Books authored by Dr. James Dyet. Purchase on JamesDyet.com

Saturday, April 12, 2008

Grandkids Say the Funniest Things

“A good man leaves an inheritance for his children’s children” (Proverbs 13:22a).

A teacher asked her young pupils how they spent their vacation. One child wrote the following:

“We always spend our vacation with Grandma and Grandpa. They used to live here in a big, brick house, but Grandpa got retarded and they moved to Florida and now they live in a place with a lot of other retarded people.

“They live in a tin box and have rocks painted green to look like grass. They ride around on big tricycles and wear nametags because they don't know who they are anymore.

“They go to a building called a wrecked center, but they must have got it fixed because it is all right now. They play games and do exercises there, but they don't do them very well.”

Let’s face it, sometimes grandparents can be as puzzling to their grandkids as grandkids are to their grandparents. And occasionally what the grandkids say about us can be downright humbling:

“Have you always been fat, Grandma?”

“How come you married Grandpa? He doesn’t have any hair. And when I ask him for a dollar, he says he doesn’t have any money.”

“Grandpa, how come you sleep so much?”

But grandkids can also say things that make us feel ten feet tall. When she was six-year-old, our granddaughter Kayla told my wife Gloria, “Grandma, next to Jesus, you are the nicest person I know.”

Timothy was an outstanding pastor in the first century, but his training for a commendable life and ministry didn’t begin in a seminary. It began at home. As was typical of first-century families, Grandma Lois, Mom Eunice, Timothy’s dad, and Timothy all lived together when Timothy was growing up; and Grandma Lois must have made a significant impact on the boy’s spiritual life. In his second letter to Timothy, the apostle Paul commented: “I have been reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also” (2 Timothy 1:5).

A grandparent may bequeath money and personal items to the grandkids, but don’t you agree that a godly testimony is a far better inheritance? Memories of the grandparents living in a tin-box house with rocks painted green to look like grass may stick with the grandkids for a while, but memories of Grandpa and Grandma’s faith will last a lifetime. Timothy would say Amen to that!

© Jim Dyet

Thursday, April 10, 2008

A Spring Ritual

It must be spring for three reasons. (1) The calendar indicates it’s spring. (2) We had high winds and a trace of snow this morning. We have such weather episodes when it’s springtime in the Rockies. (3) I rearranged my office. It’s a spring ritual.

Overflowing office bookcases look neat now, because I retired a number of books to the basement. My computer and printer sit on a computer hutch now instead of on my desk. Yes, I removed books from the hutch to the basement to make room for the computer and printer. I also dusted. No, I didn’t find an archaeologist under the dust, but I unearthed some obsolete items and transferred them to the trash.

My plan is to let what I moved stay in place for a long time, or at least until spring ’09.

Someday God will effect a major global change. He will renovate the heavens and the earth, ridding them of every vestige of sin. At that time, He will land New Jerusalem on the new earth. Everything will be perfect, pleasing to Him and pleasing to us too. The apostle Peter wrote about that day in 2 Peter 3:12,13: That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat, but in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of the righteous.” The apostle John addressed this topic in Revelation 21. He wrote in verses 1 and 2: “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.”

Won’t it be wonderful to live where we don’t have to dust?

Wednesday, April 9, 2008

Our Heavenly Home

A friend, whose husband died recently of lung cancer, visited Gloria and me last night. We shared a comforting discussion about heaven and the New Jerusalem. The subject of mansions—dwelling places—in heaven captured our attention. Although we admitted to having more questions than answers, we agreed heaven is a wonderful place and the home of all believers who exchanged life on earth for a far better life beyond.

Jesus promised to prepare a place for us in the Father’s house. Can you picture what it will be like? Whatever you conjure in your mind may be grand and beautiful, but it will certainly fall short of the indescribably glorious home the Carpenter of Nazareth is preparing for us.

Several years ago, when Gloria and I visited her retired Secret Service brother in Asheville, North Carolina, we toured the famous Biltmore House. Built by George Washington Vanderbilt between 1888-1895, the Biltmore commands four acres of floor space, about 175,000 square feet, 255 rooms, 43 bathrooms, 65 fireplaces, a bowling alley, and an indoor swimming pool. The architectural features and furnishings are exquisite, and the surrounding gardens are strikingly beautiful. But the splendor of the Biltmore pales in comparison to the glory of our future home in heaven.

Of course, Jesus is heaven’s greatest attraction. All the other features are simply priceless perks. If you are sorrowing or experiencing a harsh trial today, take heart. The best is yet to be.

“It will be worth it all, when we see Jesus.
Life’s trials will seem so small, when we see Christ.
One glimpse of His dear face all trials will erase.
So bravely run the race, ‘til we see Christ.”

Monday, April 7, 2008

An Interesting Day

It has been an interesting day.

Two lawyers questioned me and 16 other prospective jurors, but turned me loose. The case involved a lawsuit filed by an accident victim. She claims the accident caused a herniated disk and shoulder injuries. Her husband is a corrections officer.

The first question was, “Was any juror born in the United Kingdom?”

I was born in Scotland, but I don’t think either lawyer would consider that fact a negative.

Possibly they made their decision based on two facts: (1) I have had two back surgeries, and (2) a current corrections officer and two retired corrections officers attend the church I am serving as an interim pastor.

A few minutes ago, the couple I was scheduled to marry April 19 called to cancel. Their only explanation was they had found someone else to perform the ceremony. Does anyone out there need a marriage certificate?

I must confess it’s hard to deal with rejection, but we all experience it at one time or another, don’t we? Fortunately, Jesus doesn’t reject us. I’m thinking about a children’s chorus sung in Sunday school many years ago.

“Jesus loves me.
This I know,
For the Bible tells me so.”