Tragedy in the Midst of Beauty

By Gillis Killam –

While flying over the Rocky Mountains from Prince George, BC to Vancouver, I was awed again by the beauty of snow-covered mountains. I saw intriguing designs in the drifts of snow carved out by the winds over the mountains that stood majestically like large pyramids perfectly formed in the snow. Few, if any, were the marks of man’s traverse in this area as it is so rugged and vast.

I thought of my Creator God who, with his fingers, designed the world with so much beauty and design that caused me to gaze in wonder.

As I looked down through the clouds rolling by the plane’s windows, at times blinding me to the view below, I was reminded of a tragic accident that took place some years ago near to where I was now flying. A group of three people was on a small Cessna plane flying up the Island from Victoria to minister in a church. They never arrived. The pilot must have been disoriented flying through thick clouds, and mistakenly thought he was still over the Island, when he was actually flying over the Mainland Mountains. He flew directly into a mountain and all perished.

We all ask the question, “Why?” It’s a question we all ask when tragedies of various kinds happen to people we know. We don’t know the answer to the “Why” of this tragedy that took two young people and the pilot, who were so committed to the Lord. However, the good news is that they went home to be with the Lord because each had given their life to Christ and God wanted them home with Him.

A scripture that my wife often refers to in times like these is:

“The righteous perish, and no one takes it to heart; the devout are taken away, and no one understands that the righteous are taken away to be spared from evil. Those who walk uprightly enter into peace; they find rest as they lie in death” (Isaiah 57:1-2 NIV).

What seems a tragedy to us as believers really is not something out of God’s control. Charles Spurgeon once said, “When the time comes for you to die, you need not be afraid, because death cannot separate you from God’s love.”

Prayer: Thank you Lord, you know best, and our times are in your hands. Amen.

Following the Ways of the Father

By Gillis Killam –

Some years ago the leadership of our denomination met together in a retreat to seek the Lord for the direction of our Fellowship. In one of the sessions we were asked to give our personal testimony: how we came to Christ and how our family had impacted our lives. As we went around the circle of twelve men we listened with full attention because many of us, who came from other parts of Canada, had never heard the story of other members. It was one of the most encouraging and uplifting moments in our time together.

When it came time for the last one to speak we were surprised to hear him say, “I don’t have a Christian heritage in my family!” He told us that he could not look back to a father, mother, or grandparents, for a Christian influence. Other people outside his natural family were now like father and mother to him and they were a blessing. He went on to say that now he has a wife and children and he is building a heritage for his own family with the help of his Heavenly Father.

An interesting scripture tells us something about Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, which says, “The LORD was with Jehoshaphat because he followed the ways of his father David before him. He did not consult the Baals but sought the God of his father and followed his commands rather than the practices of Israel” (2 Chronicles 17:3-4 NIV).

Jehoshaphat’s father, King Asa, followed the Lord in the first part of his reign, but turned away from God in his later years and did not obey Him. He did not leave a good memory or a godly heritage that his son could look back on, so Jehoshaphat looked back to his forefather, David, who was a man after God’s own heart, and followed His ways.

Even if we don’t have a godly Christian heritage in our immediate family, we may look back to someone who was an example (John 1:12). If we can’t find a godly influence in our past, but have accepted Christ as our Saviour we can look to our Heavenly Father. When we receive Christ as our Saviour we become “children of God” (1 John 3:1 NIV).

Prayer: Thank you Father for a godly father and mother who showed me the way to You. Amen

My Heritage

By Gillis Killam –

While visiting in New Brunswick, I was reminded of my heritage when my wife and I, along with my brother and his wife, attended a country church memorial service. Although I did not know many people in attendance, there were people who were related to me and remembered my Mom and Dad.

The building I remembered as a child seemed so small to me now. At that time it only had four pews on each side, yet when I was so young it seemed like a mile to the front of the church. It was there that my folks worshipped the Lord, and I am thankful for the rich heritage of a home where I was taught the Word of God and the importance of obedience to the Lord. There is now a new building which is much larger.

I think it was Jacob who said, “I serve my father’s God.” I can say the same, not merely because I grew up in a Christian home, but because I came to know the reality of my father’s God. It isn’t enough to be born into a Christian home; one needs to experience the reality of God personally. The day came when I had to make a decision to surrender my life to the God of my father and to serve Him.

How my father and mother lived greatly influenced my life; I remember their faith and loyalty to the church. On one occasion when we were getting ready to go to church, company arrived to visit. Many would have stayed home to visit, but I remember my Dad saying, “We are on our way to church, would you like to come with us?”

“Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God” (John 1:12-13 NIV).

Salvation is an individual matter and no matter whether we have gone to church all our lives and were born of Christian parents, we need to personally put our faith in Christ. As parents we need to leave our children a Christian heritage.

Prayer: Thank you Lord for saving my soul, and knowing that I am truly your child because you called me personally and I made a decision to follow you. AMEN

Downsizing

By Gillis Killam –

Over the past three months my wife and I have been downsizing. In the past we have moved a number of times, but this last move was very different. Moving to a smaller space made us look at everything we possessed, and decide what we needed. We found that there were many things that were no longer useful although good in their day. There were memorabilia: pictures, videos, DVDs, letters, cards, poems from special occasions; then there was furniture we didn’t have room for so asked the family and others if there was something they would like. Some items were taken but most people already had their houses filled and didn’t want any more.

We decided that a good piece of advice to others would be to not wait until you are in your late 70’s to do this. One should do it year by year, or at least every other year! We had to get rid of a lot of things that for years had been just taking up space and were no longer needed. We took most of it to organizations that distribute items to those in need.

This caused me to think that we should not wait to the last minute to clear up our lives from grudges, feelings, and thoughts that have cluttered our minds over the years. We should make sure we are right with God and have our sins forgiven (1 John 1:9-10). We should ask forgiveness of anyone we have wronged; we should do the things we should have done many years ago.

We all accumulate unresolved relationships, practices or habits that we know we need to put away because they are not God’s will for us. There may be things that are not wrong in themselves but take up too much of our time and occupy a place that should belong to God or our family. The writer to the Hebrews said, “…let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles” (Hebrews 12:1 NIV).

I was reminded of the scripture which tells us to put off the old life and put on the new which is renewed in righteousness. “And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness” (Ephesians 4:24 KJV).

Prayer: Search me, O God; help me to remove those things which hinder Your will in my life.

Who is the Boss?

By Gillis Killam –

Where we live now we have the privilege of seeing our two little granddaughters, ages 3 and 5, every day. They are such a delight to us. One day we were chatting together and I asked them who they thought was the boss in their family. One confidently said, “Daddy is boss!” the other said, triumphantly, pointing to the sky, “No, God is the boss!”

It made me wonder “Who is really the boss in my life?” Many of us would say that God is the authority in our lives but really we act like we are the boss ourselves. I need to ask myself: Is He Lord of my finances? Is He Lord of my business? Is He Lord of my marriage? Is He Lord of all? Do I daily ask God for direction in all my decisions, or do I go ahead and do just what I think?

The truth is we who are followers of Jesus should have given up being the boss of our lives because they are not our own. We were bought by the blood of Christ and therefore should glorify and honor God in our bodies.

Paul said, “I identified myself completely with him. Indeed, I have been crucified with Christ. My ego is no longer central… Christ lives in me. The life you see me living is not “mine,” but it is lived by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I am not going to go back on that” (Galatians 2:20 MSG).

Another way to say God is boss is to say, “He is LORD of our lives.” When we become Christians we confess that he is Lord to the glory of God the Father (Romans 10:9-10). When we are baptised we do so to show others that we have buried the old life and we have risen to walk in this new life where Jesus is Lord. (Romans. 6:4).

My granddaughter was quick to let me know that God is boss in our lives. It is best that He is boss because He knows the future as well as the past and present. It is much better to trust our lives, our futures, our finances, our families, and our marriages to the one who loves us and gave Himself for us.

Prayer: Forgive me Lord for acting like I am boss of my life. Take my life and let it be Yours. AMEN

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