Healing from Loss– Goodbye My Lover Purity 832

To see today's photo, go to mt4christ.org or follow me, M.t. Clark, on Facebook or Twitter. Good morning. Today's photo of a sunset over St. Vincent Gulf from the vantage point of Marino Rocks in Adelaide, South Australia comes to us from Dave Vaughan Photography, who commented that they captured this scene on a warmer day because winter begins on May 31st and goes to August 30th in Australia. Things are different down under, so Dave is now enjoying springtime as we are moving from— moving and leaving, uh, moving towards fall and leaving summer behind. Well, it's Friday, and this— and as the sun sets on another work week, I have mixed emotions because I am excited and rejoicing because I am picking up a new car at the end of the day and will be driving it to my countryside home to see my wife. So I'm very happy about that. But I have to admit that there is a little sadness because I will be trading in my old car, a 2010 Honda CR-V. That will be another thing from my former life that will be lost. The CR-V was the family car from my previous marriage, and it went with me into my new life. Um, and it was used to, to move 95% of my possessions to my new home. It was also used to complete my children's education in the fine art of driving in the tight streets of downtown Hudson. That car saw my kids become teenagers and young adults, and it saw me changed from broken to whole as it was with me on my journey from addiction to sobriety. So there are lots of good memories tied in that car, but admittedly there is also some painful memories because of the trauma of the losses that resulted from my divorce and the changes since then. But in— but through the journey, through that— but through that journey of pain, there was lots of praise and worship in that car. Um, as we fought the darkness of fear and depression by proclaiming in song the goodness of God, even when we were, quote unquote, in the middle of the road and we didn't know which way to go. Great is your faithfulness, oh God. That car drove me to recovery ministry. That car drove me to work in blizzards and to my second job that made the dream of a new home become a reality. So I know it is just, it is just an object, but even though the, the high mileage on it demands its replacement, I feel like I'm losing an old friend. I'm silly and sentimental, so forgive me, but in sitting down to write this morning, I wanted to encourage those who are grieving or suffering loss that the, the keys to healing is saying goodbye. I recommend Dr. H. Norman Wright's The Complete Guide to Crisis and Trauma Counseling to those who may need help in understanding grief, trauma, or loss, and it may be helpful to those who need help moving on after loss. To move on, we say goodbye to the people and things we have lost. Saying goodbye in our hearts allows us to move into the new normal of the rest of our lives beyond our grief and pain. So say goodbye and walk and talk with God on your way to the rest of your life. We don't have to forget our loved ones or the things we once had, but the Lord calls us— Lord's call on our lives is to keep moving forward. There are lots of scriptures about moving forward, but Christ's words in Luke 9:62 come to mind. Uh, the context, uh, of those verses— of that verse are that people are telling Jesus that they want to follow him, but they are putting conditions on their answer to his call to discipleship. The passage that came to mind, sort of ironically considering my vice to say goodbye, says in Luke 9:61-62, another said, 'Yes, Lord, I will follow you, but first let me say goodbye to my family.' But Jesus told him, 'Anyone who puts a hand to the plow and then looks back is not fit for the kingdom of God.' We have to remember that Jesus knows the hearts of people, and this exchange is with someone who didn't follow Christ. Um, Christ loved, uh, his friends and wept when Lazarus died. He knows about loss, and he knows about saying goodbye, as in his dying moments he made provisions for his mother's care. In John 19:26-27, it says, when Jesus saw his mother standing there beside the disciple he loved, he said to her, dear woman, 'Here is your son.' And he said to this disciple, 'Here is your mother.' And from then on, this disciple took her into his home. Jesus was saying goodbye, Mom. Or I guess in Jesus' case, it was more like saying, like saying, 'See you later.' And that is the case for us too, as we will see our departed brothers and sisters in Christ when we go into eternity. But for now, Uh, we should love deeply, and we should say goodbye to the people and things we have lost to be healed. And we should thank the Lord for allowing us to know such love, such pain, and such sorrow that came from a life in which we got to experience love and joy in the past. And we can move on to know it again in the future when we are faithful to follow the Lord from here to eternity. As I was thinking about loss, I remember James Blunt's heartbreaking song, Goodbye My Lover, which ends by saying, and I still hold your hand in mine, and mine when I am asleep, and I will bear my soul in time when I'm kneeling at your feet. Goodbye my lover, goodbye my friend, you have been the one You have been the one for me. Goodbye, my lover. Goodbye, my friend. You have been the one. You have been the one for me. I'm so hollow, baby. I'm so hollow. I'm so, I'm so, I'm so hollow. I'm so hollow, baby. I'm so hollow. I'm so, I'm so, I'm so hollow. I wasn't gonna sing it, so, um, there you go. I know that the pain of loss can make us feel hollow. But the Lord gives us the Holy Spirit to fill us and to comfort us and to give us the strength to say goodbye and walk out of the shadows of grief into new life. So keep walking and talking with God, and he will see you through. Today's Bible verse comes to us from the New Living Translation Bible Promise Book for Men. This morning's meditation verse is 2 Chronicles 26:16. And it says, but when he had become powerful, he became— he also became proud, which led to his downfall. He sinned against the Lord, his God, by entering the sanctuary of the Lord's temple and personally burning incense on the incense altar. Today's verse reminds us that pride leads to our downfall, as this section of scripture tells of King Uzziah's blasphemy by doing what he was not allowed to do, by trying to perform the duties of the priest, and he was struck by the Lord with leprosy. Uzziah lived the rest of his life with leprosy in isolation until he died. The end. So don't be proud. Um, my resource only shared the first part of that verse, but I wanted to see the context And little did I know that it would be a lesson on God's holiness and wrath. So don't ever think that God cannot or does not chastise people with disease as a punishment for unfaithfulness or wickedness. Sometimes disease is a judgment, and if God is sovereign, which he is, he either commands or allows disease and healing according to his ultimate will. As disturbing as this can be, I think it is a good lesson to learn. God don't play that. We don't live in a vacuum. We live in the universe God created, and, and created, and he determines the days of our lives and will be in eternity to either welcome us into his kingdom because we put our faith in Jesus Christ, or he will be there to judge and send us to a place of eternal torment as his wrath is poured out upon us for our iniquities. So as much as I encourage people to walk and talk with God Make sure to put your faith in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, and be sure to walk humbly before the Lord because he calls the shots, and he can even chastise those who he has called to follow him when they walk in pride. As always, I invite all to go to mtforchrist.org where I always share insights from prominent Christian theologians and counselors to assist my brothers and sisters in Christ with their walk. Today we conclude sharing from Clinton Arnold's Powers of Darkness, and this really is the end, guys, as I am only sharing some reference material at the end of the book. Um, basically today on the podcast, on the blog, um, there's references. It's a great, you know, resource, don't get me wrong. Um, the references basically that show, uh, where there's mention of the powers of darknesses in Paul's letters. You know, basically, if you want to look up where Satan is, devil, the word devil, evil one, prince, spirit, Belial, the enemy, the serpent, the tempter, the god of this world, um, angels, principalities and powers, uh, you know, all of those terms are basically given and all the scripture references are provided. So if you wanted to do a Bible study based on the powers of darkness I'm including this resource so you can check that out. I'm also sharing the selected bi— uh, bibliography from, um, Clinton Arnold's book. Uh, he shared it, so I'm sharing it, um, basically in which there's here, you know, all the, all the works that he used in writing his book, uh, to show the historical background for what he had to say and, uh, the works treating the theme of principality and powers. The first one on that list is actually um, you know, very familiar to me because the first one on the list is Victory Over the Darkness, um, by Neil— Dr. Neil Anderson. And, uh, as a reminder, you know, basically we, we taught that class, uh, on Victory Over the Darkness in 2021, and it's available on our podcast. So the, the resource today is just the bibliography and some scripture references, but for for somebody who's interested in the powers of darkness and doing a Bible study, or doing, you know, looking up some books that are about the powers of darkness, this could be, you know, this could be a great resource. Um, so I'm sharing it. Clinton Arnold shared it in his book, so I'm sharing it. I'm not sharing the index and anything else that goes beyond this, but I'm sharing this, this portion to end out, um, Clinton Arnold's, uh, you know, book. In its entirety available over the last several— I don't know how many— blog entries. So that'll be it, and tomorrow I'll have to think about which resource I'm going to share next. I'm not really sure what book that I'll, that I'll do, but I'll have to think about that this evening and come up with something for tomorrow's podcast— or, well, blog. Entry anyway. Well, today is Friday. Uh, I have a heavy heart as I'll do the last drives in my Honda, uh, 2010. Um, but I will say goodbye to my, uh, my loyal companion, uh, traveling companion. I mean, that car has been with me more than some people, you know what I'm saying? Uh, on this path, uh, from my old existence to my new one, you know. Um, It's sort of been— I don't have a pet really. My daughter has a cat, but you know, it's not my cat. And so really this car has been my loyal companion, I guess, you know, all the way from here to there and from, you know, to this, to the old life, to the new life., and I'll, I'll say goodbye. It is just a car, but, uh, you know, it, it, I'll get over it pretty quick after I get the new 2019 Honda HR-V that I'm picking up this afternoon, I'm sure. Um, plus it's good, you know, no offense, we love, we lose, and we move through life, but you know, there ain't nothing like saying goodbye, you know what I'm saying? Um, as much as it, you know, it can be painful to say goodbye, sometimes it's very liberating saying Goodbye to the things of the past, because sometimes, you know, you have to face the reality. Um, you know, one of the things that gets in the way of saying goodbye to the past is, uh, as you have a skewed view of the past, you romanticize it. You remember the good things about people or places or things and fail to remember all the bad things or the things that weren't so great. And so, um, just as a hint, that might help as well, you know, to look at your past with, you know, with a critical eye of the truth, to appreciate what you've had but to not, you know, gloss over the things that weren't so great, and to, you know, find solace in saying goodbye and possibly joy in saying goodbye to some aspects of our past. As much as I mourn the things that I loved and the things that I've lost. I'm very happy with where the Lord has brought me, and I'm very happy to see where he will take me. That's why our focus is, is in moving forward on this path of Christian discipleship, because we're going to a good place in reality and in eternity. So we keep going and, and see what God has next. So let's pray, and we can do that. Lord God, Heavenly Father, thank you for another day in your kingdom. Lord, we thank you for the love that we've been able to experience in our lives, um, and, and most importantly, the love you showed us by opening our eyes to the fact that Jesus Christ is Lord and that you welcomed us into your, into your kingdom when we said yes to, to him as our Lord and Savior. Lord, we just pray today for anyone who might be listening today, as we encourage them to walk out their faith from here to there, from here to eternity, uh, on the path of Christian discipleship. And, uh, Lord, we just know, we just know it's, it's your way and it's the way to go. So we, we pray for the people listening, we pray for their prayer requests, we pray for the Lord to anoint them with the Holy Spirit and to come and come into their lives in a real and meaningful way. When you step towards him, he will find you. When you search for him with all your heart, you and you will find him. Um, and Lord, we pray, um, for you to go before us today, to open our eyes to everything we need to see, and to lead us in the good works you would have us do. We thank you, we love you, and we praise you. And we pray all these things in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.