Posts from Hodagland: Wednesday, the 3rd-- 11 pm

I just found a box. In it is literally decades of my grandpa's old sermons and notes. It's like a gold mine. His handwriting is tiny and cramped, but what I can make out is amazing. He was a brilliant, brilliant man. Truly. I've been strengthened tonight, reading words I've heard many times before--yet it's different knowing that the man who complains of the news reporters talking too fast is the same man who wrote them and who fervently believed them to be true.

Tonight my grandpa taught me:

-Pride, not meekness is the thing to be feared

-Praying hands are full hands

-The Christian religion is a religion of Joy!

-I can trust the Heart of Him who has not failed me yet

-We are in danger of restricting our kindness to our thoughts and words--the fruit of the Spirit is active kindness

- Christmas changed Everything

-Fellowship: we all need soul company

- Love of our fellow men flows from love toward God

-Renew your commitment daily!

-This is your war

-You have a friend who loves you--he is your friend, not your master

-Peter did not deny Jesus on his teachings, but he denied his fellowship

-God accepts us.

-He succeeded when we failed

-Let not our hearts be troubled

-God's love is amazing

-A prisoner of love gives himself into bonds

-Xt says: Give me your sins--they are mine

I stole this notecard--

Let not your Heart Be Troubled:

You can Keep Your Poise in a World of Panic-- John 14:27

You can Get Strength when you need it-- Luke 22:43

You can Cry Yourself Out of the Depths of Sin-- Luke 22: 61, 62

You can Find Truth in a Bewildered Age--John 18: 37b, 38a

You can Gaze beyond the Things you See-- Matthew 26: 64b

You can Profit by the Cross you Bear-- Mark 15:21

There's more on that one--but I can keep it by my bed versus on my blog. It's been an eye-opening (for lack of a better word) hour or so with this little box. I've been reminded to thank God for the honor of being his dearly loved child and that I can live in confidence for I know my Keeper and Savior. Tonight I've gotten just a glimpse of who my grandpa was, who he continues to be today, and I've seen a man of God. I've seen a man who touched the lives of many and who touched me in particular tonight. Tonight I am reminded what it looks like when the Lord's love consumes a life.

So tonight I ask, as my grandpa did:

May his misery be my mercy,

his death, my deliverance,

his love, my life.