Jesus is Love.

Love is a commitment.

Jesus came to be a servant. He served to the end. 

Jesus washed Judas' feet.

Jesus KNEW Judas was going to betray him and still yet he got down on his knees and washed his feet. 

Love people like Jesus. 

Jesus is committed to love.

Be committed to follow Jesus no matter what circumstances are.

No matter our circumstances God loves us. Jesus loves us! We are his!

Love is service.

We have to be a light in the community.

Stay committed. Jesus is committed. God is committed. Stay committed because Jesus loves you!

These are my notes taken from the Sunday Sermon given by Pastor Robert Trigo. This is a powerful message from the Lord! 

Addicted to the Bible

"My addiction… my drug of choice… was truly a miracle. While I was depressed and reeling from the pain of dashed hopes, unanswered prayers, and a body that was betraying me, I became addicted to the Word of God. During the days of blackness, the Bible became a source of joy and light."                            

 Day 1 Joy for All Seasons by Carol McLeod

SalleeB: Can you identify with this? I sure can.

Four years into widowhood, I met someone I thought was going to be my next husband. He lived an hour and a half from me so we commuted back and forth on weekends. He asked me to marry him. I said yes. Shortly afterwards, the holiday season began. 

After Christmas, he and I began moving my belongings from my house to his.  You know its serious when your motorcycle and dog aren't staying with you during the week. 

Following New Year's I breathed a sigh of relief because the holiday season was over and went back to work. THEN, that first weekend in January, I stayed home as agreed AND he didn't answer or return my calls all weekend. I was getting worried, but stayed calm and kept turning it over to God.

You know where this is going right? Yep, he broke off the engagement with a Monday morning voice mail of It's not you it's me.

The very next Saturday morning, my friend Kathi helped me retrieve all my things with her SUV and flatbed trailer.

After that relationship ambush, I immersed myself in the Bible. You see, I too, am addicted to the Bible. My bridegroom is Jesus. The Bible helped me keep the darkness of rejection, anger, and depression at bay. The light of the Word of God restored me and gave me back my joy.

How Long Do You Grieve a Personal Loss?

Grief is...
Grief expert David Kessler at Grief.com says"...grief is a process, a journey. It does not end on a certain day or date. It is as individual as each of us. Grief is real because loss is real. Each grief has its own imprint, as distinctive and as unique as the person we lost. The pain of loss is so intense, so heartbreaking, because in loving we deeply connect with another human being, and grief is the reflection of the connection that has been lost. Grief is not just a series of events, or stages or timelines. Our society places enormous pressure on us to get over loss, to get through the grief."But how long do you grieve for a husband of 12 years? A nephew who kills himself? A stillborn baby? A year? 5 years? Forever?

Grief and Loss
When your heart is broken, healing is a long process. In Genesis 37: 34 - 35, Jacob tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and mourned many days when he believed his son Joseph was dead. Joseph was his baby. Joseph was his favorite son. Jacob's other children tried to comfort him, but he wouldn't let them. He wanted to be with his dead son Joseph. I recognize that feeling.

After my husband Jack died, I just wanted to be left alone to mourn. Emotionally, I fluctuated back and forth through the different stages of grieving like a kite dipping and bobbing in the wind. Denial. Anger. Depression. Acceptance.
During Year 2 of widowhood, I stayed in anger and acceptance with depression kicking in on our anniversary and holidays. In the fall of that year, I had a relapse back into pure grieving. Sharp-edged, painful sorrow returned and it felt like Jack had died yesterday rather than two years previously. Depression returned. I felt rejected and unlovable. Anger would overcome me occasionally when people would offer advice they considered to be helpful to get me through my grief.

"Helpful" Advice

Some of the "helpful" advice I was given by well-meaning people follows, along with my reaction to it.

• You need to be strong.

No thanks! I'll be weak and let the Lord comfort me and heal my broken heart. Psalms 34: 18 and Matthew 5:4.

• If you grieve for more than a year, you need to seek help.

Really? there isn't a time limit on grief. This is my time to mourn, weep and heal. Ecclesiastes 3:1-4

• Crying won't fix anything.

Yes it will! Crying releases the pressure and emotional tension of grief. Tears are a part of grief and and sadness. Crying is NOT a sign of weakness. Do not let anyone tell you it's wrong to cry when you are sad. Psalm 34:18

• You need a hobby to focus on.

No, I need to focus on Jesus. Reading my Bible daily became part of my routine. I was given hope, comfort and a deeper relationship with God.

• Get on  with your life and things will get better.

Honestly, I was already living one day at a time. I did have to keep going through the motions of daily living - work, church and family. (This list is not in order of importance.) Somewhere around year 5, I realized I had gotten on with my life and things did get better. Psalm 147:3 In God's world, there is a time for everything, and season for every activity under heaven. Ecclesiastes 3:1

In conclusion, I want to encourage everyone who has lost a loved one, to grab onto Jesus. 

Read your Bible daily. Deepen your relationship with Jesus. Grief is a journey you take one day at a time. God will be there to comfort you. 

Pray this prayer from Matthew 5:4.

Father God, I am asking you to comfort me. Your word says I will be blessed with your comfort because I am mourning the loss of _______________. I am claiming that promise. Comfort me. Fill me with peace. Take away the sharp edges of my grief. In the mighty name of Jesus, I ask this. Amen.

Psalm 34:18
The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.
Psalm 147:3
He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.
Matthew 5:4
Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
Ecclesiastes 3:1-4
There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under the heavens:
a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant, and a time to uproot,
a time to kill, and a time to heal,
a time to tear down, and a time to build,
a time to weep, and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn, and a time to dance...

Verse of the Week - Galatians 2:20

Paul acquaints us with what his own judgment and practice were. 

• That he was dead to the law. Whatever account others might make of it for his part, he was dead to it. 
• He knew that the moral law denounced a curse against all that did not continue in all things written in the law and therefore he was dead to it, as to all hope of justification and salvation that way. 
• As for the ceremonial law, he also knew that it was now antiquated and superseded by the coming of Christ. He was therefore dead to the law, through the law itself. By considering the law itself, he saw that justification was not to be expected by the works of it (since none could perform a perfect obedience to it) and that there was now no further need of the sacrifices and purifications of it, since they were done away in Christ. 
• A stop was put to them by Jesus offering up himself a sacrifice for us; and therefore, the more Paul looked into it the more he saw that there was no occasion for keeping up that regard to the law which the Jews pleaded for. 
• Paul had renounced all hopes of justification by the works of the law, and was unwilling any longer to continue under the bondage of it; but he was far from thinking himself discharged from his duty to God.
• On the contrary, he was dead to the law, that he might live for God. 
• The doctrine of the gospel, which he had embraced, instead of weakening the bond of duty upon him, strengthened and confirmed it; and though he was dead to the law, yet it was only in order to his living a new and better life to God.
•  (as Rom. 7:4, 6), Paul's new life would be more agreeable and acceptable to God than his observance of the Mosaic law.
• A life of faith in Christ, and, under the influence of Jesus, was a life of holiness and righteousness towards God. 

Paul also acquaints us with

• That, as he was dead to the law, so he was alive to God through Jesus Christ.
•  (v. 20): I am crucified with Christ, etc. 

And here Paul gives us an excellent description of the life of a believer.

• He is crucified, and yet he lives; the old man is crucified (Rom. 6:6), but the new man is living; 

• he is dead to the world, and dead to the law, and yet alive to God and Christ; 

• sin is mortified, and grace quickened. 

• He lives, and yet not he. This is strange: I live, and yet not I; 

• he lives in the exercise of grace; 

• he has the comforts and the triumphs of grace; and yet that grace is not from himself, but from another. 

• Believers see themselves living in a state of dependence.  

• He is crucified with Christ, and yet Christ lives in him; this results from his mystical union with Christ, by means of which he is interested in the death of Christ, so as by virtue of that to die unto sin; and yet interested in the life of Christ, so as by virtue of that to live unto God. 

• He lives in the flesh, and yet lives by faith; to outward appearance he lives as other people do, his natural life is supported as others are; yet he has a higher and nobler principle that supports and actuates him, that of faith in Christ, and especially as eyeing the wonders of his love in giving himself for him. 

• Hence it is that, though he lives in the flesh, yet he does not live after the flesh. 

• Those who have true faith live by that faith; and the great thing which faith fastens upon is Christ’s loving us and giving himself for us.  

• The great evidence of Christ’s loving us is his giving himself for us; and this is that which we are chiefly concerned to mix faith with, in order to live for him.

Lastly, The apostle concludes...if righteousness comes by the law, then it must follow that Jesus Christ has died in vain; for, if we look for salvation by the law of Moses, then we render the death of Jesus needless: for to what purpose should he be appointed to die, if we might have been saved without it?

Adapted from Matthew Henry's Complete Exposition of the Entire Bible 

Psalm of the Week - 28:7