THE NEW EWE

"What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost, until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!'"

Luke 15:4-6

August 6, 2025

LIFE IN THE FOLD

There have been several celebrities who have passed away over the past few weeks. It seems as if pictures and stories of them will pop up on my social media page. I'm not sure why, because I never followed any of them prior to their death.

Recently, pictures of the family of an "idol" that passed away kept showing up on social media. They were walking as part of the funeral procession. I was not a fan of this particular person and only know bits and pieces of what his career was like. It seems as if he had a very troubled life and lived in darkness. I am not his judge and do not know whether he died with or without Jesus.

But one thing that kept coming to mind was how grief-stricken the family was. I've had both parents pass away, and I grieved their deaths. But this seemed to be something more. It seemed as if they were empty with no hope in God to cling to.

A scripture that keeps coming to mind is 1 Thessalonians 4:13. Paul is writing about the hope of the resurrection. He writes, "And now, dear brothers and sisters, we want you to know what will happen to the believers who have died so you will not grieve like people who have no hope." The last part of that is what I've had going over and over in my mind. Basically, that we (believers in Jesus) don't grieve as those who have no hope.

It doesn't say that we won't grieve when loved ones pass away. But when we understand the truth of where they are at and have hope that one day we will be reunited with them, then our mourning doesn't overwhelm us. We have hope! We can have joy in knowing that the separation isn't forever.

When our faith is in God, then death is not something to fear. Psalms 23:4 says, "Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for You are with me. Your rod and staff, they comfort me."

God's rod protects us and His staff guides us. They bring us comfort. Whether we are the one dying or the one mourning, God will go through that valley of death with us; protecting and guiding us.

For a child of God, our hearts may mourn when a family member dies, but we mourn with hope in eternity. We can have peace that our loved one is forever whole and in the presence of God. We can feel a sense of excitement in know that the separation is only for a short time, then we will, also, be "home" where parting and sorrow and weeping will never happen again.

Psalms 30:5 tells us that weeping may last through the night, but joy comes with the morning. Problems and sorrow my come our way while on earth, but we have the promise of joy! We can experience joy during our time on earth, but we will one day have eternal joy that will be unending. Now that's something to look forward to!!

JON'S PERSPECTIVE:

I'm glad I can live with the hope of seeing my dad again, and many others who have already passed. Even more, I have the hope of seeing Jesus for all eternity.

But that hope isn't solely for after our deaths. Psalms 23:4 says, "for You are with me", not "for You will be with me someday". He is with us now, and we can experience that hope of His presence now. Even when the worst is happening around us, we can hold onto the hope that He is with us now. He knows what is happening, and knows our frustration and pain. He is there with us through anything and everything. We are never alone.

And we have the hope that someday we will see Him face-to-face. I don't know exactly how, but I suspect in that moment, we will understand each and every moment, and why we experienced each one. We will see His influence, His protection, and His compassion over us. But we can have that hope now.

ON THE MENEWE:

Homemade Salsa

There are a lot of ingredients and not all will fit in the blender at the same time, so this is what I do:

Place 1 can of whole peeled tomatoes, 2 cans of Rotel, onion, garlic, and salt in the blender and mix well. Pour into a large container.

Next place 1 can of whole peeled tomatoes, 2 cans of Rotel, ground cumin, sugar, jalapeno, and cilantro in the blender and mix well. Pour into the container and use a spoon to mix both batches together.

Refrigerate.

THIS, THAT AND THE OTHER:

My nephew's family recently moved to Maine. This last Friday was their daughters 7^th birthday, so I called to wish her a happy birthday. She grabbed her grandma's phone, who was there visiting for a few days, and took me on a tour of their new house. She had the cell phone in continuous motion as she was walking and talking and trying to show me everything. It was like walking through Grandfather's Mansion at Silver Dollar City in high speed! I couldn't really see anything with all the phone movement. When my sister got her phone back she was laughing and asked if I enjoyed the tour of the house. She and my nephew's wife had been sitting downstairs watching and laughing at my tour of the new house, by phone. It was pretty funny! Sometime I'll need to go visit and see the house for myself in person, so I'll know what it really looks like!

THOUGHT TO PONDER:

Nothing is a loss to me anymore.

It's either God's redirection or His protection. - TobyMac

OUR HEARTFELT THANKS TO YOU:

We love you!

Loretta & Jon

http://www.graysheep.org