Journey and a scam

 

Words aren't really coming to me this morning "on topic" so I thought I'd just tell you about something that happened yesterday and see if the rabbit trail makes it back around to the main theme.
     I've been getting to know people on Twitter, mostly Christians. We praise God, share Bible verses, and lift each other up. Last week a woman reached out to me through Twitter's private messaging system, asking about my faith, about being saved. She is supposedly from Switzerland, and supposedly only has a few weeks to a few months to live. I was thrilled about this opportunity and shared my testimony with her.
     We wrote back and forth for several days, always talking about God and faith. She asked me to pray for her daily as well as people in other countries who are fighting Covid. Then, she asked me to email her because she was wanting to step away from Twitter. I was praying that she wouldn't ask me for money, that this wasn't all a scheme of some sort. Imagine my disappointment when I received an email from her that was obviously a form letter she has sent out countless times before, talking about "funds".
     Most people would just walk away at this point, but I feel compelled to find out more. How can someone try to scam others under the guise of loving Jesus? It sickens me. Then I think of all of the prosperity gospel "leaders" and I realize what their horrible example tells the world: 'it's okay to turn the gospel around for your own financial gain.'
     I let this really bring me down yesterday but today, I'm giving it up to God, asking Him to guide whatever words I use to respond to her. Circling back around from the rabbit trail...God put us here to build relationships with one another and to bring glory to Him. It's going to include meeting people who misrepresent His love and grace. We need to pray for them and love on them as well. This is our journey. This is our hallelujah.

Praise the Lord!

Praise God in his sanctuary;

praise him in his mighty heavens!

Praise him for his mighty deeds;

praise him according to his excellent greatness!

Praise him with trumpet sound;

praise him with lute and harp!

Praise him with tambourine and dance;

praise him with strings and pipe!

Praise him with sounding cymbals;

praise him with loud clashing cymbals!

Let everything that has breath praise the Lord!

Praise the Lord!

Psalm 150:1-6 ESV


You may also like:
"Record Your Days" January 3, 2018

The Preacher spoke about this life and about time as a commodity, measured in days. He was speaking on Psalm 90 and suggested that we record each day as a means of numbering our days "that we may gain a heart of wisdom". This is my new project for the New Year. It will bring focus to accomplishing something each day, no matter how small or seemingly insignificant, ...

"Seen or unseen" April 24, 2019 

I've read these verses several times over the years but still, this morning got something different from them. It probably has to do with reading scripture in light of what's happening in life at this moment. That's how we find answers to life's questions...

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Please join me this week in praying for the Church. Pray that we focus our attention on our purpose and goal in this life. Pray that we keep our eye on the prize. Everyone, every single person will live forever, will have eternal life, but it's where they will spend eternity that needs to motivate our action each and every day.

I'll post daily reminders on:

twitter @7DegreesOfMe

Instagram @7DegreesOfMe
Pinterest Prayer Group #7thHourPrayerPower

Facebook group 7th Hour Prayer Power

#ThisIsMyHallelujah #7thHourPrayerPower #eternallife #eternity #heaven #home #greatcommission #gospel #life #death #revival #church #purpose #spiritualgift #scam #socalledChristian #prosperitygospel

Every day is a hallelujah!

 

I'm focused on Donnie Allen this week. His life and his ministry are inspirational to everyone who knew him. A friend posted, "I never met someone who had such a strong desire to preach the gospel to everybody you came in contact with. I pray that I can receive that passion as well." This is also my prayer.
     I'm also focused on his #ThisIsMyHallelujah (See Monday's post). To be able to turn such a difficult journey into a hallelujah is so awesome, and so Christlike. Donnie was such a true image-bearer for the Lord.
     According to dictionary.com "Hallelujah" means, "God be praised." As a noun, it is an "expression of worship or rejoicing."
     Every day we should shout, "Hallelujah!" Every day is a hallelujah!

But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, 

nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, 

what God has prepared for those who love him”—

1 Corinthians 2:9 ESV

I'm sharing this song, "Hallelujah." It is not the original one written by Leonard Cohen, that mixes religion and sex. Kelley Mooney rewrote the lyrics, with the permission of the original author to tell the story of the Gospel. This rendition is sung by sisters Callahan and Cassandra Star Armstrong. All of the links in this paragraph tell the story of the song and video.

You may also like:

"Jesus, thank You for loving me" (the video doesn't work, but the words are still relevant.)

"For the terminally ill"

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Please join me this week in praying for the Church. Pray that we focus our attention on our purpose and goal in this life. Pray that we keep our eye on the prize. Everyone, every single person will live forever, will have eternal life, but it's where they will spend eternity that needs to motivate our action each and every day.

I'll post daily reminders on:

twitter @7DegreesOfMe

Instagram @7DegreesOfMe
Pinterest Prayer Group #7thHourPrayerPower

Facebook group 7th Hour Prayer Power

#ThisIsMyHallelujah #7thHourPrayerPower #eternallife #eternity #heaven #home #greatcommission #gospel #life #death #revival #church #purpose #spiritualgift

This Is My Hallelujah

 

Our dear brother in Christ, Donnie Allen, passed away yesterday afternoon. He will be deeply missed. Words just cannot express how much. He touched so many lives during his stay here on earth that I am in awe of him. To live a life that dedicated and focused on Christ should be an inspiration to us all. We have this real-life example of why we're here and how we're to live.

     Donnie and Amanda created a Facebook group when they started this bone marrow transplant journey in order to keep all of us informed.  Its hashtag is #ThisIsMyHallelujah and Donnie used it as a means to inspire and share his passion for Jesus. It was as much a means to share his spiritual journey as it was his physical one. Even with everything he went through, he put Jesus first. The group has over 1,000 followers. 

     Additionally, those posts have been shared in other groups, and by other individuals. I can only imagine the breadth and scope of people that Donnie reached through this platform. He and Amanda shared the gospel with countless people in Cleveland, as well. What a testimony to God's plan for our lives that He uses situations both good and bad to secure more souls for heaven! 

Amanda wrote:

It is with a very painful heart that I tell you all that Donnie Allen passed peacefully today Sunday May 16 at 430pm surrounded by his family. 

Donnie’s journey is now complete and he has been healed and is in the arms of Jesus. 

I thank you all for the many hours of prayers said on our behalf and ask that you now shift your prayers towards our family and the coming days ahead.

     I feel like I've written often about grief and dying over the past fourteen months, but like I've said, it's a clear sign for the Church to get serious about revival and bringing as many people to Christ as possible. This week I would like for us to focus our thoughts and prayers on "the hope." It is my hope that this will remind us why we're here. This is just a pitstop in our lives because Earth is NOT our home. 

He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”

Revelation 21:4 ESV

See also: "Widows" from July 11, 2020

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Please join me this week in praying for the Church. Pray that we focus our attention on our purpose and goal in this life. Pray that we keep our eye on the prize. Everyone, every single person will live forever, will have eternal life, but it's where they will spend eternity that needs to motivate our action each and every day.

I'll post daily reminders on:

twitter @7DegreesOfMe

Instagram @7DegreesOfMe
Pinterest Prayer Group #7thHourPrayerPower

Facebook group 7th Hour Prayer Power

#ThisIsMyHallelujah #7thHourPrayerPower #eternallife #eternity #heaven #greatcommission #gospel #life #death #revival #church #purpose #spiritualgift

Strength of my heart

 

My flesh and my heart may fail, 

but God is the strength of my heart and 

my portion forever.

Psalm 73:26 ESV

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Please join me this week in praying for those who are grieving the loss of a loved one. May they find comfort in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and may they rest in God's sovereignty over all things.

I'll post daily reminders on:

twitter @7DegreesOfMe

Instagram @archadia27
Pinterest Prayer Group #7thHourPrayerPower

Facebook group 7th Hour Prayer Power

#7thHourPrayerPower #BibleVerses #bible #grief #death #comfort #mercy

Be comforted

 

“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

Matthew 5:4 ESV

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Please join me this week in praying for those who are grieving the loss of a loved one. May they find comfort in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and may they rest in God's sovereignty over all things.

I'll post daily reminders on:

twitter @7DegreesOfMe

Instagram @archadia27
Pinterest Prayer Group #7thHourPrayerPower

Facebook group 7th Hour Prayer Power

#7thHourPrayerPower #BibleVerses #bible #grief #death #comfort #mercy

Distress from grief

 

Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am in distress; my eye is wasted from grief; my soul and my body also. For my life is spent with sorrow, and my years with sighing; my strength fails because of my iniquity, and my bones waste away.

Psalm 31:9-10 ESV

I encourage you to take refuge in the Lord. Spend time with Him. Talk with Him and listen.

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Please join me this week in praying for those who are grieving the loss of a loved one. May they find comfort in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and may they rest in God's sovereignty over all things.

I'll post daily reminders on:

twitter @7DegreesOfMe

Instagram @archadia27
Pinterest Prayer Group #7thHourPrayerPower

Facebook group 7th Hour Prayer Power

#7thHourPrayerPower #BibleVerses #bible #grief #death #comfort #mercy #covid-19 #disease

What's the plan?

 

There was an article in the Dayton Daily News that supports my "theory" about there being so many more deaths in the past year than in previous years. It turns out, 2020 was the deadliest year in at least the past 25 years for diseases other than Covid, although, they think it's possible that circumstances of the pandemic may have indirectly led to more deaths. You can read the article here for more information.
     So, I wondered what this means as far as the Church? Is God calling more of His children home because it's the start of the end? Is He trying to get our attention and remind us of our purpose here? I don't know. We can't know. But, what we do know is what the Bible tells us...(paraphrasing here)
     - We're to be ready
     - We're to be sharing the Good News
     - We're to be praying and in the word
     - God is sovereign over all things, so we don't need to worry or be anxious because He's in control and everything happens according to His plan.

But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope.

1 Thessalonians 4:13 ESV

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Please join me this week in praying for those who are grieving the loss of a loved one. May they find comfort in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and may they rest in God's sovereignty over all things.

I'll post daily reminders on:

twitter @7DegreesOfMe

Instagram @archadia27
Pinterest Prayer Group #7thHourPrayerPower

Facebook group 7th Hour Prayer Power

#7thHourPrayerPower #BibleVerses #bible #grief #death #comfort #mercy #covid-19 #disease

Grieving

 

I'm sure I've talked about the 5 stages of grief before: Denial, Anger, Depression, Bargaining, and Acceptance. Other models are out there, one that includes Shock and Testing, and one that's diagramed below.

But, I came across this quote that I think is the best theory of all:

“There are really only two stages of grief, ... who you were before and who you are after.”

Ted Rynearson

The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.

Psalm 34:18 ESV

He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.

Psalm 147:3 ESV

See also: 

Widows

Compassion and grief

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Please join me this week in praying for those who are grieving the loss of a loved one. May they find comfort in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and may they rest in God's sovereignty over all things.

I'll post daily reminders on:

twitter @7DegreesOfMe

Instagram @archadia27
Pinterest Prayer Group #7thHourPrayerPower

Facebook group 7th Hour Prayer Power

#7thHourPrayerPower #BibleVerses #bible #grief #death #comfort #mercy #covid-19 #disease

Grief and sorrow

 

I wanted to thank everyone who's been praying for my cousin, Stephanie. It's with a heavy heart that I share she passed away last Tuesday. For the past week, I've been writing in my journal about what she went through and what she must have been going through. I've looked up what a CPAP/BiPAP machine is, what an airvo machine is. I've researched what all is involved to be intubated on a ventilator, to be on dialysis, and to have a feeding tube. I've looked at diagrams and images of all of these things because that's what Stephanie went through for four weeks before her heart just couldn't take it anymore.

     Stephanie is now the second person I know to have died from COVID. Yet, there are still many people who don't believe that it's "that bad." Last week I checked the numbers and 2,240,000 people have died from this disease worldwide. Whether you believe the actual numbers or not, it's still astronomical.

     In the past year, I've lost friends and family to heart attacks, pneumonia, cancer, and covid. The number of deaths seems to be disproportional to any other year, so I would like to take this week to pray for everyone who is grieving. I'm specifically praying today for the friends and families of Robert, Chloe, Sheila, Shanda, Tim, and Stephanie; I know I'm missing several others.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.

2 Corinthians 1:3-4 ESV

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Please join me this week in praying for those who are grieving the loss of a loved one. May they find comfort in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and may they rest in God's sovereignty over all things.

I'll post daily reminders on:

twitter @7DegreesOfMe

Instagram @archadia27
Pinterest Prayer Group #7thHourPrayerPower

Facebook group 7th Hour Prayer Power

#7thHourPrayerPower #BibleVerses #bible #grief #death #comfort #mercy #covid-19 #disease

Pray for widows & widowers

 

The number of people at our church who have lost loved ones this year is just overwhelming. I can't help but think and empathize with what they're going through right now, spending their first Christmas without a spouse, parent, sibling, friend.
     Please remember them this holiday season. Even though we can't necessarily visit in person, there are so many ways in which we can reach out and let them know they are loved. Be creative if you can. If you can't, that's fine, too. A phone call, card, text, IM, email, would go a long way in making a difference this year.
     Also, be in prayer for the countless families dealing with loved ones who are sick or hospitalized right now. And for those people who can't get together this year because of Covid.

He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.

Psalm 147:3 ESV

Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows* in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.

James 1:27 ESV

She who is truly a widow* left all alone, has set her hope on God and continues in supplications and prayers night and day,

1 Timothy 5:5 ESV

*I would add, widowers as well

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Please join me this week in praying for families and for healing between family members. Pray that relationships will be mended this holiday season and that families will be united.  Pray for comfort and peace for those families who have lost loved ones this year.

I'll post daily reminders on:

twitter @7DegreesOfMe

Instagram @archadia27
Pinterest Prayer Group #7thHourPrayerPower

Facebook group 7th Hour Prayer Power

#7thHourPrayerPower #BibleVerses #bible #family #relationship #alone #widow #love #widower #death

Father's hand

My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, 

and they follow me. I give them eternal life, 

and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. 

My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, 

and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand.

John 10:27-29 ESV

I will prepare a place for you

And if I go and prepare a place for you, 

I will come again and will take you to Myself, 

that where I am you may be also.

John 14:3 ESV

Good courage

For the wages of sin is death, 

but the free gift of God is 

eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 6:23 ESV

So we are always of good courage. 

We know that while we are at home in the body 

we are away from the Lord, 

for we walk by faith, not by sight. 

Yes, we are of good courage, 

and we would rather be away from the body 

and at home with the Lord.

2 Corinthians 5:6-8 ESV

Many rooms

“Let not your hearts be troubled. 

Believe in God; believe also in me. 

In my Father's house are many rooms. 

If it were not so, would I have told you that 

I go to prepare a place for you? 

And if I go and prepare a place for you, 

I will come again and will take you to myself, 

that where I am you may be also.

John 11:25 ESV

The greatest Gift

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Let's pray with thanksgiving for the hope and comfort of eternal life in Christ Jesus. I'll post daily reminders on:
twitter @7DegreesOfMe
instagram @archadia27
facebook group 7th Hour Prayer Power

How to live forever

People spend a lot of money and effort trying to turn back time on their aging faces and bodies. It just so happens that Jesus has promised us a new body and eternal life. He suffered and bore the wrath of our sins so that we can have this hope and promise. To me, this life is us gaining our education for the next life. The Bible is our textbook. Learn it. Live it. Be prepared.

Behold! I tell you a mystery. 

We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: 

“Death is swallowed up in victory.”

1 Corinthians 15:51-54 ESV

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Let's pray with thanksgiving for the hope and comfort of eternal life in Christ Jesus. I'll post daily reminders on:
twitter @7DegreesOfMe
instagram @archadia27
facebook group 7th Hour Prayer Power

Heaven and Hell

A true testimony to Heaven and Hell is watching people pass on. Those who are saved go peacefully; welcomed and led into the next life by family and friends who have gone before them. Those who are not saved are scared and cry out to loved ones but can't see them or follow.

The Lord is my shepherd;

I shall not want.

He makes me to lie down in green pastures;

He leads me beside the still waters.

He restores my soul;

He leads me in the paths of righteousness

For His name’s sake.

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,

I will fear no evil;

For You are with me;

Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;

You anoint my head with oil;

My cup runs over.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me

All the days of my life;

And I will dwell in the house of the Lord

Forever.

Psalm 23 NKJV

Annual Post

It seems my good intentions (aka "resolutions") start out pretty well with each new year, but, by the end of the year, it's all "try again after January 1st." So, now that the first of the new year has rolled around, it's time for all of my do-overs. I'll try again to do things that I deem important, but most of which are just day-fillers; things to worry about, focus my attention on.

This new year's focus, and daily focus, I want to be rooted in the bible, and I'll tell you why.

I wrote a sort of "poem" the other day, or maybe it was just a ramble, about death. Towards the end of the piece, it was clear to me that I was the "Observer." The focus of the poem was to show how dying looked to two different men. The one man, named "Hope", didn't want to die, but towards the end, he saw hope, he saw his family and friends who had passed before him, and he was at peace. The second man, named "Dread", thought he wanted to die, but when he saw the gates of hell open before him, he was terrified; he could find no friends or family because in hell, there is only isolation. I picture it as an eternal sensory deprivation chamber, but maybe that's just me. The thought of anyone I know dying in that way, and especially, spending eternity that way sickens me, especially if there were something that I could have said or done to prevent it. We're all called to be witnesses and disciples for Jesus, but I've always felt uncomfortable coming right out and saying anything for fear of offending someone, or angering someone, or being questioned and not knowing the answers. By being merely an "observer" to this life, I have no purpose. God has given me the gift* to write and create (or at the very least, the gift to believe that I have such a gift), and there's no excuse for not using that to tell what I do know. If anyone has any questions, I can find someone to give you an answer, or, surprise of surprise, I may know the answer.

So, we'll see if my newest, latest resolutions last past today. I'll post that poem tomorrow (at least, I intend to.)

Happy 2017.

*To learn about Spiritual Gifts, read 1 Corinthians Chapter 12.

Missing Ken

Its been a very difficult 6 weeks since the passing of my husband. I've gone through so many emotions, thoughts, feelings, ideas and life altering plans that I don't even know what is real anymore. I came here today because I thought it might help, and was feeling particularly great this morning when I woke up, like a great burden had been lifted. It felt almost normal to be me for the first time in forever. Then, when I signed in, I saw the blog I had made for my husband: Kenneth Weeks Memorial, and I reminisced and got all teary eyed. That linked to his blog, Mr. Natural's Homeplate, which made me miss him so much more, all over again, and also made me realize, that while I may have had a breakthrough today, its not "over."

Its my intention to start writing here as often as possible in the hopes of working through some things and also to share information with others who are going through the same thing. There is so much to share and unload. Some posts will be morbidly sad of course, but hopefully some will be positive and inspiring; and, if no one reads any of this, that's ok, too, because it will be of some help to me.

Today, I completed the first task given to me in a Grief Education meeting: I acknowledged that my husband has passed away and is not coming back.