He who rescued us will continue to rescue us! Amen and Amen

The second letter of Paul to the Corinthians, he says in Chapter 1 and verse 10: “¹⁰ He has rescued us from such a deadly peril, and he will rescue us again. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to rescue us, “ The C.S. Lewis Bible (NRSV)

Thank you JESUS, Thank you that in times of confusion and of loss your truth stays firm. As I sit and think how someone can be gone I can’t help but wonder why it feels so permanent, when in actuality we should be rejoicing that they are with Jesus. It doesn’t mean we wont grieve and miss them OH SO MUCH! I miss my mom and my friends and family dearly, but I am also very thankful to know that they were all believers and that they are ALIVE and in a way I can only hope to be the day I am called home.

Every generation comes in as the new generation then they become old and during that time when another new generation is born the old must die. I have come to realize that death is truly a beginning of eternal life and my hope and faith must be cemented into that truth, regardless of any and all doubts that come at me, whether thoughts, spirits or people. I need to know that Heaven is a real place with very much ALIVE people, literally living their best life. The scripture says He rescued us from a deadly peril and it says he will rescue again and he will continue to rescue us.

He has rescued us from the Cross, He has rescued us from Death and He will continue to rescue us from what we face here on Earth. I must trust him to rescue me from the darkness and emptiness of grief and believe He will embrace me during that time. That Jesus will bring peace and tranquility to the hearts and souls of those who have lost Mothers, Fathers, Husbands, Wives, Sisters and Brothers. He will gather them and rescue them. The scriptures speak of God as a place of safety and a place where the broken-hearted can run to!

Jesus is our refuge and our fortress as the Psalms say. It also says He will charge His angels to watch over you that your foot may not hit a stone. Well, my friends when we hit that Rock of Grief that seems immovable and impossible, through Christ All things are possible. It is not that you will forget or not think about or miss that person, but you will start to view them as someone who is away on a trip or moved away instead of that feeling of finality.

OUR FINALITY AS BELIEVERS IS TO LIVE FOREVER AND EVER AND EVER AND EVER! TO THAT I SAY SELAH and AMEN & AMEN! Allow Jesus in and allow the Holy Spirit to hold you so close that you can feel his warmth. These are hard times and I do miss my Mom (15 years ago, which I can’t believe) and my friends that I lost in the last 8 months Keith, Spell and Jim as well as my Godmother Auntie Marie!! I know that I will rejoice and praise and worship with them one day again and that HOPE in Heaven is where I want to cement my belief and feet!!!

One Love, One King, All Christ

The Art of Coping!

One thing I have noticed about myself, and I am speaking just for me. I have become a master of coping with things that happen in life. One of the reasons I weighed over 361 pounds was because of how I cope with stress in life. A lot of times it doesn’t feel like you’re doing anything wrong because you justify it by being “hungry.” Well, once I got sick and tired of being sick and tired and also was pre-diabetic I knew I needed to change. I made the change in the beginning of 2022 and lost over 80 pounds. Then my friend of 20 years passed away.

Here I was 80 pounds lighter and then this new stress of losing a loved one came bulldozing in. Without missing a beat and before I really knew it I was 20 pounds heavier and feeling it. I caught myself and stopped that unhealthy cycle of coping by eating. Then I realized I used other methods of numbing my feelings to cope with not wanting to feel the grief of that loss. I got help and had a friend encourage me and teach me how to trust God and truly trust Him by allowing people that He puts in your life to do so. I found myself wanting to draw closer to Christ and as I desired that, the more darkness filled my surroundings. These feelings of being a lone and of feeling not worthy tried to whisper their way back and I won’t lie I slipped but it was the kind of slip where you lose your balance like 17 times but finally catch yourself from falling… Yeah that is me!!

Another close friend has gone to be with Jesus and though he is gone, he was so full of life. He wasn’t sick, he wasn’t struggling but he is gone. I have been in shock since Friday when I heard the news and have a heavy heart for his wife and kids. They were such a tight knit family, they were the family you want to be like if and when you get blessed to have a family. I felt the same methods of coping trying to push back onto me but this time, God intervened and I did not overeat, but because I am a master of coping I saw small suggestive ways for me to deal with this. Even in my darkness, because of Jesus I could see a light and he keeps it nice and bright. You see I know even in my struggles I am HIS BELOVED and I know He holds nothing against me.

My friends if you are like me and cope in negative ways to deal with stress, grief, rage, anger or depression please know Jesus is truly the way. However, you can’t do it alone!! We need community and family to come together during this time. It is not only important to be like Jesus in these situations, but we must also free the Holy Spirit in us to do His work! I want you to know it is ok to be a master of coping as long as it is in positive ways… Praying, eating healthy, praise and worship, talking with friends or counselor. Choose the doors that are open and not the one’s you have to run full speed into to break down. Enjoy each moment with your loved ones and do not take for granted your each and every breath! God is real and so is Heaven and those we have lost here on Earth have simply passed onto the next side and are ALIVE and WELL… THANK GOD I BELIEVE AND THANK GOD FOR JESUS!!

One Love, One King, All Christ!

Endless Hope

We live in a world where hope is not welcome. Life in and of itself has an end and many people live with a hopeless end to it. They do not have any light at the end, they only have darkness. These past 8 months have been very difficult as many loved ones have passed on to Heaven. On Friday night I found out about another one of my close friends, who passed. He was an amazing Man, Husband and Father and one of the best musicians in the industry. However, for most of us it was his servant heart that most people recognized when they met him. This was a shocker and completely unexpected because he was strong and healthy and he was doing what he loved. When I heard the news, shock took over and then it was the question of WHY?? He is gone, he was not ready to go, he had so much more life to live and so on. Then I realized on my walk this morning I was thinking from a “hopeless end” mindset.

I know and love Jesus and I know that my friend loved him and served him well. He is no longer with us and the pain of that loss will be heavy, but we have a light to turn to. Jesus gives us the peace of knowing that Jim is alive and well, but just not with us. Our mindset needs to be of and Endless HOPE. We must know and trust Jesus and turn our hope to seeing Jim one day again. As I was walking a long the beach and listening to Billy Graham and he is the one that said ” As believers we have an Endless Hope!” I want to hold onto that as I mourn the loss of my dear friend. He is someone I did camps with and we were attached at the hip during all those years. We had so many amazing conversations about life and to know those won’t happen anymore really hurts!! I think this is the time that I need to take a step into his servant heart. I want to keep his passion for learning about Jesus and sharing it with other men, who are living this life here on Earth.

My friends in the last 8 months I have lost 4 people who were very significant during different seasons of my life. It reminds me more and more how important it is to share and live as Christ has called us to do so. I believe I need to make a change in my life and I have felt so for a while. I mostly get lost to the thought of change because I just let everyday living consume me. When I think about my friend, he was always and I mean ALWAYS trying to help someone or see how someone was doing. He was genuine and as the saying goes, We lost a Great one, it is true. However, Heaven gained another beautiful Beloved son. Grief is hard and it is not something we were designed to experience, but because of the fall of Adam, we do.

Remember God’s big picture is filled with ups and downs, but our faith needs to be solid and secure. When we can hold onto Faith that is the size of a mustard seed, we can experience the Endless Hope mindset. We need it as believers because this world is dark and many of our loved ones will pass away because everyone dies! For us, believers, death is not the end it is the Beginning of our eternal life. I will miss my friend Jim dearly as will so many others. My prayers go out to his wife and son and daughter as they deal with this tragic and sudden unexplainable loss. I pray the Jesus will pour his peace and ENDLESS HOPE on their hearts. RIP my dear friend Jim…

One Love, One King, All Christ!