July 28 - CP

A month or so ago my first cousin Lucy passed away very suddenly.

We had gotten close the last couple of years. I used to stop by her Flower Shop, and we would chat about family, social matters and most importantly about God's Word. She would often smile or smirk as I would share about the Lord and His promises.

The day before she passed, I was at her shop and she was telling me about her parents, who had already died, but would appear to her in her dreams and give her advice about decisions she had to make. I would, in turn, tell her, that was possible as only the Lord can hear us and see us etc...

We would go back and forth for many hours and days.

The next morning, I was told that she had passed away while working. After the immediate shock and sadness, I prayed to have a chance to share at the wake to the rest of the family. A few days before the wake, my wife advised not to ask to speak as it may have not been received well, but instead to wait on the Lord and see what He would do.

As the Lord would have it, that at the wake, the Priest was not able to make it. At that point, I asked if it would be ok for me to share something from the scriptures and I saw that Lucy's daughter face lit up and was both willing and very glad for me to share. I knew the Lord opened up a wide door to share His word with the Italian-Catholic family gathered. We prayed and I thought of the Lord' s statement that "a prophet is not welcome in his own home".

I began sharing about my cousin and her great attributes and then the Lord led me to read from 1 Thess. 4:13 to 18, explained the passage and the futility of life itself if the Lord Jesus did not rise from the dead... to then mention the familiar story of Lazarus and to challenge them individually and corporately with laying aside all our traditions and personal beliefs and to seriously ponder about the Lord's eternal question to every generation since after His stating that He is the Resurrection and the Life. Then He concluded with Do You Believe this??