Dedication
My Grandad went to heaven on 4th August 2023, 6 months ago today. I attended my Grandad’s funeral on 5th September 2023 and I would like to dedicate a post to him and tell you a little bit about who he was and his ministry. I’d like to talk about how we can learn from the way Leslie lived his life.
Leslie
My Grandad Leslie felt the calling towards Christian ministry at a very early age, and had to wait patiently until he was the correct age to begin his training as a Vicar. When he became a Vicar, he would travel all around the UK with his family, never settling in one place for very long, reaching multitudes of people across many cities and counties in England. He would feel God calling him to different places to preach and take leadership of churches.
During his life he preached without any hesitation, and had his eyes fixed on The Lord throughout every situation. He would always begin and end the day with prayer, and he would go into every situation with prayer too. His faith stood through many trials such as Leukemia, family fall-outs, and a lot of mockery and judgement. He was a great inspiration to me in my own faith, and having become a Christian at the young age of 8, he was a very important figure in helping me develop my faith and knowledge in Christ throughout my childhood. I would like to go over some of the things he did in faith, and why they are important for us to imitate.
Morning Prayer
My Grandad recently wrote me a letter before he passed on, and he quoted Psalm 91. Psalm 91 verse 2 reads, “I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust.“, this is how he lived his life and we can all learn from this way of living. I must ask you today, do you start every morning with a prayer? The Bible has many verses about morning prayer including Psalm 5 verse 3 which says, “”My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O Lord; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up“. If you continue to read Psalm 5 you will notice that it is about asking God to deliver you from your enemies and put them in their place, to lift up the righteous and put protection over them. We should all start our day with a morning prayer of protection and thanks, especially since we can see Jesus rising early for morning prayer in Mark 1:35.
Evening Prayer
Evening prayer closes off the day, and gives you an opportunity to give thanks to God for all He has done in your life, and apologise for where you have gone wrong – asking God to help you improve yourself (Psalm 4:4). You can also ask him for the things you desire. God cares about the things we want, and if they align with His Will all you need to do is ask and you will receive (Matthew 7:8). Psalm 4 is a great instruction for evening prayer that covers all of the things mentioned above. I encourage you to meditate on Psalm 4 every evening, finishing with a prayer of protection over yourself and your loved ones as you sleep.
Faith
Leslie let his faith in God guide his life and cover the situations he faced. He was not perfect and he’d be the first to admit this to you, but that is precisely why we need to have faith, and an ear that is willing to listen to the voice of God (Romans 10:17). Are you facing hardships that seem to have no end? Perhaps yourself or someone you love has become ill, or you are going through a season of turmoil. Hebrews 11 verse 1 tells us that faith is the assurance of things that we hope for, and a conviction to believe in things we cannot see (Hebrews 11:1). If we have faith that God will guide us through our tricky situations, he will answer our prayers with action (Matthew 21:22).
Mission
Leslie’s mission in life was clear to him from an early age – go out and preach the Word of God, and lead others into a relationship with their Almighty Creator. Sometimes we don’t feel like our mission in life is represented as clearly as it was to Leslie, and that’s okay, because I’m here to tell you that The Bible tells you what your mission is, and it may surprise you to learn that it’s exactly the same as Leslie’s mission – “And he said to them, ‘Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation” (Mark 16:15 ESV). Jesus made it our mission to tell others about his Good News – that he died for our sins so that we could have a relationship with our Creator. Each of us has different talents, abilities, friendship groups, workplaces and locations; this makes our individual ministry unique. But ultimately God wants us to tell the Good News of Jesus Christ to everyone we meet. This can take various shapes and forms, and God will reveal that to you if you ask him to guide you.
Closing a chapter
My Grandad had pre-written a message before he passed on to heaven, that he had left for everyone attending his funeral to hear. I know that he would love for me to share this message with you, because it sums up his life’s work and it may be something you yourself need to hear today.
“There are some of you here today who still have not accepted the Lord Jesus as your Lord and Saviour.
My dear family and friends, will you please do so while you still have time. Your opportunity closes when you die. Don’t leave this life without Jesus. Walk with Jesus from now. Unless we do we shall not be together in Heaven. Jesus says! “He who hears My Words and believes has Eternal Life. He will not be judged but even now has passed from death to life.” – John 5:24
My dear family and friends – turn to Christ – NOW. Walk with Jesus NOW, so that you can live with Him in Heaven.
With love,
Leslie”
If Leslie’s message has touched you, and you do not currently follow Christ, I would love to help guide you towards him. Feel free to contact me using our contact email (find it on the “About Us” page), and we can further discuss this subject. God loves you and wants a relationship with you.
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