“Mema’s TP and . . . THE END OF THE MATTER!”
July 6,2020
Averine Pennington
I know what all of you are thinking . . . Averine has really gone off the rails with this title. Believe me, I said the same thing to the Lord in my prayer time when He was urging me to write this message. I asked, “Lord, are you sure you want me to share that story about Mema’s toilet paper?” I received affirmation, so here goes.
In August of 2016, my husband and I were at the home of his elderly mother (Mema to our kids) and we were in the process of packing her belongings in preparation for her to move in with us. She was 89 years old and suffering from dementia and could no longer live alone. I won’t go into the details of her character, except to say she was a very independent woman all of her life and could be a little ‘spitfire’ when she wanted to be. We had been encouraging this move for years and she had always fought us tooth and nail. Well after she totaled her car in an accident, she finally agreed it was time. Moving day arrived and we were busy that morning, just finishing up the last minute packing awaiting the moving van which was due to arrive in the afternoon. So, I go to bathroom and realize there is no TP. I go back and ask Mema where the TP is, and she shows me where she has packed it already in a box. I get out the partially used roll and take it to the bathroom with me. No big deal, problem solved. Well the moving van was delayed. Later that afternoon I needed to make an urgent visit to the bathroom. Lo, and behold, no TP, again! Mema had already removed it and put it back in the box. I go to get the roll out of the box again and, I kid you not . . . a fight ensued! She jerked the TP out of my hand and was holding it to her chest as though it was precious. I tried to reason with her but in her mind, she was making sure it was not left behind. I told her we needed it to stay in the bathroom until the very last minute in case someone needed it (like me, at that moment)! Nothing doing. No matter what I said, she argued her point saying, “I paid for this toilet paper, it’s mine!” I was getting desperate and mad, I said, “Okay, I’ll buy it from you. What do you want for it?” That was the wrong thing to say. Remember, she had dementia and was not thinking logically. I should have never let her attitude get the best of me. She got so mad, she threatened to cancel the whole move. She said, “It’s my toilet paper and I’ll do with it what I want. You’re not getting it and that’s THE END OF THE MATTER!” Gee! All that over a partially used roll of toilet paper! Thank goodness, I was able to find a few tissues in my purse and catastrophe was averted. Mema was finally pacified. She did come to live with us for about three years before her passing at age 92. Her memory steadily declined over the years and believe me, the TP episode was mild compared to many that we made it through, only with God’s grace.
I’m sure you are shaking your head and wondering what this story has to do with anything. Please bear with me as I share an analogy which the Lord placed on my heart this morning during my Bible study. I was reading in the book of Daniel, chapter 7, about his dreams of end-time events. As the world speeds head-long towards what has been foretold in Daniels’s dreams, I couldn’t help asking myself a few questions. “Why can’t people see what is happening before their very eyes? Why do people refuse to seek God? Why do some not want to go to heaven instead of hell? All these, WHYS! My desire is to rescue the perishing. I don’t want anyone to spend their eternity in torment instead of in heaven with our Lord Jesus Christ. How can I make them understand enough to make the right choice of their own free will?
So many in this world are just like Mema! Their understanding is hindered! They may not have physical dementia, but their mind is blinded to the truth. They will not even consider that their thinking may be flawed. Many rely on their own intellect. In their minds they have concluded that they don’t need God or there is no God. If you can’t see it, smell it, hear it, touch it then it can’t be real. Fact over faith! What if they are wrong? With that thinking, if they are wrong, their eternity is assured to be spent in eternal torment in hell. By deductive reasoning, a person should at the very least consider the possibility that believing in God, and accepting His Son, is the better choice. I have personally placed my faith in Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. That is my testimony! At the end of all things, if I am wrong, what then have I lost? I will just return to the dust from which I came. But if I am right, I will have everlasting life in heaven with my Savior. The believer has nothing to lose and everything to gain. The unbeliever has everything to lose and nothing to gain! God’s word says, “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths (Prov. 3:5-6).” What if God is as His Word says, Spirit? And even when He sent His Son, Jesus, in the flesh, He was still rejected of men. Crucified! Died a horrible agonizing death to pay the price for the sins of all mankind.
Again, so many can be stubborn like Mema! She was determined to have the ‘last say’ on that part of her life that she could still control. She would not let go! The TP was hers and nobody else’s. Many want to retain control over their own destinies and refuse to acknowledge their need of a Savior. They do not even realize that by holding on to their life so tightly that they will lose it! By choosing to follow Christ and making Him Lord of their life, a person’s destiny will be so different.
I would like to share a little of the passages from Daniel chapter 7 that inspired this post. I encourage you to read the entire chapter to get the full meaning. In Daniel’s dream he was seeing the many kingdoms that have come and gone upon the earth and the kingdoms that are yet to come. There is a kingdom that is rising now, the kingdom on the Anti-Christ. His reign will last for 3 ½ years during which time he will persecute the believers in Christ, referred to in Daniel as ‘the saints’. It will be a terrible time of tribulation for the entire world. The Anti-Christ will be a person who becomes indwelled by Satan himself. We know from God’s Word that Satan’s goal has always been to usurp the throne of God. We also know that he is a defeated foe! Christ won the victory by His death upon the cross of Calvary. He was in the grave for 3 days, during which time he went to hell and took the keys. Praise God! The grave could not hold Him! (1 Cor. 15:55 . . . “O death, where is they sting? O grave where is thy victory?”) Jesus was resurrected from the dead and ascended unto heaven where He now sits at the right hand of the Father, ever interceding on our behalf. Everything that is written in God’s Word will happen just as He said it would . . . from Genesis to Revelation. Daniel’s prophetic dreams are a corollary to the book of Revelation.
Daniel 7:9-11, 13-14, 18, 21-22, 25-28a
9) I beheld till the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of days did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool: his throne was like the fiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire.
10) A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him: thousand thousands ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him: the judgment was set, and the books were opened.
11) I beheld then because of the voice of the great words which the horn spake: I beheld even till the beast (the Anti-Christ) was slain, and his body destroyed, and given to the burning flame.
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13) I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him.
14) And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.
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Note: Daniel asked to know the truth of all he was dreaming and was made to know the interpretation. The following verses are a more detailed version of the ones above.
18) But the saints of the most High shall take the kingdom, and possess the kingdom for ever, even for ever and ever.
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Note: Daniel asked for even more revelation about the fourth beast (king) which was different from all the others.
21) I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them:
22) Until the Ancient of days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the most High; and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom. (see vs. 9-10, & 18)
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25) And he (the Anti-Christ) shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they (the saints) shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time (3 ½ years).
26) But the judgment shall sit and they (the saints) shall take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it unto the end. (see vs. 18 & 22)
27) And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him.
28a) Hitherto is THE END OF THE MATTER . . . (emphasis mine!)
A few more supporting scriptures: Rom. 8:16-18; 2 Timothy 2:12; Revelation 20:4-8
Folks, WHAT we think about the end-times or HOW we think it will all play out is irrelevant! God’s Word is . . . the end of the matter!
Blessings to all,
Averine
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