And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth. - Revelation 6:8
A few years ago I read this excerpt from a book by Chuck Swindoll: The path of the pale horse named Death, mentioned in Revelation 6:8, is littered with bitterness, sorrow, fear, and grief. This ashen stallion started his lengthy journey ages ago and races through time with steady beat and dreadful regularity. As long as we exist in the land of the dying, we shall hear the somber knell of his hoofbeats.
I just received the second E-Mail in as many days from friends who have lost loved ones. The loss in each case was not just that death marched on but that, what was preventable for the time being wasn't. In two days two individuals who were deeply loved by their family took their own lives. Sadly, some people hurry their appointment with death. Painful though it may be to hear and accept, thousands of people will take their own lives during the next twelve months. For in our land, suicide is now almost an epidemic.
The acoustic/vocals band The Thorns sing this thought...
Among the living you'll find the dying
Waiting softly to pass on
Why can't a love be like a spirit
As it floats up to the sky - Among the Living, The Thorns
Once every minute someone in the United States attempts suicide.
In this country, there are 24% more deaths by suicide than by murder.
Suicide is the number 9 cause of adult death in the USA. For Americans between fifteen and thirty years of age, it is the number 3 cause of death. It is the number 2 cause among teenagers.
Four out of five people who commit suicide have tried it previously. Those who are unsuccessful usually try again.
Contrary to popular opinion, people who threaten suicide often mean it. Threats should be taken seriously.
Thankfully, suicidal individuals usually communicate their feelings before acting, thus making this irrevocable act preventable if those who are close are wise and sensitive enough to read the signals.
Some of the warning signals or clues you should be aware of are 1) talk about suicide, 2) a sudden change in personality, 3) deep depression, 4) physical symptoms---sleeplessness, loss of appetite, decreased sexual drive, drastic weight loss, repeated exhaustion, 5) actual attempts, and 6) crisis situations---death of a loved one, failure at school, loss of job, marital or home problems, and a lengthy or terminal illness. These are certainly not "sure signs," but if any or several persist, please step in and offer help. Contact your physician or ask advice from your local Suicide Prevention Center's twenty-four-hour crisis line; you may also want to contact one of the spiritual leaders or officers of your church or a member of the pastoral staff. Such situations are often emergencies. To delay could result in tragic consequences.
Those who are strong need to bear the weaknesses of the weak - Romans 15:1. I think, many of us, when we consider our faith, do not think ourselves "strong." But, perhaps "stronger" than someone who is being overcome by a pale horse is all that is needed; just a little stronger. You may be the means that God uses in blocking the path of the pale horse!
Sometimes if we are to hear what is being said, we need to listen to what is not being said.
I remain...
InHISgrip,
~J~
Showing posts with label Death. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Death. Show all posts
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Monday, July 5, 2010
And So There I Was...Dying...
So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you. - 2 Corinthians 4:12
I've been watching practical transformation in my own home and amongst the members of the Church on Rogers Street.
It's fascinating and it's inspiring!
Many of us have had to adjust to things about our economy, our work, our career paths and even our foundational expectations. We have been in deep valley's. We have gone on emotional roller coaster rides that no earthly roller coaster can compare to. Our cores, our foundations, our relationships...everything about our lives, or lives of important people in our group have been shaken.
We were forced into this internal and external labor and being forced into hard places gives us a whole new perspective on life. Career paths, bank, savings, and retirement accounts, "things" we once valued, no longer hold the same attraction and attachment to us. And, all those things that people used to quip were most important, family, friends, our heritage in our children, they have become big things. That which we cannot take with us into eternity has actually begun to fade.
Have you been experiencing this or watching someone else you know go through and conclude that the world truly should not and cannot hold us in it's grip?
When you are in the midst of it you get a glimpse into the hard places of others. Our "hard places" in America are hardly at all yet that hard in this time. They do not rival the hardship of the Great Depression and that hardly holds a candle to what occurs in third world countries. Does it? Nonetheless trials keep us from having a shallow view of the hardships of others and allows us, like brothers-in-arms, to identify with them. Since this is a transitory time we can also observe those not having the same calamities befall them speak of such trials from no experience and often judge others who have had such hardship. I now have seen the superficiality of Christian experience that often permeates shallow believe and receive kids of brothers and sisters in Christ.
Our kinship with pain means that those going through the fire do not need to explain; they merely look at one another with mutual respect and admiration for their common experience. They know that death has worked a special thing in them. In 2 Corinthians 7:10 Paul talks about two types of sorrow. One leads to life. One kind of sorrow, earthly sorrow, leads to death. This is even deeper than that in many ways but this death leads to life in others because of the hard places God has taken them through and as they watch life triumph over the death working in us.
It is virtually impossible to fully appreciate any valley experience while you are in it. However, once you have reached the top of the mountain, you are able to appreciate what terrain you have passed through. You marvel at what you were able to walk through. The valley of the shadow of death has yielded more than you ever thought possible. You are able to appreciate the beauty of the experience and lay aside the sorrow and pain it may have produced.
Death works in you for a greater purpose. If you are in a place like that today, please know that your Heavenly Father is producing something of much greater value than you will ever know...it is ultimately the greatest triumph of all...life, eternal life of Christ in others!
I remain...
InHISgrip,
~J~
I've been watching practical transformation in my own home and amongst the members of the Church on Rogers Street.
It's fascinating and it's inspiring!
Many of us have had to adjust to things about our economy, our work, our career paths and even our foundational expectations. We have been in deep valley's. We have gone on emotional roller coaster rides that no earthly roller coaster can compare to. Our cores, our foundations, our relationships...everything about our lives, or lives of important people in our group have been shaken.
We were forced into this internal and external labor and being forced into hard places gives us a whole new perspective on life. Career paths, bank, savings, and retirement accounts, "things" we once valued, no longer hold the same attraction and attachment to us. And, all those things that people used to quip were most important, family, friends, our heritage in our children, they have become big things. That which we cannot take with us into eternity has actually begun to fade.
Have you been experiencing this or watching someone else you know go through and conclude that the world truly should not and cannot hold us in it's grip?
When you are in the midst of it you get a glimpse into the hard places of others. Our "hard places" in America are hardly at all yet that hard in this time. They do not rival the hardship of the Great Depression and that hardly holds a candle to what occurs in third world countries. Does it? Nonetheless trials keep us from having a shallow view of the hardships of others and allows us, like brothers-in-arms, to identify with them. Since this is a transitory time we can also observe those not having the same calamities befall them speak of such trials from no experience and often judge others who have had such hardship. I now have seen the superficiality of Christian experience that often permeates shallow believe and receive kids of brothers and sisters in Christ.
Our kinship with pain means that those going through the fire do not need to explain; they merely look at one another with mutual respect and admiration for their common experience. They know that death has worked a special thing in them. In 2 Corinthians 7:10 Paul talks about two types of sorrow. One leads to life. One kind of sorrow, earthly sorrow, leads to death. This is even deeper than that in many ways but this death leads to life in others because of the hard places God has taken them through and as they watch life triumph over the death working in us.
It is virtually impossible to fully appreciate any valley experience while you are in it. However, once you have reached the top of the mountain, you are able to appreciate what terrain you have passed through. You marvel at what you were able to walk through. The valley of the shadow of death has yielded more than you ever thought possible. You are able to appreciate the beauty of the experience and lay aside the sorrow and pain it may have produced.
Death works in you for a greater purpose. If you are in a place like that today, please know that your Heavenly Father is producing something of much greater value than you will ever know...it is ultimately the greatest triumph of all...life, eternal life of Christ in others!
I remain...
InHISgrip,
~J~
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