Wise Quotes - GRIEVING AND OVERCOMING LOSS!

Life with it's unexpectedness have a way of surprising us with loss every now and then. We loose jobs, friendships, properties among others but nothing prepares us of the loss of a dear or loved one. Whether expected or not, one can never comprehend the loss of a close one......We get in a state of shock, some cry out their lives while for others the reality takes a while to sink in. Whatever the process of grief, today i bring you encouragement in The Word of God.

Having gone through a series of loss with dear friends and seeing my loved ones also loosing their dear ones lately, I found myself going through  a cycle of shock, numbness, mixed emotions and then facing reality of the fact that they are no more. But in going through all that, the only thing which has been a pillar is the Word of God. Genesis 50:1-14 gives an account of Joseph grieving over the loss of his father.........'Joseph threw himself on his father and wept over him.'(v1). We must first recognise that grief is necessary and important. We need the freedom to grieve. It is an important part of closure because it allows us to honestly express the way we feel. 

Joseph went through the processes of grieving by fulfilling the promise of his father to be buried in a tomb in Canaan...........'My father made me swear, saying, 'I am about to die: in my tomb that i hewed out for myself in the land of Canaan, there shall you bury me.' Now therefore, let me please go up and bury my father. Then I will return. And Pharoah answered, "Go up, and bury your father, as he made you swear." So Joseph went up to bury his father......(v5-7). Participate in the process of grief. Take time to personally mourn, but also become involved in the necessary steps to bring closure to your loss. We grieve because we have had a positive experience......what we lost was important to us. Getting involved in the process of grief is a way of honuoring what was meaningful.

Just as there are seasons for everything, realise that grieving has its season too.........A time to cry and a time to laugh. A time to grieve and a time to dance Ecclesiastes 3:4. Grief has its own season and so after you've gone through the whole process you must learn to move on.......remember moving on is not the absence of forgetting the one you lost but encouraging yourself in The Word, praying for those they left behind and helping them in whichever way you can. 
Isaiah 66:13 says I will comfort you there as a child is comforted by its mother.........God wants us to wipe our tears, move on and be redemptive to other grieving people. 

God knows our grieve, understands our sorrow and comforts us. He does not promise to preserve us from grief, but He promises to help us through it.........God is the source of every mercy and the One who comforts us II Corinthians 1:3. So today even as you're going through this season take hope in God that there will be no more grief in heaven and that we will surely meet our lost ones again. Revelation 21:4 says He will remove all their sorrows and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain......that is a promise worth holding on to.

Have a blessed day as you share this with anyone going through grieve this season.

If you don't know about Jesus Christ, I introduce Him to you today.........Don't let anyone lie to you, God is not that mind-pictured old man with a stick who's up there punishing people for any wrong doing. He's such a loving and warm Father who loves us so. He has given us so much of His blessings, grace, goodness, mercies and more. All you need doing is to accept Jesus Christ into you life and enjoy His Perfect Love. Here is what you need to say to accept Christ. (After proclaiming these words, I will encourage you to find a Bible-Believing church and join them for further teachings and fellowship of God).

Prayer of Salvation

"Father, I know that I have broken your laws and my sins have separated me from you. I am truly sorry, and now I want to turn away from my past sinful life toward you. Please forgive me, and help me avoid sinning again. I believe that your son, Jesus Christ died for my sins, was resurrected from the dead, is alive, and hears my prayer. I invite Jesus to become the Lord of my life, to rule and reign in my heart from this day forward. Please send your Holy Spirit to help me obey You, and to do Your will for the rest of my life. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen."

#inspired...ann #WiseQuotes

Wise Quotes - SPIRITUAL BLESSINGS.

A very blessed day to you all my lovely family in Christ, it's been a while since the last post. I must admit i was exhausted from all the posts from last month hence the little break to recoup and seek of the Lord.......This has made me find a new level of respect for ministers of God who have to do this on a daily basis, it's certainly a tedious and draining job. We must remember to pray for every spiritual leader of our churches and worldwide for the Spirit of God to fill them up at all times.......That the Lord will continue to strengthen them and give them grace to continue in His Word. Amen.

As i was praying for the Spirit of God to show me what to share next, i came across this scripture which i'm sure most of us have read several times..........Ephesians 1:3 NKJV - Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.”

Immediately after reading, the words SPIRITUAL BLESSINGS, stood out and i begun to think about them and what they mean to us. I took a moment to research deeper into it so i could share with you all......I'll encourage you to read the whole of Ephesians 1:1-23. In breaking down this scripture, this is what i found;

The bible dictionary defines Spiritual Blessings as 'Any blessing administered in the realm of the spiritual life; specifically the blessing of the Spirit in introducing the believer into "the heavenly places in Christ"; a term expressing the fullness of blessing in God's gift of eternal life in Jesus Christ.'

Now the word BLESSING here can be viewed or defined in two ways; It's from the Greek word eulogy, meaning "to speak well of" or eulogia meaning "benefit". The first meaning can be interpreted as God showering His goodness on us by speaking good things into our lives; And the second definition can also be interpreted as the realities that comes with real blessings of living in God through Christ. Can you imagine God Himself pronouncing good things into your life for your benefit and living the realities of this benefit? Let's look at some of these Spiritual blessings God has for us.

1. Even before He made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ(V4)...........this can be linked to the scripture that says "God knew us even before we were formed in our mothers womb". How comforting it is to know that God cares so much for us that He actually had our destiny all planned out before creating the world. This tells me that our lives matters a lot to Him and that we are not here on earth by mistake neither were we born by accident as some people like to think. In Christ you stand in agape or unconditional love. You cannot earn it. Today, you are unconditionally loved in Christ. 

2. Chosen to be Holy and Blameless(V4)............To think that God chose us to offer His grace and salvation to us even before sin entered the world is mind blowing. By the unmerited favour through Christ we can come boldly to the throne room to worship God without guilt. We can serve God despite our shortcomings, and its not because of our own righteousness but because we have been imputed with the righteousness of Christ....oh what a joy and an amazing feeling to know this!

3. God decided in advance to adopt us into His own family(V5)............as John 1:12 says, “As many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name.” We have been granted full status as God's very own children with all the benefits in this scripture providing we believe in the gospel.

4. We are made accepted in the Beloved(V6)............Think about this; the Creator of the universe accepts you just as you are in Christ. The word is related to grace and gives the idea of making us graceful or favorable through Christ, the beloved of God. When we put on Christ, the Father sees His loveliness when He looks at us. The blood of Christ has taken away the guilt of our sins, and we stand before the Father as perfectly accepted.

5. He is so rich in kindness and grace that He has purchased our freedom with the Blood of His Son (V7)...........The redemption through the Blood of Jesus has paid your ransom for your freedom. To be in the world means being a slave to sin and death but when you come to Christ you are assured of Him who had no sin taking away all of yours so you can have eternal life and be free of sin. And since we are bought and paid for by His blood, we have an obligation to glorify God in our body and spirit 

6.And forgave our sins(V7)..........It is closely related to redemption, but looks at the other side of the coin. In paying the ransom for our sins, the debt of sin was canceled, and we were forgiven. We no longer have the burden of guilt for violating God's holy laws. In Christ you are forgiven today....believe that.

7. He as showered His kindness on us, along with all wisdom and understanding(V8)............"He who lacks wisdom, let him ask of God"........this is one of the promises God has for us and today you'll be glad to know that not only is it a promise but also a blessing imputed to you through Christ. 

8. God has now revealed to us His mysterious plan regarding Christ(V9)...........This spiritual blessing is knowing the mystery of His will.  God has given us wisdom and insight through His Word and has shown us His desire to bring all things together to glorify Christ. Since all of creation was made by Him and is for His good pleasure, the consummation of His plan is when everything and everyone is brought in line to glorify Him. By aligning ourselves with Him by faith, we become part of His perfect plan and purpose.

9. Furthermore, because we are united with Christ, we have received an inheritance from God(V11).............What is included in that inheritance? “But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him” The riches of glory, the presence of God, the eternal home – these don't even scratch the surface of all the blessings that belong to our inheritance.

10. And now you Gentiles have also heard the truth, the Good News that God saves........Sealed with the Holy Spirit(V13)..............God’s truth is a light in darkness. We are not without counsel. We are not left in the dark. We have heard His good news and discovered the path of life. When we become God's children, He places His mark of ownership on us, guaranteeing our eternal security. This is spoken of as the down-payment of our full redemption, to hold us until the day Christ brings us to Him.

11. I pray that you will understand the confident hope he has given to those He called(V18).........The Word of God says "He has called you out of darkness into His Marvellous/Glorious light". We all know how it feels to be in the dark........To know God has called you in this Light means He will never leave you nor forsake you. He is your Rock, Your Deliverer, Your Anchor.......All you have to do is to hold on to Him steadfastly and you will never end in vein.

12. His holy people are His rich and glorious inheritance(V18)...........You are of great value to Jesus. As Christ brought you back to God, God gives you back to Jesus as His inheritance. You are valuable in Christ, you are the righteousness of God in Christ. You are His eternal reward that He cherishes.

13.  I also pray that you will understand the incredible greatness of God’s power for us who believe him. This is the same mighty power 20 that raised Christ from the dead and seated him in the place of honor at God’s right hand in the heavenly realms. 21 Now he is far above any ruler or authority or power or leader or anything else—not only in this world but also in the world to come. 22 God has put all things under the authority of Christ and has made him head over all things for the benefit of the church. 23 And the church is his body; it is made full and complete by Christ, who fills all things everywhere with himself(V19-23)...........Need i say more? All these blessings and many more in the Word of God are readily accessible to us. And guess what? This same POWER that Paul explains in the scripture is in you today through Christ Jesus. Have a blessed day as you meditate on them.

If you don't know about Jesus Christ, I introduce Him to you today.........Don't let anyone lie to you, God is not that mind-pictured old man with a stick who's up there punishing people for any wrong doing. He's such a loving and warm Father who loves us so. He has given us so much of His blessings, grace, goodness, mercies and more. All you need doing is to accept Jesus Christ into you life and enjoy His Perfect Love. Here is what you need to say to accept Christ. (After proclaiming these words, I will encourage you to find a Bible-Believing church and join them for further teachings and fellowship of God).

Prayer of Salvation

"Father, I know that I have broken your laws and my sins have separated me from you. I am truly sorry, and now I want to turn away from my past sinful life toward you. Please forgive me, and help me avoid sinning again. I believe that your son, Jesus Christ died for my sins, was resurrected from the dead, is alive, and hears my prayer. I invite Jesus to become the Lord of my life, to rule and reign in my heart from this day forward. Please send your Holy Spirit to help me obey You, and to do Your will for the rest of my life. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen."

#inspired...ann #WiseQuotes