The Four Lands of Sorrow

A young widow friend shared this on her blog:

Sorrow can lead us into one of four lands:

the Barren land in which we try to escape from it,

the Broken land is which we sink under it,

the Bitter land in which we resent it,

or the Better land in which we bear it and become a blessing to others.

What a truth!

 

It was in a special Daily Bread on grief.

Where Jesus Sits

As I prayed one fearful night, I felt the Lord so close, like He was sitting at the top of the J stairs (of course, right!).  I felt Him speak to my heart.  "I'll watch over him, you go get some rest."  I hesitated.  "Don't you trust Me?"  I do, but.............oh, Lord, help my unbelief.  I am afraid........."Be not afraid,  only believe." Jesus said in Mark 5:36

Then I see my Lord holding him.  He isn't awake and the Lord carries him to an alter.  He lays him there tenderly.  I think of Abraham laying his son on an alter. Then I see it.....the ram in the thicket.

With that thought fresh in my mind, I check on them all one last time. Trust Jesus and crawl into bed exhausted.

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As I prayed during prayer meeting, the above incident came to my mind, and I wondered if Jesus was in our church in bodily form, where would He sit?  The back pew so he could watch everyone?  The front pew eager to hear?  Next to the lonely or hurting?  I think He'd sit right next to our pastor.  He'd be Amening and cheering him on as he preached the message the Lord Himself gave him.

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What does the Bible say about where Jesus sits?

 Luke 2:46 And it came to pass, that after three days they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors, both hearing them, and asking them questions.

Luke 22:69 Hereafter shall the Son of man sit on the right hand of the power of God.

John 12:15 Fear not, daughter of Sion: behold, thy King cometh, sitting on an ass's colt.

Matthew 25:31 When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:

Matthew 26:64 Jesus saith unto him, Thou hast said: nevertheless I say unto you, Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven.

  Acts 2:30 Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne;
 
Colossians 3:1 If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.

Revelation 3:21 To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.
Revelation 5:13 And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever.

  Revelation 7:15 Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple: and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them.


AMEN!

School's In; Give a Grin!

School is back in session for us!

The LORD gave me an awesome verse to focus on this year: Proverbs 2:20

"That thou mayest walk in the way of good men, and keep the paths of the righteous."

Isn't that my heart's desire for these men in the making to walk the path of good men, righteous men.

Glimpse of Hell

Last month something happened to one of my sons that will forever make hell more real to me.
I held my son as he cried out in pain from getting burned.  The torment on his face and his screaming was haunting...........For at least five minutes there was no comfort.  He clung to me and hollered and wailed. My heart broke for his agony as well as for my inadequacy to help him.  Finally God sent relief.  My son took huge gulps of air and was able to catch his breath.  And a gentle breeze greatly lessened the pain. Ten days later, the burn is all healed.  But the Lord let me see a glimpse of hell.

In hell there is no relief, no gentle breeze to lessen the pain, no one to cling to, and never any healing .....

Jesus told us in Luke 16:22-31 And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried;
And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.  And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame. But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented. And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence.
Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father's house:
For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment. Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.
And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent.
And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.
Jesus also said in Matthew 10:28 And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.

 And again in Luke 12:5 But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: Fear him, which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear him.

Yes, God is love, but He is also just and He deserves our fear, not just our reverential respect but fear.
Jesus forewarned us because of His love for us.  He chose to lay down His life for us to provide the only way of escape.  Yet many will not be persuaded, though He rose from the dead.

Here is a very sobering thought:
They estimate that 6,974,000,000 people in the world. It is estimated that there is 2 billion Christians in the world. Only one in four Christians say they are born again as Jesus said we must be to go to heaven. So realistically only 7% of the worlds population or about 500, 000, 000 are really going to go to heaven when they die. 

It is said that an average of 107 people die each minute,
6,390 people die each hour,
153,000 people die each day,
1,071,000 people die each week.

So from this Sunday that you were in church till the next Sunday
 1 million 71 thousand people died and went to spend eternity in heaven or hell. 
And the reality is that only 7% if them are going to heaven. 
93% or 996 thousand souls (996,000) went to hell.

All of this mathematics is hard on my brain, BUT if we would just understand the simple statistic that every minute 107 people die and 100 of them go to hell!!! This is staggering. 

Hell is real and many people go there daily.  Are we forewarning others?  Are we reaching out in love?  My son is healed, but both of us got a glimpse of hell that day and I will forever be changed because of it.

Snurr's Lessons

As Snurr settled down for bed we reviewed lessons he had learned that day:

• Liquid soap is awesome at getting copper pipe to slide off your finger that didn't belong there in the first place.
• Messes take seconds to make and hours to clean up.
• Locking someone in the pump house or a room is just like kidnapping.
• Obey Mom the first time.
• Sometimes lost dogs come home on their own; and only God knows of their adventures.

As I left his room, I encouraged him to talk to God about things he did wrong that day and share about what he learned. A little while later, I heard the mumbled voice cry out, "Why? God, Why?"  As I listened, my youngest was pouring out his heart to Jesus about his daddy.......I walked in his room and just held him as he sobbed.  My tears joined him as he said, "It never hurt like this before." I have walked this road with his brothers; it isn't an easy one.  He has grown more in understanding so it is natural for the grief to go to a deeper level.

We talked about many things, I then shared with him how I used to pray for the Great Comforter to come and hold me all night when I hurt so much missing Daddy.  I told him how God was faithful and He did it, many, many times.  We hugged and I prayed over him, gave him a Daddy pillow to hug and wrapped him up in my favorite blanket.  Soon sleep came for Snurr.

My heart was heavy and my ache was raw again.  This is the hardest part of being a widow, feeling helpless as your children grieve their father.   I know the LORD loves Snurr more than I do and I know He promised to heal him.  But us moms get used to being able to fix all the hurts or shield our children from them to begin with.  Grief is a hurt that is so deep and so personal, all I can do is try to help him express his grief in a healthy ways and pray intensely for healing.

Burdens like this are too heavy for one woman.  I poured out my own heart to the LORD.  Then I shared my aching heart with some late-night praying sisters. Their prayers, words, and understanding were comforting.  One encouraged me to pray Jeremiah 29:11-13 with and for Snurr.  What sweet verses:   

For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you.  And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart. 

This morning Snurr was in the same position he was when I last checked on him the night before.  He slept soundly all night.  Thank You, Jesus!  I told him about wanting to share some verses that a friend had shared with me.  I flipped to Jeremiah 49 by mistake and read verse 11: Leave thy fatherless children, I will preserve them alive; and let thy widows trust in me.

Isn't that a widow's fear?  That the grief will destroy the children.  That the enemy will use it to pull them from God.  The Lord will preserve the fatherless children.....AMEN!!!  Let thy widows trust in GOD.....isn't that what we learn to do with these grieving children?  Carry them to the altar and lay them in His arms, then pray and wait for healing to come. And it will come.  The Lord promised:
 Psalms 147:3 He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds.

After I read Jeremiah 49:11, we smiled how God can use a mistake of mine to be exactly what we both needed to hear.  Then I went back to Jeremiah 29:11-13.  We discussed what it meant then I prayed it over him.  Later, I heard Snurr tell his brothers that the verses in Jeremiah brought him comfort and peace.  AMEN!!  God's Word is very much alive and at work.

Another lesson for Snurr.  A very, very important one.

 

Mathematics for the Heart

Forgiveness + Gratitude = A Change in Attitude