It’s Only Half Time !

It was Tom’s first day in full time school. At lunchtime, he began to pack his small rucksack and head home, His teacher stopped him and said, “It’s time for lunch, Tom, why aren’t you with the other children?”

Tom said to the teacher, “I always go home at lunchtime, but I’ll be back tomorrow.”

Realizing what was happening, the teacher said, “Last year Tom you were in in a playgroup but this year you are full time, your only half way through your school day.”

Tom stared in disbelief and in frustration said, “Who signed me up for that?”

The above is a great analogy of those who have been bereaved and have entered the,” second half” of their lives this time without precious loved ones. I don’t believe any of us wanted to, “sign up” for that!.

But all is not lost as we navigate through a place we have never been before and it reminds me of The LORD’s words to Joshua after the death of Moses;

“After the death of Moses, the servant of the Lord, the Lord said to Joshua son of Nun, Moses’ aide: “Moses my servant is dead. Now then, you and all these people, get ready to cross the Jordan River into the land I am about to give to them—to the Israelites. I will give you every place where you set your foot, as I promised Moses. Your territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon, and from the great river, the Euphrates—all the Hittite country—to the Mediterranean Sea in the west. No one will be able to stand against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you. Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land, I swore to their ancestors to give them.” Joshua 1 1-6

To develop this theme a bit more I was reminded of an excellent book I read by Gracia Burnham called, “To Fly Again”.

Gracia was widowed when after a long spell of abduction by Islamic terrorists, her husband was mistakenly shot dead by those attempting to liberate them. The account of coming to terms with bereavement and bringing up young children is an inspiring read.

She speaks of a basketball coach at a missionary children’s academy and how he was incredible at motivating his teams.

His inspirational point was at half time, “You’ve got to stay in the game!”

His analogy to life was, “Wherever you are in the world, and whatever you’re doing, the game is not over yet, there’s another half to go. My challenge to you today is this: stay in the game! keep pressing on, as Paul says in Philippians 3:14, ‘to reach the end….and receive the prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us up to heaven”

I think after reading this most of us can identify with this analogy.

Gracia went onto say about her own life experience;

“The first half was long. It went well for the most part. But the last two minutes was very hard. I lost my all-star teammate. I had to fight like everything to stay in the game. Now-I’ve had my rest break. I’ve heard the halftime pep talk, I’ve gotten a cold drink, and the second half of my life is ready to begin”

Are you ready?

Some useful links;

Bereavement Journey Course Click Here

To Fly Again by Gracia Burnham, Click Here

The Dawn Of A New Day !

The release of the Israeli hostages over the weeks has been both sweet & sour. The joy & ecstasy of families re-united coupled with the hard news for some of the death of loved ones. What an emotional roller coaster which will take a long time to heal. But it is good news for many and I would just like to share about the Dekel-Chen family in particular.

Avital Dekel-Chen was eight months pregnant when her husband Sagui was abducted by Hamas. What caught my eye was the child was to be called Shachar which means dawn or sunrise. Sagui certainly had been sitting in darkness in the shadow of death before the sunrise of release, such joy! His daughters name certainly prophetic, holding out in a time of darkness until the light came flooding in.

It took me back to the day Jude took her last breath, 2^nd September 2021 at 6.30am which was the time of the sunrise in Belfast.

Zechariah, John the Baptists priestly Father prophesied after the birth of John of the Christ and referred to Him as the Dayspring, which means the sunrise.

“Through the tender mercy of our God; whereby the dayspring from on high hath visited us, to give light to them that sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.” Luke 1:78-79

One of the greatest blessings I have received through bereavement are the writings of the Scottish divine Samuel Rutherford. One of his biographers quoted about the closing moments of Rutherford’s life into glory.

“With the dawn of the 29^th March 1661, “it was said unto him, ‘Come up hither’: and the renowned eagle took his flight unto the Mountain of Spices.”

For believers in Christ, this Jesus the Daystar should give us much hope when we are in a dark place or about to take our last breath. He can be trusted to do what’s best.

David Watson whose book “Fear no Evil”, outlines his battle with cancer said regarding our last breath,

“Death is only putting out the lamp at the rise of a new dawn”.

We thank God again for the amazing reunion of the Dekel-Chen family.

I would recommend the following books for encouragement.

Fear No Evil by David Watson Click Here

The Inspirational Treasury of Samuel Rutherford Click Here

Assist Us to Live Not Die

On Friday, MPs have the first opportunity to debate and vote on a proposed law which would give terminally ill people in England and Wales the right to choose to end their life.

The debate will last five hours with at least 150 speakers proposing to speak, which equates to two minutes per speaker according to a Sky News correspondent.

Please bear in mind, The Hunting Act which was passed in 2004 after a Government Inquiry had 700 hours of parliamentary debate.

This is a very close subject to me of course with Jude and I do understand every situation is unique and people can experience exceptional high levels of personal suffering in their last days. Emotionally it is a tsunami at the highest level.

I want to say first of all that for Jude, she wanted to live, and I too wanted her to live. The Doctors & nurses were amazing and throughout her treatment the levels of pain & distress were closely monitored. By the grace of God in that final evening and early hours of the following morning she was sleeping and there were no signs of any major anxiety, now that is what is called dignity in dying. Thankyou to all the staff at the City Hospital in Belfast.

As a Christian, I know that Jude after her last breath was in one moment absent from her body & present with The LORD. We should all be concerned more about what happens after our last breath. For more information Click Here

Sadly, as a nation in the UK we continue to gravitate away from our Christian pedigree which in times past influenced so many nations of the world with the Gospel. It breaks my heart to see how easy it is to get an abortion and now at the other end how easy it could become to end your life.

Even this morning in the book of Leviticus, God reminds His people Israel that taking or assisting another person to take their life is an act that carries the penalty of death. (Lev 24:17 &21).

I think God cares about LIFE, don’t you?

In the age of progressive medicine and palliative care we really do not have an excuse to even think on these things but Jeremiah was right when he said;

The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? (17:9)

I’m sure there are many who would like to have a member of their family, “Put down” because of what their family member is experiencing and what they too are experiencing emotionally but The Assisted Dying Bill is not the solution, we must simply continue working with the medical community and providing the funding that is so desperately needed to help in time of need.

Once we get, “Into our heads”, that the Assisted Dying Bill is a legitimate road it simply becomes a slippery slope when other things will be added in time, maybe somebody just depressed, fed up with life and there you go, the Assisted Dying Bill becomes a type of legitimate Suicide.

God help us as a nation to come back to Him and His principals for a blessed life.

If you know NOT Christ……. Click Here

Tender Mercies

“Heavenly Father, thankyou that whatever this life may throw at us your right beside us, and some of the circumstances we encounter are the finger prints of God. Give us eyes to see you LORD in the good and the bad and remember to give you thanks in everything. Amen”

This is the prayer Jude ended with when she gave a talk on the first five verses of Psalm 103 just a few months before being diagnosed with Leukemia.

The Church at St Johns, Hillsborough like so many others were in the midst of the Covid outbreak so Pastor Raj asked Jude to do a few recordings to benefit the congregation during a difficult time.

Some of her opening words on this incredible Psalm written by King David were as follows;

“There are times when we need a good dose of Psalm 103 to wash out that complaining spirit & replace it with a heart of gratitude to The LORD”

Regarding the benefits outlined in the Psalm Jude quotes Spurgeon;

“God selects a few of the choicest pearls, from a casket of divine love, threads them on a string of memory, and hangs them about the neck of gratitude”

Just for a moment, I want to focus on the latter part of verse 3, “….and heals all your diseases”, Jude said:

“Healing is another one of God’s great benefits to our bodies, He brings healing to us in this life through natural & miraculous ways, He promises ultimate healing for all His people in the age to come”

Jude had already received a miraculous healing, (from the menopause) and prophetically she would later fulfil her ultimate healing by meeting Jesus in paradise.

I came across Jude’s notes recently on this talk and was blessed to be able to watch a short video which is still ministering to saints today.

If you would like to watch Jude give this talk it will encourage & challenge you.

Tender Mercies: A talk by Jude Gray based on the first five verses of Psalm 105.

Click Here

May The LORD bless you with His benefits.

The Trump Of God !

Some years ago, I remember seeing some beautiful flowers, resembling trumpets when delivering mail to a particular property. I knew the customers and after commenting on the flowers, I was blessed some weeks later with a gift of bulbs. They are called Nerine Bowdenii of South African origin.

The story goes that the flowers drifted on the seas from South Africa, eventually washing up on the shores of the island of Guernsey. It was this ocean voyage that earned the flower its name: ‘Nerine’, in a reference to the 50 beautiful daughters of the sea-god Nereus. The flower is also known as the Guernsey Lily in the UK.

Some say that the Nerine Bowdenii expresses what is often left unsaid, thus bridging the gap between heart and mind. “I care about you”.

As the flowers have just blossomed in the garden it reminded me especially in the area of grief, things that were left unsaid. Like so many others who experience deep grief you cannot help thinking whether you did enough and it takes time & prayer to bring healing to our emotions. You don’t always see things at the time but friends remind me I gave my best to Jude especially in the closing days.

Somethings are left unsaid, but love goes beyond words when it is deep & secure in a healthy marriage. I close with a “Life verse”, that encourages me daily regarding my re-union with Jude if I’m still living at the blast of a Trumpet !!!.

Be encouraged Christian if loved ones in Christ have been sent ahead…..

“But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so, shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words.” 1 Thess 4:13-18

Spared from the evil to come !

“The righteous perish, and no-one ponders it in his heart; devout men are taken away, and no one understands that the righteous are taken away to be spared from evil. Those who walk uprightly enter into peace; they find rest as they lie in death” Isaiah 57:1

Taken many years ago, this is a picture of Jude and the wee dogs walking in the direction of St Malachi’s, Hillsborough Parish Church. It hangs on my living room wall and has recently took on a whole new meaning of the journey we are all taking as believers to heaven. Notice the door open in the church, when the time comes we enter from time into eternity & into the presence of The LORD.

A few days after Jude’s promotion I received a letter from a friend in Scotland quoting the above scripture from Isaiah. I have often pondered on this because the days are waxing worse, The LORD is shaking the heavens & the earth once more. (Hebrews 12:26-29). Chaos in the Middle East lies at the root of biblical prophecy for instead of Shalom their is war. But one day there will be peace in Jerusalem and we are to pray for it. (Psalm 122:6-7). The LORD is about to return and His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives.(Zechariah 14:4).

In a way, Jude has been blessed by going away before the end time events really kick in and spared from any further evil. My friends realise that all those you love in Christ who have gone before you are spared the evil to come. Whatever their condition when they breathed their last breath be assured their days of suffering & pain are over.

Just to cement these comments, I have been reading the autobiography of Elizabeth Elliott, the wife of Jim Elliott who was martyred for his faith. While a student she wrote about the death of her science teachers brother at twenty five years of age.

“……when Betty’s science teacher learned that his twenty-five-year-old brother died of a pulmonary embolism they believed to be connected to his Army Air Corps training she said, “it was a great shock”. She wrote to her family, “but the Lord has a perfect plan, and we never know what He may have been saving him from”. Elizabeth Elliott A Life Pg32

So my friends, your tomorrow is not promised, there is a Gospel to live & preach so I close with a final word for you today;

“Be very careful, then, how you live, not as unwise but wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil” (Ephesians 5:15)