So You Have a Pulse ... Choose Abundant Life

I am a hospice nurse. Over the past two years, I have worked with families preparing to say "Goodbye" to their loved ones. In the first year, I traveled around the county, visiting homes and getting to know the families and patients. Many patients were unable to communicate with me due to dementia or lethargy. But many of them would sit on their sofa and share a conversation. It was enlightening, educational, and enjoyable.

Beginning in January 2024, my role changed to working with families inside the hospital. Inpatient hospice is different from outpatient. It's all about acute symptom control. Many of our patients are critical and often unresponsive and more often than not, end of life.

While some families have seen it coming, and are braced for the inevitable, I can recount many who were blindsided. Questions like, "How did we get here?" "She was just out shopping this past Sunday, planning our week. How is this possible?" Families talk of how independent and full of life their loved one was up until their most recent event leading to an ER visit.

While I have always known the fragility of life, this work has amplified its truth.

Days are filled with "to-do" lists. Nights, for many, are wrought with fitful sleep and worry. I don't know about you, but Bible reading and prayer often take a back seat to all the tasks invading time. We acknowledge a need to make a call, send a note, visit, or invite someone to coffee ... or a meal. The old saying, "Tomorrow never comes," is more true than many would like to admit. Procrastination is joked about as though it's not a real problem.

In reality, procrastination is one weapon used by our enemy. In my most recent article, I mentioned Satan's use of Guerilla Warfare to render God's people ineffective in the kingdom of God.

Busyness is another weapon. On the surface, it offers the appearance of a full life. But is it?

In reading Revelation, I was stunned by one of the letters to the seven churches:

"And to the angel of the church of Sardis write: 'The words of Him who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. I know your works. You have the reputation of being alive, but you are dead. Wake up and strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your works complete in the sight of my God. Remember, then, what you received and heard. Keep it, and repent. If you will not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come against you."

This is a merciful call. One that beckons to the soul of a loved one close to the end of life.  I often see families who are not ready to let their loved ones go at the bedside, pleading. But the call to this church is a warning. It isn't time for complacency, settling into a comfortable existence, or allowing the world to lull us into a stuporous fog. 

The writer continues, "Yet, you still have a few names in Sardis, people who have not soiled their garments, and they will walk with Me in white, for they are worthy. The one who conquers will be clothed thus in white garments, and I will never blot his name out of the Book of Life. I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches" (Revelation 3: 1-6). 

So how do we conquer?

Praise is a powerful weapon of our warfare. Remembering and reminiscing over the goodness of God helps. Families were instructed to tell their children morning, noon, and night of God's faithfulness throughout the Old Testament. When I read about how God spoke to Abraham, a childless man, about how he would be the father of many nations, and his attempts to help God get it done, I imagine a family bonfire with Isaac years later recounting the details. I can hear the laughter, feel the tears, and sense the awe stirred in a young man who is about to embark on his own life as a husband and eventual father.

We need to number our days. This does not mean that we set a count on how many days we've been on earth. Instead, we ought to consider each day as though we may be called home to heaven tonight.

• Who have we procrastinated making that call we know needs to be made?
• What is the thing we sensed God ask of us that we've hesitated to do, whether because we're unsure if it's Him or because we're nervous?
• When will we take the risk and step out of the boat, if not now?
• Are we busy accomplishing things for God but feel an emptiness when our world slows a pace?
• When was the last time we paused with a deep sigh of satisfaction, sensing God’s pleasure over us? (He’s always present, but do we think He’s scowling or grinning?)
• Why not reach out and take hold of our faith and exalt our Father right now?
• How exciting will it be to hear our Father say, "Well done, good and faithful servant. You've overcome him (the devil) by the blood of the Lamb and the word of your testimony.

Finally, seek rest for our soul. Jesus encourages us to come to Him with our burdens and He will give rest. Hebrews talks of finding rest in the Lord. Isaiah 26:3 says "You will keep him in perfect peace (rest) whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts You." (ESV)  

Perfect rest comes from our good Father. 

It's a blessing to share with you this week. I pray you find rest in the LORD
as you spend time with friends and family through Thanksgiving. I pray the LORD's blessing over you, may His face shine upon you this next week and throughout the weeks to come. 

Go live life, dear friend. God's waiting with open arms. 

Guerrilla Warfare

Her joy was palpable. She couldn't wait to get to church whenever their doors were opened. She joined multiple small groups outside the church to reinforce the teachings of the pastor and find Biblical context for each sermon note. Her drive to work, church, or anywhere else around town provided at least 30 minutes to play music and sing praises to her God. Life was good. In her room at night, she would pace her floor, talking to Jesus, repeating Scripture aloud, to let Him know she understood His teaching.

She was certain He'd placed dreams on her heart because He wanted to fulfill them. Isn't that what He'd done for Joseph, Jacob's son? 

One day, 40 years later, she looked in her rearview mirror and noted how many of those dreams had come to light. She also couldn't seem to pray, sing, or sense His presence as she'd done in the beginning.

How did this happen?

 

Guerrilla Warfare. 

This 2-word phrase gripped my heart as I listened to an explanation of how cunning and insidious sin has been presenting itself in the lives of Christ-followers in the modern age. The speaker noted that things once black/white issues are no longer the focus. Believers are worn down by arguments and subtleties of logic and emotion.

Encyclopedia Britannica explains Guerrilla Warfare as "protracted harassment accomplished by extremely subtle, flexible tactics designed to wear down the enemy."

(Asprey, 2024). 

During the Vietnam War, the insurgents were individuals, disguised or hidden until the moment their victims couldn't react to save their lives. Mind games were common.

It is no different today. The tactics have not changed. Nor has our enemy.

We often don't even recognize the attack until the fruit appears. And even then, do we understand we have been the target of an insidious plot to numb our senses and render us ineffective in the Kingdom of God?

When we do realize the truth, we can ask one of two questions: 

1. How did I get here?
2. How do I reclaim the ground that has been stolen?

The answers are found in Scripture. First, we are given examples of individuals throughout the Bible who were devoted to the work of God, called by Him, and given special strength and/or wisdom. For example, Sampson was dedicated to God by his parents. They were given specific instructions regarding his upbringing, which would prove to set him apart for the LORD. He was noted to have strength beyond anything anyone had ever seen--a sort of superhero of our day. His exploits were unbeatable. This troubled his enemy, and they sought to find a way to defeat him. Sadly, his one weakness was women. He eventually won the attention of Delilah (so he thought). What he didn't know about was her love for money and her subsequent deal with the enemy to ascertain the source of his strength. She would badger him daily for information. Eventually, she'd begged enough, wore down his defenses enough, that Judges 16 tells us "and it came to pass, when she pestered him daily with her words and pressed him, so that his soul was vexed to death, that he told her all his heart, and said to her, 'No razor has ever come upon my head, for I have been a Nazirite to God from my mother's womb. If I am shaven, then my strength will leave me ...'" (v16, 17).  Although she'd pestered him and received deceptive replies, she couldn't take the chance that this was also a lie. She alerted the Philistines, telling them her plan to get him to sleep and shave his head. Afterward, she yelled as she had many times before, "The Philistines are coming!"

What happened next unsettles my heart every time I read. "Then she lulled him to sleep on her knees, and called for a man and had him shave off the seven locks of his head. Then she began to torment him, and his strength left him. And she said, "The Philistines are upon you, Sampson!" So he awoke from his sleep, and said, "I will go out as before, at other times, and shake myself free!" But he did not know that the LORD had departed from him.

The song Slow Fade says it well. We don't give ourselves away in a moment. 

The next answer is also found in the story of Sampson. He was taken captive, eyes gouged out, working at the stone grinder, chained in bronze shackles. He had time to spend alone. And it appears he used his time wisely, repenting of his pride and arrogance. Scripture tells us his hair began to grow back, and one night, while his captors held a feast, he requested to be positioned between two pillars. Not just any pillars. These were those that held the structure together. He prayed again, asking the LORD, in essence, "one more time" (Judges 16).  And the LORD gave him strength enough to bring down the entire palace.

He was humbled before the LORD and the LORD heard his cry.

Humility is one strategy. Others are to know how your enemy works. He doesn't always come at us with boldness, honesty, or transparency telling us what he's about to do. If he's got us lulled enough, he might tell us straight up what he's about to do. But not if we're alert and aware. He'll wait until we're too entrenched in other traps:

Disappointment

Distraction

Delay

Doubt

Fatigue

Misguided beliefs

Unanswered prayer

Well-meaning but incorrect theology

Busyness

Idolatry

Following the crowd

Need to belong

Pride

Rejection

Insecurity

When we know the various things the devil uses to lull us into submission, we can go to Scripture and remember Paul's words of exhortation: For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled (2 Corinthians 10: 3 - 6).

Dear Friend, in Christ, we have the victory. Remain in Christ.

Until next time, be blessed.