For Those Who Love Them

(I originally wrote this piece in 2018 but wasn’t brave enough to post it then. Some of the cultural references may be dated, but the message still holds true.)

 

Lately there have been a lot of suicides.

Kate Spade. Anthony Bourdain. The kid across town.

No matter who you are, you have probably known of someone who took their own life.

What has come over this world?

Why are all these people choosing to leave by their own hand?

 

For most of them, it’s lack of hope.

When you ask suicide survivors why they did it, a majority of them will tell you they thought there was no hope.

None.

 

We need to bring back hope.

Hope for help, peace, understanding, and acceptance.

Hope that is only found in God, through Christ alone.

We must remind them of God’s faithfulness; encourage them to turn to Him.

 

Of course, this must be done gently.

They’re already beat down by their own ugly thoughts.

No need to beat them over the head with a Bible.

By gently sharing the truth of God’s love and reminding them the Creator of the Universe loves them and wants to help them we can begin to point them to the only place real hope exists – in Christ.

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I Didn’t See It Coming

September is Suicide Prevention month so I am focusing on that topic for a few weeks. I originally wrote this post back in 2018 not long after I lost a dear friend. I’m bringing it back now because I feel led to share it. It originally appeared on a previous blog I had. That blog no longer exists.

 

 

All week I’ve been avoiding writing this post.

All week I’ve felt it rolling around in me.

So, here goes.

It’s Suicide Prevention week. The time we set aside to raise awareness and encourage people not to leave.

It’s a subject that has always been near to me. Not because I’ve ever been tempted but because it’s a subject the Lord has given me a heart for.

This year is especially hard —

On June 29, 2015 I lost the best friend I ever had.

He died of a self-inflicted gun shot wound.

Suicide.

I never saw the signs.

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Suicide Prevention Month

September is Suicide Prevention Month and with it comes this important reminder from my heart.

You are important.

You matter.

You are loved. By me. By God.

Please stay.

Please don’t leave.

This world is so much better with you in it.

 

I know it might be hard to see or believe, but you are not alone.

There are people out there who would love to hear from you.

I hope you will use one of the resources below to reach out to them.

 

Call or text 988. Volunteers are standing by 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. They are waiting to hear from you. Available in English or Spanish.

They also have a website where you can chat. The website also has resources for deaf/hard of hearing people.

Their website is 988 Lifeline

 

Military members and veterans have unique struggles. A hotline has been set up for anyone with military experience, active, reserve, or retired. Call 988 then press 1. You can also text 838255 to contact someone who understands. They are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

You can find out more or chat with someone by visiting their website, called, Veterans Crisis Line

This resource is open to all branches of the military, including Coast Guard and Space Force.

 

Another good resource is the Crisis Textline. Text them at 741741 or visit their website, You can reach out to them anytime day or night by clicking here…. Crisis Textline. They also have resources for anxiety, bullying, depression, grief, and other needs.

 

The Trevor Project provides text, chat, and phone call support to those who identify as LGBTQ+. They can be found here – The Trevor Project They are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

 

Whichever resource you choose, I hope you will reach out to someone and get the support you need and remember:

The Lord loves you and so do I.

.

 

 

The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. Psalm 34:18 (NIV)

 

So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. Isaiah 41:10 (NIV)

 

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30 (NIV)

 

 

 

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Amen

Did you ever wonder why we say, “Amen”, at the end of our prayers?

What does it mean?

Is there a purpose or is it a polite way to say, “the end”?

 

The word amen comes from the Hebrew word amēn, pronounced am-ane’, which means, so be it, may it be fulfilled.

When we say amen at the end of our prayers we are saying to God we hope what we are asking for is how things will turn out.

 

It was a custom in the Jewish synagogues that once someone finished giving a prayer, that the congregation would together say amen. This would make what was prayed their own. It would give them ownership and involvement in the prayer.

When Christianity began, they carried this tradition with them into the Christian church. (blb.org)

When we say amen at the end of a prayer in our church we are saying to God we agree and want the same thing the person praying said in the prayer.

Ending our personal, private prayer with amen is saying to God we are praying with the hope He will make these things happen.

 

Realizing what amen means helps us realize how serious praying really is.

When we pray we are going to the Creator of the Universe and talking to Him. We are asking Him to help us with something.

 

Knowing this makes me stop and look at what I’m asking for and how I go about asking for it.

Am I being humble?

Am I being honest – both with God and with myself?

Am I seeking what’s best for God’s kingdom? Or, only what I think is best for me?

 

That amen at the end reminds us we need to make sure what we are asking of Him is for the right reasons and that we are truly seeking interaction with God, not just a free handout or favor.

 

What a privilege it is for us to ask God for something and then end the conversation by saying, ” i hope this request is fulfilled,”.

 

As we come to God in prayer, let us always make sure our hearts and motives are right and that we humbly ask for things that honor God and help His kingdom grow.

That way we can easily say, Amen!

 

 

 

 

 

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I Surrender All

There’s an old hymn from the 1890s titled “I Surrender All”.

It is a beautiful song and one of my favorites.

Part of the chorus says, “All to Thee, My Blessed Savior, I surrender all.”

 

I heard and sang that song for years without really understanding what it meant.

I knew what surrender was.

I knew I was committed to Jesus and to living a life that pleased Him.

But, deep down, I was still hanging onto things.

Things I hadn’t given Him yet.

Things I didn’t want to give Him.

Things I didn’t realize I needed to give Him.

 

Then I heard the words no one ever wants to hear, “You have cancer,”

Believe me when I say that will make you think about things you never thought about.

It will also make you look at a lot of things a lot differently.

 

It was like a light bulb went off in my head and I realized there were things I was holding on to that I didn’t know were there.

Unforgiveness. Frustration. Disappointment.

 

The only thing I could do about any of it was to give it to Christ.

Not in some, “Hey this is bothering me” way.

In a deep, honest, get it all out into the open kind of way.

Complete honesty and deep reflection.

Admitting my part in it.

 

It wasn’t easy.

I ugly-cried for days.

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Praying for My Kids

I pray for my kids every day.

I pray for their spiritual and physical safety.

I pray for their jobs, relationships, finances, and friendships.

I pray they will have courage, wisdom, boldness, kindness, peace, grace, and mercy.

I pray they will find favor in tough situations.

I pray they will step up and do what is right; that they will be honest, good people.

I pray they will draw closer to God.

When they mention something going on in their life I pray about that, too.

 

One thing I never, ever pray, though, is for overly specific things.

I never pray they will work this job or move to that place.

I never pray they will make a decision I think they should make or that they will do it one way or the other.

 

Instead, I pray and ask the Father to speak to their heart about which way they should go.

I also pray they will listen to Him and hear His promptings and follow His guidance so they will be in His will.

 

I try as hard as I can to practice this, even when I see them making foolish choices.

As much as I might want to say, “Lord, tell them No! Make them stop! They can’t do that anymore!” I instead ask Him to open their spiritual eyes, speak truth to their heart, and to help them see the choices they are making are hurtful.

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Filtering Through Pain

One of the hardest things I’ve had to learn is how to filter my pain through truth instead of filtering truth through my pain.

See, as humans when we’re hurting we often let our pain color our perception of things, people, and actions around us.

We don’t do it on purpose.

It’s that the pain is there and present and in the forefront of our minds so we tend to lead with that and to perceive things from that perspective.

Whether we’ve been disrespected, lied to, betrayed, stolen from, or experienced any other kind of pain, we tend to see others’ actions as potential for that event to be happening again, even when it’s not.

We assume (sometimes without realizing it) that because a person from our past did us wrong this person will, too.

Unfortunately, when we’re expecting and looking for something we tend to see it, whether it’s there or not.

 

God calls us to a higher standard than that.

Instead of filtering our life experiences through our pain, He calls us to filter them through His Word and Truth.

Regardless of how we feel or what we have experienced, we have to put the truth of Scripture first and foremost in our minds and operate according to it and what it says.

 

That can be hard.

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Pick Up Your Cross…

Have you ever heard the phrase, “pick up your cross”?

It’s part of a verse where Jesus says, “pick up your cross and follow Me,”.

This is a good, important thing to do.

It’s one of the basic parts of being a Christian.

 

To pick up our cross means to pick up the practice of obeying Christ and whatever calling He has placed on our life, to choose to lay our self aside, and to follow Him wherever He leads us.

 

Have you ever read the entire verse?

It’s found in Matthew 16:24 and says,

 Then Jesus said to His disciples, “Whoever wants to be My disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow Me. (NIV)

 

Did you catch that?

It says to deny yourself.

 

Too often we try to follow Christ while still doing things our own way and living life on our terms.

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What is Salvation?

You’ve probably heard the words Saved or Salvation used by Christians.

What does it mean in this context?

It means saved from our sins.

 

See, back when God first created the world He created a beautiful garden and placed two people in it – Adam and Eve.

They lived a beautiful and blessed life.

There was no sin.

There was no pain.

There was just joy.

Unfortunately, they made a really bad choice that ended all that.

 

When God placed them in the Garden of Eden, He told them about two trees that were there.

One was the Tree of Life; the other was the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.

God made it very clear they could eat of any tree in the garden except the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.

The enemy came to Eve, disguised as a serpent, to tempt her into eating the fruit of the only tree God had told them to stay away from.

She not only ate it, she shared it with Adam.

When they ate this fruit, their eyes were opened to see the difference between good and evil.

It was at the moment Eve yielded to the serpent’s temptation and ate the fruit that sin entered the world.

Because of this, God made them leave the garden so they would not eat from the Tree of Life.

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Galatians 3:3

In Galatians 3, Paul is explaining to the Christians in Galatia that it’s not about following the law that makes us free.

Some Jewish converts to Christianity in Antioch were telling the Gentile Christians the men had to be circumcised if they wanted to be true Christians. They were trying to make it a condition of salvation.

They were teaching this because under the law of the Old Testament, God told all Jewish men to be circumcised.

Paul was explaining that it was no longer necessary to live according to the law.

Once Christ came the Old Testament law was fulfilled by His life, death, burial, and resurrection. Therefore it no longer applied.

Then Paul brought the point home when he asked the question:

 

Are you so foolish? After beginning by means of the Spirit, are you now trying to finish by means of the flesh? Galatians 3:3 NIV

 

In other words, you know it’s grace that saves you by having faith in Christ and what He did for you at Calvary. Why are you now trying to use your works and your actions to make it happen?

The truth is we can’t.

Salvation is only given to us by us having faith in Jesus, not by anything else we do.

No matter what we do, we can never be “good enough” to earn our way in to Heaven.

It doesn’t work that way.

 

As I was reading this verse I thought about how we as humans often try to make things happen, not just concerning salvation but also in our lives and the lives of others.

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