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Dealing With Grief

A friend of mine wrote this, just had to share :).

We all suffer from grief and loss at some time in our life, God can help us to deal with it.

“Once upon a time, a son visited his parents who still lived on the farm, which they had for many years. They talked with him how they had survived so far and a lot of people they had known and loved did not. They had lost friends, best friends, acquaintances, other farmer neighbors around them, grandparents, mother, father, relatives, teachers, mentors, and a host of other folks. They had even lost a child, the son’s older sister when she was very young, before the son was born. The son’s father had also lost a sister when she was very young. The son couldn’t imagine the pain it must be to lose a child.

The truth is one does not ever get used to people dying and shouldn’t. It tears a hole through you whenever somebody you love dies, no matter the circumstances. One should not ever say that it does “not matter” and be something that just passes.

Scars are a testament to the love and the relationship that you have for and with that person. And if the scar is deep, so was the love. So be it. Scars are a testament to life on earth. Scars are proof that one can love deeply and live deeply and be cut, or even gouged, and are able to heal and continue to live and continue to love.

The scar tissue is stronger than the original flesh ever was! Scars are only ugly to people who can not see. It was not very long, after the son’s visit with his parents, that God called his father to be Home with Him.

As for grief, you’ll find it comes in waves. When the ship is first wrecked, you’re drowning, with wreckage all around you. Everything floating around you reminds you of the beauty and magnificence of the ship that was, and is no more. All you can do is float.

You find some piece of the wreckage and you hang on for a while. Maybe it’s some physical thing. Maybe it’s a happy memory or a photograph. Maybe it’s a person who is also floating. For a while, all you can do is float and stay alive. In the beginning, the waves are 100 feet tall and crash over you without mercy. They come 10 seconds apart and don’t even give you time to catch your breath. All you can do is hang on and float.

After awhile, maybe weeks, maybe months, you’ll find the waves are still 100 feet tall, but they come further apart. When they come, they still crash all over you and wipe you out. But in between, you can breathe, you can function. You never know what’s going to trigger the grief. It might be a song, a picture, an intersection of paths crossed, or even a smell. It can be just about anything…and the wave comes crashing. But in between waves, there IS life.

Somewhere down the line, and it’s different for everybody, one finds that the waves are only 80 feet tall, or 50 feet tall. While they still come, they come further apart and you can see them coming. Could be an anniversary, a birthday, or Christmas, or a milestone. You see them coming, for the most part, and prepare yourself. When it washes over you, you know that somehow you will, again, come out the other side. Soaking wet, sputtering, still hanging on to some tiny piece of the wreckage, but you’ll come out.

My thoughts and prayers are that you know that the waves never stop coming, and some how you don’t really want them to. That you learn that you’ll survive them, just as your Heavenly Father survived the death and Resurrection of His Only Son, Jesus Christ, and the death of His Children, who are Home with Him now.

If you are blessed, you’ll have lots of scars from lots of loves….and lots of shipwrecks. That you trust in our Lord that He will NEVER leave you or forsake in times of grief or any other times. That you know His Joy and Peace, that only He can give, now and forever. In Jesus’ Name. Thy Will be done. Amen. Peace”

One thing I wanted to share with you as well my friends is that Life is for the Living. Never stop Living, for life is a Gift from God. Ask God to return to you The Joy of your Salvation 🙂

“Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit.” – Psalm 51:12

It may take some time, but God Will 🙂

Courage Comes From Walking With The Lord :)

“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”-Joshua 1:9

There will come a day when life is not easy. Perhaps a day that seems downright frightening. Perhaps even overwhelming! We may be angry or scared.

But remember, “Courage comes from walking with the Lord”. And our Lord WILL BE WITH US ALWAYS!

“Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.”-James 5:16

Prayer is our defense. It is our anchor. It is our peace. It is a place. And it is our Home away from Home…

If life becomes difficult, go to your “Home away from Home” and pray. Be with God 🙂

Prepare, Pray & Be Ready!

God’s Laws

“Be strong and courageous, for you shall cause this people to inherit the land that I swore to their fathers to give them. Only be strong and very courageous, being careful to do according to all the law that Moses my servant commanded you. Do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may have good success wherever you go. This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.“

So often, there are those who claim that God’s “rule” are too restrictive. That they are not “accepting or tolerant”. But the real truth is that because God made us, He knows what behaviors will make us happy and successful in life. If He makes “rules”, it’s because He loves us 🙂

Prepare, Pray & Be Ready!

God Loves Us!

“Now Elijah the Tishbite, of Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, “As the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, before whom I stand, there shall be neither dew nor rain these years, except by my word.” ²And the word of the Lord came to him: ³“Depart from here and turn eastward and hide yourself by the brook Cherith, which is east of the Jordan. ⁴You shall drink from the brook, and I have commanded the ravens to feed you there.” – 1 Kings 17:1-4

God LOVES us. He could have abandoned Elijah to his thirst and hunger, but He didn’t. God loved Elijah and Elijah was so obedient and willing to serve God; God loved him and took great care of him.

Just as God Loves us and will take great care of us 🙂

Prepare, Pray & Be Ready!

In Seasons Of Severe Trial!

A great friend of mine wrote this, just had to share 🙂

“In seasons of severe trial the Christian has nothing on earth that he can trust, and so he is compelled to cast himself on God alone. When his vessel is capsizing, and no human deliverance is at hand, he must simply and entirely trust himself to the providence and care of God.

Happy storm that wrecks a man on such a rock as this! O blessed hurricane that drives the soul to God and God alone!

Sometimes the multitude of our friends keeps us from God; but when a man is so poor, so friendless, so helpless that he has nowhere else to turn, he runs into his Father’s arms, and is blessed to be there!

When he is burdened with troubles so pressing and so specific that he cannot tell them to anyone but God, he may be thankful for them; for he will learn more of his Lord then than at any other time.

Oh, tempest-tossed believer, it is a happy trouble that drives you to your Father! Now that you have only God to trust, make sure that you put your complete confidence in Him. Do not dishonor your Lord and Master by unworthy doubts and fears; but be strong in faith, giving glory to God.

Show the world that your God is worth ten thousand worlds to you. Show rich men how rich you are in your poverty when the Lord God is your helper. Show the strong man how strong you are in your weakness when underneath you are the everlasting arms.

Now is the time for feats of faith and valiant exploits. Be strong and very courageous, and the Lord your God will certainly, as surely as He built the heavens and the earth, glorify Himself in your weakness and magnify His might in the face of your distress.

The grandeur of heaven’s arches would be spoiled if the sky were supported by a single visible column, and your faith would lose its glory if it rested on anything discernible by the physical eye. May the Holy Spirit enable you to rest in Jesus on this closing day of the month.

In Jesus’ most Magnificent Name
Amen”

Prepare, Pray & Be Ready!

Shepherds Must Feed Their Flocks God’s Truth!

“And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord God unto the shepherds; Woe be to the shepherds of Israel that do feed themselves! should not the shepherds feed the flocks?” – Ezekiel 34:1-2

So what do these two verses really mean?

Jesus is our Shepherd. He took care of us, taught us (fed us), led us Home to Heaven… This warning was to the shepherds that took care of themselves, rather than their flocks.

There are priests and ministers like that today. They wish to fill their Houses of Worship and raise money. They are too cowardly to speak God’s Truth. They want the government to accept them and to be “popular” in society. And so they speak what “itchy” ears want to hear!

“For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; – 2 Timothy 4:3

But many forget, it is much more important to earn God’s approval, than it is to earn the approval of men!

Prepare, Pray & Be Ready!

God Is Always Fair!

“Yet the children of thy people say, The way of the Lord is not equal: but as for them, their way is not equal.” – Ezekiel 33:17

“When the righteous turneth from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, he shall even die thereby. But if the wicked turn from his wickedness, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall live thereby.” – Ezekiel 33:18-19

“Yet ye say, The way of the Lord is not equal. O ye house of Israel, I will judge you every one after his ways.” – Ezekiel 33:20

The New Testament does not replace the Old Testament. It is ALL true and it is ALL God’s Word 🙂

Prepare, Pray & Be Ready!

Warning: The Occult In Today’s World

“And when they shall say unto you, Seek unto them that have familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep, and that mutter: should not a people seek unto their God? for the living to the dead?”-Isaiah 8:19

“Do not turn to mediums or necromancers; do not seek them out, and so make yourselves unclean by them: I am the Lord your God.” – Leviticus 19:31

“There shall not be found among you anyone who burns his son or his daughter as an offering, anyone who practices divination or tells fortunes or interprets omens, or a sorcerer ¹¹or a charmer or a medium or a necromancer or one who inquires of the dead, ¹²for whoever does these things is an abomination to the Lord. And because of these abominations the Lord your God is driving them out before you.”-Deuteronomy 18:10-12

“As used in the Bible, “sorcery” is a broad term that would include hallucinogenic and poisonous drugs—even abortifacients—witchcraft, voodoo, palm reading, tarot cards, Oija boards, astrology, fortune telling, horoscopes, séances, and the like. God has forever frowned on sorcery. Deuteronomy 18:10-12 specifically forbade anyone from practicing divination, telling fortunes, interpreting omens, and from being a sorcerer, charmer, medium, wizard or necromancer”-Tennessee Bible College

Although “good witchcraft” has become popular among some, there is no such thing. ALL witchcraft is evil in the eyes of God! And although it’s hard to imagine, in today’s world, the occult has become increasingly popular.

But what about the even more popular psychics? Let me be clear, ALL power belongs to GOD ONLY! And all of these practices are forbidden by God! They are also a slippery slope! We worship God, not humans!

All of those who are involved in the occult and do not repent and accept Jesus and Follow Jesus before their death – go to Hell. Period.

“But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.”-Revelation 21:8

“Outside are the dogs and sorcerers and the sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.”- Revelation 22:15

Don’t wait, run to Jesus NOW!

Prepare, Pray & Be Ready!

Why Does God Heal Or Not?

A good friend of mine sent this. It was so awesome; I just had to share 🙂

“In the midst of a crisis, you often ask, “Where is God?” You wonder, “Why is He allowing me to suffer?” or even “Why is He allowing my loved ones to suffer?”

Such questions may run through your mind in stressful and despairing moments when you or those you love face troubles, sickness, pain and even the possibility of death.

But maybe you are asking the wrong question. You should ask: Why does God heal or not? To understand healing, one must understand human life on earth. The Truth IS, life here IS very short! Compare that with God’s Life, and the difference IS HUGE! God has been alive from eternity past, and He will live on forever into the future. This IS difficult for human minds to grasp! His Promise IS that He IS preparing you to share in that never-ending life with Him, through the Resurrection of His Son, Jesus Christ. He Truly wants this for ALL His Children! You have an AMAZING choice and future available that you can only begin to understand!

Sometimes God mercifully lets a man or woman come Home, even to a righteous person, to be spared coming times of trouble or evil. This IS very important to know. Even SO, your Heavenly Father IS Merciful and Compassionate, who knows your physical weakness and how easily broken you can become. He knows ALL about you! He REALLY Loves you!!

Easy to say, “I have tried prayer but it does not work!” From whose view? IS prayer just about getting what you want or IS it about seeking God’s Will rather than your own? In God’s Word, Apostle Paul begged God three times to heal him of a “thorn in the flesh.” God appears to have answered “No!” Did Paul respond by losing his faith? Not at all! He accepted in faith, that God’s Will was Supreme: “Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong”.(2 Corinthians 12:10) So, why does God heal or not? To reveal Himself, to highlight His Work, and to test His Children. He heals because His sons and daughters ask Him in faith and obedience, and He heals out of His Mercy, Grace, and Unlimited Love! If you need divine healing, be sure NOT to blame God for problems. Instead, look to Him with gratitude for His Whole Plan. Knowing that He can see and does bring about His Will in your life, as you seek His Face! Trust Him, that even in your suffering on earth, you may know His Presence just by accepting Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior. He WILL send His Helper to you, to Fill you, to Comfort you, to give you His Peace that no other can!

Sometimes God uses you and how you handle suffering as His Example to others! When others see His Joy, Peace and Faith in you, even during the worst the world can bombard you with, they want the same Joy and Peace. Their hearts open just a “crack” for His Holy Spirit to enter and STIR! Know that in your suffering, your Good Example in Christ, IS bringing others to Him that were lost!! You may not even be aware that they were watching you or paying attention! Your suffering IS allowing His Healing for others!! IS that not AWESOME or what!!! You are His Instrument, His Extended Arms to those He Loves, just as much as you! IS that not worth EVERYTHING, that your moments along with others are being used by God to enlarge His Kingdom!!

My thoughts and prayers are that you ask God to take away your doubts and fears, to Truly Trust Him with your life. That even in troubles, you accept His Will and Purpose and give Him thanks!! You are His Example to others!

Live in Joy, according to His Love for you!! In Jesus’ Name. Thy Will be done. Amen. Peace.“

Prepare, Pray & Be Ready!

God Is Merciful & Just!

“Therefore, son of man, speak to the house of Israel, and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “In this too your fathers have blasphemed Me, by being unfaithful to Me.”- Ezekiel20:27

Let’s face it; Israel has a history of sin. One has only to read Ezekiel 20 to see that.

Now fast forward to America. Is our country not committing even worse sins? And yet, somehow some seem to think that there will be no consequences for those sins. But this is not true, our nation will face the consequences for our sins. And soon! God is Merciful, but He is also Just!

Heaven is our Home and we can’t wait to go there. And good thing! For earth may soon see it’s share of difficulties. But if we repent and hold onto Jesus’ Hand and Follow Him, we will enter Heaven and stay there for all eternity!

What matters on earth is so short and so temporary; we need not fear! For we will soon come Home to Heaven, forever 🙂

Prepare, Pray & Be Ready!