Have You Worked Any 1000 Piece Jigsaw Puzzles Lately?

Every Thanksgiving my wife, Debbie, gets a 1000 piece jigsaw puzzle to work on during the holidays. She and her family get a large square board, place it on a card table in her mother's living room, and dump the 1000 pieces right in the middle of it.

Next, they separate all of the border pieces and corners.  Then looking at the picture, they starting putting the outside, straight edge, pieces together and the four corner pieces.

The final step of their organizing is to try an match the different colors and sceneries of the picture. They each have their little piles and then the fun begins. Putting the pieces together may take until New Year's day, but those who work on it, enjoy finding and fitting every piece. It takes all of them and they eventually get it finished.  I think it was last year they finished it, and the last piece was missing and I don't think they ever found it.

One thing about working a puzzle, the piece either fits or it doesn't; No in between, no deception, only a true fit.  And you must have all of the pieces to complete the picture!

I do not do jigsaw puzzles, whether they are 25 pieces or 1000 pieces. I seem to be too impatient. Well, it is just not my favorite thing.

 It seems living in this world is like a 1000 piece jigsaw puzzle. Looking back over my life, the puzzles I have completed were the ones I looked diligently for the right pieces to fit the situation. Those that I failed in completing were the ones, I either lost my confidence, or interest in finishing.

Yes I have failed miserably in trying to put some of my life's puzzles together. I will write about those another time. Those I failed at, I just could not find the right pieces to connect. I know where they were hidden now. I'll tell you about it maybe someday, so it might help you from making the same mistake.

There is one of my life's puzzles I did finish.  This was one I had always pictured in my mind to have. I had seen my parents put theirs together and many of my friends' parents do the same. I saw in them what I wanted and knew I could have the same.

What was my puzzle and what did it look like. Well here goes.  I wanted a beautiful wife, children and grandchildren. We had our picture made at Gulf Shores. The kids had it made into a puzzle.

 

 

This is my family. All of the pieces fit together beautifully.  But I did not work this puzzle alone.  This puzzle is was started when Debbie and I were born.  We have parents that are still married after 67 years. The picture in our minds was to have a family like we came from.

I met Debbie on a blind date. Coincidence? I don't think so. We married two years later. In 1978 Beth Anne was born and 1982 Besti was born. From the day they were born we prayed for each to marry a faithful Christian man, raised by Christian parents.

Debbie and I both had a vision of what our family picture puzzle should look like.  We began the day we married finding the outside pieces. The outside and corner pieces were from God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. Our future family would be pieced together within these boundaries.

Pieces from the world did not and would not fit together with these outside and corner pieces. They would not form the picture we had in our heart and mind of the way we wanted our little family to look.

But, Debbie and I did not put our family puzzle together by ourselves. The same time we were praying for our daughters, there were two little boys, a far off, with parents praying the same prayer. Those little boys also had the examples lived before them each day by their parents and grandparents, who also have been married many years.

Betsi, our youngest daughter, was the first to get married in May 2004. She married Jonathan Pettus, from Leoma, Tennessee. His parents contributed and helped in fitting their section of the puzzle. These wonderful people are Danny and Rose Pettus. There is no way we could have picked better in-laws for Betsi than these two. They also are wonderful grandparents and examples to Xander and Connor.

Beth Anne, our oldest, got married in August of 2004. Yes I know, two weddings in the same summer. Many helped us pull this together and aunt Janie Gill saved us a boatload of money getting and doing the flowers.  Beth Anne married Jarred Clayton from Dunlap, Tennessee. Jarred also has wonderful parents, Freddie and Tammy Clayton who wanted the same family for him that they have. Again, perfect in-laws for Beth Anne and grandparents for Anna Jewell and Grady. Freddie and Tammy Clayton, again I could not picked anyone any better.

Also Danny performed Jonathan's and Betsi's wedding ceremony and Freddie performed Jarred's and Beth Anne's. All I did was give them away and that was an easy task, because these were good young men from great families.

Debbie and I did not get our daughters to this point alone. Our daughters were taught by some of the best educators and coaches in the state.  They each had a section of puzzle to help us fit together.  They put pieces together we couldn't find. Our daughters, like many who have come out of the Union City School System, excelled in tennis, band, and academically. They were taught to pursue excellence by these caring people. Did they prepare them  for college? You better believe they did.

Both daughters went to Freed-Hardeman University in Henderson, Tennessee. Not only did they get higher education at FHU they were taught Bible from some of the best in the country. The friendships they have made from attending FHU are priceless.

You will notice in the picture above several pieces. Debbie and I kept the pieces in Christ, the boundaries and corners, and numerous others helped in supplying the much needed piece for their expertise.  We could not have done it alone.

We cannot leave out our church families. They have been with us and loved us in the good times and tough times. Also both sides of our families have been so supportive.

Again, notice the many pieces of this puzzle. Some were of unconditional love, forgiveness, encouragement, several were prayers, all were based on truth. Each piece fitting with the one next to it was joined by a perfect fit. No deception or fake pieces in this puzzle. They all had to be true fits to produce a picture as this.

Did Satan try so slip a deceptive piece in? Yes he tried many times, but remember the edges and corners were from God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. Satan's pieces would not fit in Debbie's and my picture. Did we have tough trials? Absolutely! We still do. Remember we live in a fallen world. Heaven is our real home. If we picture it and then put the pieces together God has given us, we will be there someday in a picture perfect puzzle.

You may think you cannot have a family picture puzzle as ours? Well the good news is you can. So you are a single mom or dad. Maybe you are addictive to drugs, even in jail for a period of time or divorced or living with someone not your spouse.
Yes you may have made a mess of your life compared to the way God wants you to live.  You are forgetting one thing.

The disciples were greatly amazed, and asked, "Who then can be saved?"  Jesus saw their amazement, and replied, "With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible." (Matt. 19:25-26,TEG, Hugo McCord)  Did you get what He said. Your messed up life may be impossible for you and mankind to straighten out, but all things are possible with God.

You still don't think you can make a better life for you and your family? Read this!
And we know all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. (Romans 8:28, NKJV)  That doesn't mean that my wife's Parkinson's disease is working for her good. That means God has a plan and a purpose for everyone of us. And the things in His plans and His words are working together to make us more like Him and His Son, so one day when we put the last piece of our entire life's puzzle in, it will be the piece that says,  faithful unto death. The good he is talking about is our salvation and being with Him in heaven away from this sin sick, and fallen world.

Has Satan convinced you that you are too sinful and God doesn't love you anymore. Read this! I am persuaded that neither death nor life nor angels nor principalities nor things present nor things to come nor powers nor height not depth nor anything else in creation can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.(Romans 8:38,NKJV) God still loves you, messed up life and all.

Still think you cannot, with God's help, clean up your life's mess? You are right in thinking that sin has messed your life up and probably the lives of people you love because of it.  Well your not the first nor will you be the last. Again read this: Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived.  Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. Now look at this carefully. And such were some of you.  But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God. (Romans 6:9-11, NKJV) 
Sounds like some messed up lives, but notice some let God help them clean up their mess. And such were some of them. But they are not anymore.

Please read today Psalms 103 with an emphasis on verses 11 and 12.

If your life's puzzle is all messed up and you have lost pieces or just given up, don't! My family puzzle above was not worked by me alone. Many helped me and I am grateful for all of the help. So grateful I want to help you to put together your family puzzle. How do you want it to look?

Yes I know your family is probably fragmented by now in every direction. You may not personally get the same family picture as I have, but you can start right now and make sure your second and especially third generations can have the same family puzzle as I have.

Remember this quote by Maria Robinson-Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending. What if you started today letting God be the straight edges and the corners of your puzzle and God's word give you the pieces to fit together the future families of your grandchildren. The circle of messed up families can end with you and that new family life's 1000 piece puzzle can begin with you, God and God's family.

How about it. I couldn't do it alone and you can't either. You have everything to gain to let me or someone help you and have heaven to lose if you don't. But you are not the only one that will lose heaven.  Your children and grandchildren may be following the same path you are on now. The big question for you is, do you want them to?

I am willing and wanting to help. You may email me at rhepler52@yahoo.com or rhepler52@gmail.com . Please share this with others. How do you want the rest of your life's puzzle to look? And no it doesn't cost anything but your time. I do it for free because that is what I enjoy doing.

Thanks for reading. Please share on Facebook or email this link : www.rick-hepler.blogspot.com to your friends and love ones.

Thanks again.

Rick Hepler

But Even if You Do Not Heal Debbie, I Will Still Serve You.

My wife, Debbie, is much better with her Parkinson's disease. She is driving again here locally and doing her own shopping. But she is not healed. The Parkinson's has effected her speech and emotions. If she ever turns backward, her legs start shuffling and she falls. We were keeping our youngest grandson, Grady, the other day and I had to go somewhere. When I came back, Grady said, "Granddaddy, Mamaw didn't fall while you were gone". Even our little four year old is conscious of her condition.

I recently went with her to an Avon convention. Due to the 6000 people there, I had to walk with her to every session, place her in the seat, then get her when each session was over. She would have fallen twice if I had not been there. Her voice is so soft, people cannot hear what she is saying.

You who have a spouse with a chronic illness know better than I how hard it is to see them in the condition a disease can place them. Many I know are going through the fire you might say with a loved one or spouse dealing with some form of cancer.

I pray as many of you do several times a day for Debbie to be healed. At times, when I am alone, I have come so boldly to God that I shout out the prayer. It is hard for me, and I assume many are the same way, to see your children, grandchildren, parents, and especially your spouse suffering from anything. It even makes me angry at this fallen world we live in.

 

One of my daughters sent me something to listen to the other day. Please take time now to listen.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B6fA35Ved-Y     Did you hear the words? This describes me. How about you? I cried. Did you?

This song was written from Daniel 3:17-18. Please read it. Also read about Habakkuk's faith in Habakkuk 3:17-19. His faith was strong also.

Job's wife couldn't take it any more. She told Job in Job 2:9, Then his wife said to him, "Do you still hold fast to your integrity? Curse God and die!" She also had lost everything and now was watching her last love one suffer. Please turn there now and read his reply in verse 10.

I could tell of many others who trusted God through it all.  The last one I would like to mention today is found in Luke 16:19-31. Lazarus was a sick beggar. This world was so cruel to him. I believe the only thing Lazarus owned was a faith in his God. That has proven to be more valuable than the rich man's possessions. The angels do not carry unrepentant sinners to Paradise.

I know God loves me and all the world, because he sent his Son to die for us. He didn't have a comfortable life while He was here on earth either. He died so we would not have to taste that second death in which Satan, our accuser, wants us to taste. He knows where he is going and he wants us to be there with him.

If we could talk to Lazarus now, do you think he regrets being a sicken beggar?(Luke 16:19-31) No, I don't believe he would.  Neither will I sell out my love for God for this world's temporary comforts or even discomforts. I will still pray" But even if He doesn't answer, I will still love and obey Him. Jesus says in John 14:15, If you love me keep my commandments and then in John 15:10, If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept My Father's commandments and abide in His love. (NKJV)

If I live more like world than like Christ, I am not keeping His commandments. It says in James 4:4...Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. (NKJV)

When I came to Christ, confessing He was the son of God, repenting of my sins and being buried in the watery grave of baptism, I came up a new creature. I buried the old sinful man. I now try to walk in the light as He is.  Everything can be taken away, but this one thing I have is my faith and trust in Him. The greatest blessing any man can have is to be able to confidently say, when he lays his head on the pillow at night, It is well with my soul.

Here is another song we have sung for years, but someone has added these beautiful words on the end. Listen to them. Most importantly, respond to them. here is the link.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TxMkt-HkcT0

Yes, this one made me cry also. He has restored me and given me the promise of heaven someday. Those that love Him and keep His commandments will never regret following Him. He went through more pain and suffering so one day we will not remember our suffering here on this earth.

Would you please share this with those that are suffering. I have tried to empty my heart to you with words. I hope you will let God help you through your trials. God still gives us a choice. Do we want to follow the ways of the world, with no hope, or do we want to follow Him? This is the most serious question we must answer before it is too late.

Please send me your comments on Facebook or email me at rhepler52@gmail.com or rhepler52@yahoo.com you may go to www.amazon.com and type in Rick Hepler to purchase my books.

Thank you for reading.  Help someone who is suffering today. It will make both of you feel better.

Rick Hepler

Yard Sale Junk-You Are Not!

I know some people who have the talent of restoring furniture, appliances and other items most people, including me, set on the street for trash pickup.  Many an item has been cheaply purchased at yard sales by those with talented eyes for restorable treasures other people and I call junk. These people visualize this junk in their minds what it was before it had been weathered and broken down.

They are confident of their restoration talents, have the correct tools, and have the patience to work till their little projects are complete.  Have you ever seen some of their projects completed. What was cheap junk, is now again the beautiful piece it was originally made to be.

These people know what to look for.  They can recognize brand names, valuable wood, and the original date created.  It took years of learning the craft, gaining the knowledge of identifying value, and the potential value of a piece. The end result from their passion is a beautifully restored item, many times the yard sale price.   Just knowing that grandmother or granddaddy had sweat equity in it, increased the aesthetic value to want to pass the piece down to the families' future generations. ( Or some just fight over it after the funeral. LOL!!!)

Have any of you ever seen or do you have a piece restored furniture?  Debbie bought a corner cabinet out of someone's barn near Franklin, Tennessee.  He was using it in the barn as a hay manger to feed his cows. We brought it home and had a talented individual  restore it. (Definitely not me.)  The once hay manger is now a beautiful corner cabinet.

We all have bought different items over the years with the wear and tear of using them, just wore them out. They are broken and just junk, being beyond repair and restoration. Some created beings (people) think they are junk, and many other people would agree with them.  But, before you and I call them junk and worthless, let's try to determine their real value.

And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness...(Genesis 1:26) So God created man in his own image and likeness, male and female. (Genesis 1:27) Then God looked upon everything He had made, and, indeed, it was excellent. (Genesis 1:31) (ELG translation, Hugo McCord)

So, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit made mankind in their own image and called everything they created, that first week, excellent. Sounds to me like mankind is valuable. How valuable? Well let's go a little further.

Satan, our adversary, (1 Peter 5:8) had already been cast out of heaven with the angels that followed him. This was due to his pride. Now he wants to get back at God by tarnishing the image God had created in mankind.

Here is what he did and this is why we live in a fallen world today with sin, pain and suffering. (If you are going through pain and suffering now, it only last for this lifetime not eternity.) We will get into that later.  We can continue suffering for eternity or we can live in heaven with God, with no pain and suffering for eternity. This will also be our choice.

Satan, in the form of a serpent, introduces doubt for the first time to Eve. Has God indeed said, 'You shall not eat of every tree in the garden'?" (Genesis 3:1) Eve then responds with God's command not to eat of the tree that was in the middle of the garden. She said, God said she would die if she ate the fruit from it. (Genesis 2:2-3) Then the serpent said to her the first and most damning lie, ...You will not surely die. (Genesis 3:4)

Next, he tempts her with pride. ...In the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil. (Genesis 3:5) Then he tempts Eve with the lust of the eyes and the lust of the flesh. Please read (Genesis 3:6)  She saw it was good for food, pleasant to the eyes, and would make her wise, she bit the lure of the serpent, hook, line, and sinker. It still happens today, but it doesn't have to.

When Eve, and then Adam, disobeyed the one command God had given them, the image they had been created in became tarnished and covered over with the sin of disobedience. Satan's deception had worked, but God had a plan. A plan to restore that image.

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. (John 3:16) (Please continue to read verses 17-21 in your Bibles.) 

All of us have sinned and fallen short of God's glory. (Romans 3:23) The image we were created in is still there, but covered by the old man of sin. We all are experiencing the effects of sin today. For some, the consequences have been brutal, leaving them and their families in hopeless situations.

We needed to see what the image of God looks like. Remember, God is a Spirit...(John 4:24) So God sent us His Son. He is the image of the invisible God. (Col. 3:15) also read 2 Corinthians 4:4. When we read about Christ and His life on this earth, we see the Father in Him. (John 14:8-12) To live in the image we were created with, we will do the works and live like that image.

We know we are living in the flesh when we do the works of the flesh. Please read Galatians 5:19-21. If you or I are living by the works of the flesh identified here, we are still living as the old man of sin that we were. Our image we were created in is hidden by sin. But, if we have been renewed or restored by repentance , confession and baptized into Christ raised to walk in newness of life, (Romans 6:1-14) The image is restored and we can know that it is by the new life in the Spirit we now lead.  We will know this by the Spirit's fruit we exhibit. Read Galatians 5:22-25.

You and I are never like yard sale junk. We may be broken down by the works of the flesh condemned in Galatians 5:19-21, but we do have One who sees our value and will mend and cleanse our broken, and sinful lives. He will not put us on the street. He died for us, so we could be righteous before our Father in Heaven. All we have to do is to love Him and hear and obey Him. (Matthew 17:5)

I see so many families hurting from the consequences of sin and the Evil one. They are not junk in God's eyes. He has proven this to us by letting His Son die that cruel death on the cross. In all humility, we should love these as God does. Giving them hope of repairing their broken lives and the hope of Heaven.

This renewed spirit in Christ could then be valued and passed down by teaching to their future generations just like the restored piece of furniture. Except this has an eternal value that will never see corruption again.

The Master Restorer has given you and me, if we profess to be His disciples, a mission to find those that are broken in our communities, families, nation, and all nations making disciples of them, baptizing them and teaching them to observe all of His commands. (Matthew 28:18-20)

I have been broke and broken.  I hate to see anyone hurting and without hope. If you or others  you may know are hurting and need that eternal hope, please contact me at rhepler52@yahoo.com or rhepler52@gmail.com All will be confidential.

Remember you are not junk. Don't you give up because of addictions or any other terrible consequences because of sin.  God will forgive you and give you peace and hope for tomorrow.  Please contact me if you are hurting. I want to help you.

Thanks for reading. Looking forward to your comments.

Rick Hepler

The Companion of Love Is Time

I told him I could not give him any money, but I would come to visit him once a week, while he was incarcerated.  He was in jail for illegal possession of drugs. He had been there before. This time, he had contemplated ending it all. The voices in his head were telling him he was going to hell anyway. He hit rock bottom. He quit a good job, was in a terrible relationship, no place to lay his head and owed fines and thousands of dollars of back child support.

Why was I sitting in front of him , looking through the glass, waiting for him to punch in the code so we could talk to each other over the phone? Never in my life had I done anything like this before. What would I say to this broken, unshaven, scrubby looking young man in his grungy, gray striped, prison garb?

I was in front of him, mind racing with thoughts, hoping to choose the words he needed to hear. I was there because of the four words I said when I spoke at his mother's memorial service a few months back. She had fought cancer and lost. She was his strength. Guilt, grief, and the fear of being alone were consuming him as he sat on the second row of the church's auditorium.  As I spoke, he doubled over from his weeping.  He could not sit up, although by his body language I could tell he was holding on to every word I said.  The last four words that came from my mouth were, "Don't you give up".

I had heard he was in jail for having drugs on him. It was confirmed when his dad pulled me over at church service one Sunday morning.  He asked if I could go see his son in jail. He said his son remembered my telling him, "Don't you give up" and he was almost ready to give up and needed help. Without thinking or hesitating, I said that I would go see him the next week.

Now waiting for him to begin the conversation, the first words out of his mouth were, "I remember you told me not to give up. I need help and I do not know what to do." Well, the words came. He was desperate and afraid. He had contemplated suicide, because of the thoughts and voices inside his head. Two of his friends had already found the bottom. They listened to the voices, giving up on living that kind of life anymore, with no hope in sight, they took there own lives.

I will get into his process of healing in another post and it will be in my book.

I asked him, "What do you need me to do for you?". He responded, "I need you to show me the hope of getting my life back". So the work began. Five months have past since that day. The shaking from drug withdrawal has stopped. His thinking is clear and I helped him to identify his purpose in life. The chief at the jail said he was a very good prisoner.

I make a point to visit him once a week. He is a brother in Christ. He loves me and I love him.  The love from God and me is bringing him back to the place he needs to be. This reminds me of a verse in 1Corinthians 13:8...Love never fails.

This young man knows that God and I love him. The one action I had given him and didn't realize it was my time. He said he knew I wanted to help him, because I gave him some of my time one day every week. He knew I had been very busy, but cared enough to visit him for 30 minutes every Thursday.

So the time we use to show our love in action is really a strong companion alongside our love. This person put a great value on my time with him. I never even thought about it that way.

How do we place a value on the amount of time we spend showing our love to someone or God. At the most, I probably have another 35 years to live. This time span could be shortened by an accident or sudden illness. I do not know when my time on earth will be over, but if the doctor says I have cancer with only a few weeks to live, the value of my time just went up.

I just recently had a cousin to die from cancer. We are the same age. His last trip to the doctor approximated his death within a few days instead of several years. I had been trying for several years to get him to obey the gospel. That window of opportunity was shortened and every hour was used. First, he called me when he was on his way home, telling me the bad news. He said, "I want to go to heaven". His time to act, which was actually 13 days, was very valuable to him now. I think he put off living a fruitful life for God knowing he had plenty of time. Having plenty of time sometimes devalues that time. The knowledge of his limited time to live, increased the value of this time above all of his assets. You see, he was very rich with farmland, cash, investments, vehicles and a large beautiful house. His time was of the most value now. His soul's destiny in a few days would be decided, so he wisely did what he needed to do. He had wealth on earth, but it was of not profitable to him at death. (Matthew 16:26) He made the right decision.

He obeyed the gospel in front of his best friends. I baptized him into Christ and he spent the next few days telling as many people as he could he loved them. Most of us do not know the time we have left and those that do, value their time more than the land they own or the investments they have.

So I can understand this young man in jail, thanking me for showing him love and using my time for him. My time was a companion to the love I was showing him.

Who do you give your time to? Is your time more valuable to you or to your loved ones around you? Let's make our time a companion to the love we share with others.

We say we love God, but how do we spend our time with Him and how often? In my book, The Heart Behind The Stone, David valued his time with God and that time spent was not only a value to him, but to all of the armies of Israel. He used his time with God at an early age. In doing so, he was preparing to defeat a giant he had never heard of.

You and I cannot defeat our giants unless we show God our love by the time we spend with Him.

Please go to http://amzn.to/1Mi2AXW to preview and purchase The Heart Behind The Stone and go to http://amzn.to/2lMuCFx to purchase 123 Tips for My Grandchildren and Yours.  Spend some time reading to your children or grandchildren.  That time spent may make a difference in their lives and yours.

Thank you so much for reading. Please send comments to rhepler52@gmail.com or rhepler52@yahoo.com.  You may share my blog link by sending this link www.rick-hepler.blogspot.com to your friends and loved ones. Also, please share on Facebook.

Thank you for reading and helping me out.

Rick Hepler