Labels

Monday, April 26, 2021

Purity 402: Encouragement for the Path of Christian Discipleship

 



Purity 402  04/26/2021 Purity 402 Podcast

Good morning.

Today’s photo of this gnarly and wild cottonwood tree was taken by yours truly deep in the heart of San Antonio, Texas on the grounds of the Alamo itself.  As I learned yesterday the word alamo, actually means “a poplar tree of the southwestern U.S., a cottonwood.  So what you are actually looking at in this photo is an alamo at The Alamo! And do you know what company I got my rental car from to go and see this alamo at the Alamo?  

Dollar rent a car… I know we could have had a freaking Alamo trifecta!   But alas, that honor will have to fall to someone else and unfortunately now that you understand the significance of what that would have been, it cannot be you, because for serendipitous moments like that to be truly meaningful they must be a thing of destiny and cannot be properly experienced through our manufacturing with foreknowledge.

But seriously, I hit the ground running yesterday and went immediately to the Alamo after getting off the plane.  My remembrance of the Alamo comes mostly from the 1955    Disney film series about Davy Crockett starring Fess Parker, and I remember being utterly filled with disbelief and a small measure of horror when I watched that film and discovered that Good Old Davy Crockett was not victorious and died with the other 188 men who fought to their deaths defending the Alamo.  

So yesterday, I had a weird sense of nostalgia and sadness as I learned even more about the events that unfolded at the Alamo in 1836.  The stories of the men, women, and children at the Alamo really put a face to the history that surrounded the site and although I took a selfie with a grin before I went in to the Alamo, my demeanor was a little more solemn and respectful for the memorial when I was walking out.  

The whole thing reminded me of our common human condition of life and death and how these people, on both sides, were just trying to do what they thought was right and how our lives can be gone in a moment.  Whether we live or die, we must live by what we believe and the stories of sacrifice, and love, at the Alamo made me realize that our experiences in history may be different but our motivations are always the same. 

We can be motivated by power, greed, and lust and try to take what we want out of this world by whatever means necessary because we believe that life is cheap and short and we must seize it while we live but the stories that we most identify with are the stories that were not about power, fame, or possessions, The stories that we most identify with are the ones that reflect the motivations of sacrifice and love.  

So keep walking and talking with God and write a story not based on what you can get out of this life but instead leave behind a tale that tells of the love that motivated you and the lives that your love touched.  

(An Audio version of this message is available at https://mt4christ247.podbean.com, you can also find it on Apple podcasts (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-mt4christ247s-podcast/id1551615154) and Google podcasts (https://podcasts.google.com/?feed=aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkLnBvZGJlYW4uY29tL210NGNocmlzdDI0Ny9mZWVkLnhtbA%3D%3D).) There is more content at the restricted blog. Follow me on Twitter or MeWe for easy access.  Blog M T 4 Christ dot org – This is where the Facebook post ends.)

#christianfaith #christianblog #christianencouragement #freedominchrist #christiancounseling #dailydevotional #jesuschrist #mt4christ #discipleship #victoryoverthedarkness

This morning’s meditation verse is:

Ezekiel 37:1 (NKJV)
1 The hand of the LORD came upon me and brought me out in the Spirit of the LORD, and set me down in the midst of the valley; and it was full of bones.

Just a short note about today’s Bible verse selection. Normally, I draw from a deck of index cards of Bible verses that I have handwritten over the years from Bible study that personally spoke to me at the time.   Well I am on road today and didn’t take the deck with me.   

But I happen to be the owner of over a thousand e-books (I know I have a problem but a lot of were free and many were less than $2) and several daily devotions.  So I decided to drawer today’s verse from “365 Days in the Presence of God” by Dr. Frank Ray because it gives you a verse a day and because I always want to be in God’s presence.  

Anyway, today’s verse tells us about the Old Testament prophet Ezekiel’s experience of the Lord giving him a vision of a valley of dry bones being given flesh and being raised to life as a prophecy that foretold that the nation of Israel, although at the time totally destroyed and in exile, would one day be restored to their land and be “under the leadership of “David, My servant [who] shall be king over them” (Ezekiel 37:24), clearly a reference to the future under Jesus Christ the Messiah, descendant of David (Isaiah 7:14; 9:6–7; Luke 1:31–33).”  (https://www.gotquestions.org/valley-dry-bones.html).   

So, although the nation of Israel was returned to their land in 1948, we are still awaiting the fulfillment of this prophecy when Christ returns.  And what a marvelous day that will be.  

But the verses in Ezekiel 37 are also often used to speak of our own personal journeys of faith.  The valley of dry bones can represent times of personal loss, turmoil, and trauma and the bones coming to life can represent our restoration.  

We can learn a lot about the times we face in those valleys of  dry bones but the thing we should remember the most is that there isn’t any true restoration or life without God’s power coming into those dry bones. 

So no matter what valley you have walked out of or what valley you may be in the midst of, be sure to go to the Lord for His presence, guidance, wisdom, and love to be empowered to walk on in the peace that can only come from Him, the peace that goes beyond all understanding.  

I invite all to mt4christ.org where I always share insights from prominent Christian counselors to assist my brothers and sisters in Christ with their walk. 

 

Today we continue to share from Dr. H. Norman Wright’s “Experiencing Grief

As always, I share this information for educational purposes and encourage all to purchase Dr. Wright’s books for your own private study and to support his work. If you need this title you can find it online at several sites for less than $5.00:

Chapter 17.
Complicated Deaths

The loss of a loved one by natural death is difficult enough. But many losses go far beyond this. When a death occurs and you never had a chance to say good-bye, your grief will be more intense and last longer.

When a loved one dies suddenly of an illness no one knew about, it comes as a shock because there is no time for preparation. It's a time when many major decisions need to be made, yet the emotional surge you experience makes it difficult to make decisions. Sudden illness or death robs you of saying good-bye as well as gaining some closure in the relationship. You end up with a multitude of unanswered questions, but there's not much you can do. Sudden death also occurs when a loved one who was expected to die does so months before they were supposed to.

You see, the way in which our loved one died will have a powerful effect on how we grieve:

Sudden deaths, especially violent or accidental deaths, provoke our greatest shock, anxiety and distress. Violent deaths make us feel vulnerable and fearful. Such deaths may provoke our rage or indignation at the injustice of the death. Suicide, too, has a tragic, shocking quality. Suicide may arouse unfounded guilt or a sense of failure among the survivors.

Peaceful, sudden deaths, such as dying in one's sleep, seem more like a blessing, for we imagine this 60 as an easy passage for the deceased. However, any sudden death provokes many questions, doubts and concerns. We wonder why the death happened. Who is to blame? Could it have been prevented? Sudden deaths feel unnatural. We preoccupy ourselves with "if only," ruminations in which we try to rewrite history to erase this disaster. Because we are so unprepared for loss in a sudden death, and because we usually have so much unfinished business with the deceased, sudden deaths seem to be the hardest with which to cope.

When Your Loss Is Sudden

The shock of a sudden, unexpected death puts you at a high risk for a pattern of complicated grieving. Why does this happen? How does this affect your life when your capacity to cope crumbles due to a sudden loss?

  • Your loss makes no sense whatsoever. No one can explain it adequately.
  • You can't even say good-bye or finish any unfinished business. It's difficult to find closure to your relationship.
  • Your emotional reactions are heightened much more than when a natural death occurs.
  • Your symptoms of grief and shock persist, and this in turn can demoralize you.
  • You may tend to hold yourself responsible more than you normally would.
  • You experience a profound loss of security and confidence in your world. In fact, you are shattered.
  • You may tend to focus on the negative aspects of the relationship with the deceased rather than having a balanced view.
  • You have other sudden major losses because of the unexpectedness of the loss.

All of these factors could lead you to experience posttraumatic stress disorder.

If the death of your loved one was one of violence, you have other painful questions running through your mind such as "Were they aware of what was going to happen?" or "Were they in pain?" Your mind tries to focus on the act itself.

If the death was due to murder or suicide, your grief is even greater because of your outrage over the act. Sometimes the strong desire we have for more details or wanting to see the body or the site prolongs the shock and pain.

An experience even worse is not knowing what happened. Sometimes a death leaves many unanswered questions. For some reason we seem to feel better when we have great detail, as bad as it may be. Perhaps it's because it leaves less room for speculation. We often tend to think the worst.

When Your Loss Is Anticipated

Perhaps you had to watch a lingering death. This is an agonizing experience. It is an almost unbearable experience to see a loved one hurting, and you feel helpless to ease the suffering. You try. You ask. You plead. But you end up feeling helpless. It is hard to live with what feels like a death sentence, followed by a reprieve, followed by another horrendous bout of pain; and this may be repeated again and again during a long illness.

If you were the one who discovered the death, your grief will tend to be complicated. The scene may be frozen in your memory and difficult to let go, especially if this was not expected. All this creates extra issues for you to deal with that other family members or friends don't have to deal with. You may see others moving forward in their grief recovery sooner than you, and you may feel left behind. But your recovery will occur. Others didn't have the burden to carry that you had.

Sometimes there is no body to view or to bury, which can leave you with some doubts. "Did they really die?" "How will I know for sure?" This has happened in many types of accidents, disasters, or battles in war.

These are just some of the complications you may have to face in your journey. If so, I suggest some additional reading to assist you, such as the chapter on "Complicated Grief" in The Mourning Handbook by Helen Fitzgerald.


Experiencing Grief.

----------------------------more tomorrow-------------------------

 

God bless you all!

 

Join our Victory over the Darkness Discipleship Class via the mt4christ247 podcast!

at https://mt4christ247.podbean.com, You can also find it on Apple podcasts (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-mt4christ247s-podcast/id1551615154) and Google podcasts (https://podcasts.google.com/?feed=aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkLnBvZGJlYW4uY29tL210NGNocmlzdDI0Ny9mZWVkLnhtbA%3D%3D

Email me at mt4christ247@gmail.com to receive the class materials, share your progress, and to be encouraged.

 

 

 

 

No comments:

Post a Comment

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.