Thoughts (About Death) In Bed Between 2:30 and 3:30 on Good Friday Morning
–Yesterday while my wife and I were walking outside, a prophetic friend called me and I put him on speaker phone. He told us that the night before he had dreamed that I had died. About that moment, my wife gasped and jumped to the side. I looked down and my foot was about a foot away from a long black snake that uncurled and slithered away into the grass.
–My friend didn’t know what the dream meant, but he was concerned about my safety. These thoughts came to my mind.
–For the past 5 years my heart has been breaking about a situation. A couple of years ago, God told me “to die to it,” to lay down my longings and desires for the situation and trust Him. Almost every day, I have to lay it down and “die to it.”
–When I was a new Christ-follower and in college, I was being deeply tormented over another painful situation and although I can’t sing very well, I wrote a song: “Watching your old man die, makes you want to cry; Seeing all your hopes and dreams, take their wings and fly, And I know that old man, his name is ‘myself,’ But I can’t help him now, he belongs to someone else. ‘Cause Jesus, I gave myself to You, Said You could do whatever You want to; But watching him die, is such a painful thing, Although I know, new life it will bring. And it’s hard to say ‘Lord, have Your way;’ That old man sticks around and says he’s gonna stay. He moans and groans in agony, till I just can’t bear to see. Then he grabs me by the hand and says, ‘Save me, boy, I’m your old man!'”
–Once I taught for three months in a Bible college in India. The entire time my stomach was extremely messed up. Although I continually fought them, I was tormented with thoughts that I was going to die there. Finally I boldly preached to the students (and a local church) that the enemy cannot kill a believer before his time. That moment the tormenting stopped. (And I did make it home.)
–Today is Good Friday 2014. And this morning I’m going to the funeral of the son of a friend. Later today, I’m planning on seeing the new movie: “Heaven Is For Real.”
–I am so thankful for Jesus who laid His life down for us all. In fear and torment, frustration and pain, brokenheartedness and despair; He is able to comfort us, to carry us, to strengthen us, to revive us, to sustain us, and even to release His peace in the midst of all life’s desperation.
—Cling to Jesus. He’s for real. He’s alive. And I couldn’t make it without Him!