Plenty of Time – A Testament

For the past few years our doctor has been trying to get my husband and I to fill out and sign a "Living Will". It’s a little different from your "Last Will and Testament"; the lawyer draws up for you.

A Living Will lets the medical field know what you want done, should you become gravely ill. Do you want to be on life support? Do you want to be fed through a tube? If you are in a coma with no chance of recovering, do you want to be kept alive? (Which I do not. I would not want my family to go through that.)

Well, I thought, I have plenty of time to fill out a Living Will. I have a few medical problems, but I’m certainly not going to die, not any time soon anyway.

Then I received a phone with the most frightening words I had ever heard before. "Mrs. Mills, you have cancer."

True, it was a skin cancer, Basal Cell Carcinoma, but still cancer.

It was then that I finally filled out the Living Will for my doctor. Boy, what a hard thing to do.
I want my eulogy to read, "She loved the Lord with all her heart. She loved her family more than life itself. She enjoyed every minute of being a mother, grandmother and great-grandmother. She loved people."

What about you? What will your eulogy read? Do you honestly think you can live for the devil, curse God, then be invited to live in His home in heaven? Get real.

Jesus died for YOU and Me. Do you think you don’t need God? One day, you WILL stand before God. He WILL ask you, "What did you do with My Son, Jesus Christ?" "Did you live for Him, or did you curse Him?"

I hope to see you in heaven one day. Will you be there? I will.


Have a good day and a God filled forever.

Interview With Rick Warren

This is an absolutely incredible short interview with Rick Warren, "Purpose Driven Life" author and pastor of Saddleback Church in California.

In the interview by Paul Bradshaw with Rick Warren, Rick said: People ask me, "What is the purpose of life?" And I respond: "In a nutshell, life is preparation for eternity. We were made to last forever, and God wants us to be with Him in Heaven.

One day my heart is going to stop, and that will be the end of my body-- but not the end of me. I may live 60 to 100 years on earth, but I am going to spend trillions of years in eternity. This is the warm-up act - the dress rehearsal.

God wants us to practice on earth what we will do forever in eternity. We were made by God and for God, and until you figure that out, life isn't going to make sense.

Life is a series of problems: Either you are in one now, you're just coming out of one, or you're getting ready to go into another one.

The reason for this is that God is more interested in your character than your comfort. God is more interested in making your life holy than He is in making your life happy.

We can be reasonably happy here on earth, but that's not the goal of life. The goal is to grow in character, in Christ likeness.

This past year has been the greatest year of my life but also the toughest, with my wife, Kay, getting cancer.

I used to think that life was hills and valleys - you go through a dark time, then you go to the mountaintop, back and forth. I don't believe that anymore. Rather than life being hills and valleys, I believe that it's kind of like two rails on a railroad track, and at all times you have something good and something bad in your life.

No matter how good things are in your life, there is always something bad that needs to be worked on. And no matter how bad things are in your life, there is a always something good you can thank God for.

You can focus on your purposes, or you can focus on your problems. If you focus on your problems, you're going into self-centeredness, which is "My problem, my issues, my pain."

But one of the easiest ways to get rid of pain is to get your focus off yourself and onto God and others.

We discovered quickly that in spite of the prayers of hundreds of thousands of people, God was not going to heal Kay or make it easy for her. It has been very difficult for her, and yet God has strengthened her character, given her a ministry of helping other people, given her a testimony, drawn her closer to Him and to people.

You have to learn to deal with both the good and the bad of life.

Actually, sometimes learning to deal with the good is harder. For instance, this past year, all of a sudden, when the book sold 15 million copies, it made me instantly very wealthy. It also brought a lot of notoriety that I had never had to deal with before. I don't think God gives you money or notoriety for your own ego or for you to live a life of ease.

So I began to ask God what He wanted me to do with this money, notoriety and influence. He gave me two different passages that helped me decide what to do, II Corinthians 9 and Psalm 72.

First, in spite of all the money coming in, we would not change our lifestyle one bit. We made no major purchases.

Second, about midway through last year, I stopped taking a salary from the church.

Third, we set up foundations to fund an initiative we call The Peace Plan to plant churches, equip leaders, assist the poor, care for the sick, and educate the next generation.

Fourth, I added up all that the church had paid me in the 24 years since I started the church, and I gave it all back. It was liberating to be able to serve God for free.

We need to ask ourselves: Am I going to live for possessions? Popularity? Am I going to be driven by pressures? Guilt? Bitterness? Materialism? Or am I going to be driven by God's purposes (for my life)?

When I get up in the morning, I sit on the side of my bed and say, "God, if I don't get anything else done today, I want to know You more and love You better." God didn't put me on earth just to fulfill a to-do list. He's more interested in what I am than what I do.

That's why we're called human beings, not human doings.

Happy moments, PRAISE GOD. Difficult moments, SEEK GOD. Quiet moments, WORSHIP GOD. Painful moments, TRUST GOD. Every moment, THANK GOD.

Have a good day and a God filled forever.

We Remember

September 9/11/01.

I remember that day well. I was at work in Medical Records at the Diabetes Center in Scarborough, Maine. One of the nurses had turned on their computer to the news. There it was, a plane had flew into one tower of the Twin Towers in New York City. Still watching in horror, another plane flew straight into the other tower.

"Oh my God!" I said, when God spoke to me, "It’s not over yet!" I sank into my chair in total shock and began praying. I called my husband, then my son. How could this happen to America? It only happens in other countries. Not in America! Then it happened again. Two more planes crashed.

We were all in shock, walking around doing our jobs, walking as robots with a job to do in the physical body, yet our minds were numb, just numb. People were praying. People who cursed God were praying. People were going to church to pray. Maine Medical Center even sent around Chaplains to pray with those who wanted to pray. Places of business who forbid their employees to speak of God were praying. Schools offered counseling to students. Students and teachers alike were praying.

America fell to her knees.

My daughter was with me. We both began praying for our families, for the people in New York, for our country, and for the many souls that died that day.

It was a day in America that shall never be forgotten. A day I never thought I would ever have to see. A day I never wanted to see. A day that changed America forever. A day that brought Americans and people the world over to our knees.

What happened? How did this happen? Who are to blame? How could people hate this much? How could people think they are doing God’s bidding by bringing such harm to another Nation? Why did God allow this to happen? Questions, questions, and more questions. Questions that went unanswered. But are they really unanswered?In Bible days, Paul (who was at that time, Saul), thought he was doing what God wanted by killing the Christians. Acts chapter 9:1-2: 1And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest, 2And desired of him letters to Damascus to the synagogues, that if he found any of this way, whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem.
We are told that the people who took over those four planes that day, thought they were doing God’s work and would go straight to heaven.

II Thessalonians 2:3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; sits in the temple of God, claiming to be God. 5Remember you not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things? 8And then shall that wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: 9Even him, whose coming is after the working of satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, 10And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. 11And for this cause, God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: 12That they all might be damned who believed not the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

Matthew 7: 21-23:21Not every one that says to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that does the will of my Father which is in heaven. 22Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your Name? And in Your Name have cast out devils? And in Your Name done many wonderful works? 23And then will I profess to them, I never knew you: depart from me, you that work iniquity.

We are warned many times in God’s Word to be not deceived:

Matthew 24: 23- 26: 23 Then if any man shall say to you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. 24For there shall arise false christ's, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. 25Behold, I have told you before. 26Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not. Luke 21:8: And he said, Take heed that you be not deceived: for many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and the time draws near: go not therefore after them.

Romans 16: 17, 18: 17Now I beseech you, brothers and sister, mark them which cause divisions and offenses contrary to the doctrine which you have learned; and avoid them. 18For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple.

I Corinthians 6: 9: 9 Know you not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived:

I Corinthians 15: 33,34: 33Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners. 34Awake to righteousness, and sin not; for some have not the knowledge of God: I speak this to your shame.

Galations 6: 6,7: 6 Let him that is taught in the word communicate to him that teaches in all good things. 7Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man sows, that shall he also reap.

II Thessalonians 2: 3, 4: 3Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; 4Who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitting in the temple of God, showing himself that he is a god. 5Remember you not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things?

Mark 13: 5 –8: 5 And Jesus answering them began to say, Take heed lest any man deceive you: 6For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many. 7And when you hear of wars and rumors of wars, be not troubled: for such things must be; but the end shall not be yet. 8For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be earthquakes in different places, and there shall be famines and troubles:

Luke 10: 10The thief comes not, but to steal, and to kill, and to destroy:

Luke 17: 23 23And they shall say to you, See here; or, see there: go not after them, nor follow them.

With so many warnings from God’s Word, how is it that we can be deceived so easily?

A few weeks ago on the news, a man somewhere here in the United States is drawing people to his church by proclaiming he is "Jesus". He has thousands flocking to his church. These people are ‘believing a lie’ and should they die today, will spend eternity in hell.

Years ago in the late ‘70’s, a man named Jim Jones who proclaimed he was "God’, led 996 of 1000 people to drink poison kool-aid because, as he told them, "It’s the day we go to heaven!" Only four people escaped to tell their story of the horror they experienced.

Many of these people were small babies, so they give them poison in their baby bottles. Who knows of any child, when offered ‘kool-aid’ will not drink it right down. Kids love kool-aid. What a horrible death these people, children and babies went through.

When all the people were dead, Jim Jones killed himself with a gun.

I can remember crying for 3 days straight. I felt it was my fault. Isn’t that how we should all feel when someone dies without God? Shouldn’t I have done more? How could this happen? What could I have done that I didn’t do?

We MUST tell others about God. Start with your own family. Your next door neighbors. The cashier, the mailman, the paperboy, the person who dialed your number by mistake.

Yes. I remember September 11, 2001. It was also the day I moved into our new apartment, but I won’t remember 9/11/01 for that reason. I will forever remember it because it was the day America fell to her knees. A day of tragedy in America. A day when the whole world cried out to God. The day terrorism came in America.

Yes, I remember.

Candace Mills
9-11-06