Devotional Song: … GO TO THIS LINK … Please take the time to take in a YouTube video of images from Deborah Liv Johnson singing the old hymn … There Is A Balm In Gilead … poignantly singing of the “balm” of Christ which can always be shared with another who is feeling deep loss or grief.
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Highlight Verse[s]: Acts 8:2 [NLT] …
2 (Some devout men came and buried Stephen with great mourning.)
… Stephen’s close friends came together to grieve their loss … TOGETHER!
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Highlight Passage [context]: Acts 7:54-8:2 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …
… When Stephen was martyred, a group of Godly men gathered together, in their loss, to bury him and grieve for their mutual loss.
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Reference Passage [NLT] : … Job 2:11-13 [NLT] … USE THIS LINK …
… When Job lost everything, three of his friends, who later were well-meaning fools, first came to him and ministered to him by just being their with/for him in his grief.
Reference Passage [NLT] : … Romans 8:26-27 [NLT] …
26 And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. 27 And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers[l] in harmony with God’s own will.
… When Christians come together, feeling deep loss, we can share in the hope we’ve been given by the empathy of Christ in giving us the Holy Spirit to share our anguish with King Jesus and the Heavenly Father. So, we’re never alone in our loss.
Reference Passage [NLT] : … Hebrews 10:24 [NLT] …
24 Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. 25 And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.
… As the Bride of Christ, we always have a Savior Who knows our loss; and we can come together to share in the loss/grief.
My Devotional Journal: Today's ODB author, David C McCasland, used personal story to illustrate how we Christians have a Lord Who knows our pain and we can come TOGETHER - and should - to share loss with our brothers/sisters in Christ who’re grieving. The ODB author wrote: In 2002, a few months after my sister Martha and her husband, Jim, died in an accident, a friend invited me to a “Growing Through Grief” workshop at our church. I reluctantly agreed to attend the first session but had no intention of going back. To my surprise, I discovered a caring community of people trying to come to grips with a significant loss in their lives by seeking the help of God and others. It drew me back week after week as I worked toward acceptance and peace through the process of sharing our grief together.
Anytime we humans experience loss, as did the ODB author, we will grieve and experience a deep sense of loneliness. And that is when we need to come together, in the body of Christ, to experience the mutual ministry of mourning. And when we see a brother grieving, we can empathize with that one because we all know the pain of loss and can share in the grief.
That’s what the biblical examples express when Stephen was martyred and his friends came together to bury him and share their grief TOGETHER (see highlight passages). And when Job lost every thing, we read in his journal in Job 2, how three of his friends came to him and just sat with him for some time, SHARING his grief.
And also we read how we’re strongly exhorted (see Hebrews 10:24-25) to come together and lift one another up in Christ … especially when we need one another as we would in times of loss/grief. And Paul reminded us in the body of Christ (see Romans 8:26-27) that we have a Savior who has sent His Spirit to grieve with us; and even when we don’t know what to say or pray, God’s Spirit will ALWAYS be there to share our grief before the throne of grace. And when do we need God’s uplifting grace any more than in times of loss.
So, today … or tomorrow … if we are given the opportunity to just be there and share in the grief of another, let us share the love of God with that one by our empathy and presence in that time of loss.
My Prayer Today: Abba Father, … King Jesus, … Dear Lord, … let me be an agent of Your love to anyone in my life who experiences loss; and help me to set aside pride and be willing to reach out to fellow Christians if in a time of grief. … Amen
Blogger Note: Everyday during this year, my daily devotional blogs are influenced by the reading and study of the online devotional blog entitled Our Daily Bread, distributed online via email by RBC Ministries. If you GO TO THIS LINK on the date of my blog, you can read/study the ODB blogs; or you can subscribe to the blog via email at that site.
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