Category: Prayers for Families

God Provides Acts Of Benevolence During Times Of Bereavement

On By tgifmastermindsIn Prayers About God and Me, Prayers for Families, Prayers For Peace8 Comments
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Sometimes we are all asked to perform a task that we just wish could be delivered by another person. And generally, those assignment requests involves grievances or controversial situations. Such an assignment fell on me when my baby brother died a few years ago. What concerned me was the fact that I was not the oldest sibling and I thought our oldest sister should have stepped up to the occasion. However, since she was the matriarch of the family and ruled the roost, her decision prevailed.

Needless to say, I delivered the Eulogy for our brother!

The sadness and sorrow I felt for carrying out this assignment was mainly because of my personal feelings for the deceased. You see, my brother went home to be with the Lord at an early age of 74 years old. He had never married, nor did he have any children. Immediately after his High School graduation in 1963, he was drafted into the Army and assigned to a 3-year tour of duty in North Viet Nam. He came home from the war wounded and 100% disabled. He became a ward of the Veteran Administration and remained in their medical and hostel care until his demise.

I felt he had lived such a shallow life full of loneliness, sadness, and broken dreams. Now, perhaps you can sympathize with me as to why I was reluctant to deliver my brother’s Eulogy. So, what I did was to go to God in fervent prayer. I asked him to give me the right words, ideas, and uplifting content to compose a light-hearted and information message that would be uplifting to our family members, friends and acquaintances that would be in attendance at the funeral services.

The results of the Holy Spirit’s intervention in assisting me with composing the Eulogy was phenomenal. And just in case you (my readers) are ever put into this kind of situation, it is my prayer that you can apply some of these heavenly ideas that I received that led me to deliver a very short two minute speech that brought the funeral attendees to their feet with resounding accolades at the conclusion.

Below is an excerpt of the advise I received from a conversation with God to help me prepare a befitting Eulogy for a brother ‘less traveled’ in life then most people…

  • KISS – Keep it simple (my) servant.
  • Collect anecdotes from correspondence sent to others or harmless pranks he did to others that brought lasting memories.
  • What life-lessons did you and others learn from him as an adult or as a young child.
  • What gleeful mannerism did he play on people.
  • What made your brother unique and a cut above his peers?
  • Avoid dwelling on any sad life-long memories or events he may have suffered or did nothing to show the love of God.
  • Use this time to express any message that can alleviate guilt, sadness, shame or sorrow for the future.
A Eulogy Befitting My Brother

I am sure that there is no one gathered in this assembly today that has not heard of the bible verse I am about to quote.  And it does not matter if you are a Believer in Christ Jesus or a believer in yourself or some other gods.  Somewhere in your upbringing I know you have run across John 3:16.

"For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life."

You know, Brother died unexpectedly and alone...without any relatives, friends or loved ones at his bedside.   And that has bothered me to no end...so naturally I prayed about it!!!

And for comfort, during these past two weeks, the Holy Spirit has continued to give me reassurance that a host of angels were around Brother's hospital bed on that final night of his earthly residency to remind him of those most cherished words from John 3:16.

I was also comforted with the thought that those heavenly messengers were also singing praises and giving thanks for a mere mortal soul who had at an earlier age surrendered to the call of his country and had offered his life so that other generations to come might remain free.  He honorable severed in the US Army and suffered life-threatening wounds which permanently left him handicapped for the rest of his life.

The Heavenly Host had an extended conversation with me about how this mortal man was so thoughtful during his lifetime.  They were amazed at how generously after his tour of duty, he shared his remaining life with others while knowing that he himself was without wife or children to hold, provide for and to love.

And finally, the Angels concluded that although Brother was the baby of his family and resided in his home town, his surviving brother and 2 sisters lived far away in other states.  And with the urgency for my brother to answer the call and be taken up to his new celestial residency, they would not have time to get to the hospital to deliver their last 'goodbyes'.

So as I close this tribute to Brother, I believe us 3 remaining siblings have been vindicated.  Our guilt for not being at Brother's bedside has been removed.

We, the remaining siblings also hope that our brother sees us officiating now and that he has searched our hearts and realizes that without a doubt, we beg him for forgiveness for being absent from his bedside in a time of need.  We also hope that this Home-going celebration has been a worthy tribute for his journey to his celestial home.

So on behalf of Brother's immediate family members, his extended clan-family members, all his friends, loved ones, caregivers, and guests in attendance, we say 'thank you' for helping us celebrate the life of Brother, a child of the King.

My final request is to everyone under the sound of my vice...I invite you to stand and shout out in a loud voice, "Fare ye well, beloved Brother".  Then, blow a kiss to the wind and give a resounding hand clap of love in appreciation for Brother's life and his suffering for so many others.

May our Lord and Savior richly bless and keep all of you.

May Our Brother Rest In Peace

My Prayer For You:

Dear Holy Spirit, We humbly come and ask You to give us the right words to use to proclaim Your message to the masses so that the good tidings of Jesus Christ can be heard all over the earth and for every occasion under the sun. Amen

Scripture Lesson: “Pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints. Pray also for me (Paul), that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel.” Ephesians 6:18-19

Click http://www.tgifmasterminds.com every Friday for a new post from the Master’s servant manager…ME!

God’s Buzzword…’Faith Based!’

On By tgifmastermindsIn How To Witness To Others, Prayers for Families, Prayers For Spiritual Growth5 Comments

I wonder if the LORD God has indicted the Christian community (faith-based, of course) for indiscriminately affixing a fashionable phrase (Buzzword) to their work/service obligations for mankind for the mere purpose of making themselves sound authoritative or important.

Here I am, you guys. You can trust me. Send your donations to…

When the Holy Spirit gave me the subject, ‘Faith Based’, to blog about for this week, He whispered and said to me, “ My child, you must first define ‘buzzword’ before you continue, because it is often misunderstood. So, I looked it up, and according to Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary, a buzzword is a word or phrase, often sounding authoritative or technical, but actually is a vogue term (fashionable) used in a particular profession, field of study (i.e., ecumenical), or popular culture, etc. Buzzwords are generally used to impress or persuade rather than to inform. Also, at the same time the Holy Spirit had a second request. He said to me; “My child, in addition, you must define ‘faith based’ before you continue, because it, too, is often used out of context.

That’s when our discussion became more personal.  I was harnessed with a challenge which I am ‘obligated’ to pass on to you.  My/our charge is to stock the trunk of our cars with brand new socks, under garments, winter gloves, and used winter coats and skull caps.  I am /we are to deliberately program our driving directions to pass through neighborhoods where homeless souls are visually apparent, and freely distribute the contents of our car trunks, indiscriminately, during the remaining months of 2022.   The fruit of this spirit filled jester is that we should not have none of these items remaining in our cars come January 2023.

If this task is accomplished, (along with other similar acts of kindness), then and only then can we profess that we are affiliated with a‘faith based’ church that believes it is better to obey than to sacrifice.  And also, our places of worship can honestly proclaim that they are a faith based organizations and it is better to actually ‘show some love and compassion’ than to falsely boast, criticize or place blame.

So, let’s all take off our clown persona and be for real…

We can do this by claiming the three-fold directive Jesus Christ gave to Peter, His lead disciple. Jesus ask; “Simon, son of John, do you love Me?” (Notice that Jesus referred to Peter(*) by his earthly name and that he belonged to an earthly father.) (Perhaps, all the time Peter was walking with Jesus, he was performing under a buzzword…I’m just sayin’.) Is your response to Jesus’ three-fold command, ‘Yes, Lord; You know that I love You’.

QUESTION: What is the Greek translation of your name?!!!!

My prayer during this thanksgiving season is this: Dear Heavenly Father, we thank You very much for the promise that You are with us, and that You are a refuge and a shelter for your people. Moreover, that You are a help in times of trouble. Thank You for using us and allowing us to be Your helpmates during this winter season. BUT before we step up to this challenge, we want to thank you for being our Father and changing our names. You are an awesome Father that made it possible for us to be more than conquerers of buzzwords. Pease continue to melt hearts and minds to be servants and not serpents towards our fellowman, but to show compassion and empathy towards one another. Lord Jesus, please make us children of light who will from now on do all that is good and right and true. Help us to expose sin and be willing to work on our relationships with other people. We ask for this because we want our services to be truthful and in accordance with faith based principles. Amen and Amen!

Take a listen to the inspirational song below...

Faith of Our Fathers, Living Still – The Tabernacle Choir

https://www.youtube.com › watch 4:18 minutes

Before embarking on your mission trip stop by the “Faith Based” gas station and fill up your car with empathy.

Scripture Lesson: “You were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness righteousness and truth”. Ephesians 5:8-9

(*NOTE) Simon, which means ‘small stone, in Greek, had his name changed by Jesus to Peter, large stone, on whom God ultimately built his church.

Click http://www.tgifmasterminds.com every Friday for a new post from the Master’s servant manager…ME!

God Designed Families To Be A Blessing And A Gift

On By tgifmastermindsIn Prayers for Families3 Comments
Family and friends together at the holidays. color
Families and friends are a blessing and a gift and also good for your health!

Just look at that family gathering in the picture above. How happy and content they all look. I wonder if they know that was God’s plan from the very beginning; the making of happy families! I wonder if the father figure of this household knows just how important his role is in nurturing his god-given responsibilities. Below is a list (especially for fathers and heads of households) of 10 Lines on Importance of Family:

10 Lines on Importance of Family

Have you noticed that as generations come and go, people have less and less time to nurture family relationships. People are just too busy doing other things rather than to shoulder their responsibilities in raising up a child in the way he/she should go, so that when they are old they will not depart from their teaching. (Paraphrased from Proverbs 22:6)

A Personal Testimony…

Along with my mom and dad, there were 5 children in my family. As I recall my childhood experiences with my siblings, our dad used to play word-games with us very subtly: For example, when dad came home from work, he would gather up us kids and asked us a question. “What do you call cheese that’s not yours? Come on, answer me. Who ever answers the question right gets a quarter.” No answer. Complete silence. “Nacho cheese!” dad would say in his deep ethnic dialect. Then dad would belt out a great big laugh and gather us all under his massive arms. Honestly, we didn’t know whether to laugh or cry because dad slipped the quarter back in his pocket. But one thing we did know for sure…we felt secured and safe and we loved him all the more.

Fast forward…

There have also been times in my adult life that I had wished I could have telephoned my father to hear one of his word-games just to cheer me up. But he went home to glory at the early age of 49 years old. I needed him to help me fight my surmountable battles. Oh, yes, our mom was still with us, but she needed dad’s wisdom, strength, common sense and caring personality more than we did. For you know what they say about mothers; she is only as happy as the unhappiest member of her clan. In fact, dad’s own 7 brothers and sisters also missed him more than ever. I remember my aunts and uncles all, scheduled an appointment with their private physicians for a health check up very soon after dad’s early death.

My earthly father made sure that his family cultivated a solid relationship with the Lord. Only one of my siblings have strayed in their walk, and one other is desperately searching for answers about a loss of a child. But family prayers are being sent up on their behalves. Why? Because we know God is able to overcome all our doubts and fears.

My prayer for you…

My dad was a trail blazer who left us a family legacy that we were to always depend on our Lord and Savior, Christ Jesus, because He would carry us through. So my prayer for you is this: Heavenly Father, I thank You very much for having placed me into a family of believers. I also trust that You, in Your wisdom, showed kindness and compassion for all those who may have suffered hurt, harm and danger and had to subjugate their birth family for an adopt one. Help us all to spend more time with the families you have placed us in and please, My Lord, reassure us each and every day of Your love and peace. Amen.

Scripture Lesson: “But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” Joshua 24:15

Click http://www.tgifmasterminds.com every Friday for a new post from The Master’s servant manager…Me!