Month: May 2020

Saying Goodbye

On By Leslie AnnIn Christian5 Comments

Sometimes it’s hard to say goodbye. When my sisters who live out of state come to visit, it’s hard to say goodbye when they leave because we don’t know when we will see each other again. When we leave a job or home that we enjoyed, it’s hard to say goodbye. Some even find it hard to say goodbye to fall when winter sets in and they know cold is on its way. But I think the hardest goodbye we ever say is when a loved one dies. A week ago today we said goodbye to our precious grandson. That’s something you never expect to experience. heartbrokenYou always think that you will die before your children or grandchildren. It’s shocking and it’s heart-breaking.

While our grandson was baptized as a teenager, we hadn’t spent as much time with him these past years as we wished so we weren’t really sure about his relationship with God. In the middle of the night Thursday/Friday and Friday morning I prayed that God would bless me by giving me some indication that he was in fact in the arms of Jesus. I knew that even though my heart was broken that he wasn’t here with me in person any longer, that would bring comfort to my soul. We buried him this past Friday. I won’t go into specifics, but God not only gave me an indication, He gave me two. God is so good!

Ecclesiastes3_1-2Our hearts still ache talk to him and our arms still ache to hug him, But, we are comforted that he is with God. We are strengthened in our resolve to pray fervently for our loved ones, our neighbors and our nation. Some don’t know God. Some may know God but aren’t growing in their faith. Some are simply struggling and need encouragement. I am now much more prayerfully passionate about the salvation of others and more fervently praying for them.

We have beautiful memories of our dear grandson and I am so thankful for them. He was so very sweet. So, for now we have said goodbye here on earth but will meet again in heaven. Of that I am eternally grateful.

Isaiah 58

On By Leslie AnnIn Christian

As I read this chapter in Isaiah, I could not help but think of our nation, our people, and the church. Like all of scripture, we can apply this chapter to our lives today. It’s a good “self-check” and offers points of prayer as we seek God on behalf of our families, communities and nation. May God’s church kneel down in prayer and stand up for God.Isaiah 58

“Shout it aloud, do not hold back.
    Raise your voice like a trumpet.
Declare to my people their rebellion
    and to the descendants of Jacob their sins.
2 For day after day they seek me out;
    they seem eager to know my ways,
as if they were a nation that does what is right
    and has not forsaken the commands of its God.
They ask me for just decisions
    and seem eager for God to come near them.
3 ‘Why have we fasted,’ they say,
    ‘and you have not seen it?
Why have we humbled ourselves,
    and you have not noticed?’

“Yet on the day of your fasting, you do as you please
    and exploit all your workers.
4 Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife,
    and in striking each other with wicked fists.
You cannot fast as you do today
    and expect your voice to be heard on high.
5 Is this the kind of fast I have chosen,
    only a day for people to humble themselves?
Is it only for bowing one’s head like a reed
    and for lying in sackcloth and ashes?
Is that what you call a fast,
    a day acceptable to the Lord?

6 “Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice
    and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free
    and break every yoke?
7 Is it not to share your food with the hungry
    and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—
when you see the naked, to clothe them,
    and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?
8 Then your light will break forth like the dawn,
    and your healing will quickly appear;
then your righteousness[a] will go before you,
    and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard.
9 Then you will call, and the Lord will answer;
    you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.

“If you do away with the yoke of oppression,
    with the pointing finger and malicious talk,
10 and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry
    and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,
then your light will rise in the darkness,
    and your night will become like the noonday.
11 The Lord will guide you always;
    he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land
    and will strengthen your frame.
You will be like a well-watered garden,
    like a spring whose waters never fail.
12 Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins
    and will raise up the age-old foundations;
you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls,
    Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.

13 “If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath
    and from doing as you please on my holy day,
if you call the Sabbath a delight
    and the Lord’s holy day honorable,
and if you honor it by not going your own way
    and not doing as you please or speaking idle words,
14 then you will find your joy in the Lord,
    and I will cause you to ride in triumph on the heights of the land
    and to feast on the inheritance of your father Jacob.”
For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.

This says it all. Amen.