Overcome Evil with Good

When tragedy strikes we take a stand back and wonder why. Why would a “so called,” All Powerful, All Knowing, and All Loving God allow such a thing? Where is His hand in the midst of such a terrible situation? The shock of the news leaves us numb as we sort out the information that trickles in. As for the shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut, it was a tragedy. A tragedy that we wished never happened. So many young innocent victims lost their lives, all too soon. It was a tragedy, at the hand of an ill young man. A tragedy where evil showed it’s ugly face once again.

Our world is the place where each and every person has the opportunity to choose how they will live. Will they live in goodness or evil? Our all loving and mighty God allows mankind to have that free will. We are not puppets on a string. As much as we could live our lives to help mankind, we can also live our lives to destroy mankind. Just as God and goodness needs willing vessels to make it known in this world, so does sin and evil. Sin is a friend to Satan and needs willing vessels in order to prove it is alive and active in humanity. Each time a person surrenders to sin, evil prevails. Sin always leads to death. It destroys relationships and lives. It has a way to eat at the core of all God’s goodness and mandate to mankind, “Be fruitful multiply and subdue the earth.” The enemy knows he is the prince of the air. He sends out commands to his demonic forces to work directly against the goodness of God for mankind and His creation. For every good thing, there is it’s counterfeit of evil.

We mourn with those who have lost their loved ones because we know the pain of loss is great. We may even ask ourselves, how can we help now? We cannot ever bring back their loved ones. Since God does call us to "partner" with Him, we too can overcome evil with good. Here are just a few ideas:

• Pray for the families and the community. We can ask that the Lord to pour out his grace and mercy in a special way. We can also pray the Lord keep them from going into bondage of fear and anxiety. 
• Focus on the "heroes" of that day. Rather than allowing evil to consume our thoughts. We need to praise the Lord for those who were willing to take a stand against evil. 
•  We can hold prayer vigils on their behalf and let our tears flow “with them” as our hearts ache for them.
• We can also send cards and gifts to them and their community. Even though the whole community's lives have been turned upside down, there will be children and families that need to have a sense of normalcy. For some of them it means Santa is suppose to come to on Christmas. With so many families being impacted by this tragedy, it's possible "Santa" could "forget." But with the help from so many, I believe we will see something positive coming from something so extremely difficult. For further information on sending cards or gifts - click:
•  http://www.ktvn.com/story/20358955/sandy-hook-school-fund-established

As people press into God for help, God will provide “out of this world” answers to their sorrow and pain. He WILL overcome evil with good. God will impart compassion and ideas, which provide ways for believers to help in this time of need.

Even though it seems like evil has prevailed, God in His abundance of life will have the final victory and we can join Him in this endeavor.

 

May this video provide some hope, healing, and restoration to those in need...

Hope in the Cross

Everybody believes in something. However, when we believe in Jesus, we find salvation, healing, and deliverance from every thing that is thrown at us from this fallen world.

The cross is recorded in history as one of the most painful ways to die. Jesus chose to take the challenge so that we wouldn't have to be bound to separation from the Heavenly Father now and for eternity. His vertical position on the cross represents His relationship between Him and the Father. His horizontal position, with His out-stretched hands, represents His relationship of love for mankind.

This video is my expression of my hope in the cross. Like many other people, I have had challenging situations. Never the less, when I rely on the Lord, I discover ways to overcome. Often times what comes to me to deal with situations is beyond natural thinking. I am not alone and neither do you need to be.

God Bless!
Deborah

Forgiveness - Not So Easy

He was a hard man. His life was filled with sorrow of many kinds. A broken child grew into a broken adult and he made poor choices that deeply affected his family and himself. When he was drunk, he was abusive. When he was sober, he was unpredictable. His lifestyle led him stammering his way through with great instability until the final years of his life.

She loved him very deeply. Yet, she would find her life with him painful as she would be left with the children for days on end, without any resources other than self determination to keep her family going. When he returned from a drinking binge, she would readjust her lifestyle to allow him in. Times were tough and she made the best of all she could.

The children grew and were determined to do better with their own families. Many accomplished their goals. When their parent’s 50th anniversary came, they celebrated with food, fellowship, and gifts. Both parents were present. However, by the time the evening approached, they went their separate ways. He went back to the house they had lived in for many years, which had an outhouse for a bathroom. And she went back to her apartment, that had modern facilities.

Only God knows for sure if she forgave him upon her death bed. He had given her many reasons not to, even bringing an illegitimate child into this world. However, no one could ever deny how she tried desperately to work with him through the years. Perhaps her love for him was greater than herself? Maybe the Lord gave her a portion of divine love for this desperate man, whereby; she could continuously try to work though things time after time.

I like to think she did forgive him in the end. Her character and development of faith leads me to think that in the end she forgave all. She labored in death until the time came for her to depart. I think in some cases when people have issues – there’s a type of spiritual cleansing that takes place so that when they leave their bodies, they can enter the holy of holies sanctified, purified, and washed by the blood of the lamb. In her last days, while she was in the hospital, he had a stroke by her bedside. He became 90% blind. With only seeing through one eye, the diameter of a straw hole, he had spent his last days sitting and meditating over his life. I believe his "purging" took much longer because he never took time to examine his life and consider his wrong doings. I had the opportunity to share Christ with him, which he assured he believed in Him. And once again, I like to believe he came to the true saving knowledge of Christ and was forgiven and forgave all who he carried oughts for.

Even though they remained married for over 50 years, they ended up living apart, dying apart, and being buried – apart. Their bodies and stones being placed in two separate cemeteries is an example of how time can slip away and unsettled matters can live on after we pass on.

Some offenses run deep. This is especially true when a person causes pain and destruction, in exchange to fulfill their own selfish desires. However, if we can grasp the spiritual concept that our ability to forgive is a choice that God calls us to, He will honor our desire to be forgiving. We can discover a deeper relationship in Him as He walks us through the journey of forgiveness.

Forgiveness isn’t always based on what we can do on our own accord. There are difficult situations where we need to rely on God’s desire for us to walk in forgiveness. If we don't we can slip into living behind the "walls of unforgiveness" which we put up from offenses. However, we mature spiritually as we choose to trust and rely on Christ; who Himself carried all sins to the cross and made a path for freedom for mankind, even in forgiveness.

When we realize the trials of forgiveness develop a greater spiritual dependence for believing in God to help us, we can rejoice with confidence that He will work on our behalf. After all, it’s His desire we experience this precious gift in both receiving and giving forgiveness. There is no greater joy than to be forgiven and there is no greater sense of walking in freedom than to forgive our offenders. We remove ourselves from the responsibility of being their god, and trying to make the wrong doings "right". When we forgive and release the offender to the Lord, God deals with them directly. This spiritual journey isn't always easy though. In scripture Peter asked, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?” Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven. (Matt 18:21&22) There are some situations where we will choose over and over again to forgive because that is what the Lord calls us to do.

The feeling of freedom doesn’t come immediately. It comes as we trust that God is going to take over and we fight the temptation to allow anger settle in our hearts and take root. Forgiveness comes when:

1. We choose to release injustice done to us and give it to God.
2. We choose to meditate on healthy (Godly) thoughts.
3. Pray for God to help our offender.
4. Allow time to bring feelings of freedom.

There is freedom in Christ and it can take time and persistence. Just as it takes time for a child to learn to tie his shoe, spiritual applications take time to develop too. If we were to calculate forgiveness as Jesus spoke we’d see that it is a process. Multiply 70 x7 and it comes to 490 times! If you were to think about it, it’s like forgiving the offender, once a day, for over a year! It doesn’t always come easy. Attempting to walk in forgiveness is far better than leaving it unsettled and possibly taking it to the grave. The peace and maturity you receive as you choose to do it God’s way brings a freedom that nothing else can.

God Bless!
Deborah :)

Life is a Gift

 

The phone rang, "You need to get to the hospital...now!" My cousin was yelling, "Your dad just tried to kill himself - and I saw it!" My heart sank and my mind flooded with all kinds of fearful thoughts. My dad was suppose to go to the doctor's later that day. I was the one that was suppose to take him. I quickly grabbed my keys and headed to the hospital.

When I got there, my dad was in surgery. The knife wound knicked his spleen and there was legitimate concern that he might not make it. I wasn't ready to let him go, I was planning on getting him help! This day wasn't suppose to be like this!

After waiting for hours, my father pulled through surgery. I went in to see him. He glared at me. He refused to talk to me. He was angry and possibly because he was alive. I wondered. The doctor came to see me and told me that he was going to be okay, but he would be transferred to the mental health facility in a few days.

I went home wondering where God was when this happened. I struggled with why God allowed it to happen. I contemplated if it was my dad's "right" to take his own life. I thought, if he didn't want to live anymore, why should he?

I shared my thoughts with a pastor's wife. She gave me insight and hope that I hadn't thought of. She suggested that perhaps God let him live because He has more of a future for him. This challenged my way of thinking as I had been educated to believe my life was my choice.

Days, weeks, and months passed by. I walked this journey with my father. He began to recover. Depression for him had turned into a desperate trap. In one moment of major depression and anxiety, he thought he'd end it all.

After much help, he did recover. Even though his path wasn't an easy one, he ultimately was able to enjoy life in a new way. He got to experience love and joys that he never would've if he had died that day. He got to the children I brought into this world and be part of their lives. My children were able to have a grandpa. I found myself very happy that my father was alive and was able to live many years after that severe moment of depression.

20 years later the phone rang again. This time it was a friend of the family. He called to let us know that his brother had taken his life. His brother struggled with depression as well. He had attempted suicide once and recovered. Studies show that once a person attempts suicide once there is a 70% chance that the second attempt they will die, and if they try a third time a 90% chance they will die. Sadly, suicide took this young man's life. Depression has a way of turning things around and robbing people of the goodness of God in their lives.

I found myself grieving in a way I never thought I would. I was taken back to the time I almost lost my father. I grieved for the loss of this young person's life, his family, and relived the near reality that I truly could've lost my father to suicide. I understand the value of life much more now than back when my father struggled. I have also became acutely aware of how precious life is and it's tenderness is to be treasured daily.