Category: <span>thoughts by Katherine Kehler</span>

by Katherine Kehler
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“I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am�  John 14:2,3

Waiting in the arrivals area of an airport can be a wonderful experience. One Saturday, I was in the Vancouver airport, waiting for the arrival of an airplane from Hong Kong. My husband (along with a team) had spent two weeks in Sumatra, Indonesia delivering medical supplies, water filters and funds to help build fishing boats. And now, he was coming home. I was so excited to see him.

I arrived early so I had time to observe people’s faces as they came through the doors into the arrivals area. As they came around the corner, their eyes would search for the faces of their loved ones who were there to meet them. When they saw each other and their eyes met, their faces would break out in great big smiles and they would run into each others arms. Husbands and wives. Parents and children. Grandparents and grandchildren. Young lovers.

They would be totally oblivious to anyone around but were focused on each other – the ones they were longing to meet and see their faces beaming with joy!

I thought to myself, “This must be a foreshadowing of what it will be like when we see Jesus and the ones who have gone to heaven before us. We will be focused on Christ alone. He will meet us with love and open arms. He will be waiting for us!”

Won’t that be glorious? The words of a hymn written by Charles Gabriel seems apropos:

Oh, that will be glory for me,
Glory for me, glory for me,
When by His grace I shall look on His face,
That will be glory, be glory for me.

Soon, I saw Marvin coming through the door and it was our turn to embrace and kiss – totally oblivious to anyone else. His homecoming was so great! It was so good to see him.

Our home coming to heaven will be even better. We will see Jesus!

Dear Father, thank You that Jesus is preparing a place for us and we will be there soon. That will be glory for us! I love You Jesus. Amen.

You can comment on this devotional online at:
https://thoughts-about-god.com/blog/2008/11/17/kk_home-coming/

By Katherine J. Kehler
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“Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise – the fruit of lips that confess his name� (Hebrews 13:15)

Our daughter Val and her family were getting ready to go home. They had spent Halloween evening with us and we had a lot of fun. My husband set up a game of croquet downstairs using the legs of the chairs in place of the wire hoops; we watched fireworks and had freshly baked brownies with hot chocolate.

They were ready to go when Bronson, my grandson, announced, “My daddy is a man.�

The statement seemed to come right out of the blue, but he communicated much more than the words he spoke. His words and the way he said them said, “I love daddy. I think my daddy is wonderful! I’m so proud of my dad. I am secure and happy because I have a good dad. My daddy is strong and my daddy loves me.�

Yes, he said all these things and more when he looked at us and said, “My daddy is a man.�

What are you communicating to the world about your heavenly Father? Is it praise? Do you complain about how He is treating you? Do the words you use to talk about God tell everyone that you think He is wonderful? Think about it.

Father, give us the grace to communicate to others how very much You love us and how wonderful we think You are. Thank You so much for caring about us. Amen.

You can comment on this devotional online at:
https://thoughts-about-god.com/blog/2008/06/15/kk_my-daddy/

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Katherine J. Kehler, an innovator, entrepreneur and writer has launched and developed many successful ministries and websites.
Together with her husband, Marvin, Katherine directs Thoughts about God

By Katherine Kehler
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“That Day will appear with fire, and the fire will test everyone’s work to show what sort of work it was. If the building that has been put on the foundation still stands, the builder will get a reward. But if the building is burned up, the builder will suffer loss. The builder will be saved, but it will be as one who escaped from a fire.â€? 1 Corinthians 3:11-12

We had been at the office of our accountant and signed our annual tax papers. Whew! Another year was taken care of.  As we were putting the past  year’s boxes of papers away, we realized that we should get rid of  the old financial and ministry boxes we had been saving.  After all, we really only needed to keep them for seven years and some were dated back to 1995. 

So we carried the old plastic boxes into the garage.  And then I started sorting through all the papers. 

As I went through each box, I thought, “Each one of these boxes represents one whole year of work – 365 days of buying and selling, investing, Real Estate papers from moving, ministry projects started and done, statistics and results of those projects and much more.�

I felt quite sad realizing that these plastic boxes contained the paper work for all we had done during those years. And now they were going into garbage bags and would be shredded or burned.

Then the wonderful thought came to me,
 
                   “Only one life; will soon be past;
                    Only what’s done for Christ will last.�

That thought was very encouraging!  Our work was not all for nothing. On that Day, when God will judge our works—what really has eternal value—there will much that will not be burned. He knows how much of our work was done with eternity in our hearts and minds.

But that same day, the Lord reminded me that even during these years when we are slowing down a bit because our energy level is not what it used to be, we still need to make each day count for eternity. 

We have a pile of ashes in our backyard now–where we burned papers from several years.  Yes, a good lesson from plastic filing boxes. Make eternal values a priority.

Father, thank you for bringing this to our attention. Only what is done for Christ will last. And although Marvin and I are slowing down a little, don’t let us become couch potatoes.  Help us to do what counts for eternity—every day. Amen. 

Related articles:

Home Coming
http://www.thoughts-about-god.com/meditating/kk_homecoming.htm

We are God’s Hands and Feet
http://www.thoughts-about-god.com/meditating/st_godshands.htmYou can comment on this devotional online at:
https://thoughts-about-god.com/blog/2008/05/17/kk_filing-box/

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Katherine J. Kehler, an innovator, entrepreneur and writer has launched and developed many successful ministries and websites.
Together with her husband, Marvin, Katherine directs Thoughts about God

By Katherine Kehler
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 “Honor Christ by submitting to each other� (Ephesians 5:21)

Our Bible Study group was discussing Scripture that addressed the subject of the roles and attitudes of a husband and wife toward each other: submissive and loving.

For some reason during this discussion, I thought of an experience I had in Nigeria several years ago. Campus Crusade for Christ had completed translating the JESUS film into one of the Nigerian languages and we were leading a delegation of business and political leaders who would be part of the premier showings to the Nigerian people. One of the couples with us had funded the translation of the film.

Our national staff hosted us and graciously toured our group to some interesting places. We met a lot of remarkable leaders, including a tribal chief. When our bus stopped at their village, the people greeted us with cheering. Rarely have I experienced such a warm welcome.

While our staff director went through the formalities of presenting the Chief with his own copy of the JESUS film in his language, we women were standing around chatting.
 
Tim, our Nigerian director, approached me and said, “Among these people, women are not allowed to look at a man’s face. They must keep their eyes lowered when they talk to a man.â€?

Well, needless to say, I was shocked – everything inside me wanted to shout, “No way! Why should I have to lower my eyes?â€?

But God was merciful – I came to my senses – He changed my attitude. I realized we were guests in their country and for the sake of Tim and the customs of Nigeria, I had better submit. That meant I would have to lower my eyes when I spoke with the men in that country. And I did.

Submitting or being in control? That is the question. It seems that every day we have choices to make, not only in a husband and wife relationship, but also in many other relationships. The only way I can do it with a good attitude is when Christ is in control of my life. How about you?

Father, all of us have problems with wanting control. Thank You for Jesus’ example. He was totally obedient to Your will. We plead for Your mercy and grace to empower us to yield to You and Your will. Amen.

You can comment on this devotional online at:
https://thoughts-about-god.com/blog/2008/05/08/kk_submission/

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Katherine J. Kehler, an innovator, entrepreneur and writer has launched and developed many successful ministries and websites.
Together with her husband, Marvin, Katherine directs Thoughts About God