Be Strong In The Lord…

Be Strong In The Lord…

My Mom has stage 3 pancreatic cancer and has been given just a few short months to live. If you don’t think this will change every aspect of your life and affect you in very profound ways…well…you never been given this type of news.

Jesus Christ became very real, no longer just a story in a book, somewhere around March / April 2017. Having been a believer for most of my life there was a massive, indescribable change around this time. Constantly reading about, watching news reports concerning and republishing news around the truth of this world was tearing holes in my soul in ways that were completely unexpected forced my hand and opened my eyes to the reality of needing a relationship with Jesus Christ. This was no one an option.

After some eight years the holes-in-my-soul were beginning to get closer and closer together. Very little was holding everything together. Tears were on the menu on a daily basis. A deep sense of disconnect was driving everything.

One day, while working and crying, a video came on that changed everything. Having stopped the video and throwing my arms over my head in a full surrender I begged God to place the Whole Armor of God on me. He did. The tears stopped, the pain subsided and my heart, mind and soul were quieted.

Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armour of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. ~ Ephesians 6:10-12 KJB

When God begins speaking directly to you, there is no denying it. When your Mom is going to die in a few short months your whole life looks a lot different.

It is impossible to know what to do. It is impossible to know what to say. Prayer helps a lot and a lot of prayers helps a whole lot more. Staying in the Word of God also helps. God will reveal His beauty as long as we stay close. There is something about every situation in our lives that God has planted a little beauty. We have to find it.

Is it possible console another person? How does that work? What if the person has resigned themselves to what some dude in a white jacket has said? What if the person is unwilling to listen to anything that is beautiful, helpful or can help to ease the pain? How do you reach them? How do you console them?

We actually need Jesus Christ in our life in order to understand that death is not an ending, but, rather, a beginning. Death is not the end of life it is when believers go home after serving God’s children here in this world. We are nothing more than Ambassadors for the Kingdom of God. We should act like it all the time. Nothing else really matters. All these ministers in their fancy suits, their $300 tennis shoes or whatever expensive lifestyle they are living are missing out completely. I appreciate what our pastor does for my family, however, that does not change the truth.

If we give money to a group of people in a building called church are we tithing or are we supporting other people? Are we making someone else’s lifestyle possible at the expense of our own? Are we doing God’s work or…or are we doing work for this world? Not sure what the right answer is to these questions but giving ourselves seems like what Jesus Christ was teaching, not just giving alms. Alms should be given for the day, not the month, year or the next building project, but more to ensure a person eats today and has a bed to sleep in for the night.

Our lives are funny in that our entire situation can change direction in a flash. We hear something, smell something, feel something, see something or taste something and our whole life suddenly moves in a direction previously unknown, previously never considered. This is how the Holy Spirit moves in our life – so long as we are paying attention.