Closing a year. .. and being in touch with an anvil

2012 has been  a year of “departures” and  “ inner furnace” or if you will “being shaped on the anvil”.

It has also been a year of listening.  . In Wikipedia there is this explanation of the “anvil”

“A bone of the middle ear. When the eardrum vibrates, the vibrations propagated through the three bones in the middle ear, the hammer, anvil and stirrup”

I have listened through the Bible during 2012. In my car and in front of  my computer;  two places  where God’s word has hit my heart. Circumstances in my everyday life have been God’s hammering on the anvil of my heart , and people I have met who have hurt me; people I have met who have encouraged me; people who have made me laugh and so on; they  were all part of the hammering on the anvil although most of them will never know they were.

This year has also been a year of contemplating on death. That might sound very gloomy and sad but no; it has all been about HOPE.

Everywhere I have read In the Bible; about what death means to Christians; has been first and foremost about: “HOPE”.  I promised before that I would write about what happens after death but somehow the Holy Spirit has not allowed me to do that … yet. Every time I have started to write some small voice has told me “not yet” and I guess I had better wait then and see what comes next.

What God wants more than anything is relationship and a communication with his children.  His words will ”vibrate” in my spiritual ear and if any of the bones aren’t functioning the hearing will be distorted.  If the vibration comes to the hammer but it doesn’t join the anvil the stirrup is of little or no use.  The spiritual “stirrup” is a tool to proceed into action. If you know how to ride a horse you know how practical it is to use the stirrup to get on the horse and also to be able to move the horse in the right direction. To be able to move in the right direction in the Kingdom of God you need to obey the hammering on the anvil in order to proceed to the stirrup and find the right direction to where God leads you.

The anvil can be used to shape something, but it is also  needed to be able to listen. I have a feeling that God's hammering on the anvil of my heart and the Word of God vibrating in my spiritual ear will be the theme for 2013. In a year, I have hindsight, but as always:
"Whatever happens, I will always be in God's hands."

I wish for you a blessed 2013.

Sincerely yours

Ida

A Bleesed Christmas I wish for you all

Jag har hört om en stad

Russian folk song. Swedish text Lydia Litell.

The daughter of Lydia Litell tells about how her mother got this text working at her sewing machine on an ordinary day. 

I have heard about a city above the clouds
above  earthly  misty countries

I have heard about the sunlit beaches
and one day, imagine, I will be there!
Halleluja, I must sing out loud
Halleluja I go to that city.
Though my steps are tired and heavy,
they will bring me upward and home anyway.

I have heard about a place with no tears,
no sorrow, no trouble, no fights,

and no more suffering of illness,
and one day; imagine,  I‘ll be there!

Haleluja there we will all rejoice
Haleluja, all doubts are gone!

Never again will I stumble and fall;
I have arrived, yes,  home with God.

I've heard about the snow white robe
and the splendor of golden crowns 
I have heard about the heavenly family

and one day imagine,  I will be there!
Haleluja I rejoice in my spirit
I can hear the song of heaven

and my earthly bands will break
because I know, I will soon be there.

Carrie Underwood - Temporary Home

Jamey Johnson- Lead Me Home.mpg

Lyrics to video with Jamey Johnson

I have seen my last tomorrow,
I am holding my last breath,
Goodbye, sweet world of sorrow,
My new life, begins with death.

I am standing on the mountain,
I can hear the angels songs,
I am reaching over Jordan,
Take my hand, Lord lead me home.

All my burdens, are behind me,
I have prayed, my final prayer,
Don't you cry, over my body,
Cause that ain't me, lying there.

No, I am standing on the mountain,
I can hear the angels songs,
I am reaching over Jordan,
Take my hand, Lord lead me home.

I am standing ( I am standing) on the mountain ( on the mountain ),
I can hear ( I can hear the angels songs ) the angels songs,
I am reaching over Jordan, ( over Jordan )
Take my hand, Lord lead me home.
Take my hand, Lord lead me home.

John 11

John 11:25
Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life.
The one who believes in me will live, even though they die;
John 11:24-26 (in Context) John 11 (Whole Chapter)

1 Corinthians 15  (Read the whole chapter)

Det enda jag vet

I know I said...

a day or two but I'm afraid I will be away from this Blog  for a while. Seems that I'm in some sort of  fatigue that makes it  hard to concentrate on writing ... or anything else for that matter..
But let's just shortly make another clarity till next time
Jesus said " I am the way, the truth and the life, nobody comes to the Father except through me."
The purpose for Jesus was to reconcile us  to the Father,  and so we  understand that the purpose for our lives is to be with the Father. We are meant to have a relationship with our creator. That is his desire.
So the question about what happens when we die is more a question about how we live; and how we respond to God's gift to us: eternal life in Jesus Christ.
See you later ... when my head is back on track.
Sincerely yours,Ida

... and clarity/ 1

Dear Reader,
By writing the previous post I feel like I have poked around in a hornet's nest. By the help of the Holy Spirit I will figure out how to continue but it will not be done in a blink of an eye that is for sure. 
All I know is that it has to begin and end with Jesus.
John 14:6
Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. That is clarity number 1.

Let's rest with that  for a day or two and I'll get back to you.
Ida

Blur

Dear Reader,

When I check stats on daily bases I find that of all the posts I have published there seem to be one that is most frequented. Almost every day there are page-views of this post:

"Eternity in the hearts of men" from 2010

And I wonder how is it that such a long post with such a serious subject is viewed almost every day? Are people searching on Google for "eternity" "hearts of men" or what? Do they ever read to the last line or do they give up in the middle of the story thinking "this is not for me; at least not yet". Since there are no comments I haven't a clue what is going on in people's minds but I wish it would make a difference to somebody out there and bring comfort and hope and be a sign pointing towards Jesus; because that's what it's all about; Jesus our savior and hope.
Today another soul let go of this world and entered into the eternal realm. He had been fighting cancer for a couple of years and he surprised us all more than once. When you thought it was his final day he bounced back up again; sitting in his kitchen with his home care givers; drinking coffee and making plans. His body shrunk and from day to day we could see what the cancer did to him. He became so small; just bone and skin but always with a clear head and mind and he always knew what he wanted. One in our staff visited him this morning but he didn't respond anymore and after a couple of hours his daughter called. She was sitting by his bed, talking to him although she didn't know if he heard her and suddenly she realized that he was gone. He went so quietly.  My colleagues went there to do the usual paperwork and help dress him and later in the afternoon I heard them a couple of times say as to themselves  "Oh ... little man" as a mother would say to her son. It amazes me every time when we leave a patient behind to eternity how we have taken them to our hearts and how they linger in our minds for some time.

Well that was yesterday.

Today I attended a lecture where a Christian priest told about his work at a hospital. It was not a good lecture. He gave an example of Zen Buddhist meditation; had his own philosophy about dying and death and how to live and not a single word was uttered about faith in The Father, the Son or the Holy Spirit; which you would think would be a natural thing to do for a priest of protestant faith. And no salvation through Jesus; no heaven or hell. Eternity was a blurry place somewhere where people were taken care of; where people “were at peace”.  

The Bible is more specific about eternity than just a “blur”. The Bible is very clear about what happens after death.  Either you are in the presence of God or you are not. Either you are saved by grace through Jesus Christ or you are not. There is no gray area in between; no anonymous place where you can hide for a while if you want. You are departed forever from God or you are in his presence forever. And you choose in this life and not in the next. Now and here is the place to make a decision; not when the door of eternity is closed.

…. To be continued