Lessons Learned From Joshua

I wrote a book, and self published it on Lulu.com Just thought I would share it here.
http://www.lulu.com/shop/jean-a-adams/lessons-learned-from-joshua/ebook/product-21833363.html

Lessons Learned from Joshua goes chapter by chapter through the book of Joshua, but also encourages the reader to deeper independent study of God's word. Enjoy this walk with Joshua and the Israelite children as they battle enemies, embark on intrigue and danger yet experience the amazing provision of God all along the way. See how the life of Joshua relates to our lives today and enjoy the journey.http://www.lulu.com/shop/jean-a-adams/lessons-learned-from-joshua/ebook/product-21833363.html

The reality is...

Abortion from the Other Side

In this election year, it seems this is a hot button topic again, which is why I chose now to put this out there.

I see your pictures of aborted fetuses on facebook. I read your rants about how dismembering babies is called abortion. I see your charts of statistics, aborted babies verses how many people have died in wars and in the holocaust. And I agree with you, it is an abomination. But can I tell you a story? Will you listen to me awhile? I have a question, Church, can we love her? Can we reach out our hands and love the young woman that has just left the clinic? You ask the question “How could she?” I am asking the question, “Where are you?” Where is the love of Christ at this moment for the hurting, confused young woman that sees no other way? No way to provide, no way to a future? You say she is selfish, I say look in the mirror. Before you decide that I am a pro-choice liberal fanatic, let me tell you a story about a walk in these shoes.

The year 1983, the community is one that still whispers divorce behind their hands. The council to a young woman about birth control and the truth about abortion is scarce.

19 years old and pregnant. You have got to be kidding me! Perhaps I am just late. She goes on with her life, taking classes, working part time, studying, and hoping to make something of herself. Wanting to be someone, hoping to get out of this time warp that she lives in. She finally tells her best friend, “I think I am pregnant.” Oh no! Where is he? “Gone. Hoping to find work elsewhere.”  What are you going to do? “Well I can’t tell my parents! They would flip, they don’t even like him, and it would ruin them emotionally. I can’t do that.” Ok, we’ll go to the clinic, I’ll be with you the whole time. “OK, promise?” Yes, make the call, tell me when. 

Arriving at the clinic at 730 am, they tell you to take a seat in a waiting room with half a dozen other girls. All young, and scared and no one makes direct eye contact. When you are called you are handed a clip board and about a dozen forms to sign. I robotically sign them all and turn them back in. I have no idea what they all said. I just want this day to be over. When they call your name, you are taken into a room to see a psychologist. She asks you if you are sure you want to have an abortion. Asks if you have told your parents, or if you think you can. I barely remember this part, but the walls were green. When that is over you are then taken back into the exam type area of the clinic and given a robe and told to get undressed. You meet the nurse, who was very kind to me. I never saw the doctors face, he wore a mask. He tells you there will be some “discomfort”. Biggest lie ever. There is considerable pain, and in some ways the “procedure” takes forever and in some ways it is over too soon. Once it is over you are given a pad and told to get dressed and to go into the recovery area. There they give you some juice and crackers. After what I think was a necessary 30 minutes you receive some antibiotics and are told you are free to leave if you feel well enough to go. The need to flee that place, get some fresh air, and get as far away from there as possible is overwhelming. But the lie continues to snow ball, because even though you have physically left the building you can never leave the events of that day behind you. Ever! That day follows you for the rest of your days and nights. You now mark time in your head as before the abortion and after the abortion. You feel an overwhelming guilt, shame, embarrassment, and dirtiness that you cannot wash away.  You never forget the date of that day. The first time I saw a newborn baby after the abortion I thought I would lose it! Perfect little tiny hands and feet, (I love baby feet), tiny nose and mouth and the smell, oh the smell. You wonder, what if! What if! It blares so loud in your head!

The enemy was crafty; he made that young woman think there was no other way. No way to make it work. No one to understand. And the lie compounds and compounds, till she believes it and follows through with the only solution that seems to be available. The only way, abortion. The liar says that it will all be over after the procedure, after that day. But it is never over for her. She remembers that day every year as the calendar approaches that date. She wonders every year, what would her baby be doing, what color hair would he/she have. Would it have been a boy or a girl?

And the tormentor of her soul is loud and cruel and unrelenting. What might have made a difference you ask? What can we do today to make a difference? Stop judging. That is what you are doing by posting those abortion pictures; stop condemning by posting those stats, stop sneering when the topic comes up. (Doing those things does not prevent a woman from having an abortion).The enemy does that to us enough, he beats us up with nightmares and visions, he talked us into the nightmare and then he holds us down with it.  Be there Church, be kind. The young girl that finds herself pregnant did not get that way alone, don’t cast stones at her. Don’t judge, her sin is no weightier than yours. Be there with the love of Christ. Offer your help. Promote education about adoption. If the young girl is in your family, be there. Be strong, be helpful, be practical, and be kind. She is going to need a lot of support. You will have to put hands and feet to your faith, walk it out. Babysit, make a meal, make a lot of meals, buy some diapers, or groceries. Offer to pay a light bill. Before you post another ugly picture that casts stones and causes hurt to 1 out of 5 women on your friend list, think about what you can do that is practical, helpful, and loving to a young woman. Jesus said “he who is without sin, cast the first stone.” And one by one they all dropped their rocks and left. I am asking you to drop your rocks.  I know now that GOD has forgiven me, without the mercy of the cross, I would have eventually lost my mind or my life at my own hand.  The absolute hardest thing to do, is forgive yourself. Seeing those stats reopens the wound to a soul, and the doubting comes and the dirtiness descends. Maybe if I had been told the truth; that it was not just a blob of tissue that it is was more than a fetus; it was a baby with tiny hands and feet and a beating heart, that might have made a difference. I honestly do not know.

Let us promote education and love. Loving one another as Christ Himself loves us, dispensing grace instead of judgment. Dispensing love, and practical solutions, instead of condemnation, and accusations.  

Please understand that with Christ in my heart and Heaven as my home, I am pro life for both the unborn and the young woman who finds herself pregnant and afraid. Hoping education will one day end abortions, because contrary to popular thought, abortion is never over after the procedure is done. It is an event that a woman never gets over, and never forgets, but there is healing at the Cross of JESUS CHRIST and there are other options. Be the hands and feet of JESUS, helping those who need HIS grace poured out for them as it was for us all. Be The Church that “she” needs you to be.

 On The Road To Beautiful~

Jean A. Adams 

What Matters

After watching the happenings in Dallas transpire before our eyes, I have had to turn to GOD to maintain my calm, my peace, my sense of right in this world. 
You see, I currently have a daughter in the police academy training to serve, protect and defend citizens that she will never know personally. I struggle to understand why she is so passionate about her calling to wear the blue uniform, especially when we are in the aftermath of such a tremendous tragedy as has happened in Dallas, Texas. But, her Dad, who served in the military for 24 years, has a great response to those that thank him for his service, he says, "You are worth defending." That right there is what matters. We all matter. We are all worth defending and of being defended. GOD Himself says we are worth defending. All are worthy, and we are all HIS children, because of His amazing grace available to us all through the cross of Jesus Christ. Our ultimate defender. 
When I went before the LORD in prayer today and picked up my Bible, I was drawn to Psalm 121 "I lift up my eyes to the hills. Where does my help come from? My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth. He will not let your foot be moved, he who keeps you will not slumber. Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. the Lord is your keeper. The Lord is your shade on your right hand. The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life. The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forever more."  
Thank you GOD! That is what will keep us in times of tragedy, in times that are truly senseless, in times that are so hard for our minds grasp. The knowledge that we are, and will be kept by GOD. He is our defender and we are in his care if we have made Him our Lord and Savior. We all matter to Him. We are all His children. We are all worthy of Him defending us. Let us love one another, as He loves us, because we all matter. We need each other. Love is kind, let us be kind to one another as we move forward from this tragic week. Acting in love. 
The love and peace of GOD be with you all~

Restored

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters,
He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for His name's sake.
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me. Your rod and staff comfort me.
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil and my cup overflows.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. ~Psalm 23

There is so much in this often quoted Psalm. It is commonly offered at funerals, but it is so much more than a final prayer to say over our loved ones.
I love and am most comforted by the third verse-"He restores my soul."
The word restore means, to bring back to (a previous right, practice, custom, or situation), reinstate, return someone or something to a former condition, place or position. To repair, to renovate.
Synonyms of restore are:repair, fix, mend, refurbish, recondition, rehabilitate, rebuild, reconstruct, remodel, overhaul, redevelop.
These synonyms touch my heart-especially rehabilitate-I have been rehabilitated by The Lord!
Restore also means to give back someone or something that was lost or taken, To bring back to a state of health, soundness or vigor!
I have been restored  by God! Hallelujah! HE restores my soul, continues, keeps restoring, keeps bringing back. That is to say, restore is one of those active verbs in this verse, He keeps restoring us, keeps renewing us and bringing us back to Himself, if we trust Him to be our shepherd-daily. I daily trust Him, He daily restores me.
Make it your personal prayer today.
The Lord is Jean's Shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores Jean's soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for His name's sake. Even though Jean walks through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with Jean. Your rod and your staff comfort me. You prepare a table before Jean in the presence of her enemies. You anoint her head with oil and her cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow her all the days of her life, and she will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
Make it personal, make it your prayer. Make it a prayer over your loved ones inserting their name in that place. He cares for you. He is the good Shepherd.

Be Wise

                                                             

I used to know a young man who had an interesting tattoo. He would tell young ladies that he had their name tattooed on his back side, he would actually say "I have your name tattooed on my rear". And he did-his tattoo literally read "Your Name" in beautiful cursive writing. Quite a unique little scam.
There are a lot of scams like this today on social media. The one I saw most recently said, "If you have a Mom that is no longer here because she is in Heaven, put her first name here." I've seen this with loved ones names, pets names, etc. Do you realize that many of these are the security questions on your very private information? I asked my husband, an IT genius, if these are phishing scams to obtain information from people, he said, "Oh yes, definitely."   
So, be wise. No matter how pretty or emotion tugging these posts are, be wise and protect yourself. The Bible tells us to be wise. In Proverbs 23:19 it says, "Listen my son and be wise, set your heart on the right path."  Also in Prov. 19:20, and in Prov. 27:11, we are told to be wise. The LORD also told Solomon to ask for wisdom. So, if you feel like you need wisdom, ask the LORD for it, He will give you wisdom. 

Real Peace

Peace. It can be elusive, yet we all want it. We search for it, strive for it, read books about how to get more of it. Can it be obtained? Can we find peace? I believe we can. In the book of Mark in the Bible there is a story of the disciples and a great storm that threatened to capsize their boat and end their very lives. I can picture the panic that was settling on their hearts as their minds realized how great the danger was. You can imagine the great swells of waves and the boat pitching about as the wind is nearly tossing them overboard, as they wake the teacher up, saying "Jesus, do you not care that we are perishing?" He awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea "Peace! Be still!" And the wind ceased and there was a great calm.  Mark 4:38-39
Again, when Jesus appeared to His disciples after resurrection, He spoke the Word "Peace".
John 20:21 "Peace be with you".
I believe Peace is fully attainable to us, if it weren't Jesus would not have spoken it to both the storm and to His disciples. We have those accounts to comfort us today, to bring us Peace. By trusting Him and knowing Him. By reading the Bible and praying, we have access to peace, His Peace. Peace that calms the storms in our lives, both the actual storms and the things in life that threaten to capsize us, or turn us upside down.  Trust him today and rest in His perfect Peace~