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I truly believe that each person on this earth has a specific, personal and very individual call upon his/her life that will bring the most glory to our Lord. My prayer for my loved ones and myself is that our lives will bring the Lord the full glory that He intended for us before the worlds were ever formed.

Ephesians 2:10
10. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

The following are scriptures that I meditate upon concerning those I love who are approaching their later years on this earth. I find the Word of the Lord to be much more encouraging than the words of men concerning the "elderly."

The Lord Himself speaks in the following scripture:

Isaiah 46:3
3. "Listen to Me, O house of Jacob, And all the remnant of the house of Israel, You who have been borne by Me from birth, And have been carried from the womb;
4. Even to your old age, I shall be the same, And even to your graying years I shall bear {you!} I have done {it,} and I shall carry {you;} And I shall bear {you,} and I shall deliver {you.}

God is the same in our older age as He is to a young newborn. He promises to:

1. Carry us.
2. Deliver us.

Psalms 92:10
10. But Thou hast exalted my horn like {that of} the wild ox; I have been anointed with fresh oil.
11. And my eye has looked {exultantly} upon my foes, My ears hear of the evildoers who rise up against me.
12. The righteous man will flourish like the palm tree, He will grow like a cedar in Lebanon.
13. Planted in the house of the \Lord,\ They will flourish in the courts of our God.
14. They will still yield fruit in old age; They shall be full of sap and very green,
15. To declare that the \Lord\ is upright; {He is} my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in Him.

The Word of God tells us:

1. God anoints us with fresh oil who is the Holy Spirit.
2. God gives us victory over our enemies.
3. We will flourish beautifully like a palm tree.
4. We will grow like a strong cedar tree.
5. We are planted in God's house.
6. It is in God's house, experiencing His presence, that we flourish.
7. We will yield fruit even in our "later" years.
8. We will be brimming with the life of God within us.
9. We will declare to others who are around us the lovely character and wonderful deeds of our Lord.

Psalms 71:1
1. In Thee, O \Lord,\ I have taken refuge; Let me never be ashamed.
2. In Thy righteousness deliver me, and rescue me; Incline Thine ear to me, and save me.
3. Be Thou to me a rock of habitation, to which I may continually come; Thou hast given commandment to save me, For Thou art my rock and my fortress.
4. Rescue me, O my God, out of the hand of the wicked, Out of the grasp of the wrongdoer and ruthless man,
5. For Thou art my hope; O Lord \God,\ {Thou art} my confidence from my youth.
6. By Thee I have been sustained from {my} birth; Thou art He who took me from my mother's womb; My praise is continually of Thee.
7. I have become a marvel to many; For Thou art my strong refuge.
8. My mouth is filled with Thy praise, And with Thy glory all day long.
9. Do not cast me off in the time of old age; Do not forsake me when my strength fails.
10. For my enemies have spoken against me; And those who watch for my life have consulted together,
11. Saying, "God has forsaken him; Pursue and seize him, for there is no one to deliver."
12. O God, do not be far from me; O my God, hasten to my help!
13. Let those who are adversaries of my soul be ashamed {and} consumed; Let them be covered with reproach and dishonor, who seek to injure me.
14. But as for me, I will hope continually, And will praise Thee yet more and more.
15. My mouth shall tell of Thy righteousness, {And} of Thy salvation all day long; For I do not know the sum {of them.}
16. I will come with the mighty deeds of the Lord \God\; I will make mention of Thy righteousness, Thine alone.
17. O God, Thou hast taught me from my youth; And I still declare Thy wondrous deeds.
18. And even when {I am} old and gray, O God, do not forsake me, Until I declare Thy strength to {this} generation, Thy power to all who are to come.
19. For Thy righteousness, O God, {reaches} to the heavens, Thou who hast done great things; O God, who is like Thee?
20. Thou, who hast shown me many troubles and distresses, Wilt revive me again, And wilt bring me up again from the depths of the earth.
21. Mayest Thou increase my greatness, And turn {to} comfort me.
22. I will also praise Thee with a harp, {Even} Thy truth, O my God; To Thee I will sing praises with the lyre, O Thou Holy One of Israel.
23. My lips will shout for joy when I sing praises to Thee; And my soul, which Thou hast redeemed.
24. My tongue also will utter Thy righteousness all day long; For they are ashamed, for they are humiliated who seek my hurt.

1. Verses 5-8 of Psalm 71 remind us of all the things the Lord did for us in our younger years. Then we discover this reality:
2. Our "human" strength seems to be failing.
3. We must rely totally upon the Lord for everything. If we didn't learn this secret of the Christian life when we were younger and stronger, we have to learn it now.
4. Voices and words of others and even thoughts within our own minds are telling us that God has changed; that He has forsaken us at this time in our life. Thoughts and strange symptoms in our bodies try to convince us that God will not deliver us as He has done so many times before.
5. Our solution: PRAY! PRAISE! WORSHIP!
   1. God, you aren't far from me. I have been created in Your image. You live inside of me. Greater is He that is in me than he that is in the world.
   2. God, be quick to help me in this season of my life.
   3. God, make all my enemies, those who do not speak Your truth to me, ashamed by making me physically stronger in my later years then I was in my younger years.
   4. My HOPE is in YOU continually, every minute of my life.
   5. I PRAISE YOU more than I have ever done before.
   6. My mouth declares YOUR RIGHTEOUSNESS and YOUR SALVATION all day.
   7. My mouth declares the MIGHTY DEEDS that YOU did for me when I was younger.
   8. My mouth declares ALL YOU HAVE TAUGHT me.
   9. My heart believes and my mouth declares THE POWER OF YOUR RESURRECTION LIFE.
   10. God, comfort me as only YOU know how to do because YOU alone are my CREATOR and my best FRIEND.
   11. Increase my influence on others for YOUR GLORY and for YOUR KINGDOM.
   12. I will PRAISE YOU with music.
   13. My lips will SHOUT FOR JOY when I PRAISE YOU.
   14. My tongue will declare YOUR RIGHTEOUSNESS all day long.
   15. My enemies are ashamed and humiliated for they sought to hurt me, but YOU HAVE BEEN MY STRENGTH AND MY INHTERTANCE.

Isaiah 40:28
28. Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Everlasting God, the \Lord\, the Creator of the ends of the earth Does not become weary or tired. His understanding is inscrutable.
29. He gives strength to the weary, And to {him who} lacks might He increases power.
30. Though youths grow weary and tired, And vigorous young men stumble badly,
31. Yet those who wait for the \Lord\ Will gain new strength; They will mount up {with} wings like eagles, They will run and not get tired, They will walk and not become weary.

1. I will wait on the Lord.
2. I will mount up with wings like an eagle.
3. I will not get tired when I run.
4. I will not get weary, when I walk.

Joshua 14:6
6. Then the sons of Judah drew near to Joshua in Gilgal, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite said to him, "You know the word which the \Lord\ spoke to Moses the man of God concerning you and me in Kadesh-barnea.
7. "I was forty years old when Moses the servant of the \Lord\ sent me from Kadesh-barnea to spy out the land, and I brought word back to him as {it was} in my heart.
8. "Nevertheless my brethren who went up with me made the heart of the people melt with fear; but I followed the \Lord\ my God fully.
9. "So Moses swore on that day, saying, 'Surely the land on which your foot has trodden shall be an inheritance to you and to your children forever, because you have followed the \Lord\ my God fully.'
10. "And now behold, the \Lord\ has let me live, just as He spoke, these forty-five years, from the time that the \Lord\ spoke this word to Moses, when Israel walked in the wilderness; and now behold, I am eighty-five years old today.
11. "I am still as strong today as I was in the day Moses sent me; as my strength was then, so my strength is now, for war and for going out and coming in.
12. "Now then, give me this hill country about which the \Lord\ spoke on that day, for you heard on that day that Anakim {were} there, with great fortified cities; perhaps the \Lord\ will be with me, and I shall drive them out as the \Lord\ has spoken."
13. So Joshua blessed him, and gave Hebron to Caleb the son of Jephunneh for an inheritance.
14. Therefore, Hebron became the inheritance of Caleb the son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite until this day, because he followed the \Lord\ God of Israel fully.
15. Now the name of Hebron was formerly Kiriath-arba; {for Arba} was the greatest man among the Anakim. Then the land had rest from war.

May I learn from Caleb.

1. He was 40 years old when he received his first assignment from the Lord through Moses.
2. He believed in his heart that what the Lord had said to him would come to pass.
3. He spoke the words of the Lord, not what his eyes saw or his ears heard.
4. He followed the Lord fully, wholly, completely.
5. He did not make others afraid by the words of his mouth.
6. He received an inheritance for himself and for his children.
7. It took 45 years before he again "saw" the reality of what the Lord had promised him.
8. He was 86 years old when it was the Lord's time for him to inherit his actual land in Israel.
9. He had to "battle the enemy" even in his "latter" years to "possess" what the Lord had promised to him.
10. He was as strong at 86 as he was at 40 because the Lord's word was more important to him than anything else.

Genesis 6:3
3. Then the \Lord\ said, "My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, because he also is flesh; nevertheless his days shall be one hundred and twenty years."

God desires for His children to live to be 120 years old!

Isaiah must have seen this promise in Genesis because the passage quoted next describes a day for humanity that we have not experienced yet.

Isaiah 65:17
17. "For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; And the former things shall not be remembered or come to mind.
18. "But be glad and rejoice forever in what I create; For behold, I create Jerusalem {for} rejoicing, And her people {for} gladness.
19. "I will also rejoice in Jerusalem, and be glad in My people; And there will no longer be heard in her The voice of weeping and the sound of crying.
20. "No longer will there be in it an infant {who lives but a few} days, Or an old man who does not live out his days; For the youth will die at the age of one hundred And the one who does not reach the age of one hundred Shall be {thought} accursed.
21. "And they shall build houses and inhabit {them;} They shall also plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
22. "They shall not build, and another inhabit, They shall not plant, and another eat; For as the lifetime of a tree, {so shall be} the days of My people, And My chosen ones shall wear out the work of their hands.
23. "They shall not labor in vain, Or bear {children} for calamity; For they are the offspring of those blessed by the \Lord\, And their descendants with them. #
24. "It will also come to pass that before they call, I will answer; and while they are still speaking, I will hear.
25. "The wolf and the lamb shall graze together, and the lion shall eat straw like the ox; and dust shall be the serpent's food. They shall do no evil or harm in all My holy mountain," says the \Lord\.

This cannot be a passage that refers to heaven because the passage does mention the reality of "death".

The instruction in the passage is a time on earth when LONGEVITY has totally replaced the curse of a short life. A LONG LIFE is a promise for all those who honor, respect, love and care for their earthly parents.

Ephesians 6:1
1. Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.
2. \Honor your father and mother\ (which is the first commandment with a promise),
3. \that it may be well with you, and that you may live long on the earth\.
4. And, fathers, do not provoke your children to anger; but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.

Thus we all need to have faith now for that "inheritance" of LONG LIFE that God wants to give to HIS children. Meditate and believe that God desires to give us beyond what we can ask or think according to the power of His Holy Spirit that lives within us. Meditate upon the following:

1. No infant mortality.
2. No one who doesn't live out their total number of days, for all know that it is a curse to die before the age of 100.
3. If a young person does die, he will be 100 years old!
4. No one will take the fruit of another's labor.
5. God's people, His chosen ones, will live longer than trees! (Oaks and cedars?)
6. We will live longer than the work of our hands!
7. We will not labor in vain.
8. No children will be born for calamity.
9. God will answer us even before we call to Him.
10. While we are still speaking, He will hear us.
11. All animals will live peacefully together.
12. There will be no harm or any evil on God's Holy Mountain.

Genesis 6:3
3. Then the \Lord\ said, "My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, because he also is flesh; nevertheless his days shall be one hundred and twenty years."

Psalms 90:10
10. As for the days of our life, they contain seventy years, Or if due to strength, eighty years, Yet their pride is {but} labor and sorrow; For soon it is gone and we fly away.

However, God, in His infinite love and mercy, overruled the words of Moses and allowed Moses to live to be 120 and to be full of strength and vigor!

Deuteronomy 34:7
7. Although Moses was one hundred and twenty years old when he died, his eye was not dim, nor his vigor abated.

What did Paul teach us about reading the Old Covenant?

II Corinthians 3:15
15. But to this day whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their heart;
16. but whenever a man turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.
17. Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, {there} is liberty.
18. But we all, with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.

Many women down through Jewish history secrectly hoped that they might be chosen to be the mother of the true Messiah. Many of those women hoped and believed in the Messiah though they never saw Him. Yet, in the Lord's timing the Lord made the "promise" a "reality."

Luke 1:38
38. And Mary said, "Behold, the bondslave of the Lord; be it done to me according to your word." And the angel departed from her.

Others before us saw the promises of God and yet did not possess all of them in their lifetime.

Hebrews 11:39
39. And all these, having gained approval through their faith, did not receive what was promised,
40. because God had provided something better for us, so that apart from us they should not be made perfect.

Others before us received the promises of God in their lifetime.

Luke 1:45
45. "And blessed {is} she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what had been spoken to her by the Lord."

The most important question we must ask ourselves is, "DO WE BELIEVE EVERY PROMISE OF GOD?"

We are to build on the foundation of faith of those who have gone before us and who have set an example for us to follow.

Biblical scholars have estimated that Daniel was about 90 years old when he experienced God's miraculous protection in the lions' den. God honored Daniel's faith and obedience and used him to bless Babylonians, Chaldeans, Medes, and Persians. Daniel was faithful to his mission (p34 Global Prayer Digest, Jan 2000).

Daniel not only outlived the pagan rulers he served, but he also was used by God to bring those man to a place where they had to acknowledge that Daniel's God is the Most High God!

May we be like the true believers who have gone before us. May their atttitude be our attitude. May we seek the Lord's face, hear His voice and bring glory to His name every day of our life on earth.