It’s been a while since I last applied the seat of my pants to the seat of my chair to write, to be honest I have been going through what they call “the dark night of the soul.” I haven’t had any words to share, I think it is because my grief over the loss of my husband and my mother this year has been devastating. More devastating than I allowed myself to admit. I know that some of you have experienced the loss of a loved one (or more) this year as well. Grief, I am finding is something that you can’t run from. You can’t push it down or shake it off. I have always been a “cup half full” person so feeling like “Eeyore” from Winnie the Pooh has made me feel like I want to run away from my own self! 😉 Especially with the holidays upon us. But today, I want to share a Word with you, especially if you are dealing with a loss of your own…
THIS IS THE ENTIRE REASON WHY JESUS CAME
The truth of the matter is we were originally created to live FOREVER! We were NOT meant to ever die! Death came into the world through the fall of Adam and Eve. But Jesus has redeemed up from death through HIS death on the cross.
JESUS DIED SO THAT WE COULD HAVE ETERNAL LIFE
I don’t think we understand the real impact of what God did for us, until we reach a point in our own lives where we realize what TRULY matters. The MOST important decision we can EVER make in our lives is to accept God’s gift of salvation which promises us eternal life. In John 14:6 Jesus tells us:
“I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”
The older I get (and I am still fairly young – I am a young widow), the more I realize the importance of this precious gift that God has given us in Jesus. Unfortunately sometimes it takes the stripping away of whatever it is that is blinding you to the truth of the Gospels for you to realize that what you need MOST in this temporary life – Is God… Think about it, people “cry out to God” when they don’t know what else to do. All of a sudden people “turn to prayer” at the worst times of their lives. Now I am not knocking that, but wouldn’t it be better to recognize that God IS there for you in the here and now? In the “good times” as well as in the bad? Honestly, I will tell you – without my strong faith in God and being in the ABSOLUTE know that He is with me, I don’t know how I would have made it through this year… You see my husband and my mother BOTH had accepted God’s gift of salvation. 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 tells us:
“Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage one another with these words.”
And so I hope these words encourage you. If you have accepted God’s gift of salvation, you have become part of God’s “Called Remnant,” a follower of Christ. The above verses essentially mean that as a Christian we can grief with hope because of Jesus’ resurrection! Unlike those who do not share our faith and therefore grieve without hope for the future. And in writing those words let me also say, it is not our place to judge someone else or anguish over where they are (if they chose to make a decision for Christ or not) that is between the individual and God. 2 Peter 3:9 tells us:
“The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.”
Our God is the God of mercy and grace and there is no telling what occurs in the last moments of a person’s life. As much as YOU loved or cared for that individual their Creator loved them MORE. God loved us enough to create us with free-will, a choice to choose whether we want to live a life with Him OR a life without Him, that includes an eternal life as well. What we choose is what we choose, God never sends ANYONE to hell. Hell was originally created by God to punish the devil and the fallen angels. Revelations 20:15 tells us:
“And if anyone’s name was not found written in the Book of Life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.”
But again, the final outcome of someone’s life is between that individual and God. We have to trust Him on this and not allow ourselves to “assume” where that person’s eternity is… Just know that God loves them, the rest as I said before, is between them and God. When we stand before God we will not be holding someone else’s hand, we will stand before Him alone. The most important decision you will ever make in your life is to accept God’s gift of salvation. You might be asking me:
“Kelly, I don’t know how to do that. What do I need to do?”
If that is you, I’m smiling into my screen because I remember hearing this message for the first time and not knowing what I needed to do. All you need to know is this – God LOVES you SO much that He decided to leave the splendor of Heaven and clothe Himself in human flesh, come down here and meet YOU exactly where YOU are at. Jesus was born of the virgin Mary, lived a sin-less life decided to take the sins of the world upon Himself (your sins and mine) and die on the cross as the perfect sacrificial Lamb to restore a perfect relationship with man and God. He redeemed us. All that is required of you to receive this precious gift of salvation is to genuinely mean this prayer when (and should you choose) to pray it:
“Father God, thank You for loving me enough for coming down in the form of man to meet me where I am. IF You are real (and I know You are) please forgive me for my sins and wash me with the precious blood of Jesus. I believe that Jesus was born of the virgin Mary, lived a sin-less life and took my sins upon His shoulders. I believe that Jesus died on the cross for forgiveness of my sins and that He rose again defeating death and sin and is even now seated at Your right-hand interceding on my behalf, and that He will come again. I choose to accept Jesus into my heart as my Savior, make Him Lord OVER my life. Thank You Jesus for dying for me, please be my Lord and Savior. In Jesus’ name I pray, amen.”
If you prayed that prayer I know that the “peace that passes ALL understanding” and the joy of the Lord IS flooding your soul! Listen, God IS a GOOD Father, and you WILL experience His goodness even if you are in sorrow. Jesus DEFEATED death! The victory IS ours! If you are grieving, it is absolutely OKAY to grieve, remember – Jesus cried when Lazarus died. The Bible tells us in John 11:35:
“Jesus wept.”
Why did Jesus weep? Because He LOVED Lazarus. Because it was NEVER God’s plan for man to experience death! But Jesus showed us through Lazarus’ story that He holds the keys to death or as it says in Revelations 1:18:
“I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death.”
Revelations 21:4 tells us:
“And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes, and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain; for the former things are passed away.”
I will also tell you this, something I am realizing as I am writing this – being obedient to my calling as a Scribe for the Lord. The best way to alleviate your grief, is to be obedient to the calling God has placed upon your life – if you don’t know what it is ASK HIM. He will reveal it to you. In my sorrow I have not written a post for a long time, but truly I tell you, “Writing IS indeed my worship” and as I write these words to you I feel my spirit lifting… It is not that I am not feeling grief, but I am feeling joy that I do NOT sorrow as unbelievers do because I KNOW in my heart that my husband and my mom are with Love Himself! God IS love and they are there with Him. Not overburdened, not in pain, not sick, not diseased but in peace, in a place that the Bible tells us in 1 Corinthians 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.” “
To be honest, I know if they were given the choice to return, they would choose not to, and why would they want to? While they will not return here to me, I will go to them and we shall be together with our Savior and God for ALL eternity and all of this that we are experiencing here on earth now will be nothing but a faded memory. So, this Christmas choose the BEST gift you can ever choose – it is not those store bought gifts that may be under your tree, it is the gift of eternal life that was purchased ON a tree. Jesus hung on the cross to give you the best gift you will EVER be given – the gift of salvation and eternal life and ALL it cost you is to choose to accept it. Oh beloved reader, I pray you do! May God bless and keep you and yours today and always.
9
0
20