A message for Akron Alliance Fellowship Church, Akron OH, Sunday, February 11, 2024.
For the “Live in Church” audio of this message, click here.
This message is dedicated to my mother, Ernestine Gaines (1940-2024).
I have mulled over this message for a few weeks now. I’m prayerfully trusting that the Spirit will provide the wisdom for those of you who have lost loved ones and are pondering over what those experiences mean to you. My mother’s passing was the conclusion of a long season of elder care and ensuring that she was in the best place that she could be given her condition. The thoughts that follow are an acknowledgment of her life but also a call to those who need reassurance about the goodness of God, how much He loves us, and how He desires for us to embrace His salvation.
As many of you already know, I was actively involved in helping my mother in her later years. The memories that I am about to share of Mom are entirely from my account of events. As I go through these, I hope you will see that there is one foundational element for each one of them. And they pertain to how God was ever-present in her good days, and in her not-so-good moments. Even when we are not at our best, God reassures us that He has never left us. He doesn’t promise immunity from health issues or problems in our life, but He does promise that He is always with you:
Deuteronomy 31:8 NLT
“Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord will personally go ahead of you. He will be with you; he will neither fail you nor abandon you.”
Ernest W. Stevens, Jr., my mom’s brother (Uncle Sonny to me and my brother, Kevin), was certainly a character in his own right. I had the pleasure of getting to know Sonny a bit more. He became a man of faith and married Louise, a very sweet woman who could handle Sonny for good measure. They both attended the first church that I had joined in 1987, Bible Baptist Church in Bedford, Ohio. From our conversations, I learned that mom had a very close relationship with Sonny. When Sonny passed away in December of 2010, my mom expressed the desire to go to Sonny’s funeral. At the time, this really caught me a little off guard. In 2010, mom had slowed down considerably, and her cognitive ability was steadily declining. The daily visits to her house were now like a pass/fail grade at this point. Some days were OK. Others were not so good when her dementia was more active. I wondered to myself how in the world am I going to get her to Sonny’s memorial service? It was in Willoughby Hills, and there was a day-to-day concern that she would just not be ready or able to go when the day finally arrived. It was necessary to pray and petition the Lord over the event—and appeal for mom to be in the best shape for the trip. To this day, I give glory to the Lord over the outcome. The day of the service, when I picked her up at home, she was on time and ready to go. I checked what she was wearing and, after a small musing that I kept to myself, gave her a mental “thumbs up” for it being good enough to go, and we went to the service. All I can say is that my mom sat through the lengthy car ride and the entire service. She was peaceful and pleasant. After the service, she was lucid, conversational, and very polite with the other family members who were present. In my mind, I was absolutely stunned. I was waiting for something bad to happen. It never did. The service was beautiful, and she also really enjoyed it. It must have meant a lot to her to be able to say “good-bye” to her brother, and the Lord granted her that privilege.
I was reminded by the Lord that my ways of thinking and processing what was happening with my mom were not His ways. He is a sovereign God who operates in the eternal present.
Isaiah 55:8-9 NKJV
8 “For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
Nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord.
9 “For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
So are My ways higher than your ways,
And My thoughts than your thoughts.
That is why I simply needed to trust God, watch Him work through the matter, and give Him the glory for the wonderful outcome. Upon reflection, it was the Lord being sensitive to the special brother-sister relationship that my mom had with Uncle Sonny, and He granted her the peace necessary to allow her to see the event through as she paid her respects. It was, in my mind, a miraculous event. It went well beyond my reasoning, but who knows the hearts of His people better than God Himself?
Psalm 139:1-10 ESV
1 To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. O LORD, you have searched me and known me! 2 You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar. 3 You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways. 4 Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O LORD, you know it altogether. 5 You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me. 6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high; I cannot attain it. 7 Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? 8 If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there! 9 If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, 10 even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me.
How important are these words of Scripture? They are words that remind you of the omnipresent (all-present) God. He is capable of being everywhere at the same time. There are no nooks, crannies or hiding places that are elusive to Him. He is always available, 24/7/365.
Here’s another example: Mom was at Forest Hills Place from 2015 through the end of 2022. In early 2020, Mom contracted COVID as well as her fellow residents. She was in bed and having difficulty breathing. It was a very difficult time because no one knew what they were dealing with. Even the hospice nurses were freaked out. But none of those things mattered. God never left her presence. The Lord provided wisdom to me and to her doctor. We discussed her health, and after she was given a bed by hospice that would allow her to sit up and breathe more easily, the doctor suggested giving her a Z-Pak (Zithromax anti-biotic) and said, “What do we have to lose?” After completing the first Z-Pak, a second run of it was added, and with fervent prayer and petitions, God healed her from COVID. It wasn’t very long before she was back to her baseline of walking throughout the facility during much of the day and getting her daily exercise.
The Lord heals our afflictions, true enough, but He is also there as our spiritual healer. We need his healing touch in our lives.
James 5:16 ESV
Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.
My lovely bride reminded me the other day that mom had words of Scripture written everywhere throughout the house. She would write them inside book jackets, legal pads and newspapers. They were everywhere. This is very important in that as my mother’s memory of people and places began to fade, her knowledge and understanding of Scripture was still at the forefront. The root of her understanding began with who Jesus Christ is. She was raised in a Christian household.
Jesus declares in His Word that He is the way, the truth and the life, and that no one comes to the Father except through Him (John 14:6). Abraham believed in God, and it was His faith in the Lord that made Him righteous before God (Genesis 15:6), and it was because of that relationship that Abraham was truly a friend of God (James 2:23). As for you and me, we understand that faith in God is absolutely necessary to please Him (Hebrews 11:6), and while we all sin and fall short of God’s glory, it is our belief in Jesus Christ that assures us of His redemption because of what He did on the cross for us (Romans 3:22-25; Romans 5:8-9). Mom declared that Jesus was her personal Lord and Savior—understand this for all that this is worth—while she was still able to do it in the soundness of her own mind.
She did it while she was able to do it. In God’s grace, she was able to make that decision on her own.
The plight that many people have today is to believe that there is still an abundance of time to live in the manner that they choose. We have a lot of people today who are professional gamblers of time without even realizing what the stakes are. Not too far from here are a number of casinos where you can go and spend a few pennies or nickels to turn them into dollars. You can even play games online or wager money on sporting events right from your smartphone. When it comes to betting, there are winners and losers. My contention is that the most important decision in your life that you can ever make has nothing to do with money. It has to do with your life, and your nemesis is time.
Psalm 139:16 NLT
You saw me before I was born.
Every day of my life was recorded in your book.
Every moment was laid out
before a single day had passed.
The Lord knows how long you are going to be here.
The gamble is in that you do not know how much time you have left. My mother faced that same dilemma, and it was made even more complicated when she received the diagnosis of early-onset Alzheimer’s disease. That is why it is important to not leave such an important decision out there without settling it once and for all.
Settle the matter now about your salvation while you’re able.
Jesus came to earth for the sole purpose of providing every person who believes in Him salvation and eternal life.
John 3:16-17 NKJV
16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.
Romans 10:9-11 NLT
9 If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved. 11 As the Scriptures tell us, “Anyone who trusts in him will never be disgraced.”
Jesus came because God loves us and He offers us the gracious gift of salvation for those who believe in Him.
God loved my mother. And He still loves her. She was selected by God and created as an eternal being. While it is difficult to comprehend why some have to go through Alzheimer’s Disease and dementia, our sovereign God remains wholeheartedly committed to loving everyone that experiences this terrible disease.
Psalm 22:24 NASB
For He has not despised nor scorned the suffering of the afflicted;
Nor has He hidden His face from him;
But when he cried to Him for help, He heard.
He has empathy for those who are afflicted because He suffered when He went to the cross for all of us. Jesus empathetically calls for those who love Him to take refuge in His presence.
John 14:27 NIV
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.
Salvation in Jesus requires believing in the deity and authority of Jesus in your life before you can’t do it.
Yes, there comes a point in your life where you can’t do it. You can’t do it when your mind is unable to form the words or the thought. For most of us, that is at the moment of death. But God has control over those who believe and trust in Him and His words. And death here is not the end. It is a transition. There is eternal life to behold and experience.
Psalm 116:15-19 NLT
15 The Lord cares deeply
when his loved ones die.
16 O Lord, I am your servant;
yes, I am your servant, born into your household;
you have freed me from my chains.
17 I will offer you a sacrifice of thanksgiving
and call on the name of the Lord.
18 I will fulfill my vows to the Lord
in the presence of all his people—
19 in the house of the Lord
in the heart of Jerusalem.
Praise the Lord!
When Jonah was praying while he was inside the fish, in complete darkness, all that he could do was offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving to God (Jonah 2:9). There comes a point in time when there is nothing left for you, and you can’t move in your bed or wherever you are laying your head, it is all that you can do to gather a thought of words to acknowledge God. And God will hear you. At the end of the day, He knows the heart of every person.
Matthew 5:3-4 NLT
3 “God blesses those who are poor and realize their need for him,
for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs.
4 God blesses those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
For moments in life, we’re in a time of mourning, but as we trust in Jesus, we know that our sorrow will be met with joy. It is because we know where mom is. Eternity is where we will all meet mom. She’ll be there and will have the ability to worship and praise the Lord without restriction or limitation! What a reunion that will be one day!
Hebrews 12:2 NLT
We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne.
Scripture records what is most likely the “last chance” moment when a person acknowledges Jesus Christ personally as Lord and Savior. It is the account of the two thieves who was crucified at the same moment that Jesus was on His cross. Take note of Luke’s account:
Luke 23:39-43 NIV
39 One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: “Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!”
40 But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence? 41 We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.”
42 Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”
43 Jesus answered him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.”
Jesus knew the heart of the repentant thief. He welcomed him into the kingdom of God right then and there, and His words ring true for anyone who believes in the saving power of Jesus Christ. HE is our salvation. He knows where you heart is, too.
Jesus is waiting for you to make the decision to believe and trust in Him.
Trust in Him today WHILE YOU’RE ABLE.
Copyright © 2024 Melvin Gaines
Melvin Gaines 