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Below is a devotional from my Grief Share devotionals which come to my e-mail box each day. Since all of us experience grief in our lives at some point, may you be blessed and challenged by this devotional. dear Christian:
Embracing the Change in Your Life
Day 282Grief will either make you a better person or it will cause you to harden your heart as you resist its lessons. You have the opportunity for unparalleled spiritual growth. This will not happen quickly, but you can grow deeply. By learning that life is a precious gift, you can do more than just exist; you can live on a higher plane.
It was when Isaiah’s friend died that he had a deeper experience of God.
“In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him were seraphs, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. And they were calling to one another: ‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory’” (Isaiah 6:1-3).
Lord, I want to live above all the garbage that goes on in my mind. I want to grow spiritually and discover You like never before. Amen.
I will post a link to that song sung by them below. May you be blessed by the song:
Do we believe that God is good all the time? I was looking at a Facebook memory recently that I had written 16 years ago. That was written when I was still serving as a caregiver for my first husband, Wayne, at the time. I was also involved at the time with helping my daughter-in-law once a week with the homeschooling of my granchildren. It illustrates the faith of even a child. My grandchildren are young adults now, but this memory has blessed and encouraged me throughout the years.
This is what I wrote that day 16 years ago,"Today during home schooling "the girls sang a Scripture song which said that God has good plans for our lives. I asked them, " Is this true even when sad things happen?" They said, “Yes.” So I said, “What about Grandpa not being able to walk?” They had to think about this. Then Una said, “One good thing is that now that Grandpa can’t work, he can come to the Thursday night suppers at our house.”
*Recently due to the kindness of my daughtrer-in-law and my grandchildren, the tradition of Thursday night suppers was again revived!
I have buried and grieved two husbands. Wayne passed away in early 2011, and Bob passed away in November of 2024. I do not know why the Lord asked me to do this, but I know the Lord has been with me through it all. I have grown in my love and dependence on the Lord through these experiences wirh grief. Since most people have not remained untouched by grief of any kind, I am going to share one of my grief share devotionals this week. I pray, Dear Christian, that you will benefit from it and be blessed by it:
Day 262
"There are some lessons in life that you only learn through times of grief or suffering. This is why it is important that you do not waste your sorrows. Times of suffering show you your limitations and how needy you really are.
Dr. Larry Crabb shares his initial reaction to the news of his brother’s death: “I came outside and I remember my wife was waiting for me out in the car, and as I came out, I just stood there and said, ‘Bill’s dead.’ It was just a very, very strong moment. But as I recall that moment, I think my first internal deep reaction was not despair. I think my first reaction at that moment was I must find God as I have never found Him before or I’m not going to make it.”
People are needy. The world wants you to be tough, strong, and independent. God wants you to lean on Him. God’s way is right and wise. Depend on Him as you have never done before, and you will find true peace and power that can never be achieved on your own.
“‘Do not be afraid, O man highly esteemed,’ he said. ‘Peace! Be strong now; be strong.’ When he spoke to me, I was strengthened and said, ‘Speak, my lord, since you have given me strength’” (Daniel 10:19).
“Then he continued, ‘Do not be afraid, Daniel. Since the first day that you set your mind to gain understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to them’” (Daniel 10:12).
Holy God, I come humbly before You. I seek strength, understanding, and true knowledge of You. Show Yourself to me, O Lord. Amen."
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I have developed a certain level of back pain issues throughout the years. I have also developed osteoporosis. In an attempt to counteract pain I go to my chiropractor once a week for an adjustment and alignment. I also go to a massage therapist every other week. At one time I only went to the chiropractor once a month, but over time it became necessary to go more often. When one repeatedly uses ones body when it is not properly aligned, ones body may try to compensate and hence, may cause further injury and damage.
We also need to be spiritually aligned. It is so easy to tell ourselves half truths or negative stories about our current circumstances. It is easy to allow the devil to whisper discouraging thoughts about our day to day situations and trials. Instead we need to flip the negative script in our minds, to change our mindset, and to remind ourselves of God's precious promises regarding the Lord God's faithfulness and unfailing love. In order to do this, we need to actually know what the Lord has promised in His Word, and we need to daily dig deeply into His Word. Further, we need to think of our trials as light and temporary. Finally, we need to remember that good things like endurance and spiritual growth develops through difficult times in our lives. This is how spiritual alignment takes place in the Christian's life.
We can still further flip our negative script about difficult seasons in our lives and become more spiritually aligned with God and His Word by praising Him for whom He is in His character as revealed in the Bible. We also need to agree with whom He says we are. We further need to remember all He has done for us by purchasing our salvation and in His contanst faithfulness in our lives. We can further take a small step forward in obedience, and share our difficult seasons with others around us.
In conclusion, we need to reject what the world promotes to be true, and we must embrace what God says is true in His Word. I talked about that in my blog post last week. The link for that blog post can be found below:
https://christiancaregiving.blogspot.com/2025/10/what-world-says-vs-what-lord-says.html
Scripture in the first few verses of the Gospel of John chapter 15 speaks of the necessity of abiding in the Vine, Jesus, in order for our lives to be joyful, productive, and fruitful. Without our dependence on the Lord and our clinging to Him our lives will be of little significance. They also will hold little joy. Clinging to Jesus is the only source of these kind of blessings or fruit in our lives.
In a world of trials, unrest, wars, and violence it is especially important to be clinging to the Lord Jesus. He is our only resource for sanity and grace in this world and in our lives. I talked about this in my blog post last week. If you want to read or reread that post, you can find the link below:
https://christiancaregiving.blogspot.com/2025/10/the-cross-alone.html
There is much that is evil and destructive in our world and in our nation. There are brutal and highly destructive wars, school and workplace shootings, and racial and political hatred. It often feels as if these things are only getting worse. Yet this is not happening for no reason. It is happening, because people refuse to acknowledge, worship, and serve the Lord God.
Sin entered the world many years ago. We read that in the early chapters of Genesis, the first book of the Bible. God created the world perfect and "very good." God's world was beautiful and without any flaws. Creation is still beautiful, but because it has become flawed by sin, it is no longer perfect. We now experience hurricanes, storms, floods, and other "natural" disasters.
As we said before, there is also much sin in the hearts of mankind. In fact, mankind is now totally corrupt. When God made the world He not only made the outside creation perfect and good, but He made the first people, Adam and Eve, perfect and good. In fact, Adam and Eve had perfect dailly fellowship with God. There came a point when Adam and Eve, however, chose to disobey one simple command from the Lord. Satan also convinced them that they could become like God instread of submitting to and worshipping Him. And so sin entered the world, and all of us are sinners.
Although Adam and Eve suffered serious consequences all their lives, and even though all mankind fell into sin; God immediately promised to send a Savior. That promise was repeated over and over in the Old Testament of the Bible. Finally. over 2,000 years ago Jesus Christ was sent to the world in fulfillment of that promise.
And so Jesus came to this world and lived a perfect sinless life for us that we could not live. He then died on the cross to pay for our sins. He suffered hell on the cross for us. God. the Father, poured all His anger against our sins on Him. Jesus Christ redeemed us! Will you choose to accept His free gift of salvation, if you have not already done so? The rewards are eternal, and the consequences for not doing so are dire both in this life and for all of eternity. Life as a child of God is not free from pain and trials. In fact, the Lord says we will have trials in our earthly life. Yet He also promises to always be with us and to bring us to our eternal homes one day.
Recently I came across a post on Facebook where the character, Snoopy, is crying huge crocodile sized tears about something. The caption advices him, "You don't have to do it all today. Just breathe. That's enough." The accompaning song to the post suggests that he does not have to fight and keep score. He does not have to prove himself to other people. He just needs to rest in the Lord.
Whether you are grieving things that are going on in our nation or perhaps something more personal such as the death of a loved one; you can be assured the Jesus heals, and one day there will no longer be any tears. In the meantime we can and must rest in the Lord. We need to rest in him physically, emotionally, and spiritually.
Matthew 11:28-30 says: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light.
Let's heed to this command and invitation of our Lord Jesus to yoke ourselves to Him. That is the only place where we will find rest and peace.
When our hearts are aching and circumstances around us are very difficult, is it possible to have joy? For me personally, this past year or so has included some physical pain problems and also some heartbreaking situations involving loved ones of mine. If we properly understand the concept of joy, however, it truly is possible to have joy no matter what is transpiring in our lives. We can experience joy in the midst of heartbreak and right along side emotional and physical pain.
We have heard much in the news of late about devastating floods, massive fires, earthquakes, wars, school shootings, and political shootings. I don't know about you, but hearing about these events and knowing the turmoil these things are bringing in people's lives makes me sad.
Personal storms in our lives can do the same. Sometimes they can make us feel very sad and discouraged. When feeling very troubled about something, I am often reminded through Scripture that I need to trust God in that situation. I need to be quiet in that situation. Isaiah 30:15b says, "In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength." The feelings may not not all go away, but being reminded of this helps me immensely. A song by Stephen Curtis Chapman also speaks about being quiet in the Lord. The link to that song is below if you would like to hear it. 
As I contemplate another year on this earth today on August 24, the song, "Great is Thy Faithfulness" is running through my mind. There have been trials throughout my 77 years like the death of parents, the death of a dear sister, and the death of two husbands. Yet the Lord has been faithful to me through it all.
There has also been rich blessings throughout my life as well such as loving family; the graduations, professions of faith, and weddings of my grandchildren; my defeat of cancer by God's grace some years ago; and also my many years of walking with my faithful Savior.
And when the time comes for my life to end, the Lord will hold my hand and will walk me into a future of joys and glory with Him in His presence. Great is His faithfulness!
Below is a link to the song, Great is Thy Faithfulness."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ErwiBz1QA4o&list=RDErwiBz1QA4o&start_radio=1
Our title to this post in an age of cultural high regard for rugged individualism and self-identity seems strange. Yet the Lord calls us to find joy in dependence on Him. He calls us to rejoice in our salvation more than our success. I don't know about you, but I don't like being dependent on others. I don't like asking people for help. Yet the Lord instructs us to not only be dependent on Him but to be joyful about it as well. A mature Christian will actually sing about their dependence in Christ.
Not only should joyful dependence on Lord be more important to us than worldly success, but it should also be more important than our gifts, talents and experiences. Joyful dependence on the Lord should be even more important than successful ministry for the Lord. This is because it is so easy to become prideful of our gifts and talents and to forget that it was the Lord who gave us our gifts and talents in the first place.
We should be joyful in our dependence on the Lord, because He is the only One who can supply our earthly needs. He is the only One who can save us eternally. Our rejoicing should come from the fact that are names are written in heaven. We should rejoice in His grace. We should rejoice in whom we are in Christ and not in our accomplishments. Since we are by nature sinful and prideful, this can only come through the power and working of Christ and His Holy Spirit in our lives. Thank You, Lord!
Part of joyful dependence is submitting to the Lord in obedience and in dependence. The link to the song below talks about that:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dHJPwI1Qioo&list=RDdHJPwI1Qioo&start_radio=1
PS
If you did not see last week's blog post about singing praises to the Lord you can find it at the below link:
https://christiancaregiving.blogspot.com/2025/07/sing-and-praise-him-for-his-grace.html
In the Old Testament of our Bibles is recorded the well known story of David and the giant, Goliath. David was just a young boy, but Goliath was a huge giant of a man. All of the Israelite soldiers stood in fear of Goliath when he came out to taunt the troops. No one dared to try to fight Goliath. That was until David decided to come out and face Goliath. In the Lord' s strength and with just his slingshot and five smooth stones David was able to victoriously defeat and kill Goliath that day!
We, however, often face giants in our minds. We often face the giant of delay. When God does not answer our prayers on our timetable we may become fearful or impatient. Other possible giants which may come in our minds include discouragement, disappointment, and doubt. The only way to conquer those fears is to rest in the Lord.
To also conquer the giants in our minds we need to step forward in faith even when we are afraid. We need to stay focused on Jesus when feeling fearful or distracted. Finally, we need to choose to worship the Lord and not worry, to pray and not panic. Rest in the Lord! Think about His character and faithfulness! Think about things that are beautiful and lovely about Him and His creation!
In the last post we discovered that we can find ultimate and lasting satisfaction in the Lord alone. You can find a link to the last post here, if you want to reread that post: https://christiancaregiving.blogspot.com/2025/06/satisfaction-found-in-lord-alone.html
Everything and everyone else except the Lord God is temporary and fleeting. This is true in spite of our sins and because of the Lord's death on the cross for us. The Lord Jesus put our sins upon Himself, and in exchange we were clothed in His perfect righteousness.
In the Lord we have forgiveness, joy, cleansing, and peace. The psalmist says in Psalm 16:2, "You are my Lord; apart from You I have no good thing." The psalmist goes on to say in verse 5. "Lord, You alone are my portion and cup; You make my lot secure."
Therefore we need to desire and to seek His presence. By doing this we need never be shaken by life's storms, trials, and tests. The Lord will also always counsel us through His Word and the Holy Spirit in us. In Him we find joy, rest, satisfaction, and eternal pleasures that can be found in Him alone.
Oh how wonderful, O how marvelous is my Savior's love for me!" says that precious hymn of old. If everything else would be stripped away, He is sufficient. He is providentially directing your and my lives step by step on the path He wants us to take. He is doing this through His constant presence in our lives and through His awesome and trustworthy promises. As yet another hymn says, "Wonderful grace of Jesus, all sufficient for me!"
Below is a link to that wonderful hymn, Wonderful Grace of Jesus.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vsPc-Ix3_ow&list=RDvsPc-Ix3_ow&start_radio=1
Satisfaction and joy in this life can be found in the Lord alone. It can not be found in fame or in things money can buy. It can not be found in youth or youthful pursuits, for that will fade with time. Human love can provide joy and satisfaction for a time, but it too will pass in time. I personally have married, loved, and buried two husbands in my lifetime.
Friends and friendships also provide blessings in our lives, but they too are not permanent. Friends and family can comfort me, but they can not meet my needs the way the Lord God does through Scripture and through the Holy Spirit's comfort and encouagement. Friends and family can help me, but they cannot heal me. Also only the Lord can promise to never leave me or forsake me. Only the Lord can promise an eternal future with Him. Only the Lord can provide lasting satisfaction, light, and joy.
"Truly my soul finds rest in God; my salvation comes from Him." (Psalm 62:1) Other people, experiences and even things can be instruments of grace and blessing in our lives for a time, but only the Lord can provide lasting fullfillment and satisfaction.
My own dad was a gentle, godly man. He exhibited his faith in a quiet but sincere way. He was also very hard working and cared deeply about his family's well-being. My first husband, Wayne, and my children's father, exhibited many of these same character traits in his life as well. That is most likely why I was attracted to him. Wayne and I were married for over 34 years. I have pictures of my dad and Wayne below this paragraph.
Bob was my second husband who I married in July of 2019. Sadly, he also passed away after only a little over five years of marrige. I remember him for his ability to make me laugh in the early days and for his love for his children and grandchildren and for mine as well. I have a picture of him below this paragraph.
Finally, I am thankful for my heavenly Father. Earthly Fathers will one day pass away. Our heavenly Father will never leave us, however. He will be always with us throughout all the days of our lives on this earth and throughout eternity.
There is a certain beauty in experiencing brokenness in our lives. Kintsugi, a Japanese expression of art expresses that concept beautifully. In this expression of art a broken piece of pottery is repaired with gold. The cracks in the piece of pottery are filled in with gold. This makes the repaired piece of pottery more beautiful, exquisite, and valuable than the original piece of pottery. The broken piece of pottery repaired by gold surprisingly also becomes more resilient and strong.
So also our lives are often broken and even shattered by life's trials and struggles. Yet if we submit these things to Lord, He restores us and makes us more beautiful people for His glory. In His strength we become stronger and more resilient servants of Him.
In Job 23:10 in the midst of horrendous trial after trial Job said this concerning the Lord God, "He know where I am going, and when He tests me I will come out as PURE as GOLD. The Lord God knows what He is doing when He allows trials and testing in our lives. That is a time to pray, to wait in hope on the Lord, and to trust in Him.
The Heidelberg Catechism asks this question: "What is your only hope in life and death?" The Catechism answer is this: My only hope in life and death is that I belong to my faithful savior, Jesus Christ." I don't think as a child I found that catechism question particularly comforting, but as I am getting older I most definitely do find it comforting.
In my life I have lost to death grandparents; both my parents; a mother in law; a father in law; a dear sister who was younger than me; and two husbands, Wayne in 2011 and Bob in 2024. I do know what it is like to grieve, and I have also experienced the blessing of the comfort that only the Lord can give.
One day I too will join the Christians that have gone before me. As the sweet hymn says, "My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness. In Psalm 139 it also says that all the days ordained for me are already written in the Lord God's book. Why would I not seek to love and serve Him every day? Why would I not place my hope and trust in Him?
(On the top picture is pictured Wayne's gravestone. On the botttom is Bob's gravestone.)
Spring has been slow in arriving in our state and county this year. Yet there are subtle signs of spring starting to show. The minutes of daylight are getting longer each day and some seasonal flowers are beginning to emerge.
Perhaps you are beginning to emerge emotionally from a winter like season of grief or discouragement in your life as well. Perhaps your grief is slowly emerging from a season of emotional winter to a spring time of joy and peace. Just as spring is transitional, often reverting to winter like conditions, so perhaps you have reverted at times to periods of deeper grief as well. Yet you also are experiencing greater renewed hope and joy. Perhaps your night of sorrow is slowly developing into a dawn of joy and peace.
Spring is also a wonderful picture of new life in Christ. As spring brings new emerging flowers, newly revived green grass, and longer and warmer hours of daylight; so new life in Christ brings new joy and purpose to our lives. It brings salvation and forgiveness and a personal relationship with Him. It brings the assurance that the Lord will always guide and protect and that He will never leave us or forsake us, This new life brings an assurance and peace that we can trust our Lord God, and we can trust the promises He has made in His Word. If you have not yet accepted this new life in Christ, I pray you will do so; or if you have strayed away for a time from the sweetness of a relationship with Him, I pray that you will embrace it again.
Ephesians 4:23-24 (GNT)
From the beginning, God’s plan has been to make you like his Son, Jesus. This is your destiny. God announced his intention at creation: “Then God said, ‘Let us make human beings in our image and likeness’” (Genesis 1:26 NCV).
In all of creation, only human beings are made in God’s image. But the image is incomplete and has been damaged and distorted by sin. So God sent Jesus on a mission to restore the full image that we have lost.
What does the full “image and likeness” of God look like? It looks like Jesus Christ! The Bible says Jesus is “the exact likeness of God,” “the visible image of the invisible God,” and “the exact representation of his being” (2 Corinthians 4:4 NLT, Colossians 1:15, Hebrews 1:3 NIV).
People often use the phrase “like father, like son” to refer to family resemblance. When people see my likeness in my kids, it pleases me. God wants his children to bear his image and likeness too. The Bible says, “You were . . . created to be like God, with a life that truly has God’s approval and is holy” (Ephesians 4:24 GW).
Let me be absolutely clear: You will never become God, or even a god. That prideful lie is Satan’s oldest temptation. Satan promised Adam and Eve that if they followed his advice, “you shall be as gods” (Genesis 3:5 KJV).
Many religions and new age philosophies still promote the old lie that we are divine or can become gods. This desire to be a god shows up every time we try to control our circumstances, our future, and the people around us.
But as creatures, we will never be the Creator. God doesn’t want you to become a god. He wants you to become godly by taking on his values, attitudes, and character.
As you work to fulfill your calling, remember that God’s ultimate goal for your life on earth is not comfort but character development. He wants you to grow up spiritually and become like Christ.
In The Message paraphrase, Ephesians 4:22 says, “Take on an entirely new way of life—a God-fashioned life, a life renewed from the inside and working itself into your conduct as God accurately reproduces his character in you” (Ephesians 4:22). That’s what you are meant to do! "
Easter is past already, but I wanted to share a devotional from Rick Warren. In this devotional Rick speaks of Easter Sunday evening. His devotionals come to my e-mail box each day:
“That Sunday evening the disciples were meeting behind locked doors because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders. Suddenly, Jesus was standing there among them!”
John 20:19 (NLT)
"Have you ever felt like you were running on empty—out of gas, fearful, or just plain weary? Do you ever get sick and tired of being sick and tired?
You’re not alone. After Jesus died on the cross, his followers were devastated. They gathered behind locked doors in fear of the Jewish leaders who had condemned him. They felt defeated, discouraged, disillusioned, demoralized, and depressed. In other words, they were running on empty.
But three days after Jesus died, on Easter Sunday, Jesus came back to life. And then something happened that changed everything: “That Sunday evening the disciples were meeting behind locked doors because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders. Suddenly, Jesus was standing there among them! ‘Peace be with you,’ he said. As he spoke, he showed them the wounds in his hands and his side. They were filled with joy when they saw the Lord! (John 20:19-20 NLT).
The difference was immediate. The presence of Christ turned their panic into a party, their fear into good cheer.
The presence of Jesus makes the same difference in people’s lives today. Cowards become bold and courageous. People who’ve felt empty start overflowing with joy.
But how do you get Jesus’ presence in your life? You don’t have to go anywhere to get it—if you’re a believer, he’s with you already. You just need to acknowledge his presence. Notice that, in John 20, “Jesus was standing there among them.” When the disciples were running on empty, they didn’t have to go looking for Jesus. And you don’t either. He’s right there with you.
I love that the very first thing Jesus said to his followers was, “Peace be with you.” It makes me think of what he didn’t say. He could have walked into the room and said, “Why did you guys abandon me? Where were you when I needed you most?”
But he didn’t say that. He didn’t criticize, rebuke, or scold them. He didn’t put them down.
When you’re running on empty, Jesus doesn’t do that to you either. In fact, he does the opposite. He offers you his peace, “which is far beyond human understanding” (Philippians 4:7 GNT).
Are you running on empty? Does it feel like God is a million miles away? You can rest more easily today knowing that God cares. He has never left you. He is with you now. He has been with you all along. You are not alone!
Believe that today, and experience the peace that Christ brings.
