Kay Odle

I was on Facebook this morning and came across a story that just broke my heart. My home town is Sioux City IA, about 85 miles south of Sioux Falls SD. That is smack dab in middle America.

The story was about a 68-year-old grandmother and pastor’s wife who had spent most of her life traveling with her family to spread the good news of Jesus Christ.

This woman wasn’t a stranger to sorrow. Kay Odle is a recent widow. Her husband died on Thanksgiving unexpectedly from heart failure.  The news story reported that she is raising a four-year-old granddaughter with special needs by herself as well.

On New Year’s Day, Kay Odle would encounter a sorrow beyond sorrows. Her son, who appeared to have a history of drug abuse would kick down her door, force his way into her home and beat her beyond recognition.

Who can fathom why? How can something like this happen?  Lord, how many people inside the church are finding themselves in similar struggles? Maybe afraid to open up?

How many of us have children who have wandered far from God, perhaps held captive as Satan’s prisoner of war through substance abuse?  Trying everything they knew to do without avail? Children who disdain and mock parents because they are people of faith?  Appearances on the surface can sometimes look good, even when a simmering caldron is boiling beneath.

My friends, we are in a battle!  And we must never forget Paul’s message to the Ephesians in Chapter 6, “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”

Yet, while we may know who our battle is with, and while we may understand that it is the enemy who comes to kill, to steal and to destroy, we must always be diligent to be on guard. 

Matthew Chapter 10:34-39 (AMP) is one of the most heartbreaking series of verses in scripture. It says,“Do not think that I have come to bring peace on the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword [of division between belief and unbelief]. For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and a man’s enemies will be the members of his [own] household [when one believes, and another does not].

“He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who does not take his cross [expressing a willingness to endure whatever may come] and follow Me [believing in Me, conforming to My example in living and, if need be, suffering or perhaps dying because of faith in Me] is not worthy of Me. Whoever finds his life [in this world] will [eventually] lose it [through death], and whoever loses his life [in this world] for My sake will find it [that is, life with Me for all eternity].

That's some pretty hard stuff!  Whaaaat??? What is happening around us is a convergence of the signs of the times Jesus pointed out to His Disciples.  The world around us is imploding in its sin and ugliness.  But we are not a people without hope!  We know that our redemption draws near!

As we wait upon that time when Christ rights every wrong, may we diligently clothe ourselves with the Armor of God each and every day.  May we recognize that our battles are won in the Throne Room of our God, who hears our cries and petitions and who promises that in ALL things, He is working for our good.

Let us pray …

Father, in Jesus name, I want to pray for all with a son or a daughter lost and held in bondage to the enemy today.  Help us to see them through your eyes.  Help us to fight the battle before your throne instead of engaging in battle with them.  Help us trust in your promises, get out of your way, and keep eyes of faith on the road as we pray believing that our prodigal will come home.

Guard your moms and dads out there with broken hearts, and more often than not, broken homes. Set a hedge of protection around them.  Let your healing be like the balm of Gilead to restore them.  Bring them Aarons and Hurs to walk with them.

I want to pray for Kay Odle today. And her son. What the enemy would use for horror and harm, I pray you will turn into a testimony of your faithfulness. I want to ask you to heal her totally and completely. I want to thank you that Salvation is a total restorative work:  physical, emotional, and spiritual!  I want to praise you for sparing her life.  Oh Lord, bring a mighty testimony in who you are from this tragedy!

Lord, teach us to battle strategically in Holy Spirit in this hour. Draw us near to you.  Create in us faithful and obedient hearts.  In you alone is our great hope! But you are enough. We surrender. Amen.

Nick

I woke up this morning and went to Facebook to see an update on how Nick was feeling. He has been very ill, in fact much more ill than I realized.  However what to my wondering eyes should appear, but something that would affect me greatly. 

When I see something on FB that requires prayer, I try to stop right then and there and pray.  But I learned something today.  Sometimes, it is not enough to just pray “for”, I need to pray “with”.

Nick was a gift to me from God when I married his dad 26 years ago. Of all our kids, he has one of the sweetest natures and a heart that is simply pure.  Matter of fact, Don’s kids (who are also my kids now) are a whole lot easier to get along with than the ones I birthed.  I guess when I think about it, it only makes sense. Don’s a whole lot easier to get along with than I am! I love all of our kids deeply and passionately, and each is uniquely gifted and blessed, but Nick has always held a very tender spot. Nick also loves Jesus.

So, imagine my surprise when I got there and what I saw was a chastisement that suggested "I" do some rearranging of my life and get some rest. It also challenged my walk with Christ.   My first reaction was confusion, the next huffy offense … but instantly I knew in a deeper sense that this son was trying to tell me something and finding it hard to find the right words to use. I also realized it was time to get off Facebook and get on the phone.

When I got on the phone with Nick, I did indeed realize that he’d been battered by assault after assault in the past few weeks. Primarily his health, sick with Influenza A to the point that he was concerned he’d lost some short-term memory. As ill as he was, his employer insisted he come to work.  Things had been said that wounded his heart. He'd had a "physical, emotional whopping" over too many days. Nick didn’t need me to pray “for” him, he needed me to pray “with” him. And the truth is that I had failed this son I loved.

We all have those days. Those places where we deeply need a touch from Christ through the heart, hands and voice of someone with a like spirit.  Days when we need someone to go boldly into the Throne Room of God and declare the Word of the Lord over a situation or maybe many situations WITH US.  It is our battle room, the place where the General hears our petitions and sets forth strategy for victory.  The place where the armies of the Lord are engaged. The place where we can rest, knowing He has it …. All of it!!

What the enemy would have used for harm for Nick, for me, and who knows with whom else, was quickly put under the blood of Christ when we joined together to pray.  A door to the Word of God was opened in that place of prayer.  The declaration of that Word which cannot return void was made before the One who waits to set it in place!

My friends, the days are not going to get easier. They are going to get harder because the time is so very short, and the attack of the enemy is aimed at every front.  You can expect assault against your most vulnerable tender places. But know this…

Through Him we also have access by faith into this [remarkable state of] grace in which we [firmly and safely and securely] stand. Let us rejoice in our hope and the confident assurance of [experiencing and enjoying] the glory of [our great] God [the manifestation of His excellence and power]. And not only this, but [with joy] let us exult in our sufferings and rejoice in our hardships, knowing that hardship (distress, pressure, trouble) produces patient endurance; and endurance, proven character (spiritual maturity); and proven character, hope and confident assurance [of eternal salvation]. Such hope [in God’s promises] never disappoints us, because God’s love has been abundantly poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us. Romans 5:2-5 (AMP)

Let us pray …

Father God, in Jesus name I pray…How grateful I am for the confidence I have in knowing that You are faithful in all things!  Throughout my life, you have consistently rewritten “my story” into a testimony of your loving kindness and faithfulness.  My story has really always been "History", the story of Christ in me. In the darkest of valleys, you have brought me through. It is not in the suffering that I rejoice,  but I rejoice in You who brings me through the suffering…always stronger, always elevated in understanding, always with a testimony of what good You have produced in the suffering, always prepared for what is ahead of me in my journey with you.

Lord, I want to thank you for the knowledge that no matter what I see with earthly eyes, you are at work for my benefit and the benefit of my children and my grandchildren.  Thank you for Nick. Thank you for your faithfulness over Nick. Bless him. Let his healing be full and complete. Nothing, absolutely nothing, happens outside your sovereign hands. You hold me and all my loved ones, and I can rest in you. 

Help me, Father, to weed out the distractions in my life that keep me from prompt obedience.  Help me recognize those times when praying "for" is not enough and praying "with" is critical.   Help me with consistency in prayer. Help me blessed Father to be in prompt obedience in all things.

In the name of Yeshua, my Messiah, I pray.

Returning

It's been a very long time since I've blogged. I've not been very faithful.  I'd start and get distracted with the busyness of work or life or even church ministry. I lost my closest friend and ministry partner.  In a sense, I think I closed my heart a little when Miki died. Regardless of the reason(s), I believe the Lord is calling me back to the venue of writing.

I am hungry for the Lord.  I am hungry to hear from Him. I am hungry to be emptied of self and filled with Him. I remember so well that unique intimacy I had with Him.  I want it back.  I want to be His friend. I want to talk with Him amidst the day with all its encounters and in the quiet places of the night.  I want to joyfully embrace the revelation He provided as I wrote.  Nothing can compare with those things.

That said, this is my very first day back.  I want to invite you to join me as the Lord takes it from here. In the days ahead, I want to do some writing about the Hebrew significance of Ayin Tet, the Hebrew Year 5779.  And I want to be open to any other direction Holy Spirit may take me.  I hope you'll share your thoughts and comments with me too.

Welcome to Grandma C's Closet.  It is a place where seeking my Savior, prayer, and obedience will help me to have a keener ear to hear with the Lord is saying in this incredible hour!

Are We Jacob?

I continue to seek the Lord about a number of things specific to the times we live in and the state of the church in America.  I love the way the Lord gives a common message to His people through a theme or a call that never is given to one solitary body, but rather collectively to shepherds across the nation with ears to hear.

 As these messages sound within the walls of my own church, I am humbled and grateful. Of late the call to the American church has been one of repentance and return to God. It is a call to return to the basics of the faith and one of clear discipleship – which of course is a call to equip and nurture the knowledge of the gospel and the Word in its entire context in others, and accountability to sincerity and obedience before a holy and omnipresent God.  That “basics” thing is so profoundly important. We simply cannot share what we do not have.

As I have studied the Book of Genesis this month, the Lord has been speaking to me loudly about Jacob.  It’s clear in the name. Names are utterly significant to God. Jacob’s name meant “supplanter” and in Jacob’s nature, you could clearly see the evil in his character.  True to its definition, as a supplanter, Jacob always had the greatest interest in himself, with a keen eye out for a blessing that would benefit him and that he likely thought he was “entitled” to.  Jacob was skilled in manipulation, deceit, and quick to engage in coercion to get what he wanted. Although it said that Jacob loved God and Esau loved killing, that love was not clearly evident in Jacob’s behavior.

They say that even thieves have honor between them, in this case the younger brother would go so far as to steal from his brother the blessing that Isaac had clearly intended for Esau.  To be fair, Esau wasn’t focused on his heritage when he traded his birthright for a bowl of soup either. The father loved Esau, yet a house divided against itself will fall because of the brokenness within it.  A son without honor for father or brother is not exempt from the natural consequences of sinful behavior.   I suppose the saddest aspect of the story is that this was a family deeply and firmly rooted in God’s faithfulness.  The family patriarch was Abraham, the father was Isaac.  Wouldn’t you assume that both sons were tutored in some serious knowledge of God?

It is a sad story, a story filled with manipulation and rebellion. I wept over Jacob’s greed and Esau’s foolishness, and I’m sure God did too.  I’m sure both sons did some weeping too in the secret places. While the blessing would come through Jacob, the Father loved Esau, and my Bible tells me that God isn’t finished with Esau’s descendents yet. There is a time coming when the seed of Esau will once again come into the Father’s house, but let me get back to my story . . .

Jacob sinned against his brother, with his own mother being the strategist and planner.   Yet Esau added sin on sin and became an active participant in what was to follow. His reaction was hatred and unforgiveness which lead him into rejection of his Father’s household, full blown rebellion, and making his camp in enemy territory where he would marry foreign wives and entertain foreign Gods. That’s a sure fire way to muddle up the family tree!

In the years that followed Isaac’s deception by his son, the natural consequences of Jacob’s sin would come back to visit him and his generations. We all indeed reap of the sin we’ve sown, and there are natural consequences as a result of it.  The same deception Jacob practiced would visit him when Laban  gave Leah to be married for Jacob’s servitude instead of Rachel as Jacob expected. He would labor 14 hard years before finally being allowed to take Rachel as his bride.  She was his beloved.

Rachel would bear Jacob no sons initially, though she would become the mother of Jacob’s beloved Joseph and Benjamin.  She would die in childbirth when Benjamin was born. The old family anger would come against Joseph, but God would redeem His people through the grace He prepared for Joseph.

I wonder if these key characters considered the ramifications of their early choices, knowing ultimately that their sin was against God. Jacob likely thought his blessing would come easily, but it didn’t. Blessing doesn’t come until a deep work is done.  Deep works require breaking and a humbling. We all sin. We recognize that Jesus paid the price for our sin, but are we willing to humble ourselves?

There must have been a powerful yearning to be right” again with God. Enough so that Jacob’s many failures would bring him to the place of wrestling with God for his blessing.  Jacob would come out of that battle forever changed.  The socket God tore in his hip would leave him with a lifetime limp to remind him of his brokenness before God. Enter grace . . . it was precisely that brokenness and finally submission to His God that would be Jacob’s catalyst for a new name and a new life. It is that same sweet grace that allows us to be partakers of the Father’s blessing!

Jacob’s name would be changed to Israel – God prevails.  His son’s – those birthed through Leah, Rachel, and their maidservants would form the tribes of the nation that God would call His own.  Through Jacob’s lineage, the Messiah would be birthed from the tribe of Judah and the lineage of David.  Because of this same sweet grace, the brothers Jacob and Esau would embrace each other again and forgiveness would pave the path to a better way that would extend to the Gentile nations!

The story of Jacob and Esau -  the redemption by grace from a sin nature is a story of the glorious grace that is given by a Father who loves us enough to send His only Son as payment for our sin.  It is our story.  The call of God to repent and get right with Him, to come back to the basics is a cry critical to our times and to our church.  Will we hear it?

Cain asked, am I my brother’s keeper? You bet we are.  We are mandated by what God has done for us to love, to disciple, to encourage, to forgive, to make amends when and where we can. We were born to be agents of restoration.  We cannot confiscate, we cannot earn, nor are we entitled to God’s blessing.  It’s purely a “grace” thing.  To be great in the Kingdom of God means to be broken and submitted to His authority.  To love God means that love of our brother is not optional.   When we submit to God and realize that it is God who prevails . . . When we embrace our infirmities without offense as a reminder of who God is, we can be used by Him. If we operate in pride, impressed by our own knowledge, with expectation of titles and honors we deserve, we are useless to God.

I am reminded if the wisdom of that great saint who has gone before us, A.W. Tozer, as he wrote on brokenness. Consider these words:  God rescues us by breaking us, by shattering our strength and wiping out our resistance.” —  Or pause and contemplate on this truth . . . “It is doubtful whether God can bless a man greatly until he has hurt him deeply.” In Tozer’s book, The Root of the Righteous, he makes the following profound statement: “The flaming desire to be rid of every unholy thing and to put on the likeness of Christ at any cost is not often found among us. We expect to enter the everlasting kingdom of our Father and to sit down around the table with sages, saints and martyrs; and through the grace of God, maybe we shall; yes maybe we shall. But for the most of us it could prove at first an embarrassing experience. Ours might be the silence of the untried soldier in the presence of the battle-hardened heroes who have fought the fight and won the victory and who have scars to prove that they were present when the battle was joined.

Do we really consider standing before the Lord on that day when our actions, our words, our obedience, our heart for God and others will be reviewed?  Just Jesus and me?  Just Jesus and you? Will we be found to have lived our lives largely in our old sinful nature – even as we served in the church – or will that precious grace that covered us, that same sweet mercy that was extended inhabit and motivate the things we did in Jesus name?

It appears to me that as we pledge to serve God, as we lead and as we disciple . . we must pledge to be great servants of God. We must put on Christ and His sufferings.  We must be in submission to God, Is He our authority?  Am I asking Him to lead?  Do I wait to hear His direction?  Any attempts that we make to control, to confiscate, to occupy what is rightly earned by us is total folly. They only hinder God’s work among us and darken the lamp of Christ in us that should be shining to those who don’t know Him. Do we truly understand that our lives have eternal impact?

 

 

Let us seek God as we’ve never sought Him before. Let us forgive whether or not our anger may appear to be justified. Let us choose to love even those who are hard to love. We must always remember that great grace that was extended to us.  And if we have never been broken . . . let us be prepared, because there is a work that God is doing in our midst. And what God has purposed, He will complete!  Let us get back to the basics of our faith.  Let us cling to Jesus in the context of His Word and not to an idol that we have created within our own imaginations. Let us be real. Help us Lord.  Amen!

Are you in God's Way . . .

If you become a necessity to someone else’s life, you are out of God’s will. As a servant, your primary responsibility is to be a "friend of the bridegroom"( John 3:29). When you see a person who is close to grasping the claims of Jesus Christ, you know that your influence has been used in the right direction. And when you begin to see that person in the middle of a difficult and painful struggle, don’t try to prevent it, but pray that his difficulty will grow even ten times stronger, until no power on earth or in hell could hold him away from Jesus Christ. Over and over again, we try to be amateur providences in someone’s life. We are indeed amateurs, coming in and actually preventing God’s will and saying, "This person should not have to experience this difficulty." Instead of being friends of the Bridegroom, our sympathy gets in the way. One day that person will say to us, "You are a thief; you stole my desire to follow Jesus, and because of you I lost sight of Him."

Beware of rejoicing with someone over the wrong thing, but always look to rejoice over the right thing. ". . . the friend of the bridegroom . . . rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice. Therefore this joy of mine is fulfilled. He must increase, but I must decrease" (John 3:29-30 ). This was spoken with joy, not with sadness-at last they were to see the Bridegroom! And John said this was his joy. It represents a stepping aside, an absolute removal of the servant, never to be thought of again.

Listen intently with your entire being until you hear the Bridegroom’s voice in the life of another person. And never give any thought to what devastation, difficulties, or sickness it will bring. Just rejoice with godly excitement that His voice has been heard. You may often have to watch Jesus Christ wreck a life before He saves it (Matthew 10:34).
Used with permission from RBC Ministries,
Oswald Chambers
My Utmost for His Highest Devotional

March 24, 2006, was an exceptionally painful day in my life. With circumstances entirely out of my control, I heard the Lord whisper in my ear and say, “Kay, stand back and stay out of my way.” Of course, I had nowhere else to go. Nonetheless, for me it was one of those moments of truth. I had a decision to make. Would I allow the circumstances of my life to consume me or would I trust God and stand on His Word.

I’m not sure that I have ever fully surrendered in my life without some kind of struggle. Generally, my journey to the place where I leave my burdens at the cross is much easier if it doesn’t include those I love most. We struggle so to manage the unmanageable. Why is that so hard? What is it that makes us want to protect our loved ones from the natural consequences of disobedience and sin . . . to keep them from experiencing the same kind of pain that brought most of us to that place of brokenness and ultimately the Cross wherein God began to change our lives? In spite of the fact that I fervently pray and ask the Lord to draw my loved ones close, I seem to always end up somewhere in the way trying to make pain go away.

But on this day, revelation knowledge from a great man of God . . . Oh Lord, that I would be called your friend! How I yearn for that mantle! Take me to that place where my desire to serve you rises above all else . . . where my loyalty to you takes precedence even over the members of my own household . . . dear ones that my heart loves so much!

How many times do we get in God’s way? How many times do our best intentions result in preventing those we love from coming face-to-face with Him who is able to exceedingly and abundantly above and beyond all that we can ask or imagine? How many times do my band-aids interfere with the deeper healing the Lord would do? How many times do I build obstacles for Him to walk around? Oh Lord, please don’t let us be hindrances to your power to save and obstacles to Your answers to prayers for those we hold dear!

Let us stop! Teach us to listen for your voice. More of you, Lord, less of us! Impart to us the truth of James Chapter 1: My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.

Remind us, Lord, that the refiner’s fire is necessary to purify and mold us into the fullness of the men and women you have created us to be. So too, the refiner’s fire is the hope for those we love to come to the altar of brokenness so that they can be made new and cleansed through the blood of Jesus.