Remembrance In Grief And Loss

 Psalm 34 verse 18- The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.

In this verse, when we are brokenhearted and we remember God saves those crushed in spirit, I feel for the people who go through loss, I feel for the people who deal with grief in their own way and how God reminds us that He'll be with us forever and that He'll mend what is broken.

When you see broken beyond on repair, I see healing beyond belief, when you see too far gone, I see one step away from home, when you see nothing but damaged goods, I see something good in the making, I'm not finished yet, when you see wounded, I see mended.

Revelation 21 verse 4- ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”

In the verse this reminds us in how no matter what, God will wipe away our tears when we feel sadness.

Every hour of every day, Oh I need You, Lord, and that will never change, Every moment in every way, Oh I need You, Lord, and that will never change, No that will never change.

We cannot hide, Your Spirit is inside We are called to speak You Jesus, Breathe with us Your words, So Your grace is heard, So that all who seek find Jesus.

In these lyrics by David Leonard and Joy Dame, we see that every hour even a city on a hill that when we seek Jesus even in the toughest times of grief and loss, that He'll still make a way for us as His Children.

Ecclesiastes 3 verse 1-8-    There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot,  a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing, a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace.

So I'm gonna thank you, For all that You've done, Came broke the window to my soul, You pulled me from the devil's hold, No longer wearing those grave clothes, Your living water made me Whole, You made me Whole.

With this song by Joy Dame called Whole, and just like the last scripture, we realize that there is a time for every season, even when that season can be about grief and loss.

When we lose somebody close to us, it hurts. It hurts our heart, it hurts our soul and it can make us feel a lot of different emotions in the process.

The way we deal with grief and loss of somebody we are close to is leaning on God to carry us through.

It will never be easy, but losing people you love never is. The important thing to know, is to remember who they were when living then to remember the bad times. It is also important to know that there will be days when it feels like it's a dream, one that you don't want to have to wake up and find out it's real.

It can be easy to want to give into feeling like the bad thing that happened, didn't happen at all and that the person we lost, amongst the grief that we have in our hearts for them, will still be here.

Jeremiah 29 verse 11 talks about the plans God has for us, now He also in that scripture talks about how the plans He has for us, are not to harm us but to give us a hope and a future.

You see, Joy Dame was a precious soul. She had a great heart for people.

I had the pleasure of meeting Joy with my parents in Lapeer Michigan on June 22, 2024.

When I got to meet Joy, it was a humbled blessing in getting to meet her.

It was humbling because of the songs she did but also the one she did with her rapper friend and with Connor Roy with the song Singing Over Me.

You're bigger than my wildest dreams, Greater than all the failures I have seen, In ev'ry situation, In every season, You've always come through, You've always come through, Your love has opened up my eyes, Rescued me from my shame And gave me sight, Unfailing, unending, Unchanging, unrelenting, You always come through, You always come through, In the dark, You're the light that's shining, In my heart, You're the hope that's rising From the start, You were right there singing over me, I was lost Now Your grace has found me, I ran away But Your mercy saw me, I feel alive as I hear You singing over me.

Zephaniah 3 verse 17- The Lord your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves. He will take great delight in you;  in his love he will no longer rebuke you, but will rejoice over you with singing.”

Joy was a friend and like a sister to me after I got to meet her in person. I loved Joy, she was family.

Psalm 147 verse 3- He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.

In this scripture and in the last scripture, God will sing over our life and He'll heal what is broken within us and bind up our wounds and make our heart feel whole again and know that we can have something that will mend our spirit from feeling the heartache and the moments of feeling that grief and loss.

This study tonight, is in Remembrance, in Honor, and in Memory of Joy Dame who had a loving heart.

I pray that anyone who knew Joy Dame, or knows her family will just pray for family as well tonight.

It is a difficult time for their family and anyone who know her well or have gotten a chance to meet her.

I do know however, that no matter what life brings our way, that God is watching over all of us.

There is something one of my best friends says, it's not goodbye, it's a see you later moment.

We will all one day be in Heaven with Jesus and when we do, He will tell us well done, good and faithful servant. In s Casting Crowns song it says: I don't want to leave a legacy, I don't care if they remember me, Only Jesus. Let Jesus be the light of the legacy that we do our best to strive in daily.

Let this be a reflection in how we should be reminded in how we won't always be here on Earth, because only God knows when He calls us home to be with Him. Let it be a reflection to us, to let people in our lives know that we care about them, and love them just like Christ loves all His Children.

No matter what we go through, it's important to know that no matter how we deal with the loss or grief, and no matter how we deal with grieving in our own way, that there will always be our loved ones around us and friends and even Jesus that will give us the comfort and strength to keep pushing through.

It is my hope that in this study, we can remember that we don't always have to feel brave or strong when we are hurting, but that we can lean on God to help us get through and be strong in Him to overcome other obstacles in life because sometimes it's even important to know that it's ok to not always be okay.

Cause I'm broken, Down to nothing, But I'm still holding on to the one thing, You are God and you are strong, When I am weak.

If I didn't know what it hurt like to be broken, Then how would I know what it feels like to be whole. If I didn't know what it cuts like to be rejected, Then I wouldn't know the joy of coming home, Maybe it's okay if I'm not okay, 'Cause the One who holds the world is holding onto me, Maybe it's all right if I'm not all right, 'Cause the One who holds the stars is holding my whole life.

Let these songs be a reflection that it's okay to tell others and more importantly Jesus in how you feel. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKaYtFw3lOc

This last song I'm sharing is one that Tom Taylor wrote with Joy Dame, and I'm sharing that one to end the study as it is one that can be a reflection that we don't always know what tomorrow may bring but we know who holds tomorrow, and just like we can quote a song that says that life is worth the living just because He Lives. Let our life be a reflection of how we can live our best life and do the things God has called us to do.

Truth

 The truth is I am my Father's child, I Make Him Proud And I Make Him Smile, I Was made in the image of a perfect King, He looks at me and wouldn't change a thing, The truth is I am truly loved, By a God who's good when I'm not good enough, I don't belong to the lies, I belong to You And that's the truth. 

Lie number one you're supposed to have it all together And when they ask how you're doing, Just smile and tell them, "Never better", Lie number 2 everybody's life is perfect except yours, So keep your messes and your wounds And your secrets safe with you behind closed doors, Truth be told, The truth is rarely told, now, I say I'm fine, yeah I'm fine oh I'm fine, hey I'm fine but I'm not, I'm broken And when it's out of control I say it's under control but it's not And you know it, I don't know why it's so hard to admit it, When being honest is the only way to fix it, There's no failure, no fall, There's no sin you don't already know, So let the truth be told.

 … Scared, oh, I thought I knew scared, But I'm so filled with fear, I can barely move, Doubt, I've had my share of doubt But never more than right now I'm wondering where are You … Here on the edge of fall apart, Somehow Your promises find my troubled heart … This is the truth I'm standing on, Even when all my strength is gone, You are faithful forever, And I know You'll never let me fall, Right now, I'm choosing to believe, Someday soon, I'll look back and see, All the pain had a purpose, Your plan was perfect all along, This is the truth I'm standing on … Good, I believe You're still good, Even when life's not good, I will not lose this hope, That the God who parts the sea, Promises He's gonna make a way for me. 

I thought I knew what I was talking about, When I testified of Your great love, Well, I was a soul on fire, there was no doubt, Bible believing, saved, and washed in the blood But it wasn't 'til I stumbled and made my mistakes, That I could know in my soul how amazing was grace, You brought me blessings out of a tragedy, You turned my old song into a symphony And with Your spirit living inside of me, I'm a new creation, I'm a new creation, And now I know what You were talking about, Went from my head into my heart, When I was broken at the bottom, I found, You're my Healer and Redeemer, Jesus, that's who You are, You brought me blessings out of a tragedy, You turned my old song into a symphony And with Your spirit living inside of me, I'm a new creation, I'm a new creation.

John 14 verse 6- Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

2 Timothy 3 verse 16-17:  All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the servant of God, may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

Psalm 43 verse 3: Send me your light and your faithful care,, let them lead me;, let them bring me to your holy mountain, to the place where you dwell.

Psalm 25 verse 10: All the ways of the Lord are loving and faithful, toward those who keep the demands of his covenant.

2 John 1 verse 1-3:  The elder, To the lady chosen by God and to her children, whom I love in the truth—and not I only, but also all who know the truth—because of the truth, which lives in us and will be with us forever: Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, the Father’s Son, will be with us in truth and love.

Speak, O Lord, as we come to You, To receive the food of Your holy Word, Take Your truth, plant it deep in us, Shape and fashion us in Your likeness, That the light of Christ might be seen today, In our acts of love and our deeds of faith, Speak, O Lord, and fulfill in us, All Your purposes for Your glory.

In all the songs I shared in the beginning, along with the scriptures and the song at the very end, we see that no matter what happens in life that God is the light, but that He also guides us in the Truth which is His Word daily. He guides in the truth of His Word because He shows us that no matter what hardship we go through, that He is going to bring that part of our test by Faith into a Testimony of Hope.

We see how things like that can bring a joy into our life because God is Faithful, He Is Just, and He is Love and because of that, we are surrounded by His Love and His Word which is the Bible and the Bible is the Truth of which God prepares us into knowing that we are loved by Him on a daily basis.

No matter what we face in life, we can't believe the lies of the Enemy, so we should look forward in our days to look to the One that is Truth which is God because when we believe in the Holy Spirit, we know as children of God, that no matter how many times the Enemy may knock us down, God picks us up.

Let's take what we've learned in all of that and remember that just like in a Veggietales Song, it says:

And so what we have learned applies to our lives today, And God has a lot to say in His book, You see, we know that God's word is for everyone, And now that our song is done, we'll take a look.