I was reading a journal entry from last fall. It made me smile big! Even though my momma has gone on ahead of me she can still make me smile.
I never met my grandmother on my momma’s side. She passed before I was born. I hear that she was something though. She loved to bake. She did not like housework. She loved to stay up late into the night reading, so naturally she was not a morning person. She loved coffee and would wear you out over her coffee (and this was back in the 40’s & 50’s, before the modern coffee craze.)
Back in the late summer my momma woke up a little more confused than usual one morning. She thought her mommy was here with us in the extra bedroom. She was looking toward that bedroom and asked me, “Is mommy still in the bed?” I think I said something like I wasn’t sure or something like that, I didn’t like to just tell her that she was confused.
So she looked at me with this big grin and said, “Do this. Get her coffee cup and fill it with water. Go tell her it is time to get up.”(Which, from what I have heard about her, waking her up cold would not have been a good idea to begin with.) She says, “Then give her the coffee cup with the water.”
Say what?
So, still playing along with her, I said, “Are you trying to get my hide skinned? You know she would wear me out.”
My momma just laughed and settled back in bed with a big ole smile on her face thinking about her mommy.
I spent the last six months of her days here just trying to make the transition easier. A lot of those days were full of smiles as she was trying to make the transition easier for me. I think we were both having some pre-separation anxiety.
Some days were good and some days were difficult. I will never regret the time that I spent caring for my momma. I feel like that was a gift from God to me. It was not one I would have actually asked for, but I can see the purpose in God’s plan. He gives us growth in many different packages. We sometimes have to be willing to acknowledge it and file it away in our life lessons book to pull out and use when needed. Every experience we have as we journey through this world has a purpose that God can use for His good and for the plan He has for us. Nothing we have experienced in this life can separate us from the plan God has for us.
Paul told the Romans this in Romans 8:35-39. He posed what he was telling them as a question. He asked who shall separate us from the love of Christ? He asked if it could be tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
To show the foundational truth of his words, Paul even pulled from scripture, “As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.” Psalm 44:22
In all of those things, he assured them that they were more than conquerors through the One that loved them.
Paul assured them that he was totally convinced that there was nothing that could separate them from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Nothing! Not death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, not height, nor depth, nor any other creature…nothing could separate them, and nothing means nothing!
The challenge from this passage for those that are following Christ could be to embrace a strong, unwavering faith that God’s promises and protection are true and that our victory will not be won by our strength but by the victory that Christ won on the cross.
How can we apply this passage to our lives? God has given us His Word as a guide for how we are to live out our Christian walk and how we are to follow the model that Jesus lived out for us. He has also given us the gift of the Holy Spirit to guide us in that walk. These five verses are something that we can apply to our hearts and our lives so that we have no doubt of God’s love and care for us, even through difficult circumstances.
What does this mean to my faith? My faith is strengthened by knowing that God has me. He has me through every good and bad situation. I am confident that my soul is firmly in His hands. There is nothing I can do, nothing anyone can do to steal me out of His hands. I have complete assurance in Jesus Christ as my mediator and the One Who bore my sins.
Lord, I love it when what I write seems to be for me. The assurance that your promises to me are secure is reflected in the way You reveal Your Word to me right when I need to hear it. I sometimes think I can mess this thing called life up, but Your love is ever there. Even through the times when I wish for healing on this side of Heaven, I am still aware that heavenly healing is so much better. Thank You for the good times when You walk by my side and the bad times when You carry me. Thank You for the love of Christ, who brought Your plan of Salvation to completion and nothing can separate from that love.
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“35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 36 As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. 37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. 38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, 39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:35-39 (KJV)
“And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any [man] pluck them out of my hand.” John 10:28 (KJV)
“May be able to comprehend with all saints what [is] the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.” Ephesians 3:18,19 (KJV)
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I feel that since God has given me the gift of this platform, I must always tell you about my Jesus.
What is your relationship to the all-knowing God of the universe? Do you know Jesus? Do you know the peace that can come only from an intimate relationship with Him? You can know Him. Jesus Christ, God’s Son, born into human flesh, sinless, crucified and giving His life freely, buried, arisen on the third day, will come into your life and change the outcome of your eternity. You just have to be willing to believe and accept His truth.
Here is a web page that will give you more information about making your decision for Jesus Christ: Start Your NewLife With Christ.
In addition, here is an excellent page that can give you additional information on peace with God: PeaceWithGod.net.
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