I walked into work this morning and my co-worker asked me if I had heard about Anthony Bourdain. I had not. But, by now, thanks to the world we live in, where information is shared in a split second thanks to social media, I am sure we have all heard this sad news. Death by suicide. It comes in the same week that we lost Kate Spade. Also, death by suicide. My heart just aches for them, their families, friends, loved ones, and everyone who knew and loved them.
These two famous deaths this week have brought suicide to the forefront. #SuicidePrevention, #YouMatter, and #SuicideAwareness are all trending on social media right now. As they should be. I can only hope and pray that anyone who is in such a dark place will find the help and hope that they need. Actually, that is why I am writing this post. I think back to other famous people we have lost to suicide. People I like and respected. (Robin Williams, Chester Bennington, and Chris Cornell to name a few.) I think of friends who have lost family members to suicide. I also think of people that I know personally who have taken their own lives. (Or, I guess I should say people I have known.) I have seen how devastating their actions have been on the people they leave behind. Honestly, just thinking about all this right now is making me cry. I understand how easy it can be to let things in your life get you down. It is easy to let things fester in your mind and only focus on the bad things. It can become a slippery slope. It can be easy to just sink further and further down into that nasty pit. And, as I have said before, in a post just a few weeks ago, that is exactly where the devil wants us. But, I am here to tell you something: Do NOT Give up Hope. You ARE loved and Beloved by God. He created you for a purpose and He loves you like no one else ever can or ever will. You may be thinking that only a miracle can help you, only a miracle can save you. Guess what? You have that miracle. It was given to you as a gift approximately 2,000 years ago, when Jesus Christ died on the cross for your sins. Then, when He rose on the third day, He became our miracle, YOUR miracle. (And, I can’t help but think about that 80’s song from Mike & The Mechanics, “All I Need Is A Miracle” – the lyrics go, “All I need is a miracle, all I need is you.” Listening to this song I realize that all we need is God and He IS our miracle and He is ALL we need. My little Musical Hide and Seek with God game has come in handy yet again! lol) If you are in that abhorrent pit of despair and you feel like you are all alone, please, please, please reach out to God and receive your miracle. He is waiting for you and He longs to give it to you. He has already paid the ultimate price for you. His deepest and greatest desire is to grab you by your hand and lift you up out of that horrendous pit. Once He has you in His hands, and you put your faith and trust in Him, you can be assured that He will be with you forever. He will take loving care of you. He will be your shelter. He will be your light in the darkness. He will give you everything that you will ever need. You will become His child and He will be your father. Please, I am begging you, reach your hand out to Him. Let Him be your miracle. I want to leave you with some Bible verses that illustrate the points I make above. Take some time to sit and read them and soak them in. These are words that were written specifically for you. For. You. Hide them in your heart. Take Jesus in your heart and hide Him there too. Then, allow Him to do His work. Pretty soon you will want to let Him shine brightly through you for all the world to see. He is pretty amazing like that! Romans 5:8 – But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. John 3:16-17 – For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. John 15:13-14 – Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. Joshua 1:9 – Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go. Matthew 28:20 – Teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age. Psalm 23:4 – Even thought I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. Zephaniah 3:17 – The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by this love; he will exult you with loud singing. Joshua 1:5 – No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you or forsake you. Psalm 46:1 – God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Deuteronomy 33:27 – The eternal God is a dwelling place, and underneath are the everlasting arms; and He drove out the enemy from before you, and said, “Destroy!” Isaiah 25:4 – For You have been a defense for the helpless, a defense for the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, a shade from the heat; for the breath of the ruthless is like a storm against a wall. Deuteronomy 3:22 – Do not be afraid of them; the Lord your God himself will fight for you. Lamentations 3:25 – The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the ones who seek him. John 14:27 – Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 – Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all of our troubles so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.
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WELCOMEI am so glad you are here! I am Erica Strickland, a girl who loves God. My goal here is to simply share His love and light. Categories
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January 2022
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