No. 2
The Reality of the
Grace of God
                                                                                         By Pastor F. M. Riley
                                                                                         September 7, 2018
     "For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,
     Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world:...,"
                                                                                                          Titus 3:11-12.
Introduction
     Here is another example of the reality of the Grace of God working in the lives of His people.  I pray this will be a blessing to our readers.  
The Lord God Does Speak to His People
     The Woman.....I knew this woman personally when I was just a young boy.  Her married name was Meeks.  When Sister Meeks was just a teenager, growing up in a Bible believing family and church,  the Lord spoke to her heart, and she surrendered her life to be a missionary.  After finishing high school she went to the mission field in one of the countries in South America, and the Lord mighitly blessed her witness to the women in that country, with many women coming to salvation in Christ by God's wonderful grace.   
     Her Husband and family.....But while on the mission field, Mr. Meeks, who had been her classmate in school, wrote to her, begging her to come back to America, and become his wife, and they would have a  home and family together.  This sister in Christ had a desire for a home and family, so she consented to the man's proposal of marriage.  She left the mission field and returned to America, married her former highschool boy friend, and the Lord blessed them with two children.  As  I can recall after all these years, I believe both of  the children were boys.  
     Their Home.....The woman's husband had learned the trade of repairing and upholstering furniture.  They moved to our little town where the man opened an upholstery shop.  I think the year they moved to our little town was about 1945.  
     The House.....On the south edge of our little farming community was an old two story rock house.  It had been built with the huge old concrete blocks that were used in rock houses built back in the 1800's and early 1900's.  Some of the huge concrete blocks in that old house weighed 200 to 300 pounds. The old house was still solid and in good condition, even though it had set empty for several years. When the Meeks moved to our town they rented the old house because it was still real stable, and being a rock house would not require much heating in the winter or cooling in the summer.  The old house was located about 1/4 mile south of where my parents and I lived, so we often saw the Meeks family as they passed by our house going to main street where his shop was located.  
     The Storm.....On a Wednesday, the 9th day of April, 1947, a terrible tornado struck our town at 7:28 in the evening.  That tornado is still listed in the record books today, as one of the most powerful tornadoes which has ever occurred in America.  It took only three to five minutes for it to pass through our town, but dozens of homes and businesses were destroyed, and 46 of our friends and neighbors were ushered into eternity.  Our home was completely destroyed with my family and I escaping from our house during the storm, but the Lord mercifully spared our lives.  Some readers may   not  know, or remember,  that Nahum 1:3 is in the Bible, "The Lord is slow to anger, and great in power, and will not at all acquit the wicked: the Lord hath His way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of His feet."   
     God's Miracle of Grace.....Among the houses destroyed by that storm, was the old two story rock house that the Meeks family lived in.  That house was flattened, right down to the foundation of the house.  Not a single one of those heavy stones remained upon the foundation of the house.  Dear readers, some of those super heavy stones were later found as far as four miles away, where they had been carried by the winds in that terrible storm.  I was in that storm, and so I personally know what I am relating to our readers is true.   
      Every wall within that house was also gone. All of the furnishings in the house were gone. The only part of the house left was the ground floor, which was fastened to the foundation. And it looked like someone had swept the floor clean.  There simply was nothing on the floor, EXCEPT in what had been the bedroom of Mr. & Mrs. Meeks.  Strangely, their bed was still intact.  Even the covers were still on the bed, just as if the bed was ready to be turned down for the night.  And still standing beside the bed was a flimsy little bedside stand.  And on that stand was laying Sister Meek's bible, wide open and totally undamaged in any way.  The morning after the tornado I saw this with my own eyes, as my Dad and I were going from house to house checking on the welfare of our neighbors.   So I am not making up any of this account.
     Mr. Meeks was killed in that storm.  Mercifully, their two young boys were hurt, but not real bad.  They both lived.  Mrs. Meeks had a few bruises on her, but otherwise was okay, even though their whole family had been in their house when the storm struck.   
     When Sister Meeks was able to return to the wreckage of their home the next day, she was totally amazed to see their bed still sitting right where it had been in their former bedroom, and the flimsy little nightstand still standing beside the bed.  And her Bible open on the nightstand.  And as she looked down at her open Bible, she fell to her knees and began to weep and pray.  Her Bible was open to a passage she had underlined many years before, Matthew 28:19-20, "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost [Spirit]:
     Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo,  I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world [aion...age].  Amen'."   
     As soon as Sister Meeks could wind up their affairs; burying her husband and closing their business, and making arrangement with relatives for her two sons, Sister Meeks went back to the mission field with a renewed dedication to love and serve the Lord to whom she had dedicated her life.  
      Yes dear readers, God's Grace is real, and God does have ways of speaking to His people.  
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     Permission is granted to any true believer, or Bible believing Christian ministry to reproduce this article to share with others, or to quote from it in context as written.  
     My personal contact information:
POSTAL.......Pastor F. M. Riley, 14275 Co. Rd. 8120, Rolla, MO 65401
EMAIL.........francismriley34@gmail.com

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