Category: This and That

God’s Answer to Suicidal Thoughts is: Life!

This is written to people who are considering taking their own life through suicide. My hope for you, whether you know the Lord or not, is for you to understand your value to God. It is not too late to get help, to reach out to someone, to make the choice to choose life. I realize this a more lengthy post than most of my other posts and pray that you will continue on and read to the end.

  • My best friend in junior high’s cousin who just broke up with his girlfriend.
  • The girl I went on visitation with in college that extensively tried to win people to the Lord who lived in lower-income housing in our city. Years down the road when she was married.
  • The church assistant that worked in our church school that wrote a blog leading up to the date.
  • The man who announced to his wife, “I just can’t do it anymore,” and walked into the next room.
  • The church member that let his family leave for church without him.
  • The pastor that put a Wal-mart sack on his head and sprayed bug spray inside.

Suicide touched all of these lives. They were people I knew, call-outs as my husband has gone to as a police chaplain, or other stories I have heard through the years.

These stories of untimely death are sobering. Each person left people who loved them and who still grieve for the losses of the unexpected and horrific end to their lives. Questions, hurt, and grief will haunt their loved ones for life.

Suicide is an action that was preceded by thoughts… wrong thoughts. “Wrong thoughts?” Yes, wrong thoughts about the value of their life to God. People that believed death was the way out of their sorrows.

God is the giver of life first when it is created in the womb and the giver of eternal life when a person chooses to believe on Jesus Christ. Death for a believing person is a departure from this life to eternal life. Many people in this list were believers and I am confident that it was not God’s will for them to destroy their own lives out of His timing.

Death for the unbeliever is a departure from this life to a death that lasts forever. Suicide is an attempt on Satan’s part to destroy the life and souls of individuals.

Suicide is a personal destruction of the body.

Satan is the destroyer of life, as the Bible describes him as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour in I Peter 5:8. In John 10, Jesus describes Satan as a thief coming to steal, kill, and destroy. Satan’s plan is to separate people from God and destroy their relationship with God. One of his greatest “victories” is to have someone like you to believe wrong thoughts long enough to end your own life.

Not only does Satan attempt to destroy life through self-harming suicide his snares include the elderly and diseased with euthanasia, and assisted suicide through the means of drugs.  He also seeks to destroy life in the form of abortion and murder and self-harm through cutting. The list continues with drug abuse, alcohol, sexual addictions and STD’s that all lead to personal destruction of the body (in slow or fast ways) and many play a role in the majority of suicide attempts.

God's Answer to Suicidal Thoughts

Consider the value that God places on life.

The origin of life is God. He created man and woman in the Garden of Eden and created them to be able to reproduce life and subsequent generations have been the result. Every  generation through today has had the valuable gift of life given to them. God loves each life so much that He knew you before you were formed in the womb, (Psalm 139:13) the number of hairs on your head (Luke 12:7), and when you stand up and sit down (Psalm 139:2).

God loves life so much He gave His Son, Jesus, to die for it.

God the Father made a choice before the world was made, that Jesus, His Son, would be born as a man on this earth to die for the sins of every person (1 Peter 1:20, Titus 1:2). Jesus’ perfect body bore all sin (including yours) after He had been beaten and humiliated and hung on the cross to die. As He hung on the cross His last words were, “It is finished,” declaring He was finished with the work of bearing all sin upon Himself (John 19:30). His dead body was laid in a tomb for three days and nights. Then God allowed Jesus to raise back to life in His resurrection, where Jesus lived another 40 days on earth before going back to heaven. God loved your life so much that He gave His Son, Jesus, to die for it.

God loves life so much that He offers it to all mankind.

Satan, was known as one of God’s brightest angels of light, named Lucifer (Isaiah 14:12). In his pride, he lifted himself up to be higher and greater than God Himself. God cast him out of heaven and created hell to be the eternal place of punishment for him (Revelation 19, 20). Hell was not initially created for people, but it does later become the place where people who reject Jesus end up at the end of time (Revelation 20).

God allowed Jesus to die on the cross so you could believe and have eternal life, not death. There has to be a realization though of one’s sinfulness before God and that you cannot pay for your sins by yourself without paying the high price of eternal death in the lake of fire with Satan. That is why it is clearly taught and explained in the Bible that we needed a Savior (helper and/or rescuer). We are not good enough on our own to go to heaven and it is necessary for us to call upon Christ to be our Savior.

God’s love is so great that he offers salvation freely to all who choose to believe. The Bible says, “Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” The word “whosoever” allows anyone that will believe they need Christ to pay for their sins to avoid the eternal punishment and have eternal/everlasting life. John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever, believeth in him, should not perish but have everlasting life.”

Suicidal thoughts on the part of an unbeliever are often a lure from Satan to destroy that person’s body and soul. God though, provides not death, but the freedom of life. Jesus speaks of Satan and Himself in John 10:10, God never desires anyone to kill themselves because he wants you to have life.

God sustains life throughout eternity.

Eternity itself is hard to comprehend because we live a time-oriented life. God loves life so much that He  will sustain eternal life forever.

Jesus did not die in vain, His death was for you, so that God could give a way for you to have eternal life that will last for eternity. No matter what you’ve done, God loves you. No matter the dark thoughts in the forefront of your mind, He knows. He’s seen your sin and disobedience to His laws (Exodus 20), He has witnessed your very best and worst. He knows the fears you have and the way you do not want to face the hardships of life anymore. Stop and ask yourself, what would the God who loves me want me to do now? Would He want me to kill myself?

God’s provision of eternal life remains a choice for you to make. God allows us to choose His way to eternal life or our own way. Our goodness though, is not the basis of God’s gift of eternal life because the standard is God’s holiness. If we reject Christ’s payment for our sins on the cross, then we must pay for our sins ourselves with eternal death and punishment. No one likes to face the reality of this fact, that we are not good enough in and of ourselves to make things happen for us in a good way for eternity.

Some people believe, if you choose to kill yourself through suicide that you automatically go to hell, whether you say you were a Christian or not. This belief cannot be found in the Bible because it is a lie. The plain truth is not about how you die, it is what you do with what you know about Christ’s death that matters before you die that matters. So many people take the risk of saying, “I will find out what will happen to me after I die.” By then, it will be too late. Choices about eternity must be made before death.

Now that you know God loves life so much that He allowed Christ to die for you, what will you do with that truth?

Will you choose to accept it? or reject it?

Your life and time on earth is a gift from God, don’t rob yourself or others, by allowing wrong thoughts to lead you into destroying yourself.

At one point in time God is speaking to the Jewish people this message in Deuteronomy 30 and I believe that He would say the same thing to those of you who are considering suicide.

Deuteronomy 30: 19,20a “I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live: That thou mayest love the Lord thy God, and that thou mayest obey his voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto him: for he is thy life, and the length of thy days…”

If you are a Christian reading this and you are thinking of taking your life, I want to beg you to wait. Take time now to pray and ask God to make Himself known to you in a special way, so that you can feel His love and presence. If you’re running from the consequences of your sin, I pray you will run like King David did on multiple occasions and rest yourself upon a merciful God. His plans are not to destroy you, but to make you come close to Him and become a fruitful Christian. If you’re running from dire circumstances that have happened in your life, I pray you will rest like Job in the hands of your Creator, and wait for these circumstances to end. If Job had ended his life, he would have missed out on the blessings of his restored life. What you need to do is cling to the hope of God’s promises, get in your Bible and memorize scripture that speaks to your heart about hope.

I understand this is a very sensitive subject, if you have any questions or thoughts that you would like to share with me, please contact me here. If you would like to know more about salvation then please do not hesitate to ask me and I will be happy to help you know more about how you can have eternal life.

 

 

A Roadblock to Your Own Comfort

“You’ll never understand unless you go through it.” I understand the heart where this phrase comes from but I wish it did not exist.

Lately, it seems like I run into people who are going through an extreme life-altering circumstances, whether it is the loss of a loved one, a divorce, or even something like overwhelming debt. Their popular phrase while trying to filter through their grief and difficulty is “You’ll never understand unless you go through it.” I do not disagree, but then again I do.

One of the common threads in all of life’s difficulty is loss and sorrow.

The reason why I hate the response, “You’ll never understand,” is because the hurting person who usually says this fails to fully acknowledge the person trying to help and comfort them. They discount that person and their personal losses and pain. The pain they have experienced in their lifetime…. and survived. They require exact suffering  before they allow someone to help them. God created individuals who have individual experiences, therefore no two people will ever have the same experience in their lives, everything about us and  is different.

Roadblock to Your Own Comfort

 The Roadblock to Your Own Comfort

Many of us have been trained to deal with people in tough circumstances wisely. I have been taught you are never supposed to say to a hurting person, “I know exactly how you feel,” because there is no way that we can know how any one person would feel because we are not them and we have not lived their life. This is true! But when it comes to  the “counselors” needing the counseling and comfort they forget the other side of the coin and create roadblocks of rejection to their own comfort.

Requiring others, when you are hurting, to have exact suffering hinders the power of comfort through the Holy Spirit’s leading.

The Bible instructs us in I Corinthians 12:26, to rejoice with those who rejoice and to suffer with those who sorrow. The church body should be able to feel when one of their members is hurting and help them without feeling shamed for their lack of experience in that specific area.

I just fear that we sometimes demand that the comforters be exactly like us before we allow them to have any credibility. The truth is, no one will ever be like us and no one will ever know our heart’s sorrows like Jesus (Isaiah 53:3,4).

What I wish I could say…

Often I have reached out to offer love and support and found closed hearts and rejection. It has made me want to cry because I hurt with them whether they realize it or not. In the quietness of my heart I want to say, “I know hurt and loss too, and I’m sorry that you’re hurting. I know life is not easy and God does not always explain the reasons why He does things, even to His servants. In the darkest hours, when you feel rejected and despised, God still loves you. Please do not be so harsh when people try to be kind. I do not always know what to say or say it correctly but God has put in me a heart of compassion to extend a merciful hand of comfort. Please accept my words of consolation as genuine extensions of acknowledgement that you are hurting. I am hurting because you are.”

I want to go on to tell them, “All sorrow is painful no matter what form it comes in. I know the sorrow of not having a father in my life. I know the loss of divorce and the struggle of being in a single-parent home. I know the loss of friendships and material things when we lost our home in a fire. I cannot change my losses or suffering because God did not plan my life to be exactly like yours. I do not know precisely what you are going through but I can relate.

Please do not reduce my past hurt and the experiences God has led me through and exalt your own.  God has taught me so much and perhaps a few of the gems He gave me along the way were supposed to be shared with you. Sadly, you won’t allow me to share them with you because I’ve never experienced what you’ve gone through before.”

“When you are hurting not everyone will say the right things. You may be hurt because others are ignorant or selfish. Look for those that are reaching out to you in a special way. Give them a chance to possibly be the channel in which God comforts you. Please accept my love and concern as a touch from God.”

The last thing I would say is this,

“Reach out to God and boldly approach the throne of grace to help you through this trial you are going through. Then, look for those who are reaching out and accept their love. I want to be an extension of God’s love and comfort to you, if you’ll let me. Trust me, it will do a soul and body good! Lord willing, down the road, your trial will be able to help someone else in your life and ministry. “

Seeing then that we have a great high priest, passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need. Hebrews 4:14-16

I know that I am not always understood when I try to comfort those with different circumstances than mine, and although I hate that phrase that I can still bring them and their needs boldly before the throne of grace in prayer. I will not be offended when people create these roadblocks to their own comfort but will do my best to follow the Holy Spirit’s leading in what He wants me to do toward them.

Lord, please guide me and help me know how to help people who are hurting and allow this article to help them understand the other side of the coin.

The Ministry Mama’s Favorite Thanksgiving Recipes

Favorite Thanksgiving Recipes

The thought of cooking turkey to me is overwhelming. I just think of all the stress of getting up at 4 am to put the turkey in. The way it makes you sleepy after you eat it… and then that great big carcass that you have to pick. Ugh, turkey is not my rodeo. I have done it before and it has turned out just fine. Mentally there is a barrier in my thoughts every year when I decide what we’re going to have for Thanksgiving dinner.  My thoughts always balk at the idea of cooking another turkey. So, if we are at home with just our family, the truth is, I don’t cook one. We have roast, ham, or just sit around and devour the deviled eggs by themselves (joking!!).

What about you? Are you a turkey cooking kind of person? If you are, then, hats off to you, from me personally, because I will put it off again until absolutely necessary.

I will share with you some of my favorite recipes for Thanksgiving and holidays and sadly, because Kraft used to send free recipe magazines in the mail, most of my recipes are their recipes. We have had to adjust some of them to fit our allergies and gluten-free diet  but all-in-all these recipes are becoming our family traditions.

The Bruschetta Chicken Bake – This is one of my absolute favorite dishes to make. You can even double, triple, quadruple it to make it for a church meal. People love it!

I prefer this because how many times do you eat turkey in the season before your palette begins to desire a change ? This recipe combines stuffing (use gluten-free if needed) with a can of diced tomatoes. You take diced chicken and put it in the bottom of your pan, top it with cheese (or omit if you’re intolerant) and top with the stuffing mixture, then bake in the oven.

Helpful Hints: You can use your turkey leftovers instead of chicken. You could also add a can or two of green beans on top of your chicken and it still turns out great!

Cranberry-Pineapple Minis – Who knew that combining jell-o, crushed pineapple, and whole cranberry sauce would make something so delicious!? Our family loves this recipe. We simply omit the nuts since our son is allergic and it always turns out fantastic. The cupcake liners for this recipe are the foil ones, to help them stay in their perfect shape so that they come out as perfect-sized portions of yumminess.

Helpful Hint: This recipe also works great for serving church meal or a banquet meal.

Whipped Sweet Potato Bake – This recipe makes a great sweet potato side. If you like light and airy sweet potatoes then this would be something you would enjoy. If you like the big sweet potato chunks… this recipe will probably not be your thing. In my opinion, mixing the sweet potatoes and making them similar to a mashed potato texture may make them go farther if you are serving more people.

Finally, I want to also include an instructional website that has helped me learn how to make the best deviled eggs without having them stuck to the shell every single time. DeviledEggs101 will teach you step by step how to boil your eggs, cool them, crack them, and has a good variety of recipes that will help you become a deviled egg angel of a cook. We are Miracle-Whip-in-our-deviled-eggs kind of people, we do not sin by putting mayonnaise in our eggs unless we are absolutely desperate — I am only kidding since I know that many a church lady has had her disagreement on the best recipe for deviled eggs. Okay, maybe not but in my mind I could imagine that as a possibility, and in recognition of that, I say, “to each their own!”

Helpful Hint: It’s all in how you cool the egg in cold water that helps the shell come off easily.

We still have not decided on whether to have turkey, ham, roast, or deviled eggs for Thanksgiving this year but I have a feeling I am going to have to make a decision and fast! It looks like after the past couple of busy months we might be able to take a few days and spend them solely together for our Thanksgiving. And you know, that’s alright with me, sometimes it is a higher degree of gratitude and appreciation when you can lay all the world aside and focus on who God gave you to minister to.

So, as you plan your meals for family I hope and pray that this Thanksgiving will be a special time for you to focus on the special blessings God has provided and that God will also allow you to be able to focus on those God has given you to serve and minister to.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Larkly Bible Studies Giveaway1

Reminder: This Thursday (11/20) is our last day for our Facebook Giveaway of Ruth Ann Larkly’s Bible Study books (3 books in a bundle!!). If you have not entered from the Ministry Mamas page, then please follow this link and get in on that before it’s too late.

Fall and Christmas Decorating Ideas - Wanted

Also, if you have any photos of your Thanksgiving/Fall or Christmas decorations please remember to submit them. Or if you would like more information please read up about how we are trying to build up a gallery of church decoration ideas here.