This Is All That I Have To Offer

I Thessalonians 4:16-18
 ¹⁶ For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. ¹⁷ After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. ¹⁸ Therefore encourage one another with these words.

Today we buried my oldest sister Margie and I am hurting. Almost two weeks ago I was with her at the hospital when her doctor told her that he was going to let her go home on Valentine's Day and five days later she was dead. I'm hurting. There was five of us and now there are four. My oldest sister is gone and I am hurting.  Over the past few years my sister and I had become very close. I could confide in her and she in me, but that will not occur any more because now she is gone.

In the funeral procession today, my oldest brother Willie told everyone now that Margie is gone, that they would have to look to me. What can I offer? Nothing other than the Greatest Gift that has been offered to mankind. That is the Person of Jesus Christ.

One day while talking to Margie. I asked her if she were to stand before God and He asked her why should He let her into His Heaven, what would she say to Him and she told me that she would tell Him "because I asked Jesus to forgive me of all of my sins and I asked Him to save me".  My sister told me that she trusted in Christ. If this is the case, I am not to sorrow like those who have no hope, as someone told me recently "I am to trust that Jesus is faithful to keep what my sister had entrusted to Him".  Hallejah what a Savior!

If any of my love ones or anyone else for that matter were to looked to me, the only thing that I have to offer them is Jesus Christ. I pray that they will take hold of this and run with it, but if they do not I will not be deterred. Because Jesus is my refuge. I am no fool. As I look around there are a lot of my  love ones who have died and I do believe that they loved me but they are no longer here, but Jesus have always been by my side and He promised me that He would never leave me nor forsake me and He is faithful to keep His promises. So love ones, Run to Him! Run to Him! Run to Him! It is Christ alone who can bear your grief, show you grace and extend to you mercy.

 Lately I have been wearing the word mercy out. When I feel the darkness trying to consume me,  I cry "Jesus have mercy on me", and He does. Jesus did not choose to raise my sister from the dead like he did Lazarus or the widow of Nain's son but He said to me in her death "Gladys my grace is sufficient for you for my power is made perfect in weakness." What will I do? I shall likewise be like Paul and say  "I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong."  I am hurting and weak but Jesus is strengthening me daily.

In the car today I whispered "Jesus I Love You".  He loves me too. Even So, Come Quickly Lord Jesus. And this is all that I have to offer.

Good Friday or Black Friday

I've heard so many tragic stories about people who were assaulted on Black Friday. A father and his sixteen year old pregnant daughter assaulted an employee at Walmart because he could not give them  the product that they wanted. A father asked the customer behind him to hold his baby and when she did he beat the customer ahead of him because he was tired of hearing him talk. This really does sound like a "dark day" and a lot of people got injured because of it. Was it worth it?

 Black Friday is the day after Thanksgiving, this is when retailers offer great sales to start the Christmas Holiday. It is ironic that some people would harm others when they go out and shop for Christmas, which is the day that is set aside to celebrated the birth of the promised Messiah.  I'm sure if we could ask Jesus what He thinks about the way we prepare for His birthday, He would say, "no thank you".

We anticipate Black Friday all year. I ask again, is it worth it? I don't think that it is worth it, but there was a day that was worth it all. The only person that was assaulted was Jesus and He was assaulted for us. This day is called Good Friday. On Good Friday if you look around churches, you would not find a fourth of the people sitting in pews that was out on Black Friday. It is a shame and a disgrace to God that He would give up His only Son for us and we still reject Him. We claim that on Black Friday we are preparing to celebrate Jesus' birth, but what we are worshipping is an idol, because we have made Jesus in our image and we are guilty of idolatry (Exodus:32).

Do you not know that the retailers will get back double fold what you paid for those marked down items on Black Friday, but what did God get back when He sacrificed His only begotten Son? He received wretches that was worthy of death. This does not seem fair. Will you FOREVER  seek things that will only bring you temporary happiness, when God is offering you "the water that will become in you a spring of water welling up to eternal life" (John:4:14). My heart longs for you to receive this gift. This is my only reason for starting this blog and now let examine the two Fridays.

It appeared to be a Black Friday on what we now call Good Friday,because with Jesus dead it was impossible for the long awaited promise of God to be fulfilled, then came Resurrection Day (John 20: 1-8).  You see on every Black Friday that we have had, it led to some kind of tragedy, but Good Friday lead up to Victory, because the Lord defeated sin and death, and that Black Friday over two thousand years ago gave us hope.

There is a Black Friday that comes once a year and people fight to get into the stores for the sales and there is a Good Friday that comes once a year and it leads up to Resurrection Day, no one has to fight to enter into God's Kingdom, because it is freely offered. Jesus said "He that hath ears to hear, let him hear" (Matthew 11:15). Will you please listen?