“The Beauty of Diversity in the Kingdom”
August 20, 2020
As most of you know I was married last January to a dear sweet woman whom I refer to as “The Peggy”. A godly woman full of faith and is a wonderful teacher of Biblical Hebraic Roots as well as a beautiful singer and songwriter. In other words I most certainly married up!
Peggy and Alan her son are finally moving down early September. We have been waiting for her house to close and it has been a long process seemingly without an end in sight. Peggy, Alan and Vickie and Jim and live on top of a mountain. They are located in the western part of VA on 53 of the most scenic acres the Lord has ever made.
I made a surprise visit to be with them earlier this month and it was a wonderful trip filled with meeting some of the most unforgettable people many of them Amish. We have no idea of the amazing lifestyle of those who live in these areas, it very nearly touches the gates of Heaven.
There is a simplicity and a calm that prevails, honesty is a common virtue and many times help arrives without your even asking because that is what neighbors do. There is a quiet country charm when talking with others, knowing they will be the same people tomorrow, whether in blessing or affliction. They staunchly believe in and live the Word of God and all things revolve around Him.
He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?
Micah 6:8
It is as if the clock had been turned back to a gentler time and there is a sincere love for each other that supersedes any expectations. And this type of existence exposes our modern-day normality as being in a very dark place. We have forfeited His intended best in order to acquire the lesser. Why would one offer up so much to gain so little?
There is a veranda where everyone has breakfast and dinner. And it overlooks the valley and Walker creek and clouds form just below our lofty position. On every side, it is a panorama of beauty. Several farms can be seen down in the valley, many farmers cutting the tall grass for feed later in the winter.
Numerous deer gather in the front yard, little bunny rabbits are a plenty and there is the gopher who dwells behind the garage. While coming up the driveway, we encountered a mom, dad wild turkeys with 13-kids in tow. Birds of all kinds frequent the bird feeder and the humming birds become rather indignant when the feeder is empty and they are not shy about letting you know it!
There is an Amish man Toby and his dear wife Esther who had actually built the two houses and all the existing buildings on the property. And later sold them to Peggy and Vickie and their husbands many years ago. The workmanship is above most anything we see today. They are craftsmen in every sense of the word.
Toby and Esther have 7-children with one on the way and their children are the most well behaved and polite I’ve ever had the pleasure to be around. The children were beautiful and sweet, each girl dressed in the traditional long dress and bonet.
Each boy with dark pants with suspenders, gray shirt and a black straw hat. I find it rather amazing considering 7-children and they all are immaculately clean and dressed at the same time when most parents experience an exercise in futility attempting this same feat with just 1 or 2.
Since the day was so hot, the first thing they did was to unhitch the horses from the buggies, and give them water and a cool place in the shade. They had come by these horses and buggies 4 & 1/2 miles to visit us and also the same trip back home. 9-miles in the heat of an August day to bless us!
On the Sunday I was there, Tobby and Esther with their 7-children and the local school teacher came up the mountain in 2 separate horse and buggies. They had brought food for all of us and hymnals. It was quite a sight. These dear sweet people coming up the steep hill on a very hot sunny day bringing us food and their great company.
We ate, we shared and we sang praises to our common love, the Lord of Hosts. They asked Peggy to play her 12 string and sing some of her many songs she has composed. So we had an awesome day of worship with our Amish brothers and sisters.
“The Beauty of Diversity in the Kingdom”
All the while respecting the Word of God
When we have little or no understanding of a people or a culture we nearly always find ourselves to be skeptical and even suspicious. We begin to look for not only differences but for fault! And if we find what we are looking for no matter how harmless the differences, we then exclude them from our paradigm of the Kingdom. Most certainly, these Amish people are chief among those of the Kingdom!
So many times, God’s people although we do not wish to acknowledge our at times, “exclusiveness” we do tend to gather around our own specific doctrine. We do not consider that just maybe, we do not have all the pieces to the puzzle. John Lent, one of my most cherished friends who has passed on to his heavenly reward once said; “we all have a piece of the puzzle, no one man has all of it. That is why we so desperately need each other.”
When we observe the snow flakes, the rain drops, the clouds and the sunsets, no two are the same. Every critter the Lord has made, there is one thing that stands out above all else; that is their individuality! If you have ever owned a dog or cat or any other animal for that matter, each will have a very distinct personality, they were designed in that fashion by their Creator.
Our God does not know “how” Not to be the Creator!
I personally believe the Lord’s heart breaks when the Church is so splintered. Remember that Yeshua Jesus, spoke of the Church as a single entity. What man has done, some for right reasons and many for the wrong, have split and split and split the Church until most is nearly unrecognizable with few exceptions. So in order to adhere to the true teachings of the Word, true Believers begin to exclude not just the other churches but those who attend those churches.
We must differentiate between
the false churches
and those who are in bondage to them!
We must keep an open heart to these ones who so desperately want to honor God but are deceived by leadership of false churches teaching the doctrine of devils. Keeping an open heart is now but will become even more dangerous in the days ahead. Just look at the persecuted Saints who are imprisoned in Iran, China and North Korea among others simply for sharing the Gospel. Dear Saint, our time is coming!
There will be a great cost to any of us who opens ourselves up in helping others escape these false religions. The enemy will not give up the souls he has captured quite so easily. The Harvest will in many cases be bought with the loss of many things we hold so dear and yet the miraculous will be our constant companion and Victory is assured! They will accompany one another but the Glory will always overshadow the darkness.
For this light affliction is but for a moment, it works in us a far more and exceeding and eternal weight of glory.
Blessings to you and your house,
Steve Grable
Jeremiah111.org