Welcome readers to the first day of August 2021. Today is John and my fortieth wedding anniversary! I honored this accomplishment by donating to Israel 365 to plant a tree in Israel. Praise the Lord for prompting me with one of Tuly Weitz’ emails. Oh, I took this photo Friday on our way to Carlisle, PA. We traveled there to pick up my nephew Ethan and his friend Daniel. They live in southern Virgina and are both going into tenth grade. We haven’t seen Ethan or my sister, who is his mom, for two years because of Covid restrictions. The boys are here for a week to experience life in Northern New York and to see family. Daniel has never been to New York State, so this is an excellent opportunity for him.

The forty years the nation of Israel wandered in the wilderness come to mind. I was eighteen when we married, John twenty-five. Forty years later, we are fifty-eight and sixty-five. According to God’s Word, we would have died in the wilderness at these young ages if we were the Israelite slaves who came out of Egypt.

I am thankful for Jesus Christ’s sacrifice that made a way for us. I know there is much more living to do in God’s kingdom here on earth. We are watching our grandchildren grow and develop into the young people God made them to be and learning to relate to our children and in-laws as maturing adults. There are so many of God’s promises to me that are yet to be fulfilled! Thinking about those dying in the wilderness, most in the prime of life, makes me sad after observing how the Lord cared for them all throughout the forty years.

What about you? What if you made a major sin decision in your youth, had no chance to repent, and had forty years of sorrow over that decision (and died)? Many people these days are in the same predicament; not understanding the mercy, grace and love given to all because of the blood of Christ Jesus, God’s Son, they sit in the darkness of sin, sickness, and oppression. The hopelessness that pervades the earth is evidence that people are not following Christ, don’t have a relationship with the Savior, or do not understand the Great Exchange: paying the price He did not owe to pay the debt we cannot pay. The spotless Lamb paid the full price for every sin and sickness for all generations. Christ died for ALL, for ALL time! Remember, He who began a good work in you will be faithful to complete it.

Psalm 139:23 Search me, O God, and know my heart;
Try me, and know my anxieties;
²⁴ And see if there is any wicked way in me,
And lead me in the way everlasting.

Ask the Holy Spirit of God to search your heart and cleanse your soul. We do not need to live in despair; Christ has won the victory! Praise God, because of Jesus, I can look forward to many more years in His kingdom here on earth, all for His glory! Remember, the hardest person to forgive is often yourself….