The Victory Kiss

What in this world is a Victory Kiss?  The definition of victory is: success in any struggle involving the defeat of an opponent, etc. (Webster's New World Dictionary, 1968 edition) So how does this relate to kissing?  Please follow along with me and we will identify the opponent and I will lead you to the Victory Kiss and how victory over the opponent was gained by this couple. (This is longer than some of my post, but I promise to tie the knot in the end. Get you a cup of coffee or spiced cider to sip on while you read, RH)

We are quickly approaching the holiday season.  Thanksgiving is next Thursday and Christmas will soon be upon us. This my favorite time of the year with good food, Christmas music, Christmas shows, giving and receiving gifts, seeing the smiles on the faces of young children and enjoying time with family.  I also enjoy reflecting back on the memories of Christmas past.  Every Christmas for me has been filled with loving memories that can put me to a peaceful place this time of year.  I have always been with loving families on Christmas.  Each Christmas makes me appreciate the loving families that I am a part of.  All of this just doesn't happen.  Living in this fallen world, we have an opponent who wants to defeat us and steal away from us any happiness involved with being a family as God has instituted from the beginning.

Genesis 2:21-24 tells us that God made Eve from Adam's rib. Adam then named her Eve, and God said,  Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh, NKJV.  This passage tells us that marriage between a man and woman is sanctioned by God.  Also read Malachi chapter 2:10-17.  In verse 11, God tells that Judah has profaned the institution which God loves.  He is talking about marriage and in verse 16 we see God's feelings on divorce.  For the Lord God of Israel says that He hates divorce.  Go back up to verse 15.
But did He not make them one, having a remnant of the Spirit? And why one? He seeks godly offspring.  Therefore take heed to your spirit, and let none deal treacherously with the wife of his youth. 

Christ was asked about divorce in Matthew 19:1-9 and also describes adultery in Matthew 5:31-32.
Satan wants us to steer clear of these verses and have us divorce for any reason. One of the problems we have with our culture today is the breakdown of the family. Satan uses the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye and the pride of life, just like he did with Eve in the Garden of Eden, to destroy the family as God has instituted. But, God is not like we are, and He is more loving. He is forgiving and also makes a way for one to repent if you are guilty of falling for the deceptions and temptions of Satan.  You say, I have made such a mess of my life, I could never get forgiveness.  You are wrong. Read Isaiah 59:1. Read also what the Apostle Paul said to the Corinthians in 1Corintians 6:9-11. Is there hope if you have been sexually immoral? Read closely what is said in verse 11. And such were some of you. Satan doesn't want you reading this verse.  He wants you to feel guilty and just give up.

If you are in the above situation, don't give up.  The man that wrote the above, the Apostle Paul was previously called Saul of Tarsus. He went around killing Christians, but look what happened to him.  He became one of God's greatest servants here on earth.  How did he do it?  You can read about this in Acts 9:6,17-18.  Have you done anything as bad as killing Christians like Saul?  How did he handle the guilt of killing innocent people?  Here is how.  Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Philippians 3:13-14 NKJV You may have really messed up your family in the past, but do like Paul, He repented of what he was doing and started doing what God wanted him to do. You can do it.  You owe it to yourself and your family to try.

Now to the couple that beat all odds. Would you have given up?  I know many in that generation that also overcame and are entitled to the Victory Kiss and after reading this I am sure you do to.

It was a warm day in November, the 22nd day of November to be exact.  She was 17 and he was 18.
Her aunt and uncle were present as witnesses. The only other people present were the preacher, his son and daughter in-law.  Her dad and his dad had to sign papers for them to get married. The wedding was not in a church building but in the preacher's house. There was not a photographer or a  reception.

They left in a rented car on their honeymoon to Dyersburg, Tennessee.  The reason they had to drive a rented car was the young man was going to take his mother's new Buick, but he wrecked it the night before, running into a telephone pole about 30 yards from the house.  He had fallen asleep,and he still falls asleep easily to this day.

When they left for Dyersburg, the weather was warm and comfortable. This changed rather quickly in the night.  They awoke to freezing temperatures and could not open the motel room door because of the heavy snow.  When they did get out and loaded in the car for home, the car didn't have antifreeze in the radiator and the block had frozen and busted.  After getting the car fixed they had to drive home on treacherous and slick roads.

Arriving to their first home was not like the homes most couples have today.  This was an old farmhouse on his dad's farm.  There was no running water, no heaters, no indoor bathrooms and no telephone.  There was a fireplace in the living room.

It was freezing cold outside.  The young man started a fire in the fireplace.  They were looking forward to their first night at home. This was not to be.  The fireplace was stopped up and soot quickly entered the room, and the rest of the house, settling on the few things they had.  They had to leave and go to his parents to spend the night.  The next day they came back home, cleaned the soot off everthing and cleaned the fireplace out , they thought, and built another fire and the same thing happened.  They had to build a new fireplace in the kitchen, which took a few days, and reclean the soot off all the clothes, walls and furniture. Until they got everything done, they would be alternating staying with parents.  During all of this, some of the young man's friends put his wife's bicycle on the roof and put a big block of salt, that the cattle lick, in their bed.

Well, they finally got the house liveable.  They didn't have a car.  The young man bought a 3/4 ton flatbed truck. The truck was old and had a stick shift. The young man finally got a job, they got a telephone, they never did get indoor plumbing and also they didn't have a washer and dryer.

What are the odds, if this happened today, of this marriage lasting?  The devil was really wanting this marriage to fail.  He continually placed hardship in their way and they trudged on anyway.  They were married on November 22, 1950 and on June 26, 1952 they had their first son and had 2 more sons after that.

The harder life became for this young couple, the closer they became to each other and to God. They experienced financial problems, health problems, losing jobs and selling the farm.  As they have gotten older, their health is still a concern. This young woman's jet black hair has been replaced by almost white hair.  The young man's strong physique has been replaced with drooping muscles and a very sloooww gait.

Do they still love one another?  I will let you decide. I carried this used to be young woman to the hospital last week. This now old man would not leave her side at the hospital. He told the doctors and nurses, I have been married to this woman for 64 years and I love her.  I am not leaving her side and you had better be good to her.

Well, they didn't find anything wrong with her. They let her go home.  We thought it was some medication she was taking. When she stopped taking it, she quickly started getting better. I stopped by the next morning to carry him to work.  This morning he wasn't ready,and I had to go in and wait. I am glad I did.

I witnessed something great.  You see, I know about their ups and downs.  I also know that many people know them, love them and respect them.  Mother cooks for people when needed and he greets people at Walmart on Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday.  All of the hardship they have gone through was defeated by what I saw.  Before he left for work, he and she kissed one another on the lips as though it was their first kiss.  Devil, you didn't breakup this marriage with any of your tricks.

If you haven't guessed it by now, this is my mother and father, Bill and Patsy Hepler.  This kiss was a Victory Kiss, because their love for God and each other has carried them over many obstacles the last 64 years.  Dad told me this morning when they go to bed at night, he kisses mother and says, I will see you in the morning one way or another, here or in heaven. 

Money can't buy what that Victory Kiss means to me.  We boys have had a loving mother and father together all of our lives.  What a difference our country would be in, if other sons and daughter could see their parents kising the Victory Kiss.

Don't you give up! You can make the ending good! Start today!  The Victory Kiss is awaiting.

Happy 64th Anniversary Mom and Dad.  Thank you for being faithful all 64 of them.

Please send me your comments at rhepler52@yahoo.com  or rhepler52@gmail.com

I deal with sexual immorality and how we can overcome it in my book, The Heart Behind the Stone:Develop a Giant Slaying Heart.  You can go to www.amazon.com to purchase it.

Thank you so much for reading and I hope you have a good weekend.

Rick Hepler

P.S. You can send mother and dad a little note on their 64th anniversary Saturday, November the 22nd at bhepler32@yahoo.com 

The Fruit that can Change Lives

Today the baby boomer generation is looking for something we can take or eat that will make us healthy. Debbie's grandmother turned 100 this year. She doesn't take medicine, not a diabetic and has not had any health problems all of her life.  Her Doctor ask her what she did and she said, "I eat a lot of fruit." He told her to keep eating it.  I like fruit, but to eat it every day is hard for me to do.

I, like many of you, like the quick fix to get healthy.  Two weeks to get healthy that is the time frame I like.  We all know this is not possible. Eating healthy and exercising is for the long term and sometimes the benefits are not realized until we see someone our age sick, and we are still healthy.

There is one fruit that can be given once or for a lifetime and can have tremendous effect upon you and also on the ones you give it to.  This fruit is very economical for us, but someone paid a sacrificial price for us to obtain it.  Follow along and I will introduce you to this age-old fruit that is guaranteed to produce good results.

The best I can remember she sat behind me in Miss Townsend's 4th grade class. She was extremely shy and never said anything, and you could tell by the way she was dressed she was poor by some standards.
Some of the kids laughed at her, and she would never say a word.  I hope not, but I also probably laughed at her or went along with those who did.  Why do children do this? Why are the small, the weak, the different, and the shy picked on and laughed at?  I don't know. Why did I go along sometimes at the expense of the one being bullied? I guess because of fear. I had rather my peers pick on someone else other than me. Therefore, I cowardly went along so I could be accepted by them.

I was studying God's love for us the other day and how He wants to fill us with His love to pass on to others  He will not pour out love into a container that is full or has something else in it.  We are the same way.  Would your pour your coffee into a cup that had a dirty liquid and stain in the bottom of it? No, and God is not going to pour His love into a vessel that has bitterness, pride, selfishness, hatred, and is unforgiving either.

The more I studied the more I looked back at the times I came up short of loving the way I should.  I do not know why, but I thought about the girl that sat behind me in the 4th grade.  I kinda teared up like you would watching a Christmas movie on the Hallmark channel.  I knew better than to make fun of people. Mother and dad would have punished me if they had known about it.  Why did I do it?

This poor little girl had great courage.  Much more than those who taunted her.  We all wore our masks trying to be portrayed as someone other than our true self.  We cherished being accepted by our peers over the expense of the helpless.  How cruel.  This girl did not wear a mask. She was her true self trying to make it in a hostile emotional environment.  How would you like to have come to school every day knowing you would be made fun of because maybe you were a little different or not dressed like everyone else.  That took a lot of courage.  The courage that many of us did not have at that time.

Now getting back to the fruit that, obviously I didn't possess then, but hopefully I do now.  The fruit I am talking about is the fruit of God's Spirit.  This fruit contains the spiritual nutrients that can change families, communities and the world.  The first nutrient is everlasting and can make changes if used daily. That first nutrient of the fruit of the Spirit is love. (Galatians 5:22)

What if I had shown this lonely shy little girl love?  Would it have made a difference in her life then and now?  It is easy to hurt people emotionally and walk away from it, but the one who has been emotionally hurt can harbor this pain for a lifetime. What if  I touched her on the shoulder and genuinely asked her if I could be her friend? What if I brought her a candy bar for milk break?  What if I had went and sat with her at lunch when I saw her eating alone? If I had done all of this, the pain of her coming to school each day may have been, hopefully, overcome.  Maybe others would have wanted to be her friend.  If I had done all of these things, I guarantee she would still remember me and what I did for her 53 years ago. Instead, she has the memories of a terrible time in the 4th grade. 

I can't go back and fix it, but I can start today and make sure I do not let it happen again.  A wise mother once told her son, Open your mouth, judge righteously, and plead the cause of the poor and needy. (Proverbs31:9 NKJV)  The Apostle Paul said, Love never fails. (1Corinthians 13:8)

Are you using the fruit of the Spirit in your life to help someone today? If you do not have this fruit of the Spirit, you can go to Acts 2:38 to see what they did to obtain it. Do you agree with me that this fruit much needed in our society today?

Please use my blog post to read to your children for your family devotionals.  Also, if you would like for me to send an email to a friend or a family member inviting them to read my blog just send me their email address.

If you have read my book, please leave a review on amazon.com.  You can go to www.amazon.com to purchase, The Heart Behind the Stone: Develop a Giant Slaying Heart.

Please send your comments to me at rhepler52@yahoo.com or rhepler52@gmail.com 

Have a nice day and weekend.

Thanks,
Rick Hepler

Are They Being Taught by You?

I watched each of my two daughters being born.  I can't express in words the change that came over me on those 2 birth dates.  I really don't have to tell most of you dads because you share the same emotional change as I did.  As parents we love our children and want the best for them. Dads, what did  you want for your children?

When I thought it couldn't get any better, the grandchildren came along. WOW! What fun and that fun is without all the responsibility we had with our own children. Maybe that's why they are called grandchildren. I hope I live long enough to see my great grandchildren.

We may not have as much of the responsibly with our grandchildren and great grandchildren, but in the times we are living in today, I have much concern about their freedom and  their spiritual well being.  I am sure every Christian parent and grandparent share the same concerns as I.

From the day of birth the baby starts to learn. The baby has been in the comfort and safety of the mother's womb for 9 months and now is in the comfort and care of her arms.  At least that is the way God planned it.  Some for personal reasons or  ideology do not love their baby, and they terminate their baby while in the womb. I address this in my book: The Heart Behind the Stone:Develop a Giant Slaying Heart.  It is available on www.amazon.com

Mostly from the parents, siblings, and other family members, a newborn baby learns quickly the first weeks of his/her life. As the child gets older the window of learning, that was once controlled by family, now is open wide coming from many different good and bad sources.

Who has God given the responsibility to teach children? Deuteronomy chapter 6 is a good beginning point to find who God commanded to teach them and what they should be taught.

Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.  And these words I command you today shall be in your heart.  You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.  You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.  You shall write them on the doorpost of your house and on your gates. (Deut. 6:4-9, NKJV )

In Ephesians chapter 6:4 the Apostle Paul instructs the fathers. And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord. (NKJV)

Fathers, according to the above scriptures, we are to take the lead in teaching our children about God and His commandments. Many fathers along with mothers do this.  Some children learn from their parents'  teachings and grow up to be faithful Christians serving God, but not all.  Why is this? I don't know, but it may be the choice God gives all of us to follow or not follow Him.  When our children are old enough to get out in the world, unawares, other teachers appear.  Remember what I said earlier that the window of teaching is wide open when our children get older.  What does the world teach them?  The big 3 are: abortion is the choice of the woman, evolution (evilution) is fact and God did not create us the way He said He did in Genesis 1, and sexual immorality is only an alternate lifestyle that everyone should accept.

Deb and I have been fortunate. Our daughters are still faithful to God, and along with their husbands they teach their children to be the same.  But, I know of those I have been going to church with for years that taught their children also, and they have left the church and God all together.  Again, why is this?

Have you thought about why Cain murdered his brother Able in Genesis chapter 4 or why the 2 sons of Levi, the priest in 1Sammuel 2:13 were so evil?  What about the parable of the Lost Son that Christ told in Luke 15:11-32?  The younger son wanted his inheritance.  The father gave him his portion, and he left for a far away land wasting his inheritance with prodigal living.  The other son stayed at home and served his father and never transgressed his father's commandment.

Even though we are faithful in teaching our children about God and His commandments, this does not guarantee they will be faithful to God, but we can believe this. When they have been worn down in sin as the prodigal son,  they will know enough about God and His forgiving love to come back to Him.

What happens when a father teaches his children God's word? Most of the time it indicates a family unit that is intact. There are exceptions to this.  I have known of single parents that have done a great job teaching their children about God and His word.  In Second Timothy the Apostle Paul mentions Timothy's faith.

     2Timothy 1:5  ...when I call to remembrance the genuine faith that is in you, which first dwelt in      your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am persuaded is in you also.

Fathers, mothers, grandmothers and grandfathers are your children and grandchildren being taught God's love and commandments by you? If not, who is teaching them?

What happens when children are not taught God's word by parents or anyone else?  The fruit that emerges from this is: A Generation that does not Know God.  Look at our country today and it is self-explanatory.

What if they are not being taught God's word by you?  What if you are living in rebellion to God and His word?  If you die in that state, a sinner that has not repented of your sins and been cleansed by the Blood of Christ, you will be the same as the rich man that Jesus tells us about in Luke16:19-31. He begged father Abraham to send Lazarus back to tell his five brothers about the place he was in so they would not be joining him in torment. Abraham told him they have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.  30) The rich man pleaded; No father Abraham; but if one goes to them from the dead , they will repent.  
31) But he said to him, 'If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead'.

Besides being in torment, the rich man's anguish was that he did not influence his brothers to follow the Lord.  He was afraid that they would live as he did while on earth and die in that state to receive the same torment as he. Oh how he was hoping they would listen to Moses and the prophets.  You and I will be the same way if we do as the rich man.  We will be hoping every moment that someone will teach God's truth to our children and loved ones, so they will not end up in torment, separated from God for eternity.

In our case someone did come back from the dead teaching about God's plan of salvation for all of humanity.  His name is Jesus Christ.  He commanded his disciples and us to go into all the world teaching the gospel. (Matt.28:18-20 and Mark 16:15-16)

We can eliminate one of the above paragraphs if we are teaching our children, grandchildren and all other loved ones the Gospel of Christ with such a passion and urgency for them to see us loving God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength.

If we take the lead in this we will also see the hearts changing in America and the love for God restored by our fellow Americans. The alternative is eternal regret. If you are not teaching them you can start today. Remember the quote from Maria Robinson—Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending.

You can read my book to your children, The Heart Behind the Stone:Develop a Giant Slaying Heart, to help teach them to develop a love for God as the young shepherd boy David had. Please go to http://www.amazon.com to review and order.

I welcome your comments.  We are all in this together, helping each other and our loved ones  get to heaven. Please comment by going to rhepler52@yahoo.com or rhepler52@gmail.com

Thank you so much!
Rick Hepler