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Life On The Other Side

Life On The Other Side

My heart is a little sad. My brother-in-law closed his eyes on this life for the last time today, and opened them in eternity.

I say a little sad because I believe with all of my heart that when a loved one passes away, they are no longer suffering. I believe that God answers prayer. And in my prayers I always ask God to save any of my family and friends that have not given their lives to Him. I believe He not only hears me, but He responds.

Many times, death is so hard for us to accept. Even when the person is ill…we struggle with letting go. What brings me comfort though is believing that even on our death bed, God comes to us one more time. Deuteronomy 31:8 says, “The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.” He is not willing to let any of us go. I trust God, and I trust His word.

Roman 14:8 also says, “If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord; so then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s.” All of us belong to Him. There is nothing about us that God doesn’t already know. And He loves us anyway…warts and all. 

My brother-in-law was one-of-a-kind. He was one of those people that made his presence known in every room he entered. He loved to have a good time, and he didn’t care if anyone else was having a good time, he made sure he did. I loved his spirit. I loved him. I loved knowing him, and I loved that I got to spend time on this journey with him. I pray that God welcomed him with open arms, and that he is enjoying eternity with all of his family and friends on the other side.

Until next time…

Be blessed

When The Unexpected Happens

When The Unexpected Happens

I came into this year so excited about what God would be doing. This year, I had plans to move forward into my purpose; claiming all the promises of God. I was thinking that if God could take time to breathe the word of life into His prophets for me…the least I could do is walk in them. I still think that’s true, but God didn’t do it the way I thought He would. 

Last week, my sister went home to be with the Lord. I didn’t see that coming. Nobody saw that coming. It knocked the wind out of me. There was no warning. God didn’t check in with me to see if that was part of my plan. What He did was what He had planned even before He breathed life into her lungs. He already knew when He would come to claim that same breath back. 

I thought the last few years were the worst, but I didn’t know about this. I didn’t plan for this. I didn’t know that having to endure the passing of my sister would be part of what I would be doing this year. But here’s the thing, God didn’t have to ask my permission. He is God. And even though I don’t like it; even though I would rather be doing just about anything else…I trust His plan. 

One of my favorite scriptures is from the Book of Romans, and it says, “No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:37-39).

I know that whenever the unexpected happens, whatever we have to go through, God has already worked it out. This scripture says that nothing…no problem, no situation, not even death can come between the relationship that we have with the Lord. He has to be number one, because when He has first place in our lives, we never have to worry about the outcome, because God holds the outcome in His hands.  

Until next time…

Be blessed