Monday's Mourning Ministry - Broken Hallelujah ~The Afters

Why Jesus came…

To grant those who mourn in Zion, 

Giving them a garland instead of ashes, 

The oil of gladness instead of mourning, 

The mantle of praise instead of a spirit of fainting. 

So they will be called oaks of righteousness, 

The planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified. 

~Isaiah 61:3

Monday's Mourning Ministry

Broken Hallelujah

~The Afters

Broken Hallelujah

The Afters

I can barely stand right now.

Everything is crashing down,

And I wonder where You are.

I try to find the words to pray.

I don't always know what to say,

But You're the one that can hear my heart.

And even though I don't know what Your plan is,

I know You make beauty from these ashes.

I've seen joy and I've seen pain.

And on my knees, I call Your name.

"Here's my broken hallelujah."

With nothing left to hold onto,

I raise these empty hands to You.

Here's my broken 

Here's my broken

Hallelujah,

Hallelujah,

Hallelujah,

Here's my broken

Hallelujah.

You know the things that have brought me here.

You know the story of every tear.

‘Cause You've been here from the very start.

And even though I don't know what your plan is,

I know You make beauty from these ashes.

I've seen joy and I've seen pain.

And on my knees, I call Your name.

Here's my broken Hallelujah.

With nothing left to hold onto,

I raise these empty hands to You.

Here's my broken 

Here's my broken

Hallelujah,

Hallelujah,

Hallelujah,

Here's my broken

Hallelujah.

When all is taken away, 

don't let my heart be changed.

Let me always sing, 

Hallelujah.

And when I feel afraid, 

don't let my hope be erased

Let me always sing 

(Let me always sing)

Let me always sing, 

Hallelujah.

Hallelujah,

Hallelujah,

I will always sing

Hallelujah,

I will always always sing

Hallelujah.

(Here's my broken)

Here's my broken

Hallelujah"

Hallelujah,

I will always sing

Hallelujah,

I will always sing

Hallelujah,

Here's my broken

Here's my broken

Hallelujah.

Hallelujah,

Hallelujah,

Hallelujah.

~~~~~

Context

The Year of the Lord's Favor

1The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, Because the LORD has anointed me 
To bring good news to the afflicted; 
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, 
To proclaim liberty to captives 
And freedom to prisoners; 
2To proclaim the favorable year of the LORD 
And the day of vengeance of our God; 
To comfort all who mourn, 
3To grant those who mourn in Zion, 
Giving them a garland instead of ashes, 
The oil of gladness instead of mourning, 
The mantle of praise instead of a spirit of fainting. 
So they will be called oaks of righteousness, 
The planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified. 
4Then they will rebuild the ancient ruins, 
They will raise up the former devastations; 
And they will repair the ruined cities, 
The desolations of many generations.

~Isaiah 61:1-4

~~~

17And the book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him. And He opened the book and found the place where it was written, 

18"THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD IS UPON ME, BECAUSE HE ANOINTED ME TO PREACH THE GOSPEL TO THE POOR. HE HAS SENT ME TO PROCLAIM RELEASE TO THE CAPTIVES, AND RECOVERY OF SIGHT TO THE BLIND, TO SET FREE THOSE WHO ARE OPPRESSED, 19TO PROCLAIM THE FAVORABLE YEAR OF THE LORD."

20And He closed the book, gave it back to the attendant and sat down; and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on Him. 21And He began to say to them, 

"Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing."

~Luke 4:17-21 NASB

Graphic, thanks to

My Faith

marilyn ♥

~Pinterest 

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/157626055679975647/

http://youtu.be/Fo3DudOzV4k

Tuesday's Trust - How Do We Have Hope without Despair? - Part Two

The LORD is there to rescue all who are discouraged and have given up Hope.

~Psalm 34:18 CEV

Tuesday's Trust

How Do We Have Hope without Despair?

Part Two

Despair is fleeting; Hope is eternal. 

~Angie Prince

~~~

We cannot appreciate The Light without first being aware of The Dark. 

~Rollin Prince

~~~

Despair haunts me at times. Especially when I get into a place of emptiness and purposelessness.

At those times, I don't know who I am; I don't know what I am capable of doing; I am challenged emotionally, mentally, physically, spiritually, and in strength and endurance. Grief and Trauma are depleting in and of themselves. It doesn't take much more impetus to lose my way and plummet on down into Despair. 

Then when I go before my God in prayer, I immediately feel regret that I have so little to offer Him as I know He sacrificed everything for me.

But then my LORD Jesus comes to me in compassion engulfing me with love. Of course He knows the despair that comes in the fight with Death and Evil. Of course our Father God knows the despair that comes with Child-Loss. 

With such sweet understanding and compassion coming my way, the tears begin to flow, and I am reminded that ALL of this suffering is because of Love for my Child, and that Love matters.


After all, what is our God? God IS Love.

Then I begin, again, to recognize: My suffering has meaning. My suffering is not for naught!

Why did our God allow Himself the suffering of Child-Loss? Why did our LORD allow Himself the suffering of Death? ALL for LOVE. ALL for LOVE. ALL for LOVE.

Why do I grieve my Child? ALL for LOVE.

My Hope returns. Our God values us and our suffering so much that He declares in His word,

"God draws close to the brokenhearted, and saves those who are crushed in spirit." 

Psalm 34:18

~~~

 "God heals the brokenhearted and bandages their wounds." 

Psalm 147:3

Why is God so attendant to the brokenhearted? And why would He store our tears in a bottle?

YOU keep track of all my sorrows. YOU have collected all my tears in YOUR bottle. You have recorded each one in YOUR book.

Psalm 56:8

Why would He collect our tears in His bottle?

He knows all of it... the tears, the suffering, the agony, and the depletion, is because of LOVE, Love for my child. 

He understands, and He embraces me.

It was because of God's love for us that He willingly gave up His only Son to die for us so that we might live, eternally, with Him.

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.

John 3:16

The world wants to shame me for my weakness and helplessness. They want it to go away, and for me to "move on" away from my suffering...

The LORD understands my suffering. He suffered too.

The Bible clearly tells us it was because of Jesus' love for us that He laid down His life for us, that we can live again, forever with Him.

This is how we know what LOVE is: Jesus Christ laid down His life for us.

1 John 3:16

And by His suffering, we also can heal. The Bible even tells us,

"By His wounds we are healed."

Isaiah 53:5 

Our Heavenly Father calls us to be like Jesus, take up our cross, be willing to suffer. Suffering has meaning. Suffering... because of Love.

And that is exactly who God says He IS… God IS Love. 

He suffered for Love. And we will suffer for Love.

God called you to do good, even if it means suffering, just as Christ suffered for you. He is your example and you must follow in His steps.

1 Peter 2:21

But His Love gives meaning to our suffering, restoring our Hope…

I begin to understand anew the value of my suffering. Even though it depletes me, my suffering has Meaning. 

And God begins pouring His hope back into my heart...

And Hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out His Love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom He has given us.

Romans 5:5

~~~

May our LORD touch you and fill you with His joy and peace along with His Hope…

Graphics, thanks to

Psalm 34:18  Lani Stites  ~Pinterest
Psalm 34:18 CEV 

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/315252042636410337/

Jesus Loves Me!   Julie K. (God's Girl Jul)   ~Pinterest
"God Knows" - Matthew 6:8

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/29977153739779547/

Psalm 34:18    Lani Stites   ~Pinterest

Psalm 34:18

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/315252042636614236/

Psalms   I am His child   ~Pinterest

Psalm 147:3

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/520728775635544052/

The Word    Patty Berry   ~Pinterest

Psalm 56:8
http://www.pinterest.com/pin/96616354479550752/

God's Word   Addie Sutherland   ~Pinterest

John 3:16

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/180918110002164248/

God's Word   Addie Sutherland   ~Pinterest

1 John 3:16

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/180918110002359042/

Jesus Loves Me!      Julie K. (God's Girl Jul)   ~Pinterest

Isaiah 53:5

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/29977153739900020/

Jesus Loves Me!      Julie K. (God's Girl Jul)   ~Pinterest

1 Peter 2:21

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/29977153744508094/

The Word   Broaddus Shamblin   ~Pinterest

Romans 5:5

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/154952043401509700/

Jesus Loves Me!   Julie K. (God's Girl Jul)   ~Pinterest

Romans 15:13

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/29977153739879570/

Monday's Mourning Ministry - O The Wonderful Cross ~Michael W. Smith with Matt Redman

Monday's Mourning Ministry

O The Wonderful Cross!

~Michael W. Smith

O The Wonderful Cross!

~Michael W. Smith

words by Matt Redman

When I survey the wondrous cross

On which the Prince of Glory died

My richest gain I count but loss

And pour contempt on all my pride

See from His head, His hands, His feet

Sorrow and love flow mingled down

Did e'er such love and sorrow meet

Or thorns compose so rich a crown

O the wonderful cross!

O the wonderful cross!

Bids me come and die

And find that I

may truly live

O the wonderful cross!

O the wonderful cross!

Bids me come and die

All who gather here

By grace draw near

And bless Your name

Were the whole realm of nature mine

That were an off'ring far too small

Love so amazing, so divine

Demands my soul, my life, my all

O the wonderful cross!

O the wonderful cross!

Bids me come and die

And find that I

may truly live

O the wonderful cross!

O the wonderful cross!

Bids me come and die

All who gather here

By grace draw near

And bless Your name

Love so amazing, so divine

Demands my soul, my life, my all

And the beauty and the shame

In the glory of His name

O the wonderful cross!

O the wonderful cross!

O the wonderful cross!

Bids me come and die

And find that I

may truly live

O the wonderful cross!

O the wonderful cross!

Bids me come and die

All who gather here

By grace draw near

And bless Your name

*****

May I never boast except in the

cross of our Lord Jesus Christ,

through which the world has

been crucified to me,

and I to the world.

~Galatians 6:14

And being found in appearance

as a man, He humbled Himself

and became obedient to

death-- even death on a cross!

~Philippians 2:8

Then Jesus said to His

disciples, "If anyone would

come after Me, he must

deny himself and take up

His cross and follow Me."

~Matthew 16:24

Let us fix our eyes on

Jesus, the Author and

Perfecter of our faith, who

for the joy set before Him

endured the cross...

~Hebrews 12:2

This man was handed over

to you by God's set

purpose...and you... put

Him to death by nailing

Him to the cross.

~Acts 2:23

For the message of the

cross is foolishness to those

who are perishing, but to us

who are being saved, it is the

power of God.

~I Corinthians 1:18

Picture and Video: http://youtu.be/_9oIJUK8QLA

Friday's Faith - Are We to Embrace Cookie-Cutter Religion Or In Missing Our Child, Are We Learning to Walk By Faith?

Friday's Faith

Are We to Embrace Cookie-Cutter Religion

Or

In Missing Our Child, Are We Learning to Walk By Faith?

We watched a webinar by The Compassionate Friends tonight. One of the comments made by the speaker was,

"Child-Loss Grief is not an event but a process, and in most cases a life-long process."

Unfortunately for us child-loss grievers, it seems the church has adopted the same "Get-Over-It" syndrome that society has. So the child-loss griever very quickly feels alienated by such unrealistic expectations. The church's view of

"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me"

~Philippians 4:13 (KJV 2000)

heads dangerously in the direction of,

"This child-loss grief can be resolved, and you need to get back to the way you were!"

Yet we child-loss grievers intuitively know,

None of Us Will Ever Be the Same Again!

Whatever happened to the sweetness of Christ who walks alongside us IN our grief?

Where is that same sweet spirit in our brothers and sisters from the church?

We child-loss grievers who experience the tender compassion of our Lord are changed and transformed by God in a way that is much different than the standardized version that the church has prescribed.

For one, we now know what's important, and the church doesn't always know that. It is only in suffering that you discover what is important and meaningful in life.

And if the church is defining spirituality in terms of prosperity and success, then all is lost because "prosperous" and "successful" people have no idea what is important in life for they too often "sell their souls to gain the world" and lose touch with the very Source of Life. With prosperity, you lose a sense of your values. Jesus Himself said "If you try to save your life, you'll lose it. But if you lose your life, you'll gain it."

For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for Me will find it. What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what he has done.

~Matthew 16:25-27 NIV

Yet the church tends to push the absence of suffering as a sign of spiritual growth.

In contrast, our own Lord stipulated,

"In this world, you will have trouble..."

"I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."

~John 16:33 NIV

Paul tells us you don't develop godly character without suffering.

Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand.

And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.

~Romans 5:1-5 NIV

Scripture tells us God's own Son learned obedience through suffering.

Even though Jesus was God's Son, he learned obedience from the things He suffered.

~Hebrews 5:8 NLT

These messages from Scripture are quite different messages than the ones projected from the church of today.

The church forgets Faith is the evidence of things not seen, the substance of things hoped for. Thus we will always grieve this side of heaven, but we will --by faith-- hold onto things not seen by the human eye, but known in the spiritual heart.

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

~Hebrews 11:1 KJV

We long for the day that God redeems His creation from the fallen world that it has become, filled with death and dying, war and decay, brutality and mean-spiritedness, longing for it to be restored to the Creator's loving perfection He originally designed it to be.

So too we "hope for" the ones we now cannot hold in our arms, but will forever hold inside our hearts until that Day our hopes materialize.

Like the speaker in tonight's webinar said,

"We are more and more being encouraged to increase the bonds that we have with our (deceased) child (versus the old message of learning to "let go" of your loved one)."

We would add,

We child-loss grievers learn to stay connected to our child by practicing bonding with them in new ways. When we cannot hold them in the flesh, we must learn new ways to hold them in our hearts.

By doing so, we are --in essence-- learning to walk by faith...

I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God.

We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.

In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will.

~Romans 8:18-27 (NIV)

Be patient, then, brothers, until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop and how patient he is for the autumn and spring rains. You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord’s coming is near...

Brothers, as an example of patience in the face of suffering, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. As you know, we consider blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job’s perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy.

~James 5:7-8,10-11 (NIV)

Picture, thanks to FotoSearch

NIV - New International Version

KJV - King James Version

NLT - New Living Translation

Tuesday's Trust - Strength Amidst Suffering??? ~with Viktor Frankl

Tuesday's Trust

Strength Amidst Suffering???

~with Viktor Frankl

A client said something to me this week that absolutely shocked me. She was describing a grandfather (who is now deceased) and mentioned that her grandmother divorced him. Calculating in my head that this occurrence had to have happened many years ago ~ at a time when a woman divorcing a man was fairly rare ~ I asked, "So why did your grandmother divorce him?"

Her reply was,

"...Because he was laid up in bed and couldn't work, so he was absolutely worthless."

I was dumbfounded. How could anyone describe a beloved family member as "absolutely worthless"? The subject gave us quite a bit to talk about in our therapy session!

When I asked her to describe her grandfather in more detail, she admitted he was a creative and a very spiritually-attuned man who had used these gifts as best he could, but he suffered debilitating depression.

"Absolutely worthless?!"

(That does not a worthless man make, we both agreed!)

She conceded later a recognition of her mind's inner workings when she said,

"I guess that tells you how I see myself..."

Ahhh. Now we were getting somewhere...!

*****

We are child-loss grievers. Most of us, if not all, have had the proverbial rug jerked out from under us, our lives turned upside down, often rendering us weak and helpless, fragile and often quite dysfunctional.

Add to that already vulnerable state the sad fact that outside family members can't seem to "get it" when it comes to the degree of our suffering. Many seem to want to cast aspersions at our weakness, and even ~ in their arrogance ~ want to "give us advice."

(As if we could just snap out of it because they speak such "wise" words to us!!!) The height of IGNORANCE A-N-D ARROGANCE!

But what about us? How do we see ourselves?

• What if we have been rendered so dysfunctional that we can barely eke out a living?
• What if we have to withdraw from the world to protect our fragile emotions?
• What if we are transforming into a "weak" person compared to the "strong" person we once were?

(All of this is basically where I am five years into my grief!) So, do we conclude that we are "absolutely worthless"? (Fortunately, I have more compassion for myself than that!)

Maybe it is a temptation to question our "value" at times. We certainly seem a lot different than we were before... weaker in many ways. And yet, our suffering is building inner strengths in us that many will never achieve as it requires dying to self, dying to this world's illusions, dying to the false gods that we know now offer absolutely nothing, dying to any illusions of having control, having power, having all the answers, or even having all our dreams come true...

And who is going to die to all of those illusions without first being thrown down to the bottom of the bucket of helplessness?

So now...

• We know what's real,
• We know what suffering does to people; therefore we have a new compassion for others,
• We know who is authentic,
• We know what is is to love, and lose a beloved child ~ So we know we have faced the world's hardest-possible loss, and thus far, have survived..., and
• We know we need God to be able to even make it from one minute to the next...

These are all "treasures" in the darkness that can't be received in the superficial world in which most people live...

*****

Viktor Frankl

After his years of enduring the concentration camps at Auschwitz, Dachau, and others during the Holocaust of World War II, psychiatrist and himself a survivor, Viktor Frankl admits,

"The majority of prisoners suffered from a kind of inferiority complex. We all had once been or had fancied ourselves to be "somebody." Now we were treated like nonentities. Without consciously thinking about it, the average prisoner felt himself utterly degraded."

In such circumstances, there is a great temptation to helplessly react to our circumstances or to give in to abject helplessness.

Frankl wondered,

"(Can) man escape the influences of his surroundings?

Does man have no choice of action in the face of such circumstances?"

He concluded:

"(T)here were always choices to make. Every day, every hour, offered the opportunity to make a decision, a decision which determined whether you would or would not submit to those powers which threatened to rob you of your very self, your inner freedom."

He recognized that

"Man can preserve a vestige of spiritual freedom, of independence of mind, even in such terrible conditions of psychic and physical stress... (Man) may retain his human dignity even in a concentration camp... If there is a meaning in life at all, there must be meaning in suffering. Suffering is an ineradicable part of life, even as fate and death. Without suffering and death human life cannot be complete.

"The way in which a man accepts his fate and all the suffering it entails, the way in which he takes up his cross, gives him ample opportunity-- to add a deeper meaning to his life.

"...Life ultimately means taking the responsibility to find the right answer to its problems and to fulfill the tasks which it constantly sets for each individually...

"Sometimes man may be required simply to accept fate, to bear his cross.

• When a man finds that it is his destiny to suffer, he will have to accept his suffering as his task; his single and unique task.
• He will have to acknowledge the fact that even in suffering he is unique and alone in the universe. No one can relieve him of his suffering or suffer in his place.
• His unique opportunity lies in the way in which he bears his burden.

He and his fellow prisoners talked with one another, consoled one another, and encouraged one another.

"...Once the meaning of suffering had been revealed to us, we refused to minimize or alleviate the camp's tortures by

• ignoring them or
• harboring false illusions and
• entertaining artificial optimism.

Suffering had become a task on which we did not want to turn our backs. We had realized its hidden opportunities for achievement... getting through (the) suffering.

"...Whoever was still alive had reason for hope. Health, family, happiness, professional abilities, fortune, position in society -- all these were things that could be achieved again and restored. After all, we still had our bones intact. Whatever we had gone through --"

Then Viktor quoted to his fellow prisoners from the philosopher Nietzsche,

'Was mich nicht umbringt,

macht mich starker.'"

(That which does not kill me,

makes me stronger.)

Pictures of the concentration camp and surviving prisoners from Auschwitz, Poland, thanks to FotoSearch