February 2010 Compiled monthly by Phyllis King, Head Injury Survivor Volume 21, Number 2
The following is from a book of devotions by Linda Lamb, Head Injury Survivor of Brookville, Pennsylvania.
Early
“In the morning, O LORD, you hear my voice;
in the morning I lay my requests before you
and wait in expectation.”
Psalm 5:3 (NIV)
There are many ways and many things in which early is better. If you have an infection, it is best to get it taken before it gets a good hold. If you desire to make a purchase of some items on sale in limited numbers, it may pay to go early to avoid disappointment. If you are a gardener it is usually best to begin soil preparation early in the Sprlng before grass and weeds can overtake the area. There is much more that could be said, but let’s talk about early in a spiritual way.
It is always best to seek GOD early. It is best to seek Him early in life to avoid much heartache.
It is always best to begin our day with GOD. We can turn to Him throughout the day, but it is good to seek Him early and seek His blessing and strength for the day ahead. It is good to repent immediately of any known sin to find cleansing and forgiveness before they get a hold in our lives. We can be spared much grief by doing this. It is good to seek Him early.
Are you?
Dear LORD, help us seek you early. Thank You.
In JESUS’ name, amen
Hearing and Obeying God’s Word
Part 1
by Martha Hutcheson
Augusta, Georgia
Head Injury Survivor
Jeremiah 9:20 “Yet hear the word of the LORD, O ye women, and let your ear receive the word of his mouth, and teach your daughters wailing, and every one her neighbour lamentation” (KJV).
I. God’s Word commands us to HEAR what He is saying to us.
How do we HEAR God’s Word? We have to do more than just read God’s Word with our eyes.
We must read God’s Word prayerfully and patiently, asking God the Holy Spirit to enlighten our hearts to what He is teaching us.
Taking notes while we read God’s Word helps us to read with our hearts because we are looking for what God is saying as well as listening to what God is saying.
Studying God’s Word helps us to learn and understand more of what God is saying and teaching us so that, from our hearts, we will listen and obey what God is teaching us.
2 Timothy 2:15 says “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”
God commands us to “search the Scriptures” (study) His Word so that we may “rightly divide the word of truth”—that is to be able to understand God’s Word and to teach others what God is teaching us through His Word.
John 5:39 ”Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.”
Scripture will explain Scripture. You should not just pick out one verse and teach from it, unless you use other Scriptures to explain the verse that you are teaching. As you see in this lesson, Scripture after Scripture is being used to explain Jeremiah 9:20. For example: the Old Testament prophecies explain the New Testament’s fulfillment of those prophecies. The Old Testament is revealed or fulfilled in the New Testament.
God commands us to meditate on His Word throughout the day; meditating on God’s Word throughout the day helps us to HEAR God’s Word with our hearts. It is easier to meditate on specific verses of God’s Word if we have memorized them.
Joshua 1:8 “This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.”
Psalm 1:2 “But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.”
Did you notice that the two previous verses tell us when we should meditate on God’s Word? We should be meditating (constantly thinking about and mulling over) God’s Word Day and Night, or in other words, during all of our waking hours. I know that we cannot think about God’s Word in every thought through out the day, but our goal should be to prayerfully think about God and His Word more and more throughout each day. The more we prayerfully meditate on God and His Word, the more victorious we will be in our lives.
Psalm 119:11 “Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.”
Part of studying and meditating on God’s Word is memorizing the verse(s) that God gives us. Memorizing God’s Word helps us to meditate better and to take to heart (believing and receiving) what God is teaching us. In 1991, Dr. Jim Berg, of Bob Jones University, explained meditation to me, “If you know how to worry, then you know how to meditate. Worrying is the negative/wrong-form of meditation.”
II. God’s Word commands us to RECEIVE and BELIEVE what He is teaching us.
James 1:22–25 “But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.”
These verses in James 1 are showing us that only reading and hearing God’s Word will not do the work in our hearts and lives that we need to have done by God the Holy Spirit. We have to hear, receive, believe, and obey God’s Word. Truly hearing, receiving, and believing God’s Word will help us to obey God’s Word and to live according to what we believe God has taught us in His Word.
Sometimes we say that we are listening to someone, but our thoughts are actually miles away because we are thinking about something else instead of really listening. God the Holy Spirit pricks my heart when I am reading His Word with my eyes and yet I have my mind on something else at the same time. This action (of not paying attention when we are reading God’s Word) is being very rude to God the Holy Spirit, because He wants to fellowship with us and to teach us from His Holy Word.
John 14:26 “But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.”
III. If we hear, receive, and believe what God the Holy Spirit is teaching us, then it will be easier to OBEY what we believe God’s Word is teaching us. Yet there are times that we know what God has commanded us to do, but we do not obey. This shows us that what we know and what we believe are two different things. Believing is based on knowledge, and yet true belief in God’s Word brings about our obedience to His Word.
Remember James 1:22–25? “But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.”
We deceive ourselves when we say that we know and believe God’s Word, and yet we do not obey what we say we believe. We do not believe, because we are not obeying what God has taught us. We may know what God wants us to do, but we do not truly believe that there are consequences for our sins and that these consequences can and will have a bad effect on us and on those who were involved in our sin(s), as well as on those around us who may be innocent bystanders or participants. Our sins definitely affect others.
James 4:17 “Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.”
John 13:17 “If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them.”
The two previous verses show two opposite results concerning our actions, which depend upon what we know and believe. For those children of God who know what God says they should do but they are disobedient to His commands, their result is the conviction of knowing that they have sinned against their loving, Heavenly Father and Savior.
For those children of God who (1) know what God says they should do, (2) are believing and receiving God’s Truth, (3) and are being obedient to His commands, these people are happy because they know that they have pleased their loving Heavenly Father and Savior.
Which category do you seem to be in the most: the disobedient children of God or the obedient children of God? The more that you spend time in God’s Word and in prayer, the more God the Holy Spirit will teach you and help you to be obedient to His Holy Word.
2 Timothy 2:15 “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”
John 5:39 “Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.”
I have heard some people say, “I didn’t know that what I was doing was wrong.”
It is our responsibility to study God’s Word so that we can know what actions are sinful and what actions are pleasing and obedient to our Heavenly Father—Who is just, righteous, and holy.
As you can see, each point builds upon the previous point. Let’s review the previous points. I. We are to hear God’s Word. II. We are to receive and believe God’s Word. III. We are to obey God’s Word. Our next point follows the first three steps.
IV. God’s Word commands the older women to TEACH the younger women what He is teaching us in His Word.
Titus 2:3–5 “The aged women likewise, that they be in behaviour as becometh holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things; That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed.”
This article first appeared on the website <www.edifys.net >.
Yesterday’s devotional thoughts in Edges of His Ways reminded me again that Don’s life is as a shining light, “burning still.”
It is not the place where we are, or the work that we do or cannot do, that matters, it is something else. It is the fire within that burns and shines, whatever be our circumstances.
In the quietness of our home each day, we are not so aware of the bright and shining light, but it is shining. We are given glimpses of this light bit by bit through comments of others in notes, cards, email, and phone calls. How privileged I am to be the caregiver for this man of God, a servant of the Lord. I do it with pleasure and great love.
Jill Vanderhoof
Wife of Head Injury Survivor
To purchase this 52-page book, send $4.50 to
Don & Jill Vanderhoof
1 Cross Court
Greenville, SC 29607
What’s in a Name?
by Sandra Stone Lehmann
Phoenix, Arizona
Head Injury Survivor
Have you ever looked up the meaning of your name? After learning the importance of names in the scripture and the significance they had (for example, Jacob means “deceiver” and Nathaniel means “gift of God”), I researched my own. Sandra means “helper of mankind.” It was extremely interesting to me to retrace the steps of my life’s journey to see if my character traits matched the definition. It sharpens my perspective, still today, when I wonder what is going on when circumstances seem a bit overwhelming.
After my head injury in 1988, I went through months of questioning the purpose behind all of the pain, confusion, re-habilitation, re-Iearning, and social re-acclimation. I knew that I was on the road to recovery when I stopped focusing on my own injury and started reaching out to help others find peace and faith in their circumstances. That is still my forte, or strong point. My desire is to help someone, be it a recipient, family member, or caregiver, through a difficult period. I am thankful that I can find assurance, in the Word of God, that Jesus will grant whatever I ask of Him, in His name (John 14:13), and that whatever I ask the Father in his name, will be done (John 15:16). There is power in the name of Jesus. I am glad that when I can do nothing else, I can whisper His name, and He comes on the scene to intervene and intercede for me.
Let’s examine the names of God, and know that since the God-head is a triune being, these same attributes apply to Jesus and the Holy Spirit:
“El-Elyon” The Most High God, The Exalted One (Numbers 24:16, 11 Samuel 22:14)
“El-Olam” God of Eternity, God, The Everlasting One (Genesis 21:33, Isaiah 26:4)
“El-Berith” God of the Covenant (Judges 9:46)
“EI-Roi” God Who Sees Me, God of Vision (Genesis 16:13)
“El-Ohim” Creator God (Genesis 1:26)
“Adonai” Lord (Genesis 15:2)
“Jehovah” The word which is translated for the Hebrew word for God: “YHWH,” which is pronounced Yahway.
“Jehovah-Jireh” Our provider (Genesis 22:14)
“Jehovah-Nissi” The Lord is my banner (Exodus 17:15–16)
“Jehovah-Shalom” God is our Peace (Judges 6:23–24)
“Jehovah-Medaddesh” The Lord sanctifies (Exodus 31:13)
“Jehovah-Sabaoth” The Lord of hosts (1 Samuel 1:3; Jeremiah 11:20)
“Jehovah-Rohi” The Lord is my Shepherd (Psalms 23:1)
“Jehovah-Tsidekenu” The Lord is our righteousness (Jeremiah 23:5,6)
“Jehovah-Shammah” The Lord is there (Ezekiel 48:35)
“EI-Shaddai” God of mountains, “The Almighty God” (Genesis 17:1)
These names were all given to God after His extreme interaction with His people in their dire time of need.
I am thinking now of Moses when he was in the desert and God was speaking to him through the burning bush. God tells Moses to go to Egypt and tell Pharaoh to “Let my people go.” Then Moses replies to God and asks a question. “Who shall I say sent me?” God replies with: “Tell the Israelites [God’s people] that I Am has sent me to you.
Before God said that, he was having a dialogue with Moses, and Moses was concerned with how he should answer the people when they asked what God’s name was. God said to Moses: I Am Who I Am and What I Am, and I will be What I Will Be.
Isn’t that powerful? Whatever our need is at any given time, God is that! We are very important to God. He knows everything about us, including our names because if we have asked Jesus to forgive us of sin, and to come into our life to be our savior, our names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.
Thank you More Than Survivors
for a couple ones who have been writing to me. I truly have not been much of a Pen Pal in the past, yet I know I am finding encouragement. And I hope the ones I write to will find something Good for themselves.
Gary B. Runnels
4289 Hickman Rd., Lot 1
Newark, Ohio 43055
Prayer Requests
For Steve Sauder
Hello everybody,
The last month has been hard with both of us struggling with bronchitis. Thanks so much for your continued prayers!
I (Vicki) have been studying about the awesome power that God gives us to overcome. Ephesians 3:16 talks about being strengthened and reinforced with mighty power by the Holy Spirit Himself indwelling in our innermost being. Second Corinthians 13:3 says that Christ is a mighty power within each of us.
So . . . all I need do for overcoming power is
COME TO HIM
listen to Him, ask, seek His help, choose to obey.
The power is there for all-overcoming. All.
Just . . .
CALL ON GOD.
Therein lies my problem. So often, I (Vicki) don’t call.
Much love in Him,
Steven and Vicki Sauder
Sarasota, Florida
For Marty
Hello!
I have to plead for more prayers. Yes, it is for the oral surgery. I finally got to speak to the oral surgeon. The surgeon stated that all will go smoothly as soon as he hears from the physicians.
Marty really needs this oral surgery. Marty is in pain from it. I know that once this takes place that Marty will be a lot better of physically and emotionally.
Please keep Marty in prayers that these medical professionals will act accordingly and help him as soon as possible.
Pray also that the bed wound be Healed in the name of our King and Savior, Jesus Christ. The bed wound has healed significantly over the past couple of months. God is good and deserves praise!
“Ask and it will be given to you;
seek and you will find;
knock and the door will be opened unto you.”
Matthew 7:7
Reading, Pennsylvania
Sister of Head Injury Survivor
Victory Through Affliction...
Job 1:12
And the LORD said to Satan, “Behold, all that he has is in your power; only do not lay a hand on his person.” So Satan went out from the presence of the LORD.
NKJV
It comforts me, from the above verse, that it is God who tells Satan what he can do and what he can’t do to Job. I think there is a tendency among believers to think that Satan is a “loose cannon,” if you will, that we have to contend with him on our own. However, it is just the opposite. This enemy of our souls is under the complete control of God’s sovereign power.
But why am I having such a difficult time in my life, one might ask? Does God enjoy seeing me suffer? The best way I can answer those questions is from my own experiences with suffering. My example will certainly not reflect everyone’s situation. But I believe it confirms God’s control for any given difficulty.
Instead of a relationship with God through Jesus Christ, I focused on unhealthy choices and worldly gain. Then when all the glitter was gone, I fell into a pit of despair and a subsequent major suicide attempt. It was from that hard time in my life that I finally realized it was God I needed, not the world. Did God want me to go through all that? Of course not. But He knew that through that experience I would finally come to Him. That is one reason why I wrote the book Ransomed: Let the redeemed of the LORD say so . . . . I wanted others to realize God is there for us long before we reach the point of hopelessness that I felt. We just have to turn to Him for that help, and His victory will prevail in our lives.
We can see this “Victory Through Affliction” throughout the Bible. Certainly Job’s life is one great example. In fact, one of the greatest lessons that I learned through Job’s triumph over adversity in his life was when Job took his eyes off his own problems and “prayed for his friends.” It was then that God double-blessed Job (Job 42:10). But our greatest example of “Victory Through Affliction” is what our Lord went through for us to obtain our victory over sin, curses, and death. If God would go through that for us, He will certainly take us through our sufferings because there is always a greater good God is accomplishing in our lives that will bring about a permanent “Victory.”
“And He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me” (2 Corinthians 12:9).
“When I am weak then am I strong,
Grace is my shield and Christ my song.”
—Charles Spurgeon
Hallelujah!!!
Stewart Whittemore
Grants Pass, Oregon
Head Injury Survivor
December 18, 2009
Aloha Phyllis,
I am a 17-year Brain Injury Survivor and have recently joined a Support Group on the island of Kauai, Hawaii, named Think B.I.G.
I am interested in receiving More Than Survivors via the post office in order that I may share the hard copies with others in our group.
I am a disabled senior citizen since my brain injury at the work site. Initially, I had suffered small seizures, which went undiagnosed for a year until I suffered my first grand mal seizure. Seizures are controlled with medications. Consequently, I was unable to perform my job and was fired. I have struggled with not only the medical conditions but also the fact that I was employed by the VA Outpatient Clinic, whom I had trusted (government plus medical), only to be disappointed by them. I have dedicated my life to being an advocate/voice for Brain Injury Survivors’ rights.
January 15, 2010
Aloha Phyllis,
Here’s a picture of some of our brain injury survivors meeting for coffee.
Left to right: Sharon (stroke) Cami (acquired brain injury), Val (brain cancer), and Laura (brain cancer 2 X).
We received a gift of song “We Are Survivors,” written and sung by a survivor in Alabama, Joe Terry. You helped us make the connection, thank you. That really made our day.
Thank you,
Camellia Ditch-Crosby
Kalaheo, Hawaii
Head Injury Survivor
From Phyllis
I have received $260 toward the approximately $155 cost of printing and mailing. My special thanks to
Ron, Judy, and Nola; Jeff; Karen; Barb; Marilete; and Mary Jo 
All of the MTS family appreciates any contribution you make as our Lord leads and provides!
Thank you to all who sent me Christmas cards! They were greatly appreciated.
We Would Like to Hear from Y 
U!
More Than Survivors is a monthly Christian support letter for the brain injury community. The MTS family of subscribers extends across the United States, Canada, England, and South Africa.
Share with the MTS family
• What God is doing in your life since brain injury
• Prayer requests
• Requests for pen pals, including a little about yourself and about what you are looking for in a pen pal
Include your address, e-mail address, and/or telephone number if you wish to let readers contact you. Everything will be edited, just to make sure it is clear and understandable.
Send your notes, letters, articles, artwork, and poetry to
More Than Survivors
6903 Cherry Meadow Dr.
Austin, TX 78745-5333
(U.S.A.) or
e-mail: phyllis.king@yahoo.com
We would like to hear from you, whatever your connection with brain injury.
Rights to all works printed in More Than Survivors are retained by their authors except when noted. When a work is reprinted, MTS requests a citation as publisher, with date or volume/number.
Neither I nor those who help me put MTS together necessarily agree with all the opinions shared in it. If you read something that doesn’t ring true to you, pray about it, see what God says about it in the Bible, and seek out the opinions of others who are qualified on the subject.
Good News Sampler February 2010©
…whatever is true,noble,right,pure,lovely,admirable,excellent,or praiseworthy, think on such things. - paraphrase: Philippians 4:8 - dm
“I stood beside a hill
Smooth with new-laid snow,
A single star looked out
From the cold evening glow.
There was no other creature
That saw what I could see--
I stood and watched the evening star
As long as it watched me."
- Sara Teasdale, February Twilight
“The day is ending,
The night is descending;
The marsh is frozen,
The river dead.
Through clouds like ashes
The red sun flashes
On village windows
That glimmer red.”
- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Afternoon in February
Stars are the pin points in the curtain of heaven. - dm
Patience is accepting a difficult situation without giving God a deadline for removing it. - dm
WAIT (yes, no, wait) Do you imagine a God who sits on high listening to your prayers while writing on his pad and making notations of yes, no and wait?
All can understand the yeses, the no’s but when it comes to WAIT we wonder why and how long? What purpose does God have for assigning this formidable word to our most urgent requests? - dm
Psalm 147 is a song of praise:
“He showers down snow, white as wool, and sprinkles hoar-frost thick as ashes;
crystals of ice he scatters like breadcrumbs;
He utters his word, and the ice is melted.
O praise the Lord.”
Ice, hoarfrost, snow. The earth, its realms, its cities. The wounds and broken spirits of his people. All of these subject to his command, affected by the word. He who heals and binds up, who brings peace and sends his command, who scatters crystals of ice like breadcrumbs and then speaks to melt them—he is still in charge. – Elisabeth Eliott
“If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant.” - Anne Bradstreet
Diana McMaster, PO BOX 102 Romney, IN 47981-0102
goodnews@tctc.com