Grace
I think about how detailed the process to life is… from finding your spouse, to conceiving a baby and how God guides all that to happen. I think about all the unanswered questions that I may have as I try to understand that intricate weaving of a life into a womb and having that babe form for 9 months and with technology now allowing us to see how each organ forms perfectly at a specific time. All this working together to bring a beautiful life forth to the birth.
What a process that is! I don’t think we give it much thought because we see it happen around us all the time and we take for granted how delicate and perfect God made this happen.
Well I’m certain there is that same detailed process at the end of our life. Knowing the amazing God we serve, I’m sure he has a protocol so perfectly weaved for our end here on earth. We at times only see the struggle and last breath of our loved ones.
We are not a part of the spirit process when our loved ones leave and therefore we really don’t know much about it. But I’m certain there is a process. A journey between God and us. He has it all in perfect order since the beginning of time. Just as a persons Spirit is dispatched from heaven and placed in the beginning of life in a mothers womb, that same Spirit is dispatched from our Body and Soul when we die to return to the Father.
I understood perfectly on that day as I held my sister’s hand at her bedside what it meant to have been made up of the Body, Spirit and Soul. (3 in one this is the way of God). Just like the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
I was able to identify each one separately during this time with Grace. I’d love to share with you what I discerned.
Let me begin with the Soul:
1. Soul. When I entered her hospital room I let her know I was there. She quickly reached out for my hand, eyes closed and said “I love you Ruth”. I replied “I love you too Baby Girl”. She held on tight to my hand. That was her soul speaking to me.
Your soul is all of your emotions, your feelings, and your memories.
2. Spirit. Then I began to anoint her head with oil and sang a worship song and she raised her hand and spoke words of affirmation to God. “Lord I love you”. Lord help me! Heal me Lord! Jesus I’ve served you don’t leave me like this.”
That was her spirit.
3. Body/Flesh. She then began to flail her arm and try to get out of her bed and was acting erratically yelling out names over and over again nonstop I could see it was her body trying to reboot her brain or maybe her brain trying to reboot her body. The brain was trying to find new pathways or new connections to help the body function because of the stroke. The brain trying to compensate for the left side of her body that was numb. This was causing so much erratic behavior. Behavior that had nothing to do with who she was.
God created our bodies to fight disease. He connected our organs, arteries, blood, ligaments, etc. to all work together for the good of our body.
At times when the nurse would come in and ask Grace direct questions, she would answer them in her slurred speech yet having full control of her answers. (Her Spirit was still strong and in control and determined). When I say she was in and out I believe that when her body flailed it was because her spirit would be busy in a dimension with God.
We have to understand that God lives in a different dimension than us; His ways are not our ways…
The moment the nurse left she would search for my hand and began to call out for each of her siblings. She said she was scared. (Her flesh). As I quoted “No weapon formed against you will prosper” she would say it too. (That was her spirit).
Her spirit would calm her with the truth of the Word of God.
She then began to call out for a sibling over and over again. Getting very stressed. I asked her “Do you want me to call him/her? and she would say “yes”. She was stressed about each one and quieted when she heard their voices. (Her Soul).
In moments of peace she spoke of the 3 babies she had miscarried. She spoke of how she would see them soon. She also made many observations about people she knew. All this was like a video of her life. Her emotions… her Soul.
At one point I began saying the Lord’s Prayer: “Our father who art in heaven.....she joined in and prayed it all very clear to the end. (This was her spirit). I read Psalm 23 out loud and she quoted it with me. (Her Spirit).
Then she told me she was going to see her 3 babies and she squeezed my hand and she said “Ruth, Jesus showed me heaven and it is soooo beautiful!” Her eyes stayed closed but I could tell she was seeing beautiful things.
Her eyes remained closed all day and she would struggle to open them when the nurse asked for her to open them.
This happened all day. 3 in one (Spirit, Body, and Soul). I began to recognize each so clearly. I asked the Lord for strength that day, strength that I knew on my own I did not have and every time her nurse came in to tend to her I would slip out for a minute and just break down in the hallway so she wouldn’t sense my emotions. I wanted her to feel only my strength and love.
She is so strong in her spirit and I believe she went from this earth to another dimension several times while I was there that day.
I thank you Lord for allowing me to discern what was happening so I could understand it better. It allowed me to be at peace in a very difficult day where I was surrounded by so much loss.
That day I prayed for her Spirit to be ushered to the place God has for each of us.
Again, let me remind you that there is most definitely a process when you die. If you die in Christ there is a place for you and even a process in that dimension. If you die away from Christ there is also a process very different from the latter.
I’m sure Grace’s Spirit and Soul will be ushered through a process and a place that our Father has mandated for each of us. A place in heaven with Our Father. I know her body will be buried or cremated and when Christ comes for his bride in the rapture, Grace’s Body will rise first because scripture says “the dead in Christ shall rise first” and her spirit and soul will be restored with her new transformed body. Then those of us who are in Christ and are still here on earth will also be raptured and join her in the Heavens. That day we will see her again!
Grace died 5 days later. We were able to bring her home to her own room in my sister’s house. She passed with most of her siblings and family around her. The Lord ended her fight with Ovarian Cancer. She is now whole and clear of Cancer. We prayed as a family for the Lord to graciously take her home and He did. Thank you my Lord for hearing us…She was only 59 years old.
We held a very touching tribute to her the Sunday after Thanksgiving. We gathered as a family to honor her life.
Growing up Grace was a shy young woman. She stayed away from any spotlight but she found her calling at Grace Fellowship United Methodist Church. She served many years there til the end and she was a part of the Freedom and Healing Ministry where her love and compassion for the lost, hurt and confused led to many being set free and delivered. Her deliverance Ministry led her to engage in spiritual warfare and cast many demons out of people’s lives. I’m sure many demons feared her strong walk with the Lord! She was bold in the Spirit! Our conversations were always about the Lord and her experiences in the deliverance ministry. She was not afraid of any Demon! She was truly Bold!
I love you Gracie! I will always carry you in my heart. I am so proud of your strength, your walk with the Lord, your fight, your boldness in the Lord and your graduation day! I can truly say Rest in Peace...that means your body is resting, your Soul is probably being restored and prepared and your Spirit is rejoicing with other believers like our parents, grandmother, our brother Josue and your babies...
You can only Rest in Peace if you died being totally surrendered to Jesus, God the Father and the Holy Spirit. Amen!
Ruth
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