Purity 402 04/26/2021 Purity 402 Podcast
Good morning.
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
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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!
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at mt4christ247@gmail.com to receive the class materials, share your progress, and to be
encouraged.
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