Look Beyond the World You See

Tag: Love

  • The Sign of the Cross

    The Sign of the Cross

    It said, Ride On, Rest in Peace.  A simple wooden cross, stuck in the dirt on the side of the road marked the passing of a life from this world to the next.  What a modest way to say this person has taken the next step in their journey through eternity.  It is a journey so many have taken but so few are willing to consider.

    The Passing of Life is Holy Ground

    We look at a cross and see it as a symbol of death. The cemetery is a grim reminder of our view of the cross.  It is a sign that someone’s life is over.  Our immediate thought is about how they died and the family and friends they left behind.  It doesn’t take long to start thinking about our own mortality and what we would leave behind.  If you are like me, you may even wonder about the life to death process.

    Almost 150,000 people die per day worldwide.  The impact of a loss reflects the depth of our relationship.  You may read the obituaries and not be moved at all by a person’s passing.  You didn’t know them, so why should you be touched?  But what if you see the obituary of a friend on the paper before you?  How would that make you feel?  It is generally accepted that our parents will die before us, so composing their obituary may be very moving.  And God forbid, what if your child passes before you?  Then you would know the depth of pain that is shared by those who live outside the normal order of things.  The pain of death connects those who have shared it.

    When death touches us, we are reminded that the passing of a loved one is a special event.  Relationships captured in photos, videos and untold memories of days gone by flood our minds and fill our hearts.  It is a time to reflect on the best of our relationship and sometimes the worst of the one we lost.  It is a time to consider whether the worst was really that bad.

    Death is one of the few times we are closest to seeing past the veil of this life.  The closer you get to death, the more you realize what is important.

    Just as the well of love that God has given us has no earthly bottom, so too can our grief be.  A child mourns the passing of a parent for years.  A man marks the death of a best friend on each anniversary of his death and on his birthday.  A parent suffers the pain of losing a child and carries that wound like they are holding their baby child.  The passing of life is holy ground.

    Symbol of Life

    While we see a cross as a symbol of death, God sees it as a symbol of life.  We cling to life as if there is no tomorrow, but God has made a way for us to live forever with Him.  God has a way of turning our perspective of death around and forcing us to see it from a different angle.  He took our symbol of death and made it a symbol of life.

    You know Jesus Christ and His story.  It is the story that rises above the rest.  It is the story of His birth, life, death and resurrection.  Every December 25th, you celebrate His birth and every Easter you celebrate His resurrection.  His is the story of true life.  It is a reminder of the love that God has for you and the life He has waiting for you by simply believing in Him.

    The apostle, Paul, was a sinner and violent aggressor, yet the Lord used him to demonstrate His perfect patience towards sinners so that they might be saved.  Taken from 1 Timothy 13-16.   In the same way, the Lord uses each one of us to demonstrate His patience towards sinners, because He desires ALL Men to be Saved and come to the knowledge of the Truth.  He wants to save everyone from eternal destruction and separation from Him.  In Heaven, He will wipe away every tear.  There will be no more sorrow and no more pain because the former things will have passed away.  We will live forever in joy, peace and inexpressible happiness on the day our veil is removed, if we have made a choice to believe that Jesus Christ is who He says He is.  He is, the Great Redeemer, Wonderful Counselor and Prince of Peace.  Don’t let disbelief cloud your choice.

    We are the Family of Man

    This life connects us and weaves our stories together.  Death finalizes our story and passes it on to the next generation, but death does not need to end that connection.  God made us Eternal Beings and meant for us to keep our relationships forever.  And we can, in Heaven.  We will know each other forever, but in that place those relationships will be drenched in peace and harmony.  It will be the best of times.

    Are there people that have made a difference in your life?  Perhaps someone in your childhood who shared a special bond with you?  If their journey took them from this world before you, then know that they aren’t gone forever.  They are simply waiting on the other side for you.

    There is an hour for each of us to die.  Do not be afraid of that hour, because it is what you have been created for.  Not to dwell here on this world forever, but to learn, to grow, to build family, friendships and earthly connections that will continue into eternity.  You were born to be eternal.  You were made an eternal being.  You are eternal.  The sign of the Cross says it is so.

  • A Well With No Bottom

    A Well With No Bottom

    Solomon and the two harlots.

    Have you heard the story about the two harlots?  If you don’t know what the word, harlot, means, some synonyms for it are; prostitute, hooker, hustler, sex worker, streetwalker and more.  The term “harlot” is used in the Bible.  Our story comes from the Bible in 1 Kings 3:16-28.  Believe it or not, the story is about love.  Yes, prostitutes do love.  And no, I do not know this from personal experience.

    As King Solomon sat on his throne, two women were brought before him.  They needed his help to solve a problem.  Both women were prostitutes, both women had newborn babies and both lived in the same house with their infants.

    One night, one of the harlots accidentally laid on her infant and suffocated him.  Waking and seeing that she had killed her son, she quietly took her dead infant and put him in bed with the other woman, while taking the other woman’s live son for her own.

    In the morning, the other woman awoke to find her son dead, but after examining him, she realized it was not her son.  It was evident that this child belonged to her roommate and that her own child had been taken by the other woman.

    As they stood before the king, he considered their problem.  One child was alive and one child was dead.  The living child had been supposedly taken from his real mother by the mother who had the dead son.

    One Person’s Word Against Another

    How would you solve this problem?  There were no finger print records to check.  You could not do a DNA test.  It was one person’s word against another.

    King Solomon commanded that a sword be brought and the living child be divided in two and that one half should be given to each woman.  The woman whose son was the living child immediately begged the king that her child be given to the other woman and not be hurt.  The woman whose son had died said to divide him and that he would not be the son of either woman.

    King Solomon rightly concluded that the woman who was willing to give up her living son so that he could live, was the mother.  He could tell that her self-sacrifice was born out of love for her child.  Therefore, he gave the living child back to his real mother.

    An Expression of Love

    Have you felt love?  What does love look like to you?  In the story of the two harlots, love is exemplified by the sacrifice of the living child’s mother.  She was willing to give up her child forever so that he might live.

    Love has the capacity to give to the point of self-sacrifice.  Each time you deny yourself to allow someone else to be first, you are practicing self-sacrifice.  The result is an expression of love.

    Two Moms

    The sacrifice the harlot was willing to make before King Solomon is still happening today.  Standing before King Solomon, one mother loved her child so deeply that she was willing to let go of her baby forever so that her child could live and have a good life.  There are mothers today who face the same, heart-wrenching decision as that mother so long ago.

    There is a woman who chose to give up her child for adoption.  She loved her daughter and cherished her.  She waited for her daughter to be released from the NICU so that they could go home together.  In her heart though, the pain of poverty and struggles she faced as a drug addict were not the gifts, she wanted to give her beautiful girl.

    With an act of self-sacrifice that was reminiscent of that mother so long ago, this mother chose to give up her daughter in the hope that her child would live and have a better life.

    What this mother could not know was that her choice would touch the life of another woman who had dreamed of a third child for twelve years.  This woman longed for more children but never considered adoption to fulfill that desire.

    Unable to have another natural child of their own, this mother finally turned to adoption with her husband.  Her fear that she would not be able to love an adopted child as much as her own had prevented her from seriously considering adoption.

    Speaking God’s Language

    What are the characteristics of love?  The Bible says, “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.  It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.  Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.  It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.” 1 Corinthians 13:4-7

    The expression of love from the heart is pure, even if your life has been defiled with the refuse of the world.  The world cannot take away the gift of your love.  It cannot say your love is meaningless.  There is nothing in your life or the world around you that can hide or diminish your acts of love.

    The Lord made the heart.  Each time you show an act of sincere love, you are speaking God’s language. He hears and sees a love that is pure and undefiled.  God is love and His love is found in us, in that one place in the heart that can’t be satisfied by the world.  It is the one place that only God and His love can satisfy because it is the source and fountain of life that God put there when He created us.  If you look close enough, it is where you will find Jesus Christ and His life.

    No Earthly Bottom

    When the path of these two mothers crossed, the first found the hope she was looking for in her daughter’s safety and welfare.  The second mother found the hope she was looking for in the opportunity to love another child.  Both mothers saw the hope of a better path for this little life.  Is it any wonder this beautiful girl was named, Hope?

    The second mother also found that she loved this child so deeply that she realized the well of her love was deep enough to drown in.  That’s because the well of love begins with Jesus Christ and there is no earthly bottom to it. Have you given up your child for adoption?  Is there a sacrifice you have made that cost you so dearly you felt as if your heart was torn from your very chest?  That same well of love is there for you.  God sees your sacrifice and He remembers the sacrifice His Son made 2000 years ago.  It is the sacrifice of denying yourself for the sake of someone else.  It is an expression of the deepest, most abiding love that is buried deep inside each of us.

  • Not as the World, Do I Love You

    Not as the World, Do I Love You

    I almost always, only see men at the corner asking for money, so I was surprised to see a woman sitting there.  As she approached my open window and outstretched arm, I could see her makeup was applied too generously.  I wanted to scoff at her attempt to look pretty, until I spotted it.  The telltale sign of a black bruise under her right eye that the makeup couldn’t hide.

    The sadness in this young woman’s eyes wounded my heart.  As our eyes met and she took the bill from my hand, I felt empty.  I knew that would be the only interaction we would ever have.  I also knew that the pain of her struggle would not be so easily comforted by my contribution.

    When My Heart Cries Out

    As I drove on, I became angry.  I wanted to gather armies to deliver this unknown fellow traveler of life.  I wanted to charge into her life and rescue her from all who would abuse and harm her.  No one deserves that abuse under any circumstance.

    After our meeting, I couldn’t stop thinking about this roadside soul.  Part of me wanted to shut the thought of her off so that I could forget her pain and mine.  To have the knowledge of another’s suffering and be unable to heal it is devastating.  I was tormented by the circumstances of a person I interacted with for only a few minutes.  I wanted to heal this person’s hurt and comfort her affliction.  I wanted to give her hope for a better future.  I wanted her to have peace and joy.  The merciless truth is that I have no wand to magically transform her life and it makes me feel helpless.  Our brief exchange left me broken.

    In the end, when my heart cries out, all I have for her are tears.  And my prayers.  But the God I know is the One who has captured my tears in His bottle.  He treasures each one.  And I know that my prayers, shrouded in my heart for a storm-battered soul, will not be forgotten before Him.  He remembers and will not forget.

    He sees her shattered life and cares for her.  He knows how the world has risen against her.  This world is not what He intended, so He has made a new one.  It is a place of peace, love and friendship.  It is a world where each person cares for the other and no one will be harmed ever again.

    Not of This World

    You see, He is not of this world.  The world didn’t make Him.  He made the world.  You will stand in His presence and He will dry the tears from your eyes.  He will comfort you and give you hope.

    Do you not know Him?  He has many names.  Some are, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace and Jesus Christ.

    Have you suffered extreme pain?  It may be difficult to suffer and believe in a living and loving God.  Whatever path brought you to the point of suffering in your life, know that what you have suffered is a taste of the death of this world.  Every act of violence, every word that is designed to wound and every intention of the heart that purposely takes from another human soul are forms of death that we experience and endure in this world.  But it is not that way with Jesus Christ.

    Peace, Hope, Faith and Love

    Jesus Christ wants you to have peace, hope, faith and love.  He is waiting to lead you to still waters where you can be encouraged and rest in Him and know beyond a shadow of a doubt that He is real and He has prepared, Forever, for you so that you will never again have to endure the pain of this world.

    Do you already believe in Jesus Christ?  Then may He rise up to scatter your enemies and strengthen you to endure so that you may stand before Him on the day He calls you home.

    Maybe you don’t know who Jesus Christ is.  Let me introduce you to Him.  He is the One who encourages you to care.  He is the One who has taught you to love.  I don’t mean giving yourself to another human being during the brevity of intimacy.  I mean, He is the One who has taught you to express love in the forms of caring and nurturing for all beings great and small.

    Have you ever held a little baby in your arms?  If so, know then, that holding an infant is one of the Universe’s greatest, beautiful things in life.  True love is made of beautiful things.  When you nurture and protect that eternal being in the form of a helpless baby, you are expressing true love.  That love, is God in you.  God is love and He created you with that love inside you.

    This world of death will try to steal that love from you.  It will lie to you and tell you that type of love isn’t real, but you were born to love.  The world can’t stop that love in you.  Love is always waiting to flow from your heart, to your lips and feet and arms.  It was put there by God.  No one and nothing can take it away from you.  You were hard-wired, so to speak, with love from the very beginning of your first spark of life.

    Be Not Unbelieving, but Believing

    You don’t believe me?  I find that hard to accept.  Perhaps you have expressed love and didn’t realize it.  Here are some examples.  As a child, did you ever make a drawing for your mother?  Did you ever kiss your father and tell him “I love you, daddy”?  Have you ever hugged your sister?  Did you ever forgive a friend?  How about lending a helping hand to someone in need?

    I believe you know these deeds because you have expressed them countless times throughout your life.  In fact, you have done these so often, they have become commonplace and almost forgotten that you do them or have done them in the past.  You were made to love.  You have simply forgotten who you are.

    Jesus Christ has not forgotten you or who you are.  He is calling you today.  He knows the path you have walked and He wants to guide you into a new path.  It is the path of life.  It is the path that leads home to Him. Can you honestly say the path you are on is filled with love, hope, faith and joy?  Does your path give you peace that surpasses all understanding?  I know, there are many great and difficult struggles in this life.  There is no way around them, but God wants to lead you through them.  You will see His hand at work in your life when you turn to Him.  When you give your life to Him, you will be able to hear the words He has been saying to you since you were born; “Not as the world, do I love you”.

  • Not Without My Family

    Not Without My Family

    Florita buried her daughter, her firstborn, when she was only 12 years old.  Lupus showed no mercy when her daughter contracted the disease and died from it.  By Flo’s own confession, she was devastated.  Who could console this mother’s loss?  Who was there to console her?  As a single mother without a husband to raise 4 children on her own, Flo was left to grapple with the devastating effects of the death of her only daughter.

    The loss of a child is not the normal order of life.  It is usually our children who bury us.  But there they were.  Flo’s three boys.  She had to go on for their sake.  Eventually, Flo enshrined the loss of her daughter in a special place in her heart so that she could move on.  She knew that her daughter would never come back to her.  This mother’s faith told her that one day she would go to her daughter.

    It was but scant years before death visited once more.  This mother of 4, and now 3, had barely learned to live again when she lost a son in a freak accident during boot camp.  A truck rolled over during a training exercise and her loss grew to two children.  Pride in her son’s courage to join the Army melted into her worst fear and the familiar grief of loss.  He was barely 18.

    Tell Me, is it True?

    They say that time heals all wounds.  Tell me, Flo, is it true?  I would trust you to know.

    Time brought this single mother a new and wonderful husband.  Life with her husband and two remaining boys who were now grown men with lives of their own was finally full.  Eventually, these boys brought young women for their mother to love as daughters-in-law.  Together, these 2 boys and their wives gave Florita grand-children to love.  It was time to truly heal.  Or was it?

    The unfathomable news that her third child had died could not be contained.  Circumstances of his death only shrouded her grief in misery and confusion.

    Flo’s grand-children and their mother were gathered together with her remaining son, to lower his brother into the ground.  This was the day I first met her.  Flo sat stoically as the eulogy was delivered for her beloved son.  I could not begin to imagine the depth of her pain.  It made me wonder, why is it that some must carry burdens so great?

    Almost 5 Years to the Day

    I won’t hide what happens next.  It was almost 5 years to the day.  Her last son.  Her only son left alive.  Her only child left who had been there for each passing of his siblings and the ceremonies that marked the next step in their eternal journeys. This son knew the loss his mother carried.   He cared for his mother so much that he chose to give up his love of riding motorcycles to be there for her in her old age.  Deciding to sell his motorcycle, he found a co-worker to buy it, just to make sure he would never be in a motorcycle accident that would take him away from his mother.  That fateful morning, on his way to work to deliver the bike to his friend, he was killed in an accident.  Her last son.  Her youngest.  Gone.  It defies all reason.

    Who Could Endure?

    Florita must be a strong woman.  Who could endure the loss of all of her children?  She continued when others would have surrendered.  Fortunately, Flo’s husband was there to comfort her.  Flo was alone in the beginning, but not now.  The years into retirement brought travel together with her husband.  There were good times as they toured the country in their motorhome.

    Eventually, as it is with all life, our youth passes.  We are left aged, even though we still feel young on the inside.  It is what is on the outside that drags us down.  Old bodies that creak and groan and grumble.  Flo and her husband were aging.  At the normal time of life that death would come calling, it would have been a mercy for Flo to be the one to go first.

    When we received the call that Flo’s husband had passed, I couldn’t stop thinking of her and her journey on this island called, earth.  I don’t know anyone else who has endured so much loss.  It makes me wonder about who Flo is and what type of person she is on the inside that could suffer so much and go on.

    Florita has had 5 family members walk through the veil before her.  Rarely must one person suffer so much loss.  All who hear Flo’s story will grieve with her at her immeasurable loss.  If I could give my life to bring even one of her family back, I would do it gladly.

    The only way I can come to grips with the loss Flo has endured is to think of our future self in heaven.  In time, each of us will walk the path Flo’s family has taken.  I wonder what it will be like to shed this mortal life for immortality; to leave the world we see for the world we don’t see.

    Through a Mirror Dimly

    Flo has lost everyone.  All four children and now her husband.  Seemingly, she is alone in this life, but Jesus Christ is still with her.  He will never leave Flo or abandon her.  Jesus Christ has said, “I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you” Hebrews 13:5 partial, NASB.  He sees Flo’s loss and will restore all that she has lost.  Scripture says, “I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten.”  Joel 2:25. He will turn your mourning into praise and will cause you to rejoice.  “You turned my wailing into dancing; you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy, that my heart may sing your praises and not be silent.  LORD my God, I will praise you forever.” Psalms 30:11-12 NIV.

    We do not see it now because we see through a mirror dimly.  “For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.” 1 Corinthians 13:12 NIV.  Who can see through the veil?  It is always before us until we take that step in our journey into eternity.  But there are evidences of what lies beyond the veil.  Those proofs are found in the bible as well as all around us.

    We see them in the flowers, trees, mountains and oceans.  It is the perfection and symbiosis of all life and living things.  It is in the fact that the ocean goes no further than the beach.  The bible tells us that God put an everlasting ordinance on the ocean so that it would stop at the beach.  “I made the sand a boundary for the sea, an everlasting barrier it cannot cross.  The waves may roll, but they cannot prevail; they may roar, but they cannot cross it.” Jeremiah 5:22 NIV, partial.

    We also see and hear these evidences in the stories we tell that remind us of deeds long past.  Jesus’ birth, life, death and resurrection are one example.

    If you are like Flo and have suffered loss, then let me encourage you.  I think that when we enter the veil, we will learn the story of those who have gone before us and we will discover that they entered through the veil with singing and dancing and music and joy and peace and inexpressible love.  It is what each of those who have made a choice for Jesus Christ, will experience when they take that next step in their journey.

    Are You Unsure?

    Are you unsure of a loved one who has gone before you?  Take heart.  No one knows who will be waiting for us, but with God, all things are possible.  God is the one who examines our heart.  “I the LORD search the heart and examine the mind.” Jeremiah 17:10 NIV, partial.  He is the judge and if there is anyone who you would want judging you, it is the God who is love.

    Love covers a multitude of sins.  Love endures when all else fails.  Love forgives the unforgiveable.  You don’t believe me?  See what the bible has to say about love.

    • “Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.” 1 John 4:8 NIV
    • “This is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.” 1 John 4:10 NIV
    • “No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and His love is made complete in us.” 1 John 4:12 NIV
    • “Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.” 1 Peter 4:8 NIV
    • “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.  It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.  Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.  It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.  Love never fails.” 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 NIV

    Flo, isn’t alone.  The hosts of Heaven are with her.  They mourn as one with her and for her great loss.  God will restore her loss and give her time unending to enjoy the fruit she longs for, which is her family.