Tag Archives: Japan

Honouring your Parents.

Posted in Cancer, Family, Healing, My thoughts, Testimony Tuesday by

This last year I have been at too many funerals. It keeps one vulnerable to the reality that my time is short on this planet.

Praise God he extended my life by healing me from fourth stage cancer. It will be nine years this year since I was healed. I have experienced more and more God’s care and restoration in my life.

Psalm 71 says Even when I am old and grey, do not forsake me, my God.

Psalm 90 says, Our days come to seventy years or eighty, if our strength endures. Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.

I hope in God’s promises to me. He has been faithful to heal me.

Seeing friends who are ill and vulnerable makes me realise the importance of family. My husband and family have been there for me when I had cancer and more recently when I was nursing a broken arm.

Receiving a phone call to show one cared lifted my spirits. I felt even better when one came to visit or stay a while to help me. Bringing cooked food showed me love.

Many parents are left lonely and without help in their old age because loved ones leave home to work in foreign countries. Work there demands their time and they don’t have time to think of parents back home growing old.

Sickness can come to an aged person because of loneliness. With no one to visit or encourage one, it is harder to recover. Yes the health services help to a certain degree. Friends, if one has any, can help for a season.

Having the support of family keeps one alive. Psalm 127 says “Children are a heritage from the Lord, offspring a reward from him. They will not be put to shame when they contend with their enemies in the gate.” When I had cancer my children rallied around me, cared for me and prayed for me. They were patient with me and brought my healing.

I know a friend who in her forties returned home to care for her elderly parents which took a period of twelve years. She is now married. Another friend, even though she had family of her own cared for her parents for ten years. Another lady, a widow, lived till her eightieth year, though she had ill health all her life, because her two sons went to see her every day.

Old people live long lives in Japan and Sardinia, not because they have money. In Japan older people have communities where they have activities and social interaction. Life is extended in Sardinia because the elderly parents are cared for by their children. They are surrounded by their grandchildren and help in their rearing. It has been studied that helping with grandchildren extends one’s life.

In China the law requires the children to look after their parents. They will be punished if they don’t. It is good to hear that China’s law’s are in line with what the Word of God says. “Honour your mother and father and it will go well with you and you will live along life.” It’s the only commandment with a promise.

In the West, so called “civilised world” sadly this commandment has been neglected. Young people have opportunities of education, travel and work. They end up being busy and years pass by. They forget their parents who reared them and gave them a start in life.

I visited a home recently where a lonely elderly couple lived. The garden was unattended. The paint work was not renewed for years. Inside the dust has gathered. Newspapers are piling up. They are neglected. The children have gone to foreign lands to work. Money does not buy love as the Beatle song goes. Another song has words that say “Bring your love to me, don’t send it.”

I was grieved last year to visit a dying friend. She was in a luxurious nursing home, where no expense was spared. Her children paid the bill, but they were in far away countries. No one to hold her in her last days on earth.

I could give more examples. If this message touches your heart, please think of your own parents or look out for elderly people you know.

In “Healing”

Living in Harmony

Posted in Birds, My thoughts, Nations, Nature, Provision, Testimony Tuesday by

Watching a wildlife program about Japan has inspired me.

The most northerly island, Hokkaido has the harshest climate of all the islands of Japan. The people who have settled there are farmers who grow cereals and flowers in the short summer. Fishermen harvest the rich sea before the cold of winter freezes it over.

In September the Pacific salmon begin to return to the rivers of Hokkaido to spawn. Black bears gather at the coast to feast on the fish that team in the river mouths. Fishermen who also collect the bounty of salmon, sit mending their nets. These men and bears live in harmony with each other. There is plenty of food for both. Often a mother bear is fiercely protective of her cubs, but there is no need to fear in Hokkaido.

The farmers have reclaimed marshland on the coastlands. They were once the feeding grounds of large, tall, white birds called the Red Crowned Cranes. To the Japanese they are symbols of beauty and long life. A century ago their numbers were reduced to thirty pairs. They were in danger of extinction. The farmers, who drained the cranes’s feeding areas, rescued the cranes by giving them grain through the winter when the ground is frozen. Their numbers have now grown to 1000. Here is another example of men and wildlife living in harmony. They co-exist in the harsh conditions.

These cranes are known most of all for their singing and dancing. When they gather in large numbers they put on a show. The enormous birds lift up their heads and raise a deep call from their throats. They pirouette, jump and flap their large wings. They don’t crash on the icy ground. Their performance reminded me of the ballet dancers I saw recently in “Giselle.” The male star leapt across the stage. The many ballerinas created an enchanting atmosphere with their movements in the second act.

The Red Crested Cranes are an example to us. They live in a cold, harsh environment. They could chose a more comfortable climate. Instead they flourish, dance and sing where they are meant to be. Their beauty, strength and endurance are to be admired. I am encouraged to lift up my voice and dance, like the cranes before the One who created me, even in the most difficult of situations. The psalmist calls us to praise Him. “Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.” Psalm 150 like King David danced with all his might before the Lord when he brought back the Ark of the Lord.

Will You Handle Snakes?

Posted in Cancer, Family Friday, My thoughts, Nations, Nature, Travel by

I have enjoyed a BBC series about the people and nature of Japan. It is called the Enchanted Islands of Japan. There are many instances of how wild animals, nature and humans work together.

On one small island Okinawa, a person who is eighty years old is called young. Many of the seniors live to over one hundred years old. They put long life down to love, the ideal climate, growing their own vegetables and living off the sea produce.

Two seventy year old woman go down to the sea every evening to fish for snakes, which live in the warm, fertile water around the coral reefs. They need to come to the surface for air. At night time they gather in caves for shelter and to drink fresh water. Their venom is ten times stronger than that of a rattlesnake. The two small ladies start off at dusk on their mission. Each lady goes down into the cave on her bare feet. She reachs into the water and pulls out a snake by its neck. She has no fear. The snake doesn’t resist. It is collected in a net till the night’s catch is complete. These ladies have followed a tradition that was handed down on these islands over many years.  They are the only ones left on the island who fish for snakes. Modernism has stopped this ancient craft.

Next day the snakes are smoked and cooked to be eaten. This meal is regarded as a delicacy and was reserved for special people, even kings in the past. I laughed when I watched this part of the programme. Genesis 3 tells me that the woman will crush the serpents head. Are these woman doing what it says. They have no fear of the snakes, whereas a cameraman did not want to enter the water without protective clothing. Are these ladies an example to us not to be afraid of the very thing people are afraid of, snakes, physically and spiritually?  Has modernism and humanistic thinking blinded mankind to the truth that the Devil has power and we need a saviour who can release us from his power.  Yes the saviour has come.  He is Jesus and he came to destroy the works of the devil.  He even told his followers to do the same.

“And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.””
‭‭Genesis‬ ‭3:15‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Jesus confirmed what Genesis says when he spoke to his disciples.

It reminded me where Jesus told his disciples you will pick up snakes and scorpions and they will not harm you.

“The seventy-two returned with joy and said, “Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name.” He replied, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you.”
‭‭Luke‬ ‭10:17-19‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Jesus gives me power over all the power of the devil. Yes the devil has power but Jesus defeated him when he died on the cross. In Jesus name I can defeat demons. I do not see them but I see their fruit in sickness and bondage over people.

Women are you willing to pick up snakes and break the power of the enemy of your soul and your family. They will be bread for you. You have the authority given by God and with the power of the Blood of Jesus you will win.

Each morning I go fishing for snakes when I pray in my room.  I break the power of the enemy stealing my family or others who come to mind in Jesus name.  Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven.

To give you an example.  There is a spiritual snake called the Spirit of Phyton.  The natural Phyton is one of the largest snakes in the world.  It can grow to 26 feet.  It does not have any venom.  How it kills its prey is by wrapping itself around its victim and squeezing it to death. This spirit works slowly on a person to bring deception to his mind and then bring a disease which will operate slowly to bring death.  The person will not be healed unless the Phyton spirit is cast out.

Lets believe in Jesus and use the authority he gave us.