One Twenty Eight

Posted on January 25, 2023 by Elizabeth Welte in Freedom Fighters

“Blessed is every one who fears the LORD, Who walks in His ways. When you eat the labor of your hands, You shall be happy, and it shall be well with you.” —Psalm 128:1-2 (NKJV)

 

I’ve had to wear corrective lens since I was about 13. At first they were meant to help me read books and then I could take them off so I could see everything else. However, as age has set in, it seems I can’t see anything else without them. I knew this was gonna be the way of life for me when I had to replace the simplest of items, the light bulb in the light bulb socket. What shoulda took a mere 5 seconds (even if that) took 10 minutes because I was too stubborn to admit that I really couldn’t see the threads on either the bulb or in the socket as I kept on declaring, in my standard display of frustration, that I shoulda been able to do this “BLINDFOLDED”. Maybe next time…

Sometimes it gets like that for me when I try to see things out in the world without my corrective, spiritual lens on. I could be reading the red letters in my MKJV Bible, that are the very words of eternal life, and totally miss the blessing that they contain. Even with my fancy brand new school boy framed lens, that have all the anti-glare, transitioning coloring, just point your eyes in this direction features to them, the threading I need to see to help me go along the ever-narrowing path becomes fuzzy and then I declare, in my standard display of frustration, that I should be able to do this…blindfolded. What a wretched man I can be. But even as I declare that, El Elyon doesn’t allow me to stay there.

As I’ve been reading and then re-reading Tony Evans’ book “Kingdom Man” there has been one convicting page after another. So much so, that it has border lined on mental self-mortification because I’m having a hard time putting the book down. And even if all I was doing was remembering those moments of failure in my own life and how it seems that all I do is struggle I kept telling myself that Pastor Evans wouldn’t write a book that didn’t contain blessings of some sort. Then December 10^th, 2022 happened and Psalm 128 along with chapter 12 of Tony’s book lit up like a Christmas Tree.

 

“Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine in the very heart of your house, Your children like olive plants all around your table.” — Psalm 128:3

 

For my 60^th birthday my wife planned a little surprise dinner at The Smithville Inn. As I sat there waiting for the surprise guests to appear (a blast from the past my wife Kathy tells me), my son Kevin appears, then my daughter Karen arrived. I don’t have the words to express how blessed I felt at that night and it didn’t stop there. Ten days later Kevin, and his wife Madelynne opened up their home for an early Christmas dinner. My daughter, Karen, and her beau, Taylor, made the journey down from the Philly suburbs and that became the second night where I don’t have the words to express how blessed I felt. I also wanna publicly thank my daughter-in-law for her understanding that our family is a bit different and to Taylor who is getting a crash course in it as I type.

So, what’s the take away? Well, I’m glad you asked. Even with the fancy framed corrective lens that I now wear, I can still miss seeing the blessings the Lord is providing me. Psalm 128:3 opened itself up to me, first at the restaurant, where it went totally over my head and then around Kevin and Madelynne’s dinner table, where I was overwhelmed with an unspeakable joy. As I looked towards my son and daughter-in-law a peace came over me that the grandkids will be in good hands (when they get around to being born). Then I would look upon my daughter and the man who I corner from time to time and command him to “Take care of my daughter” and would think to myself, “God’s grace has them secure.”

So, since I’ve mentioned peace and grace it is important to remember that, in Scripture, the olive branch is an emblem of peace and olive oil is an emblem of grace. Having my adult children (that sounds so jumbo shrimp doesn’t it?) gathered around me in those moments had God using those two moments to show me that doing the Christian life blindfolded isn’t meant to be. You’ll miss out on the grace and peace that is promised to you as Psalm 128 opens up. Isn’t it funny how grace and peace flows to those who choose to fear YHVH? There’s much left to say but I’ve hit my word limit for today. So, until next time why not read and then reread Psalm 128 and see what you’re missing out on. If you need corrective lens, I’ve got a pair for you to use. Amen?

 

Written by Chris Hughes: Chris is a child of El Elyon, a son, a husband, and a father. He has an education in Biblical doctrine and is a graduate of The Colony of Mercy, 11/2003. He has been a Freedom Fighter contributor since 2008. You can email him at cphughes515@verizon.net.

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This Week’s Verse to Memorize: “He is the Rock, His work is perfect; For all His ways are justice, A God of truth and without injustice; Righteous and upright is He.” Deuteronomy 32:4