed. That specific kind of healing was reserved for a later day, one which Hebrews 11:40 described generally as “something better for us.” And it happened!

Balaam, a reluctant prophet, predicted a star coming out of Israel. Not only did the star show up at Jesus’ birth as predicted, but it was seen by witnesses (the wise men) many miles to the east of tiny Israel!

Jesus' folks had to flee their homeland and go to Egypt, but God promised Hosea the Messiah would be called out of Egypt, and He was!

The sayings of Nostradamus and other so-called “seers” were so vague they are often claimed to have predicted many different events in just about every century since! For example, in Quatrain 4, he predicts “a king who will have little peace and a short life.” I could find any number of examples of such kings from world history. I mean couldn't he have been a little more specific? Conversely, God’s promises were quite explicit. If HIS promises hadn't been kept, it would have been a dead giveaway. For example, Micah could have simply predicted that the Messiah would be born in, say, the southern part of Israel. Instead, Micah stated specifically that Messiah would be born in Bethlehem Ephrathah. Did you know there were two Bethlehems? One was in northern Israel and the other in the south, just a few miles from Jerusalem. So in fact, this promise was incredibly precise. It didn’t just say “Bethlehem.” It said: “Bethlehem Ephrathah." It stipulated which Bethlehem -- and of course that’s exactly where Jesus was born -- exactly like Micah said!

David said the Messiah would be betrayed and sold by one believed to be his friend; and Zechariah told us in advance the exact price of the betrayal (30 pieces of silver). It happened just as they said!

And the above represent only a few of the over 100 specific prophecies which were fulfilled precisely. So what’s the bottom line? When God promises you something, you can take it to the bank! You can rest in it because you KNOW it’s true. It’s not hope so, maybe so, I think so, if God’s in the mood. No, it will happen!

How do you judge someone’s character? By their history. For example, how do you know your best friend can be trusted? By what they have done or perhaps not done in the past. In the same way, God has revealed HIS character to us by HIS history.

Often when we are told of the numerous predictions of the Messiah, we see it as a “ho-hum” proposition. “Oh well, that happened centuries ago. That’s old news and has nothing to do with me today.” I submit, however, that it has a great deal to do with your life right now in 2010 -- for if God kept His promises in the past, He’ll keep His promises to you now. The promises to us now are just as true and just as real!

So don't be discouraged. Trust in Him, knowing that “He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” Rest in that promise, knowing you can take this stuff to the bank!

My Father - Oral Roberts

2010-01-10T06:54:00.000-08:00

I suppose each of you know by now that my father, Oral Roberts, has graduated to Heaven. Of course there are many things I could say about my dad. Here are three of them:

1. All through his life, Dad made a decision to focus -- and his focus was on the needs of people. When he was asked to pray for a person with a need, he wasn't thinking about the meeting he had been in that morning, nor the sermon he planned to preach that evening. He wasn't looking over that person's shoulder to see who else might be in the room. He wasn't on Twitter, he didn't stop to answer his cell phone, he wasn't texting and he certainly wasn't thinking about what my mother might have needed him to pick up at the grocery store! He made a decision to focus on one thing and one thing only -- the need of the person for whom he was praying. Yes, perhaps some of that was a talent, but I believe most of it was a decision he made -- a decision to focus.

Our twenty-first century society could learn a lesson from my dad. In my view, multi-tasking is highly overrated. Have you ever walked into a restaurant and viewed two people (usually women, I am sorry to say) who are sitting across from each other at a table and both of them are on their cell phones talking to someone else? What about channel surfing on our televisions? Need I say that texting while driving is multi-tasking run amok?

The scripture talks about setting our minds on things above (Colossians 3:2). This tells me (among other things) that if we really desire to do so, we can choose to set our minds on one subject at a time -- similar to tuning a radio onto a certain station or choosing one channel on our televisions. Until we learn to focus on the needs of people, our value to God and to His Kingdom is limited.

2. Dad was asked in a recent interview what appeared to be a rather rare question for an evangelist: "Mr. Roberts, do you fear anything?" The question concerned me. I wondered how in the world Dad was going to respond to that! But he did not hesitate. He responded: "Oh, yes. I fear that I won't obey God."

Many people absolutely hated my father. Some made fun of him relentlessly. He used to say that when he died, no one would have to preach his funeral because the media had been preaching it for years! Conversely, others idolized him and made him sound like a god. They hung on his every word -- as if he had a more direct pipeline to God than could they. Of course now that Dad's no longer with us on the earth, people seem to forget all of their criticisms -- or at least they don't repeat them to my face! But honestly, the most dangerous comments -- in my view -- are those which tend to idolize him. He would have been the first to shun such words. The truth is that he was just a man who did his dead-level best to obey God. Did he obey God perfectly, every single time throughout his entire life? I doubt it. And yet, I can honestly say as one pretty familiar with his good points and his bad points, that he did everything he knew to do to obey God. No one who really knew him could honestly deny that he had feet of clay -- just like the rest of us. However, despite his faults, I can honestly say that obedience to God as he understood what God's voice was saying was the absolute hallmark of his life.

Dad always told me to be eclectic -- to take the good I see in others or maybe in a sermon I heard, throw out the bad and take action with regard to the good points -- or the truths therein. While it is serious error to make my father sound like a perfect human being, it is also a terrible mistake to throw out what he accomplished for the bodies and souls of the men and women of his generation. I would say the best thing each of us can do --particularly now that he is no longer available to us on the earth, is to become students of his example, one part of which was his incredible desire and success in obeying the voice of God. Each of us needs to ask ourselves whether we are in fact obeying God. Are we -- for the most part -- carrying out the vision He has put in our own lives? Are we doing what He told us to do? Is that our passion?

3. In the 1960's, college students in many American universities were burning down administration buildings all over the country. There was a tremendous amount of unrest on college campuses. It was during that time that Dad began building God a university. The Lord had spoken to my father many years before, stating that some day he was to build a university, however, the time for actually carrying it out did not come until the 1960's. Specifically, the Lord said to Dad: "Build Me a University. Build it on My authority, and on the Holy Spirit. Raise up your students to hear My voice, to go where My light is dim, where My voice is heard small, and My healing power is not known, even to the uttermost bounds of the earth. Their work will exceed yours, and in this I am well pleased." At any rate, with the help of the Lord and wonderful folks whom Dad referred to as his "partners," he did build God a university.

In 1969, I was privileged to attend Oral Roberts University where I obtained an undergraduate degree in History, then later, a law degree from the O.W. Coburn School of Law. While a student at Oral Roberts University I heard over and over that we were to go into every person's world. Dad used to talk about the fact that there were many different "worlds." For example, the legal world. While I did not totally grasp the concept as a student, I now realize that as a lawyer, I have an entree into the legal world. My clients listen to my advice because I have a law degree on my wall. I can call a lawyer who is a stranger to me and that lawyer will receive my telephone call -- because I am a fellow lawyer. The legal world is one which in many respects has its own language.

What Dad understood -- which many godly folks have not understood in the past -- is that without an education, we have no entree into many of the worlds which exist. Without an education, we have no way to possibly go "into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature." (Mark 16:15). Certain worlds will not receive us. We have no entree. I praise God for Oral Roberts University. ORU's fight song, written by a beloved man of God, Vep Ellis, still rings in my soul: "May her torch still burn at the Lord's return, and count for eternity." I am grateful to the Lord for what the alumni of Oral Roberts University have accomplished previously, what they ARE accomplishing and what they will CONTINUE to accomplish to change the hearts of oh, so many.

Many non-Christians have said to me: Oh, I'm so sorry that you lost your father. My response: "I really appreciate your kindness. The truth is, however that I haven't lost him. I know exactly where he is. He's in Heaven and I will see him again one day soon!"

Do you know your way to Heaven? Please don't fall for the lies you hear on the news, in the movies and even from some preachers these days. The truth is that everyone is not going to Heaven for "there is no other name under heaven given among men, by which we must be saved." (Acts 4:12) Saved from what? Saved from Hell. While I will not describe in gruesome detail exactly what Hell is, suffice it to say, you don't want to go there. The Bible says that all you have to do to escape Hell is to believe in your heart that Jesus is the Son of God. Call upon His name, listen to His voice, and He WILL give you the gift of eternal life so that you can go to Heaven some day. I hope and pray that if you have not already done so, that you will call on the name of Jesus to save you today. If you make this decision, I hope you will contact me at : robertajpottslaw@att.net. God bless you.

Gentile Dogs and Christmas

2009-11-29T07:31:00.000-08:00

Gentile Dogs and Christmas

Are you starting to get ho-hum about Christmas? Does thinking about all the gifts you have to buy, the decorating you have to do, the horrendous traffic, etc., etc., etc. leave you wishing for January to come quickly? Well unless you are Jewish by birth, it might help you to have joy in Christmas if you remember that without Jesus coming to earth and dying for us, we would have forever remained "gentile dogs.” You are aware that that is how Jesus Himself referred to us before the Cross, correct? If you doubt this, check out Matthew 15:26. The truth is that without Christmas, without Jesus -- a Jew, being willing to die for the world -- which we see later in the Book of Acts having included even us lowly gentiles -- we would have been "without hope and without God in the world" (Ephesians 2:12).

Picture this: Peter was born a Jew. Jews were taught -- and yes, according to the Bible, that they were God's chosen people. Granted, they were to be a light to the gentiles, but even so, God chose them, not us gentiles. I know that's not very flattering, but there you are. Now on top of the scriptures, unfortunately, had been added what Jesus referred to as "traditions of men," for example that a "good Jew" didn't go into a gentile's home. It just wasn’t done. Obviously, Jesus didn't adhere to that admonition and was soundly criticized as a result. You will notice that Jesus referred to Peter on more than one occasion as "Simon, son of Jonah." (See John 1:42 and John 21:15-17.) I suspect that He did this on purpose and the comparison of Peter to Jonah was apt.

Of course all people can think about when they think of Jonah is the big fish -- actually, most people think of it as a whale. My, how the devil loves to distort the Bible and how we sometimes fall right into his trap. What he would prefer us NOT to see about Jonah is his extreme prejudice for anyone who wasn't Jewish and how God was striking out against that notion, even though the Jews were in fact His chosen ones. If you read “through the lines” in the Book of Jonah, it is clear that Jonah didn't want those gentile dogs, the people of Nineveh, to be saved from their sins. He actually preferred that they go to Hell. After all, they had in fact committed some horrendous sins, many of which were atrocities against the Jews. The Lord, however, has other plans and ends the Book of Jonah by castigating Jonah for being more concerned about a stupid little vine than for sinners - living, breathing human beings who just didn’t know their right hand from their left (see Jonah 4:11.)

While the part about the big fish is really neat as well, the crux of Jonah's story is prejudice -- and God's concern for sinners -- even when they are gentiles like us. In fact, you could say with some accuracy that the Book of Jonah is a foretaste of things to come. Accordingly, Jesus compares Peter to Jonah because He knew Peter had this same prejudice. In fact, we read in the Book of Acts that the sheet had to come down three separate times -- and Peter had to be really hungry -- before he was willing to even consider going against what he had been taught and had latched onto ever since he was a boy. (See Acts 10).

In essence, it was as if Peter was Jonah all over again -- except that Peter apparently got it in the end and I’m not sure that Jonah ever did. I mean, how was Peter going to explain away the fact that right in the middle of his sermon to those low-life gentiles, the Holy Spirit fell? After all, he was only there because he had been compelled by God! It happened and neither Peter nor his fellow Jews could deny it. Peter says: "...Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons." (Acts 10:34). In our vernacular it might have been: “Oh, I get it now! The gospel is open to them too.” And because of this, because God truly is NO respecter of persons, you and I have a chance -- an opportunity which very few gentiles enjoyed UNTIL the cross. (Ruth and Rahab, of course, were notable exceptions). Now, we have the privilege -- just by believing -- to become a valuable part of the family of God. No small thing.

Now I know what you're thinking. Ho hum, I've heard all of this before. I told you, satan loves to distort Bible truth and make it seem boring. He very cleverly disguises the truth and meaning of Christmas with harmless (or seemingly harmless) things like Santa Claus, lights, tinsel, gift-giving, overeating, and the like. The fact is, if he can just get us to see Christmas as secular -- if he can just keep us from feeling the incredible joy of it all, he has gained a real victory.

On the other hand, if we can focus our minds:

-- not on the secular
-- not on the responsibilities of these modern "traditions of men"

but on what the Lord wants us to see this Christmas, we will agree with the apostle Paul when he said: “Thanks be to God for His INDESCRIBABLE GIFT!” (2 Corinthians 9:15).

So as you prepare your Christmas list, as you anticipate all the hustle and bustle, let the joy of this indescribable gift fill your soul to overflowing, with joy unspeakable and full of glory. Thank God, we've been grafted in!

Shock and Awe

2009-11-01T15:56:00.000-08:00

How depressing it is to watch the news these days. We're told to always be on the watch (Luke 21:36) -- so I can't exactly bury my head in the sand as a reaction to all the incredibly disgusting things which are happening in our world. According to recent news, terrorists have been found -- and thankfully caught -- not very far from where I'm sitting as I compose this. The violence is a phenomenon which has never been so imminent in my lifetime -- at least that I KNEW about! Fathers that run over their own daughters? It's like a science fiction novel -- only it is not fictional.

And what about injustice? I'm an attorney, so my clients naturally expect me to bring them justice. Many times I can with God’s help -- but how frustrating it is when I am forced to tell a potential client, "Sorry, I can't help you." For example, when people are hit by an uninsured motorist. The bad guy (we call him or her the "tortfeasor" in the law) almost always gets off with little or no consequences and yet my client is left with huge doctor bills and no one to hold accountable for the fact that -- without a miracle from God -- their lives will never be the same. No one would argue that that's injustice and this scenario is only one example which I see in my law practice.

You could accurately describe many current events with these words: "Therefore the law is paralyzed, and justice never goes forth for the wicked surround the righteous; therefore, justice goes forth perverted." Sound familiar? Yes, but those words were written over 2,500 years ago in another country, thousands of miles away from most of us -- long before the advent of cell phones, automobiles, Tylenol or light bulbs. In fact, if a Hebrew scholar were to translate the Book of Habakkuk into our own vernacular, we would find his situation hauntingly similar to many news stories of today. Only God could have a man write down those things so many years ago, yet now when we read them, the situation is so incredibly similar to our world today.

You might even find yourself identifying with the man named Habakkuk -- a man who wrote what most of us know only as an obscure book in the Old Testament which could not possibly have any relevance to our lives today. Or could it? Actually, it seems to me that this gentlemen was unlike any of the other prophets we read about in the Old Testament. Most of them had a very similar message -- repent or God will judge you. Each of them seemed to have been bringing a message FROM God. But to my mind, Habakkuk's short essay really doesn't fit in with books like Jeremiah, Zephaniah and the like. His purpose wasn't really to PREDICT judgment. Rather, he asked God questions, such as what we've talking about above, i.e., "Why do you tolerate wrong?" and "Where's justice?" Habakkuk ASKED God for judgment and for justice because the sins with which he was surrounded were so rampant and seemingly went unpunished. Do you ever find yourself asking such questions?

So what was God's answer? "Look among the nations and watch. Be amazed and astonished. I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe even if it were reported to you." (Hab. 1:5) Not only is God GOING to bring justice. He tells Habakkuk that He's going to use an evil man (Nebuchadnezzar) to do it. This guy was from Babylon -- of course, known as Iraq today -- and you talk about cruelty. When Nebuchadnezzar's men finally did capture Judah's king, Zedekiah, they first murdered his sons and made Zedekiah watch -- then they put out his eyes -- so the last thing Zedekiah would ever see was the murder of his own children. After that, they led him in chains to Babylon.

The kicker here, however, is that when Habakkuk does get his question answered, he doesn't like the answer. He asks God: “Why are you silent while the wicked swallow up those MORE RIGHTEOUS then themselves?: (Hab. 1:13)Like us, he felt that God should do things in the way WE think best.

Besides telling Habakkuk, I AM going to bring justice -- I DON'T tolerate wrong -- and even graciously revealing to Habakkuk the people He would use, God also tells Habakkuk how to live in the meantime. In simple words which are repeated no less than 3 times in the New Testament (Galations 3:11 Romans 1:17; and Hebrews 10:38), God tells Habakkuk -- and us -- that the just shall live by their faith (Hab. 2:4) We are simply to trust that God will do what needs to be done, when it needs to be done, in the way it should be done. We “live by faith” by accepting God’s words as the truth that they are. We do not doubt His promises or His incredible ability to deal with the horrendous things which are happening before our eyes. We don't wring our hands saying things like: "How in the world are we going to make it through what’s ahead?" We believe that God knows far more than we do -- and that He's got a plan which He will carry out with perfect precision and timing.

Now that I'm almost 59 years old, I've lived long enough to have seen God's judgment or at least partial judgment more than once. Every time I've seen it, it seemed to take forever before God acted, but when judgment came, it was swift and sure. It had a great purpose and it was always at the right time.

So why isn't God judging all of the evil stuff right now? Well, perhaps the sin may not have run its course yet. (See Genesis 15:13-16.) God typically gives people chance after chance after chance to repent before He finally judges them -- as He's not willing that any should perish and He's long-suffering to us-ward (2 Peter 3:9) . After all, we can't really criticize Him for that can we, when we consider our own sins and failures!

Or perhaps the answer is that if He told us now why He was waiting on judgment until a certain period of time, that knowledge would keep us from sleeping tonight. But whatever the reasons, we can trust that God does have a plan and does have reasons for everything He does. The truth is that one day we'll look back and say something like: "Oh, I get it now. If He had changed everything when I wanted it, it wouldn't have worked out nearly as well." We can't possibly see what God sees and how perfect His detailed, specific plan really is. And if God deigned to share it with us, guess what? We couldn't understand it anyway because we only have finite minds. It would be like attempting to explain nuclear fission to the satisfaction of a two-year-old. For right now we truly see "through a glass darkly." (1 Corinthians 13:12.)

So the Lord tells Habakkuk: "...[T]he vision is yet for the appointed time; it hastens toward the goal and it will not fall. Though it tarries, wait for it; for it will certainly come, it will not delay." (Hab. 2:3). Trust that God knows exactly what He's doing. Wait for it. Trust Him to do the right thing, in the right way, and at the right time. When it happens, it will astonish and amaze you, just as God promised Habakkuk. You will look back and say something like: "I never thought I'd see the day when ..." In truth, God's shock and awe plans are far more shocking and awesome than what our soldiers did in Iraq. They are far more amazing than Hitler's blitzkrieg, Alexander the Great's plundering armies or Rome's murdering legions. Our role is to trust the Lord, wait for His justice to prevail and focus OUR efforts on the calling He has placed into our hearts. Let these words trickle down from your head into your spirit. The just shall live by their faith!

It is a blessing to receive comments, so please do comment, if you have the time. God bless you. Roberta

His Breadth of Love

2009-10-18T08:13:00.000-07:00

It is overwhelming when we really grasp -- down to the depths of our souls -- the quality of God's love for us. God knew, long before Moses led the children of Israel out of Egypt, that once they arrived in the wilderness, they'd create and worship that horrid golden calf. But knowing that, He still caused the destroyer to pass over their houses when they had the blood on the door. He knew they'd later murmur against Moses once they arrived in the wilderness -- but knowing that eventuality, He opened up the Red Sea anyway. God knew the children of Israel would eventually complain about the Manna, but He gave it to them anyway -- in a place where no other sustaining food was readily available.

Of course I suppose God's ultimate action along this line was this: Jesus knew most would reject Him, but He died on the cross anyway.

It's one thing for a parent to make big sacrifices for his children -- not realizing that maybe later those children might be ungrateful. But to know in advance -- well let's face it. Most of us would lose heart and not bother making those sacrifices in the first place if we knew that in the future our children would not be appropriately grateful. But God loved us that much. What an incredible thought.

Oh that we might be able "to comprehend ... what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge ... (Ephesians 3:18-19)

If you want Jesus' love to be shed abroad and appropriated to your heart, talk to Him and tell Him so. How to start? Say to Him: "Oh Jesus, be merciful to me, a sinner." Pour out your heart to Him, just as if you could see Him sitting in a chair across from you. Then tell Him: "Oh Jesus, I just can't go on like this. I've messed up and I'm really sorry. I give my heart to You and to You only. Save me and change me -- as only You can!" If you do that and you really mean it, you'll become a new creature in Christ Jesus. Find a Bible (go to biblos. com if you can't find an old-fashioned one made out of paper.) Start reading in Genesis. Ask your new Lord to show you what He wants you to see. Talk to Him and keep talking to Him. Listen for Him to talk to you. (Check out 1 Samuel 3:3.)

I am writing this in obedience to God. I confess I've tried getting away from it for quite awhile now. I told God: "I don't have a way to get the message out." Then when He sent an individual to me telling me how easy it is to start a blog, I said: "I'm not a computer teckie. I don't even know how to spell that term! No one will ever read it anyway." Look, I don't even know if you can write me back or contact me in any way. That's how unskilled I am in this new computer-savvy world in which I find myself. So I guess I'll just leave it to the Lord. But if you have somehow found this message and Jesus is not the Lord of your life, or if you've found this message and it has been a help to you (and if there really is a way to contact me!), let me know.

Roberta Potts