Are you God?

  After Charity put off this wordly tent for immortality, I (even more so) declared Christ to others.

  Until.... That one day- I was sitting there minding my own business when I thought," Wait! What if Im talking to a person whose lost loved one was unsaved! Or what if they lost a child and weren't sure of their salvation" The very thought of it closed my mouth for days. Never would I want to rob anyone of their hope. 

  Thankfully a few days later my dear friend Lulli Akin came over and I confided in her my dilemma. -Now Let me interrupt my dialogue to say that if Lulli Akin isn't a dear friend of yours like she is mine then I'm sorry for you. She shoots from the hip, loves The Lord and overflows with wisdom. Her and Todd have been an enormous blessing to our life in innumerable ways-

  So I looked at Lulli and told her my problem. In true Lulli fashion she said " Oh. Are you God?" !!!!!!!" No ma'am!"  She continued," Who appointed you to determine if someone is born again? You have no idea what occurs in the heart and mind of a person when they reach the end of their life or their life flashes before them..."  She went on and told me a personal story of hers and others which showed me that The Lord is able ,His word will not return to Him void and He is still God in our last hour and He is able to save to the uttermost. He is able to accomplish in a moment what we fail to perform in a lifetime. 

  As well, the fervent and effectual prayers of a righteous man availeth much. So- what do we do if we have family who is now unsaved and living? Be a righteous person and pray on without ceasing! Too many believers are worried about how " other" Christians dress, act, eat etc instead of realizing that they only have enough time in the day to work on themselves and their family to worry about sanctifying their pew neighbor. And may I remind you that the Lord does lasting sanctifying work in the hearts of others  Not we ourselves. What if we've lost a loved on and just DON'T know if the Lord saved them? First realize- YOU ARE NOT GOD AND YOU DON'T KNOW. number two- He is The Lord and He does ALL things well. 

   Too many times we lose our present by lamenting our past. May I encourage you? Don't stay there. Even if you've lost a loved one- look around, if you're one of the fortunate ones, you have more loved ones still surrounding you. 

  Take every thought captive, think right thoughts, ask The Lord for the blessing of a proper perspective. 

  There's nothing we can do to change the past so lets just not go there- and certainly don't STAY there. It's a new day, full of life and hope ( peppered with sorrow I know) Let us use all of that energy on changing our present and our tomorrow which we CAN affect, and leave an un changeable yesterday in the past. 

Hebrews 12:1 KJV

King James Version

Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us.

I know whom I have believed.....

2 Timothy 1:10-13

¹⁰ but has now been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who has abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel, ¹¹ to which I was appointed a preacher, an apostle, and a teacher of the Gentiles.^{[a] 12} For this reason I also suffer these things; nevertheless I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day.

¹³ Hold fast the pattern of sound words which you have heard from me, in faith and love which are in Christ Jesus.

  I love that hymn " I know Whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able, to keep that which Ive committed unto Him against that day". John Gill speaks of 'That which I have committed" as of being the souls of men, including Pauls own.

  So we truly do know Whom we have believed~ We Know Christ. Not only a mental ascent but we love adore and worship Him in spirit and in truth because He has graciously revealed Himself to us.

 " We are persuaded the He is able to keep that which we have committed": our souls, the souls of our spouse and children, those who are still with us or have gone on before, "to Him until that day"...

  The mind likes to do odd things when  you have suffered a tragedy or are grieving. It is imperative to always think right thoughts and take every thought captive. I cannot tell you all the times that a hopeless or random 'unbiblical' thought pops into my head. I don't even watch tv! Where do these strange ideas come from? They are only allowed to remain for a brief second before I verbalize the truth. It is truly the truth that gives us hope and sets us free. I am convinced that all of the crazy religions originated in the mind of some hopeless grieving person ..Shudder the thought!

  Through the sadness and temporary loss we truly do have hope. Not in ourselves but in the Lord who is good and is trustworthy and is ABLE.

  So sorrow on if we must but at the end of the day , we know Whom we have believed and are persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that day. Thank you Jesus for that.
  Philippians 4:8 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things.

   

He will revive me again and comfort me......

Psalms 71:20-21 You who have made me see many troubles and calamities will revive me again; from the depths of the earth you will bring me up again. You will increase my greatness and comfort me again.

  For those of us who have lost...who grieve and sorrow...these words are of great comfort.

  We trust in the Sovereignty of God so yes it is He who has made us to see calamity and trouble. Not for any arbitrary reason either.

  And with that He too will 'Revive us again'. When you are under the suffering of grief you do feel as if your very soul needs to be revived. Needs to be restored. Your very core feels as if you cannot stand erect again. But, we will. We will revive. He will restore us and we will 'live' again.

  Some of my favorite ancient theologians agree that 'from the depths of the earth' may mean in a physical or emotional respect.

  I think of Robin Marks song 'Make these broken weary bones, rise to dance again'. That is not scripture but it explains well how we feel~ weary and broken and cast down. So Lord cause these broken , weary bones to rise and dance again! He will. He alone is able to turn our mourning into dancing.

  Psalms 71:21 says you will increase my greatness ...(Im leaving that one alone except to say that I believe David wrote these:) That is explanation enough! LOL! it continues ....and comfort me again.

  It is hard to see now ... for a time , it is inconceivable to think that we WILL be comforted again! It is nearly impossible to believe that the despairing sickening desperation will lessen.

  But, taking every thought captive, and thinking right thoughts, and believing Gods word reminding ourselves of it...we know that;

Psalms 71:20-21 You who have made me see many troubles and calamities will revive me again; from the depths of the earth you will bring me up again. You will increase my greatness and comfort me again.

  Gods word is true amen? Ok, repeat after me;You who have made me see many troubles and calamities will revive me again; from the depths of the earth you will bring me up again. You will increase my greatness and comfort me again.

 

  Gods word is true. 2 Tim 3:16 ¹⁶ All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, ¹⁷ that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.

God is not a man that He should lie. Numbers 23:19“God is not a man, that He should lie,

Nor a son of man, that He should repent.

Has He said, and will He not do?

Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good? 

 The Bible is full of His sweet and precious promises to be our Physician and Comforter and Redeemer. We must do our part and let the Lord heal us. Let Him comfort us. Let us make the path easier for ourselves by thinking right thoughts and taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.

Proverbs 30:5 Every word of God is pure;

He is a shield to those who put their trust in Him.

Psalm 30:11,12  You have turned for me my mourning into dancing;

You have put off my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness

To the end that my glory may sing praise to You and not be silent.

O Lord my God, I will give thanks to You forever

Amen

We have no continuing city here...................

  I was challenged today on FB to post a verse. Thankfully it was not a favorite verse as that changes.
  Different passages of scripture have differing impacts on me depending which season of life I am in.
  Loss. Greif. Such difficult and painful things. Our mind spends many an hour, day, year trying to 'grasp' it all. What it 'means', how it changes things, and that irritating deep hope that its not real and things will go back to how they were.
  The verse I chose to post was Hebrews 13:14...but since it is impossible for me to choose only one I had to add 15 as well.
14 For here we have no continuing city, but we seek the one to come. 15 Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name.   
  And that verse of course brings to mind this one;
2 Peter 3:13
But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells......


  We really have no continuing city here on earth. There is no continuing anything in this world save for The Lord, His word and the souls of men. The earth shall pass away, our loved ones pass away, every day is new and different. Nothing is the same here. Nothings stays the same or is continuing.
  When we are in pain and the pain ceases we are glad things do not remain the same. If we are in bliss and our life is rudely interrupted by sorrow and loss then we want things to have 'remained the same'.......go figure. We even change whether or not we want things to remain the same.
  Having so many littles ones to minister to , I am always looking for gems of truth in Gods word to encourage them. Teach them at a young age to learn to see Gods hand in all things, learn now to trust that He is Sovereign...so that when the storms of life come....and they will come...they already have the foundation to stand strong when their very soul is faint with sadness. Here is one thing I remind them of~
  Yes Charity died. That is horribly sad for us. It is not sad for Charity as she is in eternal joy. As well though, she is no longer 'dead'. She is alive in heaven. The wreck, the trauma, the passing...its over. I have spent many a moment, when images (real or imagined) threaten me, reminding myself...IT IS OVER, IT IS OVER, IT IS OVER....


 A couple phrases my son Anthony and I came up with when he lost his newborn son were: "You are eternal in the heavens , forever in the arms of grace". Our departed ones live. Yes they live. Here we merely see as through a glass and see only a shadow of the things to come.

1 Corinthians 13:12

¹² For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.

 Might I suggest that those in heaven are 'really' living, much more than we are.

  I do not care for the term 'Rest in Peace'......Knowing in small part, the magnificence of the Lord and His abounding creativity and love and working in our lives, I would expect that more than resting, our loved ones are rejoicing.


 1 Cor 2:9 But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.


  And what do you think of this one? Isaiah 65:17 For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind.


  I do not claim to be any type of theologian. But I know that Gods word is sufficient to meet our every need.


Hebrews 4:15 For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.
  Hebrews 2:17
For this reason he had to be made like them, fully human in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people.
Hebrews 2:18
Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.

Hebrews 7:25-26 25 Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them. 26 For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens.
 
  I always recall a story my husband tells. When he was younger, a pastor was teaching on the book of Genesis. He gave the account of Eves temptation and said how that relationship was broken forever...it would NEVER BE THE SAME. At the time my husband was young in the Lord and left the meeting on that note "That relationship between God and man would never be the same'. He was grieved all week and was in despair that it could never be gotten back. When he went the next week the pastor reminded folks that the relationship would NEVER BE THE SAME......BUT.... It would become better. We lost walking in the cool of the garden with the Lord but now we will reign with Him forevermore in perfection and righteousness. Never the same no. But better. That is how it is for our loved ones who are departed. Their lives are now, BETTER. Blessed be the name of the Lord.