Tuesday, July 3, 2012

Divinely Inspired

This past Sunday, July 1, we had our July 4th church service at Crossgates Baptist and I found myself thinking about all the men and women who have lost their lives so that we could have the freedoms we have. Then, something else happened.......God reminded me of a very special phrase he spoke into my life shortly after Clint passed away. I was on my way to work one morning and tears were streaming down my face when God spoke to me and said, "Do not mourn the lives of those who have gone on before you; instead, mourn the lives of those who still suffer amongst you!"........It was such a powerful and profound idea for me to wrap my sad heart around.......but I did! I wrote down that phrase and taped it on my work station where I saw it all day long each and every day!! It helped me through many very difficult days.......and it still does! I have thought about what all God meant with that phrase and it has evolved some over the last year and a half since he spoke it to me. Initially, I took it to mean, don't waste precious time with your boys mourning a life you can't bring back.....instead find joy in helping those who suffer everyday around you........the poor, the helpless, anyone needing help out of a dark place or time in their life! But, Sunday in church, God revealed a new interpretation of that phrase to me in the context of all those who have sacrificed their lives for our freedoms! Our great and beautiful country was founded on biblical principles and on the undeniable existence of God our Father and Christ our savior!!! Our military has fought for the freedoms written into our constitution by men who believed in and worshipped God! So how does my phrase relate to that?......God does not want us to mourn the lives of those who sacrificed all for our freedoms! That would be a terrible dishonor to their memory and what they were fighting for! Instead, we are to mourn the ones alive and amongst us who suffer! And I can't think of anything that could cause more suffering than not knowing Christ as your personal savior! Those who suffer amongst us can be wealthy, beautiful, successful and seem to have it all.....but if they do not have a personal relationship with Christ, then they are suffering what will lead to an eternity of unimaginable suffering! I will be the first to admit that I am not an evangelist.......but I am called to be one as a child of God! I am called to live a life that will be an example of God's love to everyone around me! I am called to share my Faith openly and with enthusiasm to those who do not yet know Christ! And why wouldn't I? I have been given the most precious gift mankind has ever received! I have been forgiven of my sins and have been given the gift of eternity in the presence of our creator and our savior in Heaven! Do you all get that? Do you all understand that suffering that I am talking about? Do you understand the importance of ridding the world of that kind of suffering? That is a suffering that can be healed! I hope everyone who reads this will think and pray about what their part in ending that suffering is! I am certainly going to be praying for God to use me in this battle.....because I have been wounded many times on this battlefield of life......and with each scar I received, God was preparing me to be able to relate to someone else and their battles!!!! How can I as a Christian not share my salvation with those here who are still suffering? I hope you will all help me end it!!!! That is all I have for now.......so, until we meet again, love and blessings to all ...........Donna

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