Avalon Chronicles #7: "True North"

     From the beginning of history there has been a straight line through the millenia that pointed to "true north," the direction of movement to something correct and right and accurate and "on track." Johnny Cash, who had been in prison, sang about "I Walk the Line." Not sure I know exactly what line he meant. However, all who have attempted to "walk the line" have sometimes wobbled or wandered off, but many have been drawn back to that center line established by God through the gentle urgings of our consciences.
     After the fall in the Garden of Eden the evil one, Satan, took over and today he is the God of this world. He dispatches his minions (demons) to perch on the shoulders of God's people as related by C.S. Lewis in The Screwtape Letters, whispering the thoughts that become emotions that lead to choices of actions usually with negative consequences that impact our own personal walk of faith, diverting us away from our own "true north."
     Those whispers are heard and cajole us to reflect the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, sometimes to effect significant detours on the paths of our lives. If we never "walked the line" or got off it, we are doomed to a life of selfishness, greed, conflict, confusion, and guilt.
     God had to provide a guide to "true north" for humanity, a real example, something tangible and visible physically to be our exemplary standard to remove us from the clutches and chains achieved by our listening to and following the way of that still voice on our shoulders speaking really "sweet nothings" into our ears.
     His "battle plan" for His created and the ultimate warrior to light the path to "true north"for us all was encompassed by His Son, our Savior, Jesus, the Christ. His life and His teachings in His manual of the New Testament are a brilliant light that is a lamp post every few feet on our pathway of life. It is the illumination we all need to overcome the overwhelming darkness that blankets us when we fulfill the lusts of the flesh and the eyes and fulfill a life of pride and elevation of self. It can get and keep us moving on a healthy path when we accept in faith with a personal relationship with Jesus that He is our "True North."

Avalon Chronicles #6 "Passages to One's Heart"

     Several days ago I commented to my wife Linda that these days with her as my wife (now in our ninth year) have been the happiest and most contented and joyous of my life. I defined it as a time or period of my life, but searched my vocabulary for another word to define it. I knew there was one and asked God to bring it to my memory. He did and it was "passages". I have by my living room chair a facsimile copy of Webster's 1828 dictionary. In it a usage of passage is a quote in a poem by John Dryden, "And with his pointed dart explores the nearest passage to his heart." In Proverbs 4:23 it is written, "Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it."
     We have several "passages" or periods of our lives and we are subjected in each of those times to experiences that are good and bad that impact us. They depend upon what enters our heart and our reaction and action to the influence.
     In the NIV Bible it is written in Ephesians 6:16, "...take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one." Arrows are large darts. My study of spiritual warfare has taught me that our spiritual adversary has authority to send "flaming arrows" to us for two major reasons. They are because we have unforgiven sin and we have not forgiven all others who have wronged or hurt us.
      In Jeremiah 24:7 it is written, "I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the Lord." In Ezekiel 11:19 it is written, "I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh." The footnote to this scripture is, "This new life can only be the work of the Holy Spirit. It is God's work, but we must recognize and turn from our sin. When we do, God will give us new motives, new guidelines, and new purpose." In I Chronicles 28:9 it is written, (in speaking to Solomon about building the temple), "...for the Lord searches every heart and understands every motive behind the thoughts." NOTHING is hidden from our Father. We may hide it from the world and even ourselves, but not from him.
     In the New Bible Dictionary the heart is defined thusly: "The heart is considered the governing center for each of us, and all our attributes, physical, intellectual, and psychological. It is who we are and governs all our actions."
      What enters our hearts is crucial to our well-being. When we have faith in God and what we learn in the Word of God, we can experience passages of our lives by controlling what passes to our hearts.
      In Psalms 37:4 it is written, 'Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart." I like that agreement.

Avalon Chronicles #2 "Jesus is Available"

Avalon Chronicles #2 "Jesus is Available"

Feb. 19, 2013:
     I was sitting in my living room yesterday and these are the thoughts that came to my mind. I truly believe as I listened that my Lord was speaking:

     "There is so much pain in the world and always has been. I came to remove much of that pain and sorrow for those who call on Me for redemption and salvation. The enemy occupies the territory my Father created. My mission was defined in the New Testament as that to reclaim the inhabitants of the land so they would be free from oppression of their souls. I came, died, and was resurrected so that those who believed in Me could have a new way of life. It would not be trouble-free, but it would be a life where troubles and tribulations could be looked upon as inevitable, but whose impact would be lessened and ameliorated when I am called upon to provide understanding of causes and then guidance as to changes of heart, direction, or acceptances to work through the condition or issue. I am like the original 'ap' on your smart phone. Click on me without charge, learn from me, and have direction, knowledge and wisdom to approach any challenge. I am available 24/7/365. (366 in leap year.)

Avalon Chronicles #1: "The Why and What of Avalon Chronicles"

Avalon Chronicles #1 "The Why and What of Avalon Chronicles"

     For months I have agonized over sharing with people closest to Linda, and me and others whose path has crossed ours, our spiritual thoughts. I have decided to do so on an intermittent and sporadic time frame. I am motivated to send you these messages, because, at age 70, having endured the Vietnam War and all the emotional, financial, physical, and medical battles of my life, I do not know how many years God will continue to bless me with life before I am gone to the fulfillment of the immortality of my soul in Heaven.
     Avalon is an ancient island in Great Britain where Joseph of Arimathea from Jerusalem, the man who took Jesus down from the cross and placed him in the sepulchre on his own home place, arrived in 36AD. Avalon was the location where Christianity began its spread into "the isles."

On February 3, 2013 I wrote the following in my diary:

     I am reading a book by George F. Jowett titled Drama of the Lost Disciples about the establishment of Christianity in Great Britain upon the arrival of Joseph of Arimathea. The larger locale today is identified as Glastonbury in southwest England. (Linda and I will travel to Glastonbury in Nov. 2013.)
     I am truly inspired by the foundation of the faith there and the "Scarlet Thread" of the history of Jesus' sacrifice for us and the propagation of our faith for the past two millenia. In the course of reading this history of the beginnings of the movement of the faith outside the Holy Land, I have been moved almost to the point of tears, with how important is my faith and my responsibility to be holy and pure and "sold-out" to Christianity.
     The word "imbued" came to mind. Webster's original 1828 dictionary defines it in this manner, "to tinge deeply, to cause to imbibe (to absorb: to receive or admit into the mind and retain; as to imbibe principles) as, to imbue the minds of youth with good principles. (Most on my list are "youth" to me as I am in my 8th decade.)
     In the course of this time of reflection this morning, I began to be reminded of Linda's frequent proclamation, "The Lord told me." I have until today always listened with a sense of skepticism to what she has said. Obviously, it is not an audible voice, but rather a progression and transmission of a thought process transmitted by our Father in Heaven and imparted to her, who listens to God's quiet and still voice in her prayer time.
     I have come to the conclusion this day for the first time ever that, when we totally "sell-out" to God, that our mind becomes a conduit of the thoughts of God to and through us for guidance, direction, and correction.
     May God bless and keep you all. Allen

Avalon Chronicles #5: "Broken Arrow"

     Several weeks ago I was the guest of a long-time and good friend, Gene Blanton, a Marine, who presents at Plano's Prestonwood Baptist Church a program for men titled "Semper Fi Warrior." I was a presenter one night on one of my topics titled "Spiritual Warfare." When I finished, Gene began a program about "Broken Arrow." He proceeded to show a short clip from the movie We Were Soldiers, when on Nov. 14, 1965, the 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment-Custer's Old Battalion, landed in Vietnam's Central Highlands to fight a vastly superior in numbers North Vietnamese force. Gene went on to teach the following:
     On the second day of the battle the enemy attacked ferociously leading to severe hand-to-hand combat. Ltc. Hal Moore's battalion was in imminent danger of being overrun. It was classified by Col. Moore in his opinion that "His unit was in grave danger of being overrun." As I viewed this film clip I began to tear and had to wipe my eyes recalling the sheer horror that back on that day my fellow Army soldiers had to have felt. In reflection since then I realize that we all feel at some time that we are about to be overrun. The pressures of our lives seem to be overwhelming due to family, financial, situational, and sin issues.
     When Col. Moore broadcast back to his headquarters "Broken Arrow," it was the code word meaning there was no further questioning or hesitation or calling for a conference. All available aircraft in country immediately descended on the battalion's battlefield to deliver air support to the beleagured ground troops. The enemy assault was repelled.

     This story in our military history is quite gripping and the scenes in the movie leave one with an indelible memory. That actual situation has its comparability in many of our own lives. We all probably face some or many extremely traumatic situations in our lives. When we do, it is time to ask for all the divine help we can obtain from our Father in Heaven. That is when we cry out, "Broken Arrow," in humility just as did Col. Moore. As Blanton relates, "In the same way, when God hears a 'Broken Arrow' coming up from one of his (people), He always hears our prayers and mobilizes resources. 'He will call on me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him.' Psalm 91:15. We receive help, but in all candor we must recognize the issue may not completely be obliterated. There are consequences sometimes due to our decisions that brought on the challenge.
     Our God in Heaven who sent His Son to die on the cross for us 2000 years ago at Calvary is in that headquarters in the sky and is able to send forth all the help we need. We need to be faithful enough to believe He will be there for us and answer our prayers. We need to ask Him for help out of our situation when the enemy is everywhere.

Avalon Chronicles #4: "The Gift of Faith"

Avalon Chronicles #4     "The Gift of Faith"

From time to time, the author and originator of this blog “Avalon” (my husband Allen Clark) has encouraged me to write about some truth I have gleaned and shared with him to be submitted for possible publication.

It has occurred to me many times while observing Allen's approach to life, that in the adversities and challenges of himself and others, he immediately takes them to his Heavenly Father in prayer.  Like a child running home to tattle on his playmates and tell his dad so his dad can fix it for him, Allen races to his Father in heaven in prayer asking and believing that all will be well and it usually is.  Much to my chagrin I have observed this eternal optimist overcome overwhelming odds to achieve his goals time after time until it finally dawned on me, Allen has the gift of faith!

With his 'child on Christmas morning' joy and enthusiasm, he welcomes each new day with expectancy and delight.  Admittedly, though I sometimes defend my pessimism by declaring that I am a practical  realist, I believe Allen may be the winner in that he seems to derive such joy by looking up rather than by looking down.

In my Bible reading the other morning I was reading about Jesus walking on the water.

The passage from John 6:21(KJV) reads “Then they willingly received him into the boat and immediately the boat was at the land to which they went.”  This stung and resonated in my spirit as I realized that when we invite Jesus into our life, our situation, our boat, almost without effort we are immediately at the place we need to be.  Often the first thing He does is give us His peace and we can then think more clearly about how to solve or resolve what we are dealing with.  Sometimes we just have to accept the situation or go in a different direction.  Whatever the answer turns out to be, with Jesus in our boat we soon reach land.

How many times have I heard Allen say in telling his story about overcoming the loss of his legs, that when Jesus became Lord of his life, he began to heal?  I saw for the first time, that the physical power that was taken from Allen was replaced by the spiritual power given by going to the Lord His help.

We live in a world of walking wounded.  Broken hearts, hard hearts abound in this imperfect world we live in.  There is a hospital complete with a specialty for all the ills of mankind that is never depleted. There is the great physician who never tires, who has a storehouse that never becomes empty and that can minster to every need we can ever have.  Running to Him he can bind up every wound, heal every broken heart and set every captive free.

Allen lives the example of someone who runs to Jesus (the Lord of his life) for all his needs to be met and how completely and how beautifully they are met.  His prayers may not always be answered exactly the way he asks or what he would like but they are always answered by what he needs.

Linda

P.S.  Dear Reader:

I feel compelled to add that Allen was hesitant and shy to publish this as he felt it was too laudatory of him.  I encouraged him that he should do it before I became “disenchanted” about something and changed my mind about the whole thing.  (If you are a wife you will understand this).

Avalon Chronicles #3: "Count Your Blessings, Not Your Beatings"

Allen Clark: Avalon Chronicles #3 "Count Your Blessings, Not Your Beatings"

In my prayer time on March 12, 2013, these thoughts came to my mind:

"You are brought forth for such a time as this, preserved at Dak To, delivered from oppression, smoothed out at your rough edges, quieted in your sharpness and anger, softened in heart, directed to true north, uplifted in confidence, restored in marital tranquillity, established with provision, armed with my understanding, grown in my teachings, placed in positions to represent me (the pre-eminent responsibility), armed with knowledge of spiritual truths, surrounded by my people, uplifted by grace, wiser through experience of failures, humbled by illnesses, matured through age. Is there anything else you need to wholeheartedly serve me, unreservedly, cleansed and purified? Are you prepared to give back to me service in my Name to the others to whom I will direct you?
You are equipped and educated. Go forth as a soldier in the Army of God."

I have had my own share of life's beatings, but this recapture of my true blessings is indeed sobering. Where are you in the recollection of your blessings from God and their outweighing of the beatings?
Are you reaching out to serve our God who has bestowed those blessings? If not, why not?